There were some great matches in 2013 and several of them were available for free.

One honorable mention: Sami Zayn vs. Antonio Cesaro from NXT.  It’s a 2/3 falls match and an outstanding fight.  Zayn is as good of an underdog character as you’ll find in wrestling today but Cesaro in Beast Mode is going to put down anyone he’s against.

Now to the nominees:

Rhodes Brothers vs. Shield – Battleground.  It’s the worst show of the year but this match brought out so much emotion for reasons we’ve already covered.  The main story here is the Brothers trying to get their jobs back after losing them to the Authority.  The match was all about the emotion and that’s better than action every single time.  Great match but it didn’t save the show.

CM Punk vs. John Cena – February 26 Raw.  This was the match for Cena’s Wrestlemania title shot and these guys tore the house down.  I called it the best TV match I’ve ever seen and I still  think it ranks right up there with anything I’ve ever seen.  The one thing that holds it back is the lack of drama at the end.  Everyone knew Cena was going to win, but the question was how.  That’s very good but not perfect.

Daniel Bryan Runs The Gauntlet – July 22 Raw.  If a match told a better story on TV this year, I didn’t see it.  Bryan had to face Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro and then Ryback in succession.  Swagger didn’t even last three minutes, but the Cesaro section is a war between two different styles.  After that it was Ryback where Bryan gave it his all but couldn’t overcome the power.  The key here though: Ryback lost via DQ, thereby giving us a logical conclusion that doesn’t damage anyone.  Outstanding stuff.

That brings us to the two real contenders.

Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena – Summerslam.  What else can I say about this match?  It was long, it was exciting, it had great action, it had an ending that came out of nowhere.  The one thing that holds it back: there was no way Cena was winning with that baseball growing out of his elbow.  Just like Cena vs. Punk, there was only one possible winner to this and that was Daniel Bryan.  Still though, excellent match.

The winner:

CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar – Summerslam.  My goodness what a match this was.  In something I don’t say that often, I was completely wrong about this one.  I didn’t think Punk could be a realistic threat to Lesnar but he went move for move with the beast and had me wondering who was going to win the entire time.  It’s an amazing match with both guys beating the tar out of each other.  On top of that, it was more proof that HHH had no business hogging Lesnar for a year as Brock has had masterpieces with Punk and Cena but three only good matches with HHH.

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NXT
Date: December 25, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Host: Renee Young

It’s Christmas time in NXT and since this is a sane promotion, tonight is a year in review show, plus Cesaro vs. Regal. This should be entertaining as usual given how good NXT has been over the last year. It’s always fun to see where guys on the main roster got started and several guys on the main shows today were in NXT earlier this year. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

The arena is empty and Renee Young is our host.

First up: a look at the opening of the WWE Performance Center.

We get packages on all the people that have gone from NXT to the main rosters: the Wyatts, Shield, Fandango, Xavier Woods, Damien Sandow, Antonio Cesaro and Big E. Langston. Ignore that Cesaro, Fandango and I beliee Sandow were in WWE before they came to NXT.

Langston talks about the previous year has been a whirlwind and he couldn’t have done it without the maniacal five count fans. This is just the beginning.

Cesaro says that William Regal is the only technical wrestler he’s ever respected. Regal’s evilness was an inspiration for Cesaro and he wouldn’t have a job here without William. However, Regal knew this day was coming: the day when one of them had to go. The younger, stronger and better man gets to stay, and that’s Cesaro.

Video on the first NXT Tag Title match with British Ambition beating the Wyatts.

Video on Emma vs. Paige for the first Women’s Title.

Paige, who towers over interviewer Devon Taylor, thinks Emma is just a dancer. However, she now has Paige’s respect because Emma has shown she can move in the ring. Paige insists she’s a wrestler and promises to come for the Divas, including AJ.

Bo Dallas knows we want to hear about his rise to the title but we need to hear how important it is to Bo-Lieve. We get a clip of him beating Langston to prove the power of the Bo-Lievers.

The Wyatts talk about how they stand for a cause. Their crusades began in a place called NXT and whether it’s there or up in WWE, their message is simple: down with the machine.

Here’s a package on the future of NXT: Aiden English, Mojo Rawley, Bayley, Tyler Breeze, Alexander Rusev, Sasha Banks, Corey Graves and of course Sami Zayn.

Video on all of the WWE stars who have made cameos here in NXT.

William Regal has been considering his legacy. He’s a vicious fighter and a unique entertainer but he never became World Heavyweight Champion. That’s his fault though because he has a tendency to get in trouble. He’s always been a world class technical wrestler, and that’s where Antonio Cesaro comes in. Cesaro is ten times the wrestler that Regal has ever been and Cesaro wants to prove it. The only chance Regal has tonight is a miracle and that’s not coming to someone like himself. Regal is going to give this every bit of evil he has and hopes that’s enough. This was an old school wrestling promo and it was awesome.

Young is about to introduce the match of the year but Shield hijacks the signal to talk about how dominant of a year they’ve had. They’ve destroyed everyone from Undertaker to Rock to Undertaker to John Cena, but that was after they built NXT. All those guys that are coming up through NXT need to be worried because Shield is waiting on them in WWE.

Back to Young who introduces the only match that could have been match of the year in NXT: Sami Zayn vs. Antonio Cesaro 2/3 falls. Cesaro going into beast mode to get the wind is still amazing and makes me even sadder every time I see him jobbing to Los Matadores.

Sami talks about what an honor it is to be part of the match of the year but now his focus is on becoming NXT Champion. There’s a roadblock in his way named Leo Kruger and this talk about 2/3 falls has gotten him thinking. Next week: Kruger vs. Zayn 2/3 falls. Even on a review show they set up something for next week. Can this show do anything wrong?

Antonio Cesaro vs. William Regal

The Fink is doing entrances, which gives me an answer to the question I just asked. The disgusted yet also terrified look on Regal’s face is perfect. Cesaro cranks on the arm to start and Regal can’t counter. Antonio takes him to the mat but Regal nips up to draw a gasp from the crowd. Cesaro stays on the hold and takes Regal down again but there’s another nip up. “You still got it!”

Regal takes Cesaro down to his knees but still can’t get away from the wrist control as we take a break. Back with Cesaro still on the arm and jumping onto a standing Regal’s shoulders (basically putting himself in a fireman’s carry) to apply even more pressure. Regal flips him down into an armbar but Cesaro nips up just like Regal did earlier. William takes him down by the other arm but Cesaro powers up into a test of strength.

Cesaro easily powers Regal down but the Englishman counters into a cross arm choke. He leans backwards to put Cesaro over his knees while still choking, only to be flipped forward to escape. Back to the test of strength before Regal counters a front facelock into a dragon sleeper. Cesaro flips him forward in a kind of reverse suplex for two but Regal gets him down into the corner and does his “distract the referee while kicking the opponent in the face” spot.

Antonio chop blocks Regal down and rams the bad knee into the apron a few times as we take another break. Back with Cesaro holding a leg lock but Regal keeps fighting back with kicks to the head. Cesaro keeps control by cranking on the knee even more and taking off Regal’s knee brace. The knee is bent around Cesaro’s neck in an old Brock Lock but Regal counters into a rollup and backslide for two each. Cesaro hits a series of ten uppercuts to knock Regal silly, setting up the Cesaro Swing.

After some trash talk Antonio loads up the Neutralizer but Regal backdrops his way out. He drops a knee on Cesaro’s arm to take away the Neutralizer. Regal goes after the arm with everything he’s got and hits an overhead suplex for two. The knee is too damaged for the knee trembler though and Cesaro comes back with a headbutt. Regal is fine with that and headbutts Cesaro right back before loading up a double underhook suplex. Cesaro backdrops Regal but can’t break the grip.

Regal takes him to the mat again and tries the Regal Stretch but Cesaro makes the rope. A forearm from the good arm lays Regal out and a double stomp to the back of the head has the referee checking him. Cesaro looks down at Regal before picking up his limp body. He sets up the Neutralizer but thinks twice about it and lets Regal fall back to the mat. Regal tries to pull himself up so Cesaro puts on the Neutralizer. He looks down at Regal’s unconscious body and looks disgusted after pinning Regal at 16:00 shown of 24:00.

Rating: A. I loved this for a lot of reasons. First of all, the technical stuff at the beginning was excellent with two old school craftsmen doing their jobs as well as anyone can. It’s wrestling in its purest form and when you have guys who can work that style it’s as entertaining as you can get. Then there’s the excellent storytelling with Regal trying every trick he knew but not being able to stop Cesaro’s raw power. The ending with Cesaro not wanting to hurt Regal anymore but giving in to his natural instincts of winning at any cost was great stuff. I loved this match and continue to wait for Cesaro to be taken seriously in WWE.

Regal is taken out by referees but Cesaro goes after him and extends a hand. Regal stares him down and shakes hands as we go off the air.

Overall Rating: A+. An amazing match and clips of all kinds of awesome stuff from the undisputed best wrestling show going today make this the best hour of wrestling I’ve seen in a long time. Even when they’re talking about a match that happened months ago they tie in a match next week to give us a reason to keep watching. This show can do no wrong at this point and somehow keeps getting better.

Results

Antonio Cesaro b. William Regal – Neutralizer

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NXT
Date: December 18, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Tensai

Tonight is the 200^th episode celebration and believe it or not, that’s actually an accurate count for a change, assuming you consider this the same show as the original competition show. The main stories tonight are an appearance by HHH and an NXT Title defense with Bo Dallas defending against Adrian Neville in a lumberjack match. NXT has a good history of making their big shows work so this has good potential tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here’s HHH to open the show instead of Welcome Home. The boss says he loves hearing those NXT chants. We’re here to celebrate the 200^th episode of NXT which has seen people like Damien Sandow, Shield and the Wyatt come through here. The fans chant FIVE and HHH adds Big E. Langston to the list. With the new Performance Center, the next two hundred episodes are going to be even better. HHH tells the fans to give themselves a standing ovation because this is their house. The question now: are we ready?

Welcome Home.

Sami Zayn/Tyson Kidd vs. Leo Kruger/Antonio Cesaro

Leo’s Real American trials continue. The bell rings twice for some reason before Kruger knees Kidd in the ribs to start. Tyson comes right back with an armdrag into an armbar Sami gets the tag and Kruger runs straight to the corner for the tag to Cesaro. The fans immediately chant MATCH OF THE YEAR until Cesaro grabs a top wristlock. Sami shoves him into the corner but the referee pulls him down because he loves AMERICA.

Kidd comes in with a quick rollup for two but Cesaro catches his cross body in mid air and puts Tyson down with a backbreaker. We take a break and come back with Kidd fighting out of the heel corner and getting two off a rollup on Kruger. Leo stops the hot tag with a spinebuster for two of his own though and it’s back to Cesaro. The gutwrench suplex gets two and we hit a quickly broken chinlock. Cesaro kicks Sami off the apron to give Leo a two count and a chinlock of his own.

Back up and Tyson low bridges Kruger to the floor and avoids a charging Cesaro in the corner. Sami finally comes in off the hot tag to clean house and gets two on Leo off a high cross body. The Slice is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two but Cesaro makes the save. Kidd dives on Cesaro and Sami hits a running boot in the corner to pin Kruger at 8:17 shown of 11:47.

Rating: B-. Did you really expect anything other than a good match here? Sami getting a pin on Kruger is a good thing as he’s been losing way too often lately. Kidd and Cesaro could have some awesome matches if given the time, which keeps my head shaking at how Cesaro is used on the main shows.

Emma does her dance in the back and nearly pokes Natalya in the eye. Natalya gets annoyed and Emma accuses her of going Hollywood and forgetting the little people down here in NXT. Natalya says Emma got her title shot through a dance off so she has no room to talk. Emma says wrestling brought her to the dance so Natalya offers to let Emma tango into the Sharpshooter. A #1 contenders match is made and both girls walk off.

We get a clip from the first episode of NXT. Daniel Bryan used to be even smaller than he is today. That match with Jericho he had on the first show was great stuff.

There was a special meet and greet for the first 200 people at the taping. That’s a cool idea.

Sasha Banks vs. Paige

Non-title. Sasha slaps Paige into the corner to start before slamming her face first into the mat. Paige gets stomped in the corner and Banks throws in a mockery of Paige’s scream. Off to a chinlock with a bodyscissors on Paige until the champion fights up and wristdrags Sasha off the top. Summer tries to get involved but Banks accidentally kicks her in the chest, setting up the Paige Turner for the pin on Sasha at 3:38.

Rating: D+. Paige was on defense for most of this match and it didn’t work very well. She’s still miles ahead of most of the girls on Raw or Smackdown though, meaning she isn’t going to see a main show for a long time. After all, she’s not even dating one of the top guys in the company so why would the fans want to see her?

Enzo Amore (YES!) and Colin Cassady are talking lawsuits against a parking lot without handicap accessibility (Enzo is in a wheelchair due to a leg injury) when Aiden English interrupts. Enzo says Colin can out sing Aiden and an argument over the meaning of the word moi. A singing competition is set between English and Big Cass. English: “Mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi.” Cass: “Sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-SAWFT!”

Ascension vs. ???

This is the open challenge for a non-title match. The opponents are the American Pitbulls: Derrick Billington (originally John Cahill) and John Cahill (originally Eric Philbin), more famously known as Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards respectively. Thankfully their new names aren’t horrible. The fans are entirely behind the Pitbulls and actually don’t call them the Wolves. Billington grabs a wristlock on Viktor to start before it’s off to Cahill for more arm cranking. Ascension drags him into the corner and brings in Konnor but the Pitbulls take him down with a double Japanese armdrag.

Viktor is sent to the floor but Konnor takes Cahill’s head off. We get a mild Davey Richards chant as Ascension takes turns destroying Billington. Derrick backflips out of a suplex and kicks Viktor in the chest to make the tag to Cahill. A running knee to Victor’s chest gets two as everything breaks down. The champions are sent to the floor for stereo dives by the Pitbulls for a near fall. Billington goes up and howls before hitting a flying headbutt for two. Viktor will have none of that though and blasts Cahill in the head, setting up Fall of Man for the pin at 4:22.

Rating: C+. This could have been a lot worse. First and foremost, this was not a squash. The Pitbulls got in a good amount of offense and got a near fall towards the end. I’m not a fan of Richards at all and Edwards is only tolerable (I’m not big on indy wrestling at all for the most part) but they deserve jobs after this match, or at least more appearances.

Hunico and Camacho come out to talk trash so Ascension beats up Cahill a little more.

Kofi Kingston is rocking a suit and is happy to be here. Lana comes up to speak some Bulgarian before challenging Kofi to a match with Alexander Rusev for next week. One minor note here that makes NXT that much better: Kofi was shown as part of the meet and greet earlier so he has an actual reason for being here tonight instead of just showing up because the script called for him to.

Next week is a year in review special plus Regal vs. Cesaro.

NXT Title: Bo Dallas vs. Adrian Neville

This is a lumberjack match with Dallas defending. As a special treat, THE FINK does the announcing. The fans think Breeze is gorgeous before shifting to a Let’s Go Neville chant. Dallas has some awesomely evil pure white gear this week. Bo is quickly sent to the floor but runs back inside to avoid the lumberjacks. A rollup gets two for Neville but Dallas sends him outside. Breeze gets in Adrian’s face and earns a slap, sending the crowd into a quick freazy.

We take a break (including another NXT moment with Rollins becoming the first NXT Champion) and come back with Neville taking Dallas down for some kicks to the chest. Dallas gets in a shot to the ribs and drops some knees for two. Tyler Breeze is seated next to the barricade and looks livid. A cravate keeps Neville on the mat and a kick to the head gets two. The fans chant DROP THE TITLE as Bo drives elbows into Neville’s head. A hard clothesline flips Neville inside out for two and Dallas is frustrated.

Adrian escapes the bulldog out of the corner and scores with a running forearm. Some kicks get two on Bo and an enziguri sets up a standing shooting star for two. The fans threaten to riot if Bo wins but the champion bails to the floor before the Red Arrow launches. All of the lumberjacks stop him so Adrian dives on EVERYBODY in a great visual. Back in and Adrian loads up the Red Arrow but Breeze pulls Dallas out of the way, giving Bo the pin at 9:50 shown of 11:50.

Rating: C+. I like the story here as it keeps the belt on Dallas and sets up Breeze vs. Adrian down the line. Again, it’s the difference between booking and writing with the former almost always being better. The pop when Dallas finally loses is going to be nothing short of unholy.

Overall Rating: B. Another great show here with everything fitting perfectly and putting together an entertaining hour. As usual, NXT knows how to build to a big show and then actually deliver on the payoff, which is more than you get from any major wrestling show at the moment. Good stuff.

Results

Sami Zayn/Tyson Kidd b. Leo Kruger/Antonio Cesaro – Running big boot to Kruger

Paige b. Sasha Banks – Paige Turner

Ascension b. American Pitbulls – Ascension

Bo Dallas b. Adrian Neville – Pin after a missed Red Arrow

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NXT
Date: December 4, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Renee Young, Alex Riley

Tonight is one of their bigger shows as we have Dallas vs. Neville for the title, Natalya challenging Paige for the Women’s Title and possible Rega vs. Cesaro or at least some development for the feud. NXT has been able to pull off the big shows quite well in the past so hopefully they keep that streak going tonight. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Women’s Title: Natalya vs. Paige

Paige is defending. This is a result of Natalya being all whiny on Total Divas and Paige accusing her of going Hollywood. We get a rough handshake before Paige takes her down with a headlock. Natalya grabs the leg to counter but Paige reverses into a wristlock. Natalya rolls through into one of her own but Paige breaks it up with a headbutt. They trade rollups for two each before Paige catches Natalya’s kick to the ribs.

Natalya rolls through into a leg lock on the mat as the chain wrestling continues. Off to a headlock on the mat by Natalya but Paige gets to the ropes before the Sharpshooter goes on. Back from a break with Paige stomping away in the corner. Apparently Natalya tried to get in a cheap shot during another handshake during the break which set Paige off.

Paige puts on an abdominal stretch but is reversed into the same hold by Natalya. The blonde enhances it a bit by lifting Paige’s leg up for more pressure. Saxton: “Natalya putting some more twerk on Paige.” Paige fights out but gets leg dragged to the mat. Natalya stomps away but Paige fights up, only to have both girls try cross bodies at the same time to give us a stalemate.

Natalya is all fired up now and gets two off a snap suplex and a hard slam. Now it’s Sharpshooter time but Paige crawls over to the corner and through Natalya’s legs, sending Natalya head first into the buckle. Natalya goes for the legs again but Paige counters into the Paige Turner for the pin at 10:16 shown of 13:46.

Rating: B-. The fact that Paige isn’t on Raw is becoming more and more of a crime every day. The girl is good looking, young and can go in the ring but for some reason (allegedly age, even though JoJo is a year and a half younger than Paige) she’s stuck here while we get True Divas vs. Total Divas. The match was what we’ve come to expect from the Divas and the chain wrestling was a very nice treat.

Cesaro imitates Regal, telling him not to stick his nose into Cesaro’s business. Kruger comes in and says Cesaro took him to a place he hadn’t been in a long time. Cesaro: “A shower?” Kruger thinks he can be a Real American and Cesaro says he’ll talk to Zeb if Kruger does him a favor. It’s something related to Sami Zayn, who faces Kruger tonight.

Aiden English vs. ???

The jobber isn’t named so we get the LET’S GO THIS GUY chant. Renee talks about all the organizations Aiden is a part of, including various mime and opera groups. I love little details like that which enhance a character far better than saying the same stuff over and over again. Imagine that: making stuff up to make a character better. Total squash with English throwing the jobber around and ending him with the Director’s Cut at 1:18.

The fans chant for and receive an encore. The ring is filled with roses after English finishes in a nice touch.

Here’s Cesaro in a suit to apologize to Byron Saxton for what happened last week. We get a clip of Regal saving Saxton last week before Saxton comes up onto the stage to talk to Cesaro. They shake hands and Cesaro invites Byron to do the Real Americans pledge but Saxton isn’t too thrilled. Cesaro grabs him by the neck and slaps Saxton down before fixing his suit. No Regal.

Sami says last week was tough but if anyone is going to take the title from Bo, he’s glad it’s Adrian. Either way, he’ll get it eventually. Leo Kruger jumps him from behind to set up their match.

Tyson Kidd vs. Leo Kruger

Didn’t they say Kruger was facing Zayn tonight? Either way, this was set up when Kruger kicked Kidd’s crutches out back in February. Tyson stomps him down in the corner to start and a belly to back suplex gets two. Renee enjoys looking at Kidd’s toned body as Kruger takes him down into the corner and chokes with his boot before hitting a kind of Stunner onto the recently repaired knee. We take a break and come back with Kruger still on the knee and even putting on the Sharpshooter. Kidd is in trouble but Sami Zayn comes out for a distraction, allowing Kidd to get a rollup for the pin at 4:46 shown of 8:16.

Rating: D+. This needed a break? The match was nothing to see as it was supposed to be about revenge but I need more than a rollup for revenge. To be fair though this was hardly a feud and was really just tying up a loose end from February. It also sets up Zayn vs. Kruger even more so good booking but bad action.

Camacho and Hunico want the tag titles.

NXT Title: Bo Dallas vs. Adrian Neville

Neville quickly takes him down to start for two but Dallas bails to the corner. A cross body out of the corner gets the same and Dallas heads outside for another breather. Back in and Dallas takes off a buckle pad behind the referee’s back before taking Neville’s head off with a forearm for two. We hit the cravate from the champion before a corner clothesline and the bulldog gets two on Adrian.

Dallas drives some knees into the head for two more but misses a middle rope knee drop to give Neville a breather. Some running forearms to Dallas’ head have him in trouble and a big shot sends Dallas out to the floor. A huge Asai Moonsault takes Dallas out but he kicks out at two. Adrian loads up the Red Arrow but Bo bails to the floor before it can launch. Instead it’s a cross body to the outside to crush Dallas again but only Neville beats the count back in for the countout at 7:38.

Rating: C. The match was decent while it lasted but the ending was just a way to extend the feud. To be fair though this match wasn’t built up nearly as well as the Zayn vs. Dallas match so it’s not as much of a drop. This could be leading to Dallas vs. Neville vs. Zayn which could be very entertaining if given a good amount of time. Not a great match here but it did its job.

The announcers talk about Dallas being champion for nearly 200 days to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a middle of the road show for NXT but it was still entertaining. It set up some stuff for the future which continues to be one of NXT’s strong suits, but it didn’t give us anything we really needed to see tonight. The fact that this was a show to get us to the next show and was still entertaining is a really good sign though. The future is bright for these guys.

Results

Paige b. Natalya – Paige Turner

Aiden English b. ??? – Director’s Cut

Tyson Kidd b. Leo Kruger – Rollup

Adrian Neville b. Bo Dallas via countout

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Smackdown
Date: November 29, 2013
Location: Mohegan Sun Hotel and Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

The main story coming into tonight is Cena vs. Orton being confirmed for TLC, but I can’t imagine we’ll get much on that at Smackdown. Other than that the big questions are what did the Wyatts do with Daniel Bryan and why did Shield take out Punk on Raw. The show likely won’t answer any questions but we might get a food fight because that’s how wrestling works around a holiday. Let’s get to it.

Theme song.

Here’s Renee Young in the ring to introduce Randy Orton. We look back at the end of Survivor Series where the Authority helped Orton beat Big Show with the Punt. Orton says he begs to differ with Renee’s version of things. First off he was playing possum instead of being knocked out. He didn’t need the Authority to prove he could beat Big Show. All that did was taint his inevitable victory. That brings us to Monday where Cena showed up to challenge Orton to the title unification match at TLC. Renee asks Orton about why he didn’t accept the match himself but Orton walks away.

We go to the back for the Thanksgiving party. Everyone is having a good time so here’s Vickie to let us know that this is a leftover party. She has everything anyone could want, but this will NOT turn into a food fight. There will however be an eating contest between Titus and Khali but we have to wait on the winner.

Curtis Axel vs. Mark Henry

Ryback and Langston are here as seconds. Henry throws Axel around as you would expect to get us going. Ryback gets in a cheap shot on Langston and the distraction lets Axel get in some cheap shots on the knee to take over. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Henry gets to his feet and throws Axel around like a small ferret. The JYD headbutts put Axel on the floor between two large muscular men and Ryback’s interference doesn’t work at all. Henry throws Curtis back inside for the World’s Strongest Slam and the pin at 3:08.

Rating: D. Axel is a guy in desperate need of a repackaging. The talent is there, but he needs something completely different after how badly he’s been crushed. At least he doesn’t have the title anymore. It looks like we’re setting up for Langston vs. Ryback, which is going to hurt someone in the short term when neither guy can really afford that.

Truth and Xavier Woods (in a Power Rangers shirt) are in the back when a ticked off Brodus Clay shows up. He gave them permission to use the music and Funkadactyls, not steal them. Brodus tells the rookie to watch his attitude and slaps him in the face. Truth and Tensai break up the fight as Brodus seems to have turned heel.

Back to the eating contest when AJ and Tamina crash the party. Vickie threatens to turn this into a food fight with the two of them against everyone else. That goes nowhere and we pan over to Khali passing out and Titus winning the contest. The win earns him a match with Antonio Cesaro tonight. Khali is covered in mashed potatoes.

Plymouth Rockers vs. Los Matadores/El Torito

3MB coming out to the Rockers’ music isn’t something I ever expected to see. JBL is WAY too excited to see El Torito. Torito gets things going with Slater as JBL refers to this as an inter-species match. The other Band members try to jump Torito but the Matadores dropkick them to the floor.

Torito dives through the ropes to take them out as the crowd is silent. Fernando gets stomped down in the 3MB corner with Drew draping Fernando’s feet on the ropes and firing off forearms to the back. A hot tag brings in Torito with a top rope hurricanrana followed by a flying headscissors. Off to Diego and the double Angle Slam ends McIntyre at 2:57. Comedy match and not a funny one.

Video on the European shows.

Tons of Funk vs. Xavier Woods/R-Truth

Tensai and Truth get us going with both guys escaping various hold attempts. Truth finally gets slammed down but blocks a charge in the corner with a boot to the face. Off to Woods who pounds on Tensai and kicks him in the jaw to little effect. An enziguri sends Tensai into the corner and it’s off to Brodus for the headbutt to the chest. A middle rope splash crushes Woods for the pin at 2:18. I like the idea of this feud. Stealing music seems like an easy way to start a feud but I don’t remember it being used since…..the late 80s?

Punk is worried that he hasn’t heard from Bryan and that he has bad ribs thanks to Reigns. He thinks Shield is acting on orders from someone.

Bray Wyatt talks about seeing mannequins in his dreams. Everyone is intoxicated in their own vanity but we all see symmetry. Bray insists that no one knows people like he does and that Daniel Bryan will be safe with them.

Titus O’Neal vs. Antonio Cesaro

Titus has a stomach ache which likely means a bad ending to this one. He grabs a headlock on Cesaro but gets dropkicked down, sending Titus into the ropes to hold his stomach. Titus jumps over Cesaro in the corner and kicks him in the face, only to make himself hurt more from the bark. Cesaro knees him in the stomach and puts on the Swing but Young comes in for the DQ at 2:00.

Titus is sick in JBL’s hat (censored of course) for the payoff. Zeb makes fun of Titus so he gets sick on Colter as well. This went on WAY too long.

The Raw ReBound covers the main event.

Tag Titles: Cody Rhodes/Goldust vs. Shield

Reigns and Rollins are challenging and Ambrose is on commentary. We get some big match intros and we’re ready to go. Cody grabs a headlock to start on Rollins as Cole asks if the Authority had anything to do with Shield attacking Punk on Monday. Apparently Cole doesn’t have clearance to get that answer so Ambrose says it’s Shield’s personal business. Cody slams Rollins down and brings in Goldust for a middle rope ax handle to the arm. Back to Cody who gets two off the front suplex and it’s back to the arm.

Reigns comes in and you can feel the match change in a hurry. Goldust bows up to fight him but is easily knocked to the floor. Back in and Reigns scores with an uppercut but gets caught by a dropkick for no cover. Everything breaks down for a bit with the champions clearing the ring as we take a break. Back with Cody working on Seth’s arm but not being able to hit the Alabama Slam out of the corner. Instead Seth sunset flips him down for two and kicks Cody in the head for the same.

The announcers talk about brothers being tag team champions and Ambrose asks a question we need a definitive answer to: are Edge and Christian brothers or not? Reigns comes in for some pounding before it’s quickly back to Rollins who chokes on the ropes. Cody gets caught in a front facelock by Reigns before getting dropped by a back elbow. Rollins comes back in but misses a charge, sending him out to the floor.

The hot tag brings in Goldust who clotheslines Reigns down a few times and a cross body gets one. Reigns breaks up the top rope cross body and sends Goldust to the floor as we take another break. Back with Goldust in trouble and being knocked into the corner by Rollins. We hit the chinlock on Goldust but he grabs a small package for two. A DDT puts Rollins down but Reigns knocks Cody off the apron to break up the hot tag.

Reigns clotheslines Goldust down for two and puts on a headlock. Goldust is taken into the Shield corner but comes out with a double clothesline to put everyone down. Now the hot tag brings in Cody with a missile dropkick and a sunset flip gets two on Rollins. Seth counters the moonsault press and sends Cody face first into the buckle to put him down.

Everything breaks down again and Goldust is sent into the barricade. Cody comes off the top with a nice plancha to take out both Shield members. Back in and Rollins avoids the moonsault press but misses the top rope knee. Cross Rhodes puts Seth out but Ambrose breaks it up for the DQ at 16:03 shown of 23:03.

Rating: B-. Do I really need to explain that a Shield match is good at this point? Yeah they do a lot of the same stuff in a lot of their matches, but they’re some of the most entertaining matches we’ve gotten this year. Cody and Goldust have awesome chemistry with these guys also so this was your usual very good TV match.

Post match here’s Punk with a chair to take out Shield. Vickie pops up on screen and makes it a six man tag.

Shield vs. CM Punk/Cody Rhodes/Goldust

The match is joined in progress as we come back with Punk pounding away on Ambrose in the corner. An elbow to the head gets two for Punk and it’s back to Goldust for a clothesline. That’s enough of the golden one so here’s Cody to pound on Dean in the corner a bit more. A backdrop out of the corner puts Ambrose down and here’s Punk again with a top rope ax handle to the head.

Ambrose avoids a charge in the corner and it’s off to Rollins, who is immediately taken down in a modified Indian deathlock. Back to Goldust to stay on the leg and here’s Cody for more of the same. JBL goes on a rant against Cole for reporting about the locker room, which somehow leads to him accusing Shield of helping Stanley Kubrick stage the moon landing. The tag champions stay on Rollins until Punk comes in with a backbreaker for two. There’s the bridging Indian deathlock with the facelock before it’s off to Cody for a half crab.

Rollins avoids a charge in the corner and brings in Ambrose as we take another break. Back with Dean slamming Cody down but charging into a boot in the corner, allowing for a tag to Punk. CM fires off his usual strikes followed by the swinging neckbreaker. He loads up the GTS….and here are the Wyatts. Punk charges at them but runs into Dean’s elbow and a beating from Reigns ensues. Back to Dean but Punk DDTs him at the same time Rollins is caught in a neckbreaker for a cool double team. Punk goes over to Goldust but the Wyatts pull Goldust to the floor for the DQ at 5:50 shown of 9:20.

Rating: C. This was much less interesting than the previous match. There’s only so much you can do with this much time, especially when Punk didn’t get to extract much revenge here. It wasn’t bad or anything but two tag matches in a row like this with mostly the same cast is a bit of a stretch.

Post match the brawl continues until the Usos and Mysterio head out for the save. Vickie comes out to make it a twelve man tag. Good grief.

Shield/Wyatt Family vs. Usos/Rey Mysterio/CM Punk/Goldust/Cody Rhodes

Back with Ambrose bringing in Harper to work over Jey Uso. Harper runs him over a few times but gets rolled up for two, meaning it’s time for Rollins to come in and stomp away. Seth stomps away in the corner and it’s off to bray for his hard hitting offense. Back to Harper for the Gator Roll into a front facelock but Jimmy gets in a cheap shot from the apron.

Rey comes in off the 495^th hot tag of the matches but can’t knock the big man down. Instead it’s a big boot to Rey’s face for two and another tag to Wyatt. Bray hits a running splash in the corner and brings in Rowan for a swinging bearhug. A side slam gets two on Mysterio and it’s back to Ambrose for a front facelock. Rey gets sent into the corner and here’s Rollins, only to accidentally send Ambrose to the floor.

Mysterio gets in a kick to Seth’s head and it’s yet ANOTHER hot tag to Punk. He cleans house again and hits the suicide dive to Rowan on the floor. Back in and Punk hits three straight high knees to Erick in the corner. A neckbreaker sets up the Macho Elbow and everything breaks down. The Usos superkick two monsters and hit their dives on Harper and Rollins. Bray breaks up the GTS attempt on Rollins but Rey breaks up Sister Abigail. The 619 knocks Rowan into the GTS for the pin at 8:47.

Rating: D. Is it over yet? I’m almost afraid to say anything else about the match because it’ll probably turn into a 32 man tag match next. This went WAY too long and almost nothing had any interest to it by the end. We’ve seen these guys fighting so many times over the last few months and the last two parts of this dragged really badly. It wasn’t that it was a bad match but I was sick of watching these guys by the end.

Overall Rating: D. This didn’t work for me. The three tag matches are almost literally half of the show and the rest of the show is a bunch of thrown together nothing. For once, Impact had this show beaten. Last night’s Impact was another throw away show because of the holiday, but it actually had some storyline development. We got NOTHING here other than a tag match that went on twice as long as it should have. It wasn’t so much that the show was bad but it just didn’t matter at all, meaning there was no reason to sit through it.

Results

Mark Henry b. Curtis Axel – World’s Strongest Slam

Los Matadores/El Torito b. Plymouth Rockers – Double Angle Slam to McIntyre

Tons of Funk b. Xavier Woods/R-Truth – Middle rope splash to Woods

Antonio Cesaro b. Titus O’Neal via DQ when Darren Young interfered

Cody Rhodes/Goldust b. Shield via DQ when Dean Ambrose interfered

Cody Rhodes/Goldust/CM Punk b. Shield via DQ when the Wyatt Family interfered

Cody Rhodes/Goldust/CM Punk/Rey Mysterio b. Shield/Wyatt Family – GTS to Rowan

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NXT
Date: November 27, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, William Regal, Renee Young

The main story coming into tonight is the #1 contenders match between Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville with the winner getting a shot at Bo Dallas next week. Other than that we have our usual drama with the Divas which should be very nice for a change after watching two Total Divas matches from the pay per view and Raw. Let’s get to it.

The opening video recaps last week’s Beat the Clock challenge with Sami and Adrian finishing with the same time, setting up tonight’s match.

Welcome Home.

Yoshi Tatsu vs. Antonio Cesaro

Cesaro gets in ring announcer Byron Saxton’s face over accidentally stepping on the flag, causing Regal to get up from commentary and get Saxton to safety. The distraction allows Tatsu to get a quick rollup for two but Cesaro catches his spinwheel kick in midair and slams Tatsu down. A spinebuster puts Yoshi down and there’s the Cesaro Swing for about 35 seconds. He must be having an off day. The fans tell Cesaro that he’s awesome and it’s off to the standing chinlock. Cesaro holds Tatsu in place and glares at Regal before the Neutralizer (complete with a wave to the announcers’ table) is good for the pin at 3:33.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here but it sets up a match between Regal and Cesaro. If they’re given enough time the showdown could be very entertaining and fortunately NXT is the place where that could happen. Whatever happened to Tatsu? The guy was hanging out with Cena on Raw and now is lucky to job on the minor league show.

Bo Dallas is in the back and says we’re all winners because we get to see two youngsters fight their hearts out for a chance to live their dream. “It’s just like The Voice!’ Of course neither of them have a chance to beat Dallas but it’s nice to see them try. CJ Parker comes up and just stands there, so Dallas calls him Captain Fantastic and asks why he’s here. Parker: “I didn’t realize I was harshing your mellow.” Dallas: “I didn’t realize you were still employed.” A match is made and the Beatles are quoted in a bizarrely entertaining segment.

CJ Parker vs. Bo Dallas

Now that’s quick. Non-title of course. Bo avoids a charge to start and fires off some elbows to the head. A clothesline gets two for the champion and we hit the cravate. Parker rolls out and makes a comeback with some running knees in the corner followed by a falling front DDT (think Christian’s falling reverse DDT but facing the other way) for two. Parker goes up but gets crotched, setting up Dallas’ bulldog out out of the corner for the pin at 3:03.

Rating: C-. I can’t believe I’m saying this but Dallas is on fire right now. He’s absolutely nailing the character right now and the switch to the bulldog from the spear is a huge improvement. I always found it a stretch for someone even Edge’s size to use that move but for Dallas it never worked at all. Parker continues to be worthless as always.

Emma talks about being attacked by the BFF’s in the locker room, resulting in some head injuries. Paige comes in and wants no excuses from Emma when Paige beats her for the title. The champion recaps the incidents between the two of them and a fight is teased but they both back off. God bless reality TV because it’s keeping these two off Raw in exchange for JoJo and Eva Marie.

Speaking of the Total Divas, Natalya comes into Paige’s locker room complaining about something unspecified. Paige talks about Natalya going Hollywood and not caring about the titles at all. A match is set up for the title even though I have no idea what Natalya’s problem was in the first place. She complains about everything on Total Divas anyway so maybe that’s her gimmick now.

Tyler Breeze vs. Kassius Ohno

Alexander Rusev jumps Ohno during his entrance to leave him laying. Ohno says he can fight but gets pinned by the Beauty Shot (spinning heel kick) at 10 seconds. That’s Ohno’s last televised match in WWE.

The BFF’s are in the back but Charlotte leaves just before Bayley comes in. Bayley wants to see Charlotte but a tag match is made for later. The BFF’s point out that Bayley has no friends but Bayley says she has a surprise. Bayley is so adorable it’s unreal.

Neville and Zayn are in the back to talk about the main event tonight. Adrian says they’re friends with a good history but this is about getting to Raw and Smackdown. You can look at Seth Rollins and Big E. Langston and see what the title means. Sami agrees that they’re friends but he’ll do whatever it takes to win. There’s some tension here but it isn’t bad.

Hunico/Camacho vs. Ascension

Non-title. Viktor starts with Camacho and rams his head into the corner to get things going. Camacho comes back with some stomps in the corner and a belly to back suplex for no cover. Off to Hunico with a slingshot hilo for two and a springboard cross body for the same. Viktor pulls him to the corner though and it’s off to Conor for the beating. A spinebuster sets up more stomping from Viktor and the double powerbomb by Ascension. Camacho comes in with a distraction though, allowing Hunico to roll up Viktor for the upset at 3:37.

Rating: C-. Hunico is another guy with very usable talent who hopefully can get another shot on the main shows. This was just a match to set up a title match likely next week and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m not sure I’d have had the champions get pinned, but at least it was on a fluke instead of a dominant win by Hunico and Camacho.

We get the same Beat the Clock video that opened the show. I really hope they don’t start this nonsense in NXT as well.

Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn

Winner gets Dallas for the title next week. Bo has replaced Regal on commentary which should be hilarious. They shake hands to start and we’re ready to go. Sami grabs a wristlock but Neville flips out and sweeps Sami’s legs out for two. Some shoulders put Zayn down again but he comes back with some very deep armdrags to put Adrian in the corner. They circle each other a bit until Sami grabs the leg for a hold that goes nowhere.

Back up and Neville sends Sami to the floor, only to have Zayn get back in and send Adrian to the floor, followed by a HUGE flip dive to take both guys down. We take a break and come back with Sami chopping the skin off Adrian’s chest before putting on a chinlock. Back up and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two on Neville as the fans are staying into this. Sami misses his running big boot in the corner and falls out to the floor as Dallas calls Renee very smart for a Canadian.

A kick to Sami’s face sets up a great looking top rope Asai Moonsault, followed by a missile dropkick for two for Neville. Back up and Neville’s cartwheel elbow is caught in a blue thunder bomb for a close two. A Michinoku Driver gets the same for Sami and there’s the running boot in the corner but he can’t follow up. Neville cartwheels into a hurricanrana for two as the fans chant YES. Adrian gets in a shot to the head to set up the Red Arrow but Sami breaks it up. Sami’s superplex is broken up though and the Red Arrow gives Neville the title shot at 11:42 shown of 15:12.

Rating: B. Very solid match here with both guys looking great. That’s another key difference between WWE and NXT. WWE has people lose without getting anything out of it. Here in NXT, Sami has lost every one of his major matches but has been allowed to look competitive which keeps him over. Why is that so complicated so often?

Post match Neville and Zayn almost come to blows but hug it out to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. As usual, NXT knows how to put on the most entertaining hour of wrestling each week. This set up a lot of stuff but didn’t get boring throughout the time. We have at least five matches set for the future (though Ohno vs. Rusev won’t happen) with most of the payoffs coming next week. That should make for an excellent show and since this is a well run promotion, we should actually get an excellent show as a result.

Results

Antonio Cesaro b. Yoshi Tatsu – Neutralizer

Bo Dallas b. CJ Parker – Bulldog out of the corner

Tyler Breeze b. Kassius Ohno – Beauty Shot

Hunico/Camacho b. Ascension – Small package to Viktor

Adrian Neville b. Sami Zayn – Red Arrow

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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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Smackdown
Date: August 23, 2013
Location: Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s an interesting time in WWE as we have our first heel super stable in several years and they can do whatever the like because “we own the place.” The two questions at the moment are what will Daniel Bryan do to fight these guys off and who will step up to help him in the war. Odds are we won’t find out until Monday. Let’s get to it.

We get clips from the main events of Summerslam.

Theme song.

Here’s Vickie Guerrero to open us up. She’s cleared the air with HHH and brings out Randy Orton, actually pronouncing the T for a change. Orton talks about being a role model and about how he didn’t lie at all during this whole thing. He said he would be cashing in MITB very soon and that’s exactly what he did. No one should have been surprised when he won the title on Sunday. The only person who should have been surprised was Orton himself, as he didn’t expect HHH to do what he did, even though he didn’t need the help. Orton says he’s the face of the WWE but here’s Bryan to disagree.

Before Bryan addresses the face of the WWE, he wants to say what he was trying to say on Raw: thank you John Cena for giving him the chance at Summerslam and for wrestling with a torn tricep. That one chance let him know what it feels like to be WWE Champion. As for the face of the WWE, it’s already time for that face to change. Bryan doesn’t look like Randy Orton. Orton is tall, chiseled and just pretty.

Bryan sees why HHH likes him so much, but Orton is also arrogant. He’s been handed every opportunity because he’s a third generation wrestler and it’s been his Golden Ticket. Bryan can’t get over how pretty Orton is and asks the fans to cheer for Orton because of it. Randy is so pretty that it makes Daniel want to kick him in the face.

Bryan has had to work his way up through the high school gyms wrestling on infected mats to get where he is today because he isn’t tall and isn’t pretty. However, he can wrestle and beat Orton for the WWE Championship. Bryan is entitled to a rematch and he wants it tonight. Say it along with Orton and I: Wait until the pay per view. They stare at each other and Orton tries an RKO, only to be dropkicked to the floor. Solid segment here with Bryan sounding like a natural rival to Orton and laying out the basic story. Orton saying he didn’t know HHH was going to help him is interesting as well.

Vickie rants about Bryan on the phone and says someone needs to teach him a lesson. Wade Barrett comes in and says he doesn’t like Bryan either, so he’d be willing to take care of him tonight. Vickie says ok and makes it a no holds barred match. No make it extreme rules. Or inside a cage. Wasn’t Vickie supposed to be all mega evil this time or something?

Cody Rhodes vs. Curtis Axel

Non-title. Feeling out process to start with Cody tripping Axel down to the mat. Curtis comes back with a great dropkick but Cody heads to the apron for a springboard dropkick of his own. Curtis rolls outside but moves before Cody can dive on him. Cody’s back is rammed into the apron as we take a break.

Back with Curtis dropping elbows for two before hitting a Hennig necksnap for the same. We hit the chinlock for a bit but Cody avoids a middle rope fist a few seconds later. The Disaster Kick misses but Cody gets two off a sunset flip out of the corner. Heyman’s distraction breaks up the moonsault press and Axel hits his neckbreaker into a faceplant for the pin at 3:55 shown of 6:55.

Rating: D+. So we build Cody up for weeks and then have him lose in less than seven minutes with the title not even on the line. To be fair though, Cody had almost a month of wins under his belt so it was long past time to bring him back to earth. He might jump to TNA or the UFC or Hollywood and we wouldn’t want to make money off of him while we could right?

Post match Heyman wants to talk about CM Punk. He talks about being in emotional pain along with his physical pain because he made Punk the best in the world and then was betrayed. Punk lost to Lesnar at Summerslam and now Punk is in a downward spiral. Under Heyman’s leadership, Axel has notched victory after victory and no one has been able to take the title from him. Axel challenges Punk to an Intercontinental Title match on Raw because he can’t lose with Heyman in his corner.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Big E. Langston

Langston jumps Ziggy before the bell and throws him around the ring with ease. The bell rings and Dolph avoids a charge in the corner, only to be slammed down for two. Langston gets two off a splash and we hit the chinlock. Dolph fights up and sends Big E. into the post before taking him down with a neckbreaker. A dropkick drops Big E. again and Ziggler counters a powerbomb into an X-Factor for two. AJ gets in a cheap shot on Ziggler and Langston runs him over for two. The Big Ending is escaped and Ziggler hits the Zig Zag for the pin at 2:01. Langston loses with a pre-match advantage and interferance. So much for him.

Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio

Non-title here. Del Rio pounds away in the corner to start but gets backdropped out to the floor. Christian sends him into the barricade and Del Rio walks up the aisle as we take a break. Back with Del Rio kicking away in the corner but getting punched in the face to give Christian a breather. Christian is shoved to the floor to counter a tornado DDT, possibly injuring the shoulder that made him give up on Sunday.

Back in and the champion cranks on the arm before getting two off a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Alberto misses a charge into the ropes and gets dropkicked out to the floor. Christian pounds away back inside the ring but misses a high cross body, allowing Alberto to dropkick him in the face for two. Christian’s spinning sunset flip out of the corner gets two more but Del Rio avoids a middle rope dropkick and tries the armbreaker.

The Canadian rolls out and hits a tornado DDT out of the corner for two in a nice sequence. Alberto bails to the floor to avoid the spear and catches Christian with the running enziguri for two back inside. Christian blocks the low superkick and tries the Killswitch, only to have Del Rio send him shoulder first into the post. Alberto goes to the middle rope and rolls Christian into the armbreaker for the submission at 8:17 shown of 12:57.

Rating: B-. Another good match from these two and now the series is at 2-2. I’m guessing we’re supposed to ignore the two losses by Del Rio because he won the next two, though I don’t think many fans see it that way. The match itself was good stuff though with both guys building on spots they’ve used in their previous few matches.

Post match Del Rio talks about how awesome he is and how everyone else is a peasant. Is Del Rio being rich even a thing anymore? Del Rio says to follow him to greatness but Ricardo interrupts him. He says no one is going to lead him to greatness but now he’s hanging out with RVD. Rob comes to the ring and Christian dropkicks Del Rio down, allowing Rob to hit Rolling Thunder. That was a pretty non-good guy move there from Christian.

We recap the opening segment of the show.

Big Show/Mark Henry vs. 3MB

Slater gets to start with Big Show and is launched into the corner before it’s off to Henry. A big boot puts Slater down but Heath avoids a seated senton and brings in McIntyre for some stomping. Mahal comes in for the same but Slater is tagged in and run over by a BIG shoulder block. Big Show comes in and cleans house but Slater breaks up the pin after a chokeslam to McIntyre. JBL: “Dumb, dumb move.” The World’s Strongest Slam ends Slater and the WMD is good for the pin on Drew at 3:11.

Rating: D. The match was nothing and you can’t complain about it too much. It did its job, though either monster could have done the same thing in the same amount of time. It would help to have some midcard tag teams for Henry and Show to beat but there’s just not enough depth in the division to do that.

Post match Shield asks if beating 3MB is supposed to mean something. Seth says they’re going to have fun knocking Show down again. Reigns will never respect Mark Henry and Rollins adds that they’re just better than the monsters. BELIEVE IN THE SHIELD, even though Ambrose wasn’t in this interview.

Antonio Cesaro vs. Darren Young

Young gets taken down seconds into the match and Cesaro pounds him into the corner. There’s the gutwrench suplex but Cesaro charges into a boot in the corner. Antonio comes right back with the standing chinlock and a clothesline for two. Darren comes back with right hands and an overhead belly to belly followed by a northern lights suplex for two. A hot shot and the Gut Check are good for the pin at 2:31. Nothing match as Young’s push continues.

Ryback signs an autograph for a fan’s son but the fan doesn’t know what his name is. Ryback rips up the picture he signed as a result. I’m with Ryback here. How did the fan not know his name when it’s in big red letters on the front of his vest?

Punk has accepted the match with Axel for Raw.

The cage is lowered.

Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett

Barrett pounds him into the corner to start but Bryan blocks a ram into the steel. Daniel pounds right hands in the corner but charges into a boot to the jaw. Now the ram into the cage works but Barrett can only get a two count. Bryan comes back with a backdrop into the cage and Daniel fires off kicks in the corner. There’s the backflip over Barrett in the corner but the running clothesline is countered into the Winds of Change for two.

We take a break and come back with Barrett kicking Bryan’s head into the cage. Now it’s Barrett having the back of his head rammed into the steel and Bryan adds the running dropkick to crush Barrett even more. A missile dropkick gets two and Bryan fires off the kicks to Wade’s chest. The big one to the head misses and Barrett sends him into the cage before clotheslining him inside out for a close two.

Wasteland is blocked via a grab of the ropes but Bryan gets caught in an electric chair for two. Barrett goes up the cage but Bryan makes a save. He can’t German superplex Wade down and gets kicked to the mat, only to charge up the corner and pull Barrett back inside. Bryan hits a rolling powerbomb to bring Wade back to the mat and the running knee to the face is good for the pin at 8:58 shown of 11:58.

Rating: B. Good match here with Barrett looking like he could hang with the big boys. It’s amazing how far he fell while being Intercontinental Champion because when he has a good opponent he can put on an entertaining match. Bryan was his usual good stuff here and the fans are still into him after Summerslam. Hopefully that holds up.

Post match Bryan celebrates on the floor but walks into an RKO.

Overall Rating: B. This was a really solid show as WWE continues their roll. We had good matches throughout the show with the bad stuff being pretty short. I’m not wild on the ending though. That’s three times now that Orton has stood tall over Bryan in three shows and that’s going to catch up with them. Bryan doesn’t need to beat Orton down or anything, but he needs to be standing when a show ends soon. It’s still very early in the story though so it’s not like it’s already dead or anything. Good show tonight.

Results

Curtis Axel b. Cody Rhodes – Neckbreaker into a faceplant

Dolph Ziggler b. Big E. Langston – Zig Zag

Alberto Del Rio b. Christian – Cross Armbreaker

Big Show/Mark Henry b. 3MB – WMD to McIntyre

Darren Young b. Antonio Cesaro – Gut Check

Daniel Bryan b. Wade Barrett – Running knee to the head

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NXT
Date: August 21, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Alex Riley

Tonight is a show I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. The main event tonight is a 2/3 falls match between Antonio Cesaro and Sami Zayn to settle their score. This match has gotten rave reviews since it aired and I’ve been wondering if it lives up to its reputation. Other than that we might find out who is Dallas’ next challenger for the title. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Zayn vs. Cesaro. They’re making this feel like a huge match.

Divas Title: Bayley vs. AJ Lee

Bayley wants a hug to start but AJ slams her head first into the mat instead. AJ sends her into the corner and puts on a cravate to control Bayley. A hard elbow to the jaw gets two for the champ and AJ does the crazy eyes. Bayley comes back with a big hug to ram AJ into the corner a few times for two each. A knee drop gets two on AJ and the fans are split here. Bayley drops a top rope elbow for two more but she’s concerned about how how much she’s hurt AJ. The champion takes advantage with a shot to the ribs and a Shining Wizard to retain the belt at 4:25.

Rating: D+. This didn’t work too well for me. It felt like both girls were just doing their schtick instead of having a good match. We don’t know too much about Bayley other than she gets really star struck so it’s hard to care about her. Actually Bayley reminded me of Joseph Park here: someone who was just so excited to be here and didn’t care about winning.

Tyler Breeze is in the back with some good looking blonde and asks if she’d like a picture. She gets in the picture with him and he glares at her before having her take a solo picture. That same guy (CJ Parker I believe) photo bombs Breeze again but Breeze sees the picture this time and freaks out.

Ron Hicks/Michael Zacki vs. Ascension

O’Brian starts with Zacki and hits a string of headlock takeovers. Victor comes in for shots to the ribs and European uppercuts in the corner. The double hiptoss into the double powerbomb crushes Zacki and a modified High/Low (with a jumping back elbow instead of a spinwheel kick) gives Victor the pin at 1:38. Total squash.

Baron Corbin vs. CJ Parker

Parker’s Titantron is a tye dye ying yang and he’s from a commune. He takes Corbin into the corner and kind of dances out, only to be taken down by a hard shoulder block. Parker comes back with a running clothesline and two knees to the chest followed by a falling DDT (think Christian’s reverse DDT but from the front) for the pin on Corbin at 1:42.

Post match Parker says he’s found what he’s looking for. You might call him a hippie but he’s just living. He calls the photo bombing “video loving”, bringing out Tyler Breeze. Breeze yells at Parker but CJ says it’s just having a good time. Parker rubs Breeze’s face to send him running. I’m not really feeling Parker.

Alexander Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler

Rusev is a very big man from Bulgaria who breaks a piece of wood with Ziggler’s name on it over his knee. Ziggler is WAY over with the crowd. Both guys are slow to start with Rusev trying basic power stuff and Ziggler easily countering everything thrown at him so he can strut a bit. Alexander throws him into the corner and Ziggler gets serious. He staggers Rusev with a dropkick but his cross body is caught in mid air. Alexander rams knees into Ziggler’s back and drops him on the floor for a breather.

Back in and a running shoulder to the ribs gets two on Dolph. Rusev puts on a quick body vice but misses a second running charge into the corner. Dolph hits a good looking dropkick for two but walks into a running knee to the ribs for the same result. Back up and Ziggler hits a quick Fameasser for two but Rusev comes back with a nice spinwheel kick (for a guy weighing over 300lbs) for another near fall. He misses a top rope splash though, allowing Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag for the pin at 6:14.

Rating: C+. I liked this more than I thought I would. Rusev has potential to him as he’s got a good look and moved very well for a guy his size. Ziggler did his job perfectly out there by making Rusev look far better than he would have otherwise. This was a very nice surprise as you would have expected a squash but got a solid match instead.

Next week we’ll get a special look at the NXT stars at Summerslam Axxess.

Sami Zayn vs. Antonio Cesaro

They have a lot of time to work with here and it’s 2/3 falls. Zayn debuted a few months ago and beat Cesaro in Sami’s second match of the night. Cesaro won the rematch so tonight’s the rubber match. Zayn dives over the top to take out Cesaro during his entrance before the bell. Back inside and Sami hits a spinwheel kick for the first fall six seconds after the bell. Cesaro is clotheslined to the floor and sent into the steps as we’re not even a minute into the match.

They slug it out on the floor before Zayn gets two off another spinwheel kick. Zayn pounds away in the corner but can’t get a sunset flip. Cesaro can’t hit a double stomp so Sami goes to the middle rope and jumps from there to the top for a high cross body for two. Cesaro throws him into the air to drop Sami face first on the buckle for two before pounding away at Sami’s head. We hit the standing chinlock for a bit before Cesaro blocks a kick to the ribs and pulls Sami up into a powerbomb for two.

Back to the chinlock but Zayn jawbreaks his way out. A hard clothesline and the running stomp to the chest gets two for Cesaro. Back up and Zayn fires off forearms to the chest but gets caught in a backdrop, allowing Cesaro to rain down right hands. Another double stomp sets up the gutwrench suplex but Sami counters into a sunset flip for two. A running hurricanrana gets the same but Cesaro comes back with a bridging capture suplex for two.

Back from a break with with Cesaro putting on the standing chinlock for the third time. Zayn gets two off a rollup and hits a quick dropkick to put Antonio down. He charges right back into the chinlock though and Cesaro spins him around before taking it to the mat. Zayn actually taps out at about 9:00 shown, making it one fall apiece.

Sami rolls to the apron but Antonio pulls him back in with a superplex from the apron. That’s SCARY strength but it’s only good for two. Zayn grabs a quick rollup for two but gets caught in the chinlock again. That’s rolled up for two followed by Cesaro charging into a boot in the corner. The fans think this is awesome and I can’t say I disagree. Sami gets a VERY close two off a sunset flip after crawling up Cesaro’s body.

Cesaro bails to the floor so Sami heads outside as well before getting a running charge and diving between the ropes into a tornado DDT on the floor. Cesaro dives back in at nine and Sami gets two. Zayn tries to climb the corner for another tornado DDT but Cesaro catches him in midair, lifts him into a gorilla press and drops him down into Swiss Death. Antonio immediately picks up Sami and puts him down with the Neutralizer for the pin and the third fall at 15:38 shown of 18:38.

Rating: A-. Yeah it’s great. The third fall picked WAY up after a solid second fall. I’m not sure I get the idea of having Zayn win the first fall in a few seconds but it was definitely a face way to start the match. Either way, both guys looked great here and the match worked incredibly well with Cesaro looking like a beast at the end. Why he’s in a jobber tag team and not being pushed as a top heel in WWE is beyond me. Check this match out if you have the chance.

Overall Rating: A-. Great show here with a solid match in Ziggler vs. Rusev and a great main event. The other matches were good enough and we got some solid storyline advancement here. It continues to amaze me how much better NXT works than Raw or Smackdown. Imagine that: wrestlers running a wrestling show makes it better than a show run by low rent Hollywood writers.

Results

AJ Lee b. Bayley – Shining Wizard

Ascension b. Ron Hicks/Michael Zacki – High/Low to Zacki

CJ Parker b. Baron Corbin – Falling DDT

Dolph Ziggler b. Alexander Rusev – Zig Zag

Antonio Cesaro b. Sami Zayn – Neutralizer

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NXT
Date: August 14, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

Things are getting better in NXT as we now have a heel champion instead of a face champion that no one can stand. Other than that we have Shield vs. Xavier Woods/Corey Graves/Adrian Neville in what has the potential to be a solid six man tag. The crowd should love the Shield if nothing else. Let’s get to it.

After the usual opening, here’s Paul Heyman to get us going. He’s here to look for a new Paul Heyman Guy and is thrilled by what he sees in NXT. Heyman appreciates the ECW chants but he’s here to look for the future rather than to live off the past. In the back, there is the next Paul Heyman, or the next Brock Lesnar, or the next Curtis Axel, the latter of whom comes out to a mixed reaction. Paul talks about how awesome Curtis is and says there’s no one in Florida who can be the next Axel.

This brings out Big E. Langston to a HUGE reaction. He says he’s man enough to take down Axel for the Intercontinental Title but Heyman isn’t pleased. Axel says he’s got this one and agrees to face Langston at say…..Thanksgiving? Or maybe Christmas? Langston cuts him off and says defend it tonight or Axel proves that he’s not good enough to hang here in NXT. That’s enough for Axel to accept the challenge and we’re on.

Intercontinental Title: Curtis Axel vs. Big E. Langston

Axel pounds away at Langston’s head and speeds things up, only to be caught in a nice looking belly to belly suplex. Curtis is sent to the floor and we take a break with Heyman yelling OH MY GOD at Langston’s strength. Back with Big E. holding a chinlock and hitting five big punches to the ribs.

Axel gets in a kick to the gut and a clothesline to the back of the head to put Langston down. A quick dropkick gets no cover and a big THANK YOU PAUL chant breaks out. Another dropkick gets two and we hit the front facelock. Langston easily powers out and fires off a series of clotheslines and knee lifts before running Axel over. There go the straps but Heyman comes in for the DQ at 4:38 shown of 8:08.

Rating: C-. This was fine. We certainly won’t going to get a title change here but the crowd was WAY into Langston and Axel got in enough offense to not look like a joke. Big E. can hold his own in the ring and is looking like a more well rounded worker every time he’s out there. That’s very impressive given that he’s only 27 and has only been in wrestling for a few years.

Post match Langston goes after Heyman but Axel makes the save. Curtis loads up a belt shot but walks into the Big Ending for the five count.

Sami Zayn says he’s got a long running issue with Bo Dallas but now he’s got to deal with Cesaro and Colter accusing him of being an Arab or an evil French Canadian. He thinks the moment that tipped them off was when he spoke Arabic or when he announced himself as being from Montreal. At the same time though, he challenged Cesaro to a match over a month ago but hasn’t heard back. Zayn will up the ante though: we can make it 2/3 falls.

Mason Ryan vs. Scott Dawson

Dawson gets in his face to start but gets crushed into the corner. As the beating continues here are Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy for a distraction, allowing Dawson to get in some cheap shots. Not that it matters as Mason’s cobra clutch slam is good for the pin at 1:30.

Ryan cleans house after the match.

Women’s Title: Paige vs. Summer Rae

This was supposed to be Emma’s title shot but Summer beat her down last week and gets the shot instead. They fight over a lockup to start and Paige gets a quick two off a cross body. Paige throws her across the ring and stomps Summer down in the corner, only to be slammed face first onto the mat via a caught boot.

In a unique move, Summer puts Paige’s head between her (Summer’s) legs with Paige on her knees (think a victory roll position but on the mat) and slams Paige face first into the mat before turning her over into a rollup for two. A monkey flip gets two for the challenger and Summer cranks on a headlock. Paige drives her into the corner to escape and catches Summer’s boot in a nice callback. The Paige Turner is good for the pin at 3:43.

Rating: C-. This was short but it worked well enough. I’m assuming they’re setting up for Emma vs. Paige as a big match which is fine, but the bait and switch isn’t NXT’s normal style. Summer’s in ring work isn’t all that great but she’s far better in the ring than someone like Aksana. Paige was her usual good self here.

AJ says she’s defending the title against someone next week but she isn’t sure who it’s going to be. It could be anyone from the boom mic operator to her mom to Renee Young. Bayley comes up behind her and gives her a big hug. She’s REALLY excited to see AJ and apparently has been following her all day. Bayley would like the title shot and thinks they’re friends, but they’ll be even BETTER friends after the title match. AJ gets another big hug and gives a look that says she’s admitting defeat in the battle of the crazies.

Dolph Ziggler will be here next week.

During the break Emma attacked Summer Rae. A ticked off Emma could be interesting.

Shield vs. Corey Graves/Adrian Neville/Xavier Woods

Graves vs. Rollins gets us going with Corey sending him right back into the corner for a meeting with the Shield. Seth charges in for an armdrag but Graves keeps rolling through and armdrags Corey down instead. Off to Neville for a dropkick to the knee and one to the chest for two before the tag is made to Woods. Things speed up a bit and Woods snaps off a headscissors for two. The NXT guys keep up the frequent tags with Graves cranking away on Seth’s arm. The arm is quickly dropped in favor of the leg but Rollins bails to the floor, allowing Woods and Neville to hit stereo dives on Shield as we take a break.

Back with Reigns headbutting Woods down and stomping him down in the Shield corner. Off to the US Champion for some trash talk and right hands to Woods’ afro. Xavier backflips out of a belly to back suplex and there’s the not yet hot tag to Graves. A quick chop block sets up Lucky 13 but Rollins makes the save. Reigns comes in to pound away and hits a great standing falcon’s arrow for two. Back to Seth to crank on the arm for a bit before making a blind tag off to Reigns. Graves doesn’t see the tag and tries a sunset flip on Rollins, allowing Roman to get in a hard cheap shot.

Back to Ambrose for more trash talk as the fast Shield tags continue. A snap suplex puts Graves back in the wrong corner before Reigns comes back in. Corey kicks away at Roman’s knee from the mat but there’s almost no effect. Graves is shoved into the corner and gets a burst of energy to fight his way out.

The hot tag brings in Neville to speed things up and an enziguri puts Dean down. He gets the knees up to block the Red Arrow though and makes a tag off to Rollins. Adrian flips out of a German suplex and tags in Woods who gets two off a high cross body. A kick to Seth’s head and a quick downward spiral gets two. The It’s Morphin Time clothesline gets two as well but Reigns makes the diving save.

Neville hurricanranas Reigns to the floor and Ambrose suplexes Graves to the floor. Woods loads up a superplex but Rollins counters into a sunset bomb. Xavier holds the ropes but Reigns makes a blind tag and punches Woods to break his grip on the ropes. Rollins hits the Buckle Bomb and the spear from Reigns is enough to pin Woods at 14:07 shown of 16:52.

Rating: B+. Cut two minutes or so out of the middle and this is a classic. This was in the old vein of Shield matches with the last second saves and perfectly planned out insanity and it’s still awesome. The NXT guys got a solid rub here as they got to put Shield to a good test. The ending never really was in doubt, but they had me wondering there for a few seconds, which is a sign of a good match.

Cesaro accepts Zayn’s challenge for the 2/3 falls match next week. He promises to beat Zayn so bad but Sami jumps him to start a brawl. They’re pulled apart and Cesaro channels his inner James Kirk by shouting ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYN to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Solid show here with a great main event and some good stuff leading up to it. NXT does a great job at incorporating the main show guys into the fold and the shows benefit a lot from it. At the end of the day though, the NXT guys are the stars of the show and that’s the important idea. The Zayn vs. Cesaro match has the potential to be amazing so things are looking up for next week.

Results

Big E. Langston b. Curtis Axel via DQ when Paul Heyman interfered

Mason Ryan b. Scott Dawson – Cobra clutch slam

Paige b. Summer Rae – Paige Turner

Shield b. Xavier Woods/Corey Graves/Adrian Neville – Spear to Woods

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