• Home
  • Movies
  • Music
  • TV
  • Video Games
  • Wrestling
  • Topics
  • Latest Comments
Search
Cult of Whatever logo
  • Movies
    Featured
    • The Living Daylights: Timothy Dalton as James Bond

      The Living Daylights is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 28, 2022
      Movie Blogs
    Recent
    • Elvis: Austin Butler

      REVIEW: ELVIS beautifully mythologizes the King of Rock and Roll

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 25, 2022
    • The Black Phone: Ethan Hawke as The Grabber

      REVIEW: THE BLACK PHONE is a flat, dull, rushed non-horror movie

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 25, 2022
    • Jurassic World Dominion Logo

      REVIEW: Jurassic World Dominion – Here we go again…again

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 12, 2022
    • Three Men and a Baby: Tom Selleck and Ted Danson

      Three Men and a Baby is still awesome thirty five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 31, 2022
    • The Bob's Burgers Movie Poster

      REVIEW: Bob’s Burgers The Movie is Bob’s Burgers The Show, which means it’s great

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 28, 2022
    • Top Gun Maverick: Tom Cruise

      REVIEW: Top Gun Maverick is a sequel that soars!

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 27, 2022
  • Music
    Random
    • Bg Frank Sinatra Elvis

      Elvis's 40 Year Reign (1960-1962)

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 4, 2017
      Music Blogs
    Recent
    • The Beatles: Get Back

      What GET BACK reveals about the Beatles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 15, 2021
    • Simon And Garfunkel at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam1982

      The Boxer is a song about being conned

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 4, 2021
    • Lady Gaga: Chromatica Album Cover

      Lady Gaga’s discography is totally out of order

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 3, 2021
    • Michael Jackson Thriller Album Cover

      Thirty years ago music fans said “Nevermind” to Michael Jackson

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 21, 2021
    • Queen II Album Cover

      On Queen’s The Miracle, and the importance of track ordering

      By Matthew Martin
      | February 16, 2021
    • Linda Paul Mccartney 1976

      50 years ago, McCartney dropped “Lennon” and went solo…

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 5, 2020
  • TV
    Featured
    • Nancy Drew S03e01: Kennedy McMann as Nancy

      Nancy Drew S03E01 Review: The Warning of the Frozen Heart - Uh-oh!

      By Salome G
      | October 10, 2021
      TV Blogs
    Recent
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04e03: Sibongile Mlambo, Lily Cowles and Michael Trevino as Anatsa, Isobel and Kyle

      Roswell, New Mexico S04E03 Review: Subterranean Homesick Alien – Treading water?

      By Salome G
      | June 23, 2022
    • Obi-Wan Kenobi Series: Ewan McGregor and Vivien Lyra Blair as Obi-Wan and Leia

      REVIEW: Obi-Wan Kenobi had a good season and little else

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 22, 2022
    • Evil S03e02: Sohina Sidhu and Aasif Mandvi as Karima and Ben Shakir

      Evil S03E02 Review: The Demon of Memes – Delightfully creepy

      By Salome G
      | June 20, 2022
    • Dark Winds S01e02: Jessica Matten as Bernadette Manuelito

      Dark Winds S01E02 Review: The Male Rain Approaches – Loose threads

      By Salome G
      | June 20, 2022
    • Riverdale S06e17: Madelaine Petsch, Camila Mendes and Lili Reinhart as Cheryl, Veronica and Betty

      Riverdale S06E17 Review: American Psychos – Bored

      By Salome G
      | June 18, 2022
    • Star Trek Strange New Worlds S01e06: Ian Ho and Husein Madhavji as First Servant and Elder Gamal

      Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Episodes 6-7 review (the best and the not-so best)

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 18, 2022
  • Video Games
    Featured
    • Arkham Knight

      Batman: Arkham Knight - A fitting end to a trilogy

      By Tom Farr
      | July 18, 2015
      Video Game Reviews
    Recent
    • Legend Of Zelda

      Can a Legend of Zelda movie work?

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 6, 2022
    • Super Mario 64

      Which system had the better launch: A battle of four Nintendo consoles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2021
    • Luigi's Mansion

      Happy twentieth to Nintendo’s underrated gem, the Gamecube

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 18, 2021
    • Metroid Dread

      Metroid Dread – Post Game analysis and sequel needs

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 29, 2021
    • Mario Headphones

      The SNES Turns 30: A look at some of the system’s best soundtracks

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 22, 2021
    • Metroid Dread Poster

      REVIEW: Metroid Dread reawakens the old gamer in me

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 11, 2021
  • Wrestling
    Featured
    • Wwe Payback 2017 Poster 2

      Your SO OF COURSE preview of WWE Payback 2017

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 30, 2017
      WWE Blogs
    Recent
    • AEW Double or Nothing 2022: CM Punk vs Adam Page

      REVIEW: AEW Double or Nothing 2022 delivered an up-and-down show

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 30, 2022
    • MJF on AEW Dynamite 17th November 2021

      Getting AEW to the next level…

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 29, 2022
    • Raw 210501: Triple H and Stephanie McMahon

      May 21, 2001 – A (forgotten) date that will live in WWE infamy

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 20, 2022
    • WWE WrestleMania 39 Logo

      Your WAY TOO EARLY predictions for WWE WrestleMania 39!

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 20, 2022
    • WWE WrestleMania 38 Poster

      Your SO OF COURSE preview of WWE WRESTLEMANIA 38!

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 30, 2022
    • Wrestlemania 31 Paige Aj Lee 2

      BOOK REVIEW: The Women of WrestleMania is a balanced take on an under-valued slice of history

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 16, 2022
  • Topics
    • site logo
    Latest
    • REVIEW: ELVIS beautifully mythologizes the King of Rock and Roll
    • REVIEW: THE BLACK PHONE is a flat, dull, rushed non-horror movie
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04E03 Review: Subterranean Homesick Alien - Treading water?
    • REVIEW: Obi-Wan Kenobi had a good season and little else
    • Evil S03E02 Review: The Demon of Memes - Delightfully creepy
    • Dark Winds S01E02 Review: The Male Rain Approaches - Loose threads
    • Latest Comments

    NXT Recap: January 14th 2014

    By Callum Wiggins
    | January 15, 2015
    WWE NXT

    With SmackDown being shifted to Thursday nights, NXT finds a new time on the WWE Network on Wednesdays. It might be a different time, but you can still be guaranteed the consistently excellent action from the developmental stars. And they chose a great way to sell the main event of their first Wednesday program, with an NXT Championship match. New champion Sami Zayn defends the belt for the first time, battling the former titleholder Adrian Neville in a rematch from R Evolution. Will the popular redhead’s reign fall at the first hurdle, or will the Red Arrow once again be shot down?

    Elsewhere on the card, Finn Balor takes on Tyson Kidd in a mouth-watering bout for pure wrestling fans. Two of the best in-ring technicians in the world of professional wrestling today locking up is rarely a bad thing, and has the potential to steal the show from the championship contest. Also, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch team up against Natalya and the NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte, and the long-anticipated brawl between Baron Corbin and Bull Dempsey finally comes to fruition.

    Quick Results

    • Finn Balor defeats Tyson Kidd
    • Baron Corbin defeats Bull Dempsey
    • Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch defeat Charlotte and Natalya
    • NXT Champion Sami Zayn defeats Adrian Neville

    Finn Balor vs. Tyson Kidd

    The night’s opening contest has all the makings of an instant classic, as the artistic Finn Balor combats one of the best pure wrestlers in WWE, which is a Fact, Tyson Kidd. A prelude took place a couple of months back between these versatile technicians only to be interrupted by the Ascension. Now, with those two now running roughshod over local jobbers on the main roster, Balor is now free to demonstrate his bountiful skill-set against other competitors. Kidd is not a bad way to start as far as the neutral fans are concerned, but is a test that Balor will do well to overcome.

    Highlights

    Immediate explosive dropkick as soon as the bell was rung by Balor

    Kidd dodges a baseball slide and then forces Balor hard against the barrier

    “He’s dedicating matches to his cat!?” – Alex Riley not a fan of Kidd’s priorities

    Kidd carrying himself really well as a heel desperate for the crowd to appreciate him

    Balor launching himself over the top rope onto Kidd

    Dragon whip by Kidd across the top rope, before punting Balor out of his boots at ringside

    Crowd Reaction

    “Tyson Chicken” as Kidd tries to escape from Balor’s early onslaught

    “NXT! NXT! NXT!” – the crowd loving the first match of the night

    “This is Awesome!” – a chant the NXT audience is getting used to bringing out

    Low Points

    Finn Balor kicking out of pins too quickly throughout the match

    Finish

    Following a lifted inverted DDT, Balor connects with a Double Footstomp to defeat Kidd

    A classy match, but did anyone expect anything less? Balor is an explosive star with some fantastic kicks and chops to knock down Kidd and get the crowd invested. However, Kidd as a bratty heel who seems to be shocked at the crowd’s disdain of him is a really fantastic performance. Their respective styles blended well, and outside of Balor kicking out of pin attempts too quickly on occasion, this was a solid contest. Balor will make a big impact on the main roster when he arrives for his theatricality and maneuvers. For now though, I’m happy he can continue to liven up Wednesday evenings.

    Rating – 3.5/5

    Baron Corbin vs. Bull Dempsey

    A feud that has bubbling to the surface in recent months has been the tension between a pair of behemoths, Baron Corbin and Bull Dempsey. Beginning as a tale of outdoing one another with the speed in which they were able to dispatch of their opponents, Dempsey was consistently being outdone. His mind games from ringside had no effect other than to draw the ire of Corbin, as the pair finally laid into one another a couple of weeks back. Who will prove the victor in this clash of two wrecking balls?

    Highlights

    Aggressive brawling from the pair looks pretty realistic

    Corbin picking up the huge Dempsey like a child

    Crowd Reaction

    The crowd’s counting of the seconds of this match doesn’t last long

    Low Points

    Very brief still, despite this match being built up for a couple of months – underwhelming

    Finish

    Dodging a flying headbutt, Corbin unleashes the End of Days for the win

    The match was always going to be a flat-out brawl between these two powerful monsters, rather than a technical wrestling classic. That I expected, and for the most part it was done correctly with some impressive physicality shown by both men. However, the brevity of this match considering the months that had gone into building to this clash was underwhelming to say the least. It leads to doubts whether either competitor is capable of a solid extended match, which would hamper their long-term chances of climbing the ladder. Still, that End of Days on a man Dempsey’s size was pretty impressive.

    Rating 2/5

    Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte & Natalya

    Former best friends turned bitter rivals, NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte and Sasha Banks have been at each other’s throats for months. Banks has recruited a new buddy in the form of the punk Becky Lynch, who have united to forge Team BAE. They attempted to double-team the champ a few weeks ago, but Charlotte was aided by former Divas Champion Natalya. Tonight the four talented women take to the ring to settle their differences, with Banks desperate to finally score a victory over Charlotte after numerous defeats in recent weeks.

    Highlights

    Delayed double suplex from the powerful Charlotte and Natalya on Lynch, followed by a wheelbarrow splash

    Natalya stepping over Banks into the basement dropkick

    Charlotte flipping her way through a double clothesline attempt by Team BAE

    Crowd Reaction

    Charlotte getting the crowd into a “Nattie” chant, but some love also being shown to Becky Lynch

    Low Points

    Banks either no-selling a baseball slide, or Charlotte missed the kick

    Finish

    Banks connects with a hangman’s neckbreaker on Charlotte, pinning her after grabbing the champ’s trunks

    A good match between the women, if a little short and stunted in places. After the impeccable matches featured by Charlotte and Banks in recent weeks, this was a little disappointing, but only by those ridiculously high standards. The crowd are beginning to take a greater interest in Becky Lynch, which is a big positive for her progression on the roster, and Natalya’s strength and experience were good additions for this tag team match. Not a match that will live long in the memory, but a solid outing by all involved.

    Rating – 2.5/5

    Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville (NXT Championship)

    Following last week’s announcement by General Manager William Regal, NXT would kick off their move to Wednesday nights in the best possible manner – an NXT Championship rematch. Sami Zayn, only recently back in action after the heinous assault by Kevin Owens at R Evolution, would defend his coveted belt for the first time against the man he defeated for the title, Adrian Neville. The pair have a massive amount of respect for each others’ ability and fighting spirit, but neither will give an inch with the precious gold on the line. Will Zayn’s reign be a brief one, or will he once again overcome the Man That Gravity Forgot? Buckle in for another classic.

    Highlights

    Zayn’s entrance with the NXT Championship – a great moment to witness

    Neville’s speed and agility typified with a brilliant hurricanrana takedown

    The pair exchange words before Zayn connects with the first strike of the match

    Corkscrew moonsault by Neville onto Zayn at ringside

    Absolutely amazing hurricanrana into a pin by Neville – maybe the most perfect example I’ve ever witnessed

    Neville handsprings onto Zayn’s shoulders, twisting into another hurricanrana

    Zayn attempting his diving tornado DDT through the turnbuckle gets hit with a superkick

    Crowd Reaction

    Crowd really into the action throughout, and unsurprisingly partisan towards Zayn

    Sometimes descending into silence to just sit and admire the action

    Back to the “This is Awesome”, and rightly so

    Low Points

    Sorry, nothing here

    Finish

    After dodging the Red Arrow, Zayn hits an exploder suplex into the corner, followed by the Helluva Kick to retain the NXT Championship. Post-match Kevin Owens makes his way to the ring, hitting a pop-up powerbomb on Zayn, then kicking the title into his head.

    Another epic encounter between these two superstars, and although not quite at the level of their R Evolution classic, it was still a fantastic main event. Neville is absolutely phenomenal in the ring, with the precision of his hurricanranas and acrobatic spots a particular highlight. If he gets stuck with a dead-end gimmick when he makes it to the main roster, it will be a real shame, as his potential is boundless. But Zayn was level with him all the way, and with the crowd’s undying support he scored an impressive first title defense. Owens looks to be the next obstacle in his way for the foreseeable future, and the revival of their ROH feud could lead to some of the greatest matches in NXT’s history.

    Rating – 4.5/5

    Share this article:

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit

    Tags

    NXTNXT 2015WWE NXTWWE NXT 2015

    COMMENTS

    Please read our Commenting Policy before you join in with the discussion.

    Note: If you have email notifications enabled, please check your email spam folders to ensure emails are not missed.

    Subscribe
    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    Notify of
    guest
    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    guest
    0 Comments
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments

    FIND THE TOPICS YOU WANT...

    Wrestling Topics

    Recommended for you

    • REVIEW: AEW Double or Nothing 2022 delivered an up-and-down show

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 30, 2022
    • Getting AEW to the next level…

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 29, 2022
    • May 21, 2001 – A (forgotten) date that will live in WWE infamy

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 20, 2022
    • Your WAY TOO EARLY predictions for WWE WrestleMania 39!

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 20, 2022
    • Money in the Bank and making a main-eventer

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 31, 2017
    • What we want from an AEW video game

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 31, 2021
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Affiliate Disclosure
    • Cookie Policy and Settings
    • Terms of Use
    • Photo Credits
    • RSS
    All Cult of Whatever articles, logos, illustrations and graphics are copyright CultOfWhatever.com. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. © 2021 CultOfWhatever. All Rights Reserved.
    • facebook
    • twitter
    wpDiscuz