NXT Thread 09/04/13: Zayn vs. The Other Real American

[Steveweiser]

This week on NXT...

*Bayley & Charlotte vs. Aksana & Alicia Fox
*Corey Graves vs. Rick Victor
*Mason Ryan vs. Alexander Rusev
*Sami Zayn vs. Jack Swagger

Will Zayn defeat the other Real American? Will Bayley earn her first NXT win? And will the tag champs go 2-0 vs. The Ascension?

[The Sam]

• For someone that is David Flairs sister, Charlotte is not completely awful.
• Graves and Neville have beaten Victor and O'Brian 2 weeks in a row. So no heat for their inevitable tag team title shot?
• I was expecting Rusev/Ryan to be slower than molasses, luckily for me I was wrong. Good match, Rusev sure can move and bump. If Rusev continues to have matches like that I'll be more than happy to see him go after the NXT title.
• Kruger/Woods feud? Cool.
• Great match between Zayn/Swagger. Not as great as Zayn/Cesaro but still a very good match.

[spyda]

- Is Alicia Fox Face or Heel ?? Would we ever find out ??
- They gave Corey Graves a long singles match and still he didn't show me anything special
- They kept moving the camera during divas segment to prove that they are alone in the room, then they interviewed Paige about it like she knew what was going on between Summer & Sasha :/
- Rusev keeps impressing me & I'm glad that he pinned Mason
- The main event was great, this is Swagger best match since returning, they better slap the title on Zayn soon

[Slammy Award-Winning Cannibal]

Another week down and Rusev shows he can be a main event player in WWE for years to come. Talk about a versatile performer. Can't praise him enough.

Zayn is always swinging for the fences and Swagger killed it tonight too. So weird that NXT TV is always trumping WWE programming in terms of in ring competition. I love it. MORE, please.

[Kayfabe FAN don't want none]

Bayley in red = WUB!!
Big LOL at Charlotte taking her father's bumps.
Ascension are still hilarious.
RENEE!! OH CRAP RENEE AND PAIGE!!! THAT'S TOO MUCH!
Paige's accent = WUBAWUBA WOOB WOOB!
"I'm not here to be a cover girl, i'm here to cover girls in the middle of the ring" DAT LINE, Paige sounds natural on the mic.
Sami Zayn continues to make everyone sit on the edge of their seats, Thwagger did great too! As much as i hate to defend Bo there was no for Zayn to get distracted by him IMO. If he got on the apron then yeah sure but he was just at ringside.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

Notes:

* It was an okay divas match, although even that is better than most divas matches.
* Okay, Graves vs. Victor was way too damn long and that really took a lot away from the match, especially with what little actually happened in the match.
* Like that things seem to be more and more turning Sasha bad. Summer Rae is stirring the pot and Paige is not helping matters by saying she is better than Sasha (even though you wouldn't have expected her to say anything else).
* Rusev continues to impress and considering everyone has told me that the feud between Lefort's guys and Mason Ryan has been one sided so far in the favor of Mason, it was good to see that the Frenchman may have found a guy to beat Ryan.
* Does Leo Kruger have a pet rat or something because his whole promo while assaulting Xavier Woods makes me believe he is that creepy shut-in who has normal pests as his pets.
* Another solid main event for Sami Zayn, took the fight to Swagger, and once again, Bo Dallas being a troll screwing things up.

[Steveweiser]

LOL'd at Charlotte taking the Flair bump off the top rope, and then getting straight back up to do a move. Kinda killed your father's selling there a bit. Bayley continues to be adorable, and I marked for the Hugplex.

The Graves match was fine. Still not sold on him, but he's fine at playing the underdog in a match. The tag champs winning two singles matches against the Ascension should not warrant O'Brian and Victor a title shot. Just sayin'.

Another good Rae/Banks promo. Did the cameraman stooge them off to Paige, though?

Speaking of Paige, I LOVED her "I'm not here to be a cover girl, I'm here to cover girls" line. So clever and sums her character up well. Though I'm starting to hear a little bit of American twang creep into her accent now. I don't want her to sound like Layla.

Rusev got a good match out of Mason Ryan. Anyone who can pull that off deserves a great run in the company. That spin kick was fantastic once again. I also love the mock-up of Lefort on the dollar bill for his stable's entrance. #MONAY

Whilst Zayn/Swagger wasn't quite up there with the Cesaro matches, the heat was incredible. Zayn has quickly become the most over wrestler on the roster, and to no surprise whatsoever. And it was probably Swagger's best match since he was paired with Zeb Colter. Shame Zayn had to lose via Bo Dallas simply walking out. Bo gets his character now, and I'm coming round to the character. Remains to be seen if I'll come around to him as a wrestler.

[Society of the Spectacle]

It might go without saying, but Zayn has it. He's hanging with main roster guys, has impeccable timing, and he is very over with the crowd.

I know a lot of people miss El Generico, but this Sami Zayn character has really blossomed into something wonderful. He's a cocky smart-ass who doesn't back down, but he's also the guy who can fail and still get back up and fight. He has adapted his indy-style and showcases moves the crowd can (and does) get behind.

I'm sure some people are going to eventually start on about how his selling is "goofy," but I think he sells very well, and more importantly has the correct timing and ring placement to make it work. Even something as "simple" as climbing back into the ring and getting knocked by Swagger looked so smooth that it seems like he was born in that ring.

I think this match with Swagger was almost the equal of the 2/3 Falls with Cesaro, and credit goes to Swagger in that regard as well. I loved that part where Swagger was just frustrated and kicking at Sami who was down, trying to slap Swagger away. Great storytelling and intensity from both guys.

[brettappedout (BLM)]

Great show imo. NXT Divas are awesome, great segment with Summer/Sasha and promo from Paige. Rusev as Steveweiser said got a good match out of Mason Ryan, he deserves something good. I thought Victor/Graves was good, I'm a big Victor fan, just his style in the ring. Finally Zayn/Swagger was just as good to me as Zayn/Cesaro. It had the moves, the heat and the psychology. As others have said Swagger really stepped up.

[Deleted]

Ascension and Real Americans don't do anything for me, so this episode was cut in half. Good Divas match, Lefort's stable is getting better by each episode.

[Heinz Doofenschmirtz]

Zayn is killing it in NXT. He looked great in defeat. Swagger looked amazing (that sell on Zayn's big boot was stunning). One of the best matches of the year.

[Andrew is Good]

-Charlotte and Bayley make a great Head Cheese type of tag team, and they could definitely do some good stuff together.
-Corey Graves maybe the only pro wrestler ever to actually tape his ribs, instead of taping his belly to hide his gut, DDP style.

[Hit Girl]

I love the NXT crowd, lol

[Andrew is Good]

NXT does have quite the indy style crowd. Very excited, and I guess if you bring in a guy like Sami Zayn, that's the crowd you'll get. Personally though, I would have put Zayn over here instead of Swagger. Also, as much as I loved El Generico, I feel that being Sami Zayn definitely helps his future as a potential main event player, and El Generico might be a bit too gimmicky for that.

[mcd]

I agree. I have seen El Generico in the ring and in my opinion I don't want to see him in a WWE ring. However Sami Zayn? I want to watch that guy, I want to see him fight and win on a big stage. it helps that the opponents he has had make the matches that much smoother and better. He has that in-ring ability to excite a crowd.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

By the way, I do got to mention that is it me or does Corey Graves look like a buffer version of Jimmy Jacobs.

Also it is interesting that Swagger, who rarely does this, pulled down his singlet and the announcers actually acknowledged that.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

I think Sami Zayn is okay. But one thing that always nags at me is that I just don't understand why they ditched the El Generico gimmick when it seems so obvious that WWE wants a "Token Masked Guy" to sell masks to kids, and Sin Cara doesn't seem to be cutting it.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

Sept 5, 2013 23:37:38 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

I think Sami Zayn is okay. But one thing that always nags at me is that I just don't understand why they ditched the El Generico gimmick when it seems so obvious that WWE wants a "Token Masked Guy" to sell masks to kids, and Sin Cara doesn't seem to be cutting it.

I think what they want is more of an actual Latino luchadore.

[rybackrulez]

Swagger/Zayn just as good as Cesaro/zayn

Holy crap swagger looked like a beast and zayn showed a lot of heart. Great match

Man wwe has had great wrestling, but nxt always has the best action.

If it was an indie with wwe support, it would be the number two promotion in wrestling.

[Bo Rida]

Damn the atmosphere for the eventual Zayn vs Bo match is going to be insane.

Btw did you know that Riley once tagged with the Miz?