NXT – January 29, 2014: A Night Of Storytelling

NXT
Date: January 29, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Alex Riley, William Regal

We’re coming up on the big live show in about a month with Neville earning a title shot against champion Bo Dallas by surviving last week’s Beat the Clock match. Other than that we’ve got Sami Zayn trying to get another 2/3 falls match against Antonio Cesaro but Antonio doesn’t seem all that interested. Let’s get to it.

Mike Cuellari/John Ikerino vs. Ascension

I’m sure I spelled those names wrong but does it really matter? Apparently Cuellari is Q.T. Marshall from ROH and various other indies. Viktor easily slams him around and gets two off a suplex before it’s off to John who gets his head taken off by a clothesline. Konor comes off the middle rope with an even hard clothesline, setting up the Fall of Man for the pin by Viktor at 2:20.

Sylvester LeFort is still holding tryouts for a new client. Cal Bishop, an NCAA champion, comes in but Sylvester doesn’t like his cauliflower ears.

Corey Graves vs. Camacho

This is Graves’ return match after being gone two months due to a concussion. Corey says he’ll never forgive Adrian Neville for injuring him and tells both NXT and WWE to stay tuned. A long headlock on Camacho gets things going but Camacho shoves him out to the floor. Graves comes back in and kicks at the knee before putting on Lucky 13 for the submission at 1:21.

Cesaro says another match with Sami Zayn would be a waste of his time.

Next up for LeFort is a big man named Sawyer Ford who won’t say where he’s from, doesn’t know about an audition and won’t stop shaking LeFort’s hand.

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

Bayley’s music is, in a word, bubbly. Renee Young joins in on commentary. Bayley lunges at Charlotte but the referee keeps her in the ring, allowing Sasha to take over with a slam. Sasha ties up Bayley’s arms as Natalya cheers the bubbly one on. Bayley comes back with some running clotheslines in the corner as Natalya gets in a fight with the BFFs. Sasha grabs a rollup for two on a distracted Bayley, only to walk into the Belly to Bayley for the pin at 2:50 in another show match.

Colin Cassady vs. Tyler Breeze

The fans aren’t sure who to cheer for here as they think Breeze is gorgeous but also like spelling out S-A-W-F-T for SAWWWWFT! Breeze stalls a lot on the floor and in the corner for some picture taking but Cass gets a phone from a fan at ringside to take his own pictures. The fans completely dig it and Regal calls this more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Big Cass goes inside and we get the opening bell.

Tyler goes after Cass in the corner but the big man fires off right hands to the jaw while asking if Breeze is ok. A big SAWFT forearm to the back sets up an elbow drop for two on Tyler. There’s a nice big boot for the same but Aiden English pops up on screen to sing about Colin. He goes into the injured Enzo’s locker room and threats of violence are heard. The distraction lets Breeze hit the Beauty Shot for the pin on Cass at 2:24. The more I see of both of these guys, the more entertained I am.

After a break Colin finds a fine Enzo but there’s no English in sight. Enzo says English just threatened him and left. Cassady: “He ain’t the only one that can play games and I ain’t talking chess.” Enzo: “I don’t know how to play chess.” Cassady: “I’m talking Balderdash. Connect Four. Ring Around the Rosey. Hopscotch. Connect Four.” Enzo declares English to be sawft as Cassady goes to find English. I smell a swerve in the future.

CJ Parker vs. The Miz

Regal: “Miz reminds me of Kermit without the talent.” Miz avoids a right hand and slaps Parker in the face to start. Parker scores with some chops but Miz clotheslines him down. Regal explains what chops do to you as Parker comes back with chops of his own. Phillips: “You know what you do when someone chops you. You chop them back!” Regal: “Really? I used to scream.” Miz hits a very nice dropkick to send Parker to the floor and a baseball slid puts Parker down again.

Miz throws him back inside and slides between Parker’s legs into a sunset flip for two, only to walk into a kick to the face. A double running knee in the corner gets two more on Miz and we hit the chinlock. Miz fights up and hits the Reality Check before hooking a dragon screw leg whip and dropping some elbows on the leg. Parker kicks him into the corner and hits a high cross body, only to have Miz roll through and put on the Figure Four for the win at 4:40.

Rating: C-. I was impressed by Miz’s in ring work here as his offense made sense and that dropkick actually looked good. That being said, I still don’t like the Figure Four as his finishing move. The Skull Crushing Finale took him to the WWE Title and a win over John Cena in the main event of Wrestlemania. It’s the same thing that bothered me about AJ Styles becoming a Flair clone: he was already the best in the world. What was he going to become? The best wrestler on Venus?

Sami Zayn wants Cesaro to say no to his face next week.

Mason Ryan says he’ll work for Sylvester LeFort if LeFort can beat him next week.

Renee Young is in the ring to moderate the contract signing for Neville vs. Dallas. This is a bit less formal though as she’s just holding the contracts and invites both guys to the ring. Dallas doesn’t show up so Neville signs his contract, only to have Bo come out in wrestling gear. He insists he isn’t scared and is far meaner than he’s been in months. Dallas tells Neville to take a seat and watch the champion work.

Danny Birch vs. Bo Dallas

Birch takes a knee into the ribs to start and an elbow to the head for good measure. Dallas keeps staring at Neville as he drives in even more elbows to the side of the head. Birch comes back with some right hands but Bo blasts him in the face to put him right back down. A double arm DDT is enough to pin Danny at 2:22.

Bo signs the contract and decks Neville, triggering a brawl to end the show. The fan were very oddly quiet during the brawl.

Overall Rating: C+. Good but not great show this week, though it’s clear that they’re building up to the big night in about a month. I hope they don’t turn this into a WWE show and take away all of the good stuff that NXT has had going on in the last year plus, but maybe it’s just a quick change of pace before we get back to normal.

Results

Ascension b. Mike Cuellari/John Ikerino – Fall of Man to Ikerino

Corey Graves b. Camacho – Lucky 13

Tyler Breeze b. Colin Cassady – Beauty Shot

The Miz b. CJ Parker – Figure Four

Bo Dallas b. Danny Birch – Double arm DDT

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