March 25, 2015 – Winter Park, Florida
Sasha Banks def. Alexa Bliss {NXT Women’s Championship Match}
This lost me early on because Bliss flubbed the chain segment. They amped things up near the end with a couple big spots and a solid finish, but it looks like Bliss needs a little more polish after all. **½
Bayley rejects Emma’s poisonous advise (thank god!) and gets slapped for it. Phew.
Elsewhere, Hideo Itami challenges Tyler Breeze to a 2 out of 3 Falls Match. You can tell Breeze is upset because he mutters Itami’s last name, rather than calling him by his first like he does to everyone else. Or maybe he’s just being respectful to the Japanese custom of switching names. Either way, I’m here for this.
Most of the show is hype for the main event and for WrestleMania, which is in a few days.
Blake & Murphy approach the Jersey lunks and apologize to Carmella by buying her a bracelet she really likes. Enzo & Cass are upset.
Kevin Owens def. Finn Balor {NXT Championship Match}
Both guys were undefeated in NXT going into this match, and they’d never faced each other before anywhere. They were going for an epic feel, and at times achieved it, but this was given more time than any NXT TV match before it (around 21 minutes) and it wasn’t able to maintain it’s epic vibe throughout. The finish also felt tacked on to me, as Owens recovered so quickly from the Coup de Gras to hit the powerbomb for the win. Curious how they’ll move on from here. ***¾