14. NXT Women's Championship Match: Paige vs. Emma (NXT Arrival, Feb. 27)
NXT Arrival was an absolutely outstanding event that saw the young stars of World Wrestling Entertainment step up and deliver in the first major WWE Network broadcast. One of the night's top-billed matches was the Women's Championship bout between Paige and Emma. A rematch from the tournament final that saw Paige win the title, the match was the renewal of a great rivalry that had produced a number of quality matches between the talented young women. Their February 27 proved no different. Paige and Emma took to the ring and delivered a match fans of the current WWE Divas could have never expected two women were capable of. It was a hard-hitting battle between two skilled in-ring competitors, regardless of gender, that saw the Australian Emma take the Women's Champion to her absolute limit. Paige, proving to be the resilient competitor that she is, fought back and delivered the Paige Turner, seemingly having the match won. When that failed to finish Emma off, the champion trapped her opponent in the rare Scorpion Cross Lock and forced a submission for the successful title defense. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1hbqtp_emma-vs-paige-nxt-arrival_sport There was a reason that those in power trusted Paige and Emma to settle the Women's Championship tournament the previous summer and a reason they believed in them to replicate their tremendous match during NXT's first major, two-hour special. They have a chemistry unmatched by any other Diva pairing on the current WWE roster. A program between them on Raw and SmackDown could mean the evolution of women's wrestling in the company.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
