Wednesday, November 13, 2019

the Black and Gold Standard: Episode 8 (11/6/19)

BRAAP BRAAP PEW PEW
all photos courtesy of WWE.com
The problem with staplegunning solutions is that they're a salve, and not a fix. Injecting NXT into the main roster storylines earlier than probably planned due to the spade of flight delays helped out when it was necessary, but conversely and kind of inexplicably went from Saudi Arabia back to the States only to be back the next week in the Great Kingdom of Britain. This Jet Airliner itinerary meant good things for Imperium, but it didn't really help Black and Yellow Prime form some of the impactfulness that other USA episodes have blessed us with.

Fear not, however; a receipt from the main roster provided the bulk of the show's narrative, the midcard got multiple chances to shine, and even with a rare black mark in their ledger the women's division either stole the show yet again or flat out provided the best part of the show.

Let's begin at the beginning and the end...

The O.C.! The, the O.C.!
GOLD: AJ Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
They started off the show by beating the crap out of the Era - thus being the first signpost on the road to the Survivor Series triple threat where all the midcard champions will face each other with Styles and Roddy being 66.67% of the match - and coming out to gloat and try to take over. Insurprisingly, they met resistance: first from Ciampa, who welcomed them to the real main roster and was fine with the Era getting whupped but not with them trying to take over Daddy's Home, then he was seconded and thirded by the Limitless Bros.

This set up a trios match for the main event that started in a Pier 6 before settling down in a match that the black hats controlled when Keith Lee wasn't in the ring and that the Blackhearts did when the big hoss was. While the second half of the match didn't come without flaws (two restholds in a six-man that's barely ten minutes is three too many) and admittedly accidental fuckups (Matt Riddle clipped the ropes during the climactic dive train and almost broke his neck on the Fosbury Flop attempt) it fully broke down when Lee's Pounce sent AJ flying into Drake, who lost all his hit points when he traded in tights for pinstripes. So out strolled Finn Balor, only instead of Johnny Gargano testing the ramp with his head it was Riddle. AJ threw the horns up, Finn gave him the smirk and the guns, and Styles successfully Clashed Ciampa only to get superkicked by an incoming Adam Cole. Lest you worry about SurSer burying all the storylines pre-Blood Money, he then drilled Ciampa with a Last Shot. Cole smiled at Balor, Balor smiled back and also didn't throw up that gang's hand sign, either. Then the show ended.

If you noticed, there was no reason to name who pinned or who submitted whom because it didn't happen. In NXT! However, while the rare no contest left a weird taste in the regular NXT fan's mouth it didn't leave any thread unturned: whatever Finn is doing and the fact he could further throw the balance of power to one of the heel cliques now regardless of what show he does it on is one. Ciampa still hating Cole but putting Goldie on hold to go to war first? Ding! Cole getting some UE retribution for what happened to them at the beginning of the show, champion Styles about to pin uncrowned Ciampa, who in part is teaming with Lee & Riddle only because they stepped up to help in part because Johnny can't do it because Finn attacked Johnny when it looked like for a brief moment they would step up and undo all the hard work of the Golden Prophecy? That's like a prime era Simpsons joke comprised of the top layer of the main joke but crammed like a Russian doll with references to previous jokes and episodes and pop culture while still getting the main point across and that intricacy should not be forgotten. Cut to the quick, it's why we've grown accustomed to giving NXT the benefit of the doubt when it comes to any kind of storytelling beyond five minutes with regards to WWE and all their imprints.

And given the fact that seemingly both Riddle and Gargano have been taken out by TAFKA Prince, we still have one question for what may be the main event: who's Ciampa going to get on his team if either or both of them can't help defend Daddy's house come Takeover?

It might feel good, it might sound a little somethin'...
GOLD: Women's WarGames
Going over Dakota Kai's evening feels like kicking a Special Olympian while they're down, but this won't come with bias; just unfortunate facts.

1) She talks smack on social media going into her match
Rhea Ripley has a slot open on a team her BFF is already on, and she's going to face Shayna Baszler now unafraid. She wants the fourth and final slot and jumps on the Tweet Machine to do so. Off of this, Master Regal grants her a sort of Gut Check non-title match against her longest Stateside rival.

2) She's as hyped as she's ever been and exhibits it not only in her pre-match interview but in the match as well.
She admits her state of mind (formerly afraid, now not) but says her newfound aggression and fire will prove to Rhea she belongs in the double cage as well as kick Shayna's face off. Direct quote.

3) For a while, it works!
Note the first three words.Yet, she was willing to pieface the Queen of Spades and hit some mocking kicks on multiple occasions. The match nearly went three segments. Buuuutttt

4) No version of her has ever been better than Shayna - not even this one - and she's forced to tap out cleanly mid-ring without Shayna even needing to get her underlings involved.

They were fine getting involved after the bell, of course.

5) She not only gets sore winnered, but Mia Yim comes out with a cane and takes the spot she wanted.
It was that sort of brutality Rhea obviously loved in naming her to the squad in a five-person post-match interview, despite the fact Shayna's offered Mia membership in the Horsewomen before and she's taking Tegan on the team despite her getting her second horrific knee injury during their MYC match last year. You may also remember Tegan coming back from injury after Dakota and still getting this spot; by accident or design, despite Rhea feeling as close to bad about things as a strong, sensual woman like her gets and Nox's obvious discomfort over the whole situation, whatever small things an already miserable Kai was feeling somehow on multiple occasions only got mumbled just after Cathy realized she was talking and were done by the mic got underneath her falling chin. You would think they would get it right with another online opportunity, and it somehow went worse! If she starts painting her face around Hannukah and hanging out in the crow's nest for a year while CFO$ works on a revamp of Seek and Destroy, what jury would possibly convict her?

OOF.

TA.

Hope y'all rented and didn't buy those chants of Team Kick.

Every picture they're in, they pose a triple threat
GOLD: midcard sharks
The Pete Dunne/Damian Priest rematch built and expanded (three segs, baybee!) on the original, with its own narrative and fun conclusion of Dunne blocking Priest's low blow to execute one of his own with the ref entangled before locking on a finger snapping submission to get his own shady duke and drawing what appeared to be hardway blood in the process. Post-match, Dunne found himself jumped by Killian Dain who was only kept from jumping Dunne even more because Priest had more than a couple of reasons to seek retribution himself. Dain laid them both out and left, only to be jumped by Priest full-on; Dain got rid of him culminating with a cannonball into Priest into the steps. The feuds of Dunne now truly intersect, with both men who hate him now having beef with each other as well. Keep in mind Dunne has had a recent North American championship opportunity while Dain was one Bro away from getting a shot at Goldie and none of the trioka have held a Stateside NXT belt, and it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top of this and where they go after it. You can make a compelling argument for all three men.

You could also make it for Isaiah "Swerve" Scott and Dominik Dijakovic, who had a one on one that really should've gotten some hype beforehand but still made for quite the semi-main. It went 55/45 and as he did in his loss to Roderick Strong, Scott looked awesome only to fall victim to a bigger athlete who quickly combined a momentum shifter with immediately hitting their finisher and getting the win. The only problem with this is that the rematch hasn't happened yet, and if Ciampa still needs bodies to fight the Era in the double cage he could do a lot worse than either or both of them. It was great to see from both sides this going from just a match to something resembling the level right below hostilities while being tinged with respect. Both laughing at the other kicking out late was a nice touch, and if Dijakovic wants to just keep having a series of matches with some of the brightest lights on NXT's employ then let us feast all of our eyes.

Sin Pantalones > Sin Cara
GOLD: Angel Garza
The Handsomest Luchador Alive, Non-Carillo Division won the #1 contendership to the Cruiserweight championship in a match not even Tony Nese thought he was going to win. What makes things interesting here is that due to the reactions Garza's getting from the Full Sailors, Beth, Nigel, you, me, etc, the smarter move might've been to give the former Cruiserweight champion the duke and have him put over Lio Rush on this week's programming.

Instead, Angel and Tony had a modern version of the famous SNME Roberts/Savage match (them both pulling the other man's hair while threatening him with their free hand was a great moment only eclipsed by Nese accidentally sunset bombing Garza's pants off and being made vulnerable to a second rope heading into the break to a huge ovation) that Garza won cleanly with the Wing Clipper. Lio Rush came out to congratulate him and/or talk smack, then Garza actually smacked him in the face, shrugged and laughed. Lio laughed back and threatened to pay him back with Big Purp on the line, and the alignments are...whatever you want them to be, I suppose.

Then again, the alignments don't matter as much as putting back some of the prestige on the belt that it had when Ced, Bud and Staf were tearing the roof off the mother so hard people who didn't give a shit were forced to, so in that aspect the reclamation project NXT has undertaken is bearing fruit already.

BLACK: Taynara/Santana
Into every life a little rain must fall, and for this episode the most jarring thing was this match. It wasn't even Wrestlecrap worthy, but they did feel at several points in a relatively short match as if they were driving 30 on the freeway. What made the bad parts even more glaring were that they were the meat of the bout when on several occasions TAFKA Conti hit some impactful, beautiful offense to the point that she was getting cheers and chants from the Full Sailors. Considering the already intimidating depth in the division with even more on the way, on live TV is not the place to be anything less than sterling. Even all the sadder is that it dwarfed a rare win for Taynara, who was visibly moved after she won. May this misstep be slight and both women put on better efforts in the future.

NXT hasn't failed in the USA era yet. I get to say that kind of thing because I'm not the one working on a year-ending no-hitter.

UP NXT: We have a Mia/Io ladder match for the WarGames advantage that Dakota probably won't accidentally cost Number Four, as well as the CW title match.