WWE NXT Review, April 13, 2016: Thumbs up, thumbs down

Your Official NXT Review for April 13, 2016

Previously on NXT…

NXT Takeover: Dallas finally happened and it was everything we’d ever hoped for. American Alpha finally captured the tag team championships in an awesome opener. Austin Aries made his debut and held off the underrated Baron Corbin two nights before the latter won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania.

Oh, we also got to see the debut of Japanese star Shinsuke Nakamura as he took on everyone’s favorite heart and soul of NXT, Sami Zayn. I don’t think I can properly articulate how amazing a match this was — easily the WWE match of the year so far — but the fans chanting “fight forever!” is probably a good indication of just how incredible a bout it was.

The two biggest matches of the night centered around the singles championships in NXT: the women’s and NXT championship. Bayley, no longer an underdog but a champion with all the heart in the world, took on the unstoppable Asuka. Despite her most valiant efforts, Bayley finally passed out in the Asuka lock, setting the table not only for a rematch but Bayley’s inevitable main roster debut but Asuka’s dominant run through the rest of the roster with the gold around her waist.

Lastly, NXT Champion Finn Balor took on the juggernaut known as Samoa Joe and the match was … something. Joe got busted open hard way early on and the momentum of the match got derailed by attempts to quell the blood. Not only that, but the match felt as if it ended suddenly, with Finn taking a page out of Bret Hart’s playbook by rolling back while in the Coquina Clutch and stealing the three.

Last week’s NXT was a recap of Takeover, so this is the beginning of a new set of storylines.

So without further ado, here is your very official NXT review for April 13, 2016.

Thumbs Up: Lightning Round

Normally, I’m not a fan of episodes that are nothing more than squash matches. But the fun thing about NXT is that even when nothing’s really happening, the match ups are fresh and usually fun. That’s the case on this episode.

In the opener, Austin Aries takes on nobody’s favorite jobber Angelo Dawkins. It’s your typical NXT squash, but it was nice to see A-Double look like the star we’d been told about. In his debut against Corbin, he played the role of undersized underdog. Here, he gets to get all of his offense in and look like a million bucks. I’ll take it.

Next up, Alexa Bliss and her wonderfully on-point facial expressions took on another Horseman’s daughter: Tessa Blanchard. Like Charlotte with Ric Flair, Tessa looks exactly like her father but much less hairy. She got a nice little spot where she fires up and unloads on Alexa, making her look not completely inept before finally eating the loss.

In a match that should’ve been more fun than it turned out to be, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa took on the Vaudevillains. It was pretty much standard fair, but I have to admit that it was surprising that the recently-main roster-debuted Vaudevillains took the loss. Hopefully it isn’t indicative of them getting the Ascension treatment on the main roster.

Baron Corbin took on Tucker Knight. It goes as you’d think. The only thing I have to say about this match is thank god Tucker Knight isn’t wearing trunks anymore because dude should not be wearing trunks.

The last of the uneventful matches in this round was Bayley taking on Liv Morgan in her first match since losing the NXT Women’s Championship. Though it was obvious who was going to win, Liv is a future star. She’s got the look, but she also has the charisma to stand out. As for Bayley, I hope they give her a road to redemption against Asuka only for Asuka to barely prevail so that Bayley can go be the best thing ever on the main roster.

Thumb Up, Thumb Down: Backstage Segments

So Samoa Joe and Finn Balor both got quick backstage segments and I’m on opposite ends of the spectrum with both of them. Joe claims that nothing has changed and that he’s still going to chase the NXT Championship. Which is great, but he has no momentum and lost twice in a row to Finn. Where do we go from here, realistically? It just feels like an empty threat which takes away from his monster persona.

On the other side of that, Finn Balor talks potentially number one contenders and name drops Nakamura. OF COURSE WE WANT TO SEE THAT, FINN. And yes, I just “too sweet”ed my screen, what of it?

Speaking of things we absolutely need to see yesterday, Enzo and Cass run into American Alpha backstage and suggest a match between the two teams. “It doesn’t have to be for the titles,” Enzo says. Hey man, as long as this match happens, I don’t care what it’s for.

Thumbs Way Up: Shinsuke!

In the highlight of the night, Shinsuke Nakamura makes his NXT television debut against the “Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger. The match itself is nothing to write home about, especially as a follow-up to Nakamura’s debut effort, but you know what? It was still thoroughly entertaining.

This match being more watchable than the rest of the squashes is due entirely to the fact that both guys are immensely entertaining. The back-and-forth hand gestures, the posturing, the playing to the crowd; both guys knew how to get the most out of this crowd without having to tax themselves trying to match Nakamura/Zayn.

Overall, a pretty average show that very peripherally got things moving in a new direction. But fresh match ups and the right faces in the right places still made this a helluva lot more fun than most episodes of Raw over the last year.

For more WWE coverage, be sure to visit our hub page.