Takeover: Fatal Four-Way
Date: September 11, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

For once I’m actually looking forward to a WWE special. This is the third two hour live event that NXT has run and the first two were knocked out of the park. The main event tonight is a four way with NXT Champion Adrian Neville defending against Tyson Kidd, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze in what should be a classic. Let’s get to it.

The regular WWE video plays but an NXT video hacks in. You might even say it takes over.

Opening sequence with only shots of people appearing tonight.

Tag Team Titles: Sin Cara/Kalisto vs. Ascension

Sin Cara and Kalisto won a tournament to get this show. They also now have their own music which starts with someone shouting LUCHA LUCHA LUCHA! Ascension has held the titles for nearly a year and have barely ever broken a sweat in a defense. Viktor knocks Sin Cara up against the ropes but gets caught by a standing Lionsault for two. That’s fine with Viktor though as he sends Cara out to the floor so Konnor can drive him back first into the apron.

Back to Viktor for a hard slam for two as the champions are already dominating. We hit a double chickenwing before Cara escapes a powerbomb. Konnor knocks Kalisto off the apron though and Cara can’t make the tag. An enziguri stops Konnor but he puts on a front facelock and just drives Cara back into the corner. That’s fine with Cara as he flips over and makes the tag to Kalisto.

Everything speeds up with a spinning slingshot plancha. A semi-botched sunset bomb gets two on Viktor as Cara dives on Konnor. Both champions go outside and catch Kalisto in mid air. Sin dives on both of them for a huge crash and the fans are WAY into this. Back inside they load up the Fall of Man but Cara trips up Konnor. Kalisto rolls out of the way and hits Salida Del Sol (standing sitout Sliced Bread #2) on Viktor for the pin and the titles at 7:48.

Rating: B-. Power vs. speed is something that is going to work no matter how many times you try it. They had to get the belts off of Ascension at some point and putting them on Lucha was as good of a way as they could have done it. This frees up Ascension to go after the Usos, which makes sense given that they already debuted on Main Event this week.

The new champions dub themselves the Lucha Dragons.

We get a quick pause in memory of 9/11.

Video on Adrian Neville about how tough a year it’s been for him but he hasn’t lost a single match. Everyone will remember that he’s the man that gravity forgot. He’s beaten all of his challengers and now he has to beat them at once.

CJ Parker vs. Baron Corbin

This is an added match. The much bigger Corbin shoves the Eco Warrior Parker into the corner….and then plants him with a very powerful one armed Downward Spiral for the pin at 32 seconds. He made it look even better by rocking Parker forward and then snapping him back. That’s a good way to start a push.

Video on Tyson Kidd where he lists off some of his facts, mainly talking about each man in the main event tonight. He will walk out as champion. Fact.

Enzo Amore vs. Sylvester LeFort

Enzo has new music which he might sing himself. This is Jersey Shore vs. France in a hair vs. hair match. Amore even has “hair cream” to get rid of Sylvester’s hair. Before the match, Enzo suggests a few hairstyles for LeFort, including a combover and a mushroom, complete with the fans shouting HOW YOU DOIN after every suggestion. According to Cass, after the match, Sylvester’s hair will be S-A-W-F-T.

Enzo grabs a headlock to start and ruffles LeFort’s hair to really mess with him. A shoulder puts Sylvester on the apron but he snaps Enzo across the top rope to take over. We hit the chinlock on Enzo followed by a hard kick between the shoulders. Amore fights back with some stiff punches but a Marcus Louis distraction lets Sylvester nail a clothesline for two. Cass takes out Louis, allowing Amore to grab a rollup (and tights) for the pin at 5:46.

Rating: D+. The wrestling was bad but what are you expecting from someone like Enzo? He’s a comedy character and has never had a match go more than a few minutes. This was a way to give the fans a good laugh and there’s nothing wrong with that. Cass and Amore are just a loveable team and they beat up the snobs. What more can you ask for?

Sylvester is being taken to the chair but Marcus makes a save. Amore and Cass get up though and LeFort runs off, leaving Marcus to take the cream on the head.

Tyler Breeze says the new champion will be gorgeous. Every outfit he wears goes with gold.

Here’s General Manager William Regal with something to say. He talks about how great it is in NXT right now and introduces the biggest international signing in NXT history. We get a video on Kenta, with various WWE wrestlers talking about how awesome he is. Kenta comes to the ring to a VERY strong reaction and he gives a brief welcome in English before going into Japanese. He says this is a dream come true and he’s starting over with a new name: Hideo Itami, a tribute to one of his heroes. His goal is to be NXT Champion….and here are the Ascension to interrupt.

Itami is thrown to the floor and Konnor demands a rematch for the titles. Hideo gets back in the ring and takes off his jacket. A kick and forearm put Ascension down and a double dropkick does it again. Itami gets a chair and stands….well not that tall actually but it’s a good debut.

Bull Dempsey vs. Mojo Rawley

Not much to this one as they were in the tag team tournament and lost, causing Dempsey to destroy Rawley. Dempsey hammers him into the corner to start as the fans want Kevin Steen. Mojo spears him down and hammers away but Dempsey runs him over with a splash. A top rope headbutt ends Mojo at 1:07. If Rawley wasn’t finished before, he certainly is now.

Dempsey adds another headbutt for good measure.

Enzo and Cass want to see someone bald. They see Marcus with a towel over his head and carry him into the arena for the big reveal. Enzo rips off the towel, revealing little bits of hair on Marcus’ head and no eyebrows. Nice touch. Enzo says he is B-A-W-L-D.

We recap Bayley vs. Charlotte. It’s another simple story with Charlotte being the girl that feels she’s here by birth and Bayley being the biggest fangirl in the history of wrestling who just loves to be here.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Bayley

Bayley now has streamers on her arms. Charlotte offers a handshake to start but Bayley drives her into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs. A quick cross body gets two for Bayley but Charlotte counters a backslide with a neckbreaker. We hit the figure four headlock on Bayley and Charlotte even flips forward a few times and slam Bayley onto the mat. They trade a few rollups with Bayley countering a Figure Four attempt for two. Charlotte dropkicks her back down and nails a hard knee to the ribs.

Bayley comes back with a hard series of forearms, only to miss a charge into the corner and get slammed down onto the mat for two. Charlotte goes up top but gets caught in a top rope hurricanrana to put both girls down. The delayed cover only gets two but the Belly to Bayley is countered into a rollup. Charlotte nails her in the face, knocking Bayley head first into the bottom buckle. A moonsault doesn’t quite hit as Charlotte landed on her legs instead of on Bayley and only gets two. Natural Selection (the new name for Bow Down to the Queen) is enough to retain the title at 11:55.

Rating: C+. This was a far cry from Charlotte vs. Natalya but they had to have a heel win somewhere in there. I’ll give them this though: they had me wanting to see Bayley suplex Charlotte through the floor and take the title. The story was perfect here though and that’s as good as they could have hoped for. The match wasn’t bad at all either and that hurricanrana looked great.

Post match Sasha Banks comes out to beat on Bayley but Charlotte makes the save. Bayley is confused.

Sami Zayn talks about having to be ready for his opponents. He and Neville are friends, but he wants to beat Adrian to become champion.

Hideo Itami makes his in ring debut next week.

NXT Title: Tyson Kidd vs. Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Adrian Neville

Neville is defending and this is one fall to a finish. After the big match intros, they have about half an hour for this if necessary. Kidd’s trunks now say FACT. The fans start their dueling chants and aren’t sure who they like best so far. After a minute of circling each other we’re ready to go with all four heading to the floor. That goes nowhere but they do tease Neville vs. Zayn to a BIG response. They head back to the floor with Neville kicking Kidd and Sami chopping Breeze.

Sami and Kidd go back inside with Zayn grabbing the Koji Clutch until Tyler makes a save. Now they head to the stage where Adrian’s knee is taken out and a double suplex plants him on the stage. Sami picks off Kidd but gets a double suplex of his own on the ramp. Back to the ring now with Sami getting double teamed by the villains. The fans tell Kidd that Nattie is better as Adrian gets knocked off the apron.

Sami gets stomped in the corner and Tyler covers after a suplex, triggering the brawl with Kidd. Tyson sends him to the floor and gets two off a neckbreaker to Zayn. Off to a chinlock on Sami but he quickly jawbreaks his way to freedom. Kidd puts him in the Tree of Woe though as Adrian is knocked to the floor again, followed by a kick to the face from Tyson.

Zayn tries to get back up but Kidd just pounds him down in the corner and puts on the chinlock again. Neville finally gets back in but Tyson sends him to the floor for about the fourth time. Adrian pops back in though and backdrops Kidd down. Breeze returns from the dead, only to get clotheslined down by Sami. Zayn loads up a dive to the heels but Adrian hits a HUGE top rope Asai moonsault to put them both down.

That leaves Neville vs. Zayn and the fans get even more into this all of a sudden. A big kick to the champion’s head gets two as Kidd is back in for the save. Kidd throws Neville into Sami to knock the champion to the floor and the Moss Covered Three Handled Family Credenza gets two on Sami. Tyson can’t get the Sharpshooter on Sami and the springboard elbow hits knees. Sami loads up the Helluva Kick but Tyler nails the Beauty Shot to knock him down. Neville tries to come in off the top but gets dropkicked out of the air for a VERY close two. Tyler gets two on Kidd as well and frustration is setting in.

Adrian goes up top but Breeze and Kidd load up a double superplex. That’s not enough for Sami as he makes it a HUGE Tower of Doom. Kidd somehow gets up at two and Breeze falls out to the floor. Sami punches Tyson into the corner and gets all fired up but charges into a boot from Neville. A Shooting Star from Adrian crushes Sami but Breeze comes in to steal a two count and make the fans gasp.

Tyler misses a Beauty Shot to Sami and gets caught in the Sharpshooter. Tyson drags him back to the center of the ring and Tyler loads up his hand to tap but Adrian grabs his hand to hold it up in a great move. Sami makes the save and the fans are very thankful. Sami and Adrian finally get to slug it out until Neville gets backdropped to the floor.

An exploder suplex puts Kidd in the corner and Zayn dives through the ropes to take out Adrian. In an even better move Sami dives from the floor, over the bottom rope and into a tornado DDT on Tyler on the floor. The Helluva Kick looks to finish Kidd but Adrian pulls the referee out of the way. A superkick drops Sami and the Red Arrow to Kidd retains the title at 23:58.

Rating: A-. If Sami had won the title there it’s even higher. I’m not wild on Adrian seemingly turning heel but in theory this sets up Neville vs. Zayn in the big showdown for the title. Thankfully Sami didn’t get pinned here and the huge spots worked really well, especially that Tower of Doom and the diving tornado DDT. This was more than worth the wait and now it looks like Sami is getting his chance very soon. Notice that they didn’t really let Sami and Adrian fight other than a brief exchange, even though the fans were begging for it. That’s a sign for the future.

Sami looks at Adrian with frustration on his face to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This wasn’t quite as good as Arrival and Takeover but these things are still as good as anything else you’re going to see in wrestling today. NXT has mastered this idea of setting something up and then executing it rather than meandering forever until they figure out what they want to do and expecting us to keep watching. I love this promotion and it holds up incredibly well week after week. Zayn vs. Neville is going to rock and the future looks bright with some major debuts on the horizon.

Results

Sin Cara/Kalisto b. Ascension – Salida Del Sol to Viktor

Baron Corbin b. CJ Parker – Downward Spiral

Enzo Amore b. Sylvester LeFort – Rollup

Bull Dempsey b. Mojo Rawley – Top rope headbutt

Charlotte b. Bayley – Natural Selection

Adrian Neville b. Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd – Red Arrow to Kidd

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

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

Opening sequence.

Ascension vs. ???/???

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

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

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

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

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

Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

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

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

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

Bull Dempsey vs. Angelo Dawkins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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NXT
Date: August 7, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Jason Albert, Alex Riley

Things have been oddly dull in NXT lately but we’ve got a #1 contenders tournament starting up tonight whichs hould liven things up a bit. If nothing else there’s going to be a new set of challengers for the Ascension, which is exactly what the division needs. We might even get some Vaudevillains tonight. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Tournament First Round: Tye Dillinger/Jason Jordan vs. Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore

HUGE pop for Enzo and Cass. Dillinger grabs a wristlock on Cass to start and is quickly sent to the corner by the throat. Cass: “How YOU doin?” Jordan comes in with a belly to back suplex for two and the pretty boys take over on Big Cass. We hit a reverse chinlock from Jordan as the fans are wanting Enzo.

Cass gets caught in a top wristlock from Tye but Cass blocks a stomp. The hot tag brings in Amore who gets his head superkicked into the third row. Tye doesn’t cover for some reason though and brings Jordan back in. Cass dives into the corner to block a charge aimed at at Enzo, followed by a big boot to Jordan’s face, giving Enzo the pin at 5:23.

Rating: D+. Did the pretty boys turn heel and no one told me? They certainly were wrestling like heels in this one and it really didn’t work for them. Cass and Amore are a solid oddball tag team though and Cass is finding his niche as the guy who gets the hot tag and cleans house.

We see the tournament brackets.

Amore/Cassady

Mojo Rawley/Bull Dempsey
Vaudevillains

Sami Zayn/???
Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel

Sin Cara/Kalisto
Wesley Blake/Buddy Murphy

Sami Zayn is in the back and says his assigned tag partner isn’t medically cleared (no name is given) when Gabriel and Kidd come in to remind him of the time Kidd walked out on Sami in a tag match against Ascension. Zayn offers to beat them both tonight when Adam Rose comes up and offers to be Sami’s partner. The fact that Sami is wearing an Axl Rose shirt is purely a coincidence I’m sure. Sami sucks Rose’s lollipop.

CJ Parker vs. Xavier Woods

Parker says that the signs he carries are a social movement. Woods is in his traditional clothes and hasn’t put on the white suit yet. It’s a brawl to start and a clothesline puts Parker on the floor. Back in and Parker avoids a charge, sending Woods shoulder first into the post. We come back from a quick break with Parker getting two off a senton backsplash.

A running double knee in the corner sets up a top rope ax handle for two on Woods. We hit the chinlock on Xavier but he blocks a second backsplash with some knees. Woods comes back with some strikes and a high cross body. A running low Downward Spiral gets two on Parker and the Honor Roll clothesline gets the same.

Woods goes to the top rope and walks down a bit before diving four fifths of the way across the ring for a splash. Parker was so far across the ring that he could have put his foot on the opposite ropes. For some reason that only gets two and Parker comes back with a kind of Death Valley Driver for the pin at 8:12.

Rating: C+. I can’t believe it but there are a few things to talk about here. First and foremost, why would you have Woods bust out a big move like that and have it only get two? It looked awesome but instead the match ends a few seconds later. Second, why did the announcers keep calling it an elbow? This isn’t one that you can really call anything other than a splash but Riley insisted it was an elbow. The match was good, but at the end of the day I have no interest in either of these guys.

Tyler Breeze is going to cash in his title shot against Adrian Neville. No date is specified but this sounded like an announcement.

Bayley vs. Eva Marie

Eva comes out on a podium like a sculpture. Makes sense for her. Cue the You Can’t Wrestle chants as they circle each other to start. We get the far better “BAYLEY’S GONNA HUG YOU” chant a few seconds later as Bayley takes Eva down to the mat and rides her for a bit before they roll around for some cradles. Eva gets two off a snap suplex but Bayley takes her down and hammers away. A running elbow in the corner sets up the Belly To Bayley for the pin on Eva at 3:18.

Rating: D. Eva looks good in the outfits but it’s clear that she isn’t anything in the ring. Like, she’s making Nikki Bella look like a master right now. To be fair though, ring time is the only thing that’s going to help her at this point so even a quick match like this one is going to help her.

Tag Team Tournament First Round: Sami Zayn/Adam Rose vs. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel

Even the announcers dance during Rose’s entrance in a funny bit. Kidd grabs a headlock on Sami to start but Zayn comes back with some very fast armdrags. Rose comes in for a staredown with Kidd and a little spank to Tyson. Kidd heads outside for a meeting with Gabriel, earning Justin a spank of his own. Things finally get serious as Rose gets beaten down in the corner.

Gabriel kicks him in the back for two but Rose comes back with a spinebuster for a near fall of his own. Kidd helps put Rose in the Tree of Woe for a stomping and we take a break. Back with Kidd holding a chinlock on Rose and tagging in Justin to stomp away. The double teaming continues, including a low dropkick from Gabriel for two.

A belly to back suplex gets the same but Kidd’s springboard elbow drop hits knees. I still think that would do more damage to Rose than Tyson but whatever. The hot tag brings in Sami to clean house, including the big flip dive to take out both villains. Rose goes up and hits a flip dive of his own. Back in and the Helluva Kick nails Gabriel for the pin at 9:48.

Rating: C-. That was….long. It was a lot of Rose getting beaten on before we hit the tag to Sami for the interesting part. Zayn really needs to get back to the underdog blood feuds that made him so popular here in NXT, but that might be where they’re going with him in the tournament.

Overall Rating: D+. What the heck has happened to NXT? They went from the can’t miss show of the week to a pretty dull hour of TV. Having so much time between the big shows is killing it as Breeze has been #1 contender for ten weeks now and we still haven’t heard a date for his title shot. The matches were mostly decent but the stories just aren’t doing it for me as it’s basically Neville waiting for Breeze and Ascension beating up everyone in sight while laughing at the pathetic challengers. This show needs a shot in the arm, but all the stars they have waiting to debut could be the answer they need.

Results
Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore b. Jason Jordan/Tye Dillinger – Amore pinned Jordan after a big boot from Cassady
CJ Parker b. Xavier Woods – Death Valley Driver
Bayley b. Eva Marie – Belly To Bayley
Adam Rose/Sami Zayn b. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel – Helluva Kick to Gabriel

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NXT
Date: July 10, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Renee Young, Jason Albert

This is another show that has been built up for a few weeks and there’s a good chance we get the payoff tonight. Coming off last week, we should be coming up on Sami Zayn/Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel. The match isn’t going to be a masterpiece or anything, but it’s going to be a well done match with a lot of high flying entertainment. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.
Bayley vs. Summer Rae

The winner gets a shot against Charlotte at some point in the future. Summer sends her into the corner to start but Bayley takes her down with a drop toehold and puts on an armbar. Bayley spins around on Summer’s back and Rae bails to the floor. Back in quickly and Summer nails a kick to Bayley’s ribs for one. Summer pulls on the arms with her feet on Bayley’s shoulders as Charlotte is watching from the back.

The referee breaks up a hair pull and Bayley flips Summer over, only to have her head rammed into the mat. Bayley comes back with a suplex, drawing a BAYLEY’S GONNA HUG YOU chant from the crowd. A spear and suplex get two on Rae but she kicks Bayley in the face for two of her own. Bayley comes back with a top rope elbow to the jaw but Summer counters the Belly to Bayley into the Summer Crush (standing legdrop) for the pin at 5:23.

Rating: C-. Nothing special here but Summer vs. Charlotte is going to be a solid match that belongs on a big stage. Summer isn’t great in the rings but she looks good and has the attitude that a Diva needs. Bayley needs to stay in NXT as long as she can so WWE can’t ruin her on the main roster.

Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville are banged up but they’re coming for Gabriel and Kidd.

Justin Gabriel is with Tyson Kidd and says he’s not going to be a loser anymore. He started in NXT and now somehow he’s back. There’s talent here, but it’s not on his level. Tyson was right and it took one more loss to prove him right. Sometimes in life, you have to break some rules.

Tyler Breeze has entered the building.

Sin Cara vs. Wesley Blake

Some quick rollups get two on Blake and a clothesline sends him to the floor, setting up a suicide dive. Back in and Blake takes him down by the arm for two before hooking an armbar. Cara comes up with a jawbreaker followed by a springboard headbutt. A springboard cross body gets two and a kick to the head sets up the Swanton Bomb for the pin at 3:32.

Rating: C-. Just a squash here but Sin Cara looked fine. He could use a few nice wins down in NXT, even though it isn’t going to mean much for him in WWE. The original Sin Cara’s run was just so bad that even the new performer can’t do much with the character anymore. Still though, not bad.

Tyson Kidd and Natalya get in an argument over his recent actions. He tells Natalya to not come to the ring with him tonight.

Summer thinks she and Sasha should stay friends but Banks doesn’t seem interested.

CJ Parker calls out Xavier Woods to talk about what happened last week. Parker apologizes but Woods doesn’t seem to accept. CJ offers peace before laying Woods out from behind.

The Vaudevillains talk about becoming the next Tag Team Champions and share an awesome laugh.

Video on the Ascension for the fans that are watching on the free preview.

Bull Dempsey vs. Angelo Dawkins

A quick armbar takes Dawkins down and he makes the mistake of trying a sunset flip. The much bigger Dempsey sits on his chest and hammers away with headbutts and elbow drops. Dempsey chokes a lot and shrugs off a quick comeback attempt, setting up the Bulldozer powerslam for the pin at 2:55.

Dempsey says he isn’t quitting until he’s NXT Champion.

Zayn and Neville are ready.

Sami Zayn/Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel

Natalya is here with Kidd despite the argument earlier. Kidd and Neville get things going as the announcers plug the Network. Off to Sami who cranks on the arm before it’s back to the champion for more of the same. Zayn drops to the mat and Neville gets on his back for a corkscrew splash. Albert: “Rich can I try that off your back?” Renee: “I’ll give you a dollar if you do!” Neville hits a middle rope cross body for two before it’s off to Zayn for some chops. Justin offers a distraction and Tyson sends Zayn to the floor as we take a break.

Back almost immediately with Gabriel putting on a double chicken wing. That goes nowhere so Sami gets tied in the Tree of Woe, only to have Justin nail him from the apron. A double kick to the head gets two on Zayn and Tyson puts on a front facelock. Sami is in trouble but finally throws Kidd off and dives over for the hot tag. A standing moonsault gets two on Gabriel and a sitout powerbomb gets the same.

Adrian levels Kidd for two and the fans want Nattie. Justin’s distraction prevents the Red Arrow and Kidd knocks Adrian off the ropes for the springboard elbow and two. Sami sends Justin outside but makes a blind tag, setting up a big high cross body for two as Adrian dives onto Gabriel. I thought that was it. Tyson grabs Sami’s face but gets backdropped to the floor. Sami is left alone for the BIG flip dive to take out all three other guys. Kidd claims a knee injury but it’s a fake. Sami punches him in the jaw but it knocks Natalya to the floor as well. Tyson fakes going to check on her and grabs a quick rollup for the pin at 10:35.

Rating: B. Take four guys and let them fly around the ring for eleven minutes and freak the crowd out. It’s an idea that has worked since professional wrestling began and it’s always going to work. The match was the usual solid stuff and Kidd looks like the most evil guy in all of NXT. Well done.

Kidd leaves with Gabriel.

Overall Rating: B. If the idea tonight was to get people to want to buy the Network to see NXT, they did a great job. You got some WWE names, some good matches, angle advancement, and a sense of “why am I not watching this?”. That’s the point of a show like this and it worked like a charm. Good stuff and a good regular episode too.

Results
Charlotte b. Bayley – Summer Crush
Sin Cara b. Wesley Blake – Swanton Bomb
Bull Dempsey b. Angelo Dawkins – Bulldozer
Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel b. Sami Zayn/Adrian Neville – Rollup to Zayn

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NXT
Date: July 3, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, William Regal, Byron Saxton

Last week’s show saw some new names rise up on the NXT roster with the Vaudevillians providing as much entertaining as you could ask for from a single act. Other than that we’re getting ready for some new stories to get going this week, which usually makes for a good show. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Colin Cassady vs. Sylvester LeFort

Big Cass says that Pepe Le Pew is about to get dissed. First he’s going to get disfigured, then he’s going to get dismissed. LeFort continues to look better than half of the roster and can talk better than most of them as well. Big Cass starts in a hurry and it’s the East River Crossing and the Empire Elbow for the in at 55 seconds.

Adrian Neville says it was an honor to beat Rob Van Dam. Tyler Breeze comes in and says he’s impressed that Neville could focus that well with Breeze just twenty feet away. It must be killing Neville not knowing when Tyler is cashing in his title shot. “Just like your uggo face is killing me.” Neville offers to give Breeze a title shot tonight but Breeze claims a finger injury during a hand modeling session.

Video on Bull Dempsey, the last of a dying breed and the last real man in professional wrestling.

Charlotte/Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch/Bayley

Bayley says Becky is her BFF: Bayley Friend Forever. Sasha and Bayley get things going with Bayley taking her down by the arm. Off to Becky, drawing a great Irish accent from Regal. Charlotte comes in and gets caught in an armbar before Bayley comes in to work over the arm as well. A double suplex drops Charlotte and a double clothesline does the same to Sasha as we take a break.

Back with Bayley getting sent into the apron before Charlotte works her over in the ring. The BFFs double team Bayley in the corner and Charlotte gets two off a knee drop. Sasha works on a chinlock before it’s back to the champ for a choke in the corner. Bayley finally kicks Sasha into Charlotte and Becky gets the hot tag. A series of legdrops get two on Sasha and everything breaks down. Bayley is sent to the floor and Charlotte comes in legally for Bow Down to the Queen on Becky for the pin at 9:06.

Rating: C. Basic formula match here and there’s nothing wrong with that. The BFFs aren’t likely to be around much longer as Charlotte doesn’t need Sasha at this point. Sasha isn’t holding her down but there’s just no need for her. Becky was much like over the top Irish here and that’s a good thing for her.

Bayley shoves Sasha to the floor to prevent an attack on Becky.

Justin Gabriel is ready for Sami Zayn tonight when Tyson Kidd comes in. Tyson tries to get him to turn to the dark side but Gabriel says Tyson is wrong, and he’ll prove it tonight.

Sasha yells at Charlotte for not having her back after the match. Charlotte says the team is done because she’s the champion. Sasha implies that she’s coming for the belt.

CJ Parker vs. Steve Cutler

Parker’s sign now has the word Woods crossed out. He runs over Cutler to start and says that Steve is ruining the world, just like all of them. Parker hammers away and hits a side kick for the pin at 1:30.

Parker rants about Xavier Woods being so educated but doing nothing on the main roster. If he had Woods’ chances, he’d win titles and change the world along the way.

We get a sitdown interview with Tyson Kidd who says he wasn’t in a mood to do the fallout show at Takeover and left before he said something stupid. He didn’t know Natayla was there and didn’t blow her off on purpose. Interviewer Renee Young asks what was up with freaking out on Natayla for telling the referee that Neville had his foot on the ropes. He went nuts during the match and is glad Natalya calmed him down. Tyson goes on in a calm manner about not wanting to win the titles that way but walks off when Renee asks about possible marital problems.

Summer Rae vs. Bayley next week for the #1 contendership.

Sami Zayn vs. Justin Gabriel

Tyson Kidd is at ringside, drawing a Nattie’s Husband chant. They trade wristlocks to start as Regal thinks Kidd and Natayla are having issues. Justin wrenches on the arm to escape a chinlock. Sami cranks on one of his own but Justin makes it to the ropes. They’re still in first gear here. Gabriel runs him over with a clothesline for the first hard move of the match. He hammers away at Sami’s head and we take a break.

Back with Gabriel getting two off a kick to the head and putting on a double arm crank. Gabriel gets another two and seems to be getting frustrated. He hammers at Sami’s head but Zayn fights back with dropkicks and a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. The Helluva Kick misses though and Justin hits a middle rope kick to the chest for two. Sami blocks a German suplex but gets caught in an over the shoulder backbreaker for two. A huge moonsault gets two and Justin can’t believe this. He loads up the 450 but Sami rolls out of the way. A downward spiral into a Koji Clutch makes Justin tap at 13:00.

Rating: B-. My goodness it’s nice to see Sami get a win for a change. It’s not a great match or against a top level opponent but Sami did his underdog thing and then came back to get the win. That’s a nice change for him and the best thing is he hasn’t lose his heat with all the losing.

Tyson jumps Sami post match and Justin turns heel and joins in. Adrian Neville comes in for the save and I’m sure we’ve got a tag match coming up.

Overall Rating: B. The main event scene has gone from nothing to awesome in a single hour. We have the tag match coming up which could spin off into some more matches and Tyler Breeze looming over the whole thing. This was a really solid episode for storytelling and we had a solid main event to cap it off. As usual, NXT knows how to run a wrestling show.

Results
Colin Cassady b. Sylvester LeFort – Empire Elbow
Charlotte/Sasha Banks b. Bayley/Becky Lynch – Bow Down to the Queen to Lynch
CJ Parker b. Steve Cutler – Side kick
Sami Zayn b. Justin Gabriel – Koji Clutch

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NXT
Date: April 10, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jason Albert, Rich Bocchini, Alex Riley

There aren’t a ton of stories coming into tonight but the main event out of last week was Sami Zayn vs. Corey Graves being stopped to to Sami’s head injuries. Other than that we also might be building to Neville vs. Clay in the future which isn’t the worst idea for a first new opponent for Adrian. Let’s get to it.

We open with an In Memory graphic for Warrior.

There’s a new commentator named Rich Bocchini tonight. No idea if he’s a permanent replacement for Phillips or not.

Adam Rose vs. Danny Burch

The fans think the party entrance was awesome. Rose prances around the ring to start but gets knocked into the ropes. He leans back and keeps lifting his feet to stop the charging Danny before running him over with some shoulders. Rose cranks on the arm but gets dropped by a single right hand. Adam comes right back with something resembling a Bronco Buster and more prancing, followed by a middle rope elbow for the pin at 2:54. Albert dances post match.

We look back at Sami Zayn being injured last week. The referee says he was doing the responsible thing and stopped the match for Sami’s safety.

Corey Graves says that was just the beginning.

Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

Banks runs her over a few times for two each but Bayley comes back with rollups of her own. Sasha just goes off on her and hammers away before pounding on the back of Bayley’s head. She chokes away in the corner and stomps on Bayley for two. We hit a double arm choke for a bit but Bayley fights up and comes back with some forearms. A running clothesline sets up a middle rope elbow to the jaw for no cover. Sasha tries to fight back but walks into the Belly to Bayley for the pin at 3:12.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but the hugging obsession is almost impossible to not like. Sasha has charisma but there’s only so much she can do if she keeps losing like this. That being said, both of these girls are almost ready for the main roster. They’re not at Paige’s level, but most of the Divas in WWE aren’t either.

Sylvester LeFort vs. Mojo Rawley

Rawley crushes him in the corner to start and hits a Rear View followed by Hyperdrive for the pin at 47 seconds. Now THIS is what Rawley should be doing.

Post match Brodus Clay comes out to powerbomb and splash LeFort. “Better than Batista!” Clay still wants Neville and thinks he’s earned a shot. He calls out Adrian again and here’s the champion to call Brodus out on his whining. They stare each other down but Brodus walks out.

Oliver Grey is back but Camacho cuts off his promo. He doesn’t like Adam Rose wanting to party all the time but Oliver cuts him off as well. Oliver wants a match against Camacho next week and it’s on.

We look at the NXT guys at Axxess.

Khali is here and gets a hug from Bayley. CJ Parker comes up and is really hoping Khali recycles. Khali shouts in Punjabi but Bayley translates: the big man wants a match next week.

Here’s Bo Dallas for a big announcement. He’s seen what the YES Movement has done so it’s time for the BO Movement to occupy NXT. The fans literally turn their backs on him and Dallas freaks out. “I GAVE YOU COOKIES!” He goes to ringside to yell before heading back in and falling to his knees in tears, saying this makes no sense. I could get behind a Bo Dallas that loses his mind.

We take a quick break to say Don’t Try This At Home and come back with Bo’s meltdown continuing. The fans want NO MORE BO and he weakly tries to turn it into Let’s Go Bo. Now it’s a Bo-Tista chant until JBL makes a rare appearance with a huge grin on his face. “Bo, your movement doesn’t have enough people to occupy a see saw.” He makes a match right now.

Justin Gabriel vs. Bo Dallas

They circle each other to start until Justin nails a few cross bodies. A rollup gets a close two and Dallas bails to the floor. The fans want cookies as Dallas comes back in with a headlock. Justin fights up and sends Bo back to the floor again but gets knocked off the top rope. A suplex sets up a cravate from Bo and he sends Justin hard into the corner.

Dallas levels him with a clothesline but gets sent into the corner as well to put both guys down. Gabriel fires off a series of hard strikes and gets two off a springboard cross body. Bo reverses a tilt-a-whirl slam into a reverse DDT for a close two and both guys are winded. A hard kick to the back puts Bo down but he avoids a top rope Lionsault. Justin comes right back with a small package for two but walks into a double arm DDT for the pin at 10:00.

Rating: C. Not bad at all here as Bo is finally getting some character development that he’s been needing after losing the title. That character can only be taken so far and the meltdown was the logical progression for his character. Gabriel was his usual strong hand in the ring here and looked good flying through the air.

Overall Rating: C+. This was more like it as the show set up two matches for next week plus a title program with Adrian’s first challenger. Dallas going nuts was a great addition and the main roster guys’ appearances continue to be used properly. I liked this show a lot as it felt like an old school NXT show.

Results

Adam Rose b. Danny Burch – Middle rope elbow

Bayley b. Sasha Banks – Belly to Bayley

Mojo Rawley b. Sylvester LeFort – Hyperdrive

Bo Dallas b. Justin Gabriel – Double arm DDT

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NXT
Date: March 20, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Todd Phillips, Byron Saxton

Things have been looking up in Florida over the last few weeks after a few down weeks leading up to Arrival. The big story at the moment is Bo Dallas wanting his title back from Adrian Neville and the title match takes place next week. Other than that we’ve got the Divas arguing as usual, likely leading up to a good match or two. Let’s get to it.

This week’s show was available early so it looks like it’s going to be a week by week thing.

Mojo Rawley vs. Bull Dempsey

Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots is here and in a Mojo shirt. Dempsey hammers away in the corner and slams Mojo down. A knee drop gets two and we hit the chinlock complete with forearms to the chest. Rawley throws him into the air for a big crash and drives Bull into the corner with a three point stance. Some splashes in the corner set up Hyperdrive to pin Bull at 2:24. Dempsey got in too much offense but at least it wasn’t as long this time.

Sheamus is in action tonight.

CJ Parker doesn’t like Mojo Rawley because he’s hyped up on fast food and probably throws his trash out of the window. They meet next week.

Tyler Breeze vs. Sami Zayn

No match as Corey Graves jumps Sami while Zayn is high fiving a little girl. Sami gets sent head first into the post and the trainer comes out to check for a concussion.

Sheamus says it feels magical to be back in NXT but Aiden English interrupts in song. He says he’s using NXT as a stepping stone to the brighter lights of Broadway. Sheamus says it’s funny that Aiden said stones because it’s clear Aiden’s stones haven’t dropped yet. That can be fixed tonight because Sheamus will talk to JBL and get a match made between the two of them.

Adam Rose vs. Camacho

Renee Young jumps in on commentary and asks why she isn’t in the party. She dances a bit in one of the few things you’ll see her do outside of hold a microphone and smile a lot. Regal offers to take her to one of Rose’s parties but she says she might ask for Rose’s autograph and be too fangirlish. Rose, for lack of a better term, prances around the ring before Camacho grabs his arm. The fans think Rose is awesome and he rolls away from Camacho in appreciation.

Rose leans into the ropes and rocks his feet into the air to stop Camacho in his tracks. Camacho didn’t hit the feet but he’s not sure what to do with Rose. He takes Rose into the corner and chops away, drawing a PARTY POOPER chant. Hey Raw crowds: take notes from NXT on how to be amusing. Rose gets caught in a chinlock and then sent into the corner so Camacho does the prance. Adam is MAD and jumps on Camacho with right hands to the head. He nails a spinebuster and gyrates in the corner (Renee: “That’s a very erotic warmup.”) before the Slice (complete with a CHOO CHOO!) gets the pin at 5:00.

Rating: C+. The match wasn’t much but man alive is Rose fun to watch. He’s so over the top and into his character that it’s impossible to not watch him. It’s also interesting to see that little bit of Jim Morrison in there where every woman wants him, including Renee. He’s a great example of a guy just finding the right gimmick and running with it.

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

Natalya and Charlotte are the seconds here. Bayley dances around to start as Byron Saxton goes into some bizarre metaphor about stealing chicken and rice. Regal: “I have no idea what you just said.” Bayley runs Sasha down and steals her sunglasses. Phillips: “Hug Life?” She sits on Sasha’s back and crosses her arms as Banks freaks out.

Back up and Bayley charges into a boot in the corner as Sasha takes over. She stomps Bayley down and puts on a chinlock for about five seconds. Sasha throws her outside but Natalya prevents any shenanigans from Charlotte. The distraction from Natalya lets Bayley get a rollup pin at 4:33.

Rating: D. This was a comedy match at first and much more about the characters than the action. It was entertaining at times but after seeing Emma and Paige beat the fire out of each other I need a little more than Sasha just stomping on Bayley for two minutes and a rollup finish.

Aiden English vs. Sheamus

This week’s song is about being in the center ring of NXT before going to the WWE. Sheamus gets a great reaction before the match but Aiden says he built this theater. He’s going to use this company to make his way to Broadway but Sheamus doesn’t think he’ll make it there. Sheamus sings us an Irish song and the fans are WAY into it until English jumps him. Sheamus says ring the bell and the chase is on. Aiden catches him coming in and stomps away but Sheamus sends him into the corner and hits the forearms to the chest.

The Brogue Kick misses with English bailing to the floor as we take a break. Back with both guys on the floor and Sheamus throwing English into the barricade. Aiden tries to run but manages to send Sheamus face first into the steps. A clothesline puts Sheamus down and they head inside for a chinlock.

Regal alters English’s character a bit by saying Broadway means the top of the WWE. He finally admits he has a man crush on English as Sheamus slugs back from his knees. Sheamus pulls himself to the top rope but Aiden slams him down into a neckbreaker (nice move) for two. Back to the chinlock and Sheamus is in trouble. Sheamus powers to his feet and throws English down. A few shoulder blocks set up the Brogue Kick for the pin at 7:44.

Rating: C. Not much to this one here but letting an up and comer like English get in some offense on a big star is always a good thing. On top of that the fans got to see one of the top guys in the company so everyone wins. Of course you can’t have Sheamus get in any serious danger here but it was far from a squash.

Sheamus brings a kid over the barricade and has him do the Sheamus pose to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a very laid back and fun show and there’s nothing wrong with that. Nothing of note happened but you had Mojo, Rose, Bayley and Sheamus to fire up the crowd. That’s the great thing about NXT: they can just take a week off like this but still have an entertaining show. Good stuff here and it flew by.

Results

Mojo Rawley b. Bull Dempsey – Hyperdrive

Adam Rose b. Camacho – Slice

Bayley b. Sasha Banks – Rollup

Sheamus b. Aiden English – Brogue Kick

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NXT
Date: March 13, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Jason Albert, Alex Riley

We’re coming off a good episode last week with the debut of Adam Rose and the first appearance of Adrian Neville as the NXT Champion. He and Bo Dallas aren’t done yet though as Dallas has promised to cash in his rematch clause in the near future. The only announced match for tonight is Xavier Woods vs. Alexander Rusev. Let’s get to it.

The opening video sets up Rusev vs. Woods and talks about Dallas vs. Neville II coming soon.

Theme song.

Jason Albert is Tensai under a less bizarre name.

Paige vs. Sasha Banks

Non-title. Sasha steals Paige’s t-shirt and yells a lot before a brawl breaks out. Paige throws her down by the hair before beating Sasha with the shirt. She gets to throw it out to the crowd and sends Sasha into the corner. Sasha comes back with a hard whip of her own and chokes away at the champ. We hit a chinlock from Sasha followed by a snapmare into another chinlock with a knee in the back. Paige fights up and takes Sasha into a corner for some elbows. Sasha is sent to the mat and that scorpion cross lock gets the submission at 5:05.

Rating: C. The match wasn’t bad but the majority of the match was spent in that chinlock. That cross lock is just ridiculous looking (in a good way) and it’s a step above the Paige Turner. The problem at the moment though is Paige has cleaned out the division and there’s nothing left for her to do at the moment.

Post match Charlotte goes after Paige but Natalya makes the save.

We look at Corey Graves vs. Sami Zayn from last week.

Sami says he silenced Corey last week and if Corey wants some more, he isn’t hard to find.

Stills of Mojo Rawley destroying CJ Parker at Arrival.

Rawley is of course hyped in the back and says Arrival was just the start.

Ascension vs. Travis Tyler/Cal Bishop

Non-title again. Konor runs over both guys to start and hits a pair of HARD shoulders to crush Tyler. Viktor comes in and fires off hard chops in the corner followed by a backdrop for no cover. Viktor is sent to the apron and it’s off to Bishop who works on the arm in the corner but gets his head taken off by a hard uppercut. Back to Konor who brings Tyler in for fun. The dominance continues and a running splash nearly ends Tyler. Viktor comes back in and the champions start making fast tags. A top rope knee from Viktor (the Guillotine) sets up the Fall of Man for the pin on Tyler at 3:23.

Rating: D+. Total and complete dominance here as you would expect. Much like Paige, Ascension has cleaned out the division and they need someone else to fight. Either that or send some WWE guys down there to give them some important wins. Ascension continues to look awesome but they need something new to do.

Mason Ryan vs. Wesley Blake

The BETTER THAN BATISTA chants begin already. Ryan counters a quick sleeper attempt and drives a hard knee into Blake’s ribs. Ryan cranks on the arm but gets caught by a forearm and some right hands in the corner. Blake isn’t looking bad but Ryan takes over with kicks to the ribs. Ryan misses a charge into the post and Blake works on the arm for a few moments, only to run into a spinebuster for the pin at 5:12.

Rating: D+. This was just a squash for the most part but at least the ending looked good. Mason Ryan has been around forever but he just isn’t getting any better. I can’t imagine them putting him in the Shield as was the rumor a few months back, but stranger things have happened in WWE.

Bayley is very excited to be on the WWE Network. She got to meet Bret Hart recently but the BFFs come in to make fun of her. Bayley steals the head on a stick and imitates both of them, saying that Sasha smells like cheese. Violence is implied but Natalya comes in. The BFFs say Natayla hasn’t been champion in forever and is only known for drunk dialing her boss on a reality show. Natalya talks about her uncle beating Charlotte’s dad for the title and Flair leaving the company as a result (it was more like two and a half months later but that’s WWE history for you). The BFFs leave.

Alexander Rusev vs. Xavier Woods

Tyler Breeze comes out before Rusev and asks if he can have the chance to get revenge tonight. Lane comes out to do Rusev’s entrance and freak Rusev and Woods out. Breeze lays out Woods from behind and Rusev stalks to the ring. Woods says we can go and the bell rings, allowing Rusev to pick him apart with ease. The beating is nice and slow until Woods gets in a few kicks to the legs. He gets caught in a backdrop though and a spinebuster sets up the Accolade for the submission at 2:30.

Sheamus will be here next week.

Adrian Neville is about to talk about his rematch with Bo Dallas in two weeks when Bo comes in and says the nightmare ends two weeks. The Bo-Lievers have been the wind bo-neath his wings through this trying time. The fans are sick of Adrian and his flips and big ears. Adrian slaps him and they breathe heavily for a bit.

Colin Cassady vs. Bo Dallas

Colin shoves him down to start but Bo grabs a headlock to take over. Cassady easily shoves him away and dares him to try again. Bo charges into a slam and Cass drops some elbows, sending Bo running to the floor. Back in and Dallas tries another headlock, this time using a pull of the hair. A hard shoulder block sends Bo back outside and we take a break. Back with Bo in trouble but snapping Cass’ throat across the top rope to take over. He hammers away on Colin’s back and throws on a cravate to slow things down.

Colin fights up and buries some right hands in Dallas’ ribs to take get a breather. Bo drops him right back down with a running clothesline for two before hammering away. The fans chant Bo-Ring and Dallas has the biggest grin on his face. A running elbow to the head gets two and Dallas is getting frustrated. Bo misses a charge into the corner and Colin hammers away before doing the SAWFT Forearm. A BIG boot to the head gets two and Dallas is knocked silly. Bo gets in a quick shot to the throat though and an inverted DDT is enough for the pin at 12:25.

Rating: C+. Nice match here as Colin is getting better and better in the ring every week. He still needs Enzo out there to really make things work though. Dallas had some intensity out there that he’s been lacking in the last few months so maybe losing the title is a good thing for him. I don’t see this gimmick lasting long for him though.

Overall Rating: B-. Not quite as good as last week but it was still the normal NXT before the WWE interfered so my hope is getting stronger every week. The matches were all good and the stories are still basic but solid. Throw in some over the top characters next week and it’s the perfect balance.

Results

Paige b. Sasha Banks – Scorpion cross lock

Ascension b. Travis Tyler/Cal Bishop – Fall of Man to Tyler

Mason Ryan b. Wesley Blake – Spinebuster

Alexander Rusev b. Xavier Woods – Accolade

Bo Dallas b. Colin Cassady – Inverted DDT

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NXT
Date: February 12, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Alex Riley, William Regal, Renee Young

The big story at the moment is the build to the February 27 supershow, but the problem with that is the main show taking over NXT more and more every week. HHH’s cameos are becoming a regular thing as JBL as GM is rapidly being forgotten. I always knew that once NXT stopped being its own thing it would stop being as fun and that’s slowly starting to happen. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Natalya/Bayley/Emma vs. BFF’s

It’s Alicia Fox/Summer Rae/Sasha Banks here and Emma vs. Paige is official for NXT Arrival on the 27^th. Emma takes Summer down to start before it’s off to Natalya vs. Sasha as the Canadian counters Banks’ wristlock into a quick suplex for two. Bayley comes in for a snapmare and slam but Fox gets the tag and dropkicks her down for two as we take a break.

Back with Summer holding Bayley in a seated full nelson before getting rolled up for two. Riley spends most of the match talking about his crush on Emma. Off to Banks for a front facelock as Renee asks Regal what he’s doing for Valentine’s Day. Regal: “Whatever you like my dear.” Fox gets two off a northern lights suplex with that nice bridge before we hit the chinlock on Bayley.

Back to Summer for some stretching and choking on the apron until Bayley finally counters a suplex to get a breather. The hot tag brings in Emma who cleans house until Alicia kicks her in the face. Sasha, Summer and Charlotte walk out on Alicia, allowing Emma to hook the Emma Lock for the submission from Fox at 7:28 shown of 10:58.

Rating: C-. There’s something about these Divas that you just don’t get with the WWE Divas. These girls are…..what’s the word I’m looking for…..oh yeah: competent. The match on Raw was absolutely dreadful and while this wasn’t great, it certainly wasn’t a chore to sit through and felt much more fun than the Bellas being all serious and wanting to be taken seriously while clearly being there as eye candy and due to who they’re sleeping with.

Aiden English vs. Colin Cassady

English’s song tonight is about how he’s the one in the ring while the fans watch. Cassady takes him into the corner to start and gets two off a slam. English comes back with a running neckbreaker and some hard forearms to the chest for two of his own. A reverse neckbreaker gets the same but Cass is all fired up now. He spells out SAWFT before blasting English in the back with a forearm, only to have English kick him in the knee and finish with the Director’s Cut at 1:23.

Here’s Sami Zayn to ask Cesaro for another 2/3 falls match in the ring as Cesaro requested. Sami isn’t proud of how many times he’s watched that match and noticed every mistake he’s made. His career has always been about moving forward but for the first time he can’t do it. Even after watching the footage as many times as he has, he can’t figure out the final mistake that cost him the match.

This brings out Cesaro who says this is starting to sound pathetic. Cesaro says there was no one moment in that match that cost Zayn because Antonio is just better. Zayn can look at that one match as a crystal http://findviagra.com ball for his entire career: coming up just a hair short. Sami says the two of them go back for years around the world and he respects Cesaro for everything he’s accomplished.

Cesaro is here because he’s a true competitor who will fight anyone anywhere, except for Sami. Zayn would like a reason why but Cesaro avoids the question by asking how many times he has to beat Sami to get the point across. Zayn thinks Antonio is afraid because they bring out the best in each other and Cesaro can’t beat him at his best. Anotnio asks Sami about his knee and Zayn isn’t comfortable answering. Cesaro agrees to one last match if there are no excuses when Sami loses.

Zayn agrees to the terms and the fans want a pinkie promise. Sami holds out his pinkie and Cesaro does the same, only to say it’s still no and kick Zayn in the knee. This brings out HHH BECAUSE WE JUST CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT HIM! HHH says the fans want the match so it’s on for Arrival. Heaven forbid Sami gets to come back and make Cesaro want to have the match, because we’ve got HHH on ANOTHER being the nice boss for this week.

CJ Parker vs. Tye Dillinger

Parker still looks like an idiot dancing around like he does. Dillinger takes him down with a front facelock and the fans chant purple power, apparently impressed by Dillnger’s trunks. CJ comes back with an airplane spin and the Third Eye for the pin at 1:20.

Post match Parker asks why people hate him. He reduces, reuses and recycles and even drives a car getting 40 miles a gallon. Parker should be booing us for melting his ice caps and spilling oil on his planet. The NXT fans are destroying the Earth because they don’t love anyone or anything. From this moment forward, he doesn’t love us either. I can’t say I’ve ever seen an environmentalist in wrestling so at least it’s new and thankfully we don’t have to sit through Parker as a face anymore.

Wyatt Family vs. Jason Jordan/Marcus Louis

Even Bray is here for this one. Harper takes Louis into the corner with stomps to the ribs before it’s off to Rowan for a fallaway slam and a splash before the discus lariat from Harper gets the pin in 59 seconds.

Jordan gets Sister Abigail. Bray talks about grown men trembling at the sound of the Family’s footsteps. They have conquered this world but haven’t forgotten where they came from. Follow the buzzards.

Overall Rating: C. They’re clearly just running on fumes until they get to Arrival, but at least we have HHH to carry us there! This was basically a throwaway show with only the Sami vs. Cesaro showdown being worth watching. I’m hoping they just forget about this show once Arrival is over and let it get back to being the awesome show it used to be.

Results

Emma/Bayley/Natalya b. BFF’s – Emma Lock to Fox

Aiden English b. Colin Cassady – Director’s Cut

CJ Parker b. Tye Dillinger – Third Eye

Wyatt Family b. Jason Jordan/Marcus Louis – Discus lariat to Louis

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NXT
Date: December 11, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, William Regal, Alex Riley

Last week’s show saw the main event angle continue as Adrian Neville beat Bo Dallas by countout. I could see this setting up a big time triple threat if Sami’s feud with Leo Kruger doesn’t last all that long. Other than that we’re likely to find out who Emma’s mystery partner is in her battle against the BFF’s. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Tag Titles: Hunico/Camacho vs. Ascension

Hunico and Camacho are challenging. Viktor and Camacho get things going and Rick rips Camacho’s shirt off to chop the skin off his chest. Camacho rolls through a backdrop into a rollup before avoiding a Viktor elbow drop to pound the champion down. Off to Hunico for a dropkick in the corner and a quickly broken chinlock but Viktor comes back with a knee to the face for two.

Back from a break with Konnor holding Hunico in a headlock on the mat. Regal brings up the point that every tag team to have faced Ascension have broken up, possibly because they know there’s no chance of taking the titles. Viktor comes in for a backbreaker before tagging out to Konnor for some hard stomping in the corner. Back to the chinlock for a bit before Viktor hits another backbreaker and puts on a chinlock of his own.

Hunico fights up and grabs a rollup but lifts Viktor up into a powerbomb instead of covering. The double tag brings in Camacho to run over Konnor and get a two count off a legdrop. Konnor clotheslines him down as Viktor pulls Hunico off the apron, injuring Hunico’s knee in the process. The Fall of Man to Camacho is enough to retain the titles at 8:40 shown of 12:10.

Rating: C. Not bad here but Hunico and Camacho were just quick challengers. There’s really no one left for Ascension to beat in NXT but they would die on the main roster. The skills are there, but can you imagine Cole trying to talk about these guys? They would be buried by the commentary so badly that they’d be lucky to get a win over Los Matadores.

Alexander Rusev vs. Kassius Ohno

Lana introduces Rusev who looks more and more awesome every time he’s out there. This is a result of Ohno beating Rusev’s time in the Beat the Clock Challenge a few weeks back. Rusev takes him into the corner to start and drops Ohno with a single right hand. He lifts Kassius up for a slam before driving knees into his ribs in midair.

Ohno gets slammed down for two and Alexander stays on the back and ribs. We hit the bearhug for a bit before another forearm to the back puts Ohno down. Ohno gets a forearm to the face to set up a small package for two. That’s the extent of his offense as Rusev runs him over and the Accolade ends Ohno at 3:05.

Rating: D. Total and complete squash here as Ohno leaves the company looking like a jobber. He never clicked in this company at all but at least his comments after leaving have been nothing but positive. Rusev has a spot waiting on him on the main roster once they finally make the call and he’ll take a lot of people apart.

Rusev won’t let go of the hold until Lana talks him out of it.

Natalya runs into a nervous Bayley. Apparently Natalya is going to be in Bayley’s corner which means it’s hug time.

We look back at Cesaro attacking Byron Saxton last week. Regal says if Cesaro has a problem with him, don’t take it out on anyone else.

Natalya/Bayley vs. BFF’s

Sasha and Bayley get things going with no Charlotte in sight. Bayley takes her down and slams Sasha’s face into the mat before it’s off to Natalya for a double suplex. Summer comes in and is immediately taken down with a drop toehold before it’s back to Bayley. Rae dives back to the corner for a tag to Sasha who is taken down just as quickly.

The BFF’s finally double team Bayley to take over with Summer choking her in the corner. Sasha slams her down for two but Bayley counters an Irish whip, allowing for the hot (?) tag to Natalya. A discus lariat to Banks looks to set up the Sharpshooter but Sasha makes the save. Back to Bayley who knocks Summer off the apron but walks into a double arm trap neckbreaker from Sasha (Bankrupt) for the pin at 3:30.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but the story still has somewhere to go until the showdown between Bayley and Charlotte. The BFF’s are better on the mic as Laycool II but they aren’t terrible in the ring at all, especially when they keep it in shorter matches like this one. Natalya could have been any main roster Diva for the sake of this match.

Summer can’t help from talking trash as she leaves like a good stuck up heel should.

Leo Kruger says he’s on a task to become a Real American and it means he has to hurt Sami Zayn to do it.

Scott Dawson vs. Mojo Rawley

This is Dawson’s return after an injury. Rawley takes him into the corner to start but gets punched backwards with ease. Dawson puts on a quick chinlock before driving elbows into Rawley’s head. Back up and Dawson misses a charge into the corner, setting up a Mojo splash in the corner and an Earthquake for the pin at 2:50. Mojo needs to be squashing people instead of getting beaten up until the last 45 seconds of a match.

Post match Dawson lays out Rawley. Again, this should not happen.

Next week is the 200^th episode, featuring an open challenge from Ascension and Dallas defending against Neville in a lumberjack match. HHH will be here too, which means a big announcement.

Leo Kruger vs. Sami Zayn

Sami charges at Kruger but can’t hang in a fist fight. Kruger catches him in a wicked spinebuster for two and Zayn bails to the floor, only to get more of a beating on the outside. Leo throws Sami into the barricade and slams him down onto the concrete as this is one sided so far. Back in for a cravate from Kruger before Sami comes back with a dropkick. They head outside again with Sami hitting some HARD chops. They head back inside with Zayn getting two off a high cross body but Leo crotches him down to break up the tornado DDT. The Slice ends Sami at 4:11.

Rating: D+. Sami continues to lose every big match he has and it’s getting annoying. I know he’s awesome at being the guy that just keeps fighting but he needs to actually win something in the near future. A win over Kruger would be fine, especially if it’s in a long match which Sami is capable of pulling off. The fans are still with him but it’s only going to last so long.

Sami clotheslines him to the floor and hits a big flip dive to extend the feud.

Overall Rating: D+. This show didn’t do it for me. It’s a lot of squashes and short matches other than the tag titles and most of the matches are building up to another show. It wasn’t terrible as NXT isn’t capable of having a horrid show, but they need a good showing next week to make up for this one.

Results

Ascension b. Hunico/Camacho – Fall of Man to Camacho

Alexander Rusev b. Kassius Ohno – Accolade

BFF’s b. Bayley/Natalya – Bankrupt to Bayley

Mojo Rawley b. Scott Dawson – Earthquake

Leo Kruger b. Sami Zayn – Slice

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