NXT Coverage: Surprises Galore

Is it scary that there’s more unpredictability on an episode of NXT than RAW or Smackdown? Or that storylines are more organized, logical and emotional?

In another solid episode of NXT, Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy upset the Vaudevillians while Bailey let the NXT Universe know she’s anything but a pushover.

Add in the intensity of the Number 1 Contender’s tournament and the drama between Kevin Owns and NXT Champion Sami Zayn and NXT continues to deliver.

Matches:

#1 Contenders Tournament: Finn Balor vs. Curtis Axel: Balor was athletic and Axel was solid in a good opening match. After he nearly won with a nasty Knee Lift, Axel fell apart, allowing Balor to hit the Pele Kick and follow it up with the Sling Blade and corner Dropkick, setting up the Double Stomper the win.

NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks w/Becky Lynch: Flair was in control until Lynch got involved to get the match thrown out. After the match, Bailey made the save, but then turned on Flair and hit her with the Belly-to-Bailey Suplex. NXT GM William Regal then announced a Fatal-Four-Way match for the NXT Women’s title between Flair, Lynch, Banks and Bailey at NXT Takeover.

Aiden English and Simon Gotch vs. Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy: This originally appeared to be another English and Gotch squash, but Murphy and Blake got the win with a Enziguri from Murphy and Rollup from Blake on an unsuspecting English.

#1 Contenders Tournament: Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze: Although Breeze was hesitant at first to lock up with Itami, he eventually kept Itami down thanks to strikes and submissions. Itami made a comeback with his Tornado DDT on the ropes and a Top Rope Clothesline, followed by a Fisherman Suplex, but Breeze wasn’t done yet. Fighting back with a vicious Super Kick, Breeze nearly won the match. A segment later, Breeze scored another near-fall with an awesome swinging Crucifix Bomb. Continuing to fight back, Itami hit a multitude of strikes before hitting the corner Drop Kick and finishing off Breeze with a Running, Diving Big Boot variation.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 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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