NXT
Date: August 15, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, William Regal, Byron Saxton

Back to Florida for another show. We’re into the semi-finals of the tournament now with the finals likely coming next week. Other than that we’ll probably have a few random matches which have been hit or miss lately. This show has consistently been the best show on TV/online in the last few months and hopefully it continues to do that today. Let’s get to it.

Richie Steamboat says this is a big night for him but he’s ready. Mahal comes up and says something in whatever language he speaks in, then of course translates it to English as is the custom for anyone who speaks multiple languages.

Gold Rush Tournament Semi-Finals: Jinder Mahal vs. Richie Steamboat

Mahal pounds him into the corner to start and hits a back elbow to the face. Steamboat comes back with a fast dropkick for two and it’s an armdrag into an armbar ala his Papa. Mahal gets up and hits a neckbreaker followed by a running knee to the head for two. Off to a chinlock as JR is philosophizing about the future. Steamboat fires off some clotheslines but an enziguri misses. Mahal can’t hook the Camel Clutch so Steamboat gets some rollups for two. Mahal loads up a superplex but gets shoved down. Steamboat misses I think a dropkick off the top and gets caught in the Camel Clutch for the tap at 4:43.

Rating: D+. This was a shorter match than I was expecting. These two both left surprising impressions on me. Steamboat is a very boring guy. He’s just the son of Ricky Steamboat and that’s it. Mahal on the other hand is an interesting case. When he’s on the main roster, I don’t care about him at all. He’s just an Indian guy who is apparently from an upper class. He gets beaten every time he’s in the ring and I have no reason to care. Here on NXT he’s able to get some wins and now when people beat him I’ll care more. See how easy it is WWE? You don’t have to have you heels lose half the time.

Leo Kruger says something in another language and takes out his tooth. He says something has been bothering him and brewing inside of him. He sounds like a psycho here.

Here’s Heath Slater with a microphone. He wants everyone to take a minute and look at him. Slater talks about facing the legends on Raw lately but that’s going to change now. The fans want Frosties. He makes an open challenge to anyone in the back which is rarely a good idea.

Heath Slater vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

Now there’s a name I didn’t think I’d be typing. Scotty looks slimmer than he used to but he’s in good shape. Slater grabs the arm to start but gets run over by a shoulder. Scotty pauses for a second before Slater charges into an armdrag. We stop again to raise the roof but Slater knocks him down to keep us in this century with the playing to the crowd. Off to a chinlock which is pretty quickly released. A neckbreaker gets two for Slater and he tries to throw Scotty to the floor but Scotty hangs on. The bulldog sets up the Worm for the pin at 3:53.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing of note but that wasn’t the point. Scotty is a fun character that people remember fondly so it’s hard to complain much about him coming in here to beat a jobber like Slater. There’s nothing wrong with throwing out something like this once in awhile and the match was fine.

Usos vs. Ascension

Cameron and Jey start things off and for some reason Cameron tries to headbutt him. Jey punches him down and it’s off to Jimmy who pounds away in the corner. Cameron crotches him which Regal calls “rupturing his custard.” I’ll never understand British people. Off to Conor who stomps on Jimmy in the corner. The intensity Ascension has is good stuff.

O’Brian works on the arm for a bit before bringing Cameron back in. Off to a chinlock which is quickly broken. Out of nowhere Ascension hits the Downcast for two. I would have thought that was the ending. Off to Jey who speeds things up and cleans house, hitting the running Umaga attack in the corner for two. Jey goes up but Conor crotches him…..and that’s a DQ at 4:35? Really?

Rating: C-. This was fine but the ending was a bit puzzling. Since when has crotching someone been called for a DQ? It’s a lame ending but maybe it’ll be advanced in the future. With the talk of revamping the main roster’s tag division, I’m hoping both of these teams get more time on the main shows as they’re both talented.

Jimmy gets beaten down post match with Total Elimination.

Richie doesn’t want to talk.

Hunico and Camacho say they were sick when they lost to Dalton and Jordan. Oh and Camacho lost his burro.

Raquel Diaz says the other Divas don’t get her and don’t get that she’s making over NXT for their own good.

Gold Rush Tournament Semi-Finals: Michael McGillicutty vs. Seth Rollins

The winner faces Mahal for the title presumably next week. McGillicutty goes after the arm to start but it doesn’t get him anywhere. They chase each other to the floor with Rollins sliding into the ring and kicking McGillicutty to the floor, followed by a suicide dive. Back in and McGillicutty takes out Rollins’ knee and pounds away in the corner. The fans all chant SHAH when McGillicutty hits him, ala Hack Meyers in ECW.

We take a break and come back with Rollins hitting a dropkick for two. A splash misses McGillicutty in the corner so he hits a Saito Suplex for two on Rollins. McGillicutty hits a snap belly to back suplex for two. The McGillicutter is countered but he clubs Rollins down with a single shot. McGillicutty loads up a superplex but Rollins counters with an attempted sunset bomb out of the corner, only to get punched in the face. Rollins gets up and hits a buckle bomb followed by the Blackout (called the Stomp here for some reason) for the pin at 7:46 shown of 10:16.

Rating: C+. Rollins still isn’t very entertaining to watch but the fans seem to like him which is important. McGillicutty seems to get smoother and smoother every week he’s out there and hopefully he gets more time on the main roster in the future. At least here he can get some ring time and a chance to prove his talents to the higher ups.

It’s Rollins vs. Mahal for the title. The other finalist comes out to stare down Rollins but Dusty comes out to break up a fight. Mahal jumps Rollins but gets knocked to the floor to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was the weakest show they’ve had so far and it was still fine. Based on what we’ve seen here, I’m not sure who is going to win the title and I like having that feeling. Rollins and Mahal have both been built up very well and it’s hard to say which of them will win next week. As for the rest of the show, it wasn’t bad but it felt like a throwaway show this week, which isn’t a terrible thing. Not much to see here overall but it was perfectly acceptable stuff.

Results

Jinder Mahal b. Richie Steamboat – Camel Clutch

Scotty 2 Hotty b. Heath Slater – Worm

Usos b. Ascension via DQ when O’Brian crotched Jey on the top rope

Seth Rollins b. Michael McGillicutty – Blackout

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: August 1, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Byron Saxton, Jim Ross

Back to Florida again and tonight is a big step forward in NXT as we’re going to have a major announcement. I won’t spoil it for you as you’re going to read about it soon. Why I’d be worried about spoiling something a minute away is beyond me, but there isn’t much else to talk about for this show and I need to fill in space. Let’s get to it.

Dusty Rhodes opens the show and he’s called the interim GM of NXT. I thought he was permanent. Dusty talks about what it means to be a champion and how NXT needs someone to be atop this place. There’s going to be a Gold Rush Tournament to crown the first tournament and the round of eight begins soon. The eight men are (in no particular order mentioned):

Richie Steamboat

Bo Dallas

Leo Kruger

Seth Rollins

Mike McGillicutty

Drew McIntyre

Jinder Mahal

Justin Gabriel

No Tyson Kidd. That’s interesting. Oh and the first round begins RIGHT NOW.

Gold Rush Tournament First Round: Richie Steamboat vs. Leo Kruger

Richie tries some very fast rollups for two each. Kruger chops him in the chest and the chase is on outside. Back in and Leo tries a sleeper but Richie escapes before it goes on. The camera is using some non-traditional angles here for some reason. Kruger gets knocked to the floor and tries to frustrate Richie. That makes sense as his dad always had a temper to him. Back in and Richie hits a chop in the corner and Kruger may have a bad knee.

Scratch that as it was a fake and Kruger nails him. Now that’s how you go about being evil. A snap suplex gets no cover as Leo would rather pose. An elbow drop gets one and it’s off to a cravate. Steamboat tries to fight back but walks into a big spinebuster for another two. The sleeper is countered again so Kruger settles for right hands to the head. Kruger charges into a boot and it’s back to the chops.

A backdrop puts Kruger down and a missile dropkick gets two. Steamboat misses a clothesline and there’s the sleeper from Kruger. Steamboat finally makes the rope but he’s in trouble. Kruger sends him into the ropes but Steamboat comes back with the Sling Blade for the pin to advance at 7:51.

Rating: C. Not bad here but it was just a match. These two had a better match a few weeks ago but they had something to fight for here, which at least makes things more interesting. Steamboat doesn’t have that much going for him at the moment other than his name, but that can be easily fixed.

Here are the official brackets for the tournament:

Rollins

McIntyre

Gabriel

McGillicutty

Steamboat

Dallas

Mahal

Big E. Langston vs. Adam Mercer

I wonder if I can get a glass of juice to go with the squash we’re about to have. Langston fires knees to the ribs and hits a set of backbreakers. Mercer gets in a bit of offense but Langston runs him over. There go the straps and Langston loads him up in a powerslam position. Instead of slamming him forward, Langston falls onto his back and slams Mercer into the mat for the pin at 2:00. Apparently it’s called the Final Cut. The name is ok but I’m not wild on the move.

Audrey Marie vs. Raquel Diaz

Well Marie looks good in leather pants and a leather bikini top. She’s got that going for her. Diaz has a mic on the way to the ring and talks about how great she looks and how well she can work a ramp. Marie grabs a headlock to start but Raquel hot shots her for two. Diaz hooks a chinlock but it doesn’t last long. Instead she chokes away and rams Marie’s face into the mat a few times. Raquel loads up a backslide but Marie counters our of the corner. The counter is caught in the Gory Bomb though, giving Diaz the pin at 2:33. I’m not a fan of Diaz’s character, but I’m a big fan of the fact that she has a character.

Raquel puts an L on the forehead of Marie with lipstick. The L is for loser I guess.

Paige is glaring at Raquel in the back. She says we’ll see about Raquel and her tour.

Hunico/Camacho vs. Mike Dalton/Jason Jordan

Hunico and Jordan get us going as Regal tells us Camacho and Hunico’s backstory for the dozenth time. Jordan takes Hunico to the mat and controls with a front facelock before it’s off to Dalton. After a Camacho distraction, a dropkick gets two for Hunico. Off to Camacho who stomps away on Dalton in the corner. A butterfly suplex gets one and Camacho pounds away some more. Back to Hunico who hits a double team powerbomb with Camacho for two. Hunico launches Dalton at Camacho but Dalton catches him in a hurricanrana out of nowhere for the upset pin at 3:41.

Rating: D+. This was a surprise but it caught me off guard which is nice to see. It’s always fun to see something unexpected and having guys who seem like jobbers get a win is one of those things. Jordan is supposed to be a big prospect and this is the first match he’s won in, even though he didn’t get the pin. Nice little surprise here.

Gold Rush Tournament First Round: Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins

McIntyre beat Rollins last week so there’s a backstory here. Feeling out process to start and Rollins knocks Drew into the ropes. Drew takes over with a right hand but Seth knocks him to the floor. He loads up a dive so Drew rolls under the ring. That’s one way to avoid it. Drew rams Seth’s arm into the steps and we head back inside. McIntyre works over the arm and hits a DDT on it for two.

We take a break and come back with Drew ducking his head and getting kicked in the face. Rollins can’t follow up though and Drew takes over again, stomping away in the corner. This is the opposite of last week’s show where it was all Rollins for most of the match. The bad arm is rammed into the apron and we head back inside. McIntyre tries to throw him up into the air but Rollins DDTs him out of the air for two. Rollins tries to speed things up and hits an enziguri to stagger Drew.

Seth knocks him to the floor and hits a suicide dive to send McIntyre up the ramp. Back inside and Drew takes Rollins’ head off with a clothesline for two. Rollins tries to go up but dives into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Drew loads up a belly to back superplex but Rollins knocks him off. They do the same finishing sequence from last week with the missed splash, but this time Seth avoids the running boot and hits the Blackout for the pin at 9:44 shown of 13:14.

Rating: B-. I liked the psychology at the end there a lot as it was a direct call back to the previous week’s match. Rollins is a guy that is hit or miss to me but giving him a longer match like this helped him a good bit as he had to work to get a win here instead of just being insane and winning a quick match. Good main event.

Overall Rating: B. It’s so nice to see this show moving forward so quickly. In less than two months they’ve already made more progress than Season 5 made in over a year. The matches were good, they had a purpose, and they’re fighting towards something. That’s more than all of Season 5 could say in their entire run. Good stuff here and possibly their best show yet.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: July 25, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Byron Saxton

We’re back with the sixth week of NXT and it barely feels that long at all. We’ve got some stories coming together and tonight it’s Cesaro vs. Riley which should be a decent match. It really is remarkable how much better this show is with just some minor adjustments to it, like giving us stories and matches consisting of more than about ten people. Let’s get to it.

The new intro for WWE programming is shorter than the old one. It says WWE: Then, Now, Forever. I’m not sure I like it better than the old one but it’s fine.

Bo Dallas/Derrick Bateman vs. Johnny Curtis/Michael McGillicutty

Regal says Michael and Johnny could be one of the best tag teams ever. I don’t often say this, but I think Regal may be wrong. Also, why is WWE so obsessed with having Bateman vs. Curtis? Apparently Cena says that Bateman is the strongest pound for pound guy in the company. That’s not something I would have guessed. Fast paced start with Bateman/Dallas clearing the ring but Dallas gets caught on the floor.

Back inside and McGillicutty hooks a chinlock on Dallas but it doesn’t last long. Dallas grabs a sunset flip but Curtis had gotten a blind tag and breaks it up. Dallas escapes a hold from Curtis and there’s the tag to Bateman to no reaction. A flapjack puts Curtis down and a flip neckbreaker gets two. McGillicutty cheap shots Bateman, allowing Curtis to hit a Falcon’s Arrow for the pin at 4:06.

Rating: C. For a quick tag match which didn’t mean much of anything, this wasn’t bad at all. They were moving very fast here and even though the matchup that is being pushed here in the form of Bateman vs. Curtis is played out, the addition of two extra people helped a lot. McGillicutty could be something awesome, but his name is crippling him.

Antonio Cesaro vs. Alex Riley

JR has jumped in on commentary. Riley gets his usual good reaction, and since Cena isn’t here to be annoyed because of something we never would know about if not for dirt sheets, Riley can actually have a match. Cesaro takes him down with amateur stuff to start but Riley speeds things up and hits a dropkick for two. Cesaro hot shots him and Riley is in trouble again. The crowd got very quiet all of a sudden.

Regal gets very excited about an abdominal stretch but Riley counters into a rollup for two. Antonio muscles him down and hits a big boot in the corner for two. A delayed gutwrench suplex gets two. Back to the abdominal stretch but Cesaro hooks his leg over Riley’s head on top of it. It looks great but Riley counters in about 10 seconds. Riley pounds away with right hands and some clotheslines. A spinebuster puts Cesaro down but Aksana pops up on the apron. Cesaro hits a kind of spear/side slam and the Gotch Style Neutralizer (Regal called it that) gets the pin at 5:12. It’s a falling forward cradle piledriver.

Rating: C-. This was an extended squash and in that regard it worked well. If the recent reports about Riley are true, that’s another name on the list of guys that have a bunch of potential who are held down because of some stupid thing that happened backstage that only a handful of people think means anything. Cesaro looks good but for some reason he can’t get on TV at all. I’m sure it’s because he “doesn’t know how to work” or something like that.

Kassius Onoo says that he brings danger to the table because he can fly, he can use holds and he can hit you. He closes it out with this: “My name is Kassius. I hurt people.” I like that.

Drew McIntyre, who faces Seth Rollins tonight, says tonight the talking about Rollins ends.

Natalya vs. Sofia Cortez

Natalya quickly takes her to the mat but gets caught in a headscissors. They get back to their feet but Cortez armdrags her down again. Nattie comes back with a discus lariat and spanks Cortez a bit. Natalya hooks a suplex and a cool looking pinning combination for two. O’Connor Roll gets two for Natayla and Cortez kicks her out of the ring on the kickout. Natalya is fine but sits on the floor for the countout at 3:10. She shouted at the referee to count because she wasn’t getting back in.

Rating: C+. I know I bash the Divas a lot, but this was a decent little match. They were moving out there and they never looked like they were trying to follow a list of moves out there. What I mean by that is it looked natural out there, which is a big flaw in most Divas matches today. Good stuff here and I don’t remember the last time I said that about the Divas.

Natalya runs back into the ring and beats Cortez down, putting her in the Sharpshooter.

Video on Raw 1000. That really was a fun show.

The Ascension vs. Dante Dash/Garrett Dylan

Dash and O’Brien start but O’Brien charges through him and blasts Dylasn off the apron. Kameron comes in and Ascension drops rapid fire elbows on Dash. Down goes Dylan off the apron again and the Downcast (jawbreaker out of a flapjack) gets the pin on Dash at 1:46.

Big E. Langston is still coming and he debuts next week.

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

I miss the full Broken Dreams entrance. That thing was awesome. Rollins speeds things up to start and dropkicks Drew down. Another dropkick puts McIntyre on the floor and a dive takes Drew down again. Back with a double clothesline putting both guys down. Rollins nips up and hits an enziguri to take Drew down. They head to the corner but Rollins’ charge hits the middle buckle. The advantage doesn’t last long as Rollins rolls Drew up for two and clotheslines him down for the same. A Phoenix Splash (moonsault into a 450) misses and Drew kicks Seth’s head off. Futureshock gets the clean pin at 5:30 shown of 9:00.

Rating: C-. This was basically a squash with a surprise ending. Rollins looked good here with him flying all over the place and hitting almost everything he tried. The ending is a bit questionable but it gives McIntyre a bit of credibility when he loses on this show more often. That’s probably the right move and the match wasn’t awful or anything.

Overall Rating: B-. That seems to be the consistent grade for this show. There were some good matches here and at the end we had the promise of something major being announced next week. I have a feeling I know what that is and that’ll make things a lot more interesting around here. The main event wasn’t much but it did its job well enough. Another good show here.

Results

Michael McGillicutty/Johnny Curtis b. Derrick Bateman/Bo Dallas – Falcon’s Arrow to Bateman

Antonio Cesaro b. Alex Riley – Gotch Style Neutralizer

Sofia Cortez b. Natalya via countout

The Ascension b. Dante Dash/Garrett Dylan – Downcash to Dash

Drew McIntyre b. Seth Rollins – Futureshock

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: July 4, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Byron Saxton

Happy (day after) Independence Day for those of you in America. Happy Wednesday to those of you not in America. It’s episode three of the new NXT and I’m actually looking forward to it. We’ve had two very good shows so far and we still have people that haven’t debuted yet. Tonight we have the debut of Kassius Ohno (what names these people have). Let’s get to it.

Sofia Cortez vs. Paige

Cortez is from Puerto Rico and Paige is from England. Both are good looking but they’re not that great in the ring. Cortez (blonde) hooks a headscissors to take Paige (black hair) down and stomps away in the corner. Paige gets a boot up so Cortez enziguris her down. Cortez hooks an arm trap chinlock which Paige breaks free of pretty quickly. Sofia kicks her in the head and hits a sitout DDT (thing the move that Mysterio does where he jumps at his opponent and hooks his legs under their arms and lays out into a bulldog but with a DDT instead) for the pin at 2:27. Usual Divas stuff but Cortez’s kicks weren’t bad.

Seth Rollins vs. Camacho

Dang they don’t waste time on this show. I love that. Ross says that WWE officials are high on Rollins. I’ve never heard that said on WWE TV before. Rollins starts out fast and hammers away before getting two off a rollup out of the corner. He pounds away again in the other corner but charges into a boot.

Camacho drops a leg (hermano) and chokes in the corner. A belly to back suplex gets two for Camacho but Rollins pulls himself up off the ropes and hits a standing enziguri. Seth hits a running dropkick but has to stop to take out Hunico. He rams them together and hits the Blackout for the pin (on Camacho just in case that’s too complicated) for the pin at 4:33.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t a great showcase for Rollins. It’s a good idea to have him beat a main show guy but the match didn’t quite work that well. Rollins has a good finisher that looks like it would knock someone out cold but the rest of him looks like he’s trying to figure out a style. The idea of him being full of energy isn’t much of a gimmick either. Not a bad match but it was underwhelming.

Hunico and Camacho jump Rollins post match and beat him down until Bo Dallas makes the save.

Corey Graves/Jake Carter vs. CJ Parker/Nick Rogers

Carter is Vader’s son. Graves and Carter used to be FCW tag champions and may have been when this was taped. JR acknowledges Carter’s heritage which surprises me a bit. Graves and Parker start us off but it’s quickly off to Carter off a blind tag. Carter hits a quick splash in the corner and brings in Graves again. Graves hooks a neck crank but Parker hits a backdrop and it’s off to Rogers vs. Carter. Carter picks Rogers up in a powerslam position and Graves slides in with a neckbreaker in a move called Bottoms Up for the pin at 2:25. Just a squash.

Video on Kassius Ohno.

Kassius Ohno vs. Mike Dalton

They trade wristlocks to start and Dalton takes him to the mat for two. Kassius (Chris Hero for those of you unfamiliar) hits a running clothesline in the corner and Dalton is in trouble. Off to a cobra clutch but Dalton escapes and hits a spinwheel kick for two. Ohno sends him into the ropes and hits the spinning forearm for the pin at 2:32. That’s a good finisher but hopefully he gets some promo time to expand things beyond “I knock people out.”

Ohno says he knocks people out and when they hear Kassius coming, they say OH NO.

Bray Wyatt video with him talking about going through a lot and getting stronger as a result. Now he feels no fear or pain and he wonders what is going to happen when people realize they can’t hurt him.

Derrick Bateman vs. Jinder Mahal

Mahal pounds away to start but Bateman throws him to the floor. He dives on Jinder to take over and they head back in. Mahal hits a neckbreaker on the top rope for two but a regular neckbreaker is countered into a backslide for two for Bateman. A small package gets the same as does a rollup. Bateman grabs a DDT and then a running flip neckbreaker for a close two. Jinder avoids the falling bulldog and hits a knee to the back and the camel clutch gets the submission at 4:02.

Rating: C-. Not a horrible match or anything but these two do absolutely nothing for me. Bateman is treated like an everyman and Mahal is Indian and rich. That’s nothing interesting as we’ve seen both kind of guys before. Nothing to see here but I’m sure we’ll be seeing these guys again for a long time.

Seth Rollins/Bo Dallas/Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty/Hunico/Camacho

That’s a pretty fast turn around for a feud. McGillicutty and Dallas get us going but Kidd is tagged in before there’s any contact. McGillicutty tags in Hunico rather than fight and now we get going. Regal and Chris Russo are on commentary now and get in a debate about Hunico’s dew rag with JR. Hunico busts out a Gory Special but Kidd counters into a sunset flip for two. Off to Rollins who gets beaten down by the Mexican contingent and we take a break.

After hearing about DX invading WCW (the only WWE promo of the show so far) it’s back with Camacho holding Rollins in a chinlock. Rollins quickly breaks it and makes the tag to Bo Dallas. He cleans a few rooms of the house but gets sent shoulder first into the post to stop his momentum dead. McGillicutty comes in who hooks a chinlock of his own. Off to Hunico who hits a butterfly backbreaker for two.

He keeps Dallas on the mat and brings McGillicutty back in. Another backbreaker gets another two but McGillicutty charges into a boot. There’s the real hot tag to Kidd who comes in with a springboard dropkick for two. They head to the floor and Dallas dives on all three of his opponents. Kidd sets for a dive of his own but walks into the McGillicutter for the pin at 9:49 shown of 13:19.

Rating: C+. Not much here but it was way better than last week’s short main event. I like that they didn’t just do the tag match immediately but more importantly they didn’t repeat the main event from two weeks ago which would have given them one of the biggest problems they had on the older seasons of the show. Kidd continues to be awesome as usual.

Overall Rating: B-. Another good show here although a step behind the previous two weeks. As usual though, there is no messing around on this show as we got in six matches in under 45 minutes with only one WWE promo. On top of that there’s a major perk to this show: since it was taped about a month ago, there is zero talk about what is going on in WWE at this point. It is so refreshing to watch a good show and not have to hear about the same storylines which have nothing to do with the match we’re watching time after time. Another good show this week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: June 27, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton Jim Ross

We’re back again after last week’s great debut episode. Tonight we’re going to get a lot of new people debuting which is a cool idea. The perk of NXT being merged with FCW is that there are a ton of guys that the masses haven’t seen before and they’re letting them trickle in, which is a good way to keep people watching. Let’s get to it.

Seth Rollins vs. Jiro

Rollins is Tyler Black from ROH. Jiro is a Japanese guy who looks to be a jobber. Regal isn’t on commentary this week which makes this show go down a bit already. They chop it out and Rollins sends him into the corner. Rollins hits a kind of running curb stomp called The Blackout for the pin at 1:32.

Rollins says he’s here to rip the roots out of the ground and the clouds out of the sky and change the world. Jinder Mahal comes out and glares at him on his way to the ring for the next match.

Jinder Mahal vs. Jason Jordan

Jordan is regarded as a top prospect according to JR. The bell rings twice for no apparent reason. Mahal pounds him down in the corner and hits a neckbreaker for two. Off to a chinlock followed by a butterfly suplex for two. Jordan tries a comeback but is quickly kneed down. Camel Clutch ends this at 2:51.

Mahal says he’s going to remake NXT in his vision. My goodness why does WWE think we care about this guy?

Leo Kruger is coming. He comes off like a smarmy heel from Africa. He says he’s the alpha male lion. So he’s a white Monty Brown? Apparently he debuts tonight.

The first Raw is a Raw moment.

Leo Kruger vs. Aiden English

Kruger pounds him down but English hits a quick dropkick. That’s the extent of his offense though as Kruger chokes away in the corner and hits a snap suplex. Kruger looks like a psycho Al Snow with curlier hair. Rear naked choke/sleeper gets the pin at 1:25.

Richie Steamboat says he’s not trying to fill his father’s shoes, but rather his own. He looks JUST like his daddy too.

Usos vs. The Ascension

Regal and Chris Russo are on commentary now along with JR. You know the Siva Tao is popular here with a college crowd. The Usos take over to start and double team Cameron for two. Cameron goes insane and pounds both Usos down until he brings in O’Brien for the same kind of stuff. They tag in and out a lot and pound away on Jey with a bunch of pounds and stomps. Jey hits a headbutt to bring in Jimmy who runs over Cameron a bit. Samoan Drop puts him down as does the Umaga Attack in the corner. Jey gets sent to the floor and Jimmy walks into the Downcast for the pin at 3:40.

Rating: C+. The match was nothing of note but I’m more impressed by the entrances. This is something you don’t get in the homogenized world of WWE anymore. The Usos had their full screaming entrance while the Ascension looks like something out of a thriller movie. That’s not something you get with the big arenas and Cole riffing on half the people that come out and ignoring the other half. The match was basically a squash.

Richie Steamboat vs. Rick Victor

Man they don’t waste any time around here do they? Papa Steamboat is in the front row. Richie armdrags Victor down a few times and hooks an armbar. Steamboat chops in the corner and the fans chant WOO, so apparently we have an educated crowd here. A clothesline gets two for Richie and it’s back to the armbar. Richie hits a crossbody and some clotheslines followed by elbows in the corner. A running spinning mat slam (Heath Slater used to use it) called the Slingblade gets the pin at 4:25.

Rating: D+. I really wasn’t huge on Richie here. He didn’t come off as anything special and his offense was just a step above basic. I’m also not a fan of that spinning finisher and I’d have rather seen him use a superkick like he used in FCW. Either way, this was a pretty disappointing debut, but that’s just his first match and there’s no way you can predict a career off of one match.

Antonio Cesaro is a dangerous man.

Raw ReBound is about the end of the show.

Dante Dash vs. Antonio Cesaro

Dash is a big muscular black guy. Cesaro takes him to the mat almost immediately and rubs his face in the mat. A gutwrench suplex puts Dash down and it’s off to a chinlock. A spinebuster puts Dash down again and the Neutralizer gets the pin at 1:48.

Bray Wyatt video with him talking about real love.

Derrick Bateman vs. Johnny Curtis

Curtis slaps him in the face and runs away almost immediately. Bateman chases him back inside and dropkicks him down. Curtis takes over and goes after the leg and we’re told Kassius Onoo debuts next week. Curtis hooks an inverted Indian Deathlock but Bateman chops his way out of it. There’s a spinning toehold by Johnny but Derrick escapes pretty quickly. He comes back with a falling forward DDT and the falling bulldog which he calls the DVD for the pin at 3:45.

Rating: D+. The match was pretty dull and it wasn’t helped by the fact that we saw them fight for the better part of a year. This was nothing of note and it being so short made it even less interesting. At the end of the day these two aren’t that interesting as Bateman is kind of an everyman who has some quirks to him while Curtis is “weird”. Nothing to see here.

Overall Rating: B-. This wasn’t quite as good as last week’s show but it was still a very solid show. The running idea of debuts is fine as you have to introduce the characters to the audience as a lot of them are new guys. They’re putting together some very good stuff here as they have a lot of fresh faces and a GREAT presentation. Also there are no frills to this show and they flew through six matches and some video packages in under 45 minutes. That’s not bad.

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