This is something that will make perfect sense if you watch NXT, which you should.Something that WWE is really bad at for the most part anymore is booking week to week television.  Take the Bryan vs. Corporation story.  Every week so far, the events of the show are wrapped up clean and neat before the end of the episode.  The overall story will continue the next week, but the events of one week rarely directly connect to next week’s stuff.  For example: Orton lays out Bryan with an RKO, but the next week that event is barely mentioned and it’s just Bryan trying to get the title back all over again.  It’s very much like a regular TV show with a villain or a hero trying to accomplish the same goal week to week.  In other words, they’re stand alone episodes.

Now on the other hand look at NXT or most older wrestling shows.  The shows are booked week to week, meaning you can’t miss a single episode because things will have changed.  That rewards fans who are around every week and makes for more entertaining TV shows.  For instance in NXT, they alternate with various storylines so you’ll have to come back for a few weeks to get the next part of a story you watched.  This makes for more interesting TV, and if you’ve got a good show, you’ll be brought up to speed every week.  It’s a substantial difference and can really enhance how good a show can be.

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

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

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

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

Intercontinental Title: Curtis Axel vs. Big E. Langston

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

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

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

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

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

Mason Ryan vs. Scott Dawson

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

Ryan cleans house after the match.

Women’s Title: Paige vs. Summer Rae

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

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

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

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

Dolph Ziggler will be here next week.

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

Shield vs. Corey Graves/Adrian Neville/Xavier Woods

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Mason Ryan b. Scott Dawson – Cobra clutch slam

Paige b. Summer Rae – Paige Turner

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

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NXT
Date: August 7, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Alex Riley

Tonight is a big night on NXT as we have a double main event. Dean Ambrose is defending his US Title against Adrian Neville and Bo Dallas is defending the NXT Title against Leo Kruger. Tonight sounds like it’s going to be focusing on in ring action instead of storytelling which should make for a good show. Let’s get to it.

The opening video talks about what we’re getting tonight. There’s also a dance off between Emma and Summer Rae.

Before the first match we’re told that Tyler Breeze IS IN THE BUILDING! WOO!

US Title: Adrian Neville vs. Dean Ambrose

Neville is an NXT Tag Team Champion but for the sake of clarity only Ambrose will be referred to as champion. Dean shoves him into the corner to start but Neville shoves him right back. Adrian fires off kicks in the corner but Dean rubs forearms across his face to escape. A headscissors puts the champion down for a second but he pops up, flips forward across the ring and comes out of the corner with a cross body for two.

Neville hooks an armbar but Dean smacks him in the face to escape. Adrian comes back with a quick slam and loads up the Red Arrow but Dean gets away before it launches. Out to the floor they go and Ambrose clotheslines him down as we take a break. Back with Dean dropping an elbow for two and ramming a knee to the ribs. A running dropkick to the chest gets two for the champion and it’s off to a surfboard hold.

Dean chops away and sends him across the ring in a hard whip. A belly to belly suplex gets two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Adrian hits a hard forearm before avoiding a charge in the corner. A high cross body gets two and a quick running hurricanrana sends Dean to the outside. Neville hits a BIG corkscrew dive to take Dean out and there’s the Red Arrow but Shield runs in for the DQ at 8:20 shown of 10:05.

Rating: C+. Nice match here with Neville getting to look good but not win the title. It’s a very simple idea that doesn’t change anything officially but gives Neville a rub which is what stars can do in NXT. It’s a good sign that Neville can wrestle a full match with more than just the high spots as the inability to do so has sunk a lot of other wrestlers.

Post match the Shield beats Neville down but Corey Graves and Xavier Woods make the save.

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy come up to Scott Dawson and Sylvester Lefort to offer encouragement before Dawson’s match with Mason Ryan. Lefort and Dawson leave and the same guy who was making faces behind Breeze last week does a fist pump behind Amore and Cassidy.

Time for the dance contest and you should already know what’s coming here. It’s exactly what you would expect: Summer does classically trained dance moves, Emma responds with stuff like the Running Man and the Chicken Dance and gets YES chants. They keep this one fast paced though with the music never stopping and several back and forth dances. Summer says stop the music and is told she got served.

She wants her real music and does the Fandango, instantly winning over the crowd. Emma says play her music, takes off the t-shirt she was wearing to reveal her usual attire and does her dance to win the contest. Apparently this makes Emma #1 contender. Summer attacks her after losing as you would expect. This ran longer than I would have expected at about six minutes, but it was much more entertaining than most WWE dance offs. They kept this moving fast enough that it never got stupid which is where WWE falls off. Also it doesn’t hurt that Emma and Summer look like they do as opposed to say, Vickie.

Leo Kruger promo, talking about being laughed at as a kid. Tonight when he wins the NXT Title, people will be laughing at Bo Dallas instead.

Danny Burch vs. Tyler Breeze

Breeze comes to the ring like he’s walking a runway and with camera shots straight out of Zoolander. The fans think the entrance was awesome. The bell rings twice for some reason and Burch comes out swinging. Breeze ducks most of the shots and hits a quick enziguri. After taking some pictures of himself it’s the spinwheel kick for the pin at 42 seconds. Breeze is so over the top that he’s awesome.

Breeze lays on Burch to take another picture.

Bo Dallas finally starts acting like a heel by patronizing Renee Young, saying Cesaro has a bright future. Also the loss last week is on Sami Zayn for not being in there as a champion. Dallas claims to be a former tag team champion and doesn’t remember filling in for an injury. We get a few bars of Don’t Stop Bo-lieveing and he walks off. THIS is the kind of character he needs to be, not whatever he’s been doing for a few weeks now.

Graves/Neville/Woods vs. Shield and Mason Ryan vs. Scott Dawson next week.

Tyler Breeze has LEFT the building.

NXT Title: Bo Dallas vs. Leo Kruger

Dallas can go up about 85 levels on the heel scale if he records Don’t Stop Bo-lieving as his entrance music. Kruger goes straight to the floor to start but suckers Bo into an attack in the corner. The fans are entirely behind Kruger here as you would expect in a Bo Dallas match. Bo comes back with some dropkicks and a cross body followed by a northern lights suplex for two. We hit an armbar on Kruger as the fans chant boring. Kruger fights him off and sends Bo to the floor for a baseball slide as we take a break.

Back with Leo whipping Bo hard into the corner for two. A snap suplex gets the same and Kruger drives in elbows to the head. Dallas breaks up a superplex attempt and scores with a middle rope clothesline. Fans: “YOU STILL SUCK!” Some clotheslines put Leo down but a tornado bulldog is only good for two. A reverse DDT gets two more and Bo pounds on Leo in the corner, basically turning heel mid match.

Kruger starts Hulking Up and fires off right hands of his own followed by a spinebuster for no cover. The Slice connects for two and Kruger puts on the GC3 but Bo FINALLY makes a rope. Kruger pounds away but his top rope splash hits knees. Dallas wraps his leg around Leo’s head and cranks on the arm in a kneeling submission hold, drawing the tap out at 8:36 shown of 11:14.

Rating: B-. It’s a really good sign that Bo is turning heel as the fans were hating his face push. Turning him into a condescending self obsessed jerk is a great way to make him a heel, as long as they stick with it this time. Kruger looked good and has potential as a good guy, but the voice isn’t going to do him any favors.

Overall Rating: B. This show can be summarized in one word: fun. Nothing was too serious here, the matches were good, Tyler Breeze is so over the top that it’s hard to not chuckle at him, the dance off was amusing and Dallas FINALLY showed signs of being a heel. It’s so nice to be able to just enjoy a wrestling show that doesn’t make you feel like the world is forever changed off a single match. This was a very fun show that flew by, as NXT continues to be awesome.

Results

Adrian Neville b. Dean Ambrose via DQ when Shield interfered

Tyler Breeze b. Danny Burch – Spinwheel Kick

Bo Dallas b. Leo Kruger – Kneeling Elbow Submission

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NXT
Date: July 31, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

This is an odd show for NXT as there isn’t anything planned coming into this episode. Last week saw Paige become the first Women’s Champion in a good match and Sheamus defeating Luke Harper in a stand alone match. That doesn’t leave much to build on this week but I’m sure NXT will pull something off. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

We open with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy running their mouths. Colin brags about being undefeated as a team and not being soft (“S-a-w-f-t!”). Enzo says he sees NXT as a dance floor and they’re going to dance all over it. Cue Tons of Funk to chase them off in an obvious cameo. Cassidy and Amore talk trash from the floor but here’s Mason Ryan to chase them into the ring. Tons of Funk beat up the annoying ones and we have a referee but no bell. Ryan comes in and plants Amore with a cobra clutch slam before dancing with the fat guys to the only pop of his career.

Dusty is in the back with Emma and Paige when Summer Rae comes in to complain. She wants the title right now but Paige offers to break Summer’s teeth. Emma says she beat Summer fair and that Summer’s dancing sucks. Dusty calls the idea ridiculous but he likes it so the idea is on.

Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks

Sasha hooks a headlock to start but Charlotte rolls away. A dropkick puts Charlotte down for two and it’s off to an armbar. Charlotte fights up and backflips out of the corner before wrapping up Sasha’s legs for a sweet rollup, getting two. A chop (of course) staggers Banks but she easily takes Charlotte down and puts on a camel clutch. Back up and a running knee in the corner has Charlotte in trouble but she comes back with a clothesline. That front flip into a facejam/cutter (like Cena’s Throwback) is good for the pin at 3:19.

Rating: C-. Charlotte isn’t polished yet but it’s clear she’s got a good foundation to start with. I liked this better than her last match as she looked a lot more confident out there this week. It was a good idea to have Sasha control most of the match and just let Charlotte do her gymnastics stuff. Charlotte has a good future it would seem.

Tyler Breeze looks at himself a lot and talks about being breathtaking, magnificent and gorgeous. Someone with long hair is behind him making faces, getting a good reaction from the crowd.

Wyatt Family promo, set to Mary Had a Little Lamb.

Mickey Keegan/Aiden English vs. Wyatt Family

The Family has their full Raw intro now. The fans are going NUTS for the Wyatts which is strange to hear. Luke and Erick clean house and the discus lariat sets up the splash from Rowan for the pin on English at 26 seconds.

Post match bray talks about how there are men that try and fail but then there are men who change the landscape of this world. He’s the second kind of man and now he wants to know what the people around here are like. Today is the day that Bray Wyatt has decided to change the world.

Today is the day when pigs fly because Wyatt has told Mr. Fear that he is a liar. Go and tell all the world leaders because Bray Wyatt is coming to bring down the machine. Today the Wyatts say goodbye to NXT for now, but if you need to find Bray Wyatt, follow the buzzards. He throws in a little Time Is On My Side and drops the mic to chants of THANK YOU BRAY. This was WAY more intense than anything Wyatt has done and it worked very well.

Adrian Neville comes in to say he’s got Corey Graves’ back tonight in case the Wyatt Family interferes. Graves says if the Wyatt Family thinks they’ve seen a war, maybe the new champions should show them what war is.

Corey Graves vs. Scott Dawson

Graves misses a charge into the corner to start but the fans are entirely behind him. Dawson hits an elbow to the jaw for two and he does it again for the same result. Graves comes back with a kick to the jaw and a chop block to set up Lucky 13 for the tap at 2:00. This was nothing.

Post match Corey celebrates with Neville but here’s the Shield to interrupt. Rollins says Graves remembers the Shield for laying him out last time they were here. Graves and Neville are almost like Reigns and Rollins….but not quite. Ambrose says Neville is carrying around a belt because he slid into Kassius’ Ohno’s spot.

That makes him a thief, and that is an injustice. He offers Adrian a shot at greatness in a match but Neville wants the US Title on the line and to do it RIGHT NOW. Dean says Adrian isn’t talking to some NXT chump but rather the US Champion. The title match is on for next week, and Neville says justice is served next week.

Leo Kruger/Antonio Cesaro vs. Bo Dallas/Sami Zayn

Kruger vs. Dallas for the title next week. Something I’ve touched on tonight has been the crowd who will cheer everyone from the bayou religious cult to the paramilitary group to the white supremacist. Bo Dallas comes out and is BOOED OUT OF THE BUILDING. A loud No More Bo chant breaks out as Zayn and Kruger get things going. There’s an Ole chant and Zayn sends Leo across the ring out of a wristlock. Zayn jumps over Kruger in the corner and three straight armdrags set up an armbar on Leo.

Bo tags himself in and you can feel the crowd die. Off to Cesaro as the fans chant WE THE PEOPLE. Dallas snaps off some armdrags of his own but he takes too much time to tag, allowing Cesaro to kick him in the ribs to take over. A big boot puts Zayn on the floor but Dallas dropkicks Antonio down. Zayn gets the tag and Cesaro runs to the corner to tag Kruger who runs Sami over with a right hand.

We take a break and come back with Kruger getting two off a snap suplex to Zayn. Cesaro comes in with a European uppercut for two before putting on the standing chinlock. Back to Kruger who gets two off a headbutt and a double stomp. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Sami fights up and gets two off a sunset flip. Cesaro comes back in before the hot tag can be made and gets two of his own off a powerbomb.

Off to a regular chinlock from Antonio but Sami fights up and kicks him in the face to escape. Bo gets the tag and is booed out of the arena again which I don’t remember hearing on a hot tag before. Everything breaks down and it’s Kruger vs. Dallas in the ring. Bo hits a quick powerslam to send Kruger to the floor but back inside the Slice (running clothesline) is enough to put Dallas down for the pin (and an ERUPTION) at 10:40 shown of 13:10.

Rating: C+. The match was a basic tag team formula to set up the title match next week. The interesting thing again though was the reaction to Dallas. I haven’t seen consistent hatred for a guy like this since probably X-Pac. No matter what the guy does he gets booed out of the building but is still pushed as a face. There aren’t any shades of gray with his character. He’s a face through and through and for the life of me I don’t know why.

Overall Rating: B. Another good show this week for all the same reasons: a lot of stories were covered and those matches were the most important thing on the show at the time. It’s a good sign that this show can come up with a good hour of TV while having nothing set up in advance. Can you imagine Raw trying to be spontaneous like this? Good show this week like almost always, with NXT being the highlight of my wrestling week.

Results

Charlotte b. Sasha Banks – Front flip facejam

Wyatt Family b. Mickey Keegan/Aiden English – Splash to English

Corey Graves b. Scott Dawson – Lucky 13

Leo Kruger/Antonio Cesaro b. Sami Zayn/Bo Dallas – Slice to Dallas

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NXT
Date: July 24, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Brad Maddox, Tom Phillips

The main event this week is Paige vs. Emma for the inaugural Women’s Title. Other than that we have new tag team champions in the form of Neville and Graves. They took the titles from the Wyatt Family tonight, meaning we need to find out what’s next for Bray and company. Let’s get to it.

The opening video recaps Emma beating Summer Rae to set up tonight’s final.

Emma and Paige both say they’ll win.

Welcome Home.

NXT Women’s Title: Emma vs. Paige

The fans are split down the middle here as both girls feel each other out. Paige takes her down with a shoulder block but charges into a boot in the corner. A sunset flip gets two for Emma and she cranks on Paige’s arm. Paige comes back with a heabutt but can’t hook a backslide. Emma walks the backslide over to the ropes and spins into the Dilemma (Tarantula) as we take a break.

Back with Paige holding a chinlock and sending Emma throat first into the ropes for two. Paige is working as a very slight heel here. A PerfectPlex gets two on Emma and Paige stomps her down into the corner for two. Emma takes her down by the hair and hits a corner cross body for two. Paige gets two off a sunset flip but Emma comes right back with a chinlock before riding her with a reverse waistlock.

Paige gets to her feet and drives Emma into the corner for some rapid fire elbows to the face. She takes Emma down by the leg and puts on a kneeling Texas Cloverleaf with her knee in Emma’s back. Emma is in big trouble but she somehow wiggles out and kicks Paige away. A very quick small package gets two on Paige, sending the fans into heart attack territory.

Emma tries a leg lock but Paige gets to the ropes before it’s on. Paige fires off headbutts and goes up top but gets caught in a superplex to put both girls down. The fans rightly say this is awesome. Emma finally covers but Paige gets her foot on the rope. Back up and Paige hits a few kicks to the ribs and the Paige Turner for the pin and the title at 11:13 shown of 14:43.

Rating: B. This was excellent stuff and probably the best female match I’ve seen in WWE in years. Emma came to play here and more than kept up with Paige. Paige looked like she survived the match rather than won it which makes for more entertaining matches most of the time. They had me believing it was over on both that cloverleaf and the small package that followed and the fans bought it too. Outstanding match here.

The other Divas from the tournament come out to celebrate. HHH himself comes out to raise Paige’s hand. This should have closed the show.

Colter and Cesaro video on the topic of Sami Zayn. Zeb thinks Sami isn’t a real American and is in this country illegally. Colter’s background check can’t find any evidence that Zayn has ever existed. There’s reason to believe that Zayn wore a mask at one point, which is the sign of a criminal. Colter promises to have Sami deported and Cesaro says he’s going to make Zayn’s life a nightmare in and out of the ring. This was solid heel stuff.

Tyler Breeze vs. Angelo Dawkins

Breeze is a combination of Fandango, the Narcissist Lex Luger and Rick Martel but with bleach blonde hair. He keeps taking pictures of himself with his phone before the bell, ticking off Dash. The bell rings but Breeze needs to take some more pictures. Dawkins charges at him but gets pounded down with ease. Breeze kicks him in the ribs but stops for more pictures. He puts the camera down and hits a great spinwheel kick to the face for the pin at 1:18. Breeze is fun but I don’t see him having much of a shelf life.

Ascension promo with Rick Victor now on the team.

Ascension vs. Mickey Keegan/Aiden English

They’re still going with the name Rick Victor which doesn’t quite fit the Gothic Matrix look. O’Brien runs English over to start but it’s quickly off to Victor top uppercut and chop Aiden in the corner. Ascension keeps up the quick tags with Victor coming in for a running boot to the chest for two. A double hiptoss into a double powerbomb puts Aiden down and a High/Low (back elbow from Victor and a chop block from O’Brien) is enough for the pin at 1:56. Keegan never got into the match.

Luke Harper vs. Sheamus

They fight onto the ropes to start and Sheamus grabs a quick headlock. Harper actually runs him over with a shoulder and Sheamus isn’t sure what to do. Sheamus comes back with a shoulder of his own to send Harper to the outside before dropping some knees back inside for two. A running ax handle to the face puts Harper down again as Wyatt gets out of his chair to shout. Sheamus sends Harper to the apron for the forearms but Rowan gets some as well when trying a save.

Harper FINALLY gets in a shot to Sheamus’ back due to the distraction and we take a break. Back with Harper in control and standing on Sheamus’ head. We hit the chinlock as Bray is looking much calmer now. The goat mask hanging from the back of the rocking chair is a creepy image. Sheamus gets back up and hits a tilt-a-whirl powerslam to give himself a breather.

They slug it out and Harper hits a modified Boss Man Slam for two. Harper misses a middle rope splash and gets caught in the rolling senton for two. The Brogue Kick misses and the discus lariat gets two for Harper. Sheamus sends Luke into Erick and hits White Noise followed by the Brogue Kick for the pin at 9:45 shown of 12:15.

Rating: C-. Basic power brawl here and a way to make Harper look good. That’s the cool thing about bringing someone like Sheamus in for a set of TV tapings: you can run a short term story like this but it takes so long to air the whole thing that you forget it was taped in one night. Decent match here.

Bray politely claps for Sheamus to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. As usual with NXT we hit on a lot of stuff here tonight. The big problem here is the order of action tonight. Sheamus is definitely a big deal on the show, but there was no reason to not have the girls close things out here. HHH coming out to congratulate the new champion would have been a great way to end the show but instead we get Sheamus winning a match everyone knew he would win. Odd choice but it’s still a good show.

Results

Paige b. Emma – Paige Turner

Tyler Breeze b. Angelo Dawkins – Spinwheel kick

Ascension b. Mickey Keegan/Aiden English – High/Low to English

Sheamus b. Luke Harper – Brogue Kick

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon for just $4 at:

NXT
Date: July 17, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Tony Dawson

This should be a big week for NXT as we have the tag title match with Graves/Neville challenging the Wyatt Family along with Ric Flair’s daughter’s in ring debut. We’ll also be getting ready for Emma vs. Paige next week which should be a good match. NXT has been on a roll as of late and hopefully things keep up tonight. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Leo Kruger vs. Sami Zayn vs. Antonio Cesaro

The winner gets a title shot against Bo Dallas at some point in the future. Cesaro has the We The People flag. Zayn and Cesaro are ready to go at it before the bell as Kruger watches from the corner. Sami fires off forearms to both of them but gets caught in the corner by Cesaro’s knees. Kruger suplexes Zayn down as Cesaro takes a breather. Antonio pulls Kruger to the floor and Zayn flip dives onto both of them as we take a break.

Back with the fans chanting Ole as Zayn fires off forearms to Antonio’s head. Sami tries a high cross but gets caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Kruger makes the save and the fans chant WE THE PEOPLE. Leo loads up a capture suplex on Zayn but Cesaro German suplexes Zayn at the same time, sending Sami flying across the ring. Cesaro puts Sami in the standing chinlock but Kruger breaks up the Neutralizer. Leo loads up a northern lights suplex on Zayn but Sami blocks it into a DDT on Kruger and a Downward Spiral on Cesaro at the same time.

All three guys are down until Sami fires off right hands to both guys. A rollup gets two on Kruger and a standing hurricanrana gets two on Cesaro. The fans are losing their minds on these near falls. Kruger is sent tot he floor so Cesaro can Neutralize Zayn, only to have Leo throw Cesaro to the floor and steal the pin on Sami at 7:00 shown of 10:30.

Rating: B. Give this five more minutes and it’s one of the better triple threats you’ll ever seen. This was almost nonstop action with the fans being WAY into the entire thing. Zayn is something special and Cesaro has a reputation from his time on the main roster, so Kruger winning was a surprise. Sami will have his day eventually though.

Scott Dawson vs. Bo Dallas

Non-title here. LeFort says Dawson will have gold soon which makes me think Garrett Dylan is gone from the team. Feeling out process to start with Bo hitting some quick dropkicks. Dawson comes back with a forearm to the face and a legdrop to take over. A quick chinlock slows the match down even more as Regal talks about various old school people Dawson reminds him of. Dallas comes back with a knee lift followed by a bulldog and the belly to belly for the pin at 2:38.

Dallas does his pose for the pyro but Kruger hits the ring to lay out the champion. Dallas’ character continues to be oddly booked as the fans do not like him at all (they chant THANK YOU KRUGER after he lays Dallas out) but he’s treated like any regular good guy.

Here’s Ric Flair to introduce his daughter. The fans go insane for his entrance which is always a good sight to see. Flair talks about all the great times he’s had in Orlando and puts over NXT as a great place to learn the craft. He introduces his daughter Charlotte who has a background in gymnastics and is very flexible. She’s also very muscular.

Bayley vs. Charlotte

They trade wristlocks to start with Charlotte getting a freaky looking twisting rollup for two. It started like a regular rollup but she spun around and wound up laying on Bayley’s legs. Bayley comes back with a backslide for two of her own and Flair takes his jacket off. A snap suplex gets two on Charlotte but she flips over the corner ala her dad, only to land on her feet on the apron. Back in and a front flip into a facejam (think Cena’s Throwback but much more elegant) is good for the pin on Bayley at 2:47. Charlotte looked ok but very green at times. The gymnastics stuff looked good though.

Sheamus is in the back and has a match next week against an unknown opponent. The Wyatt Family jumps him and says follow the buzzards. I could get behind Sheamus vs. the Wyatts.

Tyler Breeze (formerly Mike Dalton) is a model and debuting next week. We will experience gorgeous.

The Women’s Title match is next week.

Tag Titles: Wyatt Family vs. Corey Graves/Adrian Neville

After some big match intros (last week all three Wyatts were announced at 501lbs combined. Here Rowan and Harper combine to be 581) we start with Harper vs. Graves. Graves wisely speeds things up to take Harper to the floor with right hands. Neville comes in and is grabbed by the face with Harper pulling him into the corner. Off to Rowan who catches Adrian in a cross body but Graves dropkicks his partner in the back to take Rowan down. Graves comes in and avoids a charge to send Rowan into the corner.

Off to Harper who is taken down by a dragon screw leg whip followed by a springboard missile dropkick to Rowan. Everything breaks down and Harper kicks Graves’ head off for two. We take a break and come back with Rowan cranking on Corey’s neck. Back to Luke for some chops that make me cringe. Harper and Graves slug it out with Harper getting the better of it. Rowan gets the tag and puts Graves in a quickly broken bearhug. Regal threatens to punch Dawson in the jaw if he keeps interrupting him.

Harper comes back in for some elbow drops and a crossface chickenwing. Graves fights out and tries a sunset flip but Luke busts out a dropkick (good one too) to put him back down. Rowan puts on an abdominal stretch with a stomach claw to make this really old school. Graves fights out but walks into a side slam for two from Harper.

Bray is getting nervous that his boys can’t put the challengers away. Graves ducks a charging Harper and FINALLY makes the hot tag to Neville. He sends both Wyatts to the floor and hits a HUGE top rope Asai Moonsault to take both guys down. Back in and a middle rope Phoenix Splash (moonsault into a 450) gets two on Rowan but Bray makes the save. Cue Sheamus to take out Wyatt as Graves takes out Rowan’s leg. Neville hits the Red Arrow for the pin and the titles at 10:45 shown of 14:15.

Rating: B. Really solid tag team formula stuff here with Sheamus evening the odds so the challengers could pull off the upset. The Wyatts had to lose eventually and this was as good of an option as there is at the moment. The crowd totally bought into the hot tag at the end, showing yet again that the old ideas still work like a charm when done right.

Sheamus celebrates with the new champions for a bit before leaving them alone to end the show.

Overall Rating: A. My goodness this show keeps getting better and better. We had two very good matches tonight plus a Flair appearance and storyline development. What more could you possibly ask for from a 45 minute show? I don’t have anything else to say about this other than start watching NXT regularly if you don’t already. It’s so far and away better than any main wrestling show right now that it’s unreal.

Results

Leo Kruger b. Sami Zayn and Antonio Cesaro – Kruger pinned Zayn after a Neutralizer from Cesaro

Bo Dallas b. Scott Dawson – Belly to Belly suplex

Charlotte b. Bayley – Front flip facejam

Adrian Neville/Corey Graves b. Wyatt Family – Red Arrow to Rowan

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon for just $4 at:

NXT
Date: July 10, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Brad Maddox, Tom Phillips

Last week’s show ended with the start of a very interesting four way feud over the NXT Title with champion Bo Dallas seeing challenges from Antonio Cesaro, Leo Kruger and Sami Zayn. This could make for some very exciting television but odds are that story will be saved for a later date. Tonight the focus is likely on the Wyatt Family vs. Graves/Neville which should be entertaining in its own right. Let’s get to it.

Theme song opens us up.

NXT Women’s Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Emma vs. Summer Rae

The winner gets Paige for the title in two weeks. Rae gets a quick two off a face plant and a snap suplex gets the same. The fans are WAY behind Emma here as Rae wrenches back on her arm with her feet in Emma’s face. Emma comes back with some rollups but gets caught in a chinlock. Back up and Summer misses a charge in the corner, giving Emma a two count via a sunset flip. A running cross body to a seated Summer gets two but Rae comes back with a sunset flip, only to have Emma roll forward into a cradle for the pin at 4:26.

Rating: C-. There wasn’t a lot of action in this but the ending picked up a lot. Emma’s popularity continues to rise which goes to show you how goofy gimmicks can still get over. It’s also a pleasant surprise to not get the seemingly obvious matchup of Paige vs. Summer for the title.

Summer beats Emma down post match but Paige makes the save.

Bayley is in the back with Dusty Rhodes. He wants to know why she hugged Alicia Fox after losing to her in the tournament. Bayley gets very excited and nervous because Ric Flair and his daughter walk in. Flair’s daughter is debuting next week and Bayley volunteers to ber her first opponent. Bayley gets one WOO for the road.

Leo Kruger vs. Sami Zayn

Feeling out process to start with Kruger bailing to the ropes. Zayn armdrags out of a wristlock and the fans chant Ole. Maddox: “But he’s from Montreal.” Some more armdrags put Leo down and Zayn rains down punches in the corner, only to be caught in an atomic drop. Sami comes back with a forearm to send Leo to the floor but his dive is blocked by a shot to the head as we take a break.

Back with Kruger pounding Sami down in the corner before getting two off a snap suplex. Leo works the arm with a hammerlock and knee drops followed by a spinebuster for two. Zayn comes back with some dropkicks for two and a high cross body gets the same. Sami charges into a knee in the corner and Kruger sends him shoulder first into the post. A Fujiwara Armbar has Zayn in deep trouble but he gets his feet in the ropes. Zayn comes back again with a blue thunder bomb for two but gets caught going up. A superplex sets up a DDT on the arm followed by the GC3 for the submission from Zayn at 10:42 shown of 14:12.

Rating: B. This was good old fashioned back and forth action and it still works well. There’s something so sweet about a basic good vs. evil dynamic and it’s very difficult to screw it up. Both of these guys have talent and will wind up on the main roster someday soon. Nice match here and the fans love Zayn.

Neville, Graves and Regal are ready for their six man later tonight against the Wyatts. Regal takes the time to hit on Renee Young and says he’s been fighting from the day he was born and broke the doctor’s fingers for slapping him. If the Wyatt Family knows what’s good for them, they’ll take their beating and stay down. It’s Graves/Neville vs. the Family for the titles next week.

Mason Ryan vs. Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore

Enzo runs his mouth about how Ryan has a problem with this handicap match. “See, 1+1=3.14. Time to eat your pie.” No tags are required here but Ryan throws them around anyway. Cassady finally gets in a boot to the face to slow Mason down but he picks Colin up anyway, only to be chop blocked by Enzo, giving Cassady the pin at 1:35. So they’re doing the Rhodes Scholars vs. Sheamus feud but with less talented people?

Dusty says next week it’s Kruger vs. Zayn vs. Cesaro for the #1 contendership.

Corey Graves/William Regal/Adrian Neville vs. Wyatt Family

Bray wants to know why Graves and Neville keep fighting because he’s the wolf raised by lambs and time belongs to him. All three Family members are a combined weight of 581lbs? I want to see the NXT scales. Neville starts by dropkicking Rowan and driving him into the corner for the tag off to Regal. William pounds away before it’s off to Graves who is taken down by a back elbow. Tag off to Harper but Graves scores a quick dropkick and hooks a figure four neck lock over the ropes.

Regal comes in to get some cheap shots behind the referee’s back before distracting the referee so Neville can do the same. Nice touch. We take a break and come back with Neville backflipping over Harper in the corner and dropkicking the knee out for two. Wyatt comes in to run over Adrian and stand on his chest to keep him down. Back to Harper who slams Adrian down by the hair and brings Rowan back in for a hard slam. A pumphandle backbreaker gets two and Erick stands on Adrian’s head for a bit.

Back to Bray who misses the corner splash but counters a crucifix into a Samoan drop for two. Luke comes back in to slam Adrian down again before putting on a chinlock. Neville knees his way out of a vertical suplex and dives over to tag Regal. William cleans house and hits the Knee Trembler on Harper but Rowan makes the save. Graves sends Erick to the floor and Neville dives on both guys. Harper takes Regal down and Bray comes in for Sister Abigail to knock Regal out for the pin at 10:50 shown of 13:40.

Rating: B-. This was the six man formula played to the letter and it worked perfectly. Regal coming in there works very well as he’s respected enough that a win over him means something so everybody looks great. It also keeps the challengers looking strong before their upcoming title shot.

Overall Rating: A-. This is one of the best shows I can remember in a very long time. In an hour we had a decent Divas match, a title match set up, a very good singles match, an amusing heel promo from one of the best heel characters I can remember in a long time (sidebar: I mean Amore. The guy is so universally unlikeable that he’s perfect as a heel), and a very good six man tag. For an hour long show, that’s remarkable. Great show here and NXT’s best in awhile.

Results

Emma b. Summer Rae – Cradle

Leo Kruger b. Sami Zayn – GC3

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady b. Mason Ryan – Chop Block to Ryan

Wyatt Family b. William Regal/Corey Graves/Adrian Neville – Sister Abigail to Regal

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon for just $4 at:

NXT
Date: July 3, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

It’s another big week on NXT as the Wyatt Family now has William Regal to deal with in addition to Graves and Ohno. On the singles side we have Leo Kruger looking like the first challenger for Bo Dallas, which is an odd choice as Dallas seems to be ready for a heel turn but he’s facing a heel in Leo. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Bo Dallas in the back for an interview. Renee asks him about Leo Kruger coming out and holding up the title after Dallas’ match last week. Dallas says the Bo-lievers (Renee: “Bo-lievers?” Dallas: “Yes the Bo-lievers.”) will be behind him against anyone. He brags about meeting Bret Hart at Wrestlemania and having a match at Wrestlemania Axxess, which he earned just like when he beat Big E. Langston.

Antonio Cesaro comes in and says Dallas hasn’t earned anything. Tonight he’ll take Dallas’ title in the name of We The People. Dallas introduces Cesaro to Renee, calling him the most insignificant US Champion in WWE history. Dallas was acting much more heelish here and it helped him a lot.

NXT Women’s Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Alicia Fox vs. Paige

Fox takes it to the mat in a headscissors with her long legs but Paige counters into a headlock. Fox pulls her down by the hair and immediately bails to the floor. Back in and Paige fires off rapid fire elbows in the corner but Fox sweeps her legs out and gets two off a northern lights suplex. Off to a chinlock with a knee in Paige’s back but she escapes with a jawbreaker. Paige throws her around by the hair and hits a knee to the face, only to walk into a dropkick for two. Not that it matters though as Paige kicks her in the ribs and hits the Paige Turner to send her to the finals at 4:44.

Rating: C-. This was much better for Paige than the match against Snuka a few weeks back as Paige looked competitive against a former Divas Champion. Fox is good in a role like this as she’s been around for awhile and is a name in the division (granted not a huge one) so a win like this makes Paige look better. You can only dominate the other NXT girls for so long before it stops meaning anything.

Andy Baker vs. Conor O’Brien

O’Brien now has Rick Victor with him as Kenneth Cameron’s replacement. Conor runs Baker over and shouts YOU’RE DEAD. Baker tries to fight back with some shots to the ribs but a flapjack and a legdrop from O’Brien are enough for the pin at 1:00.

Kassius Ohno was injured by the Wyatt Family last week and can’t compete for the tag titles. Corey Graves and Adrian Neville ask William Regal to join them.

Scott Dawson vs. Xavier Woods

The fans chant for Woods but Dawson kicks him in the ribs to take over. Woods comes back with a quick dropkick for a one count and it’s off to an armbar on Dawson. Scott backdrops him over the top, sending Woods face first into the apron. The fans are all over Dawson as he elbows Xavier in the face and drops a leg for two. We hit the chinlock for a few seconds but Woods fights up, hits the Honor Roll (front flip clothesline) and Lost in the Woods is good for the pin at 4:11.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t much to see but I’m glad Dawson isn’t on a winning streak anymore. Woods continues to be so high energy that it’s hard not to notice him. His antics are funny enough and having a nostalgia character is a good way to get your foot in the door. The match didn’t have long enough to go anywhere but it was hard hitting and energetic enough to not suck.

Bray Wyatt talks about people judging him for the way he looks. He’s a wolf and sheep’s clothing and if you knew what was behind his eyes, you would know why people are scared of him.

Enzo Amore vs. Mason Ryan

Enzo continues to be incredibly annoying and therefore a great new heel. He has 7’0 Colin Cassady with him…..and the match is over in 12 seconds with a single right hand from Ryan. Best part of the match is a line from Regal: “Is Amore the love child of DDP?”

Amore wants Ryan to fight Cassady RIGHT NOW.

Mason Ryan vs. Colin Cassady

Ryan throws him around and ends Cassady in 33 seconds with a cobra clutch slam.

NXT Title: Bo Dallas vs. Antonio Cesaro

The fans don’t care for Cesaro but they can’t stand Dallas. Cesaro is even cheered a bit during the big match intros. There’s a WE THE PEOPLE chant as Cesaro and Dallas feel each other out. Dawson: “What does it mean if Cesaro can beat Dallas tonight?” Regal: “That he’ll be the champion.” Cesaro cranks on the arm and the fans are have a “Let’s go Bo” and “No more Bo” dueling chant going between the women and men.

A shoulder block gets two for Cesaro as Dawson has to explain who Tim Tebow is to Regal. Cesaro sends Dallas to the floor as we take a break. Back with Cesaro holding a chinlock as Leo Kruger is standing on the ramp. A kick to the back keeps Dallas down and the fans ask Cesaro to do it again. He loads the kick up but drops down into another chinlock to tease the people.

Dallas fights up again and pounds away in the corner before getting two off a bulldog. Cesaro’s slam is countered into a reverse DDT for two more but the corner climbing bulldog is blocked. Cesaro puts him on the top for a gutwrench superplex for a very close two. A middle rope knee drop gets two on the champion and it’s off to the swinging chinlock.

Dallas rolls the chinlock over into a cradle for two but Cesaro comes back with a fallaway slam for two more. Cesaro goes up top but Dallas runs the corner for a butterfly superplex to put both guys down again. Antonio is sent into Kruger to knock Leo off the apron, allowing Dallas to hit the belly to belly to retain at 10:15 shown of 12:45.

Rating: C+. Very interesting crowd reactions aside, this match really took off in the last three minutes or so. Kruger interfering sets up some interesting dynamics down the line and gives Dallas an extra challenger to face. They’ll need to move forward with that heel turn soon, because the fans were cheering for the protege of a white supremacist over the young face champion.

Post match Kruger lays out Dallas but Cesaro knocks Kruger to the floor. Cesaro pounds on Dallas until Kruger gets back in for a staredown. They double team Dallas until Sami Zayn comes in for the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show had a lot of filler, but the main event was solid and it sets up a very interesting four way feud for the title. Zayn is fitting right into this show and WWE sending big names down to Florida can only help things out. This was a good sign for the future and was an entertaining hour of wrestling.

Results

Paige b. Alicia Fox – Paige Turner

Conor O’Brien b. Andy Baker – Legdrop

Xavier Woods b. Scott Dawson – Lost in the Woods

Mason Ryan b. Enzo Amore – Right Hand

Mason Ryan b. Colin Cassady – Cobra Clutch

Bo Dallas b. Antonio Cesaro – Belly to belly suplex

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