NXT 298

September 23, 2015 – Winter Park, Florida

Eva Marie def. Carmella
They show a replay of the ref’s bad call in the last Marie match, so maybe they are going through with the intuitive smitten ref angle after all. And then the ref favors her again in this match (sort of, a second angle shows he made a good call). Marie eventually wins by count out. Match was bad and the finish was worse (unlike their watchable match in Brooklyn), but I’m happy they’re going with this angle. *

Tyler Breeze def. Bull Dempsey
Breeze got a little bit of leverage from the ropes to win. This was not fantastic, but Dempsey’s babyface gimmick is rather delightful. Hopefully they’ll figure out something to do with him. I’m not sure why Adam Rose had to be a part of this angle. **

Kana comes out to the ring to sign her NXT contract. Forget that they’ve been calling her Asuka in hype videos. She pulls a Hideo Itami and renames herself Asuka. Dana Brooke and Emma come out and do their mean girl routine. Asuka leaves when they tell her to, but she shoots them a creepy smile on her way out.

They announce that Breeze has been stapled into a match with Apollo Crews at Takeover. This special feels like it was put together on a napkin.

In a quarterfinal Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic match in Texas, Dash & Dawson beat the Vaudevillains. Seems like they’re due a title match on the back of that win. The other two quarterfinal matches will be on NXT TV next week.

Aiden English & Simon Gotch def. Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy {NXT Tag Team Championship Match}
Blue Pants came out early on to chase Alexa Bliss to the back. After the ladies leave the match got pretty boring until Gotch made the hot tag. But from then on this had a fun little sprint to the finish. **¾

Enzo & Cass and Joe & Balor cut a couple of ‘80s style promos to close the show. Joe shows for the second time that while he’s laser focused on the tournament, he sees the NXT Championship out of the corner of his eye on Finn’s shoulder. Nice and subtle, I like it.