NXT
Date: November 13, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Tensai, William Regal

I’m pretty sure this is the last of the taping cycle, meaning we’ll get our bigger names back next week. That being said, the last few weeks haven’t been horrible at all and tonight’s main event is a 2/3 falls match between Adrian Neville and Corey Graves which has been a decent little feud. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Bayley/Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks/Summer Rae

Bayley offers Sasha a headband to start the match but Summer takes it away and throws it down. Charlotte comes in before there’s any contact to shoe Sasha down. Off to a hammerlock on Banks with some knees into the arms getting a two count. Bayley comes back in but gets driven into the corner for a tag off to Summer. A fireman’s carry takes Rae down but she pops back up and takes Bayley’s head off with a clothesline for two.

We take a break and come back with Sasha holding Bayley in a chinlock. Back to Summer for some choking on the ropes before putting on a full nelson with her legs. That’s rather awesome and painful looking at the same time. Bayley rolls away but gets dragged back to the corner for a tag to Banks. Charlotte really doesn’t seem interested in making a tag. Bayley grabs Sasha for a belly to back front slam and crawls over to Charlotte….who slaps her in the face. The flipping cutter allows Sasha to get the pin at 6:24 shown of 9:54.

Rating: C. This was much more about the story than the match and that’s just fine. This looks to be an actual second story in the Divas division which is unheard of in the current WWE version. Also, it says a lot that Charlotte has been wrestling for a few months now and would probably be better than about half the WWF Divas.

Aiden English is warming up his voice.

Camacho vs. Aiden English

Camacho still has a job??? English gets a huge pop and sings about how all of the fans adore him. Regal admits his man crush on English as Aiden takes him into the corner for some stomping. Camacho comes back with a slam for two but runs into an elbow in the corner. English begs off but gets caught in a belly to back suplex and a legdrop crushes the vocal chords. Not that it matters as English comes back with the Director’s Cut for the pin at 2:09.

English gives us an encore to the loudest pop of the night. Regal gives him a standing ovation and starts crying.

The blonde talks to Rusev in I’m assuming Bulgarian.

Danny Burch vs. Mason Ryan

Burch jumps him from behind to start and uppercuts Ryan into the corner. Mason comes back with a running clothesline and some headbutts but Burch punches him down again. Mason will have none of this selling though and the cobra clutch slam ends Burch at 2:35. Ryan just isn’t that good.

Bo Dallas is coming home next week. So the theme song has been about him all these months?

Corey Graves vs. Adrian Neville

2/3 falls here. Neville hits a quick dropkick for two but walks into an elbow to the jaw to put him down. A belly to back suplex gets a near fall on Neville but he comes back with some forearms of his own. Adrian gets two off a side roll before flipping forward twice and jumping to the apron. He kicks Graves in the head to put him down and the Red Arrow gives him the first fall at 2:11.

Graves gets to his feet but rolls to the floor for a breather. Adrian will have none of that and goes outside for some chops and a knee lift. Back inside and Neville loads up another Red Arrow but Corey rolls away before Adrian can jump. Graves shakes the ropes to send Adrian to the floor, possibly reinjuring the bad knee. Corey takes him back inside to pound on the knee and we take a break.

Back with Graves pounding on the chest for two before wrapping the bad leg around the post. Off to a half crab for a very long time until Adrian kicks him off. Graves chop blocks him down and puts on Lucky 13 for the second fall at 8:11 shown of 10:56 shown so far. Neville’s knee is barely functioning as he tries to pull himself up in the corner but he uses the good leg to stop a charging Graves.

Graves fires back with some shoulders in the corner but Neville escapes I think a spinebuster and hits a low kick to the head to send Graves to the floor. Back in and Neville chops away and pounds on Corey in the corner until the knee gives out. Corey loads up another chop block but Neville hits a low dropkick to the head for two in a nice counter. Neville tries the Red Arrow again but the knee gives out and he falls to the mat. Lucky 13 goes on again but he crawls to the ropes on his knuckles for the break. Graves loads up the hold again but gets small packaged for the third fall at 13:01 shown of 15:46.

Rating: B-. I liked the match but it never hit the level it was shooting for. That being said, it’s still a very solid match with a good story of Neville not quitting and winning when Graves went to the knee over and over again. I love how NXT has managed to make the 2/3 falls match a major gimmick match as it’s treated like a joke on Raw anymore.

Overall Rating: C+. Decent show here but it’ll be nice to have the big stars back. The problem here is that while the wrestling is good, the stories behind it aren’t all that strong. While wrestling is important, it’s almost always going to pale in comparison to the intrigue and stories being told in the feuds. Still though, good and entertaining show to close out the cycle.

Results

Summer Rae/Sasha Banks b. Charlotte/Bayley – Banks pinned Bayley after a flipping cutter from Charlotte

Aiden English b. Camacho – Director’s Cut

Mason Ryan b. Danny Burch – Cobra clutch slam

Adrian Neville b. Corey Graves – Small package

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NXT
Date: October 30, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Renee Young, Byron Saxton

We’re still in the Abu Dhabi era, meaning it’s still time for the lower level guys to shine on this show. That opens up a lot of doors as it’s hard to tell what the show is going to focus on. The strength of NXT has always been its ability to put the focus on anything at any time though, so hopefully this show holds up well. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady vs. Alexander Rusev/Sylvester LeFort

Enzo and Big Cass think LeFort and his Legionnaires are just like chicken tenders: SAWFT! I believe this is Sylvester’s in ring debut and the guy is in great shape. Rusev plows through Cass to start and hits a standing splash (think Vader) before pulling Enzo in as well. Sylvester wants a tag but Rusev runs him over as well before beating Cassady with the Accolade at 1:33.

The mysterious blonde comes back to look at Rusev.

The Raw ReBound is the big ending segment where Big Show returned after that whole two weeks away to have his life ruined.

Aiden English vs. Jason Jordan

English does his song on the way in and Regal admits to having a mancrush on him. Jordan jumps him to start as Renee lists off his other athletic accomplishments. For some reason they’re much easier to listen to coming from her than Cole or JR. Off to a sleeper with English singing a lullaby. Jordan fights up and gets two off a dropkick, only to get caught in the Director’s Cut (sitout cobra clutch slam) for the pin at 1:44.

English gives us an encore and has roses thrown at him.

We look at Corey Graves beating Adrian Neville last week and attacking him post match.

Neville congratulates Corey for last week but it’s just the beginning since Corey went after Adrian’s livelihood.

Video on the Abu Dhabi tour.

Paige vs. Summer Rae

Non-title. Paige stars fast by throwing Summer around by the hair and out to the floor. Summer avoids a baseball slide but hides behind Sasha to stop Paige’s momentum. Back in and Paige gets two off a sunset flip as Regal continues to awkwardly hit on Renee. Regal snaps back into reality as Paige uses a headbutt, thrilling the Brit. Sasha tries to interfere and gets thrown out as we take a break. Back with Summer sending Paige to the apron and having her legs swept out from underneath her to give Summer control.

They head back inside with Rae hooking a leg lock as Regal talks about some old girlfriend of his coming to Orlando next time. Renee goes into girly mode and Saxton reminds them that he’s here. Paige fights up and hits a standing cradle DDT for two. Some clotheslines put Summer down and a running dropkick does the same. Summer comes back with a nice spin kick to the face for two of her own, only to get caught in a quick Paige Turner for the pin at 6:12 shown of 9:12.

Rating: C-. Not bad here as I wonder why Summer didn’t have this match with Natalya on Monday. She’s more than capable of having decent matches like this but I was bored out of my mind from her Raw stuff. This was good enough but they need to mix things up with the title as Paige has held it for months now.

Post match Banks comes back and beats down Paige until Emma makes the save. Emma stomps away on Sasha in the corner and accidentally blasts Paige as the champ goes after Banks as well.

Tyler Breeze says it’s time to send CJ Parker back to the streets where he belongs.

Luke Harper vs. Kassius Ohno and Rusev vs. LeFort next week.

Tyler Breeze vs. CJ Parker

Parker chases Breeze around the ring before sending him face first into a buckle. A nice suplex gets two for CJ and a cross body out of the corner gets the same. Apparently there’s a small community in southeast Asia that worships Breeze’s hair. I’m not sure why but that cracked me up. Parker hooks an airplane spin of all things before headbutting Breeze down. He loads up a big palm strike but Breeze bails to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Parker suplexing Breeze down but getting caught in a quick powerbomb out of the corner. Breeze stomps away but stops for a picture. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Tyler goes up and gets slammed down. Parker hits some shots to the face and a side kick for two before the Third Eye (palm strike) gets the pin at 7:50 shown of 10:50.

Rating: D+. This didn’t do it for me. Breeze is great but Parker is just flat out boring in the ring. I know we’re supposed to get behind him due to the hair cutting thing last week but at the end of the day there’s nothing to him at all. The fans there don’t like him and I can’t say I disagree with them at all.

Post match Parker goes for Breeze’s hair but Tyler bails to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. If this is as bad as NXT gets, I can certainly live with it. There wasn’t much here but Aiden English is always fun and I can tolerate looking at Summer and Paige for ten minutes if you force me to. This was just a filler episode and that’s fine all things considered. Not a great episode but like I said, if this is as bad as it gets, that’s not bad.

Results

Alexander Rusev/Sylvester LeFort b. Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore – Accolade to Cassady

Aiden English b. Jason Jordan – Director’s Cut

Paige b. Summer Rae – Paige Turner

CJ Parker b. Tyler Breeze – Third Eye

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NXT
Date: October 9, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Alex Riley, Tom Phillips

This is kind of the show before the big show with next week having the showdown between Sami Zayn and Bo Dallas. As for tonight there isn’t anything big announced. We do however have a major guest star in the form of Rob Van Dam. I love how they bring in big names like that to give the fans a treat almost every week. Let’s get to it.

We open with a Rob Van Dam music video, meaning he’s likely the main event tonight.

Welcome Home.

Leo Kruger vs. Antonio Cesaro

This should be good. It’s a result from the Bo Dallas Invitational where both guys fought over a chance at fighting Dallas. Cesaro charges at the bell and hits a running dropkick to fire up the crowd. Kruger loses his shirt but comes back with some loud chops. A clothesline puts Cesaro on the floor and Kruger rakes his back.

We head back inside with Cesaro driving in knees to the ribs to take over, drawing a “Push Cesaro” chant. Kruger gets choked on the bottom rope but comes back with a quick suplex and some choking of his own. A Russian legsweep gets two for Leo but Antonio hits a quick running European uppercut in the corner for two of his own.

Cesaro puts him down with something like a Rock Bottom for two but gets crotched on the top rope. A superplex puts Cesaro down and we take a break. Back with Cesaro being knocked to the floor for a suicide dive from Kruger. They head inside again with Cesaro running away from the Slice clothesline and heading outside again. Cesaro sends him into the steps and drops him back first onto the apron in a bid for a countout. Kruger gets back up so Cesaro gives him a gutwrench suplex on the ramp.

Kruger still makes it back in at nine so Cesaro goes into boxing mode to punch him down again. A fast series of European uppercuts and a second cousin of the Angle Slam gets two but Kruger backdrops out of the Neutralizer. Kruger gets a boot up in the corner but charges into Swiss Death for another near fall. There’s the standing sleeper but Cesaro pulls him down into a bodyscissors. Kruger fights up again but gets his head taken off by a clothesline. Cesaro goes into beast mode and this the Neutralizer for the pin at 11:57 shown of 14:47.

Rating: B. If you give Kruger a near fall here it’s a great match. As it is, it’s only a great way to make Kruger into a face that won’t quit. The thing to see here though was the energy. Both guys were clearly working hard to tell a story out there and it worked like a charm. This is the kind of stuff WWE desperately needs at the moment to break up the stale feeling.

Post match Cesaro drops a top rope knee on Kruger because that’s the kind of guy he is. Kruger seems to have an injured throat.

Breast cancer sucks.

Charlotte vs. Santana Garrett

Bayley is with Charlotte here and Renee Young is on commentary again. Santana fights out of a wristlock to start but Charlotte uses her gymnastic stuff to take over again. A bad looking kick to the face gets two for Santana as Renee talks about an article on WWE.com with Charlotte complaining about being compared to her dad.

Here are Sasha Banks and Summer Rae for some Laycool style applause. Charlotte fights out of a headscissors into a cradle for two before bridging Santana down for two. Sasha’s distraction gives Santana a rollup of her own for the same result but she walks into a reverse F5, setting up a HORRIBLE looking flip Diamond Cutter for the pin at 3:10.

Rating: D. This was mainly about Sasha and Summer, but Charlotte’s finisher looked terrible. Hopefully it’s because Santana took it from her knees, but she barely went down at all and Charlotte didn’t connect for the most part. Still though, Charlotte has a good ring presence which will serve her well later on. Bad night I’m hoping.

Post match Summer and Sasha declare themselves the B.F.F.’s: the Beautiful Fierce Females. They’ve gotten rid of Paige so there’s no one left to do anything about them. Cue Paige but she gets beaten down as well, leading to a save by Emma.

Mojo Rawley wants to motivate you.

Post break Summer and Emma challenge Paige and Emma to a tag match next week.

Danny Burch vs. Mojo Rawley

Rawley’s entrance music starts with “I don’t get hyped. I STAY HYPED!” He sprints around the ring with so much energy that Ultimate Warrior would tell him to tone it down. Burch pounds away on the well built Rawley before putting on a quick chinlock. Mojo fights up and hits a few quick shoulder blocks before finishing Burch with an Earthquake splash for the pin at 2:27. Not a great debut but the entrance told you everything you need to know about Rawley.

Paige and Emma don’t like each other but they agree to team up next week.

Scott Dawson/Alexander Rusev vs. Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore

Dawson and Rusev might be named the Legionaries. Enzo thinks we’re in Cheers right now because everyone knows their names, causing Cassady to sing part of the cheers song. Rusev and Dawson are definitely S-A-W-F-T and the fans let them know it. Cassady and Amore are just so much fun. Rusev starts with Big Cass and pops him in the jaw with an elbow to slow him down.

Off to Amore who has about as much success as you would expect. A series of knees to the ribs put Amore down and it’s off to Dawson for some elbow drops for two. There’s a hard clothesline for the same and everything breaks down. Rusev crushes Enzo in the corner and finishes him at 2:52 with a camel clutch, which is called the Accolade for some reason.

Dawson and Rusev beat up Cassady post match.

Sami Zayn is ready for his title shot next week against Bo Dallas. Bo comes in and says that Sami hurt his feeling last week and that’s it’s certainly not personal. Sami has no problem with Bo other than he’s the NXT Champion. Bo offers a tag team instead of fighting over the NXT Title, which Sami agrees to, after the title match that is. “Un-Bo-lievable.”

Rob Van Dam vs. Aiden English

English, now an Artiste, sings about kicking someone’s teeth in because he’s a sports entertainer. Ricardo does RVD’s entrance but not in song. Aiden takes Rob down with a top wristlock to start but we hit a quick standoff. A quick rollup gets two on English and sends him back into the corner for some finger pointing. The monkey flip out of the corner has English in trouble and a clothesline puts him on the floor.

Rob moonsaults him off the apron and we head back inside for Rolling Thunder but Aiden bails before Rob can start. English kicks the rope to crotch Rob and shouts that it’s his show. A suplex gets two on Rob and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Rob kicks him down a few times before a superkick sets up Rolling Thunder. The Five Star ends English at 5:32.

Rating: C-. This was just a workout for Van Dam but it didn’t need to be anything more than that. English getting this spot is a good sign for him as he debuted the new gimmick just a few weeks ago and is facing a former world champion already. This was just a thrill for the crowd and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Overall Rating: B. Even their filler shows are good. The best thing about NXT though is it’s not just a few guys they have that make an awesome show. Cesaro and Kruger are the only guys here from last week and they were only in action for about 45 seconds last week. NXT changed the entire roster for this week’s show and it was still very entertaining. That tells me it’s the promotion and not the stars, which is a REALLY good sign going forward.

Results

Antonio Cesaro b. Leo Kruger – Neutralizer

Charlotte b. Santana Garrett – Running flip Diamond Cutter

Mojo Rawley b. Danny Burch – Earthquake Splash

Scott Dawson/Alexander Rusev b. Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady – Accolade to Amore

Rob Van Dam b. Aiden English – Five Star Frog Splash

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NXT
Date: September 18, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Alex Riley

There isn’t much to say after last week’s show. The main story is still Zayn chasing a title shot with Bo Dallas but Bo coming up with excuse after excuse. Last week was the first bad show NXT has produced in a long time so hopefully this show can pick things way up in quality. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Sami Zayn vs. Curt Hawkins

Hawkins takes him into the corner to start but hides in the ropes. Sami hooks a hammerlock and some armdrags before chopping away in the corner. Zayn drives in right hands in the corner and gets some near falls off rollups. We hit a chinlock on Hawkins but Curt takes over with a basic slam. An elbow drop and a knifeedge chop get two each and we hit a chinlock on Sami.

Back up and Sami scores with a leg lariat for two, making Curt begging for mercy. Zayn is sent to the apron and rammed face first into the post as we take a break. Back with Curt getting two off a suplex and hitting another chinlock. Hawkins trips Zayn down to stop a comeback and we hit chinlock number three. Back up and there’s a double clothesline to put both guys down.

They fire off simultaneous right hands with Sami taking over via a dropkick. A high cross body gets two for Sami as Riley talks about how Sami must be 225lbs before saying Sami is 180lbs at most. He was announced at 192lbs but that’s probably too far back for Riley to remember. Hawkins hits something resembling a Pele kick for two and an Impaler DDT gets the same. Back up and Hawkins hits a freaky looking throw (something resembling an Angle Slam with Sami’s leg around Curt’s head) for two, only to have Sami kick his head off and walk up the corner for the tornado DDT and the pin at 11:18 shown of 14:18.

Rating: C+. This was an interesting match as Hawkins had nothing for the nearly the first ten minutes (three chinlocks should tell you something) but he turned it way up in the last bit to make up for it. I’m not sure what more Sami can do in developmental other than winning the title and having a quick run and moving up to the main roster. The guy clearly knows what he’s doing and can hang with anyone. Nice stuff here and the fans love them some Sami.

Aiden English asks for a spotlight. He says he’s the only legitimate artiste to cross over into this industry. English sings a promo about facing and defeating everyone he faces, even defeating their “fancy pants and technical maneuvers”. Not a horrible voice either.

Aiden English vs. Michael Cuellari

Cuellari is more famous as QT Marshall in ROH. English shoves him into the corner and sings a bit before shoving Michael down. A big clothesline and some right hands have Cuellari in trouble and a cobra clutch into Matt Hardy’s Side Effect is good for the pin on Michael at 1:25. I’ve seen worse than English

English demands a spotlight and sings an encore.

Bo Dallas is very excited about his new Bo Dallas Hotline, currently testing in Bo-Livia. He thought Zayn’s win was nifty but wonders how much a win over Hawkins means. Good point actually. Bo says he might have a say in who gets a title shot and he’ll make said announcement next week.

HHH also has an announcement next week.

There’s a tag team turmoil match next week for the #1 contendership.

Tyler Breeze/Ascension/Leo Kruger vs. CJ Parker/Xavier Woods/Corey Graves/Adrian Neville

Graves and Neville are tag team champions. That’s quite the packing of several feuds into one match. Entrances alone take up about seven minutes. Neville takes Victor down by the arm to start before bringing in Graves. Parker and Woods get in their own shots to the arm before it’s back to Neville for a top rope ax handle to the arm. Some good old fashioned hair pulling takes Adrian into the corner for a tag off to Kruger, only to have his arm pulled on as well.

All four good guys work on Leo’s arm with Neville again staying in longer than anyone. Woods and Parker both come in off the ropes to work on the arm as we’re on about the 12^th tag in three minutes. Graves hooks an armbar to slow things down a bit as the fans want to see the tagging cycle again. Kruger finally pulls him over to the heel corner for the tag off to O’Brian, even though the fans want Breeze. Back to Leo for a pounding in the corner before it’s back to Victor to work on the ribs.

Graves rolls away from a charging Kruger to bring Woods back in. The Honor Roll sends Leo to the floor and the heels have a meeting but Parker and Graves hit baseball slides followed by planchas from Woods and Neville. We take a break and come back with Victor cranking on Woods’ arms to slow things down a bit. Back to Kruger as Breeze still hasn’t been into the match yet.

O’Brian and Leo take turns stomping away in the corner until it’s off to Breeze for the pop of the night. Tyler hits a single right hand, gets punched in the ribs and bails to the corner for a tag. Fans: “THAT WAS AWESOME!” Leo hooks a chinlock on Xavier to calm things down a bit but a jawbreaker gets him out. It’s back to Breeze for some knee drops but again a single shot to the ribs sends him running off to Conor for a tag.

Woods gets caught in a bodyscissors but it’s back to Breeze. Tyler’s suplex is countered into one by Xavier, allowing for the hot tag to Parker. CJ cleans house and gets two off a side kick as everything breaks down. Conor misses a splash in the corner but catches CJ in the flapjack. The fans want Breeze though, only to have Parker throw Tyler off at two. Parker gets all fired up as Breeze’s partners walk out, allowing all of the good guys to hit Breeze in the face. Fans: “NOT IN THE FACE!!!” The Red Arrow gets the pin on Breeze at 13:00 shown of 16:00.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t a classic or even very good, but it was such a fun match that it was hard to not like it. Breeze is so goofy and over the top that the fans have made him the flavor of the month. Ascension vs. Graves/Neville should be fun for a power vs. speed match and Woods vs. Kruger was fine. Really fun stuff here.

The winners all pose over Breeze to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. I had a great time with this show. They didn’t take anything too seriously and the main event was done perfectly with the Breeze stuff stealing the show. Aiden English is something that has potential and I got fifteen minutes of Sami Zayn. What more can you possibly need out of an hour long TV show?

Results

Sami Zayn b. Curt Hawkins – Tornado DDT

Aiden English b. Michael Cuellari – Corba clutch side slam

CJ Parker/Xavier Woods/Adrian Neville/Corey Graves b. Ascension/Tyler Breeze/Leo Kruger – Red Arrow to Breeze

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