NXT Report 10-30-14

NXT got off to an interesting start with something we don't see often; a tag team battle royal. It involved Enzo Amore and Big Cass, Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy, The Vaudevillains, The Ascension and Tye Dillinger and Jason Jordan. I've heard that Dillinger and Jordan have gotten World's Greatest Tag Team chants I guess because one is white and one is black. Anyway, them and Team Thick were out first as expected. Enzo and Cass went out next leaving the Ascension and the Vaudevillains. Hideo Itami came out to distract the Ascension, allowing the Vaudevillains to eliminate the former Champions and earn an NXT Tag Team Title shot. What followed was Itami taking yet another beating from The Ascension. I have to admit, this is getting old quickly.

BADA BING, HOTTEST CHICK IN THE RING! I don't particularly agree but Carmella stepped into the ring with Emma for her second match. I feel so bad for Emma because the girl can flat out go in the ring but she's "graduated" from NXT to jobber. I knew it would be tough for her gimmick to get over on the main roster, but they did nothing to help it get over. Anyway, this was a solid women's match and Carmella won with her surprisingly impressive submission. There's potential there, but she does play her character very well.

Speaking of the women of NXT, Bayley got a short interview where she said that since Sasha Banks wants to bring Becky Lynch, who turned on her, she's going to bring a friend too. Charlotte. The woman who first turned her back on Bayley. Congrats to Bayley who is solidifying my remark last week that she is the Sting of NXT. Bull Dempsey, who has never impressed me much, beat Justin Gabriel. To continue the theme of relatively short matches, Baron Corbin beat Tony Corbin in 19 seconds. The fans actually counted the seconds which was awesome. My main problem with Baron Corbin is that we don't know exactly why he's a "different breed" but at least they addressed it here by saying that he wins and then leaves before talking to anyone. It's not a great reasoning, but it's something.

Hideo Itami cut a short promo backstage stating that he's bringing a "friend" to NXT next week. Aww yeah, this is about to get good. The Legionnaires exploded as Sylvester Lefort took on Marcus Louis, who is upset that he looks like a mini Kane. Louis beat Lefort up and then finished him off quickly. Neither guy is that good and I wouldn't be surprised if they were involved in the next round of budget cuts. The main event featured Sami Zayn taking on Titus O'Neill as part of his road to redemption. The match was really good as Titus dominated and Sami is great at playing the face in peril. He rallied and eventually took home the big win. Tyler Breeze showed up and cut a perfectly in character promo about how Zayn needs to beat him for once to get a title shot and that will happen next week.

Too many short matches tonight for me to fully enjoy the broadcast. The main event was good and the tag battle royal was decent. Not my favorite episode of NXT, so it gets a 5/10. However, next week is shaping up to be phenomenal. Itami brings a friend and if Zayn/Breeze is anything like it was at TakeOver, it will be fantastic.