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

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

Welcome Home.

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

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

The mysterious blonde comes back to look at Rusev.

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

Aiden English vs. Jason Jordan

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

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

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

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

Video on the Abu Dhabi tour.

Paige vs. Summer Rae

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tyler Breeze vs. CJ Parker

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Aiden English b. Jason Jordan – Director’s Cut

Paige b. Summer Rae – Paige Turner

CJ Parker b. Tyler Breeze – Third Eye

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NXT
Date: October 23, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Tensai, Alex Riley

We’re back after last week’s excellent, pay per view level show. I’m pretty sure this is the start of a new set of tapings so things should feel a bit more fresh. It’s hard to say what’s coming with this batch as a lot of the main stars were on a tour of Abu Dhabi when the shows were filmed. NXT hasn’t let me down yet though so let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

That’s quite the interesting choice for analyst on commentary this week.

Sasha Banks vs. Emma

We start with something resembling a dance off before they poke each other in the chest. Emma takes her down and gets two off a rollup before cranking on Sasha’s arm. Another pair of rollups get near falls for Emma as the announcers list off hashtags the girls have started. Sasha sends Emma into the buckle to take over but Emma sends her face first eight straight times to come back. Emma gets taken down into a chinlock and we take a break.

Back with Emma still in the hold complete with a bodyscissors. Emma finally fights up but gets taken right back down with a backbreaker for two. We hit the chinlock again because two minutes of it wasn’t long enough. Emma fights up again and scores with a clothesline followed by the Dilemma (Tarantula) and the running cross body to a seated Sasha for two. Emma loads up the Emma Lock but has to go after Summer Rae. Paige comes out to take down Mrs. Fandango but the distraction allows Banks to get a rollup for the pin at 7:20 shown of 10:50.

Rating: D+. This was pretty disappointing with far too much time spent in a chinlock. That being said, it’s still WAY better than anything the Divas of WWE have done in months with the girls looking natural instead of looking like they’re walking a tightrope of a set of spots. Paige vs. Laycool II should be fun when it actually happens.

Post match Summer goes in for a cheap shot on Emma and Paige accidentally clotheslines the Aussie by mistake.

We get a video from last week of Bo Dallas saying there was nothing wrong (“Controversy schmontroversy”) with how he beat Sami Zayn. He’s taking a vacation now and going on a world tour, including a stop in Bo-livia to deliver 10,000 squirt guns to starving children. Konichiwa, and remember don’t stop Bo-lieving.

We recap Ascension retaining the titles last week and Graves turning on Neville.

Here’s Graves in a suit to explain his actions. Adrian Neville and the NXT Universe will want to know why he did what he did, but before he can explain here’s Neville to jump him. They head to the ring with Neville pounding away and diving over the top to take Graves out again.

Casey Maron/Tommy Taylor vs. Ascension

Non-title here. Maron starts and draws the still awesome LET’S GO THIS GUY chant. Victor takes him into the corner and pounds away before it’s off to O’Brien for some running shoulders. Taylor is knocked to the floor and Maron is taken down by a modified double powerbomb. The Fall of Man ends the squash at 2:30.

We look back at Zayn vs. Dallas from last week.

Last week Sami said that he had no problem with the match being restarted for Dallas’ foot being on the rope but he does have a problem with the match not being restarted after he was rammed into a buckle. Maybe JBL has it in for him?

JBL doesn’t approve of Renee Young wearing a non-NXT approved tank top before talking about how the universe doesn’t revolve around Sami Zayn. He stopped a referee’s error because it was best for business but he can’t do everything. Sami Zayn won’t be here until JBL decides he’ll be back.

CJ Parker vs. Alexander Rusev

No LeFort or Dawson for Rusev this week. He runs over Parker to start as we might be in another squash. A blonde woman in a red dress is walking around ringside as the Accolade makes Parker give up at 1:18. Total squash.

The woman in red leaves and seems pleased with what she saw in Rusev.

During the break Tyler Breeze come in and hit the spinwheel kick (named the Beauty Shot) on Parker. Breeze even cuts off some of Parker’s hair to make it personal.

Breeze vs. Parker next week.

Corey Graves vs. Adrian Neville

The bell rings and Adrian immediately hits a dropkick to take Graves down. Some kicks to the leg send Graves to the floor and Neville adds a big dive to the outside. Back in and Graves takes him down by the leg but a cannonball off the ropes is countered into a rollup for two. Corey kicks away at the leg and pounds away with right hands to the head.

More stomping to the body has Adrian down and a clothesline gets two. Off to a standing figure four for a good while before a leg drag gets two. Back to a kneeling figure four but Neville fights up with some forearms to the face. A third one puts Corey down but Adrian hurts his knee coming off the top. Lucky 13 is good for the submission for Graves at 7:10.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t much to see but it made logical sense. Neville is a high flier and for once taking out the flier’s leg actually worked. It also sets up a rematch where Neville can come back and get his actual revenge after looking like he can’t beat Graves the first time around. Nothing great here but it was acceptable.

Graves puts Neville in the hold again on the floor to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This wasn’t nearly as good as I’m used to with NXT but it still wasn’t bad. This show did a good job of showcasing some of the lower level people in NXT and the result is the same: if you put time and effort into stories and characters, they’ll be entertaining. The top guys being gone can be a good thing if they use the time right, and so far it hasn’t been that bad.

Results

Sasha Banks b. Emma – Rollup

Ascension b. Casey Maron/Tommy Taylor – Fall of Man to Maron

Alexander Rusev b. CJ Parker – Accolade

Corey Graves b. Adrian Neville

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NXT
Date: October 16, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal, Renee Young

Tonight is a very big show for NXT as we FINALLY get the showdown between Sami Zayn and Bo Dallas. This is a match that’s been built up for months now and tonight is the blowoff. Imagine that: setting up match and building up to it for months as the fans want to see it more and more. Why is that so complicated? Let’s get to it.

The opening video sets up the title match tonight with Zayn wearing a mask and pinning Dallas a few weeks back.

Welcome Home.

Tag Titles: Ascension vs. Adrian Neville/Corey Graves

Ascension is defending and won the belts from Neville and Graves two weeks back. Corey sends Victor into the corner to start as the announcers talk about how much more aggressive Graves has been since losing the titles. Victor is knocked into the corner before putting on a headscissors choke over the ropes before bringing in Adrian. The Brit loads up a quick Red Arrow but has to kick O’Brien away, only to hurt his leg in the process.

Back from a break with Victor slamming the back of Graves’ head into the mat for two before it’s off to Conor again. Adrian quickly gets over to the corner and dives to Corey for the tag. Graves goes for Conor’s leg and puts on Lucky 13 but Victor makes the save. Adrian is still hurt but Graves tags him back in anyway. O’Brien throws Adrian shoulder first into the post but Neville comes back with a kick to Victor’s face. He goes for the tag but Victor kicks Adrian into Corey which isn’t a tag for some reason. Ascension hits the Fall of Man on Neville to retain the belts at 5:52 shown of 9:22.

Rating: C. This was all about finishing off the Graves/Neville team for good which was the right move. They never felt like anything more than transitional champions and in both matches they’ve looked outclassed by Ascension. It was a glorified squash and there’s nothing wrong with that at all.

Post match Graves yells at Neville for losing their shot before destroying him, turning heel in the process. It takes a little bit before the fans really get onto him but the YOU SUCK chant gets going after a bit.

Cena is coming back in case you didn’t know.

Post break the announcers are stunned at what they just saw.

Tyler Breeze vs. CJ Parker

As usual, the fans are entirely behind Breeze and can’t stand Parker. Renee Young continues to be awesome on commentary by saying she and Breeze get along so well because they both have blonde ponytails, shop at the same stores and are about the same size. Fans: “BREEZE IS GORGEOUS!” Parker hits a hard chop to the chest to start as the announcers debate which kind of cell phone would be the best weapon.

Breeze misses an elbow drop and gets rolled up for two, protecting his face in the process. Parker misses a dropkick and gets kicked in the face but Breeze has to go take a picture in the corner. Breeze pounds away and freaks out when CJ loads up a right hand to the face. Fans: “NOT IN THE FACE!” Breeze uses the distraction to poke Parker in the eye and hit a spinwheel kick for the pin at 3:25.

Rating: C-. If there is a more fun character out there than Tyler Breeze, I have no idea who it is. The match was nothing special but the thing that stood out the most here was Renee Young. She is so perfect as the laid back commentator and actually makes the matches a lot easier to listen to. She’s funny, she adds stuff to the match, she sounds natural and above all else, she isn’t corny at all. In short, she sounds like a normal, bright person talking about what she’s seeing and offering some intelligent thoughts to it. That’s the polar opposite from how forced most commentary is and it’s very refreshing.

Regal praises Tyler for his tactics. Breeze goes to take a picture but Parker hits him in the face and steals the phone to take pictures of himself. Regal has the right idea: “CALL THE POLICE!”

Breast cancer is bad.

Paige/Emma vs. Sasha Banks/Summer Rae

Paige insists that she gets to start and erupts on Summer to start. It’s quickly off to Emma who sends Summer running off to Banks. Emma avoids a charge in the corner and gets a quick sunset flip for two. Sasha takes her into the heel corner and brings in Summer as Renee takes jabs at Tony for calling her the foremost authority on Divas.

Summer hits a faceplant for two on Emma before pulling on Emma’s arms. Emma backflips over into a rollup for two and there’s the hot tag to Paige. The champ cleans house and fires off some knees to Summer’s ribs before getting two off a PerfectPlex. Everything breaks down and Summer hits a quick standing legdrop for the pin on Paige at 5:50.

Rating: C-. The looks of the girls made this a lot easier to get through but it still wasn’t much of a match. Much like earlier, this was there to do little more than stet up a future match, presumably with Summer finally taking the title from Paige. Still though, good stuff here as the Divas of NXT continue to be the best in the business today.

NXT Title: Sami Zayn vs. Bo Dallas

They have a ton of time for this. Bo is defending if you’re new around here. Feeling out process to start with Sami sending Bo into the ropes. Sami gets a pair of rollups for two, sending Bo into the corner. Back up and the champion grabs a headlock to take Zayn down and drops some knees for two. Dallas hooks a cravate for a few moments before Sami comes back with clotheslines and a backdrop. The running boot in the corner…..WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP AT 4:35?????

The fans are so shocked they forget to cheer but before I can even type Rating:, here’s JBL to say it doesn’t count because Bo’s foot was on the rope, which was clearly before the bell. JBL tells the referee to not make him learn his name so restart the match. Bo elbows Sami out to the floor and we take a quick break.

Back with Sami fighting out of a cravate but getting clotheslined down for another two. Sami fights up again and low bridging Dallas out to the floor. There’s the big flip dive from Zayn followed by a high cross body for two. Dallas blocks the running boot in the corner but gets caught in a spinning blue thunder bomb for two. Bo hits a boot to the side of the head and a bulldog out of the corner for a close near fall.

A reverse DDT gets the same but Sami avoids a powerslam and spears Dallas down for two. Dallas blocks a climbing the turnbuckle armdrag and spears Sami down for two. The fans are losing their minds on the kickouts. Dallas puts Zayn on the top rope for a superplex but gets countered into a great looking sunset bomb for an even closer two. Sami rolls some German suplexes but Bo rips off the turnbuckle pad and sends Zayn face first into the steel to block the last German, allowing Bo to roll him up to retain at 14:26 shown of 17:16.

Rating: B+. Really fun match here where you genuinely didn’t know who was going to win until the end. At this point Zayn shouldn’t be in NXT for awhile as this was his big moment and he came up short. He’s more than ready for the main roster so there’s no need to keep him around in developmental anymore. Dallas’ best match ever by a few thousand miles.

Overall Rating: A. My goodness NXT is amazing. This felt like their biggest show ever and it delivered in spades. We have angle advancement in the tag title match, a challenger for Paige, a fun match with Breeze and a great match with a false finish for the title. This is by far the highlight of my wrestling week and somehow it keeps getting better. Excellent show this week and great stuff all around.

Results

Ascension b. Adrian Neville/Corey Graves – Fall of Man to Neville

Tyler Breeze b. CJ Parker – Spinwheel Kick

Summer Rae/Sasha Banks b. Paige/Emma – Standing legdrop to Paige

Bo Dallas b. Sami Zayn – Rollup

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NXT
Date: August 28, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

After last week’s great match between Zayn and Cesaro we’re needing a new #1 contender. We’ve seen a showdown teased between Sami and Dallas for awhile now so that might be the best possible option. Either way NXT is capable of coming up with some good programs out of nowhere and odds are they can do it again here. Let’s get to it.

We open with Corey Graves in the back when Rick Victor of the Ascension comes up. Victor talks about how Ascension will rise when Conor O’Brian jumps Graves and crushes his ribs with a piece of the metal set. It’s about time Ascension went after the tag belts.

Welcome Home.

Tyler Breeze vs. CJ Parker

Breeze stands in the corner tonight while CJ Parker dances at him. The fans chant that Breeze is gorgeous and there’s no contact in the first minute. Parker goes after Tyler’s phone, drawing Breeze in to attack him. Tyler dives to the floor to avoid a kick to the gorgeous face and draws in Parker for some shots to the back.

A knee drop gets one for Tyler and it’s time for a picture. Parker picks him up in an airplane spin of all things and a backsplash keeps Tyler in trouble. Two running knees in the chest stagger Breeze but he drops to the mat to avoid another punch. While down there he gets the phone to knock out Parker for the pin at 3:19.

Rating: D. Nothing match as nearly a third was spent in the opening standoff. Breeze continues to amuse me but I don’t care for Parker at all. He’s not a bad idea but he’s done nothing to interest me in the few appearances he’s made so far. Also I wanted to see Breeze’s spin kick again.

Emma says her guaranteed title shot is going to have to wait because she wants to beat up Summer Rae. Then she’s going to blow some bubbles and play some Dance Dance Emmalution. Renee Young: “That’s not a thing.” Emma: “Sure it is you silly rabbit.” Emma is rapidly reaching the too cute for words level.

Tyler Breeze has LEFT the building.

Summer Rae vs. Emma

Emma brings the bubble juice to the ring with her because she’s awesome like that. Emma takes her down by the leg to start but Summer rolls her to the ground and rams Emma’s head into the mat. Emma slips out and slams Summer down for some dancing and a two count. Summer’s face is rammed into the mat a few times but she kicks away from the Dilemma (Tarantula) and takes over.

Rae gets in a kick to Emma’s shoulder and splashes the arm for two. Summer puts on a full nelson with her legs (cool move) but Emma leans back into a near fall for two. Back up and Emma avoids a charge in the corner and puts on the Dilemma (minor ECW chant) followed by a low running cross body for two. Summer is catapulted out of the corner as we go back to the 80s, setting up the Emma Lock (Bridging Indian Deathlock) for the tap out at 4:26.

Rating: C+. I really liked this with a lot of the interesting spots such as the leg nelson and of course the Tarantula always looks cool. The other aspect I like here is how simplistic these characters are yet how well they work. WWE Divas have years on TV and many of them have no defined characters at all. It’s amazing how easy it is to make characters that work yet it’s nearly impossible on WWE TV.

Post match Summer jumps Emma and pours the bubble juice in her eyes for a good old fashioned blinding angle.

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady get in an argument with Scott Dawson and Sylvester LeFort over who is going to get revenge on Mason Ryan. Dawson asks LeFort when he gets paid again. LeFort: “When you win a match.” Dawson: “…..oh.” Anyway it looks like we’re getting Dawson against Enzo later.

Sasha Banks gets on Summer for what she just did but Summer does her stuck up thing, saying Summerslam was named after her and that she’s a Raw and Smackdown Diva. Sasha can’t even get on NXT so she should be following Summer. Rae brags about how awesome it is to be in the WWE and laughs at Sasha for being stuck down here. Sasha needs to get it together before her match with Paige in two weeks. This sounded like Summer was leaving and a tease of a heel turn for Banks.

Enzo Amore vs. Scott Dawson

Enzo continues his awesome over the top heel schtick by saying he and Cassady got a dime every time they were beaten up as kids, meaning they have ZERO dimes. And they are NOT S-A-W-F-T! The fans of course eat it up with a spoon. Enzo grabs a quick headlock to start but a LeFort distraction allows Dawson to take him down by the hair. Scott drapes him over the top rope and drops a knee for two. Enzo escapes a slam and headscissors Dawson down as Alexander Rusev comes down to jump Cassady. Dawson uses the distraction to hit a quick belly to back suplex (almost an Angle Slam) for the pin at 3:11.

Rating: D. Not much here but Amore continues to be entertaining. For the first time I’m liking the idea of LeFort as a heel manager as a group of clients could work better than similar guys like Dylan and Dawson. I like Rusev too as they don’t veer from the big foreign monster motif with him.

Recap of Zayn vs. Cesaro from last week.

Here’s Sami with something to say. He thanks the fans for chanting Match of the Year but Sami is conflicted about the match because it was great but he lost. The fans want one more match but Renee wants to know what’s next for Zayn. Sami flirts with Renee a bit before saying he wants to be NXT Champion. Cue Bo Dallas who says that a few fans on the internet liking a match doesn’t mean he’s title worthy.

Zayn says he’ll take it from here and wants to know why Bo is out here. Dallas says Sami injured him at Summerslam Axxess because Sami is just so green. Sami calls Bo delusional but Dallas says everyone loves him. Zayn: “They’re booing you out of the building.” Bo: “They’re chanting Bo!” Now the fans chant Boo and Sami accuses Bo of being scared. This brings out Colter, who accuses Zayn of being a border jumper. Swagger runs in from the other side of the arena and beats Sami down. I love Zayn’s presence out there and you can easily tell the difference between rookies and people who know how to handle themselves.

We get a video on the NXT guys at Summerslam Axxess. John Cena praises Adrian Neville.

Adrian Neville vs. Conor O’Brian

Neville is in the match due to the attack on Graves earlier tonight. O’Brian shoves him into the corner to start so Adrian tries to speed things up a bit, hitting a spinning cross body out of the corner for two. Conor slugs him down with ease and Neville is in trouble as we take a break. Back with Conor missing a charge into the corner, allowing Neville to get in some strikes to stagger him. Neville clotheslines him on the top rope but his cross body is caught in a slam for two. O’Brian misses another charge in the corner and Adrian gets two off a belly to back. Neville goes up and hits a 450 for the completely clean pin at 5:25.

Rating: D+. O’Brian went to a draw against Big E. Langston but gets pinned clean in five and a half minutes by Neville? If nothing else Neville gets a good rub here and continues to show he’s more than just a spot monkey. The match wasn’t much but power vs. speed is almost always worth a look.

Post match Victor comes in for the beatdown until Graves comes out with taped ribs, only to be beaten down as well. Ascension stands tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. As always, this is an hour of really entertaining wrestling. One of the good things on this show is each story has a clear idea. Nothing feels like it’s tacked on to fill in time which is a nice change of pace from the filler matches we get on Raw or Smackdown. Fun show here with NXT looking strong going forward.

Results

Tyler Breeze b. CJ Parker – Pin after a phone shot to the head

Emma b. Summer Rae – Emma Lock

Scott Dawson b. Enzo Amore – Belly to back suplex

Adrian Neville b. Conor O’Brian – 450 Splash

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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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