NXT – August 28, 2014: That Old Feeling

NXT
Date: August 28, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Alex Riley, Jason Albert

We’ve got something to look forward to now with Takeover II just a few weeks away. All of the titles will be on the line but the champions need some challengers. As for tonight, the main story is the debut of the new General Manager to replace JBL who left for undisclosed reasons. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Ascension vs. ???/???

If the jobbers have names they weren’t mentioned. Fans: “LET’S GO JOBBERS!” Konor runs over Jobber #1 with a shoulder before Viktor launches #2 in over the top rope. Fall of Man ends #2 at 1:06.

Post match Ascension says the tournament ends next week and they’ll find their latest victims. Konor says they will rise.

The new General Manager is……WILLIAM REGAL! He says he’s been here since the beginning and as his first action, he’s going to name the main event of Takeover II. First up though, he’d like Adrian Neville to come down to the ring. Neville congratulates him on his new job and asks who’s next. Fans: “GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG!” Regal is about to announce the opponent but Tyson Kidd (in a Mike Tyson hoodie) interrupts.

He accepts the title shot but before Regal can confirm it, here’s Tyler Breeze to interrupt as well. Breeze: “Are you serious? This uggo? Everyone deserves a title shot before him. EVEN HIS WIFE!” This brings out Sami Zayn to say that he deserves the shot above Kidd and Breeze. Neville wants to face all of them because this is NXT. Regal approves and we have a main event.

After a break, Regal makes Zayn/Neville vs. Kidd/Breeze for tonight.

Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

We immediately get the best chant ever: “BAYLEY’S GONNA HUG YOU!” Sasha sends her into the buckle to start and drops Bayley with a knee to the ribs. We hit the chinlock and get yet another awesome chant of “LET’S GO BAYLEY! CENA SUCKS!” Back up and Sasha chokes away in the corner, only to walk into the Belly to Bayley for the pin at 3:16.

Rating: C-. The match wasn’t much but it’s hard to not like Bayley. She’s got this sweet innocence about her and it’s like watching an eight year old in an adult’s body. The awesome belly to belly helps as well as it makes her almost like Eugene: she’s so happy to be here but can be deadly when she gets the chance.

Bayley says she’s like kitten stuck on a branch that tells you to hang in there. She’s going to turn her dream into a reality and win the Women’s Title at Takeover. This brings out Charlotte to say that she would laugh at a kitten stuck on a branch. She tells Bayley to stick to hugs because she’s going to destroy her at Takeover. Bayley doesn’t want a hug (Fans: GASP!) because she’s going to take the championship. Charlotte leaves and says she warned her.

Bull Dempsey vs. Angelo Dawkins

Dawkins is still a nerd. Dempsey takes him into the corner to start and drops a bunch of elbows for two. Some knees to the ribs have Dawkins in trouble as this is totally one sided. Dawkins gets in some jobber offense before the Bulldozer gets the pin at 2:50.

The Legionnaires laugh about shaving Enzo’s beard and speak a lot of French.

Tyson Kidd/Tyler Breeze vs. Sami Zayn/Adrian Neville

Neville and Breeze get things going with the champion grabbing the arm for early control. Adrian and Sami start cranking on the arm until Sami stays in for a wristlock. Neville uses Sami’s back for a corkscrew splash and the heels bail to the floor. Kidd comes back in but it’s Breeze superkicking Neville as we take a break. Back with Kidd getting covered for two before Kidd puts on a chinlock.

Breeze comes in again and stomps on the champion before putting on a chinlock of his own. Kidd gets the tag but Neville dropkicks the knee out, setting up the hot tag to Sami. Everything breaks down and Zayn cross bodies both opponents down at the same time. A Michinoku Driver gets two on Breeze but Kidd fights out of the Blue Thunder Bomb and gets two off a DDT.

Sami suplexes Breeze into the buckle and crawls over to Adrian for the slightly cooler tag. A dropkick followed by a standing shooting star gets two on Breeze. There’s a kick to the gorgeous head but Breeze breaks up the Red Arrow. Sami accidentally kicks Neville off the top but the heels argue over who comes in. The Blue Thunder Bomb plants Breeze and Kidd pins Neville at 9:58.

Rating: B-. Oh man the fourway is going to be awesome. Sami could still pull off the big win but any of the other three are solid options as well. They’ve built Neville up enough so that the pin on him is going to mean something. This was a good tag match with the ending setting up a few more stories for the main event of the big show. Good stuff.

Sami gives Kidd the Helluva Kick post match and holds up the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This is the kind of show that NXT has been needing for a long time. It was the kind of fun that I’ve been missing from this promotion and it made me want to see the Takeover show more than ever. The main event is going to rock and Bayley winning the title could be amazing. Really fun show this week that flew by.

Results
Ascension b. ???/??? – Fall of Man
Bayley b. Sasha Banks – Belly to Bayley
Bull Dempsey b. Angelo Dawkins – Bulldozer
Tyson Kidd/Tyler Breeze b. Adrian Neville/Sami Zayn – Kidd pinned Neville after a kick from Zayn

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