WWE NXT review, February 24: Thumbs up, thumbs down

A look at the action from NXT from February 24, 2016. 

A quick recap for those of you who may not be caught up on the events happening in NXT right now:

Despite a rematch to determine the new No. 1 contender, Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe still don’t have a definitive outcome between them. Both had their shoulders down when the three count was administered, so we still don’t have a clear challenger for Finn Balor. More on that during this episode.

The tag division is hotter than ever with American Alpha, Enzo and Cass, Dash and Dawson (now called The Revival, apparently) and several other teams having great matches and actually creating a competitive tag team division as opposed to the main roster where it’s basically the champions and whichever team creative remembered exists that week.

Bayley and Carmella have been dealing with the somewhat nefarious and robotic duo of Eva Marie and Nia Jax of late, getting jumped after their title match only to be saved by Asuka. So now Bayley not only has the All Red Robot and Nia to worry about, she has Asuka lurking in the background thinking about kicking her head in. Poor Bayley.

Without further ado, here’s your Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down for February 24, 2016.

Thumbs Up(ish): American Alpha vs Dubstep Cowboys

I’ll never not like the fact that American Alpha is still sporting the Steiner Brothers singlets, so that automatically gets a massive thumbs up. If Jordan can start shouting “HEH?” at everything and start throwing obscenities out, even better.

This match was fine and well, ending the way it’s supposed to with American Alpha hitting the Grand Amplitude for the win. If anything, it was a little too long for what it was. Perhaps the beginning portion of this match, where AA established its dominance before getting beat down and leading to the eventual hottest of hot tags before grabbing the win. If that were maybe two minutes shorter, getting right to the point instead, it might’ve been better. Still, not a bad match in the least.

Small note but definitely worth mentioning: after Blake and Murphy take the loss, one of them (I can’t recall which but I think it was Blake) is laying on the floor and Alexa Bliss could not look more disgusted. Little Miss Bliss and her on-point facial expressions might be at the end of her rope with the failures of the Dubstep Cowboys and I can’t wait to see the faces she will make when she ultimately dumps them.

Thumbs Up: 2-out-of-3 Falls

Look, I really think they’re stretching this whole No. 1 contender scenario just a little bit farther than they should but the fact that it’s leading to Samoa Joe vs Sami Zayn in a two-out-of-three falls match is absolutely fine by me. The more matches they can participate in, the better.

Honestly, even with the way this scenario has played out, it is still infinitely more rewarding than on Raw. On NXT, there is reason behind everything and no one just runs around making matches all willy nilly. Even if you want something, you have to go through William Regal first. On RAW, guys make their own matches all the time and the Authority constantly makes decisions that benefit the guys they hate and are actively trying to hold down. Do you guys even know how to villain?

Thumbs So Far Up: Free Agent Acquisition

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So SPOILER ALERT — but not really because WWE and everyone else tweeted and wrote about it on Sunday night, but next week’s episode of NXT will reveal the newest free agent acquisition coming to NXT and it’s none other than freaking Shinsuke Nakamura.

I don’t know what happened or if I’m going to wake up at some point soon and realize that it’s 2013 and we’re getting John Cena/Randy Orton main events again, but 2015 and 2016 NXT have been part of a wrestling revelation. On any given show, you can see Prince Devitt, Kevin Steen, Pac, El Generico, Samoa Joe, KENTA and now SHINSUKE NAKAMUARA. On WWE elevision. Triple H gets a lot of deserved flack for a lot of things, but NXT, I love you so much.

Thumbs Down: The Drifter

He’s a homeless person, I guess? And he travels from show to show singing songs on his guitar, I guess? Hard pass all the way around.

Thumbs Up: Oh Hey, Biff Busick

Speaking of all these indie guys you know and love showing up on NXT, it’s Biff Busick of just about anywhere fame as Christopher Girard battling the lovable Apollo Crews. Crews wins with the sit-out toss power bomb because obviously, but there is one thing worth noting in this match.

NXT does a masterful job bringing in all these faces that maybe their audience isn’t familiar with and not only talking up their accomplishments from outside of WWE, but making them seem like a viable threat to whatever established star they happen to be facing. Like, we know this guy isn’t beating Crews, but he’s allowed to get in his offense, look like a credible threat and still come out smelling like roses despite taking the loss. Meanwhile, RAW is so full of 50/50 booking that no one ever really comes out looking good and everyone is garbage. I don’t even know anymore, you guys.

Thumbs Up: Baymella vs Nia Marie

So I’m going to roll both segments featuring these participants into one section so this doesn’t get too lengthy. Baymella cuts a quick, simple promo about their match, the threat of Nia and Eva, as well as the looming prospect of Asuka. Simple, to the point and without a bunch of unnecessary BS. Can you tell this show is handled completely outside of the WWE Universe?

As for the match itself, it was a good little match and accomplished the goal of maintaining that Eva and her bodyguard are still threats to Bayley’s Women’s Championship. Eva gets added heat by snaking in and stealing the pin over Carmella, who gets to look like the valiant babyface that just couldn’t overcome the monstrous Nia and her cowardly buddy. Not everything has to be this big, elaborate thing. Getting to the point works sometimes.

Thumbs Up: See ya, Bull

You can tell this is one of the last in a certain set of tapings because Tommaso Ciampa takes on Bull Dempsey, who you may have heard was recently released. The match is what it is: Bull being a funny fat guy while Ciampa tries to get down to business. Ciampa wins with his super cool looking armbar and Bull trots off into the sunset to be an actual wrestler elsewhere. Best of luck, Bull. Hopefully you won’t have to be a funny fat guy in your future endeavors.

Thumbs All The Way Up: Next Week’s Main Event

So to close the show, William Regal has a chat with NXT Champion Finn Balor and basically tells him that he’s one of the greatest NXT champions ever and that he’s coming up on the record for title reign. Finn is all “gee, that’s cool, I guess” and Regal gets to the point: next week, Finn will face off against the record holder and arguably NXT’s greatest champion, Neville. Sign my ass up.

One final thought: I think I’ve said this before, but for the most part it feels as if they are treading water until the final couple of shows before Takeover: Dallas. Hopefully, we’re getting into that ramping up next week with the announcement of Nakamura, Sami/Joe two-out-of-three falls and Neville vs Finn. This show has too many cool, dynamic characters to be treading water for so long, understandable as that may be.