I watched the show a few days back when I signed up for the WWE Network trial and I was impressed. I have watched a few episodes of NXT before (it happens to air the hour before Raw here in the UK) so I was familiar with the characters and the storylines going in. But one thing that hooked me into this show was how serious they built the matches. The NXT title, Cesaro/Zayn and the Diva's title were all built so simple yet meant an awful lot, which helped me get invested in them.
Quality wise, Cesaro/Zayn was by far the best match on the show for me, and one of the best matches WWE has produced so far this year. How amazing has Cesaro been in the ring lately. Yeah, I know he was always good but when he first debuted I had a hard time investing in him. There was very little character wise to seperate him from the pack. But now he just seems to be coming into his own. His strength is incredible for a guy his size, he has to be the pound for pound strongest guy that WWE have. And his swing has also helped him distinguish himself from the roster, and interact with the audience at the same time. He is in the top three in the company for me in terms of in ring ability at this time, and he has probably been the most consistent in ring performer this year. His match with Cena, the Chamber match and now this one all in the space of like 2 weeks? He has stood out in all of them.
Anyway, onto the match itself. I had seen the matches between these two in the past but in my opinion this was superior. It may not have had a better finish than their previous match but the structure of this one was phenomenal, and it really came across as if this was the final match of what was a great series. Cesaro through everything and the kitchen sink at Zayn when it came to uppercuts, how viscous did they look? I loved the little throwbacks to their previous 2 out of 3 falls match as well with Cesaro countering the tornado DDT on the outside. Overall, just a great opening match with a great conclusion. Of all the performers, I think Zayn is the one I am looking forward to seeing most when he is brought up to the main roster.
The Diva's match was highly entertaining as well. What was even more impressive for me though was how they built it up. The video package that aired before the match (on the pre show I think) was a great display as to how you can build a womens title match so simply yet make it serious in a way that you can immediately become invested. I have not seen that in the WWE Womens Division in some time. Anyway, the match itself was highly entertaining and I loved the way they had Emma take control of the match. It really added to the story in that Paige didn't think Emma had the passion that she did, and also showed that there was a more serious side to Emma inside the ring. Good match overall.
Il be honest in saying that I was not that impressed with the ladder match. I have always appreciated Neville as a performer but I did expect to see a little more innovation in this one. However, it was great seeing him win the NXT title, it was well deserved and he should make a much more interesting champion than Bo Dallas. It would be awesome to see the title defended on the Mania pre show. Imagine Neville vs Zayn for the title on that one? It could be awesome.
To comment on the rest briefly, it was good seeing Too Cool make an appearence. And God, how much is Brian Christopher transforming into his father?
. Rusev also looks like he could be a big man that stands out, he has great physicallity with his strikes and I am looking forward to seeing him on the main roster.
Overall, a good show that demonstrated some seriousness that does not be displayed in the main product as often as it should and a great opening contest!
by Racing Guy » Feb 28, '14, 9:16 am 
