NXT
Date: April 27, 2010
Location: Giant Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews

We hit the tenth week with two weeks to go before the first eliminations which really need to happen soon. These shows aren’t horrible but they’re starting to run out of things they can do with the rookies. We get the tag match with Slater/Christian vs. Barrett/Jericho which is the culmination of the mini feud they’ve been having. Aside from that there isn’t much at all. Let’s get to it.

The rookies are introduced as is the custom around here. The challenge de jour is to sell merchandise, in this case programs for $15 apiece but if you can get more rock on. The most money collected gets a match with a pro of their choice next week. The person collecting it gets that I mean, not the money itself. You have a minute and Sheffield is first. No sales in the first 15 seconds. Ah there’s a sale. There you go three at once. Sheffield is talking a lot here and is certainly trying to pitch them. His total is $60. Not bad.

Chris Jericho/Wade Barrett vs. Christian/Heath Slater

Christian was drafted to Smackdown last night. After a break we get Jericho and Barrett’s entrances and are ready to go. Slater drills Jericho to start and the Canadian brings in Barrett almost immediately. Jericho randomly rips up the announce table just because he can I suppose. Christian takes down Jericho and here’s Slater again.

Slater hooks a neckbreaker like he did last week and it’s down to Slater vs. Jericho in the ring. Slater hooks the cradle like he did last week on Jericho. This time though Jericho is like boy please and the Codebreaker ends this clean. No rating as this was pretty short but at the same time it worked pretty well as Jericho and Slater are now done. This was fine.

Bryan is the second salesman and he grabs the mic, saying he isn’t a capitalist. Instead he hands them out for free. Sadly enough a fan that is right next to Bryan can’t get one as everyone else gets them thrown around. Well he got rid of all the programs. Cole laughs of course about Bryan losing one more time.

We recap Young winning despite Gallows cheating last week. Carlito yelled at Tarver about losing last week and makes him carry the bags. Carlito was released that week I think.

Gabriel is selling stuff and asks for help getting a match next week. The people line up for him and he breaks the mark in about 10 seconds. Some people aren’t actually paying him but whatever. Vast majority of the people are kids. Gabriel sells TWENTY TWO PROGRAMS, pulling in 330 dollars. At that rate he would make 19,800 dollars an hour and 475,200 in a 24 hour period. SIGN THIS GUY NOW!!!

Quick profile for Tarver which is where some people allegedly see something in him but others don’t. Punk says it’s Carlito’s fault.

Darren Young vs. Michael Tarver

Basic stuff to start with Tarver taking over using the power game. We talk about the relationships with the Pros which is growing with Punk but is weakening with Carlito. Young tries to get the crowd into it and they more or less say no. No Punk at ringside here but Gallows and Serena are here. As I say that they interfere, allowing Young to hit his full nelson release suplex to end it. No rating as again this was like 3 minutes long.

Otunga sells now as apparently Gabriel got 210, not 330 which is WAY more realistic. Otunga says he’s not doing manual labor so he enlists two kids to help him. Smart business actually. Nice little side business here as they’ll probably add in an extra 800 dollars tonight from this. Doesn’t sound like much but it’s 800 dollars they didn’t have.

Quick recap of the Draft which sent Show to Smackdown, Kofi to Smackdown, Christian to Smackdown, Kelly to Smackdown and Jericho, Morrison, R-Truth and Edge to Raw. We also set up ANOTHER Batista vs. Cena match which not many people wanted to see as it was a really low buyrate and I can’t say I blame them.

Profile on Gabriel with the highlight of course being the 450. The criticism is his lack of personality which is true but at the same time a lot of people can wrestle but can’t talk that well, which is workable.

We see Truth talking to Otunga earlier in the day. David is still mad about Truth not helping him last week.

Slater is up next and the mark is $315 now. He doesn’t break the mark and his total isn’t given.

Young goes sixth and gets nothing special at all. If he wins he wants a match with Punk. He doesn’t win either and I can’t imagine Otunga is going to lose this.

Tarver of course walks off and says he’s the product and WWE should sell him which is kind of true to an extent.

Going last is Barrett who says he’s proven he’s the #1 rookie on NXT so there’s no point to this. He does however take the change money that Striker gave him and leaves with it. Smart dude.

Sheffield vs. Miz is the main event.

Back with a profile on Bryan. Everyone but Miz sings his praises, and that has actually been accurate to this point. Him not winning a single match and still being #1 was stupid though as it was pointed out that the record was 25% of the score. If he has a zero there, then he’s perfect in everything else and no one else is over 75%. That’s not a guess, that’s math. Anyway he and Barrett have done incredibly well so that’s fine and good.

Otunga has won the contest and will face R-Truth next week.

The Miz vs. Skip Sheffield

We get a clip from last night where ShowMiz lost the tag titles to the Harts and Show knocked Miz the heck out. This was to explain Miz’s swollen face. And never mind as Bryan is fighting for Miz as he can barely talk.

Skip Sheffield vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan gets a running dropkick as Sheffield is reeling early on. A heel hook has Skip in real trouble. And never mind as Sheffield just beats the tar out of him and hits the Over the Shoulder Boulder Holder to end it in maybe 90 seconds.

Overall Rating: C-. The wrestling was really quite weak here with a bunch of fast matches. Having the program thing was a good idea though as we got to see more of their personalities which is always a good thing. This was ok but really nothing all that great. Like I said the eliminations begin in two weeks which can’t get here soon enough. Not bad, but one of the weaker shows so far.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: April 24, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Phillips, William Regal

If my memory is correct tonight we’ve got the Clash of the Champions, which means four title matches and I don’t think anything else. We’ve got Maddox challenging Langston for the NXT Title, Kaitlyn defending against AJ Lee, Cesaro (no longer champion) defending against someone and Barrett defending against Bo Dallas. Hopefully the show isn’t horrible like the last time it was mostly main roster guys. Let’s get to it.

Dusty tells us the basic idea of the show.

Welcome Home.

US Title: Antonio Cesaro vs. Adrian Neville

A crawler tells us that this was taped several weeks ago. The fans of course chant USA with an Englishman challenging for the title. Cesaro says hey to the crowd and the fans shout him down. Antonio demands a standing ovation because he’s the best US Champion in history. This would be before Cesaro was turned into a yodeler who lost clean to Zack Ryder on Raw. After some big match intros we’re ready to go.

Neville grabs a quick rollup for two but Cesaro takes him down and messes with his hair. A rollup gets two for Adrian and it’s off to a chinlock by the champion. That would be the US Champion as Neville is half of the NXT Tag Champions here. Neville fights up and sends Cesaro to the floor with a headscissors before a quick rollup gets two on Cesaro. A monkeyflip attempt is countered into a hot shot onto the top turnbuckle as we take a break.

Back with Antonio holding another chinlock and countering a sunset flip. The crowd was freaking out as he tried to fight it off too. Neville goes up but dives into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two and Cesaro is getting frustrated. Back to the chinlock but Neville fights up and sends Cesaro to the floor. A BIG top rope Asai Moonsault lays out Cesaro and a springboard missile dropkick gets two for Neville back inside.

Adrian hits a standing shooting star (described as “WHOA LOOK AT THAT” by Phillips) and a quick rana for two each. A moonsault into a tornado DDT gets two more and Neville loads up the corkscrew shooting star, only to be crotched down. The European Uppercut and Neutralizer retain the title for Cesaro at 8:00 shown of 11:00.

Rating: C+. This was fine. Neville wasn’t going to win the title and even with the mystique of the match being gone due to the crawler, the power vs. speed dynamic worked quite well here. Neville’s flips worked fine out there and Cesaro actualy looked like the worse of the two talents in the match. The chinlocks got annoying after awhile but the stuff after the break was much better.

Divas Title: AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn is defending. The fans chant YES at AJ before we get going. Kaitlyn runs her down to start but Kaitlyn shoves her into the corner to take over. Off to a Fujiwara Armbar by the challenger and she even throws in a Dolph Ziggler handstand. A hammerlock suplex puts Kiatlyn down and AJ is in full control. Kaitlyn gets in some right hands before rolling through a top rope cross body for two. A reverse DDT gets two on AJ but she sends Kaitlyn to the floor for an eight count. Back in and AJ puts on a sleeper followed by an enziguri for two. Kaitlyn pops up and spears AJ out of nowhere to retain at 5:06.

Rating: D. Again, the WWE Divas show that they have nothing on the NXT girls. I have no idea what the appeal of Kaitlyn is as her two moves are both terrible and she can’t work a match to save her life. AJ was fine with the Ziggler impersonations being a nice touch. Anything from Kaitlyn was just dreadful though.

NXT Title: Big E. Langston vs. Brad Maddox

Maddox, the challenger, introduces himself at 295lbs. Langston throws Maddox around to start and runs him over for good measure. The Big Ending ends Brad at 1:16.

Post match Langston hits another Big Ending for a five count. Maddox’s carcass rolls to the floor so Langston throws him back in for another Big Ending and five count.

We recap the history between Bo Dallas and Wade Barrett which started great and then stopped cold with no explanation.

Bo Dallas talks about Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Randy Savage being underdogs but winning the Intercontinental Title. Tonight it’s about the Bo Barrage.

Chris Jericho will be here next week.

Intercontinental Title: Wade Barrett vs. Bo Dallas

Dallas gets a mixed reaction but the fans chant for him during Barrett’s intro. After the intros that chant sounds a lot like “No More Bo.” Ouch. Dallas hits a hard forearm out of the corner to start and three straight rollups for two each. A dropkick sends Barrett to the floor and we take a break. Back with Barrett hitting a hard elbow and what looked like a shoulder block to put Bo down. The fans are almost entirely behind Barrett here.

A hard forearm to the head gets two for Barrett so he puts Dallas on the top rope and kicks him to the floor. Off to a bow and arrow hold by Wade (bends both arms back and puts a knee in the back) followed by the pumphandle slam for two. Barrett puts him in the ropes and hits the big boot to send Dallas back to the floor. This has been completely one sided since the break. Barrett suplexes him in from the apron and puts on a reverse chinlock (fans: “TAP! TAP! TAP!”) before charging into some boot in the corner.

Dallas drop toeholds him down into the corner and fires off some forearms for two. Another pumphandle is countered into a rollup for two for Bo but the tornado bulldog is countered. Winds of Change get two for the champion but the Bull Hammer misses. Tornado bulldog gets two but Barrett can’t hit Wasteland. Bo tries to dive at Barrett but jumps into the Bull Hammer for the pin at 8:40 shown of 12:10.

Rating: C+. The match was ok but man alive I haven’t heard a crowd turn on someone that fast in a long time. The fans just did not care about Bo Dallas in the slightest, and that’s a major issue for NXT given that the crowd is the same group of people every month. They’re going to have to change something fast or Bo’s matches are going to become rather embarrassing. As for the match itself, it was nothing of note and it came off as a learning experience for Dallas.

Overall Rating: C+. Well it was better than the Wrestlemania show but that’s not saying much. The show was entertaining enough but the main problem here was you didn’t need to see this show at all. It came and went with nothing of note going on and that’s not what I watch NXT for. The show wasn’t horrible or anything but it was certainly nothing I’ll remember in a few hours.

Results

Antonio Cesaro b. Adrian Neville – Neutralizer

Kaitlyn b. AJ Lee – Spear

Big E. Langston b. Brad Maddox – Big Ending

Wade Barrett b. Bo Dallas – Bull Hammer

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: April 17, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

We’re kind of at a new starting point in NXT with the end of the Regal vs. Ohno feud last week. Granted that’s just in theory because a clean win rarely ends anything in WWE anymore. We also need a new challenger for Langston and the NXT Title. As for tonight though, we have Corey Graves vs. Seth Rollins in a rare singles match for a member of the Shield. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the segment last week which gave us Graves vs. Rollins.

Theme song.

Justin Gabriel vs. Leo Kruger

Their last match was really good so hopefully this one is too. Kruger hits a hard chop in the corner to start and runs Gabriel over with a few shoulder blocks. Off to an armbar by Gabriel which transitions into a top wristlock. Back up and Kruger puts him down with a spinebuster for two, giving us the required Arn Anderson reference. Kruger pounds on the chest for two more and cranks on Gabriel’s neck a bit. Justin comes back with a monkey flip and some solid kicks to the arm.

A BIG spin kick puts Leo down but Kruger breaks up a springboard attempt. Leo gets two off a clothesline but Gabriel grabs a Fujiwara Armbar of all things. Kruger gets to the rope and Justin is very frustrated. The 450 is broken up and Kruger pounds on the crotched Gabriel. A superplex is broken up but Justin’s sunset bomb is countered, followed by a double stomp from Leo. The seated armbar (called the GC3 now) makes Gabriel tap out at 7:12.

Rating: B. Just like last time these two had solid chemistry here. This was a solid back and forth match with two guys who know each other very well. I’m still not clear why they’re fighting other than Kruger being nuts, but the South African connection could easily be expanded upon if need be. Good match here.

Brodus Clay says don’t try this.

Next week it’s Clash of the Champions with the Divas, US (held by Cesaro here), NXT and Intercontinental Title being defended.

We get a video on what the NXT people did at Wrestlemania. The shot of Shield walking through the stadium to their match is pretty awesome. Langston being in a title match is a big moment for NXT as well.

Paige doesn’t buy Summer Rae’s excuse of having to turn off her curling iron. She wants a one on one match but doesn’t think Summer has the backbone to do it. Rae jumps Paige and accepts the challenge.

Baylee vs. Emma

Emma actually does her skin the cat entrance without falling and the fans seem impressed. Baylee hits a quick dropkick and pulls Emma back in from running away. Emma dances into a cover (literally) and gets two so Baylee puts on a neck crank. Back up and Emma dodges a charge into the buckle and hooks a Tarantula of all things. Emma hooks an Indian Deathlock with a bridge and a chinlock (Benoit used to use that move) for the submission at 3:10.

Rating: C-. Not a good match but the more I see of Emma the more I like her. She has a strange likeability to her and her looks don’t hurt anything. The dancing thing started off as stupid but it’s getting over in front of a college crowd like this one and there’s nothing wrong with that. Again, odds are her looks and the outfits she wears likely don’t hurt her popularity.

Yoshi Tatsu vs. Bray Wyatt

Yoshi jumps over Wyatt in the corner but Bray hits a hard running cross body for one. A splash in the corner sets up the dancing bit before the Downward Spiral ends Yoshi at 1:18.

Bray hits his finisher again post match, which is apparently called Sister Abigail. Wyatt says this was a message because he needs us to understand that no one is greater than he is. He’s the eater of worlds and he believes it’s time for the beast to open our eyes.

Corey Graves vs. Seth Rollins

This is a lumberjack match and Ambrose/Reigns apparently have taken the night off. Rollins immediately pounds him down to start and stomps him into the corner but Graves comes back with some rights of his own. Rollins bails to the apron but has to come back in to avoid the lumberjacks. Back in and Corey goes after Seth’s leg with a kick to the inner thigh and a knee crusher.

Seth gets in a shot to the throat and follows up with a corner splash. Another splash hits and Graves falls to the floor. We take a break and come back with Rollins hitting a jumping kick for two and hooking a body vice. Off to a reverse chinlock instead but the cheering of the lumberjacks fires Graves up enough to escape. Rollins misses something off the top and gets hit by a running knee to the chest.

A hard clothesline puts Rollins down and Corey wrenches the knee. Rollins is pulled off the top with a dragon screw legwhip and a gordbuster keeps him down again, but here are Reigns and Ambrose to ringside. Ambrose clotheslines Graves down as Reigns destroys the lumberjacks. The standing sliced bread by Rollins is good for the pin at 7:12 shown of 10:42.

Rating: C. Not great here but the Shield looked awesome at the end. As Regal said, there are twelve bodies down at ringside and two men caused it. The ending was the right idea as it keeps both guys looking strong and leaves you wondering if Graves can put Rollins down or not. In other words, it makes you want to come back for more.

Overall Rating: B. Let’s see. We had four matches with two of them being good to quite good, stuff set up for next week, Shield looking great to end the show, and a cool video on Wrestlemania. For an hour, that’s about as good as you’re going to get. This was also a good example of what I love about NXT: there’s no pressure watching this show. When you watch Raw or Smackdown, there’s this sense that everything is life or death and it gets tiring after awhile. With NXT, they present their stuff and that’s all there is to it. It’s much easier to sit through and it works very well.

Results

Leo Kruger b. Justin Gabriel – GC3

Emma b. Baylee – Bridging Indian Deathlock

Bray Wyatt b. Yoshi Tatsu – Sister Abigail

Seth Rollins b. Corey Graves – Standing Sliced Bread

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: April 10, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Brad Maddox

Things have changed a bit down in NXT now as Conor O’Brian has been vanquished by Big E. Langston, leaving us without a number one contender. On top of that we’ve still got Bo Dallas feuding with the Wyatt Family and Summer Rae feuding with Paige. Also if I remember correctly tonight is Regal vs. Ohno in the culmination of along simmering feud. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Ohno vs. Regal, which is based on Regal training Ohno and Ohno wanting to have a bigger legacy than Regal. It’s the classic teacher vs. student story and it still works to this day. Both guys have attacked the other at the announcers’ desk in the past two weeks.

Percy Watson/Axl Keegan/Scott Dawson vs. Shield

That’s quite an opener. Shield clears the ring before the bell and head to the floor to keep beating up their prey. We actually get a bell as Reigns is pounding on Dawson in the ring. Ambrose and Rollins both come in to beat on for dropkicks and it’s Dean stomping away on Dawson. Scott finally slides away to bring in Keegan, who is immediately put in a surfboard by Ambrose with Rollins dropping a top rope knee onto Axl’s chest. Reigns clears out the corner and Seth hits a standing Sliced Bread for the pin on Keegan at 2:17. Complete and total squash.

Dawson gets hit with the TripleBomb post match.

Shield talks about how awesome they are when Corey Graves pops up on screen. He says he doesn’t believe in the Shield because NXT is his own personal wasteland. Next week, he want any one of them one on one. Rollins says next week Ambrose and Reigns can take the night off because he’ll fight Graves on his own.

Summer Rae says she ran away last week because she left her curling iron on and didn’t want to burn the building down. If she hadn’t run back there, it would have been Paige’s career burning down instead of the building.

Emma says she’s like Lady Gaga and stops talking. She changes it to Madonna and the interviewer isn’t sure what to think. The fans think Emma is a klutz but Emma thinks those crazy kids with their Macarena are confused. She trips as she leaves.

Bellas vs. Funkadactyls

During the entrances we get one of the problems with NXT being taped: this is described as a Wrestlemania rematch because of what happened there. This is a problem because the match that it’s a rematch of didn’t happen at Wrestlemania due to time constraints. Naomi and Brie start things off with Naomi being sent into the corner. She comes out with a standing Stinkface and the Rear View, showing off the extent of her offensive skills.

Off to Cameron for a double legdrop but Nikki breaks up the cover. The Bellas choke away on Cameron in the corner and it’s off to a chinlock by Nikki. Cameron fights up and hits a quick neckbreaker to put both girls down. The hot tag brings in Naomi but the Bellas immediately take her down. The twins both wrap up one of Naomi’s legs like they’re setting up a Sharpshooter and roll her forward into a mat slam for the pin at 3:38.

Rating: D. Once again, the main roster shows why they have no business being in NXT. The match was nothing of note and the ending was very weak with Naomi getting the hot tag and being pinned fifteen seconds later. The NXT girls are so far ahead of these models who know how to do a few moves that it’s unreal.

Kassius Ohno is in the back in a William Regal REAL MAN’S MAN shirt, making him far more awesome than he ever has been before. Ohno talks about how he’s watched everything there is to watch about Regal, but after tonight, no one is going to hear Regal’s voice again.

In two weeks it’s a Night of Champions with four title matches.

We look at Wrestlemania week.

Regal is ready for Ohno.

Next week it’s Graves vs. Rollins in a lumberjack match.

Kassius Ohno vs. William Regal

They lock up to start with Regal shoving Ohno back. Brad’s stupid joke of the week is to call Dawson Jerry every few moments. Back to the lockup until Regal takes over with an armbar. Ohno is taken to the mat by the arm as Regal cranks away even more. Now it’s a hammerlock and after a drop toehold Ohno still can’t get back up. Regal lets him back up and Ohno grabs a wristlock, only to be easily sent into the corner and stomped down by the old villain.

A forearm puts Ohno down as this has been one sided so far. Ohno finally gets in a shot to the ribs to send Regal to the floor. A baseball slide puts Regal into the barricade and we take a break. Back with Kassius getting two off something we didn’t see and firing off some HARD kicks in the corner to Regal’s head. Now it’s a full nelson to stay on the neck and upper body of Regal. William uses a nice counter to escape and stomps on Kassius’ fingers for good measure. He bends them back around the ropes as momentum changes again.

Regal stays on the arm and hand and drives some knees into Ohno’s face. Ohno comes back with a hard kick to the head to take Regal down as the ear is hurt even more. Another kick crushes Regal’s head against the post but Ohno can’t hook his cravate hold. Kassius kicks Regal again for two but he still can’t hook the Kassius Clutch. Off to a quick chinlock instead but Regal rolls out and hits a quick exploder suplex. His balance is WAY off though so he can’t hook the Regal Stretch.

A belly to back suplex puts Regal on his head again for two more and Kassius is getting frustrated. William is getting all fired up and gets to his feet, only to have his head kicked off for two. Ohno loads up the rolling elbow but Regal nails him in the ribs to set up the Knee Trembler for the pin at 14:06 shown of 17:36.

Rating: B+. This was a match based on emotion and the injury to Regal which worked very well. The story of teacher vs. student is one that always works and it did the job again here. The good thing here is that Regal didn’t look dominant at all at the end, which keeps Ohno from looking weak. Really good and physical match here with a solid story throughout.

Overall Rating: B. Another solid show here as NXT does what it does best: make any feud feel like the biggest thing going on in the promotion at the time. Regal vs. Ohno was a well built feud with a classic story and the resulting match worked out very well. What more can you really ask for than that? Good show here and more compelling TV with a match set up for next week.

Results

Shield b. Axl Keegan/Scott Dawson/Percy Watson – Standing Sliced Bread to Keegan

The Bellas b. The Funkadactyls – Rolling mat slam to Naomi

William Regal b. Kassius Ohno – Knee Trembler

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: April 3, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, Kassius Ohno, Brad Maddox

It’s the final show before Wrestlemania and hopefully we get an actual NXT show here instead of the same stuff we got last week with the main roster taking over the show and dragging it down. The only story from last week was Ohno attacking Regal at the announce table to further their feud. Let’s get to it.

The opening recap talks about O’Brian earning a title shot against Langston in a three way a few weeks back

Great, an hour of Brad Maddox and Ohno’s annoying way of talking.

Bo Dallas/Adrian Neville vs. Wyatt Family

This would be Rowan and Harper. Apparently Gray is going to be out for six months but he and Neville are still champions. Bray talks about putting a mouse in a cage with a snake. While it may survive one night, it isn’t going to survive in the long run. Harper and Dallas get things going with Bo being shoved into the corner. Off to Rowan for more pounding on Dallas’ back.

Bo finally escapes and brings in Adrian for some quick strikes and a standing moonsault for two on Luke. Rowan interference lets Harper hit a big boot for two and control. We take a break and come back with Rowan holding Adrian in a nerve hold. Erick drops down onto Neville’s head for two and it’s back to Luke Harper. Off to a chinlock on Adrian followed by a hard back elbow to the face for two. Back to Rowan with a big elbow for two and it’s already back to Harper.

Make that Rowan who rams Adrian head first into the corner before immediately tagging back out to Luke. The Family tags in and out very quickly. Neville avoids a big boot in the corner and it’s hot tag to Dallas. A tornado bulldog out of the corner gets two on Luke but Dallas has to take out Wyatt. Adrian hits a big corkscrew dive to take out Erick and Bray, allowing Dallas to belly to belly suplex Harper for the pin at 8:28 shown of 10:28.

Rating: C+. Tag formula 101 here and that’s all you need most of the time. You can never go wrong with a basic power vs. speed match and the crowd is going to get behind the small guys every single time. I’m hoping the Family can right the ship soon as they’ve been on a downward spiral of late, but history would say they’re almost done at this point.

Langston defends against O’Brian tonight.

Conor says the NXT Title belongs to him tonight.

We get Rock and Cena’s promos from Raw in their entirety.

Back in the arena, Regal jumps Ohno just like Ohno did to him last week. Fans: “THANK YOU REGAL!”

Summer Rae/Audrey Marie vs. Paige/Sasha Banks

Summer immediately runs from Paige so it’s Audrey starting with Paige instead. Rae distracts Paige to give Marie a quick advantage but it’s quickly off to Sasha for some double teaming. Banks hits a hard chop to the chest and a wrist drag out of the corner for two. Audrey pulls her back to the corner for a tag to Summer who chokes away. Back to Audrey for a chinlock on Sasha which actually gets two.

Rae comes back in and works over Audrey even more before bringing Marie back in. The tagging in NXT is quite good overall. It’s already back to Rae who gets rolled up for two, but her kickout sends Sasha into the tag to Paige. Summer immediately bails and runs to the back. The Paige Turner swinging neckbreaker finishes Audrey at 3:52.

Rating: C+. This was mainly about telling a story and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. Paige continues to be ridiculously over and the Divas are still one of the highspots of this promotion. The showdown between Paige and Rae could be a big time deal for NXT, which is nothing you would ever see on Raw or Smackdown.

Paige chases after Rae.

Regal vs. Ohno next week.

NXT Title: Conor O’Brian vs. Big E. Langston

Feeling out process to start with the champion sending O’Brian to the floor as we take a break. Back with O’Brian guillotining Langston on the stop rope to take over again. The full nelson slam gets two on Big E. and O’Brian stomps away some more. A quick shoulder block gets two more and it’s off to a chinlock. The idea is that O’Brian is strong enough to hurt Langston so the offense can be really simple.

Back up and Langston starts to scream and Hulk Up. Conor can’t hurt him with right hands and Big E. runs him over with some clotheslines. Langston fires off five knees to the ribs but walks into a BIG clothesline for two. Conor is stunned and shouts FIVE. He loads up the Big Ending but Langston escapes and runs the challenger over. The real Big Ending retains Langston’s title at 6:03 shown of 9:33.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t nearly as good as their brawl from a month or so ago. Langston didn’t look to be in danger at all and O’Brian’s offense was easily shrugged off. It’s good to see Langston in some danger, but we need a new challenger now and no one seems to be on the radar. Granted that was the case when O’Brian came up so maybe it can happen again.

Langston hits another Big Ending for 5 post match.

Overall Rating: C+. Somewhat disappointing main event aside, this wasn’t too bad. This was what NXT was supposed to be about: building up angles and setting up for next week. I’m not sure why we didn’t get the last two weeks reversed as the Road to Wrestlemania show would seem to make more sense on a night like this instead of last week but whatever I guess. Good show here again.

Results

Bo Dallas/Adrian Neville b. Wyatt Family – Belly to belly suplex to Harper

Paige/Sasha Banks b. Summer Rae/Audrey Marie – Paige Turner to Marie

Big E. Langston b. Conor O’Brian – Big Ending

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon at:

Brooke tells Hulk not to worry about her. She’ll have protection for her meeting with Bully tonight. No more drama.

NXT
Date: March 27, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, William Regal, Jim Ross

After last week’s Wyatt Family heavy show, the odds are that we’ll be seeing something new this week. That’s one of the good things about NXT: they keep things fresh every week while still keeping something from the previous week going. Granted it helped to have only an hour per week to fill in. Let’s get to it.

We open with the I’m Coming Home video for Mania.

Welcome Home.

The idea tonight is a Road to Wrestlemania special. We even have The Fink doing the announcing. Nothing wrong with that.

Divas Title: Natalya vs. Katilyn

Kaitlyn grabs a go-behind to start but Natalya takes it to the mat to crank on the leg a bit. Tonight’s main event is Orton vs. Sandow. That doesn’t like like a very NXT kind of show. Natalya shoves her down but gets caught in a jackknife cover for two. We get the always cool looking bridge up into a backslide for two on Kaitlyn followed by a failed Sharpshooter attempt.

Natalya misses a discus lariat but settles for a snap suplex for two. Off to an abdominal stretch by Natalya and we take a break. Back with Kaitlyn reversing into a bad abdominal stretch of her own. After that gets reversed, Kaitlyn runs over Natalya and hits the fireman’s carry gutbuster for two. Natalya comes back with a quick Sharpshooter out of nowhere but Kaitlyn powers out of it. Back up and the spear out of nowhere ends Natalya at around 7:00.

Rating: D. This match shows how big the difference is between the NXT Divas and the WWE Divas. This was the same plodding and boring Divas match I’ve seen a hundred times in the last few years on the main shows. There was nothing to see here at all and the match was several rungs below what the NXT girls usually do.

Alberto Del Rio says he’s ready for Swagger and “the guy from Jumanji”. Del Rio says he was born in Mexico but made in America.

Brodus Clay vs. El Local

Local is Ricardo Rodriquez under a mask. Brodus easily throws him around to start and even gets two off a jackknife cover. Local goes after the knee in a smart move but can only get two. Brodus has enough of the selling and runs over Local before suplexing him down. A splash in the corner sets up a regular splash for the pin at 2:00. Literally a squash but Local got in a few shots.

The Raw ReBound is about Punk and Undertaker, which is short in the first place so you know the recap is quick.

Shield says they’ll be fighting and winning for justice on Wrestlemania Sunday. They talk about starting a new revolution after winning.

Cena talks about Wrestlemania and how big of a deal it is. Last year he had to win but failed, so now the pressure is on Rock. It’s Rock’s first title defense (second but whatever) and it might be the first time that Rock fails at something in his life. In about two minutes here, Cena said April 7 eight times.

We go to the announcers and Kassius Ohno appears and destroys Regal.

Randy Orton vs. Damien Sandow

Orton grabs a headlock to start but Sandow grabs one of his own. A back elbow to the face puts Sandow down and there’s a stomp to the face. Damien comes back with some shots in the corner but Orton hits the Thesz Press to take over again. Sandow bails to the floor and gets taken down by a clothesline as we take a break. Back with Orton stomping away but Damien comes back with a quick elbow and some stomps of his own.

The Elevated DDT is countered and we head to the floor where Orton is sent into the steps. Off to the chinlock back inside followed by the Russian legsweep and the Wind-Up Elbow for two. Orton fights back with right hands and a superplex for a delayed two. The powerslam puts Damien down but he gets a boot up in the corner followed by a neckbreaker for two. Randy comes right back with the Elevated DDT and the RKO finishes at 9:30 shown of 12:00.

Rating: C-. This was the same dull match you would see between these two at any given Raw or Smackdown or even a house show. Sandow got in his usual stuff and Orton shrugged it off as you would expect it to. Nothing to see here but I guess for an NXT main event this was ok enough.

Overall Rating: D. Bad to boring matches, a single bit of angle advancement, and a bunch of talk about Wrestlemania which we get on Raw and Smackdown every single week. This is FAR less interesting than what we get during the regular shows and for once, this show was a chore to sit through. Bad show this week and that’s because it was full of the main roster guys.

Results

Kaitlyn b. Natalya – Spear

Brodus Clay b. El Local – Splash

Randy Orton b. Damien Sandow – RKO

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: March 20, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

Last week’s show was about building for the future, so hopefully we get what the stuff that was being built to this week. The main stories are the Wyatt Family vs. Bo Dallas and the tag champions and Langston vs. O’Brian which should be a good match when we get around to it. I love how they make us wait around here. It’s like the old days when they didn’t have PPVs every month to build to and things can flow more naturally. Let’s get to it.

The opening video recaps the Family vs. Neville and Gray and sets up Neville vs. Family member Luke Harper tonight.

Justin Gabriel vs. Leo Kruger

This was set up by a Gabriel challenge last week. Feeling out process to start with both guys shoving the other into the corner. Kruger gets the first control with a headlock before Gabriel grabs one of his own. Back up and Kruger shoves him down before driving an elbow into Gabriel’s neck. We take a break and come back with Leo still in control, this time via a hammerlock.

Justin fights up for a few seconds but is driven right back down by the hammerlock. He escapes again but they ram heads to put both guys down. Back up and they slug it out by exchanging forearms until Gabriel takes over with a series of right hands. A big spinebuster gets two for Kruger but as he goes for an arm hold of some kind, Gabriel suplexes him down to get a breather.

Gabriel goes to the middle rope for a kind of jumping mule kick for two followed by a HARD kick to the chest. Justin is consistently selling the arm work from earlier which is a very nice thing to see. A big spinning kick to the head of a kneeling Kruger gets another two count as does a sunset flip.

Gabriel plants him down but Leo rolls away before the 450 can be launched. Kruger goes old school villain with a thumb to the eye before draping the bad arm over the top rope. A seated armbar has Gabriel in trouble but somehow he crawls over to the ropes. Kruger hits a kind of Stroke onto the arm before putting the armbar back on and that’s good enough for the tap at 9:56 shown of 13:26.

Rating: B. I really liked this match as they had a great story going out there. Gabriel sold the arm the entire way through the match which was really nice to see. Kruger continues to impress me and having him as a crazy man who was driven over the edge by his time in the South African militia is a fine character. Good stuff here.

Audrey Marie says it’s always the calmest before the storm because Sasha knows Audrey is gunning for her.

We recap the ending segment from Raw.

William Regal is in the ring with something to say. He calls out Kassius Ohno who comes out in a shirt which says fighting spirit. Regal says whatever their issue is, it isn’t worth it because Ohno doesn’t want to end up like Regal is. William offers an apology and a handshake but Ohno won’t shake it. Ohno talks about growing up idolizing Regal and traveling with CM Punk to attend a camp Regal held to learn from him. During Kassius’ time in Europe, Regal was a mentor to him and made sure the right people saw Ohno’s footage which was his foot in the door to the WWE.

Now though, Regal is on the downside of his career and it’s not a career that Kassius wants. Ohno wants to know what Regal has accomplished in this industry because he used to be an amazing villain, but now he tries to laugh with the people, but the people are really laughing at him. All anyone is going to remember is Regal bending down to kiss Vince, and that’s enough for Regal to shove Ohno down.

We look at Punk and Undertaker’s segment from Raw.

Bayley vs. Paige

Bayley is some new chick here apparently. Paige easily throws her down to start and gets a rollup for two. Off to an armbar by Bayley for a minute or so before Paige fights up and screams a lot. Paige whips her into the corner and trips her down so a kneeling Texas Cloverleaf can make Bayley submit at 2:23.

Post match Summer Rae runs out to the ring but Paige stares at her to send Summer backpedaling.

Adrian Neville vs. Luke Harper

We finally learn something new about the Family: Harper is from Rochester, New York. Harper lands a STIFF right hand to take over early but Neville charges right at him, only to be dropped with a hot shot for two. We take an early break and come back with Harper headbutting Neville down and crawling on the mat to hook a chinlock. A kick to the head and an elbow drop get two for Luke and it’s off to an over the shoulder backbreaker.

Harper clotheslines Adrian’s head off and gets five straight two counts. Luke looks to Wyatt for inspiration, allowing Neville to fire off some forearms to get himself a breather. A running forearm staggers Harper and a kick to the head from the apron staggers him a bit more. There’s a missile dropkick for two but Neville has to dive on Erick Rowan who was approaching the ring. Harper heads outside as well and there’s a top rope Asai Moonsault to take him down as well. Back in and a spinning DDT puts Luke down but Wyatt himself distracts Neville, allowing Harper to hit a discus lariat for the pin at 7:33 shown of 11:03.

Rating: C+. I was digging this match with the David vs. Goliath formula working the entire way through. The ending is good too as Harper winning gives the Family a reason to get another shot at the titles but Neville only lost because he was at a 3-1 disadvantage. Good match here and a solid main event.

Post match Oliver Gray comes out to save his partner which makes you wonder where he was during the match. Bo Dallas comes out to make it 3-3 and the Wyatt Family is cleared out to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. NXT just works. The matches are good, the promos are good, the stories are interesting, the show never drags, the commentators actually talk about what is going on in the NXT world and I want to see what happens next. What more can you possibly ask for than that? The main event sets up a nice six man tag and we have the title match to look forward to also. Another good show this week.

Results

Leo Kruger b. Justin Gabriel – Seated Armbar

Paige b. Bayley – Kneeling Texas Cloverleaf

Luke Harper b. Adrian Neville – Discus Lariat

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: March 13, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

We have a #1 contender now with O’Brian winning the triple threat last week. On top of that we had a lot of storyline development as Bo Dallas seems to be going to war against the Wyatt Family. Last week was all about setting up the future shows which should make for some entertaining TV today. Let’s get to it.

Kassius Ohno vs. Derrick Bateman

Regal on Bateman: “If brains were elastic he wouldn’t have enough to make a frog’s jockstrap.” Bateman quickly takes him down with an armdrag before hooking an armbar. Apparently Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo are here tonight. Bateman chops away as Regal is very focued on Ohno here. This is Derrick’s return from a knee injury. Ohno is sent into the corner and slammed down for two. Almost all Bateman in the early going.

Kassius is sent to the apron where he hits a cravate Stunner onto the top rope. A running boot to Bateman’s jaw puts him down and Ohno drops a pair of sentons for two. Back to the cravate on Bateman but Derrick makes his comeback with some clotheslines and shots to the face. He loads up the falling bulldog but Ohno shoves him off because it’s too stupid of a move to sell. Kassius kicks him in the face for the pin at 4:20.

Rating: D+. Neither of these guys are anything of note and the fans weren’t impressed either. Bateman is back from an injury but this everyman gimmick does nothing for me. I still don’t get the appeal of Ohno, at least not in this gimmick. As best I can tell he’s supposed to be a ruthless striker but his signature move is a cravate. His character isn’t working for me and doesn’t seem to be for the crowd either.

Post match Ohno puts Bateman in an STF with a cravate headlock until Regal makes the save. These two need to fight already.

Bo Dallas says Bray Wyatt has his attention after Wyatt cost him both the tag team and NXT Titles.

Regal apologizes for what he did.

Emma vs. Summer Rae

Emma is the bad dancing klutz. A quick rollup gets two for Emma and Rae is frustrated. Wait, dance time. Rae is knocked into the corner for a cross body but she comes back with a snapmare to send Emma’s leg into the ropes. We’re told it’s Dallas vs. Wyatt later tonight as Summer stays on the leg. Summer goes VERY old school with an Indian Deathlock (the version with both girls on their backs) before choking Emma with her long legs. Back up and a dropkick puts Emma down before Rae does Paige’s scream. Emma comes back with a clothesline for two, only to be caught by a bad spinwheel kick to give Rae the pin at 3:51.

Rating: D+. Summer looks good in the outfits and has a lot of Maryse in her with the blonde bombshell look, but her stuff in the ring isn’t all that great. She’s a good enough antagonist though and beating up a goofy character like Emma here was a decent enough idea. They’re just waiting on Paige to come back for the revenge though.

Apparently that revenge is right now because here’s Paige to chase off Summer. The place went NUTS for Paige.

We recap Oliver Grey being laid out by the Wyatt Family last week.

Adrian Neville issues an open challenge to any member of the Family for next week.

Big E. Langston says that last week Conor O’Brian defeated two men to earn his title shot. However, this is Langston’s first defense, so he’s going to make sure it’s dominant, destructive and delicious.

Bray Wyatt vs. Bo Dallas

Wyatt talks about how in his world there are no distractions and no communication. The women take care of the young and the men aren’t afraid to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect what is theirs. He wants to know how far Dallas is willing to go to get what he wants. Wyatt takes him into the corner but then hides from a right hand. Bray starts to laugh at Dallas (his real life younger brother if you’re not familiar with your family trees) before hooking a headlock.

Dallas tries a headlock of his own but Wyatt hits a hard cross body for two. We take a break and come back with Dallas in a chinlock. Back up and Bo is whipped hard into the corner and a slam gets two for Bray. In a unique submission hold, Wyatt sits on Dallas’ ribs and pulls back on his head in a kind of reverse camel clutch. Dallas gets up again and tries a sunset flip but Bray drops down, only to hit the mat. The look on his face from missing is great as he looks like he was shot.

Bo starts his comeback with a forearm but gets caught in a big release Rock Bottom for two. A big splash in the corner crushes Bo and it’s time to dance with Dallas’ limp body. He dances a bit too long though and it allows Dallas to come out of it with a belly to belly suplex for the pin at 6:21 shown of 9:51.

Rating: C. This wasn’t much and I’m not sure on having Wyatt lose in I believe his third singles match. Dallas has flashes of good stuff but for the most part he still doesn’t do much for me. I like the belly to belly FAR better for him than the spear though, as a guy that size has no business using the same move that Goldberg or Roman Reigns uses.

Post match here’s the Wyatt Family to destroy Dallas as Wyatt laughs. Dallas makes a comeback and beats them both up, only to be caught in Bray’s Downward Spiral.

Justin Gabriel says he’s heard of Leo Kruger before. Back when Gabriel lived in South Africa he heard of Kruger being in the South African militia and apparently it messed with his head. Gabriel wants a match with Leo next week.

Here are Ricardo and Alberto to a very nice ovation. Del Rio does his old bit of “My name is Alberto Del Rio” which draws a small SI chant. He says he’s the new world champion here so this must be an old show. Del Rio talks about how there’s a lot of talent in the back and someone back there will be WWE or World Heavyweight Champion someday. Instead of a new superstar though, here’s Antonio Cesaro to challenge Del Rio to a champion vs. champion match. This brings out Dusty Rhodes who says that the Swedish guy in the ring doesn’t make matches. Cesaro can have a champion vs. champion match, but against this guy.

Big E. Langston vs. Antonio Cesaro

Non-title here. Langston shoves him down and we’re ready to go. We take a break before there’s any contact (why not just have the bell after the break? Is it really that hard?) and come back with Langston easily breaking a wristlock. A lifting wristlock has Antonio in trouble as Big E. is easily throwing him around. Langston LAUNCHES him across the ring with a beal but Cesaro comes back with the European uppercuts and a knee lift for one.

Off to a kind of cobra clutch on Big E. but the NXT Champion easily fights up. Cesaro goes up top and dries Langston down with a knee before hitting his really impressive gutwrench suplex for two. Cesaro hooks a sleeper but Langston easily fights out of it and clotheslines Cesaro down. Five knees to Cesaro’s ribs have him in trouble and Big E. runs him over, but here’s Corey Graves for the DQ at 5:23 shown of 8:53.

Rating: C. The match was ok and at the end of the day, it’s a good move to not have Cesaro lose clean here. I get that it’s just NXT, but you don’t want to have the US Champion losing in less than ten minutes like that. Granted it never stops them on Raw but that’s besides the point. I hope we don’t get a triple threat with Langston defending against Graves and O’Brian, but it seems to be the only way to get the title off of Langston without hurting him.

Graves is run over post match but here’s O’Brian to pound on Big E. Corey helps O’Brian and Langston is laid out to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This is NXT’s bread and butter: week to week booking that makes you want to come back and see where all this stuff is going. We got some matches that were set up last week as well as some stuff that was set up for next week. That’s very efficient and far better than what we get on the main shows. This show is still a treat to watch and I’m genuinely interested in where the stories are going. That’s good stuff.

Results

Kassius Ohno b. Derrick Bateman – Big Boot

Summer Rae b. Emma – Spinwheel Kick

Bo Dallas b. Bray Wyatt – Belly to belly suplex

Big E. Langston b. Antonio Cesaro via DQ when Corey Graves interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: March 6, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

We’re back in Florida for more NXT where the Shield made their presence known again last week, breaking up a #1 contender’s match between Conor O’Brian and Corey Graves after presumably attacking Bo Dallas. Other than that we had the Wyatt Family get even stronger than usual by having Bray himself get in the ring for some destruction. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Commissioner Dusty Rhodes to open things up. He announces the main event for tonight as Graves vs. O’Brian vs. Dallas for the next shot at the title with extra security to keep the Shield from interfering.

Welcome Home.

Adrian Neville/Oliver Grey vs. Judas Devlin/Scott Dawson

Neville and Grey are tag champions but this is non-title. There’s no Grey though and Neville doesn’t know where he is. He was here earlier but somewhere in between there he disappeared. Neville agrees to fight them on his own and starts against Dawson. A quick arm wringer puts Dawson down and it’s off to an armbar. It’s off to Judas who is a big tattooed man with long hair. Judas doesn’t do much of note before it’s back to Dawson.

Devlin comes back in for a chinlock as the numbers game is starting to catch up with Neville. As the hold is on, the Wyatt Family drags Grey out to the stage. Grey is barely conscious and is reaching towards the ring. Neville fights out of the hold but is distracted by Grey, allowing the team to take over again. Dawson puts Adrian on the top but gets knocked down, allowing Neville to hit the corkscrew shooting star press for the pin at 3:21.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but it’s about the story rather than the match. The Wyatt Family wanting revenge for losing in the title match is the right idea and it sets up a good dynamic of the much smaller champions having to fight the monsters with an even bigger disadvantage. That shooting star is absolutely stunning too.

Neville checks on his partner post match.

Leo Kruger vs. Yoshi Tatsu

The fans cheer for Yoshi as I’m guessing they meant to go to the Nintendo convention instead of this show. Kruger grabs a headlock to start but gets caught in an atomic drop followed by a second one for good measure. Kruger comes back by sending Yoshi’s shoulder into the buckle before cranking on the arm on the mat. Yoshi finally makes a rope and fights up but a shot to the arm stops him cold. Kruger hits a big clothesline and finishes Tatsu with a seated armbar at 2:59. Total squash.

Sasha Banks/Cameron/Naomi vs. Audrey Marie/Alicia Fox/Aksana

Cameron and Naomi dance a lot before the match. Fox and Banks start things off with Sasha taking over with a headscissors. Off to Aksana who has just as much luck as her partner before it’s off to Cameron. Oh wait we need a dance break. Back to the wrestling now with Audrey getting in a kick to Cameron’s back from the apron to take over. Aksana puts her in the corner and does that crawl of hers, only to get caught by a cross body for two by Cameron.

Back to Fox who gets a quick one count off a northern lights suplex. Off to Audrey now who hooks a body scissors which only lasts for a few seconds before Cameron can tag off to Naomi. Things speed up as Naomi hits a flying clothesline to Audrey and an enziguri for two on Aksana. A leg lariat is enough to pin Audrey at 4:25.

Rating: C-. As usual, the Divas of NXT are far more interesting and talented than those of Raw and Smackdown. Cameron isn’t much in the ring but Naomi has good athleticism and energy. Unfortunately here the focus was on the main show girls instead of the more talented NXT girls because they’re the “stars”.

Bo Dallas talks about how his career is skyrocketing right now due to winning the NXT Tournament and beating Wade Barrett on Raw. Bray Wyatt comes up and talks about laying out Dallas a few weeks ago. If Dallas had accepted Wyatt’s offer to join the Family, he would have been protected against the Shield last week. Bo says stay away from him because he isn’t interested. Wyatt calls him a foolish young man.

Alberto Del Rio will be here next week.

Summer Rae insists on being called the First Lady of NXT and insists on the interviewer introducing her again. Rae talks about putting Paige on the shelf for good and taking away her popularity. If Rebecca, the interviewer, ever introduces her improperly again, she’ll be taken out like trash.

Shield reassures us that they’re still here to shield us from injustice. The injustice from last week was O’Brian, Dallas and Graves believing they deserved a title shot. Ambrose talks about putting a crack in the foundation of WWE. They’ve done it on Raw and Smackdown so it’s time to do it here on NXT. It should be Rollins getting the title shot, not any of those three.

Corey Graves vs. Conor O’Brian vs. Bo Dallas

The winner gets the title shot at Langston at some point in the future. O’Brian runs over Dallas to start and Graves stomps away. Conor doesn’t seem interested in helping him so instead he beats up Corey for a bit. Graves manages to send him to the floor and puts Bo in a chinlock as we take a break. Back with Dallas sending Graves to the floor but as he follows, Conor pops up to clothesline Dallas down. With Conor on the apron, Corey fires some shoulder to his ribs. That gets him nowhere though as O’Brian knocks him away and gets two off a top rope clothesline.

Dallas is back in now but O’Brian keeps full control of the match. Conor wraps his legs around Graves’ head for a neck crank, getting two as a result. The attention shifts to Dallas now with O’Brian throwing him into Graves in the corner which gets another two count. Graves gets a boot up in the corner to stagger O’Brian, allowing Dallas and Corey to double team Conor with a double suplex.

The alliance is short lived though as they start fighting each other again, resulting in a belly to back suplex by Bo. Dallas pounds away in the corner but stops when he sees Bray Wyatt on the apron. We take another break and come back with Graves pounding away on both guys. A gordbuster gets two on Bo and there’s a half crab for good measure. Conor breaks it up but Graves beats him down as a result. Dallas is sent to the apron but goes up and gets crotched right back down. Corey loads up a superplex but O’Brian pulls him off the ropes and slams him face first into the mat.

Bo hits a quick missile dropkick on Conor for two as Bray is coming closer to the ring. O’Brian is sent face first into the buckle and has Dallas use his body as a springboard for a tornado bulldog on Graves, getting two. A DDT gets two on O’Brian but Graves kicks out Dallas’ leg. There’s the 13^th Step leg lock on Bo but O’Brian comes in and puts Corey in a Koji Clutch to break the hold.

Bo breaks up that hold and is all fired up now. O’Brian is dropkicked to the floor and the belly to belly puts Graves down, but Wyatt pulls Corey to the floor. Bo breaks his concentration and yells at Wyatt, allowing O’Brian to hit him with a full nelson slam for the pin at 12:11 shown of 19:11.

Rating: B. Good stuff here as they had a lot of time to work with. Wyatt and Dallas building their story was a good idea and it makes the most sense to have O’Brian win, as he and Langston have unfinished business to get to. This was a solid main event and it sets up more for future shows, so what else can you ask of it?

Overall Rating: B. There was a lot of angle advancement here with a good match to top it off. The Wyatt Family getting a renewed push is a good thing to see and hopefully we’ll get some more of the awesome promos to back it up. NXT continues to be an entertaining week to week show as they make you want to come back for more. So few shows get that concept anymore and it’s nice to see for a change.

Results

Adrian Neville b. Scott Dawson/Judas Devlin – Corkscrew Shooting Star Press to Dawson

Leo Kruger b. Yoshi Tatsu – Seated Armbar

Sasha Banks/Cameron/Naomi b. Audrey Marie/Alicia Fox/Aksana – Leg lariat to Marie

Conor O’Brian b. Bo Dallas and Corey Graves – Full Nelson Slam to Dallas

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: February 29, 2012
Location: Key Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Josh Matthews, William Regal

It’s the one year anniversary show, despite the season not being on the air for a year yet but again, counting is probably too complicated for WWE. Striker has promised us a major announcement tonight which probably won’t wind up meaning much of anything because this is NXT, the land of crushed and broken dreams. Let’s get to it.

Alex Riley/Percy Watson vs. Darren Young/Titus O’Neil

Titus starts with Riley and the beating begins. Riley gets in a dropkick and it’s off to Young. Alex takes him down but goes up and is kicked down to give Young the advantage. Things slow down a lot with Titus taking over and saying that he has five. Riley tries to dive for a tag but Titus carries him back to the corner to bring in Young again.

Atomic drop gets two and it’s off to a chinlock with a body scissors. Riley manages to get a kick into the face of a bent over Young and tags in Watson. Watson speeds things up and hits the Heisman Splash for two. Watson goes after Titus though and walks into the double knee gutbuster from Young for the pin at 5:46.

Rating: D+. Technically this was fine but this feud has been going on forever. While they’ve done a good job of having it evolve over the months with logical step after logical step, it’s still not an interesting feud. Again, this would be so much better if they had something to fight for other than just pride.

Titus says Percy gets his rematch next week.

Back from a break and we have Alicia, Kaitlyn and Justin Gabriel in the ring in chairs. It’s supposed to be Bateman vs. Slater at this point. Apparently this is an intervention. Oh dear. They’re intervening about 5’5 of pure evil. Bateman: “You mean Trent Barretta?” They talk about how crazy Maxine is and how she beats up random rew members and makes everyone miserable. Kaitlyn set this up. This is being booed out of the building.

We get a highlight package of Maxine and Bateman’s relationship, including the whole engagement and the Johnny Curtis stuff. Bateman says she’s a lot better at home and he doesn’t want to die alone. Kaitlyn says that constantly getting slapped in the face is weird, not love. He asks Kaitlyn what love is then, so she bends him back and kisses him. Maxine runs out and gets in a fight with Kaitlyn which is quickly broken up. Maxine beats on Bateman and the girls are in the main event tonight.

Tyson and Natalya run into each other in the back. McGillicutty comes up and says something smells around here but it’s not Natalya. They’re up next.

Michael McGillicutty vs. Tyson Kidd

They go tot he mat and Michael controls with a quick headlock. Regal talks about Tiger Mask as Tyson hooks a hammerlock. Michael works on the wrist but Kidd reverses into a cradle for two. McGillicutty sends him into the corner and out to the floor for the first big advantage. Off to a chinlock with McGillicutty having a way too excited look on his face. Back up and Kidd gets up a boot in the corner and they clothesline each other.

Kidd starts firing off some hard strikes and a jumping spin kick gets two. Rolling cradle gets two. Kidd goes up but gets crotched. He knocks McGillicutty off and hits a moonsault press for two. Kidd loads up the Sharpshooter but McGillicutty kicks him away and the McGillicutter gets the pin at 6:22. McGillicutty’s face looks like it belongs in a Will Ferrell movie.

Rating: C. Why did that just happen? They’ve been pushing Kidd very strong the last few weeks and now he loses clean to Michael McGillicutty? For what? Was Kidd getting too over or something? I really don’t get this, especially after the last few weeks where they’ve had Kidd being Bret-esque with the Sharpshooter combinations. Then again it’s NXT so it’s not like anyone is paying attention.

Raw ReBound is about Rock and Cena of course.

Maxine is freaking out in the back and runs into Aksana. Maxine says everyone is plotting against her and she thinks even Aksana is in on it. Anyone that crosses Maxine will regret it.

Striker is in the ring for his major announcement, drawing a Regal chant. He talks about all the ring announcers and commentators and the thirty new superstars they’ve added. He does know that NXT has been around two years and that this season has been a year right? However there’s only been one host. He’s got this job because he loves this stuff. NXT was supposed to be about exposing the unseen because the guys in that locker room are carrying the business into the future. Yep the business is dead.

Anyway, lately NXT has been missing its point and that’s because of Striker. Tonight that changes….and here are Hawkins and Reks to interrupt. They have a surprise for Striker and they pull out chairs and drinks because they want to see this. Striker finally yells at Curt to shut up. He tells Hawkins to come try him if he wants to. Someone with veteran experience needs to take over. Someone that has worked his entire career so that Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks can be called wrestlers. Striker will still be host but the matchmaker is now Sir William Regal.

Regal gets in the ring and says that there are going to be some new people coming to NXT to face Hawkins and Reks. As for them, why are they wearing sunglasses inside? This is the beginning of the new NXT and their first surprise is next week.

Kaitlyn vs. Maxine

Bateman and Curtis are on commentary for this. Curtis rubs lotion on his chest. He says that Maxine is in his back pocket for whenever he wants to pull her out. Brawl to start and Regal says he’s very open to bribes. Kaitlyn books a body scissors for a bit but Maxine takes over with basic stuff. A running double ax gets two. Maxine beats on her a little more until Kaitlyn hits a Bubba Bomb and a rollup for the pin at 3:21.

Rating: D. As usual this was boring. These girls hate each other but always have coherent wrestling matches instead of wild brawls. That’s one of those wrestling things I’ve never quite gotten. Anyway, dull match and the ending came out of nowhere. It is nice to see something other than a mat slam of some sort for a new finisher though.

Maxine gets in Regal’s face and says she looks forward to working closely with him.

Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t all that thrilled with this show but it wasn’t terrible. Regal taking over could be a good thing but if he just does the same things Striker did, this isn’t going anywhere. I’ve been saying it for months but this show is desperately in need of some fresh blood or at least some fresh faces. Also, end the whole Bateman/Curtis/Maxine stuff. It’s been going on for months now and it’s still going around in circles. Not a bad show tonight but this glimmer of hope needs to go somewhere.

Results
Darren Young/Titus O’Neil b. Alex Riley/Percy Watson – Double Knee Gutbuster To Watson
Michael McGillicutty b. Tyson Kidd – McGillicutter
Kaitlyn b. Maxine – Bubba Bomb

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