Something that I have noticed re: major NXT women's matches

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

Every match seems to have something different going on it storywise


1) Takeover: RIVAL~ Charlotte has beaten Sasha & Bayley before while Becky has finally started to get some notice for just flat out hurting people. It isn't just "is Charlotte tough enough to fight off three other women" it's "ring savviness (Banks) vs athleticism (Charlotte) vs technique (Becky) vs pure heart (Bayley)" and ultimately being the most intelligent wrestler wins out

2) Unstoppable~ Both women just take each other to the limit and are outright trying to just break each other and put their opponent on the injury list. It's slick, it's brutal and it's as close to 90's AJPW as the WWE will probably get.

3) Brooklyn~ Bayley finally gets another shot at proving herself after having injured her hand while Sasha has looked a class above. The whole story playing is that does Bayley have what it takes to beat Banks who is not only intelligent in the ring but also f***ing brutal when she needs to be and not above trying to reinjure Bayleys hand. Meanwhile f***ing Kana is in the crowd which helps on an "oh shit" level since anyone that has seen Kana will know that she would murder them if she cut loose.

4) Respect (Asuka vs Dana Brooke)~ Dana so clearly doesn't understand just how over her head she is by trying to take Asuka on. As such, Asuka dismantles her without really breaking a sweat. Asuka staring down Emma adds to this as the experienced Emma wants absolutely nothing to do with Asuka in a one-on-one situation.

5) Respect (Banks vs Bayley)~ It's the old "you were better than me for three seconds" dealio. The match is not only much longer than their previous match but Sasha feels that she has a point to prove while Bayley wants to show why she is a deserving champion. Sasha even goes as a far as making a little girl cry and stealing the little girls headband so she doesn't even care how low she has to stoop.

6) Bayley vs Eva Marie ~ this match was the biggest incarnation of smoke and mirrors that you'll ever see. But this is also new as the Women's division hasn't had a hand picked corporate challenger prior to this. Bayley needs to beat Eva, watch out for Nia Jax and overcome a crooked referee.

7) London (Emma vs Asuka)~ A step up in challenge for Asuka but this match also establishes that Emma can go with the best in the division. The attempts at cheating ultimately fail but there is the genuine belief that there will be a screwy finish because it doesn't feel like it would be forced at all.

8) London (Nia Jax vs Bayley)~ Again, the women's division hasn't had a monster heel (last one in the WWE outside of Kharma would be one of the AJPW girls during the 90's) and so it feels like a massive breath of fresh air to have the underdog taking on a monster.
There's also the storyline thing of Nia Jax getting sloppier as the match goes on and making rookie mistakes before being caught in a guillotine three times in a row. The rookie monster making dumb mistakes is a believable flaw in a wrestler while the WWE still has the old "can Bayley suplex Nia Jax?" storyline

[Mozenrath]

I'd say Beth Phoenix, Jazz, and to a lesser extent, Natalya when she debuted have filled monster heel roles, but yeah, it's a slot often left open.

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

Jan 1, 2016 6:42:21 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I'd say Beth Phoenix, Jazz, and to a lesser extent, Natalya when she debuted have filled monster heel roles, but yeah, it's a slot often left open.

I'd say that those are less monsters and more just powerhouses. None of them was just so much bigger than everyone else like Jax is.

[gr1990]

Jan 1, 2016 6:49:02 GMT -5 El Cokehead del Knife Fight said:

Jan 1, 2016 6:42:21 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I'd say Beth Phoenix, Jazz, and to a lesser extent, Natalya when she debuted have filled monster heel roles, but yeah, it's a slot often left open.

I'd say that those are less monsters and more just powerhouses. None of them was just so much bigger than everyone else like Jax is.

Beth's feud with Kelly Kelly was booked like a crappier version of Bayley vs Jax.

But as for the original point of the thread, I'd say the stories NXT has been able to tell with the women and the characters they've developed is WAY more of an important step in the right direction for WWE's female wrestlers than better, longer matches. Bayley and Nia's match in London was the biggest proof of this, it was a decent match, but it lived and died by the fact that the audience knows and loves Bayley, knows she's tough enough to beat anyone if she believes in herself and wanted to help her succeed. There's so much to invest in each match, the fact that they're usually amazing from a wrestling standpoint is almost incidental.

[drjayphd (feat. Pitbull)]

Jan 1, 2016 6:42:21 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I'd say Beth Phoenix, Jazz, and to a lesser extent, Natalya when she debuted have filled monster heel roles, but yeah, it's a slot often left open.

Kharma was probably the closest post-Attitude Era WWE has come to having someone who could conceivably play the monster heel role. She just never got to that stage in her WWE career, but at least we got to see it elsewhere.