NXT R-evolution Coverage: Zayn New Champion, Owens and Balor Shine

A new NXT Champion in Sami Zayn, the debut of Kevin Owens and body paint on Finn Balor? What more could you ask for? It’s pretty scary to think that NXT R-evolution will be a better show than this weekend’s WWE TLC event, but it could definitely be the case in the next few days.

With a beefy card and plenty of possibilities moving forward, NXT has more than enough talent, even if former Champion Adrian Neville makes the jump to the WWE, to survive- and even thrive.

Matches:

Kevin Owens vs. CJ Parker: this was not only a raucous debut for Owens, but it was probably the best match of Parker’s NXT career. Hitting the Double Knee in the corner and a Palm Strike that bloodied Steen, umm Owens, Parker looked strong. Regardless, Parker was broken in half with Clotheslines and put away with a T-Bone Buster and a beautiful Pop-up Standing Powerbomb. Add in a Glipping Suicide Dive earlier in the contest and this was vintage Stee…Owens.

NXT Tag Team Champions Sin Cara and Kalisto vs. Simon Gotch and Aiden English: The Vaudvillains put on a show in the early going with quick tags and isolation tactics, but Kalisto eventually got the win on Goth with the Ultimo Dragon Flipping Reverse DDT.

Tye Dillinger vs. Baron Corbin: Corbin showed us a few more moves, but still got the easy win with the End of Days in less than a half minute.

Konnor and Viktor vs. Hideo Itami and Finn Balor: Balor’s entrance was wonderful and the match was stiff and fast-paced. Using fast tags, power moves and pure cunning, The Ascension were in control until Balor got the hot tag and decimated both Viktor and Konnor with strikes and aerial maneuvers. Itami had his moments to shine and nearly hit the GTS, but Balor was able to fight off the Fall of Man and hit the Pele Kick to even things up. After a pair of double Diving Foot Stomps, Balor and Itami got the win.

NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks: The best match of their young careers. Polished, tight, plenty of strikes and counters, these two put on a show. It’s just a shame it wasn’t on RAW. These two proved they belong on the main roster. Banks even performed a Suicide Dive at one point, making sure that this match wasn’t left in the background. Flair did her part though with Clotheslines, strikes, aerial maneuvers and plenty of desire. The match took a wild turn at the end, when Charlotte reversed the Superplex from Banks and hit the Diamond Dust for the win.

NXT Champion Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn: A near 40-minute epic. To say these guys “brought” it was an understatement. There were so many times when the match could have ended that it was truly unpredictable. Battling via strikes, counters and Zayn’s unique Suplex-based offense as well, both Zayn and Neville were on top of their game. But between his signature Diving Through the Ropes DDT and a beautiful Half-Nelson Release Suplex, Zayn had a killer instinct. But after Neville pulled the referee into Zayn’s Helluva Kick, the match went even crazier. Neville used the opportunity to use the championship helot, but Zayn hit the Big Boot and resisted the opportunity to use the belt himself. After Neville nearly won with a Rollup, Zayn got the win with his Signature Exploder Suplex and another Helluva Kick.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 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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