NXT
Date: November 28, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, Jim Ross, Tom Phillips

Back to the Florida guys this week as we approach the title match between Rollins and Mahal. We’re also getting towards the point where this show will catch up to WWE and we’ll see Mahal as a leather clad rocker and potentially Rollins as a guy in a police themed gimmick. Other than that we’ve still got Langston vs. Vickie’s guys for the bounty. Let’s get to it.

We open with Bryan, saying that he’s coming back to the place where it all started for him. Since he was here, he became world champion, started a successful line of t-shirts and now HE IS THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS! Tonight he demands that no one say YES and that no one call him a goatface. He also says that Kane, who is standing next to him, must stay out of his way. Kane says HE is the tag team champions and for Bryan to stay out of his way. You know where this is going. Bryan lets out the biggest NO ever but Kane says yes to counter.

Theme song.

Trent Barreta vs. Leo Kruger

Trent has banged up ribs due to the presumed attack by Kruger last week. He takes Kruger down with some running shots to the head to start, but the ribs keep him from being able to follow up. Leo sends the ribs into the corner and rips off the tape. A knee drop keeps Trent down and Kruger goes after the ribs. Off to an abdominal stretch as the tape is rapidly disappearing from Barreta’s ribs.

Kruger goes up to the middle rope but jumps into a dropkick for two. Trent keeps hitting moves but he has to stop to breathe after every single one. The running elbow in the corner staggers Kruger but a release flapjack stops the momentum cold. The Kruger End (neckbreaker into a cutter) gets the pin on Trent at 4:39.

Rating: C-. The match makes sense from a logic and psychology standpoint which I like, but it wasn’t exactly an interesting match due to all of the slowing down. Trent is a guy who will go out there and give you a good match most of the time, but he wasn’t able to be himself here. Odds are we’ll get another match soon when Trent is healthy.

Xavier Woods vs. Memo Montenegro

Woods is billed as being from Angel Grove, California. Isn’t that where the Power Rangers were from in the first few seasons? Woods likes to dance apparently and also is good in hip hop kido. JR doesn’t care for whatever that is but likes headlocks. The voice Ross uses when saying that was hilarious. Woods continues to control with the headlock as JR continues to sound like he cannot stand Woods’ gimmick. Memo misses a clothesline and a dropkick puts him down. In a stupid/AWESOME ending, Woods shouts that IT’S MORPHING TIME (awesome) and hits a rolling clothesline for the pin at 2:14.

Wait a second. During the match, Dawson said that Woods was trained by Zack Taylor in Hip Hop Kido. A quick Wikipedia search shows that Taylor was the name of the original Black Power Ranger and his fighting style was in fact Hop Hop Kido. I take what I said earlier back. Woods is AWESOME!

Audrey Marie vs. Emma

Emma is from Australia and Audrey is officially a cowgirl. A dropkick puts Emma down quickly and Audrey hooks a “unique submission” according to Tom. JR: “It’s called a bodyscissors Tom.” That gets a few rollups for two on Emma and it’s off to a move I’ve heard called a Tumbleweed for more twos. JR continues to be funny because he’s annoyed and/or bored, saying that he feels sorry for these girls because neither has a last name. Tom calls a cross body a giant play to annoy JR even more. After a backslide gets two for Emma, Audrey finishes her with a Catatonic (spinning Rock Bottom) at 2:40.

Roman Reigns has issued a press release, saying that he doesn’t want to give an interview right now. He has meetings with his “team” to determine various endorsements because he’s a blue chipper, but he’ll participate in this interview at a later date. Ok that’s pretty awesome.

Here’s Michael Cole to moderate a face to face meeting between Rollins and Mahal. Cole’s music sounds like it’s being sung by a bad Frank Sinatra impersonator and is called Never Thought My Life Could Be This Good. It sounds like it’s describing a scene from Leave It To Beaver, talking about having a mowed lawn and a picket fence. It’s kind of catchy actually.

Anyway he brings out Rollins and Mahal for the face to face confrontation. Mahal says what he did last week wasn’t an attack. Rollins says it was the action of a desperate man, because Mahal knows he can’t beat Rollins one on one. Mahal talks about how it’s his birthright (his destiny if you will) to be a champion. Rollins talks about being a man of the people and sharing a mind and a spirit. Rollins says he’s better than Mahal because he has the heart of a champion. Mahal goes on a rant about prejudice and attacks Rollins, putting him in the camel clutch.

Tag Titles: Michael McGillicutty/Johnny Curtis vs. HELL NO

Curtis is already dancing and is apparently a stripper now. Oh joy. Apparently THIS is Johnny’s cash in for winning NXT Season 4. Wow they actually remembered that. Points for continuity! Bryan and Kane argue before the match, which starts with McGillicutty vs. Bryan. Michael takes him down to start and Bryan pretends to tag Kane, just to tease him a bit. Now be nice to that monster.

Kane tags himself in and clotheslines McGillicutty to the floor, only to have Bryan tag himself back in. The challengers take over with some double teaming and Goatface plays Ricky Morton. Curtis puts on a bow and arrow submission hold before it’s back to McGillicutty for some shots to the ribs. Johnny hooks a chinlock for a bit before a double clothesline puts both guys down. Hot tag brings in Kane and house is cleaned. Bryan tags himself in again and the champions argue. McGillicutty gets two off a rollup as everything breaks down. A chokeslam puts Curtis down as the NO Lock submits McGillicutty at 7:05.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here as the whole match was just killing time until McGillicutty and Curtis realized they were McGillicutty and Curtis. Why in the world Curtis is getting repackaged and put on the main roster instead of McGillicutty is beyond me, but it might be because Michael is talented and might get over, and we wouldn’t want that.

The champs hug it out to close the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This wasn’t their best show. The Power Rangers thing is a great geek out moment, but the rest of this show doesn’t work for me. The main guys other than Rollins weren’t here and they were clearly missed. I can’t complain about seeing Audrey Marie on my screen, but JR being belligerent is sad to hear. He just doesn’t care anymore and that’s very clear. Not a terrible show, but their worst in months.

Results

Leo Kruger b. Trent Barreta – Kruger End

Xavier Woods b. Memo Montenegro – Rolling Clothesline

Audrey Marie b. Emma – Spinning Rock Bottom

HELL NO b. Michael McGillicutty/Johnny Curtis – NO Lock to McGillicutty

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 20, 2012
Location: Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

Survivor Series was last night and to say I’m not thrilled by the prospects at the moment for the WWE is an understatement. Ryback lost the world title match because of an invading group of NXT guys, but other than that there’s not much to get excited about. Thankfully this is the time of year when the WWE actually starts trying so maybe they’ll do that again tonight. Let’s get to it.

They do that stupid voiceover thing again. That has to go soon. It’s a recap of last night but they don’t say what happened. Oh wait yes they do because this show is stupid.

Here’s Ryback to open the show….for a promo? Well that’s certainly different. He says he was about to feast on the WWE Championship last night, but Punk had three men take food out of a starving man’s mouth. Ryback is a predator and those four men are now his prey. He wants them out here right now, but if they don’t he’s going to tear this place apart. A feed me more chant starts and here’s Vickie. She says if Ryback attacks anyone in the back, it’s a fine or suspension. For now though, here’s a match for him.

Ryback vs. Tensai

Oh joy. They fight over a lockup to start followed by Ryback running over Tensai. Tensai headbutts him in the corner as we’re just waiting on the inevitable here. A Thesz Press of all things takes down Tensai and Ryback rams his head into the mat over and over again. A Baldo Bomb puts Ryback down and the backsplash gets no count at all. There was a cover but Ryback got up before one. A powerslam puts Tensai down as does a spinebuster before we head outside. Back in and it’s the Meat Hook and Shell Shock (BIG reaction when he got Tensai up) for the pin at 3:33.

Rating: D+. The ending looked good but there was nothing to this match because there’s nothing to Tensai. Why am I supposed to care about Ryback beating a guy who hasn’t won a match in months, especially when he’s beaten him so many times already? Just nothing of note here and a waste of time for the most part. Ryback isn’t going to get the title anytime soon, and that’s the problem for him right now.

Sheamus is yelling at the referee from last night.

Kofi Kingston vs. Wade Barrett

Non-title here. Feeling out process to start with Kofi hitting a jumping back elbow (love that move) for two. King talks about Barrett’s nose as Kofi pounds Wade in the face. Wade comes back with shots to the ribs to take over as this hasn’t gone that far in the first few minutes. A neckbreaker gets two for Wade and we take a break. Back with Kofi in a chinlock and apparently Barrett attacked the eye earlier.

Barrett hits the boot to the face while Kofi is in the ropes to keep Kingston in even more trouble. Kofi’s head goes into the steps before a kick to the head gets two back inside. Wade rips away at Kofi’s face some more but the champ comes back with a rollup for two and a kick to the face.

Barrett rolls to the floor but as he comes back in, Kofi pounds away on him. This is the Wildcat or whatever Kofi calls himself now. The Boom Drop hits but Barrett blocks the kick and hits Winds of Change for two. Kofi kicks him in the face and hits the cross body off the top for another two. SOS gets two more but a rake to the eyes sets up the Bull Hammer to give Wade the pin at 11:30.

Rating: B-. Solid match here, but man alive is there NO other way to set up a title feud than having the challenger pin the champion? Just say they’re having a title match at the PPV. Seriously just do it that way. Stop having to walk us through everything and just do the match. Let them TALK to each other and have some interaction and then do the freaking match. I assure you it’s not that hard.

We talk about the invading NXT guys along with Brad Maddox, the latter of whom we get a video on.

Punk and Heyman are setting up for the WWE Championship Celebration later. Punk yells at Striker for bringing up Ryback’s name. Heyman says Ryback is invited to the celebration. Punk: “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Kaitlyn vs. Aksana

Aksana tries to hide on the floor but suckers Kaitlyn in for a clothesline. She pounds on Kaitlyn a bit and cranks on the arm over the top rope as you see Del Rio do occasionally. Kaitlyn comes back with some hair throws and a weak gutbuster for the pin at 3:02.

Rating: D-. Why in the world is this supposed to interest me? If Kaitlyn is supposed to be the next big thing for the girls, they’re in more trouble than they thought. She’s just not that good and there’s really no other way to spin it. Aksana looks good in the outfits but she’s DEATH in the ring. Nothing to see here.

Brodus Clay vs. Antonio Cesaro

Truth is at ringside because this is STILL continuing again. Oh and this is non-title because titles aren’t meant to be defended. Brodus pounds on him in the corner followed by Cesaro pounding on Brodus in the corner. Cesaro takes Brodus down and hits a double stomp followed by a cravate. Brodus comes back with a headbutt to the chest and a splash in the corner but a Vader Bomb misses. A European Uppercut off the middle rope sets up the Neutralizer for the pin at 2:30. Clay lost in case you’re freaking stupid and complain about me not making stuff clear enough. Cesaro you, you dumb schmuck. Clear enough for you?

Video on Cena’s Make-A-Wish stuff. Apparently Cena is the only person to ever fulfill 300 wishes. That’s AMAZING when you think about it. To stretch it out we’ll say he’s been doing this ten years. That’s 30 a year or about one ever 12 days or so. Given his schedule, that’s amazing and it’s likely that it’s a lot tighter than that because he wasn’t a big deal until about 2005.

Vickie is talking to two people in the back. She has more evidence tonight. Oh freaking great.

Here are Vickie and those two people to waste more time and stop the wrestling we had going. Four matches in the first hour including one going over ten minutes isn’t bad at all, but we need THIS now right? She says that she wouldn’t lay a hand on a WWE Superstar but AJ had no reason to try to humiliate her. These people are witnesses apparently. The chick is a waitress at the restaurant where the business dinner took place. Apparently they wanted a private table and were whispering to each other a lot.

The other witness is a parking attendant who saw them in a car together for an hour. What did they do? No idea, but apparently someone came to tell him about what he saw in the car. Cue AJ who at least looks good. AJ says fire her or let it go already because this is stupid. PREACH IT SISTER! Vickie says she has a photo from the guy who claimed to have no idea what was going on.

Before she can show it, here’s Cena who says this is all nonsense. Cena says that Vickie is trying to give people something to talk about, so here’s how you do it. With that, he kisses AJ who seems to like it and kisses him as well as he goes back to talk to Vickie. Ziggler comes out and they brawl up the ramp. Well it’s better than nothing I guess. Cena might have hurt his knee on the way up but from what I can tell this is storyline only.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Randy Orton

This is 2/3 falls because they need something to fill in the three hours. Why this feud is continuing is beyond me but my guess is because the writers aren’t capable of coming up with anything new. Orton takes over with a quick clothesline but Del Rio goes after the arm to take over. Randy snaps off that gorgeous dropkick of his as the fans want an RKO. Instead they get a snap suplex from Del Rio for two.

Lawler talks about Ricardo’s relatives: Jose and Jos-B. Say it out loud and the joke will make sense. Alberto goes after the arm but Orton shoves him away when he tries the armbreaker. Del Rio gets in another shot to the arm and wraps it around the post over and over again, drawing the DQ for the first fall. The crowd is just in love with Orton here.

We take a break and come back Alberto holding a top wristlock and kicking the arm even more. Off to an armbar which Orton suplexes out of and starts his comeback to a big reaction. This is one of the hottest crowds they’ve had in months. Del Rio counters the Elevated DDT and the cross armbreaker ties things up. Del Rio poses a lot instead of staying on Orton as things slow down a bit.

Orton insists he can keep going and gets to his feet to start the third fall. Del Rio plays some cat and mouse as Orton keeps backing away because of the arm. Orton gets that sweet spinning rollup out of the corner for two but Alberto hits him in the arm to stop him dead again. The running kick in the corner gets two but Orton snaps off his backbreaker to slow Alberto down. Rodriguez interferes and is ejected but the distraction lets Del Rio hit the Backstabber for two.

Del Rio coils up for the RKO like Orton but walks into the Elevated DDT. Orton goes for the RKO mat slap but hurts his arm again in a smart move. It makes sense that he would hurt his arm there, which shows thinking. I love that! The armbreaker goes on but Orton grasps his hands to block it into a rollup for two. Del Rio misses another kick and the RKO ends this at 12:44.

Rating: B-. This is one of those matches where it depends on how you look at it. From a psychology standpoint, it was great with Orton selling the arm VERY well and teasing that he could lose the match because of it. The crowd was way into things too which helped a lot. On the other hand though, what in the world does this prove? The feud should have ended with the falls count anywhere match but instead we get another match with the same ending. It was good, but it’s kind of annoying in the same sense.

We recap the AJ/Cena/Vickie stuff from earlier, because going 20 minutes without hearing about it is too long.

Cena gets his knee looked at and AJ is with him.

Great Khali vs. Primo/Epico

Before the bell here’s Horny to give Rosa some flowers. The cousins have to tag here but the camera is on Horny and Rosa for a good chunk of it. Oh wait the flowers spray Rosa with water. Punjabi Plunge ends Epico at 1:09. This was an angle with a match going on in the background.

Heyman continues his prep for the celebration before FREAKING because there aren’t any balloons.

The Miz vs. David Otunga

Otunga pounds him down with forearms to the back to start and sends Miz shoulder first into the post. A Russian legsweep gets one and Otunga uses some middle rope elbows for two. Off to a chinlock followed by a clothesline and a shoulder block for two for Otunga. Back to the chinlock and we get a mild boring chant. A rollup gets two for Miz as does a clothesline for Otunga. We hit chinlock number three in four minutes but Miz fights out and gets two off a sunset flip. There’s the corner clothesline and the ax handle to set up the Finale to Otunga for the pin at 6:07.

Rating: D+. This was a good idea for Miz to come back like he did, but at the same time it wasn’t much from a technical standpoint. When you have three chinlocks in four minutes, it’s pretty clear you have no idea how to get through a very basic match. Seriously grab an armbar or something. Nothing to see here but Miz getting a clean win is a good thing for him, even over someone like Otunga.

We recap Show vs. Sheamus and the controversial ending from last night.

Another recap shows us what happened so far tonight.

Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow

Sheamus has the chair with him and says that he’s not smiling after last night. He wants one more match with Show and here’s the champ. Show looks more sleepy than anything else but says that he has nothing left to prove over Sheamus. That’s rather true actually. They yell at each other for awhile and Show says he’s the champion still. Sandow finally cuts them off and we’re ready to go.

Sandow bails to the corner to start and demands that the referee do his job. A single punch puts Damien on the apron and things stay slow. Off to a headlock by Sheamus which also goes nowhere. Sheamus pounds on him in the corner and hits a suplex for two. The pale one works on the arm as the announcers recap the show because the recap before this match wasn’t enough I guess. Sheamus knocks him out to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Sandow sending Sheamus’ shoulder into the buckle. Sandow pounds away with the knees to the chest and drops some ax handles for two. We hit the chinlock as Cole and King have some really bad small talk. A Russian legsweep sets up the Wind-Up Elbow but Sheamus pops up and hits the Irish Curse to put Sandow down. Sheamus comes back with the forearms in the ropes, the top rope shoulder, White Noise and the Brogue Kick for the pin at 14:25. There was no comeback or anything from Sandow in between. Sheamus really did just hit all of those moves in order for the pin.

Rating: D. How in the world was that fifteen minutes long? This was a very uninteresting match and was yet another match that was just being stretched out for the sake of stretching out a match to fill in the three hours. This is another one of those matches that we’ve seen a few times and it’s gotten progressively worse each time, which is how WWE works today.

AJ comes in to see Tamina and Vickie and nothing happens.

Post break, AJ is storming somewhere with Layla telling her not to do it. AJ goes into the men’s locker room and up to Ziggler. Dolph yells at her and Cena beats Dolph up until Dolph goes after the bad knee.

Post break, we show the same segment from before the break.

Sin Cara/Rey Mysterio vs. HELL NO

Non-title, again. The Players are on commentary here. Apparently if the masked dudes win, they get a title shot. Cara and Kane start and Kane runs over a jumping Cara before bring in Bryan. The fans continue to be white hot by cheering for Bryan, even as he misses a middle rope knee drop. Off to Rey for the double kicks from the masked men, getting two on Daniel.

Bryan comes back with a kick to Rey but Kane tags himself in to continue one of the worst series in wrestling history. Kane sends him to the floor but gets caught by the seated senton off the apron. Cara dives on Bryan who is on the floor for no apparent reason as we take a break. Back with Kane cranking on Cara’s head but let’s look at the Players talking instead of the match.

Bryan puts the surfboard on Cara as Titus makes fun of Lawler having a heart attack, insisting that he’s not doing any CPR. We debate wash rags for a bit (don’t ask) as Bryan brings in Kane. Back to Bryan for a camel clutch as we talk about healthcare and Robitussin. A tornado DDT puts Bryan down and there’s the tag to Rey. Mysterio gets a kind of reverse DDT on Kane as everything breaks down. Rey dives into an uppercut from Kane for two but there’s the 619 and top rope splash but Kane catches him by the throat. Not that it matters as the Players run in for the DQ at 10:42.

Rating: C. Not bad here but the whole thing wound up meaning nothing. My guess is they’re setting up for a triple threat match at the PPV because we haven’t had one in a full month at that point. HELL NO needs to change things up a bit because they’re still having the same match they’ve had since the team formed, which really shouldn’t shock anyone because no one evolves in WWE, but try to do something new already.

Post match the Players get beaten down.

Heyman promises Punk that no one will interrupt the celebration.

Oh wait we need to show the AJ/Cena stuff AGAIN. As usual, this means showing it for I think the fourth time tonight.

Here’s Heyman in a decorated ring for Punk’s celebration. He wants to know why no one likes them, assuming it may be making fun of Lawler’s heart attack. I begin to love Paul Heyman as he explains how ridiculous fans are for wanting more adult storylines and then saying it’s too far when Heyman fakes a heart attack. Here’s Punk to the ring to talk about people who couldn’t last a year as champion. Names like Bret, Shawn, Undertaker and Rock are mentioned which is pretty good company to be ahead of.

We get a video on Punk and his year as champion which is pretty cool when you think about it. Given how much content there is today, a year is an INSANE amount of time to hold the title. The fans are cheering for Punk when the video ends. Punk talks about being champion until June 25, 2018, which is the 355^th episode of Main Event (“On Ion Television”) when he’ll pass Sammartino’s seven year run.

Heyman talks about how great Bruno was and says he belongs in the WWE Hall of Fame, but says Bruno couldn’t beat Punk. Nor could Hogan or that other Paul Heyman guy, Steve Austin. At the Rumble we’re going to see that Rock couldn’t beat Punk either. This brings out Ryback but the three NXT guys attack him. Ryback fights them off and gets in the ring but the numbers catch up with him. The three guys get him to the floor and hit the triple powerbomb through the table like last night. Punk never touched Ryback and he gets in Ryback’s face to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This is your typical Raw anymore: it could have been good but the third hour wound up killing it. Not the final hour mind you, but having an extra sixth minutes throughout the show to fill. This results in a TON of recaps and matches being stretched out for the sake of stretching them out (see Sheamus vs. Sandow). That doesn’t make for a good show, but rather a LONG one. It feels like it never ends and that makes it almost a chore to sit through. This was better than most shows though.

Results

Ryback b. Tensai – Shell Shock

Wade Barrett b. Kofi Kingston – Bull Hammer

Kaitlyn b. Aksana – Gutbuster

Antonio Cesaro b. Brodus Clay – Neutralizer

Randy Orton b. Alberto Del Rio – RKO

Great Khali b. Primo/Epico – Punjabi Plunge to Epico

The Miz b. David Otunga – Skull Crushing Finale

Sheamus b. Damien Sandow – Brogue Kick

HELL NO vs. Sin Cara/Rey Mysterio went to a no contest when the Prime Time Players interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: November 14, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Luftman

We have a world title match scheduled now and we have to get to that match, which may be tonight. They weren’t really clear when the match would be going on but tonight would be a bit soon I’d think. Other than that we’ve got Vickie holding a bounty over Big E. Langston’s head, which is good as he needs a story of some kind. I’ve been loving NXT for the last few weeks so hopefully it stays this good. Let’s get to it.

Mahal is in the back to open the show and talks about how awesome he is. Bo Dallas is called a nobody and comes up to challenge Mahal to a fight. Dallas says since he’s so easy to beat, put up the title shot. Mahal: “Why would I do that?” Dallas: “Why not?” Apparently it’s on and the title match isn’t tonight.

Ascension vs. Yoshi Tatsu/Percy Watson

This would be a good place for Tatsu to remind people what he’s capable of. Cameron and Watson start things off but it’s quickly off to a now nearly bald O’Brien. Ascension does their very fast tagging with the quick striking offense ala Demolition. Conor puts on a hard headlock to keep Watson down even longer. Watson finally escapes and it’s off to Tatsu vs. Cameron as things speed up. Ascension turns up the awesome and hits the Fall of Man (Total Elimination) for the pin on Tatsu at 2:54. Total squash and Ascension looked great.

Aksana and Layla have one of those stupid Divas moments in the back about Layla’s hair looking bad.

Corey Graves vs. Oliver Gray

They fight over an arm hold to start as we hear about Gray being a former lumberjack. So he made his living filling in a spot around the ring for a match no one wanted to see? How do I get that job? Graves works on the knee as the fans cheer for him, despite him seeming to be a heel. JR gets Tony’s name wrong (Tom) as Graves stays on the knee. Off to an Indian Deathlock by Graves as we go back to the 1970s. Graves hooks a cool looking rolling leg lock for the tap out at 4:13.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here but Graves looked good which is what NXT has been good at lately. They’ve built up a few guys and it’s hard to say who is better than whom. In something I can’t say about WWE or TNA at the moment, I buy this show as having a chance at not screwing this up. Good squash here.

Video on Big E. Langston

Here’s Langston for a special interview. SWEET this should be good. He talks about how he’s worried about Vickie’s bounty. Worried for the other people that is, because the E stands for their end. Langston has five reasons why he’s awesome but Camacho jumps him from behind. He hits Langston once then holds up five fingers.

Layla vs. Aksana

A quick rollup gets two for the British chick (Layla) but Aksana MESSES WITH THE HAIR!!! Aksana puts her down and crawls along the apron for no apparent reason. A baseball slide puts Aksana on the floor and a few rollups get two each for Layla. Layla gets pulled off the middle rope and pounded on a bit and it’s off to a triangle choke from Aksana. That goes nowhere so they get into a modified catfight. Aksana takes over and does the slow sexy crawl again which lets Layla make her comeback with clotheslines (arms to the chest according to Tony. He’s trying at least) and a high kick for the pin for Layla at 5:21.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t horrible but at the end of the day, Aksana just isn’t that good. Layla is one of the fun Divas and there’s nothing wrong with that at all, but it kind of limits where she can go. Aksana tries out there and there’s nothing bad about that sexy crawl, but the whole idea of them fighting over hair and then having a not very good match isn’t going to help shake the stigma this division has.

We go to a field with Bray Wyatt, talking about how he’s a monster and he’s never told us a lie. He’s been around for centuries and has been worshiped by every civilization and if you want to find the sign of him, follow the buzzards in the sky. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but the delivery is so awesome it’s hard not to stop and watch him, which is what promos are supposed to be about.

Roman Reigns vs. Chase Donovan

Reigns throws him into the corner to start and hooks a cravate. JR calls Reigns the LeBron James of the WWE. That’s a bit of a stretch I’d think but JR hasn’t cared in years so why should I? A spinebuster puts Donovan down and it’s off to a nerve hold. Reigns lets that go, roars a lot, and hits the belly to back slam for the pin at 2:41.

Reigns makes Byron Saxton announce him as the Thoroughbred Roman Reigns twice because he wasn’t happy with just being announced as the winner.

Jinder Mahal vs. Bo Dallas

The winner gets the shot at Rollins. Feeling out process is won by Mahal and it’s off to a top wristlock. Dallas hooks a headlock and they slow things down a lot. They’re using the formula usually reserved for the long and big matches even though there isn’t a ton of time left here. Dallas sends Mahal into the corner but misses a dropkick. Mahal’s camel clutch doesn’t work so Jinder hits the floor as we hit a break.

Back with Dallas hammering away in the corner but getting caught by a running knee in the face for two. Off to a double arm trap hold by Mahal which goes on for a good while until Dallas flips him over for two. Backslide gets two for Dallas so Mahal kicks him in the head a few times. A knee to the ribs gets two and Dallas is in trouble. Dallas gets knocked to the apron but he comes back with a kick to the head and a slingshot clothesline for two. Dallas misses a charge into the buckle and there’s the camel clutch for the tap at 9:03 shown of 12:33.

Rating: C. This wasn’t that interesting of a match. They started off slowly and usually once the break is over, things would pick up but in this case it never got into a higher gear. Dallas is a guy that gets a good reaction but he just isn’t that good in the ring. Mahal isn’t bad as a heel but he doesn’t really have much of a character other than he’s Indian and rich. Granted this is before 3MB started so that’s a moot point.

Mahal attacks Dallas post match but Rollins makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was one of those shows that only kind of worked. The stuff on it that was good was good but the stuff on it that was dull was quite dull. The main event didn’t work that well at all but they had to have something to fill in the time before the title match. I liked Graves and the Ascension stuff and the Wyatt promo as well, but I’m not sold yet on Reigns. The character development here is light years ahead of WWE and TNA at the moment though.

Results

Ascension b. Yoshi Tatsu/Percy Watson – Fall of Man to Tatsu

Corey Graves b. Oliver Gray – Rolling Leg Lock

Layla b. Aksana – High Kick

Roman Reigns b. Chase Donovan – Belly to Back Slam

Jinder Mahal b. Bo Dallas – Camel Clutch

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: October 24, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Luftman, William Regal

Back to NXT again and it’s still the same feuds we’ve had for the last few weeks if not months. They need to add in some new ones soon because this is starting to wear a bit thin. The feuds aren’t to the point yet where they’re stale or anything, but they’re inching towards that being the case. Hopefully things can be adjusted tonight. Let’s get to it.

Earlier today Heath Slater came in to see Dusty Rhodes. Slater wants a title shot against Rollins but Big Dust says you have to earn the shot. Vickie comes in to interrupt. Oh sweet goodness she’s on THIS SHOW TOO??? She wants to recruit Slater but Dusty says that Slater can have a title shot if he wins tonight. I have no idea why Vickie was here at all.

Theme song.

Brodus Clay vs. Camacho

Brodus gets the full entrance here and has his old hat because his burial hasn’t happened in NXT time yet. There’s a new commentator with Regal now and he’s got a good voice. The ring announcer sounds like Matt Striker. Brodus shoves him down and dances a bit before suplexing Camacho down.

Brodus punches away a few times in the corner but gets his knee taken out. A dropkick puts Clay down and it’s off to a nerve hold. Clay fights up but gets caught in a Samoan Drop. Camacho heads to the floor and glares at the Funkadactyls which gets him nowhere. Back in and Camacho jumps into the headbutt followed by the suplex and splash for the pin at 3:53.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here but for the life of me I don’t get the idea of depushing a guy like Brodus. He’s a guaranteed pop to open a show but he gets to lose to a guy like Slater on Smackdown? Oh well, the guy only got over on a stupid gimmick and the company did nothing with him so it must be Brodus’ fault right?

Kassius Ohno vs. Trent Barreta

Trent takes him down and cranks on the arm as things speed up. A fast rollup gets two on Ohno and things stay fast. Ohno throws him to the mat and hits an elbow in the corner, only to have Trent clothesline him out to the floor. A BIG dive takes Ohno out but as they get back up Kassius sends him into the apron to take over again. A knee to the back of the head gets two and it’s off to the cravate.

After the hold is cranked on for a bit, Ohno kicks him in the head and puts the hold right back on. Riveting stuff. We actually hear the name Misawa on WWE TV as Regal talks about Ohno revering Misawa in Japan. Trent comes back with a slap to the face for two and sends Kassius to the corner.

Barreta charges at the ropes and jumps onto the middle one, launching himself sideways into an elbow in the corner. I’m not sure what was supposed to happen as the elbow looked like it hit but Ohno was fine and Trent went down. Maybe Trent hit his head? Anyway, Ohno pounds away some more but here’s Richie Steamboat with a towel. He throws it into Ohno’s face, allowing Trent to hit his running knee to the face for the pin at 6:50.

Rating: C. As usual, Trent is fun to watch and I fail to see what the appeal is of Ohno, especially in this character. I guess he likes to be violent and physical but that’s not really much of a character, especially given what Ohno is capable of. Also his name being Kassius Ohno doesn’t help him much either. This was a nice job of furthering the Steamboat Ohno feud I guess, but it needs to wrap up or have them fight soon.

Layla/Alicia Fox vs. Audrey Marie/Paige

Alicia vs. Paige gets us going and Paige hits a quick dropkick. Alicia hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two and a double tag brings in Layla vs. Audrey, who is looking quite good in white here. After Layla dances a bit, she takes Audrey down with a rollup for two. Layla hits a quick kick to the face for two and a kick to the head gets two as well. Regal points out how rare it is to see two British women wrestling in WWE.

Back to Alicia who hits a northern lights suplex for two but Audrey grabs a quick rollup. The kickout sends her into the corner for the tag to Paige in a nice spot. Paige comes charging at the freshly tagged in Layla who clotheslines her down for no cover. Paige picks Layla up for that fisherman’s DDT of hers but Audrey tags herself in. Paige and Audrey get in an argument and Layla rolls Audrey up for the pin at 5:03.

Rating: C. It’s amazing what happens when they treat the Divas like something serious instead of a joke. The match wasn’t great or anything like that but it was more entertaining than most of what you get on Raw anymore. Layla is still pretty annoying, but Paige and Audrey are a breath of fresh air in the division. This isn’t as good as the match from I think last week with the girls, but it was still solid.

Video on the tour of Egypt.

Bronson vs. Lincoln Brodrick

Bronson is a guy in a hoodie who resembles Boris Zhukov and/or Ivan Koloff. Brodrick (that’s how it’s spelled in the graphic) is a musclehead who looks familiar but I can’t place him. Ah apparently he wrestled under the name Marcus Anthony (his real name and a great wrestling name) in OVW for awhile.

Bronson immediately puts on a front facelock and takes Lincoln to the mat. A hard clothesline takes Lincoln down and a leg trip does the same before it’s off to a freaky looking leg lock to make Lincoln tap at 1:08. The best way I can describe the hold is like a Figure Four but with Bronson’s legs sticking up instead of going down under Lincoln. Bronson looked awesome here.

Ohno throws a fit in the back.

Here’s Antonio Cesaro with something to say. He says that he’s the champion of everyone here because he’s the champion of all America. Cesaro asks us to stand for the national anthem but most people don’t seem interested. Instead here’s Tyson Kidd to interrupt him. Tyson makes fun of Cesaro’s man purse (Cesaro: “IT’S NOT A PURSE!!!”) and says he wants a title shot right here. Cesaro goes off in some other language, but Kidd says he’s got something universal. He slaps Cesaro and the champion bails to the floor.

Heath Slater vs. Seth Rollins

Non-title here and Vickie is managing Slater, presumably as a tryout. I’m assume this is from before the 3MB. JR has replaced that Tony guy on commentary. Slater shoulderblocks him down to start and a headlock takeover does the same. Rollins comes back with a chop and Slater bails to the ropes. Rollins works over the arm and while holding a wristlock, plays air guitar with it in a funny bit.

Slater heads to the floor and slows things down a bit. A baseball slide puts Slater on his back in the aisle and Vickie yells at Heath to win. We take a break and come back with both guys hitting cross bodies at the same time back in the ring. They slug it out for some boo/yay time from the audience before Rollins takes over with a dropkick.

An enziguri from the apron staggers Slater and Heath is backdropped to the floor. There’s a suicide dive to take Slater out and Heath is reeling. Back in a springboard I think knee to Slater’s head gets two but Rollins walks into that falling Cutter for two for Heath. Rollins kicks Heath in the head and hits a standing Sliced Bread #2 for the pin at 6:46 shown of 7:16.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t bad but it never got to the level that you would expect from Rollins. The problem here is that Rollins is a bigger deal than Slater, who is arguably the king of jobbers in the WWE. For Rollins, this wasn’t much of a challenge and the match wasn’t really much to get excited about.

Overall Rating: B-. I liked this show a lot with the main event being the weakest part. Bronson is a guy that I’m interested in as he looks tough and dominated in his first match. On top of that the more Trent Barreta I see the happier I am. This episode was a nice surprise as things were starting to get a bit stale with the long running stories.

Bringing in a new character helps, as does bringing in the main roster people to put the NXT guys over. Oh and the new announcer isn’t bad. He sounds like someone with a lot of announcing experience but not necessarily in wrestling. Regal had to tell him of a lot of names of moves and the new guy didn’t sound entirely sure who the wrestlers were. For a debut though, he sounded fine and didn’t make any mistakes that I heard.

Results

Brodus Clay b. Camacho – Splash

Trent Barreta b. Kassius Ohno – Running Knee to the Face

Layla/Alicia Fox b. Paige/Audrey Marie – Rollup to Marie

Bronson b. Lincoln Brodrick – Inverted Figure Four

Seth Rollins b. Heath Slater – Standing Sliced Bread #2

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: October 10, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, William Regal

After last week there isn’t much to go on for this show. The main feud continues to be Ohno vs. Steamboat which can only go on so much longer before it starts getting dull. Far more importantly than that though, the WWE Champion CM Punk is here tonight to do whatever he wants. That’s a cool bonus for the fans. Let’s get to it.

Punk talks about how he’s here to see Rollins get respect. He says it’s Rollins’ first main event title defense. Didn’t he have that against Rick Victor already or was that non-title?

Johnny Curtis vs. Bo Dallas

Dallas takes him into the corner to start and hits some standing clotheslines for two. Curtis elbows him down a few times for two and hits a suplex for the same. We hit the chinlock which doesn’t last long so Curtis goes up. A top rope knee drop misses and Dallas starts his comeback. Some forearms set up a belly to belly suplex for no cover but a spear gets the pin on Curtis at 4:05.

Rating: D+. This was really dull stuff and the crowd barely reacted to it at all. Neither of these guys show me anything at all that makes me interested in what they’re doing. They have no character traits beyond Dallas likes to compete and Curtis is weird, which he hasn’t actually been in months. Nothing to see here.

Paige/Audrey Marie vs. Alicia Fox/Kaitlyn

No entrances for anyone. Paige and Kaitlyn start things off Feeling out process to start with Paige taking over on the arm. Off to the rather good looking Marie who keeps up the work on the arm. Kaitlyn works on the arm as well but Alicia makes a blind tag to surprise Marie. The fans want Paige but have to stick with Audrey for a bit longer.

The girls do some very nice looking gymnastics before Audrey pulls off what can best be described as an armdrag while Alicia was laying on the mat. Regal says it’s called a Winnick (not sure if that’s spelled right) Throw and freaks out because he hasn’t seen it in years. I’ve never seen it either but it was cool looking. Off to Kaitlyn who picks up Audrey and drops her on her face for two.

Back to Alicia who pounds away on Marie and hooks a chinlock. Back to Kaitlyn for a body scissors as Regal talks about how good the girls look. Kaitlyn shifts over to a full nelson with her legs but has to break it when Marie turns it into a cover. There’s the hot tag to Paige who goes nuts and cleans house but her cradle DDT is broken up by Fox. A dropkick gets one on Alicia and everything breaks down. Paige hooks an O’Connor Roll on Alicia for the pin at 6:20.

Rating: B-. That’s likely high but I was blown away by this. This is one of the best Divas matches I’ve seen in years and a lot of that is due to Audrey. She looked awesome out there with stuff I hadn’t seen before and the execution was really good. The WWE girls looked good too as they didn’t seem like they were having to think through every single thing they did out there. I was very impressed.

Some guy I don’t recognize hits on some chick. It doesn’t go well for him and Trent Barretta comes up to laugh at him. This sets up a match next week. Apparently that’s Jake Carter.

Rollins talks about being champion when Punk pops up. He says just holding the title won’t get Rollins respect and tonight, Seth needs to beat the respect out of McGillicutty.

Leo Kruger vs. Dante Dash

Kruger is still insane. He’s growing on me every time I see him. After crouching in the corner to start, Leo charges out of the corner to forearm Dash in the head. Off to a chinlock which turns into a beard pull. Leo suplexes him down and keeps pulling on his own hair. That falling neckbreaker/cutter thing from Kruger gets the pin at 2:23.

Post match Kruger gets a blue spotlight and says something in a different language before saying he’ll finish his prey quickly. His voice is awesome.

McGillicutty doesn’t get the obsession with respect. He’s coming after Punk for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (that’ll likely be a fine) after he beats Rollins.

NXT Title: Seth Rollins vs. Michael McGillicutty

Rollins is defending and they have a ton of time to work with here. Punk comes out to do commentary and gets a big reaction. Before the match starts though, Punk has something to say. He’s here to take a closer look and he says good luck. That’s all he has to say which is a surprise. After big match intros we’re ready to go.

Feeling out process to start as Punk asks the other announcers for their picks. Regal isn’t a betting man (he called Gamblers Anonymous yesterday and they gave him 5-1 odds he wouldn’t come to a meeting) and can’t pick (Punk: “That’s very Switzerland of you”) and Ross picks Rollins to keep the title until someone beats him for it. You can’t buy this kind of expertise people.

McGillicutty avoids the Blackout and we take a break. Back with Michael stomping away in the corner but Rollins takes him down with a headlock takeover. Michael grabs one of his own but gets dropkicked down twice in a row. McGillicutty throws him over the top and to the floor as this is a very back and forth match. Back in and Seth tries to go up top, only to get crotched and put in the Tree of Woe.

A hard whip into the corner gets one for McGillicutty and we take another break. Back with Rollins jumping off the top and over McGillicutty before dropkicking Michael down. A clothesline puts McGillicutty on the floor and a suicide dive from Rollins takes him down. Back in and Rollins tries a springboard clothesline but Michael dropkicks him out of the air for two.

Rollins hits an enziguri but misses the Blackout and a high kick before McGillicutty hits a Saito Suplex for two. McGillicutty loads up a Perfectplex but gets small packaged for two. A clothesline takes Rollins down for another two and Michael is getting frustrated. Rollins gets back up and avoids the McGillicutter before hitting Sliced Bread #2 for the pin at 11:20 shown of 15:50.

Rating: B-. This started slow but after the break it turned into the usual good stuff I’ve grown to expect from McGillicutty. Rollins winning with something other than the Blackout is a good thing as that move is similar to the 619 in that there are only so many plausible ways you can set it up. Good main event here that shows that Rollins can win more than one way.

Punk applauds Rollins to end the show. Punk was pretty much neutral tonight.

Overall Rating: B+. There was almost nothing missing from this show. We had a shockingly good tag match, a good main event, a squash and a great promo to follow it and an appearance from one of the biggest stars in the WWE. Good show here and I really enjoyed it the entire way through.

Results

Bo Dallas b. Johnny Curtis – Spear

Audrey Marie/Paige b. Alicia Fox/Kaitlyn – O’Connor Roll to Fox

Leo Kruger b. Dante Dash – Face First Mat Slam

Seth Rollins b. Michael McGillicutty – Sliced Bread #2

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: September 19, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, William Regal

We have our first challenger for Rollins tonight in the form of Rick Victor, but I’m not sure if it’s a title match or not. Also we’re getting a workout from Kassius Ohno, which could mean a lot of things. I’m liking that they’re slowly bringing in storylines instead of the random matches they were having for the first few weeks of the show. Let’s get to it.

Trent Barreta vs. Johnny Curtis

Sweet. I’ve always liked what I’ve seen from Barreta so having him back is a good thing. Feeling out process to start with both guys avoiding the other through some gymnastics. A nice dropkick sends Johnny into the corner but as Trent goes up, Curtis drops him onto the top rope to take over. Johnny takes over with an armbar followed by something similar to a high angle AA for two.

Curtis loads up a superplex but Trent counters with a sunset bomb for two. An enziguri sets up a Whisper in the Wind from Trent for a close two. The crowd is silent when these guys aren’t flipping and diving. Trent tries his tornado DDT but gets suplexed into the corner for two. Curtis misses his guillotine legdrop and Trent hits a running knee to the chest/face for the pin at 5:32.

Rating: C. I like Trent but man alive Curtis is worthless. His gimmick is that he’s supposed to be weird but he hasn’t done anything odd in like three months, so all he has to go on is his in ring ability. The problem with that is he’s so generic in the ring that there’s no reason to care about him at all. Then again that’s probably why he keeps getting ring time: he’s as bland as you can ask for which tends to get high marks in WWE anymore.

Alicia Fox vs. Paige

We get a long lockup to start with Alicia taking her to the mat for a second without breaking the hold. A backslide gets two for Paige as do a small package and a cradle. They slap it out and Alicia hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Paige fires off some forearms but she can’t slam Alicia due to her back. A northern lights suplex gets two for Fox and it’s off to a chinlock with a knee in Paige’s back.

Paige tries to fight out of the hold but gets stomped in the face to break up her comeback attempt. Paige gets all fired up and beats on Alicia before they botch a rollup. Paige picks her up and hits a DDT while holding Alicia up with a leg hooked. It wasn’t a fisherman’s buster but it looked good and it got the pin at 4:48.

Rating: C. This was better than most Divas matches you would get on Raw or Smackdown. At the end of the day, the girls aren’t going to get any better by having 90 second matches so giving them nearly five minutes isn’t a terrible idea. Fox continues to be pretty much a mess in the ring while Paige is coming along pretty nicely. Not bad here.

Raw ReBound eats up some time.

Jimmy Uso vs. Conor O’Brien

It’s amazing how much a good gimmick can change someone. O’Brien used to be Rat Boy in season 4 and now he’s part of a team that I’d love to see on the main shows. Jimmy hits a quick headbutt and a clothesline puts O’Brien on the floor. Conor rams Jimmy into the apron to take over and drops an elbow back in the ring for two. Off to a chinlock by O’Brien Jimmy comes back with a clothesline and a Samoan Drop but Cameron crotches him as he loads up the Superfly Splash. O’Brien hits a running boot to the face for the pin at 3:50.

Rating: C. Not as good as the match last week but it puts the teams at one and one against each other in singles matches and that’s all you need to do with them at the moment. This sets up a bigger tag match down the line which hopefully leads to one if not both of them being on the main roster. The match being so short didn’t do it any favors.

Ascension hits a Total Elimination on Jey post match.

Bo Dallas is about to say something when Michael McGillicutty interrupts him. Michael brags about his win last week and a fight breaks out.

It’s time for Ohno’s sparring session. There’s a referee here and the bell rang so we’ll call this a match I guess.

Kassius Ohno vs. Oliver Gray

Ohno blasts him into the corner and pounds Gray’s head. Saxton wants to know how this is different from a regular match and Regal has no answer for him. Off to a reverse cravate by Ohno and it gets a tap out at 58 seconds.

Ohno gets a mic and says Gray wasn’t ready. Gray gets another shot and Ohno says ring the bell. The spinning forearm and the reverse cravate get the second win at 26 seconds. Richie Steamboat runs out for the save.

Leo Kruger is psycho.

Rick Victor vs. Seth Rollins

Non-title here. Victor stalls to start before taking over with a headlock. It’s a very slow paced start so far. I’m not sure why Victor is the guy they’re giving the first match with Rollins but he’s not a horrible choice. A suplex gets two on Rollins and Victor bites himself. We take a break and come back with Rollins in a chinlock. Regal will not stop praising Rick so maybe there’s something there.

Rollins tries to speed things up but gets caught by a big knee to the face for two. Victor bites himself some more and Rollins Hulks Up. Victor slaps him in the face and the champion snaps, taking over with right hands and a kick to the head. A running boot to the face (popular move tonight) takes Victor down and the Blackout gets the pin at 6:50 shown of 10:20.

Rating: C. Not a bad match here but Victor never felt like a threat to Rollins at all. Then again maybe that’s what they were going for with this. Rollins is being built up quite well as a big deal and they treated his first match as champion as something we needed to see, which is more than you can say about most new champions. This wasn’t a good match or anything but it served its purpose well enough.

Overall Rating: C. This was pretty easily the weakest show they’ve had so far. Nothing on the show stood out at all and nothing really happened here. Rollins beating Victor is no surprise and we knew Steamboat would be coming back for revenge on Ohno, plus the tag team feud is roughly where it was before last week’s show with a few more wrinkles. The show wasn’t bad or boring or anything like that, but there was no spark here. The one good thing about this week though is Dusty wasn’t around, which means him being on the show three times last week might have been an anomaly.

Results

Trent Barreta b. Johnny Curtis – Running Knee Smash

Paige b. Alicia Fox – Leg Trap DDT

Conor O’Brien b. Jimmy Uso – Running Boot To The Face

Kassius Ohno b. Oliver Gray – Reverse Cravate

Seth Rollins b. Rick Victor – Blackout

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: September 13, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, William Regal

Back to Florida for the best run TV show in wrestling every week. The main feud seems to be Richie/Ricky Steamboat vs. Kassius Ohno which doesn’t really do much for me. Both guys are pretty dull in the ring but Ohno made me chuckle in the backstage segment last week. Other than that we’re still looking for a challenger for Rollins so maybe we’ll have some development in that tonight. Let’s get to it.

Jey Uso vs. Kenneth Cameron

Jey takes him down to start and throws Cameron out to the floor. Back in and Jey runs into a boot in the corner as Kenneth takes over. I love Ascension’s look. They look like guys that could beat the tar out of anyone which is something you rarely get in tag teams anymore. A clothesline sets up a chinlock with a bodyscissors by Cameron.

Back up and Jey tries to speed things up, only to get hiptossed into the corner. After another clothesline from Cameron, Jey tries to speed things up and gets in some shots to the face, but O’Brien trips him up on the floor. Cameron hits what looked like a suplex but I think there was supposed to be a kind of spin into a cutter at the end. Not that it really matters as it looked like a suplex and only gets two. Jimmy superkicks O’Brien down and the distraction lets Jey hit a superkick for the pin at 5:26.

Rating: C+. This is something you hardly ever see anymore: a competitive midcard match that never got boring and had a quick ending. Another thing that NXT has over Raw and Smackdown: the announcers mostly talk about the match. On the main shows they have to hype the main event, which is fine, but I don’t need to hear about 35 different social media platforms every five minutes. It’s ok to explain why we should care about what we’re watching in the ring every now and then, and you get that on NXT.

The Usos celebrate in the crowd.

Dusty Rhodes is talking to someone when Rick Victor comes in and demands an NXT Title shot. Dusty says prove you’re worthy of one. Short and simple.

Big E. Langston vs. Chad Baxter

Langston pounds him down to start and easily blocks a sunset flip. The fans chant for Chad for some reason. The fans don’t exactly fire him up as Langston hits three straight backbreakers followed by a running splash (Vader used to do this. I’m not sure what to call it but Baxter was standing in the middle of the ring and Langston hit a standing splash to knock him down) and the falling slam for the pin at 1:58.

Post match Langston hits another falling slam and counts himself a five count. Langston says a three count is normal, but he isn’t normal so it’s five counts for him. He gives Baxter a third slam and gets another five count. This goes on too long but the fans are digging Langston.

Ohno says next week he’s going to have a sparring session.

We get a video on Trent Barretta missing. He’s been found though and he’s back next week.

Garrett Dylan vs. Damien Sandow

Sandow says that Dylan has the option of getting beaten up or sitting ringside for a lecture Sandow has prepared. Sandow pounds him down into the corner and continues to do so in the middle of the ring. Dylan gets in some basic offense but gets taken down, hit with the wind up elbow and the double arm neckbreaker gets the pin at 1:35.

Rollins doesn’t care who he faces for the title. Rick Victor comes up and says he doubts Rollins even knows his name. Rollins agrees so Victor slaps him. Victor is ono the top of Rollins’ list now.

Raw ReBound is about Cena vs. Punk at the end of the show.

Rollins talks to Dusty and demands a match with Victor next week.

Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty

Winner gets a shot at Rollins somewhere down the line. See how much a title can enhance a feud like this one? They head to the mat quickly and McGillicutty controls with a headscissors. Kidd counters into an armbar but Michael makes the rope. They fight over a wristlock until Kidd suplexes him to the mat to take over. McGillicutty grabs a headlock on the mat but Kidd rolls out and sends McGillicutty to the floor.

Back in and McGillicutty elbows him down and we take a break. We come back McGillicutty holding a chinlock, only to get taken down by a sunset flip. McGillicutty gets a two count of his own and the fans chant SHAH with every count. I remember the ECW fans doing that for Hack Meyers but why are they doing it for McGillicutty? Kidd gets sent into the buckle but he kicks McGillicutty in the face to escape a suplex back into the ring.

Kidd speeds things up and hits his dropkick to the side of Michael’s head for two. McGillicutty slides to the floor to avoid a spin kick but Kidd hits a kick through the ropes and a kick off the apron to take Michael down. Back in and a springboard elbow hits McGillicutty’s knees. Wouldn’t that hurt McGillicutty just as much?

Perfectplex gets two but Michael gets crotched on the top. Kidd tries a top rope rana and it mostly hits, but his feet were under McGillicutty’s arms. I’ve seen him do that before so maybe it’s intentional. A jawbreaker staggers Kidd but he comes back with an enziguri. McGillicutty ducks and the McGillicutter gets the pin for Michael at 10:30 shown of 14:00.

Rating: B-. These two have great chemistry against each other and the match here was another good one. The ending was nice and fast paced with McGillicutty knowing Kidd’s offense well enough to avoid it and hit the McGillicutter to end it. Also, this is another reason why the title helps the show: it gives these two a reason to fight some more.

Overall Rating: C+. Good stuff here again but I’m worried about Dusty being on the show three times in one episode. One of the best things about NXT is that they don’t waste any time on stuff like GM’s and match making like they do on Monday and Friday. I’m hoping this is just a one off thing and it doesn’t happen every week because it’ll bring the show down.

Results

Jey Uso b. Kenneth Cameron – Superkick

Big E. Langston b. Chad Baxter – Falling Slam

Damien Sandow b. Garrett Dylan – Double Arm Neckbreaker

Michael McGillicutty b. Tyson Kidd – McGillicutter

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: September 6, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Byron Saxton

We’re into the second part of NXT now as we have a champion, which means people are going to be gunning for him now. Things have been going very well so far on the show so far and hopefully things keep going the same way now that Rollins won the tournament last week. I don’t think any matches were made for this week already. Let’s get to it.

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

Welcome Home.

Kassius Ohno vs. Richie Steamboat

I guess I did forget a match that was scheduled. Steamboat saved Mike Dalton from getting destroyed by Ohno after a match and a challenge was issued as a result. They head to the mat to start and we have a standoff. Steamboat takes him to two different corners, pounding away in both of them. Kassius uses the forgotten heel move of poking Steamboat in the eye to take over. Richie comes back with a right hand so Ohno rakes the eyes again….and that’s a DQ at 2:42? For raking the eyes? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.

Ohno kicks Steamboat to the floor post match. He beats on Richie a bit more and hits the forearm/elbow to the back of the head before Ricky Steamboat and some referees come out for the save.

Audrey Marie vs. Paige

Paige, the British chick, is from Norwitch but Byron can’t pronounce it so Regal rips into him a bit. Marie takes her to the mat to start but Paige takes over with ease. Audrey goes nuts and we’ve got a catfight. Marie winds up in control with a long rolling cradle (Terry Funk called it the Tumbleweed I believe) for two.

Audrey sends her into the corner but charges into a forearm, causing some of the most overdramatic selling I’ve ever seen. Marie looked like she got shot dead. Even Saxton sounded like he was trying not to laugh at it. Paige picks her up for what looks like a fisherman’s buster but instead drops Audrey down into a stiff DDT for the pin at 2:44. Both girls looked pretty good here.

Ricky Steamboat is in the back looking for the trainer’s room to see how his son is doing. Why he didn’t go with him in the first place is anyone’s guess, but Ricky runs into Ohno. You can tell this because Ricky shouts OHNO at the top of his lungs. Ohno has on some Clark Kent style glasses and seems to be in awe of meeting Steamboat.

Ricky won’t shake his hand and Ohno says Richie doesn’t have a ton of potential. Ricky shoves Ohno and referees break it up. Ohno: “What are you going to do? Arm drag me???” This would be a lot more effective if the beatdown had been big, but it was nothing you wouldn’t see in a regular match.

Percy Watson vs. Leo Kruger

Kruger is psycho now and wears something that looks like khakis. Apparently he’s a big game hunter now. That’s something different. He grabs a quick snap suplex on Watson to start and pounds him into the corner. Watson gets up a knee in the corner and tries to speed things up. Percy fires off some good dropkicks and the Showtime Splash for two. Kruger gets up very quickly and hits a hot shot into a twisting neckbreaker (started as a reverse neckbreaker but spun Watson around almost into a cutter on the way down) for the pin at 3:16.

Rating: C-. Pretty much a squash here. I like the new persona from Kruger as before he was just proud to be South African. As for his finisher, not so much. There are too many neckbreakers/face first drops in WWE anymore and I’m tired of seeing them. From Bateman to Ziggler to Truth to Sandow to Layla and now to Kruger, use something else already.

Brodus Clay vs. Ryan Collins

Brodus does the full intro, complete with Cameron because this was taped a few weeks ago. Total squash with the crowd WAY into Brodus. The big splash pins Collins at 49 seconds.

Some kids get to dance post match.

We recap the Usos getting jumped by Ascension last week.

Ascension vs. Usos

Whichever Uso that is pounds Cameron (the wrestler, not the dancer) down into the corner to start and everything breaks down quickly. The Usos clear the ring and we take a break. Back with I think Jimmy getting tagged in to splash Cameron in the corner. Back to Jimmy who gets two off a double back elbow. Conor comes in off a blind tag and clotheslines Jimmy down for two to take over. Ascension does their fast tags to stomp away on Jimmy in the corner which is always cool.

Conor puts on a bodyscissors and it’s off to Cameron with a neck crank followed by an armbar. Back to Conor who grabs a headlock takeover then rolls Jimmy over two more times without letting it go. That was different. Jimmy gets in a kick to the face but the referee doesn’t see the tag. Back to Cameron for another armbar before Conor comes in for a headlock. This is a great example of how to pick someone apart.

Jimmy gets sent into the corner and gets a boot up into O’Brien’s face. There’s the hot tag (with no reaction from the crowd) to Jey. He cleans house on his own but Cameron escapes the Samoan Drop. Instead Jey hits a superkick to put him down but goes up instead of covering. Jimmy takes Conor out but Cameron crotches Jey and hits a kind of running jawbreaker for the pin at 8:58 shown of 12:28.

Rating: C+. This was an old school style tag match where they played the formula to perfection. Why in the world are these four not on TV but guys like Epico/Primo are? You can always make room for a Samoan team. Anyway, good stuff here and that’s a very rare thing to see in WWE tag matches anymore.

Here’s Rollins for his first interview with JR as champion. Rollins talks about overcoming his back injury last week to win the title. He’s used to being called a loser and he uses it as motivation every single day. He doesn’t care who he faces or who wants a shot at the title, because sooner or later, everybody gets blacked out. Good first speech from the champ here.

Overall Rating: B. This was one of the best TV shows I’ve seen in a very long time. They got a ton of stuff into this and nothing was boring on it at all. We had a feud being advanced, Divas, a squash, a good tag match and a big name appearing, all before the champion got to talk. He doesn’t have a first opponent yet so there’s nothing wrong with him just talking tonight. Very good show here and I wasn’t annoyed by anything here which is incredibly rare.

Results

Richie Steamboat b. Kassius Ohno via DQ when Ohno raked Steamboat’s eyes

Paige b. Audrey Marie – Fisherman’s DDT

Leo Kruger b. Percy Watson – Twisting neckbreaker

Brodus Clay b. Ryan Collins – Big Splash

Ascension b. Usos – Running Jawbreaker to Jey

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: August 29, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, William Regal

It’s time for the title match tonight and I’m actually somewhat excited. This change officially turns NXT into its own regular promotion which is what it needed for the last year and a half or so. It’s Jinder Mahal vs. Seth Rollins for the inaugural title, which is a matchup I didn’t think I’d like. Mahal is growing on me as a basic foreign heel and Rollins….well he’s energetic. Let’s get to it.

Jason Jordan/Mike Dalton vs. Hunico/Camacho

Jordan/Dalton won the first match between these teams. Regal calls the fans the NXT Universe now. Great. Now we’re hearing the same stupid lines from NXT that we hear on Raw and Smackdown. Jordan and Camacho start us off with Jordan getting in some basic offense before walking into a pretty good spinebuster. Camacho pounds on Jordan’s face and suplexes him down to bring in Hunico.

Back to Camacho after nothing of note and the bigger guy throws Jordan around with a nice butterfly suplex. A legdrop gets two but Jordan escapes a suplex and tags in Dalton. Dalton hits a spinwheel kick and a charge in the corner, followed by a hurricanrana for two. A missile dropkick gets two on Hunico and everything breaks down. As Jordan is being put back on the apron, Camacho hits Dalton from behing, allowing Hunico to hit his version of an Angle Slam for the pin at 4:00.

Rating: C. This was your run of the mill tag match between four guys who aren’t that interesting but they made it work well enough. Hunico and Camacho are fine for a low level tag team and giving the unknowns a win over them in the first match was a good way to give Dalton and Jordan some exposure. As is the case with almost everyone on NXT though, they need ring time.

Here are the Usos with something to say. They call out the Ascension and as the lights go out for Ascension’s entrance, Ascension runs in from behind and jumps the Usos, laying them out with relative ease.

Raw ReBound is about Punk vs. Lawler. I’m still curious as to when Cena forgot hot to climb a cage.

Big E. Langston vs. Chase Donovan

A clothesline and that falling slam thing gets the pin at 40 seconds. He really needs to change finishers. A powerslam would be fine.

The locker room comes out to watch the title match.

Langston says nothing.

Howard Finkel is doing the announcing for the main event.

Dusty comes out and JR is now on commentary.

NXT Championship: Jinder Mahal vs. Seth Rollins

They have a ton of time for this. Fink may be fat and older now (he’s only 62 so he’s hardly ancient), but that voice is still perfect. Mahal won’t shake Dusty’s hand before the match. Rollins tries to take him to the mat to start but Mahal gets back up quickly. A dropkick puts Mahal down again and Rollins hits a hard chop. Mahal gets sent to the floor but he avoids a dive and sends Rollins face first into the apron. A suplex onto the ramp has Rollins in trouble and we head back in.

We take a break and come back with Rollins in even more trouble. Mahal stomps him down and hits a backbreaker to start setting up the camel clutch. Rollins gets choked against the ropes and the fans are behind Rollins now. He tries a comeback but gets kneed in the face by Mahal to take him back down. The camel clutch is escaped so Mahal pounds him in the back again. An enziguri out of nowhere puts Mahal down and Rollins punches Jinder down.

Mahal goes up for another knee but Rollins knocks him off the top and out to the floor. Rollins hits a HUGE dive to the floor and both guys are down. Back in and Seth goes up again, only to get crotched and superplexed from the top. We take another break and come back with the two of them slugging it out. Mahal might have a bad knee but he pulls off a sitout slam for two. A full nelson slam is countered and Rollins goes to the apron.

Seth hits an enziguri to the head and a running knee for two. The near falls are getting closer and closer here. A running forearm in the corner staggers Mahal but he manages to drop Rollins face first into the buckle. The low superkick (I think he calls it Avada Kadavra, making Rollins awesome) gets two. Phoenix Splash (moonsault into a 450) misses and Mahal hits the full nelson slam for two. Rollins gets to the rope before the clutch can go on and Rollins rolls him up for two. Rollins comes back with the buckle bomb and the Blackout out of nowhere for the pin and the title at 14:24 shown of 21:24.

Rating: B. I’m still not wild on Rollins’ in ring work but the fans are into him and he’s not dull. He also needs a new finisher as the Blackout looks pretty forced to put it mildly. As for the match though, they did a great job of building both guys up as unbeatable and then having them go at it. The match was very good as far as making you wonder who was going to win and it turned into a good back and forth fight at the end. Not a masterpiece or anything, but for the first NXT Championship, this was more than acceptable.

Fink giving Rollins the NEEEEEEEEEEEEEW treatment makes the announcement much better. The roster puts Rollins on their shoulders to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was all about the main event so I’m not going to really bother thinking about the rest of it. Rollins is a good choice for a first champion as he can defend the title for a few months and then have a big time heel beat him to take the title. This felt like a big show and I wanted to see it, which is the right idea here. I’m very pleased with this and it worked quite well.

Results

Hunico/Camacho b. Jason Jordan/Mike Dalton – Reverse fireman’s carry slam to Dalton

Big E. Langston b. Chase Donovan – Over the shoulder mat slam

Seth Rollins b. Jinder Mahal – Blackout

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: August 22, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, William Regal

So I had the whole intro written about how great it was that the title tournament ended tonight and how great it was to see something like that finally happen on NXT. Then I started watching the show and for no apparent reason, the match is next week. My guess is that they wanted it to be at the start of a new taping or something like that, but it’s still disappointing. Let’s get to it.

Derrick Bateman vs. Antonio Cesaro

Cesaro pounds him into the corner almost immediately but Bateman comes back with a dropkick for one. Regal talks about how strong Bateman is as he pounds away. Cesaro comes back with a hot shot to take over and it’s off to the cravate and chinlock. Bateman comes back with a belly to back suplex and some clotheslines. He hooks what can only be called a reverse DDT (Bateman hooked him for a DDT and then fell forward to drive Cesaro’s back into the mat. Why not just use a regular DDT?) but a charge misses in the corner. Gutwrench suplex sets up the Neutralizer for the pin at 4:01.

Rating: C-. Nothing special here but it’s good to see that Bateman isn’t a featured guy anymore. He’s competent in the ring and the people in Florida seem to like him somewhat, but the guy just isn’t that interesting. I think he’s supposed to be an everyman character which is ok but that’s about as far as he’s taken it.

Some WWE stars talk about what it means to be the first champion. This is probably the only time you’ll ever see Cena talk about NXT.

Tamina Snuka vs. Sofia Cortez

Tamina grabs an armdrag to start but Cortez comes back with some kicks to the ribs. Tamina hits a forearm to the chest and Sofia gives her a look that says “HOW DARE YOU” before wrapping Tamina up with a bodyscissors. Snuka comes with some chops and a superkick for two. The Superfly Splash gets the pin at 2:52. Sofia showed a lot of fire here, which means nothing because she was released about ten days ago.

Raquel Diaz jumps Tamina post match and draws the lipstick L on Tamina’s head.

Kassius Ohno vs. Jake Carter

I believe Carter is Vader’s son. Feeling out process for the first minute with no one being able to get an advantage. Carter takes him into the corner and pounds away but Ohno suckers him in and takes over. Ohno puts on a Cravate but misses a big boot. Carter hits a side slam for two but walks into the rolling elbow for the pin at 3:55. According to Regal it’s called the Dream Killer.

Rating: D+. I know Ohno was an indy legend, but his NXT stuff hasn’t really grabbed me. He just kind of does the same strikes over and over until hitting the spinning forearm/elbow for the pin. There’s no story to his matches for the most part and they’re just not that good. I’ve only seen a bit of his indy stuff and it was way better than his stuff here.

Ohno beats on Carter some more until Richie Steamboat makes the save.

We get the same package from Raw and Summerslam, showing us what WWE did in LA for Summerslam week.

More people talk about the Gold Rush Tournament and what it means to be champion.

Michael McGillicutty/Johnny Curtis vs. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel

Michael and Kidd start us off as Regal talks about Walt Disney spinning in his refrigerator. Wouldn’t that be a freezer? Kidd takes him down by the arm and tags in Gabriel to speed things up. Kidd comes back in with a slingshot rollup for two as McGillicutty can’t get anything going so far. A double kick to the rib keeps McGillicutty in trouble. Curtis comes in for a distraction and McGillicutty takes Justin’s head off with a clothesline.

We take a break and come back with Curtis hitting a forearm to Gabriel to knock him down. Back to McGillicutty who doesn’t stay in long at all. Curtis comes in and hits a suplex before it’s off to the chinlock. Gabriel tries to speed it up but walks into an AA (that’ll likely get Curtis in trouble) from Curtis to put him down again. Johnny tries a twisting moonsault but crashes and both guys are down.

There’s the hot tag to Kidd and a lukewarm one to McGillicutty as well. Kidd fires off some kicks to the head for two but McGillicutty and Curtis hit a side slam/slingshot “leg” (more like a hip) drop combo for two. Back to Curtis who can’t hit a superplex but Kidd slips off the top trying a moonsault press. McGillicutty is knocked to the floor and a Hart Attack with a Blockbuster from Gabriel gets the pin on Curtis at 7:42 shown of 11:12.

Rating: C+. Good fast paced tag match here but it got a bit sloppy at times. These guys are like the Cruiserweights in WCW: you can throw them out there in almost any combination and the match is going to be entertaining. Kidd and McGillicutty are ready for regular TV but for some reason they rarely make it onto those shows.

Kassius Ohno accepts a challenge from Richie Steamboat, presumably for next week.

It’s time for the showdown to end the show. Byron Saxton calls out Seth Rollins and Jinder Mahal for a face to face chat. Rollins says that his dream is to be in WWE and that’s all that matters to him. He’s on the brink of achieving that dream and he’s not leaving here without becoming the champion. Mahal speaks Punjab and says that Rollins is a failure. The fight is on and Rollins dives onto Mahal on the floor and stands tall in the ring to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The point of this show was to build up the title match next week and they did that very well. They made the NXT Title match feel like a big deal which is pretty impressive given that it’s the minor league championship. Having a showdown like that was a nice touch and while I’m not wild on either guy, I want to see them fight now. The rest of the matches were just ok, but they weren’t the point of the show tonight.

Results
Antonio Cesaro b. Derick Bateman – Neutralizer

Tamina Snuka b. Sofia Cortez – Superfly Splash

Kassius Ohno b. Jake Carter – Dream Killer

Justin Gabriel/Tyson Kidd b. Michael McGillicutty/Johnny Curtis – Blockbuster to Curtis

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews