NXT Coverage: Titus Barks, Neville Bites

Why the WWE continues to push RAW underlings on NXT is mind-boggling. Away from the Main Event, this week’s episode did a solid job of building some story lines and drama, but it makes you think.

Why can’t Sami Zayn get a title shot? Even if it was semi-announced this week, nothing was cemented, so at this point, it’s still just innuendo. Why is Hideo Itami stuck in a feud with The Ascension? Where is Devitt?

This show is good, but it can be so much better if the WWE just threw all their eggs in one preverbal basket and made some omelets. Instead, it’s week after week of appetizers.

Matches:

The Ascension Viktor and Konnor vs. Jason Jordan and Ty Dillinger: The up and coming team of Jordan and Dillinger were clearly outmatched as The Ascension won with the Fall of Man. After the match Hideo Itami hit the ring and attacked Viktor and Konnor, but he was easily dispatched as well, delivering the Fall of Man on him as well.

Tyler Breeze vs. CJ Parker: With Mojo Rawley ringside, Breeze easily beat Parker, countering his Standing Side Kick into the Beauty Shot for the win.

Aiden English and Simon Gotch vs. Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake: Blake and Murphy put on a good show, but English and Gotch got the win with their new European Uppercut Neckbreaker variation for the win.

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks: Bayley was in deep trouble as Banks laid in the strikes and submissions, at will. Scratching, choking and pulling hair, Banks was pissed. Bayley did make a nice comeback, but she couldn’t put Banks away. After a series of strikes, the two evened out and Banks promptly ended the match with the Bank Statement for the submission win. After the match, Becky Lynch hit the ring to protect Bayley, but quickly turned on her and joined Banks’ camp.

NXT Champion Adrian Neville vs. Titus O’Neil: Neville was getting manhandled for most of the match until he made a short comeback in the corner, ironically and rather abruptly, finishing off O’Neil with the Red Arrow. After the match, Sami Zayn asked for a title shot- and got it.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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