I think that the Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch match from UNSTOPPABLE last night may be (a) my favorite women’s match I’ve ever seen and (b) the best NXT match I’ve seen since Zayn/Neville (and tied with it in terms of emotional content, tho maybe second-place on technical execution) and (c) the second-best WWE match of 2015 (behind Rollins/Cena/Lesnar triple threat at Fastlane).
I’m on record as just not really clicking with Lynch but last night she finally won me over, not with her new steampunk-ish look, but with her savage ring work. This match was brutal in a really emotional way that grew out of the feud these two women have had and made total sense even though neither of them is particularly physically imposing.
And the Boss is my favorite wrestler, full stop, so. She brought her A-game. It was amazing.
Look it up if you didn’t watch it!
Ugh I need to start watching NXT.
I wasn’t sure we were allowed to discuss NXTakeover, what with Joe Zantek and his spoiler outcry. Especially since his girl Alexa Bliss … nevermind
“That Sasha Banks match was amazing” is a spoiler just like “the sun came up yesterday” is 😉
Between WWE, LU, NXT, and NJPW getting easier to follow in the US, this really is one of the best times I can remember to be a wrestling fan.
I hate you for tagging me Justin Hunt
I recall saying to myself after that match “Match of the Night” Then I thought about it. Nah, Match of the Quarter.
Also, Arthur, I saw a Still Real To Us dot Com article where Finn Balor FKA Prince Devitt said that wrestling is at the start of a new boom period. The quality and access right now is the best we’ve had since the mid-90s.
Justin Phillips Are you talking about the casket match? That was pretty intense, yeah.
I have so little free time of late. I want to follow both NXT and Lucha Underground regularly, but they keep getting away from me, and I was planning to watch last night’s NXT event, but then Real Life jumped up and bit us on the butt with more pressing details. Thankfully, we should be able to pull up the show with our WWE Network subscription tonight. This is not the first place I’ve heard people gush about last night’s Banks match.
Peter Bothwick I think Finn might be on to something there. My hope is that we’ll be able to get a crowded playing field of friendly competition, where instead of WWE and some other company like LU going after each other with rusty knives out like the Monday Night Wars, that they’ll all sort of politely pretend other companies don’t exist, and just work to create better and distinct product in and of themselves.
…Although suddenly the idea of an NXT/LU invasion storyline gives me all sorts of MarkOutGasm thoughts.
I agree that I’d rather see friendly competition as opposed to the petty sniping of the Monday Night Wars.
I don’t see the appeal of something like Lucha Underground invading the WWE or vice versa, though. WWE is too rooted in the real world, whereas LU is in a world of magic medallions, vengeful martial artists, and people who come back from the dead. That’s an awesome world, but very different from the WWE’s reality. Prince Puma showing up on Raw would be like Spider-man turning up on Law and Order.
But….undertaker is an undead wizard…right?
Yeah, WWE isn’t that real. 🙂 But I see what you’re getting at, Sean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=VYvMOf3hsGA
No, I’m pretty sure he’s an undead wizard. And that Lola Blanc is the best Undertaker.
Back OTT: LU is a completely different beast from WWE. While almost all of us could agree that WWE’s programming could easily be called ‘Soap Opera For Men’, Lucha Underground is more ‘Soap Opera and Game Of Thrones bastard love child, plus some wrestling’. I mean, every wrestling promotion has a little of something to separate it from the rest. CHIKARA = Wrestling + Rocky Horror Picture Show performed by a community theatre troupe. CZW = Wrestling + Grind House films. NJPW = Wrestling + Superman Versus Batman. And right now, NXT is Wrestling + the Cannes Film Festival, while RAW is Wrestling + Soap Operas + Michael Bay.
Now, with that in mind, can you not see Sasha Banks as being the next ‘Undiscovered Talented Actress’ to get a big award at the Emmy’s or Oscar’s, only to vanish from the face of the earth in a few years after a couple of critically panned efforts? I can, and it is almost heart breaking. Damn you Michael Bay and your needless explosions and casual racism!
So I come home, wanting to watch the show, and of course my connection is terrible and gives me the worst quality ever…
It’s was a great match! I like Sasha’s matches with Bayley a lot too.
…God damn you Justin Hunt!
She was my beloved Magical Girl Gimmick!
I think that’s still true. She obviously was the master mind behind those two stooges distracting Carmella the Jersey Witch all these weeks.
I prefer to think of it as her being turned by the Negaverse now working for Queen Beryl.
I really really want Team Thick to start giving each other pecks on the cheek when they don’t think anyone is looking.
Just for the record, if we get an NXT Diva showing up with a Sailor Moon / Magical Girl gimmick, I will be giggling for WEEKS.
“In the name of the Moon, I will suplex you! Oshiyokiyo!”
Alexa Bliss is a total magical girl.
#BAMF