Nerd Watch Wednesday: Tyson Kidd vs Sami Zayn (4th Nov 2014, Main Event)

Nov 4, 20205 min read

Updated: Nov 11, 2020

By Ross Casey

"For the foreseeable future, Nerd Watch Wednesday's will feature a match that fell 'on this day' and this week I have picked what looks like it has the potential to be a forgotten gem. Tyson Kidd and Sami Zayn tangle on an episode of Main Event just two months after the pair were involved in the main event of the NXT Fatal 4 Way Takeover. I'm intrigued to see how the main roster fans react to this one."

TYSON KIDD vs. SAMI ZAYN (WWE Main Event, Nov 4th 2014)

There's a backstage segment before this match on Main Event where Natalya goes up to her husband who is warming up with his hood on and tells him that she loves him, has his back always, congratulates him on beating Sheamus on Raw and wishes him luck for his match tonight. She taps him on the shoulder as she does the latter and he removes his hood and his headphones and says, yeah thanks.

DOUCHE HUSBAND ALERT! Natalya shows her disappointment at not being listened to as Tyson walks away. I wonder what he had on his headphones? Meghan Trainor was number one at the time and Natalya is all about that bass, so I'm gonna say it was that.

Before the match, WWE puts a package together on Sami Zayn for those audience members who are unaware of him as a wrestler. It's pure babyface of course, because 2014 Sami Zayn was the closest thing to Daniel Bryan that we had at the time down in NXT. I appreciate the effort and I'm sure it helped some folk get behind him.

Tyson Kidd is out first and is still listening to Meghan Trainor during his entrance, so he forgets to help Natalya into the ring, which she remonstrates about until Kidd pulls down the second rope. I forgot how much fun heel Tyson was.

Sami is out next and the camera pans wide to get the crowd reaction and it is MILD. There are pockets of people going crazy for him who clearly are fans of NXT, but they are like needles in a haystack as the cameras find them one by one. I have every faith that Sami will have won them over by the end and I'm looking forward to it.

We do get a smattering of 'Ole, ole, Ole' chants which brings a smile to Zayn. My heart! The first lock up results in Kidd arm dragging Zayn to which he brags about immediately like he's Kurt Angle in 1999. They are setting the table here brilliantly, how can you not get behind the unknown Zayn against this cocky bastard?

The next few exchanges end in Zayn getting the better of Tyson, so he backs his opponent into the corner and feigns a clean break only to punch the NXT favourite in the ribs. Fantastic stuff again from the former WWE Tag Team Champion.

Sami attempts to fly off the ropes but Kidd dropkicks him to the outside and hits a swinging neckbreaker on the mats. Once he throws Zayn back in the ring he stops next to his wife Natalya and points at his cheek for a kiss which she reluctantly gives him. The crowd start chanting 'Nattie's husband' at him and he reacts with disdain showing they have got under his skin. I love it.

After being reminded by the WWE Universe that at this stage of his career, he was in the shadow of his wife, he ups the aggression in his moveset with real snug strikes which get good heat from a now invested crowd.

Sami is second best here, but shows glimmers of hope spots, only for the in-form Kidd to find a way of reversing his moves and grounding him once more. Highlights include a blockbuster and a legdrop across the bottom rope.

At this point, the willing Zayn is getting 'Let's go Sami' chants from the crowd thanks to Kidd's impressive heel work and the match psychology. This is when Zayn takes control of the momentum of the match and he scores several close 2 counts with a cross body and a Blue Thunder Bomb.

Kidd shows some veteran instincts by rolling to the apron to buy himself some time and he attempts a sunset flip on Zayn back into the ring, which Zayn reverses - only for Kidd to reverse his reversal - and win with a roll up and a big handful of tights!

Zayn looks on in despair as Kidd basks in the glory of his questionable win. The final shot is of Kidd screaming he is better than he as ever been right now followed by the word FACT about 20 times whilst the crowd behind him boo and roll their eyes. Glorious.

WINNER: TYSON KIDD BY ROLL UP WITH A HANDFUL OF TIGHTS

THOUGHTS: This was the Tyson Kidd show and it was brilliant. Everyone played a role here, Nattie was good as the wife unsure of her Husband's actions but still supporting him half-heartedly, Zayn was the plucky upstart and Kidd was your cocky, brash protagonist.

It wasn't a work-rate match compared to their NXT bangers, but the psychology was spot on and equally as enjoyable for me for that reason. There are many ways to go about having a fun wrestling match. Some at the time may have felt this was a waste of Zayn, but for me it was an opportunity to get eyes on him and the NXT product and it gave you enough of him to want to see more rather than giving you everything in one shot.

My overriding thought is I know from watching this that Kidd would be killing it still if he could - but his road agent work is clear to see here. FACT.