I hadn't decided if I was going to start doing to a NXT review or not, but this match was way too good not to talk about. Honestly, I had gone ahead and read the spoilers for this weeks NXT so I knew that Samoa Joe won, but that didn't take anything away from the match!
The concept of a two out of three falls is a great one. I like it almost as much as I like Ironman matches. And considering the story these two guys have been telling over the last month or so, this was the perfect way to determine the number one contender.
Let me say that I didn't start watching NXT until October, I believe. I think the first ever match I watched for NXT was Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor in Japan. And that was only because it was on a main roster show. But after I watched it, I had to have more. I went back and watched older matches, especially matches between the women, but the feud I came away liking the most was Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. I've determined, on my own from watching it, that there is MONEY in Owens, and Sami Zayn seems to have the same support from the crowd that Daniel Bryan had. He's got this underdog feel to him. It's why I was so happy to see Sami come out and take on Owens at Raw. And I've said all that to say this:
This was one of my favorite matches I've watched.
You have two really different styles here, but they complimented one another so well. Neither looked weak here. Joe looked like a menacing force out to hurt Sami, and Sami looked like the underdog out to prove that he could hang with a big dog. And they neither disappointed. Sami's ability to fly high, Joe's ability to hit hard, and their ability, as a unit, to tell a compelling story was amazing to watch. Some of the spots that Sami had, and some bumps that Joe took, were spectacular. These two guys displayed what happens when the guys in the back have your back. You get the sense that they were told to go out there and leave nothing behind. They did that.
Here's what I love about Joe. He's such a terrifying heel. He's actually a guy that you could legitimately be afraid of. He's big, he's powerful, but he's got skill and ring presence. He can say so much with just a snarl of his lip. He's sold the power in this match. He threw Sami around like he weighed nothing and then he moved around like he was weightless! You believe that his strikes hurt, and you believed him when he hit his own back.
Sami, for his part, played the role of the underdog to perfection. Did you see that word? PERFECTION! As much as he was beaten down, he kept getting back up. He took hard bumps, he took kicks, and hits, and tosses like a champ, and every time he struggled to his feet, you believed that maybe, just maybe, he had a chance. He's going on to bigger and better things, but Sami, when he locked in that submission move and Joe was out, gave real credibility to this match. And I think it only helped him look stronger in the long run for it! He submitted Joe. Joe eventually got the win, as he should have, but it was truly a back and forth struggle that was completely fun to watch!
Kudos to Joe and Sami and NXT for putting on a match and showing the main roster that they better watch their backs because their spots can be taken like that and no one would even flinch about it.
photocredit to flickeringmyth.com
No comments:
Post a Comment