[2014-02-27-WWE-NXT Arrival] Emma vs Paige

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Timbo Slice]

Great work from both women here. My years of watching joshi can frustrate me when the pace isn't faster, but these two know how to work a good match and by the end of the match, the pace didn't matter. Really awesome, engrossing stretch run, but the issue going forward becomes whether or not this becomes the way the Divas work or whether or not this is just a blip on the radar. There are very few workers in the division right now as a whole, so something will have to give.

[Superstar Sleeze]

NXT Champion Paige vs Emma - NXT Arrival 2/27/14

 

Sorry Nattie/Charlotte, this is the women's match of the year for me. Paige is so good at intensity compared to the rest of the women's division. I was watching the match with Brie from this past week's RAW and Paige looks like the only one on the roster male or female who cares if she wins or loses. Poor Emma, I maybe biased because I think she is super cute, but I really like her as a wrestler. I think she was really good as the underdog in this match. Paige gets right up in Emma's face and piefaces her. This is definitely the hottest start to a women's match in quite some time. I loved Paige's dropkicks to midsection. I really wish she would bring back her midsection work. Emma is looking for that slingshot, but Paige blocks into the chinlock, which kills the match a bit. I love the Paige spot where people catch her foot and she takes a header. Emma gets the first part of the Emmalock with the slingshot, but Paige counters. Again, Emma takes out Paige's base, which makes sense since Paige is a giant. She is a long drink of water. Emma runs through some good babyface offense that riles the crowd like the Dilemma and Emmamite Sammich. I really loved the surfboard especially Paige's selling. Paige rocks Emma with an elbow on the apron out of desperation, but Emma still in control and hits a powerbomb. Emma is slapping Paige around, fuck I love this. This feels like a fight! Paige hits a wild slap. HOLY SHIT KICK TO THE MIDSECTION! Page Turner, but it only gets two! Paige debuts the Scorpion Crosslock to get the submission victory.

This was just a gnarly fight between two badass women. I loved this match. There was nothing cute. It was a bomb throwing sprint. Paige was going to destroy Emma's midsection and Emma looked to take out Paige's base. Emma got off a nice string of offense, but did not have enough in the tank. Paige was able to hit a wild slap and wicked kick to the midsection. Women's match of the year. Damn what a fight! I am so pumped for Paige vs Nikki. ****

[dawho5]

I loved this match. The early finisher reversal stuff was fine because it negated the need for doing it later. Paige destroying Emma was so great. I was almost disappointed at Emma again going into her finishing routine right off of being destroyed without any kind of vengeance. But she switches gears after it doesn't work and gets brutal right back in Paige's direction. I thought the character work here was good too, with Emma getting angry and letting it get the better of her with the ill-advised slaps that led to Paige turning it around. Paige's dismay over the Paige Turner not working was great too. Both women sold excellently throughout and the stiffness was just great. This was a complete and total war. Regal on commentary so far on this show has been great too.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Watch Paige vs Nikki Bella from Main Event January 6, 2015. Watched based on Pete's recommendation from Fast Lane reaction show. Holy shit! Best WWE women's match ever!

[dawho5]

When I get there. Going through the Shield chronologically and NXT as a sort of warm-up and cool-down for my All Japan watchings. Worked in a few Mark Henry 2011 PPV matches with plans to follow Cesaro and the historic Bryan 2013 run after I finish up with the Shield and Henry. Sheamus is looking like a contender for more viewing as well. I'm trying to watch matches as they come up of people I have read about but not seen much of.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Sheamus is my favorite wrestler of this era. His matches always feature a ton of struggle and work towards a finish. There is none of this exhibition, masturbatory cool MOVEZ~! bullshit. Sheamus is invested in the outcome of his match and he is going to blast his way to victory. I highly recommend more Sheamus even if his character and booking are the shits.

[Jimmy Redman]

I've had a Barry. I finished watching through 2014 NXT yesterday and then lost all of my notes for the year after a copy-and-paste balls up due to me persisting with a computer I can only charitably describe as an outdated piece of garbage typewriter. So I am rage typing like I have never rage typed before. I do know which matches I wanted to post about, but my complete and accurate will have to wait until I've calmed down, sometime in my late 50s.

Anyway, this fucking match ruled. It didn't make me personally feel things like the first one did due to how important and game changing I felt the original women's tourney was. Steph coming out to put herself over just doesn't have the same effect, especially in 2020. But this was a banger.

I liked the countering of finishers straight away, given this was the much anticipated rematch and they should know each other well by now. Paige really laid her knees in on the apron, and I liked the trip immediately after. Honestly Paige on offense doesn't do a lot for me, I got into it much more when Emma took over and hit all her shit and then put that double arm submission on. I really enjoyed how she didn't sit in it, and kept changing the angles, moving her boots into different pressure points, and ending up in a straight-legged bow and arrow. Regal was also fantastic talking us through the submissions as well. The difference on NXT between Regal commentary and non-Regal commentary is a CHASM.

Paige going up for the superplex to play off Emma's one from the first match was nice, as well as Emma countering into a sick Liger Bomb. Emma really looked amazing in this. But after all this offense she got frustrated, and Paige is established as a hothead, so fucking around and slapping Paige only fired her up for her comeback. The thing I like least about Paige is how quickly she wins when she comes back, so when she immediately hit the Paige Turner I thought fuck, here we go again, so the kickout popped me big, even though the crowd didn't really react like it was the first ever kickout of the champion's super protected finishing move. Maybe because it's a garbage finish. At least Paige had to invent a whole new move to beat Emma after their wars together, nice touch.

In hindsight this was kind of the last hurrah of what I would call the "Divas style" in NXT. You can even kind of see it play out in this match, where they begin with the typical "roll around on the floor" catfight opening, and then by the end they're doing powerbombs and stiff kicks and inventing submissions. It's not an immediately transition week to week, but by the end of 2014 you have the Horsewomen dominating and Sasha Banks having NXTIndy spotfests, kind of thing. This doesn't look like that, yet. The style of work drastically changes. 2014 is the year that transition happens, from beginning to end.

Which is why I'm so mad I lost my fucking notes.