4 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Oct 21)

3. Women's Wrestling Impresses Once Again

Once again, NXT showcased its women as more than a novelty act with two well-worked, women's matches, telling distinctly different stories. Asuka and Billie Kay opened the show with a match engineered to sell the schizophrenic aspect of Asuka's character. Kay pushed around the Asian superstar in the early going with athletic legwork (her gimmick seems to be building around her long legs), but then Asuka found her inner demon, and Kay was in trouble. This turn was well sold during the match and will pay dividends for Asuka going forward. It's like a psychotic version of Hogan's hulking up, and another narrative string to her bow. Alexa Bliss was up next, running over Peyton Royce. The story being worked here was Bliss's upped-aggression in her hunt for Bayley's NXT Women's Championship. There was no interference from Blake and Murphy (aka Thing 1 and Thing 2) at ringside, just two women going at it. One Sparkle Splash later, Alexa emerged looking strong, even if fans still can't help but feel that Bayley/Bliss's ringwork will be a step down from Bayley/Banks. Just as a side note, NXT creative need to work on creating more of a distinction between Royce and Billie Kay; they're both dark-haired Australians whose offence comes primarily from their legs. However, that aside, it was good night for the women of NXT. And not one person said the words 'Divas Revolution'.