IMG Credit: WWE

Worlds Collide: NXT vs. NXT Alumni
Date: April 14, 2019
Location: Pier 12, New York City, New York
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Percy Watson

So you might remember the When Worlds Collide tournament from over Royal Rumble weekend. Well now they’re doing a series of one off shows with nothing on the line, though this time around we have some interesting concepts, such as this one with a pretty simple name. This could be entertaining or it could be rather boring so let’s get to it.

The announcers run down most of the card.

Kassius Ohno vs. Aiden English

Yes English does still wrestle. The fans given Aiden an AIDEN DAY chant and Ohno congratulates him for getting a chant while being a commentator. That’s too much for Aiden, who hammers away with right hands in the corner and a running elbow makes it worse. Ohno shoves him off the top to the floor though and follows Aiden outside for a right hand (Ohno: “OHNO DAY!”).

Back in and we hit the chinlock until Ohno switches to a double arm crank. Aiden fights up and reverses a neckbreaker into a falling DDT for two. The big running flip dive to the floor (When did Aiden learn to do that?) knocks Ohno down again and a backsplash gets two more back inside. Ohno isn’t having any more of this and kicks Aiden in the face, setting up the Roaring elbow to the back of the head for the pin at 5:57.

Rating: C-. Ohno’s shouting insults were a very nice addition here and they helped what was an otherwise dull match. There’s only so much you can get out of Ohno vs. English as Ohno is a role player and English hasn’t had much success outside of his Vaudevillain days in NXT. Not terrible, but the ending coming out of nowhere didn’t help things.

Harper vs. Dominik Dijakovic

This is Harper’s big return after his wrist injury. The fans welcome him back and it’s Harper going straight at him for a lockup in the corner. After the clean break, they trade shots to the face with Harper’s knocking Dijakovic outside. Back in and Dijakovic blocks a suplex attempt and nails the suplex toss in a great power display. More of the same gives Dijakovic two but Harper is right back with a DDT to put them both down.

A heck of a right hand lets Harper hit a slingshot hilo and a big boot gets two. The swinging Boss Man Slam gets the same but Harper goes up and gets chokeslammed back down. They slug it out on the apron and it’s Harper neckbreakering him out to the floor in a crash. Back in and a half nelson suplex drops Dijakovic on his neck again but it’s too early for the discus lariat. Dijakovic shouts DIE so Harper superkicks him, only to get kicked right back in the face to give Dijakovic two.

For some reason Dijakovic goes up top but gets German superplexed…so he flips onto his feet because he can. Another kick puts Harper on the floor for the Fosbury Flop (Dijakovic doesn’t quite clear the rope but come on.) for two back inside. A top rope moonsault gets two more so Dijakovic picks him up by the beard (Fans: “NOT THE BEARD! NOT THE BEARD!”), which you just don’t do. Harper isn’t cool with that and blasts Dijakovic with the discus lariat for the pin at 11:49.

Rating: B. And that’s pretty much it for Harper, who asked for his release a few days later. At least he went out on a very good match between two big monsters, with both guys trading bombs until one of them couldn’t get up. I had a good time with this one and that’s all you can ask for from a hoss fight like this.

Post match respect is shown in a nice touch.

Sanity vs. Undisputed Era

Alexander Wolfe/Killian Dain (with Eric Young) vs. Kyle O’Reilly/Bobby Fish here. Fish and Wolfe start things off with Kyle going to his back and Wolfe waving down at him. A hiptoss lets Wolfe wave again and the threat of wild swinging sends O’Reilly bailing to the floor. Back in and Wolfe spins around and has a seat on the mat, freaking O’Reilly out enough that he bails over for a tag.

Dain comes in for the running crossbody on Fish and Wolfe drops a knee for two. O’Reilly tries his luck again and gets German suplexed down. He pops up with a roar…and then falls outside in a funny moment. With Fish yelling at Wolfe, O’Reilly sneaks back in and snaps Wolfe’s leg around the post to take over. The slingshot hilo gets two but Wolfe grabs the rope to avoid a dropkick.

O’Reilly is sent outside and it’s Dain coming in to clean house. The Samoan drop/fall away slam combination is as impressive as ever and a backsplash into the Vader Bomb gets two on O’Reilly. Fish’s exploder gets two on Wolfe with Dain making the save. The Backstabber into the backsplash from Dain crushes Fish for two but O’Reilly comes in off a blind tag and chop blocks Dain. High/Low finishes Dain at 9:07.

Rating: C+. This didn’t have anywhere near the heat you might have expected, though can you blame Sanity for not being all fired up here? They’re almost on the same level as the Colons at this point and I don’t see that getting any better. The match was entertaining enough though because of the talent in there, but not exactly must see.

Post match the Era goes after Dain again so Young comes in for the save.

Tyler Breeze vs. Roderick Strong

Feeling out process to start with Strong going to a wristlock. Breeze spins out and puts on a wristlock of his own before snapping off a dropkick to send Strong into the corner. A catapult makes it even worse for Strong but he’s fine enough to knock Breeze off the top and out to the floor.

Back in and we hit the first backbreaker (you knew those were coming), setting up Strong putting his knee in Breeze’s ribs and pulling on the neck. Strong’s dropkick gets two and he mocks Breeze’s picture taking abilities. It’s off to another backbreaker, this time with Strong keeping Breeze over his knee. The chinlock with a knee in the back stays on the designated target before Strong mixes things up with a modified Gory Stretch.

With that broken up, Breeze is fine enough to hit an enziguri for a quick near fall. The Supermodel Kick gets two more and there’s a crucifix for the third straight two. The Beauty Shot is countered into a backbreaker to give Strong two of his own and Breeze is in trouble again. Some kicks to the face get Breeze out of a Strong Hold attempt but he gets caught in the belly to back faceplant for two more. Back up and another backbreaker is countered into a quick Unprettier for the pin on Strong at 13:13.

Rating: B-. Good match here, which is the case every time Breeze is around NXT. You would think that this could mean he gets to go somewhere because he’s capable of pulling it off, but WWE has decided that someone of Breeze’s size, look and gimmick isn’t going anywhere and that’s a big problem with the whole brass ring concept. At least he can do things like this here though, and that’s as good as it’s getting for him at the moment.

Overall Rating: C+. Perfectly watchable yet also skippable show here, with the matches mostly working and the wrestling being pretty good at times. It’s an interesting concept that could be done on a much bigger scale in the future, though I would be worried to see what kind of things would happen if WWE was actually paying attention to the idea.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: June 28, 2018
Location: Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph, Percy Watson

This show has started turning into a nice little way of reminding me of what happened earlier in the week as most of it tends to go sailing out of my head a day or two after the show is over. It’s quick, it’s to the point, and while the original wresting isn’t great, it does things as well as can be expected. In other words, this is what the show was designed to do. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Chad Gable vs. Mike Kanellis

Gable wastes no time in reversing headlock takeovers and gets two off a rollup. A very fast takedown sets up an armbar on Kanellis and a running armdrag makes it even worse. Kanellis finally sends him throat first into the middle rope for a breather and some running clotheslines in the corner (with blown kisses) get two. The chinlock is broken up in all of three seconds and Gable knocks him to the floor for a running apron cannonball. The fans are behind Gable here, even as he gets taken down with a sitout Rock Bottom. A superkick knocks Gable into the corner but Rolling Chaos Theory gives Gable the pin at 5:19.

Rating: C. Not a bad match here at all as Gable got to show off and Kanellis gets to eat this week. Kanellis could go somewhere if he had a gimmick other than being Maria’s husband, especially when Maria isn’t around. Gable still has all the potential in the world but here he is on Main Event while Jason Jordan got the big push but now is sitting on the injured list because Heaven forbid the awesome American Alpha team got to continue.

We look back at Alexa Bliss winning Money in the Bank and cashing in, earning her complete destruction at the hands of Ronda Rousey, causing Rousey to be suspended.

From Raw.

Here are Alexa and Mickie James to brag about Bliss getting the title back and laugh off the idea of Rousey being a threat. Now Bliss gets to face the big bully in Nia Jax, assuming Nia’s arm is healthy by then. Bliss talks about how the mean girl overcame the pretty and popular one because it works in Hollywood. This is the real world though and Bliss knows how to overcome obstacles. She’s overcome Jax and Rousey and is still champion so boo her all you want.

Cue Natalya to say the countdown is on because we’re 23 days away from Rousey returning to deal with Bliss. That earns Natalya a lecture about posting her whole life on social media, because that’s the appropriate response here. Natalya isn’t done though, because she gets to face Bliss right now.

Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya

Non-title and Natalya has Nia Jax in her corner. Joined in progress with Bliss holding her in a bodyscissors before the moonsault knees to the ribs get two. Some stomps to the back give Bliss two but both seconds offer failed interference. Natalya uses the distraction to hit a discus lariat, followed by the Sharpshooter for the tap at 4:07.

Rating: D. In theory this should go somewhere for Natalya, who is still sniffing around the Rousey story, which could be a good idea for Rousey down the line. I’m never a fan of the champing tapping clean like this but it’s such a common practice to have a champion lose these days that it’s not even worth getting upset about anymore.

From Raw again.

Sasha Banks/Bayley/Ember Moon vs. Riott Squad

Banks starts fast with the Meteora to Logan so it’s off to Liv vs. Moon. Everything breaks down in a hurry and the Squad bails to the floor, leaving Moon to dive onto Riott and Morgan. Back form a break with Banks coming back in to clean house with clotheslines but Riott cuts her off with a kick to the face. Bayley makes a save and everything breaks down with Moon elbowing Logan in the face. Banks rolls Riott up for two but has to knock Morgan off the apron, allowing Riott to small package Sasha for the pin at 7:02.

Rating: D+. So you remember all those time where Bayley and Sasha can’t get along and it’s been going on for about four months now? This is the latest version. They really, really need to go somewhere with this already because it’s gone on for so long already and the energy from the whole thing is gone.

Post match Bayley snaps and beats the heck out of Sasha as the fans want tables. Banks gets tossed into the steps twice and the fans cheer for Bayley. The announcers treat this like a heel turn but Bayley is loudly cheered and it’s the result of Banks stabbing her in the back over and over. That doesn’t sound heel turnish to me.

From Smackdown.

Harper vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan goes with the kicks in the corner to start but gets punched in the face. They head outside with Harper getting the better of it, setting up a neck crank back inside. A missed charge sends Harper outside again and there’s the suicide dive, which is caught without much effort. Harper drops him face first onto the announcers’ table and a big boot puts Bryan over the barricade.

Back from a break with the swinging Boss Man Slam getting two on Bryan. We hit the chinlock but Bryan jawbreaks his way to freedom, setting up the corner dropkick. Bryan charges right into a Michinoku Driver for two more though and Harper takes over one more time. Harper hits a dropkick and takes Bryan up top but gets punched down. That means a tornado DDT and the YES Kicks as Harper is in trouble. The YES Lock goes on but Rowan comes in for the DQ at 13:07.

Rating: C. Bryan was fine here and that’s all this match needed to be. You can find someone to team with him later on and Bryan vs. Miz can be a big time match at Summerslam. If nothing else Bryan vs. either Brother again is fine for a TV match and you can do the same thing with whoever his partner is. The match was fine.

Post match the beatdown is on until Kane of all people comes out for the save. Kane and Bryan clean house and the fans are very pleased. The TEAM HELL NO chants start up and cue Paige to say that at Extreme Rules, HELL NO is getting the Tag Team Title shot at the Bludgeon Brothers.

Breezango/Bobby Roode vs. Ascension/Curt Hawkins

What a random tag match. Viktor and Breezango start things off with a surprising mention of the teams’ former friendship. We get a pose off for a BOO/YAY off and now it’s off to Hawkins and Fandango for a dance off. Hawkins wants Roode instead though and Roode throws him citations before an atomic drop gives us the first major offense nearly two minutes in.

It’s back to Fandango for some right hands but Konnor comes in off a blind tag as we take a break. Back with Konnor missing a charge in the corner and the hot tag bringing in Roode to clean house on Hawkins. Fandango hands Roode the cop hat so the Glorious DDT can finish Hawkins at 7:55.

Rating: D. There’s not much you can do in an eight minute match when two minutes are spent on posing/dancing and three and a half are in a commercial. Hawkins’ losing streak is still amusing enough but I’m not sure how long it’s going to last on the big shows. Roode continues to be dying for a heel turn but that GLORIOUS is so over that I get why they’re hesitant to pull the trigger. Ascension and Breezango….I’m sorry guys.

And from Raw to wrap it up.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is challenging and, after Big Match Intros, wastes no time in dropkicking Ziggler out to the floor. Some chops rock Ziggler and it’s off to an early armbar as they have about half an hour if not more. That’s broken up in a hurry and Ziggler hits his big jumping elbow for an early two. A headlock keeps Rollins in trouble and the pace slows a good bit. Rollins finally fights up and Ziggler bails to the floor, only to have McIntyre fail as a shield.

A staredown with McIntyre takes us to a break. Back with Rollins holding his knee and another chinlock keeping things slow. Rollins fights up and sends him into the corner for a breather and both guys are down. Ziggler backdrops him over the top to further the knee injury but Seth is back up for stereo crossbodies. Rollins’ knee is fine enough for a Sling Blade but McIntyre offers a distraction. That’s enough for an ejection, allowing Rollins to suicide dive onto both of them.

Back in and Ziggler crotches him on top for two and we take another break. We come back again with Rollins hitting the Ripcord Knee but Ziggler gets his foot on the rope. They fight to the apron where a DDT knocks Rollins senseless with the announcers declaring it over. Do they really think we buy lines like that anymore? Rollins knees him down again for a close two but gets caught on top.

Ziggler gets shoved down and the frog splash gets another close two and the fans are losing their minds. The Stomp and the Zig Zag both miss and Ziggler’s rollup with tights gets two. Now the Zig Zag connects for two and Ziggler is stunned. They head up top again and Rollins tries a superplex to the floor but has to settle for the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for an even closer two instead with McIntyre pulling the referee out for the DQ at 27:38.

Rating: B. And so, it’s going to continue, likely in some form of gimmick match at Extreme Rules. As usual, I would rather be seeing McIntyre in Ziggler’s spot but for some reason he’s just there as muscle and not even bothering to put him in the ring more often than not. As long as this leads to McIntyre dropping Ziggler and either winning the title or moving on to bigger and better things, everything will be fine. Just get Ziggler away from the spotlight already.

As for the match, it was much better after the second break but that first half was just filling time that the match really didn’t need to have. I would always prefer a hot seventeen minute match over a twenty seven minute match where about half of it feels like a waste of time. The ending didn’t help things either, but some of those near falls were great.

Post match the beatdown is on until Roman Reigns makes the save. A Superman Punch puts McIntyre back on the floor to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The Intercontinental Title match helped, even though they only showed about five minutes and the post match stuff. I liked that Kanellis vs. Gable match far more than I expected to and it’s always nice to have a surprise. Raw wasn’t great this week but they did a good job of cutting away the bad stuff to give us a nice show, which is where this show can be rather successful.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

You need to be watching this show.

WWE puts out a freaking ton of stuff on their YouTube channel and there is nothing that tops Formerly Known As. This show is basically a look back at wrestlers and where they came from with whoever the show is about that week going back to their old stomping grounds. They’ll go to wherever they started wrestling, often talking to their trainer or someone they started with while footage of their early career is shown. These things are great and more than worth checking out.

Here’s the playlist with all of the full shows and some shorter clips:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URcuVDVJmXY&list=PLqIVmFaHA8BpqzUCRjguaxzNNaGTUVA8l

Check this out as it’s more than worth your time.

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

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

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

Justin Gabriel vs. Leo Kruger

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

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

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

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

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

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

We recap the ending segment from Raw.

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

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

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

Bayley vs. Paige

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

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

Adrian Neville vs. Luke Harper

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

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

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

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

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

Results

Leo Kruger b. Justin Gabriel – Seated Armbar

Paige b. Bayley – Kneeling Texas Cloverleaf

Luke Harper b. Adrian Neville – Discus Lariat

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: November 21, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, Jim Ross

After last week not a lot has changed, as we’re still moving towards Mahal vs. Rollins II for the title. On top of that we’ve got Vickie continuing to have her bounty on Langston who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite people on this show. NXT has been the best wrestling show on TV for months now and hopefully that remains the case here tonight. Let’s get to it.

Earlier today, Kassius Ohno didn’t want to talk about Trent Barreta. He has a premonition about ending Trent’s career tonight like he did to Richie Steamboat.

Paige vs. Alicia Fox

Feeling out process to start of course before Paige takes over with a Japanese armdrag. Fox lands on her feet out of a monkey flip as the fans are WAY behind Paige. Alicia mostly botches what I think was supposed to be a suplex but it looked more like a slam. A northern lights suplex gets two on Paige and it’s off to a bow and arrow hold. Paige finally makes a rope and gets two off a cross body. A sunset flip out of the corner gets the same for Fox but she walks into the Paige Turner (kind of a snap Angle Slam but Paige never lifted her off the mat) for the pin at 4:52.

Rating: D+. Fox just isn’t that good. She’s very sloppy when she’s on offense and has been for years now. Paige is one of those girls that could be very good when she gets some more experience and the fans love her. On top of that, she’s 20 years old. That’s very impressive when you consider how good she is already.

Camacho vs. Big E. Langston

This is a match for the $5000 bounty that Vickie has put on Langston’s head. Camacho tries to pound on him but Langston keeps shoving him away. A shot out of the corner puts Big E. down but Camacho slaps him like an idiot. The Big Ending (falling slam) ends Camacho at 2:06.

Langston demands the five count and you don’t tell a man like that no. Camacho gets two more Big Endings for good measure.

We go to the back and Trent Barreta is down and in pain. Leo Kruger can be seen out of range smiling evily.

Post break we’re told Trent isn’t cleared for the main event yet.

Bronson vs. Nick Rogers

SWEET! Bronson is back! He shoves Rogers into the corner and completely no sells all of the shots from Nick. Bronson goes after the leg before hitting a crossface to the head. A lot of stomps and knees keep Rogers down as Bronson works on the leg. An STO sets up that kind of inverted Figure Four from Bronson for the tap out at 1:49. I love this guy.

Here’s Bray Wyatt who says all of the little lambs should fear him. Tonight he’s giving our lives purpose for the first time ever. He sits down in a rocking chair as Luke Harper comes out for his match.

Luke Harper vs. Mike Dalton

Harper looks like he looked as Brodie Lee in the indies. The fans chant for Ziggler who Dalton does look a bit like. Harper pounds away as Wyatt sits in the rocking chair. Dalton gets thrown around a lot as Harper keeps looking at Wyatt. A BIG spinning Boss Man Slam completes the squash at 2:41. Harper won in case you’re a rather dense person that needs everything explained to them.

Harper gets on his knees in front of Wyatt. Bray says he’s been around for 2000 years and says that once he decides it’s time to start hurting people, there will be no one left.

Earlier today, Mahal attacked Rollins in the back but Seth beat him down.

The Raw ReBound recaps (shocking) the end of the show.

Kassius Ohno vs. Trent Barreta

There’s a lot of time left in the show for this. Ohno says that there’s no opponent for him tonight because Trent is injured. Ohno demands that the referee count to ten and declare him the winner, but here’s Dusty Rhodes with something to say. He says that he knows Ohno had something to do with Trent’s attack and he’s got a replacement. Total time between Dusty appearing and the replacement’s music hitting: sixty seconds.

Kassius Ohno vs. Richie Steamboat

Richie starts fast and beats Ohno into the corner and hits a quick cross body for a two count. Steamboat pounds away in the corner and sends Kassius to the apron. Ohno skins the cat but Richie clotheslines him to the floor. It’s almost like Richie has insight into that move. A big dive to the floor takes Ohno out and we take a break.

Back with Richie holding a chinlock on Ohno until Kassius makes it to the rope. A low dropkick to the head puts Steamboat down and it’s cravate time. Ohno pounds him in the head some more for a pair of two counts and it’s back to the cravate. Steamboat fights up and gets a pair of quick rollups for two. Ohno comes back with a kind of lifting Downward Spiral for two of his own as this keeps going back and forth.

Steamboat fires off a bunch of chops to the chest and head to slow Kassius down before they head to the corner. Richie comes off the top but dives into a headbutt from Ohno to put both guys down again. In a bit of a strange ending, Ohno hits a running clothesline in the corner but as he goes to throw Steamboat to the floor, Steamboat rolls him up for two and hits the Slingblade (swing around neckbreaker) for the pin at 10:28 shown of 13:58.

Rating: C-. Sudden ending aside, this wasn’t an incredibly good match. I know Ohno is considered a great talent, but I really don’t see the appeal of him from what I’ve seen in FCW. He’s not bad but if I didn’t know he had been such a big deal in the indies, I wouldn’t have much interest in him at all. Steamboat is pretty generic as well with nothing interesting going on about him. Not a bad match but it was bland, like most of their matches so far.

Overall Rating: C+. This was another solid episode of NXT. There’s an energy to this show that you don’t get on any other wrestling series at the moment which makes it the most fun show going. It’s a combination of them using their time efficiently as well as having interesting characters who are all treated as big deals rather than there being a clear hierarchy like Raw or Impact have. Also the title match isn’t the focus at all but the other guys are built up well enough that it can be overlooked, which says a lot about the rest of the show.

Results

Paige b. Alicia Fox – Paige Turner

Big E. Langston b. Camacho – Big Ending

Bronson b. Nick Rogers – Inverted Figure Four

Luke Harper b. Mike Dalton – Spinning Boss Man Slam

Richie Steamboat b. Kassius Ohno – Slingblade

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NXT
Date: November 8, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Tony Luftman, Byron Saxton

Tonight the focus of the show is on the fourway between Mahal, Dallas, Gabriel and McIntyre with the winner getting a shot at the NXT Title I believe next week. However that’s not the most interesting thing we might see tonight. More importantly: will Big E. Langston get to talk about the number five anymore? That’s what I want to hear more than anything else. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the announcement of the fourway last week.

Theme song.

Kassius Ohno vs. Trent Barreta

This is a rematch from two weeks ago where Richie Steamboat cost Ohno the match. Trent chops away to start and Kassius hides on the apron. Barreta tries a sunset powerbomb to the floor but Ohno kicks him in the head to escape. Back in and it’s a dragon sleeper by Ohno which is treated like any other hold here. Regal says Trent enjoys pain because it makes him feel alive. Well I guess it would.

Trent’s enziguri is blocked and Ohno gets two off a rollup. Barreta gets the same off a tornado DDT and Ohno is staggered. They trade elbows before Kassius kicks Trent in the face for two. Kassius puts Trent on top, only to be shoved off and caught by a missile dropkick. Trent loads up the running knee but Kassius ducks to the floor. Back in and the spinning elbow to the head gets the pin for Kassius at 6:08.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure what it was but this didn’t work too well. The chemistry didn’t work here as it was like they were just trading moves while building to nothing. It wasn’t terrible or even bad but it felt more like a collection of spots instead of a flowing match if that makes any sense.

Post match Trent ducks another elbow and dropkicks Ohno.

Cory Graves talks about how his tattoos tell his story and says come and read them.

Big E. Langston vs. Memo Montenegro

Langston starts a FIVE chant before shoving Memo down to the mat. A big clothesline kills Memo and the slam drop gets the pin for Langston at 1:00.

Langston does the drop again and counts five himself to a big pop. It’s remarkable how such a simple idea can get so over. The fans DEMAND he does it again but they get Vickie on the screen instead. She’s issues a five thousand dollar bounty on him and promises to laugh last. Langston is annoyed and goes to drop Memo again, but some guy named Chad Baxter jumps Langston. You can figure out what comes next yourselves.

Jason Jordan is in the ring for a match but HE’S BACK!!! AND HE’S GOT A MIC! Bray Wyatt I mean, as in the former Husky Harris who is now doing a freaky gimmick that seems to be inspired by the villain from Cape Fear. He says that he’s back with his wings healed, then he says something in some other language. Wyatt talks about taking us to the top of a mountain so we can watch everything turn to ash and then fly away. Jordan wants to fight right now but Wyatt says he’s a monster that is never alone. An even scarier looking guy comes to the ring to fight Jordan for him.

??? vs. Jason Jordan

The guy who isn’t named yet is played by former indy guy Brodie Lee, a pretty tall guy who I think had a truck driver gimmick. Regal thinks Lee (who isn’t named here mind you but it’s the only think I know to call him) just came out of a swamp. He kills Jordan with HARD punches and a big clothesline gets two. Lee misses a big boot in the corner so Jordan goes for the knee. That goes well for about eight seconds before Lee DESTROYS him with a Boss Man Slam for the pin at 2:18.

Wyatt says that this is the first son of the Wyatt Family and his name is Luke Harper. This was awesome.

Roman Reigns comes out for an interview but says he doesn’t need Saxton for this. Reigns says he’s sure people are doing better now that Saxton is gone and he’s here. He says that when you’re the man like he is, all you have to do is get up. Whether you’re with him or against him, it’s irrelevant because everyone wants to be Roman Reigns. What he said was fine, but he sounded scared to be talking. He’s got to work on that for a gimmick like this.

Justin Gabriel vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Bo Dallas

The winner gets a title shot at some point in the future and this is under elimination rules with no tagging. Drew and Gabriel fight in one corner while Dallas and Mahal do so in another. The heels both get knocked to the floor and Dallas hits a baseball slide to take McIntyre out. Gabriel dives onto all three guys as we take a break. Back with Mahal suplexing Dallas for two. Jinder and Drew tease a fight but instead they both stomp on Dallas.

McIntyre kicks Mahal down as the South African cross bodies the Scotsman who kicked the Indian in the head after beating up the American. JR’s words, not mine. Gabriel hits an STO on Dallas and knocks him to the floor. A spinning sitout powerbomb puts Mahal down and there’s the 450, but Gabriel hurt himself in the process. Drew dumps Justin to the floor but Dallas spears McIntyre down for the elimination. He also spears a diving Gabriel out of the air and we’re down to one on one with Dallas vs. Mahal.

We take another break and come back with Dallas knocking Mahal down and screaming a lot. We head to the floor and Dallas gets sent into the steps to give Mahal control. The title match is indeed next week. Mahal drops a bunch of knees for two which frustrates him. A jumping knee to the head gets the same result, as does a full nelson slam. Dallas breaks up what appeared to be a Rock Bottom and hits a powerslam to put Mahal down. The spear misses though and the camel clutch gives Mahal the win at 8:26 shown of 15:26.

Rating: B-. This was pretty entertaining and while I’m not crazy about Mahal getting another shot, it’s only his second so it hasn’t been driven into the ground yet. Having four guys in there was a fine idea and they didn’t feel like they were just filling in spots, which is a good thing. Fine main event here and it sets up something later, which is even more important.

Post match Dallas is put in the Clutch again but Rollins makes the save. Seth gets beaten down too and a staredown between he and Mahal ends the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was an awesome show overall with the highlight being the return of Wyatt, who might have the best gimmick in wrestling today. The cool part about that is you can’t really put your finger on what it is, which is what makes monsters creepy. They’re unknown, which can be quite frightening. I’m digging NXT a lot right now as it comes off like a full on promotion where the gimmicks don’t overlap and you really don’t know if one person could beat another. That’s never the case in WWE where it’s easy to tell who is going to win most matches and feuds. Great show this week.

Results

Kassius Ohno b. Trent Barreta – OBE

Big E. Langston b. Memo Montenegro – Slam Drop

Luke Harper b. Jason Jordan – Spinning Boss Man Slam

Jinder Mahal b. Justin Gabriel, Bo Dallas and Drew McIntyre – Camel clutch to Dallas

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