The Alexa Bliss-Sasha Banks match from last nights NXT wasn’t really a great match (especially by NXT standards), but there’s an interesting game-relevant aspect to it. The crowds basically dead (I imagine it was taped near the end of their marathon taping cycle), and there are enough weird things in the beginning that I’m pretty sure Bliss was messing up moves.
But near the middle of the match she just hauls off and slaps Sasha and the crowd pops, and got more vocal in general; then Bliss hit a f*cking Canadian Destroyer out of the corner and the crowd really popped and was hot for the finish (which was the BO$$ retaining, obviously).
Sasha did good heel work throughout and the match was really about building up Bliss as a more credible contender, in my eyes, but it was neat to basically see her ace a couple rolls mid-match to bring in the dead crowd.
Oh, and the Finn Balor-Kevin Owens match was really goddam good, too.
I need to go and watch that episode.
It’s kind of filler (those are the only two matches) but they’re two good matches.
Found a .gif! I guess it’s supposed to be a sunset flip powerbomb thing but the one last night was so fast it looked like a Canadian Destroyer to me. http://33.media.tumblr.com/6fc7b819de8fd23b1d2bc69e3e38de7b/tumblr_nlfqjbcIKu1tidzcfo1_400.gif
Watched it last night. Popped huge! It’s also so funny on shows where there are so many spectacular moves… a slap… gets such a huge reaction! Probably because many people can relate to it!
And out of character.
Nathan, I really enjoy these commentaries on seeing the mechanics of the game in action on NXT.
There’s an element to familiarity to a slap – few of us have taken an RKO, but many of us have been slapped, so we can empathize with the pain and shock of it. Papercuts on screen are the same way.
Also, a slap is PERSONAL. It’s a move that says “I’m in your face and telling you what I think of you”, which naturally builds the emotional content of the match and thus crowd heat. As opposed to doing an established hold like an arm-drag or suplex or whatnot, which is certainly going to do more “damage” towards leading to a pin or submission by wrestling logic, but on average is less personal. It’s “just another move” and doesn’t tell a story in and of itself.
Thanks Justin Hunt ! Because NXT is both short and focused on the basics of mainstream wrestling it probably has the most one-to-one matchiness with the WWWRPG ruleset. Glad it’s helpful!
In those terms, Bliss’s slap was definitely either a successful Work the Audience Move, or maybe even a Babyface Move to gain Heat with Sasha!