NXT
Full Sail University (Winter Park, Florida)
NXT Championship
The main event of the May NXT special was lost in the all of the – very well deserved – talk about the women’s title match and number one contender match. At the end of the day, however, it might have been the best of the bunch from a pure quality-wrestling standpoint.
There is a slow build and then there is what might be referred to as a fast-paced slow build. It is a borderline oxymoron but an appropriate description in this case. Kidd and Neville run through quick back-and-forth exchanges, standoffs, and hold exchanges but in the big picture of modern wrestling it qualifies as a slow build. They didn’t get right into the body of the match. They used those quick exchanges to lay the foundation for the body that came minutes later. The opening minutes of the match might have been the best part of the bout since they expertly established the roles (Kidd as the de facto heel and veteran; Neville as the flashy, younger champion) while setting up the latter stages of the match.
The two wrestlers were able to produce a few upper echelon near falls that might have outdone those in the number one contender’s match. Neville hits all of his high flying and high impact moves in a really visually-pleasing manner but I am not sure if they are altogether spectacular enough that he will be able to survive on them alone. Kidd is criminally under utilized in the WWE. His high profile run on NXT and Total Divas could serve as a prelude to a role on the main roster and it really should. He is at the point in his career where he understands the finer workings of constructing a match but still young enough that he comes off as athletically impressive and relevant. Hopefully this will indeed lead to an expanded roe for him in WWE.
Out of the two NXT specials, this might standout as the best of the bunch but there are about a half-a-dozen choices that you cannot go wrong with.
Diagnostics
Juniors | Worthwhile | Quality
