NXT
Date: June 5, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Brad Maddox

We have a new #1 contender after Bo Dallas won the battle royal last week, earning him a shot at Big E. Langston’s NXT Title. On top of that we’ve got Corey Graves/Kassius Ohno continuing their feud with the Wyatt Family. The big story tonight though is the beginning of the NXT Women’s Title Tournament to crown the first champion. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Here’s Jim Ross to host the contract signing between Langston and Dallas. Both guys come out as we see some exclusive footage of them staring each other down after the battle royal last week. Langston is in street clothes which don’t quite suit him. Big E. signs but Dallas has something to say. He didn’t like Langston looking down at him last week like a joke. Since Langston won the NXT Title, he’s moved on to bigger and better things like hanging out with Dolph Ziggler and debuting at Wrestlemania.

Dallas thinks he should be doing those kinds of things but he isn’t because he’s not NXT Champion. He needs to be champion and is about to sign a contract that could change his life. All he needs are three seconds to change his life and make history. Dallas goes to sign but Langston says Dallas isn’t a joke. Langston started to respect Dallas when he fought Big Show, even though he got knocked out.

Dallas wants to be like Langston but Bo is a geek who probably lives at home with his mama and never stops smiling no matter what he’s doing. Bo was talking about three seconds, but Langston will crush his dreams in five. Dallas signs and walks away. Great stuff here from Langston but Dallas continues to look and sound like nothing special.

Corey Graves says his match tonight isn’t just about winning the tag titles but about taking the Wyatt Family down. Bray Wyatt likes to play mind games, but in Graves’ mind, they’re not playing games. Graves says he doesn’t like Ohno and doesn’t care what Kassius does in the match tonight.

NXT Women’s Title Tournament First Round: Tamina vs. Paige

I really like the look of the new belt as it’s very basic but classy looking. The centerpiece if oval shaped with the letters NXT in the middle and side plates coming off the centerpiece. Tamina shoves the much smaller Paige down with ease and chokes her down in the corner. A hair toss sends Paige flying and it’s off to a chinlock.

A knee drop gets two for Tamina and it’s back to the chinlock. Tamina slams her down for two more and it’s off to chinlock number three in a three and a half minute match. Paige fires back with some elbows in the corner but Tamina hits a superkick to drop Paige again. The Superfly Splash hits Paige’s knees, giving her a rollup to pin Tamina at 4:20.

Rating: C-. Paige did win, but I’m not sure having her get in a counter and a rollup for the pin is the best way to go about things here. It’s hard to imagine Paige not being in the tournament’s final and a win over a WWE Diva isn’t going to hurt her, but she could have looked much stronger here with the same result.

Kassius Ohno says his plan of attack is to attack. He’s bringing mayhem at the Wyatt Family fortress to get at Bray himself. Kassius doesn’t care what happens to Graves because Graves has proven he can’t handle three monsters by himself before. Tonight, it’s a war.

Colin Cassidy vs. Mason Ryan

Colin is a big guy who probably stands close to 7’0 tall. Cassidy pounds away at Ryan but is taken down by a single punch. Mason pounds away in the corner with right hands and a few headbutts before the Torture Rack neckbreaker ends Cassidy at 2:00.

Sami Zayn says it was a big deal to beat a WWE Tag Team and US Champion on the same night and maybe he could do it again. Cesaro comes up and says that was a cheap win. Zayn says that the only cheap thing that night was the cheap shot from Cesaro after the match. Cesaro wants a rematch and Zayn is up for it, as long as Cesaro tells him where he got his sweet man purse. The brawl is on but referees quickly break it up.

Alex Riley vs. Conor O’Brian

Conor easily runs Alex over a few times to start before throwing him into a headlock. Riley fights up but his chops get him nowhere. A dropkick puts O’Brian down and a top rope clothesline gets two but Alex gets caught by a splash in the corner. O’Brian flapjacks him down and puts Alex in the Stockade, a kind of seated Octopus Hold for the submission at 2:12. Riley looked good while getting squashed.

Tag Titles: Kassius Ohno/Corey Graves vs. Wyatt Family

Wyatt says he isn’t afraid of snakes or disease or fire. He’s only afraid of himself but the two guys in the ring aren’t scared enough of him. His name is Bray Wyatt and he is the eater of worlds. The men behind him are his brothers but tonight they’re going to give him an introduction of their own. Ohno starts with Rowan and puts on a cravate to take over. Erick can’t even slam his way out of the hold so he throws Kassius into the corner instead.

Off to Graves vs. Harper with Luke carrying him to a neutral corner like a rag doll. Why you would carry a rag doll to a neutral corner is beyond me but it’s not the best simile in the world. Graves armdrags his way out of a hiptoss before it’s back to Ohno to crank on Luke’s arm. It’s back to Rowan as we take a break. Back with Rowan holding Kassiuh in a cobra clutch before it’s back to Harper who gets two off an uppercut. Ohno escapes a powerslam by Erick and takes him down with a jawbreaker.

The hot tag brings in Graves to take out Rowan’s leg with a chop block but a Harper distraction prevents the 13^th Step from going on. Luke kicks Graves in the head to give Erick a two count before dropping a knee for two of his own. The Family keeps tagging in and out with Rowan getting two off a backbreaker. Off to an over the shoulder backbreaker for good measure (Maddox: “He’s going to break his back!” The name fits the move if nothing else) before it’s back to Harper who says yeah yeah yeah a lot.

Graves counters a suplex into a small package for two and a crucifix gets the same. Harper has a powerbomb countered with a backdrop and it’s off to Ohno to clean house. Ohno hits a series of forearms to Harper and gets two off a senton. A Bray Wyatt distraction doesn’t do his Family much good as Ohno hits a rolling headbutt for two. A clothesline from Graves sends both he and Rowan to the floor but the distraction allows Wyatt to blast Ohno in the head. Graves takes out Bray but Harper pins Kassius to retain at 10:00 shown of 13:00.

Rating: B-. They had me believing something the titles were in jeopardy at the end which is the right idea for a match like this. This match went a long way towards strengthening Ohno and Graves in their war with Wyatt which will definitely continue. The Family looks great in the ring for a pair of monsters with Harper having a lot of potential after the team eventually splits up.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a return to form for NXT after last week’s show. The main event for next week is advanced, we get a tournament match and a decent tag title match with a few squashes mixed in. What more can you possibly ask for in a forty five minute show? The title match next week has a better hype than I was expecting and Langston showed that he can be serious when he needs to be. Good show this week.

Results

Paige b. Tamina – Rollup

Mason Ryan b. Colin Cassidy – Torture Rack Neckbreaker

Conor O’Brian b. Alex Riley – Stockade

Wyatt Family b. Kassius Ohno/Corey Graves – Rollup to Ohno after interference from Bray Wyatt

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

NXT
Date: May 29, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Brad Maddox

Tonight we have some main event stuff to get to as it’s time for the #1 contenders battle royal, with the winner getting a shot at Langston at some point in the future. Other than that it’s hard to say what we’ll get which is one of the most interesting parts of a show like NXT. Odds are everyone will be in the battle royal with some working other matches tonight. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Wyatt Family vs. Travis Tyler/Sawyer Fulton

Non-title. There’s something very wrong about the Family having Twitter handles. Sawyer and Harper get things going with Lke running over Fulton like one half of a monster tag team running over a jobber in a squash match. Off to Rowan who pounds away in the corner with a headbutt and a chop before it’s back to Harper for more chops. Tom says that the tag is off to Fulton, making me think he has no idea which is which. Not that it really matters as Harper charges at Fulton in the corner and the discus lariat is good for the pin at 2:30.

Here’s Stephanie McMahon (in a studio) for a big announcement. She says that there will be a tournament to crown the first NXT Divas Champion. The tournament starts next week.

Emma vs. Audrey Marie

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m warming up to the dancing. Why this isn’t a first round tournament match is beyond me but the more interesting part is the crowd going NUTS for Emma. She wants her music started again after the bell rings for more dancing but Audrey smacks her in the face. More dancing ensues but Emma gets two off a sunset flip. A bad looking gutwrench suplex gets two for Marie and they trade some backslides for two each. Emma even busts out a Tarantula, called the Dilemma. Emma hits a slingshot to set up a bridging Indian Deathlock (complete with dancing as she bends back) for the win at 2:52.

Scott Dawson and Garrett Dylan are in the back but their loud and annoying manager with a French accent. The manager isn’t named but it might be that Enzo Amore guy from last week.

Scott Dawson/Garrett Dylan vs. Brandon Traven/Jake Carter

Apparently the manager is named Sylvester LeFort. Dawson and Dylan look like Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. Apparently LeFort is an eccentric French investor who travels the world looking for interesting business opportunities. That’s not one you hear everyday. Carter pounds away on Dawson in the corner to start but Scott sends him out to the floor to take over. A few knee drops get two before it’s off to Dylan.

Garrett hooks a chinlock on Carter for a bit as Maddox describes Dawson as someone who likely doesn’t flush. I’m not touching that one. Anyway Carter fights out and crawls between Dylan’s legs for the tag to Traven who is almost immediately clotheslined down. Dawson hits a spinebuster followed by a middle rope ax handle to a laid out Traven for the pin at 4:04.

Rating: D+. Not much here and I’m not all that wild on Dylan and Dawson. The manager has some potential but two good old boys (Maddox’s words) aren’t going to make me all that interested. They’re trying here, but guys named Garrett and Scott don’t really sounds all that intimidating you know?

Big E. Langston vs. Derrick Bateman

Bateman has a haircut which makes him look even more bland if that’s possible. Langston doesn’t have the I’m A Soldier part at the beginning of his music now. Bateman jumps Big E. to start but gets shoved down and thrown into the air to put him back down. Langston runs him over and the Big Ending ends Derrick at 58 seconds.

Another Big Ending sets up the five count post match.

The Raw ReBound is about the main event between Cena and Axel.

Next week it’s Ohno/Graves vs. the Wyatt Family.

Langston is on commentary for the battle royal. This should be awesome.

Battle Royal

Corey Graves, Sami Zayn, Bray Wyatt, Yoshi Tatsu, Kassius Ohno, Bo Dallas, Adrian Neville, Mason Ryan, Sakamoto, Briley Pierce, Alexander Rusev, Curt Hawkins, Knuckles Nelson, Baron Corbin, Aiden English, Conor O’Brien, Dante Dash, Mojo Rawley

I think I’ve got everyone in this listed. Ryan throws out Sakamoto and Pierce with ease and sends out Curt Hawkins and Alexander Rusev for good measure. Ohno and Wyatt keep brawling as everyone goes after Ryan. He throws them all off and screams a lot as Corbin and Nelson are tossed out. Rawley and Tatsu are out as is Dash.

English goes after Ryan and is thrown out with Zayn being thrown on top of them. Ryan has eliminated every single person so far and we’re barely two minutes into this. Mason loads up a powerbomb but Neville ranas him out to the floor. We’re down to Neville, Ohno, Wyatt, Dallas, O’Brien and Graves as we take a break. Back with Wyatt squaring off with O’Brien and Bray being kicked through the ropes very quickly, meaning he’s not eliminated.

Ohno knees Conor in the head and teams up with Graves to dump him out. Bray dumps Ohno and Graves at the same time, leaving us with three guys. Wyatt pounds on both guys in opposite corners and hits Sister Abigail on Dallas. Neville comes back with an enziguri and knocks Wyatt out before low bridging Dallas but the feet don’t touch.

Dallas sends Neville over the top but only one foot touches. Both guys get back in but Neville is backdropped to the apron. Dallas charges into a kick to the head to knock him down, but the Red Arrow hits Dallas’ knees. Neville is thrown out to give Dallas the win at 7:23 shown of 9:53.

Rating: D+. No matter how much fans loathe him, WWE has decided that Bo Dallas will be pushed to the moon in NXT and there’s nothing we can do about it. Maybe the teased heel turn will help him, but at this point a Dallas push does nothing to excite me at all. The fans didn’t react at all to him winning either, which is something you never see in NXT. Other than that, the only thing of note here was Ryan but it’s not like he’s going anywhere anytime soon.

Overall Rating: D+. This was probably the worst episode they’ve had in Florida. It was a night of squashes and a lame battle royal with a winner that isn’t the most popular guy in the world. The most interesting thing here though is the Divas Title tournament next week. Can you imagine Cole reminding us to be back next week for a Divas Title match? Dawson announced it here and it worked fine. Not an entertaining show tonight by any stretch.

Results

Wyatt Family b. Travis Tyler/Sawyer Fulton – Discus Lariat to Fulton

Emma b. Audrey Marie – Emma Lock

Scott Dawson/Garrett Dylan b. Brandon Traven/Jake Carter – Ax handle to Traven

Big E. Langston b. Derrick Bateman – Big Ending

Bo Dallas won a battle royal, last eliminating Adrian Neville

Remember to follow me on Twitter @Kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon at:

NXT
Date: May 22, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

We’re a week away from the big NXT battle royal but tonight’s main event is Corey Graves vs. Bray Wyatt, as the Wyatt Family is apparently targeting people like Graves and Kassius Ohno for reasons yet to be named. This seems to be another filler episode before we get to next week where things start all over again, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Curt Hawkins vs. Sami Zayn

Sami is independent mainstay El Generico minus a mask. The fans immediately start chanting OLE which is Generico’s trademark chant. Hawkins has short hair now, in case you’re not up to date on your Curt Hawkins news. Zayn takes him down with a set of armdrags and some chops in the corner for good measure. Hawkins elbows out of the corner and hits a quick enziguri for two.

Off to an early chinlock by Hawkins but an OLE chant gets Sami back up to his feet. Hawkins misses a forearm in the corner and gets caught in a belly to back suplex for no cover. A dropkick gets two but Hawkins comes back with a very excited slam. For the first time ever, we get a Let’s Go Hawkins chant but he can’t hook what looked to be a powerbomb. Instead Zayn grabs his wrist and runs up the corner into a tornado DDT for the pin at 4:14.

Rating: C. This was pretty much a squash but Zayn looked good out there. He has a solid presence to him and even though he’s a smaller guy, his offense comes off like it has some force behind it. Hawkins is as generic of a wrestler as you’ll ever find, but then again he has something resembling a resume and isn’t terrible in the ring so he makes for a good jobber. Good debut here for Zayn.

Video on Corey Graves, explaining why he has so many tattoos. There’s a CM Punk vibe to this and he closes with a good line: “I’m not here to leave a mark. I’m here to leave a scar.”

Antonio Cesaro vs. Yoshi Tatsu

Ok, Cesaro HAS to be able to beat Tatsu right? I mean, it’s Yoshi Tatsu. EVERYBODY beats Tatsu. Cesaro pounds him into the corner but gets caught by a quick cross body for no cover. Yoshi fires off some kicks but gets caught by a vicious European uppercut and the Neutralizer ends this in 52 seconds.

Post match Cesaro wants to know if that was the best competition he can get. There’s no one on any show that can challenge him, but here’s Sami Zayn to disagree. He speaks multiple languages, including Arabic which Cesaro doesn’t understand. Zayn goes to French instead and the match is on right now.

Antonio Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn

Cesaro quickly powers him down to start but gets spun around as Zayn leverages his way out of a test of strength. A springboard wrist drag sends Cesaro to the floor as take a break. Back with Zayn holding an armbar but being dropped throat first on the top rope. Zayn is whipped hard into the corner for two before it’s off to a chinlock. Sami fights up and tries a sunset flip but Cesaro does the DX crotch chop of all things before stomping onto his chest for two.

Off to another chinlock before Zayn comes back with a rollup out of the corner. A high cross body is caught by Cesaro in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two and a running European uppercut gets the same. Off to some rights and lefts in the corner by Antonio before he loads up a suplex, only to have Zayn slide down his back and roll up Cesaro for the pin at 5:00 shown of 7:20.

Rating: C. Nothing of note here but it was good to see Zayn get such a solid push to start. He was in trouble for most of the match but it makes sense that a guy as strong as Cesaro could throw Sami around like he did. This is a really good debut for Zayn and I really liked what I’ve seen so far.

Emma is in the back but she’s apparently taking Audrey Marie’s interview time. Emma keeps screwing up Audrey’s name and suggests Audrey dance to relieve stress. Audrey says get out before I take you out. Emma: “Can we go to lunch? I haven’t eaten today.” She dances off and smacks Audrey in the head as she goes.

Video on Bray Wyatt which looks more like the old ones.

Here’s some guy named Enzo Amore to talk. Enzo is from New Jersey and has almost every stereotype you can think of. He sees a bunch of fake tough guys in NXT and talks about people being a bunch of G’s.

Enzo Amore vs. Mason Ryan

Ryan throws Amore around like he’s not even there before chopping him down. Running snake eyes sets up a running clothesline by Ryan before a torture rack neckbreaker ends Amore at 1:26. Ryan is still nothing of note.

The Raw ReBound talks about Ryback demanding an ambulance match.

Stephanie McMahon will be here next week for an announcement.

There’s also a #1 contenders battle royal next week.

Corey Graves vs. Bray Wyatt

Bray shoves him around to start and still has that gray mask on his face. Graves takes him into the corner and pounds away a bit before putting on a front facelock. The Wyatt Family looks concerned as Bray is in some trouble early on. Graves gets the mask off of Wyatt so Bray heads to the outside. Not that it matters as Wyatt puts the mask back on and pounds away on Graves back in the ring.

Graves gets up a knee to stop a charging Bray before putting on a figure four neck lock over the top rope to slow Wyatt down again. Bray is fine with that though as he hits a running cross body as we take a break. Back with Wyatt holding a chinlock, only to get up and miss a charge, sending him out to the floor. Graves misses a baseball slide though and Bray sends him into the steps. Bray kicks him in the chest a few times before taking it back inside for another chinlock.

There’s the splash in the corner but Graves escapes the dancing into a rollup for a close two. The mask comes off again so Bray hits another cross body to put Graves down. Back up and Corey punches the exposed face and makes a good comeback, sending Bray reeling. A clothesline in the corner staggers Bray and a chop block puts him down. The Family is knocked down and there’s the Lucky 13 leg lock, but Harper breaks it up via a distraction by Rowan. Sister Abigail ends Graves at 8:41 shown of 12:11.

Rating: C. I was digging Graves here as his comeback was working well, but the Family getting the win was probably the right idea. There’s only so much you can do for Graves here without making the Family look weak, so the cheating was probably the right call. Graves looked good though.

Post match Kassius Ohno returns to try to make the save but gets laid out by the Family. Bray talks about being a monster to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The wrestling here wasn’t great but they did a good job with the storytelling here. Next week we’ll have a new #1 contender to Langston’s title so we can have a new main event feud to build around. I was really impressed by Zayn tonight and he seems to have a feud set up with Cesaro already. Good show here but for different reasons than usual.

Results

Sami Zayn b. Curt Hawkins – Tornado DDT

Antonio Cesaro b. Yoshi Tatsu – Neutralizer

Sami Zayn b. Antonio Cesaro – Rollup

Mason Ryan b. Enzo Amore – Torture Rack Neckbreaker

Bray Wyatt b. Corey Graves – Sister Abigail

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: May 15, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Brad Maddox

The main event tonight is Langston defending the title against Damien Sandow which is a good match for him. Sandow is a main show guy and a match against him wouldn’t do any harm at all to Langston’s status in NXT. Other than that we’ll get to see where the Wyatt Family goes with their new titles. Let’s get to it.

After a quick video on the title match tonight and the theme song we’re ready to go.

Summer Rae vs. Natalya

Summer is now doing the Maryse hair toss. A quick headlock takes Natalya down but Summer uses those long legs of hers to counter into a headscissors. They stay on the mat with Natalya grabbing an armbar until we hit a standoff. After hitting the ropes a few times, Natalya tries the Sharpshooter to no avail. Instead it’s a discus lariat for two on Summer but she manages to send Natalya to the apron. An enziguri gets two on Natayla and we take a break.

Back with Summer getting two off something we didn’t see and firing off kicks in the corner. Apparently this is happening because Summer said Natalya hung out with freaks in Horny and Khali. A back elbow to the face gets two for Summer and she cranks on Natalya’s arm on the mat. Cue Paige as Natalya counters into the Sharpshooter, only to have Summer kick off and send Natayla into Paige. With Paige on the floor, Summer rolls Natalya up for the pin at 5:46 shown of 9:16.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what it needed to be. Summer looked great out there (both in the ring and in those shorts of hers) and didn’t at all look to be in over her head. While she isn’t lighting the ring on fire or anywhere close to it, she looks more than competent out there and worked a decent enough match here. Also she won as close to clean as you can get as she didn’t even see Paige behind Natalya.

Paige chases Summer off post match.

Sami Zayn (El Generico) is debuting against Curt Hawkins next week and says this isn’t his first rodeo.

Here’s Bray Wyatt with a gray mask on his face (due to a broken nose) and what looks like a leather apron. He says this is the new face of fear and no matter who looks into his face, they can’t hurt him because he is already dead.

Danny Burch vs. Bray Wyatt

Burch is from London and has his own music. Wyatt starts with a slap to the face and takes Burch down with ease. A chinlock allows Bray to drill him in the face with a forearm before hitting that cross body of his. The splash in the corner sets up Sister Abigail for the pin at 2:07. Total squash.

Bo Dallas comes up to Adrian Neville but doesn’t seem to care about Neville’s update on Oliver Grey’s injury. Instead he’d rather talk about John Cena winning the Rumble, which Dallas happened to be in. Neville might just make it after all. Adrian has no idea what Dallas is talking about, but Dallas would rather talk about a #1 contenders battle royal in two weeks. Neville is in as well….and that’s that. This was pretty awkward but Dallas was acting rather heelish.

Conor O’Brian vs. Sakamoto/Briley Pierce

O’Brian beat up both guys last week so tonight it’s a handicap match. Sakamoto starts and is easily thrown down off a double chicken wing lift. Off to Pierce who is caught in a series of headlock takeovers. A suplex puts Briley down and it’s back to Sakamoto who has no effect with some chops. O’Brian pounds them both down with ease before hitting a splash to both guys at once in the corner. A very impressive double flapjack sets up a double pin for O’Brian at 2:36. Another total squash.

Post match Rick Victor comes out to the stage for a staredown with O’Brian.

Corey Graves says that his entire life has been ups and downs. You have to fail before you can succeed, but if you keep fighting you can win. He’ll be in the battle royal in two weeks and get the title shot he wants. Bray Wyatt of all people comes in and wants to know why Graves is here while the greatest war in human history is going on outside his door. Kassius Ohno knows what Bray talking about but Bray doesn’t go into any more depth than that. He says he owns NXT and that he’s the eater of worlds. Corey says he doesn’t have his own family but if the Wyatt Family keeps messing with him, they’re going down.

NXT Title: Damien Sandow vs. Big E. Langston

Apparently it’s Graves vs. Wyatt next week. Langston powers Sandow into the corner to start before running him over with a shoulder. Damien escapes the Big Ending so Langston shouts FIVE. A slam puts Sandow down again and Big E. pounds away on the ribs. Maddox says that wrestling Langston is like wrestling a frozen bison. Sandow is dropped on his back out of the corner but fights out of another Big Ending attempt.

We take a break and come back with Langston suplexing Sandow down. Big E. misses a charge into the corner though, allowing Sandow to clothesline him in the back of the head to take over. We hit the chinlock but Langston powers up, only to be hit with a dropkick. Off to a headscissors by Damien for a bit before he gets two off a top rope ax handle. Some knee drops to the chest get the same and it’s back to the chinlock.

Langston fights up and hits a quick belly to belly suplex and a series of hard clotheslines. Big E. fires off five knees to the ribs but Damien counters the Big Ending into an Edge-O-Matic for two. The Wind-Up elbow misses but Damien hits a swinging neckbreaker. A second attempt at the elbow connects but the Terminus is countered into the Big Ending to retain Langston’s title at 11:28 shown of 14:58.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what it was supposed to be. I don’t think Sandow was ever a real threat to win the title here, but at the same time it gave Langston a good looking win over a main show regular. It wasn’t a bad match at all and there were some nice false finishes at the end with Sandow countering the Big Ending a few times.

Post match another Big Ending gets Langston the five count to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Another good episode here as we have something set up for next week as well as two weeks from now. Sandow did a fine job here of giving Langston something to do until we have a new #1 contender for him to fight. The Graves vs. Wyatt Family story is interesting, as is Dallas’ teased heel turn. Good show tonight, as is the norm in NXT.

Results

Summer Rae b. Natayla – Rollup

Bray Wyatt b. Danny Burch – Sister Abigail

Conor O’Brian b. Briley Pierce/Sakamoto – Double Flapjack

Big E. Langston b. Damien Sandow – Big Ending

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: May 8, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

This is the first show in a new batch of tapings, meaning the crowd will be completely different. The main event of tonight’s show is Adrian Neville teaming up with Bo Dallas to defend the tag titles against the Wyatt Family. Neville’s regular partner Oliver Grey is out with a knee injury at the hands of the Wyatt Family, so there’s a built in revenge story already. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the Wyatt Family vs. Neville/Grey story.

Welcome Home. That’s the name of the theme song if you wonder why I say that every week.

Damien Sandow vs. Baron Corbin

I believe this is Corbin’s first appearance. The fans immediately start chanting “thank you Sandow” as he toys with Corbin to start. Sandow offers Corbin a chance to leave right now before being taken to the mat with a headlock. Back up and Damien hits a snapmare and a knee drop for no cover. Corbin comes back with some shoulder blocks, only to be caught with the knees to the ribs and Russian legsweep to set up the Wind-Up elbow. A move similar to Matt Hardy’s Side Effect called the Silencer ends Corbin at 3:07.

Rating: D+. This was your old school Superstars style squash with Sandow having fun out there instead of actually being in any danger at all. Corbin looks very green but he has some size and a decent look. There isn’t much else to say about this one other than it was just a basic squash of a jobber, which you almost never see anymore.

Post match Sandow challenges Langston for the NXT Title.

Paige vs. Bayley

They’re already contradicting Paige’s nicknames as she’s called the Anti-Diva on the way to the ring before Regal says she told him she would be the Diva of tomorrow. They trade arm holds to start until Paige cranks it up, clotheslining Bayley on the top rope. Bayley sends her out to the apron and hits a quick clothesline for two before choking away in the corner.

Off to an armbar by Bayley followed by a middle rope back elbow to the jaw. A modified exploder suplex gets two on Paige but she blocks a slam and hits a release fisherman’s suplex to take over. Paige fires off some knees to the ribs followed by the Paige Turner for the pin at 4:58.

Rating: C. This wasn’t quite a squash but it was pretty close. As usual, the Divas in NXT are some of the most entertaining part of the shows and a lot of that is due to the commentary. Instead of hearing jokes about how hot the girls are, the matches are treated seriously and it helps things a lot. Also these girls are actually competent in the ring.

Post match Summer Rae jumps Paige.

Langston says that if you think his title reign has been impressive, you should see his yo-yo collection. Sandow comes in to challenge for the title again but Langston says he needs to answer a question first. First off, Sandow has to pick a number. The number is six, so Langston says add the number that comes after. That would be six plus seven making thirteen. Now add nine and divide by two and subtract six. Sandow says five (correct for you non-math fans) which sends Big E. into a frenzy. Sandow walks away in what might have been fear.

Sakamoto vs. Briley Pierce

Pierce goes after the arm to start as Regal talks about buying a microwave bed the other day. Pierce hooks a hammerlock and does Ziggler’s (acknowledged as his real life brother here) headstand in the process. That gets him nowhere but here’s Conor O’Brian to beat up both guys as the match is thrown out at 1:24.

Post break Sakamoto and Pierce want a piece of Conor next week.

Kassius Ohno vs. Camacho

Camacho still has a job? He slams Ohno down to start and Kassius bails to the corner for a bit. Ohno comes back with a dripkick and some shots to the chest. A dropkick to the side of the head puts Camacho down and he pounds away in the corner. Camacho comes back with some kicks of his own and a weak slam for two. Ohno can’t get an O’Connor Roll and is backdropped down for two.

Off to a chinlock for a bit before Camacho belly to back suplexes Ohno down for two. Now it’s a nerve hold by Camacho but Ohno fights up and hits his third kick to Camacho’s chest. Ohno fires off some strikes to the throat and a running forearm in the corner. A discus forearm sets up the Kassius Clutch (cravate hold) for the tap out from Camacho at 6:13.

Rating: C-. Dull match here but Kassius was wrestling like a face, which might not be a bad thing for him at all. The heel character wasn’t doing anything for me at all and I was getting bored watching him do the same stuff over and over again. He still needs to do more than strikes all the time to set up a submission hold but the different attitude helped. Camacho didn’t do him any favors here though. Why he has a job is beyond me.

Post match Ohno apologizes to Regal but gets cut off by Bray Wyatt who stares him down. The Family attacks Ohno from behind and beats him down. Wyatt hits his Downward Spiral on the stage.

Sandow vs. Langston for the title next week.

Tag Titles: Wyatt Family vs. Adrian Neville/Bo Dallas

Dallas and Rowan start things off with Bo pounding away on the big man as well as he can until it’s off to Neville for some kicks to the leg. A quick crossbody gets two on Rowan and it’s back to Dallas. The champions (kind of?) are tagging in and out very quickly here. Dallas dropkicks Erick down for two and it’s back to Adrian for a double clothesline for two. Rowan gets in a right hand though and it’s off to Harper for the usual power brawling.

Neville will have none of this being in trouble though and snaps off a rana on Harper followed by a big discus forearm for two. We take a break and come back with Dallas crawling through Harper’s legs to make the tag off to Neville. A big flip dive takes out Rowan on the floor and hits the corkscrew shooting star on Luke but Rowan makes a last second save.

Now it’s time for Adrian to take a beating like a small man like him usually does in wrestling. Rowan cranks on a reverse chinlock before it’s back to Harper. Both monsters pound away on Adrian’s ribs but only for a near fall. Harper puts on a chinlock to wear Neville down but he comes back with a small package out of a suplex for two. Neville avoids a charge into the corner to send Harper out to the corner and there’s the hot tag to Dallas.

Bo fires off forearms all around but Rowan stops him with a boot to the ribs. Dallas comes right back with a reverse DDT on Rowan before pounding away on the monster in the corner. A sunset flip is blocked by Erick and he plants Bo down with a pumphandle powerslam for two. Bray is very interested as he watches from the stage. Dallas escapes another pumphandle powerslam and spears Erick down for two but gets sent into Adrian in the corner. Erick hits a big boot to Dallas and Harper’s discus lariat gives the Family the titles at 11:50 shown of 15:20.

Rating: C+. No problem here at all as the monsters beating up the little guys is a perfectly smart way to go. There’s a door open here too as the regular champions weren’t there to lose so Grey can come back for the real showdown later on. The Family needed something to get them back to power and this is the best way they could have gone about doing it.

Overall Rating: C+. Not a great show here but it worked out well enough in the end. The title change was a good moment, but the rest of the show was spent doing something we haven’t seen before. A lot of this show was spent building up stars using jobbers, which is something very rare anymore. Good show here but done very differently from most episodes.

Results

Damien Sandow b. Baron Corbin – Silencer

Paige b. Bayley – Paige Turner

Sakamoto vs. Briley Pierce went to a no contest when Conor O’Brian interfered

Kassius Ohno b. Camacho – Kassius Clutch

Wyatt Family b. Adrian Neville/Bo Dallas – Discus lariat to Dallas

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: May 1, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, Brad Maddox, William Regal

After last week’s Clash of the Champions, it’s time to get back to the regular stuff here in NXT. Langston doesn’t have a challenger at the moment and the Wyatt Family is still running around. There really aren’t any stories at the moment other than Shield, which means we should get some interesting stuff tonight. Let’s get to it.

Chris Jericho is here tonight.

Welcome Home.

Epico/Primo vs. Wyatt Family vs. Bo Dallas/Adrian Neville

This is under elimination rules. Bray Wyatt and Rosa Mendes are nowhere in sight here. Dallas and Rowan start things off with Bo pounding away in the corner until it’s off to Neville. Bo and Adrian tag in and out very quickly with both coming in with top rope ax handles to Erick’s arm. Off to Harper vs. Adrian and a rolling cradle gets two for Luke. Apparently Wyatt gets to face Jericho in the main event tonight. That should be awesome.

Harper slams Adrian down but Epico tags himself in to pick Neville’s bones. That goes about as badly as it could for Epico though as Dallas gets the tag and cranks on Epico’s arm. Epico takes him into the corner and channels his inner Arn Anderson by raking Dallas’ eyes across the top rope. We take a break and come back with Rowan working over Dallas until it’s off to Harper for a chinlock.

Dallas hits a jawbreaker to escape and knocks Harper into the corner for a tag to Primo. Primo stomps Bo down in the corner and it’s off to Epico after just a few seconds. Scratch that as it’s already back to Epico as the cousins (Primo is Spanish for male cousin) take turns hammering on Dallas. The fans say NO MORE BO as Epico puts on a bow and arrow hold. Dallas fights up and rolls Epico away, only to get taken down for some near falls. Maddox: “What heart by Bo Dallas! Just like you Regal.” Regal: “I don’t have a heart. It’s a piece of black coal.”

Bo escapes a chinlock with another jawbreaker and it’s off to Primo vs. Neville. A leg lariat and standing shooting star gets two on Primo and there’s a spear from Dallas to Epico. Primo gets a quick rollup on Adrian for two but Neville kicks him in the head, followed by the corkscrew shooting star for the pin to eliminate Epico and Primo. A second later though Harper takes Adrian’s head off with the discus lariat for the winning pin at 9:41 shown of 13:11.

Rating: C+. This was a nice match with the Family finally getting a win to get themselves back on track a bit. Hopefully we get the Brits vs. the Family down the line for the belts with the monsters getting the gold, but until now this is about as close as we’re going to get. Epico and Primo did what they were supposed to do here, but without Rosa shaking her hips there’s nothing interesting at all about them.

We recap Paige vs. Summer Rae. Summer injured Paige’s shoulder and now Paige is back for revenge. Paige issued a challenge and Summer jumped her to accept the challenge.

Paige vs. Summer Rae

Summer jumps her during the entrance again but takes too long, allowing Paige to get the advantage once they get inside. A clothesline puts Summer down and Paige is looking very cocky. Paige smacks her in the face for two and looks to be loving every second of this beating. A fisherman’s suplex gets two on Rae but she rams Paige into the corner to escape. Summer rolls through a rollup and we get a catfight on the mat. Rae rolls to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Maddox accusing Regal of having a thing for Paige. Regal: “Blithering idiot.” Rae drops Paige again for two and she mocks Paige’s scream. Off to an old school Indian Deathlock by Summer as we get a debate over Native American vs. Indian. Paige finally makes the rope and kicks Summer in the ribs. The leg seems to be just fine already. Rae gets stomped out to the floor and starts to walk out, but Paige will have none of that. Summer is sent ribs first into the apron and the Paige Turner (kind of a snap reverse Angle Slam) gets the pin on Rae at 6:44 of 10:14.

Rating: C. The match was nothing special, but think about this for a minute: this was a perfectly logical conclusion to a totally acceptable story from two Divas. There was no stupid bubbly girl, there was no stupid line, there was no embarrassing match. It was a logically built feud with an appropriate conclusion. Now why haven’t the main show girls been allowed to do that in several years now?

Due to the Wyatt Family pinning Neville earlier tonight, they get a title shot next week against Neville and Bo Dallas, who is substituting for Oliver Grey.

Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho

Wyatt talks about being the kind of hero that the world needs and promises to break down the wall tonight. Wyatt gets right in Jericho’s face so Chris pounds him down and hits a quick dropkick to send Wyatt to the floor. Back in and Bray bails to the floor to avoid a right hand so Jericho hits a baseball slide to take him down. Jericho throws him in again and hits a top rope cross body for two. Rowan tries to trip Jericho up and gets himself ejected as we take a break.

Back with Jericho in control but being sent out to the floor. Harper slams him down onto the ramp so Wyatt can stomp away before pounding on Jericho back in the ring. Jericho tries a rollup but gets sent out to the floor instead. Off to a chinlock as the fans are all behind Jericho. Chris fights up but gets caught in a quick suplex to put him right back down. Wyatt misses a backsplash though and Jericho hits a top rope ax handle to take over.

After dropkicking Harper to the floor though, Bray decks Jericho with a clothesline for two. The running enziguri gets two for Jericho as does a running cross body for Bray. Jericho comes back with the Codebreaker to send Bray to the floor. Harper sends Jericho into the post though, giving Wyatt two more in the ring. Bray does the dancing bit but the Downward Spiral is countered into a slingshot into Harper. The Walls make Bray tap at 10:30 shown of 14:00.

Rating: B-. Another good match here with Wyatt getting a solid rub from Jericho. I’m fine with Wyatt losing here given that Jericho is still a big deal on the WWE roster. Wyatt tapping out isn’t something you would expect him to do though and it brings things down a bit. Still though, good match and a good use of Jericho here.

Jericho celebrates with the fans to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. We get storyline progression, a conclusion to a feud, and a visit from a big star. What more can you ask for out of a week long TV show? I like the swapping in of Dallas for the title defense as you can only have Neville holding a belt for so long until it becomes worthless. Good show again, but that’s what you expect from NXT at this point.

Results

Wyatt Family b. Epico/Primo and Bo Dallas/Adrian Neville – Discus lariat to Neville

Paige b. Summer Rae – Paige Turner

Chris Jericho b. Bray Wyatt – Walls of Jericho

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: April 24, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Phillips, William Regal

If my memory is correct tonight we’ve got the Clash of the Champions, which means four title matches and I don’t think anything else. We’ve got Maddox challenging Langston for the NXT Title, Kaitlyn defending against AJ Lee, Cesaro (no longer champion) defending against someone and Barrett defending against Bo Dallas. Hopefully the show isn’t horrible like the last time it was mostly main roster guys. Let’s get to it.

Dusty tells us the basic idea of the show.

Welcome Home.

US Title: Antonio Cesaro vs. Adrian Neville

A crawler tells us that this was taped several weeks ago. The fans of course chant USA with an Englishman challenging for the title. Cesaro says hey to the crowd and the fans shout him down. Antonio demands a standing ovation because he’s the best US Champion in history. This would be before Cesaro was turned into a yodeler who lost clean to Zack Ryder on Raw. After some big match intros we’re ready to go.

Neville grabs a quick rollup for two but Cesaro takes him down and messes with his hair. A rollup gets two for Adrian and it’s off to a chinlock by the champion. That would be the US Champion as Neville is half of the NXT Tag Champions here. Neville fights up and sends Cesaro to the floor with a headscissors before a quick rollup gets two on Cesaro. A monkeyflip attempt is countered into a hot shot onto the top turnbuckle as we take a break.

Back with Antonio holding another chinlock and countering a sunset flip. The crowd was freaking out as he tried to fight it off too. Neville goes up but dives into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two and Cesaro is getting frustrated. Back to the chinlock but Neville fights up and sends Cesaro to the floor. A BIG top rope Asai Moonsault lays out Cesaro and a springboard missile dropkick gets two for Neville back inside.

Adrian hits a standing shooting star (described as “WHOA LOOK AT THAT” by Phillips) and a quick rana for two each. A moonsault into a tornado DDT gets two more and Neville loads up the corkscrew shooting star, only to be crotched down. The European Uppercut and Neutralizer retain the title for Cesaro at 8:00 shown of 11:00.

Rating: C+. This was fine. Neville wasn’t going to win the title and even with the mystique of the match being gone due to the crawler, the power vs. speed dynamic worked quite well here. Neville’s flips worked fine out there and Cesaro actualy looked like the worse of the two talents in the match. The chinlocks got annoying after awhile but the stuff after the break was much better.

Divas Title: AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn is defending. The fans chant YES at AJ before we get going. Kaitlyn runs her down to start but Kaitlyn shoves her into the corner to take over. Off to a Fujiwara Armbar by the challenger and she even throws in a Dolph Ziggler handstand. A hammerlock suplex puts Kiatlyn down and AJ is in full control. Kaitlyn gets in some right hands before rolling through a top rope cross body for two. A reverse DDT gets two on AJ but she sends Kaitlyn to the floor for an eight count. Back in and AJ puts on a sleeper followed by an enziguri for two. Kaitlyn pops up and spears AJ out of nowhere to retain at 5:06.

Rating: D. Again, the WWE Divas show that they have nothing on the NXT girls. I have no idea what the appeal of Kaitlyn is as her two moves are both terrible and she can’t work a match to save her life. AJ was fine with the Ziggler impersonations being a nice touch. Anything from Kaitlyn was just dreadful though.

NXT Title: Big E. Langston vs. Brad Maddox

Maddox, the challenger, introduces himself at 295lbs. Langston throws Maddox around to start and runs him over for good measure. The Big Ending ends Brad at 1:16.

Post match Langston hits another Big Ending for a five count. Maddox’s carcass rolls to the floor so Langston throws him back in for another Big Ending and five count.

We recap the history between Bo Dallas and Wade Barrett which started great and then stopped cold with no explanation.

Bo Dallas talks about Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Randy Savage being underdogs but winning the Intercontinental Title. Tonight it’s about the Bo Barrage.

Chris Jericho will be here next week.

Intercontinental Title: Wade Barrett vs. Bo Dallas

Dallas gets a mixed reaction but the fans chant for him during Barrett’s intro. After the intros that chant sounds a lot like “No More Bo.” Ouch. Dallas hits a hard forearm out of the corner to start and three straight rollups for two each. A dropkick sends Barrett to the floor and we take a break. Back with Barrett hitting a hard elbow and what looked like a shoulder block to put Bo down. The fans are almost entirely behind Barrett here.

A hard forearm to the head gets two for Barrett so he puts Dallas on the top rope and kicks him to the floor. Off to a bow and arrow hold by Wade (bends both arms back and puts a knee in the back) followed by the pumphandle slam for two. Barrett puts him in the ropes and hits the big boot to send Dallas back to the floor. This has been completely one sided since the break. Barrett suplexes him in from the apron and puts on a reverse chinlock (fans: “TAP! TAP! TAP!”) before charging into some boot in the corner.

Dallas drop toeholds him down into the corner and fires off some forearms for two. Another pumphandle is countered into a rollup for two for Bo but the tornado bulldog is countered. Winds of Change get two for the champion but the Bull Hammer misses. Tornado bulldog gets two but Barrett can’t hit Wasteland. Bo tries to dive at Barrett but jumps into the Bull Hammer for the pin at 8:40 shown of 12:10.

Rating: C+. The match was ok but man alive I haven’t heard a crowd turn on someone that fast in a long time. The fans just did not care about Bo Dallas in the slightest, and that’s a major issue for NXT given that the crowd is the same group of people every month. They’re going to have to change something fast or Bo’s matches are going to become rather embarrassing. As for the match itself, it was nothing of note and it came off as a learning experience for Dallas.

Overall Rating: C+. Well it was better than the Wrestlemania show but that’s not saying much. The show was entertaining enough but the main problem here was you didn’t need to see this show at all. It came and went with nothing of note going on and that’s not what I watch NXT for. The show wasn’t horrible or anything but it was certainly nothing I’ll remember in a few hours.

Results

Antonio Cesaro b. Adrian Neville – Neutralizer

Kaitlyn b. AJ Lee – Spear

Big E. Langston b. Brad Maddox – Big Ending

Wade Barrett b. Bo Dallas – Bull Hammer

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

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

We’re kind of at a new starting point in NXT with the end of the Regal vs. Ohno feud last week. Granted that’s just in theory because a clean win rarely ends anything in WWE anymore. We also need a new challenger for Langston and the NXT Title. As for tonight though, we have Corey Graves vs. Seth Rollins in a rare singles match for a member of the Shield. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the segment last week which gave us Graves vs. Rollins.

Theme song.

Justin Gabriel vs. Leo Kruger

Their last match was really good so hopefully this one is too. Kruger hits a hard chop in the corner to start and runs Gabriel over with a few shoulder blocks. Off to an armbar by Gabriel which transitions into a top wristlock. Back up and Kruger puts him down with a spinebuster for two, giving us the required Arn Anderson reference. Kruger pounds on the chest for two more and cranks on Gabriel’s neck a bit. Justin comes back with a monkey flip and some solid kicks to the arm.

A BIG spin kick puts Leo down but Kruger breaks up a springboard attempt. Leo gets two off a clothesline but Gabriel grabs a Fujiwara Armbar of all things. Kruger gets to the rope and Justin is very frustrated. The 450 is broken up and Kruger pounds on the crotched Gabriel. A superplex is broken up but Justin’s sunset bomb is countered, followed by a double stomp from Leo. The seated armbar (called the GC3 now) makes Gabriel tap out at 7:12.

Rating: B. Just like last time these two had solid chemistry here. This was a solid back and forth match with two guys who know each other very well. I’m still not clear why they’re fighting other than Kruger being nuts, but the South African connection could easily be expanded upon if need be. Good match here.

Brodus Clay says don’t try this.

Next week it’s Clash of the Champions with the Divas, US (held by Cesaro here), NXT and Intercontinental Title being defended.

We get a video on what the NXT people did at Wrestlemania. The shot of Shield walking through the stadium to their match is pretty awesome. Langston being in a title match is a big moment for NXT as well.

Paige doesn’t buy Summer Rae’s excuse of having to turn off her curling iron. She wants a one on one match but doesn’t think Summer has the backbone to do it. Rae jumps Paige and accepts the challenge.

Baylee vs. Emma

Emma actually does her skin the cat entrance without falling and the fans seem impressed. Baylee hits a quick dropkick and pulls Emma back in from running away. Emma dances into a cover (literally) and gets two so Baylee puts on a neck crank. Back up and Emma dodges a charge into the buckle and hooks a Tarantula of all things. Emma hooks an Indian Deathlock with a bridge and a chinlock (Benoit used to use that move) for the submission at 3:10.

Rating: C-. Not a good match but the more I see of Emma the more I like her. She has a strange likeability to her and her looks don’t hurt anything. The dancing thing started off as stupid but it’s getting over in front of a college crowd like this one and there’s nothing wrong with that. Again, odds are her looks and the outfits she wears likely don’t hurt her popularity.

Yoshi Tatsu vs. Bray Wyatt

Yoshi jumps over Wyatt in the corner but Bray hits a hard running cross body for one. A splash in the corner sets up the dancing bit before the Downward Spiral ends Yoshi at 1:18.

Bray hits his finisher again post match, which is apparently called Sister Abigail. Wyatt says this was a message because he needs us to understand that no one is greater than he is. He’s the eater of worlds and he believes it’s time for the beast to open our eyes.

Corey Graves vs. Seth Rollins

This is a lumberjack match and Ambrose/Reigns apparently have taken the night off. Rollins immediately pounds him down to start and stomps him into the corner but Graves comes back with some rights of his own. Rollins bails to the apron but has to come back in to avoid the lumberjacks. Back in and Corey goes after Seth’s leg with a kick to the inner thigh and a knee crusher.

Seth gets in a shot to the throat and follows up with a corner splash. Another splash hits and Graves falls to the floor. We take a break and come back with Rollins hitting a jumping kick for two and hooking a body vice. Off to a reverse chinlock instead but the cheering of the lumberjacks fires Graves up enough to escape. Rollins misses something off the top and gets hit by a running knee to the chest.

A hard clothesline puts Rollins down and Corey wrenches the knee. Rollins is pulled off the top with a dragon screw legwhip and a gordbuster keeps him down again, but here are Reigns and Ambrose to ringside. Ambrose clotheslines Graves down as Reigns destroys the lumberjacks. The standing sliced bread by Rollins is good for the pin at 7:12 shown of 10:42.

Rating: C. Not great here but the Shield looked awesome at the end. As Regal said, there are twelve bodies down at ringside and two men caused it. The ending was the right idea as it keeps both guys looking strong and leaves you wondering if Graves can put Rollins down or not. In other words, it makes you want to come back for more.

Overall Rating: B. Let’s see. We had four matches with two of them being good to quite good, stuff set up for next week, Shield looking great to end the show, and a cool video on Wrestlemania. For an hour, that’s about as good as you’re going to get. This was also a good example of what I love about NXT: there’s no pressure watching this show. When you watch Raw or Smackdown, there’s this sense that everything is life or death and it gets tiring after awhile. With NXT, they present their stuff and that’s all there is to it. It’s much easier to sit through and it works very well.

Results

Leo Kruger b. Justin Gabriel – GC3

Emma b. Baylee – Bridging Indian Deathlock

Bray Wyatt b. Yoshi Tatsu – Sister Abigail

Seth Rollins b. Corey Graves – Standing Sliced Bread

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

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

Things have changed a bit down in NXT now as Conor O’Brian has been vanquished by Big E. Langston, leaving us without a number one contender. On top of that we’ve still got Bo Dallas feuding with the Wyatt Family and Summer Rae feuding with Paige. Also if I remember correctly tonight is Regal vs. Ohno in the culmination of along simmering feud. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Ohno vs. Regal, which is based on Regal training Ohno and Ohno wanting to have a bigger legacy than Regal. It’s the classic teacher vs. student story and it still works to this day. Both guys have attacked the other at the announcers’ desk in the past two weeks.

Percy Watson/Axl Keegan/Scott Dawson vs. Shield

That’s quite an opener. Shield clears the ring before the bell and head to the floor to keep beating up their prey. We actually get a bell as Reigns is pounding on Dawson in the ring. Ambrose and Rollins both come in to beat on for dropkicks and it’s Dean stomping away on Dawson. Scott finally slides away to bring in Keegan, who is immediately put in a surfboard by Ambrose with Rollins dropping a top rope knee onto Axl’s chest. Reigns clears out the corner and Seth hits a standing Sliced Bread for the pin on Keegan at 2:17. Complete and total squash.

Dawson gets hit with the TripleBomb post match.

Shield talks about how awesome they are when Corey Graves pops up on screen. He says he doesn’t believe in the Shield because NXT is his own personal wasteland. Next week, he want any one of them one on one. Rollins says next week Ambrose and Reigns can take the night off because he’ll fight Graves on his own.

Summer Rae says she ran away last week because she left her curling iron on and didn’t want to burn the building down. If she hadn’t run back there, it would have been Paige’s career burning down instead of the building.

Emma says she’s like Lady Gaga and stops talking. She changes it to Madonna and the interviewer isn’t sure what to think. The fans think Emma is a klutz but Emma thinks those crazy kids with their Macarena are confused. She trips as she leaves.

Bellas vs. Funkadactyls

During the entrances we get one of the problems with NXT being taped: this is described as a Wrestlemania rematch because of what happened there. This is a problem because the match that it’s a rematch of didn’t happen at Wrestlemania due to time constraints. Naomi and Brie start things off with Naomi being sent into the corner. She comes out with a standing Stinkface and the Rear View, showing off the extent of her offensive skills.

Off to Cameron for a double legdrop but Nikki breaks up the cover. The Bellas choke away on Cameron in the corner and it’s off to a chinlock by Nikki. Cameron fights up and hits a quick neckbreaker to put both girls down. The hot tag brings in Naomi but the Bellas immediately take her down. The twins both wrap up one of Naomi’s legs like they’re setting up a Sharpshooter and roll her forward into a mat slam for the pin at 3:38.

Rating: D. Once again, the main roster shows why they have no business being in NXT. The match was nothing of note and the ending was very weak with Naomi getting the hot tag and being pinned fifteen seconds later. The NXT girls are so far ahead of these models who know how to do a few moves that it’s unreal.

Kassius Ohno is in the back in a William Regal REAL MAN’S MAN shirt, making him far more awesome than he ever has been before. Ohno talks about how he’s watched everything there is to watch about Regal, but after tonight, no one is going to hear Regal’s voice again.

In two weeks it’s a Night of Champions with four title matches.

We look at Wrestlemania week.

Regal is ready for Ohno.

Next week it’s Graves vs. Rollins in a lumberjack match.

Kassius Ohno vs. William Regal

They lock up to start with Regal shoving Ohno back. Brad’s stupid joke of the week is to call Dawson Jerry every few moments. Back to the lockup until Regal takes over with an armbar. Ohno is taken to the mat by the arm as Regal cranks away even more. Now it’s a hammerlock and after a drop toehold Ohno still can’t get back up. Regal lets him back up and Ohno grabs a wristlock, only to be easily sent into the corner and stomped down by the old villain.

A forearm puts Ohno down as this has been one sided so far. Ohno finally gets in a shot to the ribs to send Regal to the floor. A baseball slide puts Regal into the barricade and we take a break. Back with Kassius getting two off something we didn’t see and firing off some HARD kicks in the corner to Regal’s head. Now it’s a full nelson to stay on the neck and upper body of Regal. William uses a nice counter to escape and stomps on Kassius’ fingers for good measure. He bends them back around the ropes as momentum changes again.

Regal stays on the arm and hand and drives some knees into Ohno’s face. Ohno comes back with a hard kick to the head to take Regal down as the ear is hurt even more. Another kick crushes Regal’s head against the post but Ohno can’t hook his cravate hold. Kassius kicks Regal again for two but he still can’t hook the Kassius Clutch. Off to a quick chinlock instead but Regal rolls out and hits a quick exploder suplex. His balance is WAY off though so he can’t hook the Regal Stretch.

A belly to back suplex puts Regal on his head again for two more and Kassius is getting frustrated. William is getting all fired up and gets to his feet, only to have his head kicked off for two. Ohno loads up the rolling elbow but Regal nails him in the ribs to set up the Knee Trembler for the pin at 14:06 shown of 17:36.

Rating: B+. This was a match based on emotion and the injury to Regal which worked very well. The story of teacher vs. student is one that always works and it did the job again here. The good thing here is that Regal didn’t look dominant at all at the end, which keeps Ohno from looking weak. Really good and physical match here with a solid story throughout.

Overall Rating: B. Another solid show here as NXT does what it does best: make any feud feel like the biggest thing going on in the promotion at the time. Regal vs. Ohno was a well built feud with a classic story and the resulting match worked out very well. What more can you really ask for than that? Good show here and more compelling TV with a match set up for next week.

Results

Shield b. Axl Keegan/Scott Dawson/Percy Watson – Standing Sliced Bread to Keegan

The Bellas b. The Funkadactyls – Rolling mat slam to Naomi

William Regal b. Kassius Ohno – Knee Trembler

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: April 3, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, Kassius Ohno, Brad Maddox

It’s the final show before Wrestlemania and hopefully we get an actual NXT show here instead of the same stuff we got last week with the main roster taking over the show and dragging it down. The only story from last week was Ohno attacking Regal at the announce table to further their feud. Let’s get to it.

The opening recap talks about O’Brian earning a title shot against Langston in a three way a few weeks back

Great, an hour of Brad Maddox and Ohno’s annoying way of talking.

Bo Dallas/Adrian Neville vs. Wyatt Family

This would be Rowan and Harper. Apparently Gray is going to be out for six months but he and Neville are still champions. Bray talks about putting a mouse in a cage with a snake. While it may survive one night, it isn’t going to survive in the long run. Harper and Dallas get things going with Bo being shoved into the corner. Off to Rowan for more pounding on Dallas’ back.

Bo finally escapes and brings in Adrian for some quick strikes and a standing moonsault for two on Luke. Rowan interference lets Harper hit a big boot for two and control. We take a break and come back with Rowan holding Adrian in a nerve hold. Erick drops down onto Neville’s head for two and it’s back to Luke Harper. Off to a chinlock on Adrian followed by a hard back elbow to the face for two. Back to Rowan with a big elbow for two and it’s already back to Harper.

Make that Rowan who rams Adrian head first into the corner before immediately tagging back out to Luke. The Family tags in and out very quickly. Neville avoids a big boot in the corner and it’s hot tag to Dallas. A tornado bulldog out of the corner gets two on Luke but Dallas has to take out Wyatt. Adrian hits a big corkscrew dive to take out Erick and Bray, allowing Dallas to belly to belly suplex Harper for the pin at 8:28 shown of 10:28.

Rating: C+. Tag formula 101 here and that’s all you need most of the time. You can never go wrong with a basic power vs. speed match and the crowd is going to get behind the small guys every single time. I’m hoping the Family can right the ship soon as they’ve been on a downward spiral of late, but history would say they’re almost done at this point.

Langston defends against O’Brian tonight.

Conor says the NXT Title belongs to him tonight.

We get Rock and Cena’s promos from Raw in their entirety.

Back in the arena, Regal jumps Ohno just like Ohno did to him last week. Fans: “THANK YOU REGAL!”

Summer Rae/Audrey Marie vs. Paige/Sasha Banks

Summer immediately runs from Paige so it’s Audrey starting with Paige instead. Rae distracts Paige to give Marie a quick advantage but it’s quickly off to Sasha for some double teaming. Banks hits a hard chop to the chest and a wrist drag out of the corner for two. Audrey pulls her back to the corner for a tag to Summer who chokes away. Back to Audrey for a chinlock on Sasha which actually gets two.

Rae comes back in and works over Audrey even more before bringing Marie back in. The tagging in NXT is quite good overall. It’s already back to Rae who gets rolled up for two, but her kickout sends Sasha into the tag to Paige. Summer immediately bails and runs to the back. The Paige Turner swinging neckbreaker finishes Audrey at 3:52.

Rating: C+. This was mainly about telling a story and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. Paige continues to be ridiculously over and the Divas are still one of the highspots of this promotion. The showdown between Paige and Rae could be a big time deal for NXT, which is nothing you would ever see on Raw or Smackdown.

Paige chases after Rae.

Regal vs. Ohno next week.

NXT Title: Conor O’Brian vs. Big E. Langston

Feeling out process to start with the champion sending O’Brian to the floor as we take a break. Back with O’Brian guillotining Langston on the stop rope to take over again. The full nelson slam gets two on Big E. and O’Brian stomps away some more. A quick shoulder block gets two more and it’s off to a chinlock. The idea is that O’Brian is strong enough to hurt Langston so the offense can be really simple.

Back up and Langston starts to scream and Hulk Up. Conor can’t hurt him with right hands and Big E. runs him over with some clotheslines. Langston fires off five knees to the ribs but walks into a BIG clothesline for two. Conor is stunned and shouts FIVE. He loads up the Big Ending but Langston escapes and runs the challenger over. The real Big Ending retains Langston’s title at 6:03 shown of 9:33.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t nearly as good as their brawl from a month or so ago. Langston didn’t look to be in danger at all and O’Brian’s offense was easily shrugged off. It’s good to see Langston in some danger, but we need a new challenger now and no one seems to be on the radar. Granted that was the case when O’Brian came up so maybe it can happen again.

Langston hits another Big Ending for 5 post match.

Overall Rating: C+. Somewhat disappointing main event aside, this wasn’t too bad. This was what NXT was supposed to be about: building up angles and setting up for next week. I’m not sure why we didn’t get the last two weeks reversed as the Road to Wrestlemania show would seem to make more sense on a night like this instead of last week but whatever I guess. Good show here again.

Results

Bo Dallas/Adrian Neville b. Wyatt Family – Belly to belly suplex to Harper

Paige/Sasha Banks b. Summer Rae/Audrey Marie – Paige Turner to Marie

Big E. Langston b. Conor O’Brian – Big Ending

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon at:

Brooke tells Hulk not to worry about her. She’ll have protection for her meeting with Bully tonight. No more drama.