NXT
Date: October 30, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Renee Young, Byron Saxton

We’re still in the Abu Dhabi era, meaning it’s still time for the lower level guys to shine on this show. That opens up a lot of doors as it’s hard to tell what the show is going to focus on. The strength of NXT has always been its ability to put the focus on anything at any time though, so hopefully this show holds up well. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady vs. Alexander Rusev/Sylvester LeFort

Enzo and Big Cass think LeFort and his Legionnaires are just like chicken tenders: SAWFT! I believe this is Sylvester’s in ring debut and the guy is in great shape. Rusev plows through Cass to start and hits a standing splash (think Vader) before pulling Enzo in as well. Sylvester wants a tag but Rusev runs him over as well before beating Cassady with the Accolade at 1:33.

The mysterious blonde comes back to look at Rusev.

The Raw ReBound is the big ending segment where Big Show returned after that whole two weeks away to have his life ruined.

Aiden English vs. Jason Jordan

English does his song on the way in and Regal admits to having a mancrush on him. Jordan jumps him to start as Renee lists off his other athletic accomplishments. For some reason they’re much easier to listen to coming from her than Cole or JR. Off to a sleeper with English singing a lullaby. Jordan fights up and gets two off a dropkick, only to get caught in the Director’s Cut (sitout cobra clutch slam) for the pin at 1:44.

English gives us an encore and has roses thrown at him.

We look at Corey Graves beating Adrian Neville last week and attacking him post match.

Neville congratulates Corey for last week but it’s just the beginning since Corey went after Adrian’s livelihood.

Video on the Abu Dhabi tour.

Paige vs. Summer Rae

Non-title. Paige stars fast by throwing Summer around by the hair and out to the floor. Summer avoids a baseball slide but hides behind Sasha to stop Paige’s momentum. Back in and Paige gets two off a sunset flip as Regal continues to awkwardly hit on Renee. Regal snaps back into reality as Paige uses a headbutt, thrilling the Brit. Sasha tries to interfere and gets thrown out as we take a break. Back with Summer sending Paige to the apron and having her legs swept out from underneath her to give Summer control.

They head back inside with Rae hooking a leg lock as Regal talks about some old girlfriend of his coming to Orlando next time. Renee goes into girly mode and Saxton reminds them that he’s here. Paige fights up and hits a standing cradle DDT for two. Some clotheslines put Summer down and a running dropkick does the same. Summer comes back with a nice spin kick to the face for two of her own, only to get caught in a quick Paige Turner for the pin at 6:12 shown of 9:12.

Rating: C-. Not bad here as I wonder why Summer didn’t have this match with Natalya on Monday. She’s more than capable of having decent matches like this but I was bored out of my mind from her Raw stuff. This was good enough but they need to mix things up with the title as Paige has held it for months now.

Post match Banks comes back and beats down Paige until Emma makes the save. Emma stomps away on Sasha in the corner and accidentally blasts Paige as the champ goes after Banks as well.

Tyler Breeze says it’s time to send CJ Parker back to the streets where he belongs.

Luke Harper vs. Kassius Ohno and Rusev vs. LeFort next week.

Tyler Breeze vs. CJ Parker

Parker chases Breeze around the ring before sending him face first into a buckle. A nice suplex gets two for CJ and a cross body out of the corner gets the same. Apparently there’s a small community in southeast Asia that worships Breeze’s hair. I’m not sure why but that cracked me up. Parker hooks an airplane spin of all things before headbutting Breeze down. He loads up a big palm strike but Breeze bails to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Parker suplexing Breeze down but getting caught in a quick powerbomb out of the corner. Breeze stomps away but stops for a picture. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Tyler goes up and gets slammed down. Parker hits some shots to the face and a side kick for two before the Third Eye (palm strike) gets the pin at 7:50 shown of 10:50.

Rating: D+. This didn’t do it for me. Breeze is great but Parker is just flat out boring in the ring. I know we’re supposed to get behind him due to the hair cutting thing last week but at the end of the day there’s nothing to him at all. The fans there don’t like him and I can’t say I disagree with them at all.

Post match Parker goes for Breeze’s hair but Tyler bails to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. If this is as bad as NXT gets, I can certainly live with it. There wasn’t much here but Aiden English is always fun and I can tolerate looking at Summer and Paige for ten minutes if you force me to. This was just a filler episode and that’s fine all things considered. Not a great episode but like I said, if this is as bad as it gets, that’s not bad.

Results

Alexander Rusev/Sylvester LeFort b. Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore – Accolade to Cassady

Aiden English b. Jason Jordan – Director’s Cut

Paige b. Summer Rae – Paige Turner

CJ Parker b. Tyler Breeze – Third Eye

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NXT
Date: October 16, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal, Renee Young

Tonight is a very big show for NXT as we FINALLY get the showdown between Sami Zayn and Bo Dallas. This is a match that’s been built up for months now and tonight is the blowoff. Imagine that: setting up match and building up to it for months as the fans want to see it more and more. Why is that so complicated? Let’s get to it.

The opening video sets up the title match tonight with Zayn wearing a mask and pinning Dallas a few weeks back.

Welcome Home.

Tag Titles: Ascension vs. Adrian Neville/Corey Graves

Ascension is defending and won the belts from Neville and Graves two weeks back. Corey sends Victor into the corner to start as the announcers talk about how much more aggressive Graves has been since losing the titles. Victor is knocked into the corner before putting on a headscissors choke over the ropes before bringing in Adrian. The Brit loads up a quick Red Arrow but has to kick O’Brien away, only to hurt his leg in the process.

Back from a break with Victor slamming the back of Graves’ head into the mat for two before it’s off to Conor again. Adrian quickly gets over to the corner and dives to Corey for the tag. Graves goes for Conor’s leg and puts on Lucky 13 but Victor makes the save. Adrian is still hurt but Graves tags him back in anyway. O’Brien throws Adrian shoulder first into the post but Neville comes back with a kick to Victor’s face. He goes for the tag but Victor kicks Adrian into Corey which isn’t a tag for some reason. Ascension hits the Fall of Man on Neville to retain the belts at 5:52 shown of 9:22.

Rating: C. This was all about finishing off the Graves/Neville team for good which was the right move. They never felt like anything more than transitional champions and in both matches they’ve looked outclassed by Ascension. It was a glorified squash and there’s nothing wrong with that at all.

Post match Graves yells at Neville for losing their shot before destroying him, turning heel in the process. It takes a little bit before the fans really get onto him but the YOU SUCK chant gets going after a bit.

Cena is coming back in case you didn’t know.

Post break the announcers are stunned at what they just saw.

Tyler Breeze vs. CJ Parker

As usual, the fans are entirely behind Breeze and can’t stand Parker. Renee Young continues to be awesome on commentary by saying she and Breeze get along so well because they both have blonde ponytails, shop at the same stores and are about the same size. Fans: “BREEZE IS GORGEOUS!” Parker hits a hard chop to the chest to start as the announcers debate which kind of cell phone would be the best weapon.

Breeze misses an elbow drop and gets rolled up for two, protecting his face in the process. Parker misses a dropkick and gets kicked in the face but Breeze has to go take a picture in the corner. Breeze pounds away and freaks out when CJ loads up a right hand to the face. Fans: “NOT IN THE FACE!” Breeze uses the distraction to poke Parker in the eye and hit a spinwheel kick for the pin at 3:25.

Rating: C-. If there is a more fun character out there than Tyler Breeze, I have no idea who it is. The match was nothing special but the thing that stood out the most here was Renee Young. She is so perfect as the laid back commentator and actually makes the matches a lot easier to listen to. She’s funny, she adds stuff to the match, she sounds natural and above all else, she isn’t corny at all. In short, she sounds like a normal, bright person talking about what she’s seeing and offering some intelligent thoughts to it. That’s the polar opposite from how forced most commentary is and it’s very refreshing.

Regal praises Tyler for his tactics. Breeze goes to take a picture but Parker hits him in the face and steals the phone to take pictures of himself. Regal has the right idea: “CALL THE POLICE!”

Breast cancer is bad.

Paige/Emma vs. Sasha Banks/Summer Rae

Paige insists that she gets to start and erupts on Summer to start. It’s quickly off to Emma who sends Summer running off to Banks. Emma avoids a charge in the corner and gets a quick sunset flip for two. Sasha takes her into the heel corner and brings in Summer as Renee takes jabs at Tony for calling her the foremost authority on Divas.

Summer hits a faceplant for two on Emma before pulling on Emma’s arms. Emma backflips over into a rollup for two and there’s the hot tag to Paige. The champ cleans house and fires off some knees to Summer’s ribs before getting two off a PerfectPlex. Everything breaks down and Summer hits a quick standing legdrop for the pin on Paige at 5:50.

Rating: C-. The looks of the girls made this a lot easier to get through but it still wasn’t much of a match. Much like earlier, this was there to do little more than stet up a future match, presumably with Summer finally taking the title from Paige. Still though, good stuff here as the Divas of NXT continue to be the best in the business today.

NXT Title: Sami Zayn vs. Bo Dallas

They have a ton of time for this. Bo is defending if you’re new around here. Feeling out process to start with Sami sending Bo into the ropes. Sami gets a pair of rollups for two, sending Bo into the corner. Back up and the champion grabs a headlock to take Zayn down and drops some knees for two. Dallas hooks a cravate for a few moments before Sami comes back with clotheslines and a backdrop. The running boot in the corner…..WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP AT 4:35?????

The fans are so shocked they forget to cheer but before I can even type Rating:, here’s JBL to say it doesn’t count because Bo’s foot was on the rope, which was clearly before the bell. JBL tells the referee to not make him learn his name so restart the match. Bo elbows Sami out to the floor and we take a quick break.

Back with Sami fighting out of a cravate but getting clotheslined down for another two. Sami fights up again and low bridging Dallas out to the floor. There’s the big flip dive from Zayn followed by a high cross body for two. Dallas blocks the running boot in the corner but gets caught in a spinning blue thunder bomb for two. Bo hits a boot to the side of the head and a bulldog out of the corner for a close near fall.

A reverse DDT gets the same but Sami avoids a powerslam and spears Dallas down for two. Dallas blocks a climbing the turnbuckle armdrag and spears Sami down for two. The fans are losing their minds on the kickouts. Dallas puts Zayn on the top rope for a superplex but gets countered into a great looking sunset bomb for an even closer two. Sami rolls some German suplexes but Bo rips off the turnbuckle pad and sends Zayn face first into the steel to block the last German, allowing Bo to roll him up to retain at 14:26 shown of 17:16.

Rating: B+. Really fun match here where you genuinely didn’t know who was going to win until the end. At this point Zayn shouldn’t be in NXT for awhile as this was his big moment and he came up short. He’s more than ready for the main roster so there’s no need to keep him around in developmental anymore. Dallas’ best match ever by a few thousand miles.

Overall Rating: A. My goodness NXT is amazing. This felt like their biggest show ever and it delivered in spades. We have angle advancement in the tag title match, a challenger for Paige, a fun match with Breeze and a great match with a false finish for the title. This is by far the highlight of my wrestling week and somehow it keeps getting better. Excellent show this week and great stuff all around.

Results

Ascension b. Adrian Neville/Corey Graves – Fall of Man to Neville

Tyler Breeze b. CJ Parker – Spinwheel Kick

Summer Rae/Sasha Banks b. Paige/Emma – Standing legdrop to Paige

Bo Dallas b. Sami Zayn – Rollup

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NXT
Date: October 9, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Alex Riley, Tom Phillips

This is kind of the show before the big show with next week having the showdown between Sami Zayn and Bo Dallas. As for tonight there isn’t anything big announced. We do however have a major guest star in the form of Rob Van Dam. I love how they bring in big names like that to give the fans a treat almost every week. Let’s get to it.

We open with a Rob Van Dam music video, meaning he’s likely the main event tonight.

Welcome Home.

Leo Kruger vs. Antonio Cesaro

This should be good. It’s a result from the Bo Dallas Invitational where both guys fought over a chance at fighting Dallas. Cesaro charges at the bell and hits a running dropkick to fire up the crowd. Kruger loses his shirt but comes back with some loud chops. A clothesline puts Cesaro on the floor and Kruger rakes his back.

We head back inside with Cesaro driving in knees to the ribs to take over, drawing a “Push Cesaro” chant. Kruger gets choked on the bottom rope but comes back with a quick suplex and some choking of his own. A Russian legsweep gets two for Leo but Antonio hits a quick running European uppercut in the corner for two of his own.

Cesaro puts him down with something like a Rock Bottom for two but gets crotched on the top rope. A superplex puts Cesaro down and we take a break. Back with Cesaro being knocked to the floor for a suicide dive from Kruger. They head inside again with Cesaro running away from the Slice clothesline and heading outside again. Cesaro sends him into the steps and drops him back first onto the apron in a bid for a countout. Kruger gets back up so Cesaro gives him a gutwrench suplex on the ramp.

Kruger still makes it back in at nine so Cesaro goes into boxing mode to punch him down again. A fast series of European uppercuts and a second cousin of the Angle Slam gets two but Kruger backdrops out of the Neutralizer. Kruger gets a boot up in the corner but charges into Swiss Death for another near fall. There’s the standing sleeper but Cesaro pulls him down into a bodyscissors. Kruger fights up again but gets his head taken off by a clothesline. Cesaro goes into beast mode and this the Neutralizer for the pin at 11:57 shown of 14:47.

Rating: B. If you give Kruger a near fall here it’s a great match. As it is, it’s only a great way to make Kruger into a face that won’t quit. The thing to see here though was the energy. Both guys were clearly working hard to tell a story out there and it worked like a charm. This is the kind of stuff WWE desperately needs at the moment to break up the stale feeling.

Post match Cesaro drops a top rope knee on Kruger because that’s the kind of guy he is. Kruger seems to have an injured throat.

Breast cancer sucks.

Charlotte vs. Santana Garrett

Bayley is with Charlotte here and Renee Young is on commentary again. Santana fights out of a wristlock to start but Charlotte uses her gymnastic stuff to take over again. A bad looking kick to the face gets two for Santana as Renee talks about an article on WWE.com with Charlotte complaining about being compared to her dad.

Here are Sasha Banks and Summer Rae for some Laycool style applause. Charlotte fights out of a headscissors into a cradle for two before bridging Santana down for two. Sasha’s distraction gives Santana a rollup of her own for the same result but she walks into a reverse F5, setting up a HORRIBLE looking flip Diamond Cutter for the pin at 3:10.

Rating: D. This was mainly about Sasha and Summer, but Charlotte’s finisher looked terrible. Hopefully it’s because Santana took it from her knees, but she barely went down at all and Charlotte didn’t connect for the most part. Still though, Charlotte has a good ring presence which will serve her well later on. Bad night I’m hoping.

Post match Summer and Sasha declare themselves the B.F.F.’s: the Beautiful Fierce Females. They’ve gotten rid of Paige so there’s no one left to do anything about them. Cue Paige but she gets beaten down as well, leading to a save by Emma.

Mojo Rawley wants to motivate you.

Post break Summer and Emma challenge Paige and Emma to a tag match next week.

Danny Burch vs. Mojo Rawley

Rawley’s entrance music starts with “I don’t get hyped. I STAY HYPED!” He sprints around the ring with so much energy that Ultimate Warrior would tell him to tone it down. Burch pounds away on the well built Rawley before putting on a quick chinlock. Mojo fights up and hits a few quick shoulder blocks before finishing Burch with an Earthquake splash for the pin at 2:27. Not a great debut but the entrance told you everything you need to know about Rawley.

Paige and Emma don’t like each other but they agree to team up next week.

Scott Dawson/Alexander Rusev vs. Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore

Dawson and Rusev might be named the Legionaries. Enzo thinks we’re in Cheers right now because everyone knows their names, causing Cassady to sing part of the cheers song. Rusev and Dawson are definitely S-A-W-F-T and the fans let them know it. Cassady and Amore are just so much fun. Rusev starts with Big Cass and pops him in the jaw with an elbow to slow him down.

Off to Amore who has about as much success as you would expect. A series of knees to the ribs put Amore down and it’s off to Dawson for some elbow drops for two. There’s a hard clothesline for the same and everything breaks down. Rusev crushes Enzo in the corner and finishes him at 2:52 with a camel clutch, which is called the Accolade for some reason.

Dawson and Rusev beat up Cassady post match.

Sami Zayn is ready for his title shot next week against Bo Dallas. Bo comes in and says that Sami hurt his feeling last week and that’s it’s certainly not personal. Sami has no problem with Bo other than he’s the NXT Champion. Bo offers a tag team instead of fighting over the NXT Title, which Sami agrees to, after the title match that is. “Un-Bo-lievable.”

Rob Van Dam vs. Aiden English

English, now an Artiste, sings about kicking someone’s teeth in because he’s a sports entertainer. Ricardo does RVD’s entrance but not in song. Aiden takes Rob down with a top wristlock to start but we hit a quick standoff. A quick rollup gets two on English and sends him back into the corner for some finger pointing. The monkey flip out of the corner has English in trouble and a clothesline puts him on the floor.

Rob moonsaults him off the apron and we head back inside for Rolling Thunder but Aiden bails before Rob can start. English kicks the rope to crotch Rob and shouts that it’s his show. A suplex gets two on Rob and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Rob kicks him down a few times before a superkick sets up Rolling Thunder. The Five Star ends English at 5:32.

Rating: C-. This was just a workout for Van Dam but it didn’t need to be anything more than that. English getting this spot is a good sign for him as he debuted the new gimmick just a few weeks ago and is facing a former world champion already. This was just a thrill for the crowd and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Overall Rating: B. Even their filler shows are good. The best thing about NXT though is it’s not just a few guys they have that make an awesome show. Cesaro and Kruger are the only guys here from last week and they were only in action for about 45 seconds last week. NXT changed the entire roster for this week’s show and it was still very entertaining. That tells me it’s the promotion and not the stars, which is a REALLY good sign going forward.

Results

Antonio Cesaro b. Leo Kruger – Neutralizer

Charlotte b. Santana Garrett – Running flip Diamond Cutter

Mojo Rawley b. Danny Burch – Earthquake Splash

Scott Dawson/Alexander Rusev b. Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady – Accolade to Amore

Rob Van Dam b. Aiden English – Five Star Frog Splash

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NXT
Date: September 25, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, William Regal

It’s finally the start of a new set of tapings meaning things will start changing around here again. The main story tonight is a major announcement to be made by HHH. Let’s get to it. They’ve got a long way to go to top how fun last week’s show but maybe they can go in a different direction this time around. Let’s get to it.

Tyler Breeze came in to see Brad Maddox earlier but CJ Parker interrupted them both. Apparently there’s going to be a a tag team turmoil match tonight for a future title shot. Naturally Parker and Breeze get teamed together.

Welcome Home.

Tag Team Turmoil

You know the drill here I’m sure: two teams start and the winning team advances to face whomever the third team is, last team standing wins. We start with Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore vs. Breeze/Parker. Enzo insists that every other team in this match is S-A-W-F-T, or as the crowd says, SAWFT! The fans think Breeze is gorgeous.

Regal says that Amore and Cassady have been banned from all Disney parks and Walt Disney is spinning in his fridge over it. Parker and Amore get things going with CJ busting out an airplane spin. CJ hits a pair of knees in the corner but stops to look at Breeze, allowing Cassady to come in for the spinning sitout Rock Bottom for the elimination at 1:20. Well that was quick.

Sylvester LeFort introduces Scott Dawson and Alexander Rusev as the next team. Dawson has a bad limp and the team is apparently called the Fighting Legionaries. Cassady starts with Dawson and the size difference is remarkable. Dawson gets taken down to the mat in a surprise move but it’s off to Rusev for the power battle. A quick Samoan drop puts the legal Amore in and it’s back to Dawson who sends Enzo into the corner. Dawson hits a big spinebuster to crush Amore but Enzo grabs a small package for the pin at 4:17 total.

Rusev destroys Amore and heeeeeeeeere’s Ascension. O’Brian cranks on Cassady’s neck after the break before it’s off to Victor to pound away. Rick pounds away in multiple corners but charges into an elbow to the jaw to give Cassady a breather. Not that it matters as O’Brian comes back in for a bunch of shoulder blocks. Cassady gets a big boot for two and it’s hot tag to Amore, only to have him walk into the flapjack and whatever Ascension calls Total Elimination for the final pin at 8:13 shown of 11:43.

Rating: C. Lack of Tyler Breeze aside, this wasn’t too bad. The fans are completely behind Amore and Cassady as a face act but Ascension running them over at the end is the perfect call. There isn’t much of a division at this point, but with just an hour a week what more can you ask for?

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

Renee Young is on commentary as her takeover of WWE television continues. Summer Rae and those legs of hers are with Sasha here. Bayley takes Sasha into the corner and hits a chop to her delight. Sasha comes back with rapid fire chops to almost scare Bayley out of her boots. Bayley gets dropped face first out of the corner for two as it’s all Banks so far. We hit the chinlock as Regal hits on Renee.

A snap suplex gets two on Bayley but she comes back with forearms in the corner. Sasha comes back with a HARD overhand chop followed by an armdrag out of the corner. Bayley sends her into the corner and grabs the Hugplex (I didn’t name it that) for two. Not that it matters as Sasha hooks a double arm neckbreaker (think Sandow’s Terminus) for the pin at 4:00.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but the fans are totally into Bayley’s starstruck stuff. Sasha is just another evil Diva but she has a nice presence in the ring to make up for it. The match was more about character development for Banks but Bayley helped get things to work as well as they did.

Renee thinks Sasha is evil for breaking Bayley’s headband because you don’t mess with another girl’s hair products. Summer says Fandango will be here next week. She and Sasha run things around here since Paige and Emma have been run off. Cue Emma to chase both girls off.

Aiden English sings about walking to the ring (“And all the while you get to hear me sing”) as the brilliance of such a simple idea continues.

Aiden English vs. Bull Dempsey

English grabs a quick headlock (“THE DAY IS MINE!”) and kicks Dempsey in the head for two. A legdrop sets up the Side Effect, which may be called Take a Bow, for the pin at 1:40.

The fans get the encore they demand.

Summer Rae challenges Emma to find a partner to meet herself and Fandango in a mixed tag.

El Local vs. Sami Zayn

The place pops BIG for Zayn. Local is of course Ricardo Rodriguez under a mask. The Ole chants begin at the bell as they trade wristlocks. Zayn comes back with some armdrags and Local is in trouble. A nice hurricanrana gets two on Local but he comes back with a clothesline into a backbreaker (as in Sami’s back landed on Local’s knee on the way down from the clothesline) for two of his own. Local hooks a chinlock but Sami comes back with the leg lariat and the running boot to the face for the pin at 2:58. Squash for Zayn.

Post match here’s Bo Dallas to say that he’s finally healed after Zayn injured him at Summerslam Axxess. He’s ready to put the title on the line in the Bo Dallas Invitational with anyone being welcome to enter. If anyone can pin him, they’ll get a title shot in three weeks. Wait is the invitational for the title or a title shot a few weeks later? Zayn says he’ll be the first to sign up and they can do it right now. Dallas says hold on a second because Sami isn’t eligible to enter.

Kassius Ohno comes in to see Brad Maddox and wants to know why he isn’t on NXT. Maddox says Kassius is a D+/C- talent, so Kassius suggests that he interrupt every match from now on. Brad blames it on “them”, but is threatened into a match with a member of the Wyatt Family next week.

Here’s HHH for the big announcement. He talks about how awesome people like Leo Kruger, Sami Zayn, Bo Dallas, Adrian Neville and Corey Graves are because they’re the future of WWE. However, there have been some issues lately with the Rhodes family, primarily with Dusty Rhodes.

See, Dusty is the GM of NXT and that might not be what’s best for business anymore. Therefore, Dusty has been given some time off and we have a new interim GM: John Bradshaw Layfield. JBL comes out in full on EVIL rich guy mode, telling the fans that this isn’t sing-a-long with the wrestling god so shut your mouths. He welcomes us to his era to end the show.

Rating: B. Another solid show from the boys in Florida here. The JBL as GM idea is perfect as Bradshaw is about as perfect as you can get for a villain when he’s in full heel mode. That’s a good change for the show and JBL could still be a good adversary for a number of people in NXT. Good show this week as NXT keeps rolling along.

Results

Ascension won tag team turmoil last eliminating Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore

Sasha Banks b. Bayley – Neckbreaker

Aiden English b. Bull Dempsey – Side Effect

Sami Zayn b. El Local – Running boot to the face

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NXT
Date: September 11, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Tony Dawson

The main story at the moment is Sami Zayn vs. Bo Dallas after Bo cost Sami a match against Jack Swagger last week. Sami is one of the most over guys in NXT and is more than ready for the main roster. Other than that we have the continuing adventures of Mason Ryan vs. LeFort and company which are at least getting Rusev over. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady vs. Alexander Rusev/Scott Dawson

Enzo goes on a rant about how Dawson and Rusev are SAWFT and the fans eat it up. Dawson is now called Captain Roughneck in a nod to Dick Murdoch. Enzo starts with Dawson with Amore hitting a quick let hand and running off to Cassady. The 7’0 Cassady takes over on the 5’9 Dawson and pounds him down before bringing Enzo back in.

Dawson wastes no time in spinning Amore inside out with a clothesline. Off to Rusev to destroy Enzo with pure power. There’s something awesome about a monster destroying a small man. Back to Dawson who knocks Colin off the apron and plays Neidhart to Rusev’s Bret in a Hart Attack (with a spinwheel kick instead of a clothesline), but that’s a DQ on Rusev and Dawson at 3:35 for being in the ring too long.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here but Rusev continues to look good. I still don’t get the appeal of Dawson but he’s much better as a singles guy than he was in the tag team with Dylan. Amore is one of those guys who needs to stay out of the ring as he’s so much better on the mic than he is at wrestling.

Here’s Bo Dallas with something to say. The white pants and black vest with the long hair already make me want to punch him. He thanks all of the Bo-lievers for all of their well wishes have made him believe he can fly. Last week he was just down there to cheer Zayn on because Sami needs a mentor. Bo says he’s medically cleared to wrestle Sami but not for the title because he’s not completely healed up. When in doubt, don’t stop Bo-lieving.

CJ Parker talks about Tyler Breeze hording sticks like a beaver while Parker wants to spread the sticks everywhere. Breeze jumps him and takes a photo. Parker still doesn’t do it for me.

Sasha Banks vs. Paige

Banks is being corrupted by the dark side of the Divas in the form of Summer Rae. I thought this was for the title but it wasn’t announced as such. The fans chant Happy Birthday to Paige in a nice gesture. Paige sends her throat first into the ropes a few times before blocking an attempt at the same thing from Sasha. Nice touch. Sasha comes back with a victory roll for two and a reverse waistlock. Paige drives her into the corner for some back elbows to the face ala Matt Morgan. Banks sends her face first into the buckle as we take a break.

Back with Paige in a reverse chinlock followed by a rear naked choke. Paige fights up but gets caught by a back elbow to the jaw for two. We go back to the chinlock with a bodyscissors from Sasha for a very long time until Paige fights up into a rollup for two. Back to the chinlock which has probably been half of the match so far. Paige gets out again and comes back with a release fisherman’s suplex to put Banks down. Ten knees to the chest put Banks down but Paige misses a dropkick, only to roll through a cross body to pin Sasha at 7:42 shown of 11:12.

Rating: C. This was nothing great but Sasha isn’t the best in the ring. The long stretches of chinlockery here didn’t help much either as the match dragged on way too long as a result. The girls here are still much more interesting than the WWE girls but the division could use some fresh faces.

Post match Paige offers a handshake but Sasha beats her down instead.

In the back, Sasha tells Summer how great that felt.

Xavier Woods vs. Leo Kruger

Woods chases Kruger out to the floor but Leo snaps Xavier’s throat over the middle rope to take over. Back in and Leo hooks an armbar to take over and set up the GC3 later on. Woods finally escapes but and takes Leo down with a headscissors. Kruger bails to the floor, only to miss a dive as we take a break. Back with Kruger stomping away and dropping elbows for two.

Leo pulls at Xavier’s face for a bit before it’s back to the armbar, this time with hair pulling. It’s off to a hammerlock instead now but Woods counters with a Stunner. Back up and Woods hits a dropkick to put Leo down but Kruger comes back with a backbreaker for two. A Jackhammer gets two more for Leo but Woods comes back with some forearms and dropkicks to get a breather.

The Honor Roll rolling clothesline is countered into a nice spinebuster for two. Kruger’s Slice misses and Woods hits an enziguri and Lost in the Woods (running Downward Spiral here, though it used to be the name of Gail Kim’s Eat Defeat) for two. The second Honor Roll connects and Eat Defeat is good for the pin on Kruger at 10:40 shown of 12:40.

Rating: C. This picked up at the end but it wasn’t worth sitting through all that time to get there. The arm work from Kruger didn’t go anywhere and Woods’ arm seemed fine for the Honor Roll. The match was nothing special though and there’s no reason for these guys to be fighting that I can think of. That’s fine if the match is really good but it needs more if a match is just ok.

Overall Rating: C-. I know I asked for a weaker show for a change but I’m kind of regretting it now that I’ve gotten it. Nothing on here was very good, the main event felt like it was thrown together and Sasha is just a placeholder until Summer vs. Paige starts up again. Thankfully this is the last show in a taping cycle so next week should feel fresh. This was their weakest offering in awhile.

Results

Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore b. Alexander Rusev/Scott Dawson via DQ when Rusev and Dawson wouldn’t get out of the ring

Paige b. Sasha Banks – Reversed cross body

Xavier Woods b. Leo Kruger – Lost in the Woods

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