NXT, Winter Park, FL
A request! I have vague memories of this match specifically and quasi-fond memories of this particular attempt to make Eva Marie “happen,” because it was all so weirdly meta and for once, at the start of it, kinda hard to tell just how much they were really trying, and just how much of the whole bit was, in fact, simply a bit, meant to drum up a little interest in someone they still had under contract and might as well use.
The pre-match interviews with both NXT champion Bayley and Eva make it pretty clear at this point, though, but not in a bad way. Where the questions come now are how much Eva is just being bad on the mic because she is bad, or if she’s exaggerating a little bit to ramp it up because fuck it.
(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)
Eva has forged a friendship with Nia Jax. Basically her whole purpose is to become what “corporate” has always wanted her to be, a star, with the quiet admission that she’ll need backup to do so.
Bayley, still in her obnoxiously charming 😀 era, and before she got more confident on the mic but was sincere and working on it, makes it plain: “I know to some people, Eva Marie is the perfect champion. She’s pretty, she’s the star of a reality show, and she’s totally got the WWE corporate on her side. But do you know the one difference between Eva Marie and myself? I’m a wrestler, and she’s not.”
This is about as mean as this era Bayley got.
It’s all about “WWE corporate forcing this match,” to the point that Charles Robinson is sent in as a ringer referee at their order; he’s not the official of record, but he’s there to oversee. Eva out to pretty overwhelming boos. Nia joins her. Nia connection is also suspected to be a corporate move. Graves is fine with all this because he’s conveniently a super heel, which is how WWE commentary works.
God, that Bayley music. Robinson does a really good job being just obvious enough about his biases during the in-ring introductions and the display of the belt, where there’s an “If Eva wins, we riot” chant. Wrestling fans threatening to riot always cracks me up. How long until as a group they’re out of wind? Four minutes or so, tops?
Bayley starts with a headlock takeover. Eva gets up and does a little hair pull takedown, then her air guitar taunt thing. Eva with a couple of rights, some terrible shoulderblocks in the corner, a shot to the back, and then a solid suplay for two.
Suddenly, Bayley-to-Belly for a two count that would have definitely been three, except Nia Jax yanks the referee out of the ring, hard enough to hurt him as he lands on the floor, and Eva sneaks up for a roll-up, which Robinson counts for two, having been extremely ready to jump into the ring at the first opportunity.
Bayley asking Charles what he’s doing, she’s so disappointed by what’s happening to her. Charles “distracted” and Jax gets a headbutt in on Bayley. Eva runs over with a senton for two. Chuck has to keep the counts real, maybe a HAIR quick, but he can’t be ridiculous about it.
This really is giving the crowd a vibe of actual fear; the NXT crowd was full-on super online, “playing their part” like the ECW crowd eventually did, so it’s not a fear of Their Fave losing, not really. It’s a fear that they might see the company Make a Bad Booking Decision. And with this crowd, that’s how you have to play them. You’re always going to have to settle for an audience that is, to some degree, acting and playing along, so you might as well meet them at that level, at least now and then. In the right situations, it can work very well, and this is one of those.
Eva with more bad shoulderblocks in the corner, but she sure is yelling on all of them. God, she could not sell, man. Her bumping had gotten OK, but she could not sell. Bayley tries a couple pins, doesn’t get the three, and Eva keeps laying in little shots. Eva with a back elbow in the corner, hits the ropes but runs into a Bayley lariat.
Bayley with a suplay, then some shoulders in the corner. Charles Robinson steps in between and stops a Bayley charge. Sliced Bread #2 from Eva! Two count because she’s a bad wrestler so while she can learn to do the move, she isn’t good enough to master it.
Eva shoved toward the corner, Robinson in the way and he bumps out to the floor. Eva with what PBP Guy Whose Name I Forgot (Rich?) calls a “vicious kick” but really looks comically lazy; it’s actually not lazy, but this was Eva’s biggest issue, and the biggest issue a lot of people run into. She can’t mentally connect and go, flowing free on instinct, she was never able to find that. It takes time but it also takes a certain level of natural aptitude.
Bayley goes for the Bayley-to-Belly from the second rope, but Nia grabs her foot. Nia yanked off the apron by Bayley, Nia smashes her face on the apron on the way down. Super Bayley-to-Belly hits, the original referee is back, and that’s the finish.
Post-match, Nia attacks Bayley and sets herself up as Bayley’s real challenge to come.
This is good smoke-and-mirrors stuff, all about filling this type of audience with that sort of anxiety that what they don’t want to happen will happen, not so much to Bayley but to them. And it works. I don’t have anything in the world against Eva Marie as a person or someone who tried, but most people just are not going to be good at wrestling. She didn’t have the ability for it. But this bit they did with her was pretty good, because it was just playing on the audience’s actual distaste for her and the idea that WWE wanted her to be something we all could see she just wasn’t good enough to be. On some level, she played into that really well, and it was the best use of her. It’s short shelf-life stuff, but hey, I remember her fairly fondly, all things considered.
I may not be putting any of this in the exact right words and it may still seem like I don’t like her. And I’m not saying she’s one of my favorite wrestlers, but they found ways to use her after it was clear it was not going to happen by traditional route, and she gave it what she could. She simply was not good at wrestling, and there was no trainer or amount of training who was going to make her so. But she did a little, she left a mark, she made some money, she got some fame out of it all.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 