Ross - Hey chaps
JCH - Evening
Pete Hitchcock - Hello, fella
Ross - What we watching then JCH?!
JCH -Are you strapped in… Tonight’s match up is Billy Gunn vs… Nah
Ross - Billy Gunn strap match?!
Pete Hitchcock - I’m not gonna lie Billy Gunn hasn’t delivered so far on Wednesdays
JCH - It’s Antonio Cesaro vs Sami Zayn NXT Arrival
Pete Hitchcock - THERE WE GO
JCH - Can’t take being bottom of the league of picks
Pete Hitchcock - This is gonna be one of the few picks I have already seen! When I was getting into wrestling my brother made me watch all the Takeovers that were out at the time
JCH - I’m not sure I’ve ever watched this one. The Network came out in UK around the second Takeover I think
Pete Hitchcock - Mmm. I basically chained everything from this to Unstoppable over the course of a week or so. I had already seen Brooklyn the morning after it aired.
JCH - I think actually Fatal 4 Way was the first one I saw.
Ross - Great shout -love this match
Pete Hitchcock - This is in the Sami Zayn collection under One Helluva Battle. From February 2014
JCH - Nice
Ross - On it
JCH - I’m on zero
Pete Hitchcock - I'm on zero too. Is Dom watching?
JCH - No he’s busy tonight
Pete Hitchcock - ok. Ross you ready?
Ross - sweet, sorry, yep!
JCH - 321 go!
Pete Hitchcock - WELCOME TO NXT ARRIVAL. I miss Full Sail takeovers
JCH - What is this music?
Pete Hitchcock - It's Progress 2018
JCH - Big vein their from Sami
Ross - THE LASERS
Pete Hitchcock - The OST is all wrong. Sami has gotten seriously jacked at points
JCH - Bill Regal on comms
Ross - Remember when we talked about how well dressed the commentators are now
This is an example of how far they have come...
Pete Hitchcock - Does anyone remember when he came back from injury at Takeover London? He was huge! WE THE PEOPLE
Ross - Strong Ringkampf vibes from Cesaro
JCH - Ha. Bloody love We The People
Pete Hitchcock - Get Cesaro a Bellator contract!
JCH - Badly dressed Comms. Brilliant
Pete Hitchcock - Get him and Swagger back together in the Octagon! I don't care if he doesn't have shoot fighting experience
JCH - I’m on the look out for FRG
Pete Hitchcock - Regal on comms is warmly nostalgic
JCH - Split Crowd
Ross - Bitch slap to the back of the head... that should stop the duelling chants!
Pete Hitchcock - Now at this Elimination Chamber...Cesaro will be wondering how he lost to Shane fucking McMahon... in catering
JCH - Hahaha
Ross - Zayn fighting to earn the respect of his opponent, love that
Pete Hitchcock - This is all very smooth
JCH - Lots of nice reversals and counters so far.
Ross - The crowd is ELECTRIC
JCH - And a big dive. Here we go
Pete Hitchcock - When Sami does that 'he's gonna dive' face I can only think of Kevin Owen's parody of it. Before sliding out and just kicking his opponent
JCH - Caught crossbody into a backbreaker. Wow
Ross - Reversing a crossbody into a tilt the whirl backbreaker is a BOLD spot
Pete Hitchcock - That looked very painful in the replay
JCH - I do like a meeting when they know what is happening so they stop each others moves
Pete Hitchcock - Hulk Hogan's number one fan apparently in the crowd
Ross - Old school ECW fan that guy
JCH - What Hulk Hogan?
Pete Hitchcock - Or maybe people in Florida just look like that sometimes. There's a cosplayer in the crowd. Better than that Enzo cosplayer at the Rumble party.
JCH - I meant Hulk Hogan’s number 1 fan, is Hulk Hogan
Ross - Cesaro has tossed Zayn out the ring 3 times now - he feels he doesn't belong in there with him. Nice touch.
Pete Hitchcock - Oh lol that is true. Ross, you are truly the Regal of our group Here we go...
UPPERCUT
Ross - WOW. What a European Uppercut. That was some fatality shit
JCH - Cesaro waiting for him on the ringpost DDT. Sami Zayn, DDT through the ringpost. Baron Corbin slides through there and runs into the ring. You’re so innovative Baron
Pete Hitchcock - STFUppercut! Not my line, it's a song by the Blackout. Liking Cesaro's knee work. It looks nasty
Ross - Just noticed the Mojo Rawley section... surprisingly not hyped
JCH - Hahaha. I think he’s on next Vs Juice
Pete Hitchcock - They don't get hype, they stay hype. You have to conserve it. DRAGON SCREW
Cesarohashi! And now I want to see Cesaro vs Jay White. Sami has gotten very little in so far
MORE DRAGON SCREWS
JCH - That knee is going to be messed up
Pete Hitchcock - I love that move so much. Can't possibly be spammed enough. Cesaro been watching his OJMO tapes
JCH - CesarOJMO
Pete Hitchcock - Look at that crab! He almost put Sami's foot on his own head. HE GOT CAUGHT. AHHHH. Sami has had some bad times on that ramp
Ross - Hope spot for Zayn! One legged moonsault (Top selling) - CAUGHT and slammed on the ramp
Pete Hitchcock - Especially in 2014. Sami's leg is gone
Ross - Zayn struggles in at nine to chants of WE THE PEOPLE. Poor chap.
Pete Hitchcock - OUCH
JCH - Exploder into the corner
Pete Hitchcock - That exploder did not leave much room there
JCH - BLUE THUNDER BOMB
Pete Hitchcock - Forgot how good the Blue Thunder Bomb looked. The ultimate near fall move
JCH - The best move never to get a pinfall
Ross - I absolutely love that Zayn celebrates hitting the Blue Thunder Bomb every single time but NEVER wins with it
Pete Hitchcock - I think he's pinned like one or two guys ever but that's it One of whom was AJ Styles IIRC
JCH - Is that Carmella’s finisher?
Pete Hitchcock - No. Similar though
Ross - Stretch Muffler on the injured knee!
Pete Hitchcock - I love the Stretch Muffler. It's so ridiculous. Plus it's the Brock Lock! What a great name for a move.
JCH - It looks painful
Pete Hitchcock - It IS painful
JCH - It’s a stupid name though
Pete Hitchcock - Just ridiculous
Ross - Zayn is showing such heart.
Pete Hitchcock - Nice rollup
JCH - Reverses the swing
Ross - Look at zayn fighting to get out of it mid swing. love that
Pete Hitchcock - Zayn flailing his arms during the swing is a nice touch
No one else does that
JCH - That’s a good way to take the swing. Better than Shane O’Bellend holding his shirt so it stays tucked in
Ross - Oh balls! Zayn sat up and took the double stomp to the head - cutting him hard way, that was nasty
Pete Hitchcock - Zayn still has got very little in
Ross - But he isnt quitting
JCH - There is about half the people there of a Ballroom crowd I think. Looks loads more though. I think that’s bollocks
Pete Hitchcock - Cesaro got out of Zayn's submission. Zayn had to get to the ropes. Cesaro looks like a legitimate monster in this match
JCH - What a reversal. HE KICKED OUT
Pete Hitchcock - Wow
Ross - Zayn everses a powerbomb into a top rope hurricanrana and then hits the helluva kick for two!
Pete Hitchcock - Was it the injured knee that meant he couldn't finish him with that?
Ross - I think it was that Cesaro's head is only on yellow
Pete Hitchcock - Hahaha. Sami's head conversely is gone
Ross - Flashing red
Pete Hitchcock - Cesaro just knocked it all the way to Tampa with that uppercut
JCH - Sami Zayn is dead
Ross The Boss - I love this the sympathy and will to spur zayn on is culpable. CMON SAMI!!! GERMAN SUPLEX!
JCH - PUNCHES
Pete Hitchcock - Sami does great suplexes
JCH - BROGUE KICK
Pete Hitchcock - Underrated part of his game. They're so fast
Ross - Holy shit this is incredible
Pete Hitchcock - ROLLING YOSHI TONIC
JCH - Code Red
Pete Hitchcock - They do that spot a lot in their matches and it's always great
Ross - STANDING OVATION. Both men are down
JCH - Crowd are loving this
Pete Hitchcock - I wonder if Sami's gonna bust out the Half and Half suplex, that's the nastiest looking one he does
JCH - Pop up Uppercut. Out at !
Pete Hitchcock - KICK OUT AT 1. LIKE TRAV. LIKE ISHII. SAMI ZAYN IS A BIG DOG
JCH - He can’t even stand up. Discus uppercut
Pete Hitchcock - Geez
JCH - Neutralizer
Ross - What a match
Pete Hitchcock - That uppercut!
JCH - He dead
Ross - The way that match was laid out Im actually pleased Cesaro won
JCH - That was bloody good
Ross - Cesaro killed him but almost lost, respect earned
Pete Hitchcock - I'm gonna be a little contrarian. That was less competitive than I remember
Ross - I think that works better than actually beating him
Pete Hitchcock - Still an excellent match but Sami wasn't anywhere close to winning
Ross - You have to remember that Cesaro was main roster here
Pete Hitchcock - Still, his 2014 worked out in the end
JCH - Well….after the frankensteiner/Helluva kick combo
Pete Hitchcock - That is true
JCH - Cesaro’s thigh pads are down and they look like massive tongues on his shoes
Pete Hitchcock - That's the type of hug two people who aren't ready for the BEST IN THE WORLD share #herecomesthemoney
Ross - Cesaro stops at the ramp and returns to the ring, picks up the fallen Zayn and hugs him. Zayn smiles. He has won the battle of earning that. Proof here that fans love a plucky loser more than a winner!
Pete Hitchcock - I'm really excited for Sami to return now
JCH - It’s like British tennis. Well done taking Pete Sampras to 5 sets and losing Barry Cowan
Ross - Zayn sells the leg as he walks to the back to OLE chants from the crowd
END SCENE
Pete Hitchcock - Feel like there's tons of mileage in a legit Owens and Zayn babyface team
If only there were newly minted heel tag champs they could face...
THE NERD RATINGS
Pete Hitchcock
8/10
Technically it's flawless but it wasn't as competitive as I remember and if you had done this on a main roster show for instance, I don't think the getting over in defeat thing here would have worked out nearly as well for Sami as he really just did get messed up for most of it. On the other hand it made Cesaro look like a monster and they paid that off to an extent at Mania 30...and then did nothing with him afterwards. *sigh* But still a great and easy match to watch. Plus within the confines of NXT it all worked out for Sami.
Ross
8.5/10
i thought this was groundbreaking at the time for WWE and it stands the test of time as you see so many matches similar to this now thanks to the success of ROH guys in the fed. Loved the story, Cesaro was great at bossing the match, Zayn awesome at fighting underneath and they have insane chemistry. A beautiful thing.
JCH
9.5/10
I really liked it. Had great atmosphere. I like to see a heel go over clean occasionally, sometimes they’re just the better wrestler. Zayn took a beating, kept coming back until he couldn’t. Like you said no miracle comeback, some realism rather than Roman or Cena getting beaten up for 20 minutes then hitting a Spear or an FU and winning. I can’t give it a team as no-one was that good. I’m giving it a 9.5. Best match i’ve watched in this project. Like i’d much rather watch that than Kenny Omega vs Chris Jericho
OVERALL RATING 8.75/10
NERD WATCH WEDNESDAY TABLE
09/01/2019 – SIMON – TLC (WRESTLEMANIA 17) – 9/10
30/01/2019 – DOM – SUPER CRAZY v YOSHIHIRO TAJIRI (GUILTY AS CHARGED) – 9/10
13/02/2019 - JAMES - CESARO v SAMI ZAYN (NXT ARRIVAL) - 8.75/10
05/12/2018 – PETE - 6 MAN HELL IN A CELL (ARMAGEDDON 2000) – 8.5/10
21/11/2018 – ROSS - RICKY STEAMBOAT v STEVE AUSTIN (CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS) – 8/10
12/12/2018 – DOM – SHAWN MICHAELS v MANKIND (MIND GAMES) – 8/10
16/01/2019 – SHAFI – WOMEN’S TAG (SURVIVOR SERIES 95) – 7/10
24/01/2019 – ROSS – DOOM v STEINER BROS (CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS X) – 7/10
28/11/2018 - MAT - UNDERTAKER v JEFF HARDY (RAW) – 6.5/10
06/02/2019 - PETE - JUMPING BOMB ANGELS v GLAMOUR GIRLS (ROYAL RUMBLE 88) - 6.5/10
19/12/2018 – JAMES – ROCK N SOCK v NEW AGE OUTLAWS (ARMAGEDDON 99) – 3.5/10
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