NXT
Date:
June 13, 2012
Location:
Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire
Commentators:
Josh Matthews, William Regal
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
So
I went to WWE.com, sort of dreading this show as usual when I saw it:
“On the final episode of NXT before the ALL NEW NXT...”. For the
first time in a good many Wednesdays, the sight of NXT brought a
smile to my face. After SIXTY SIX WEEKS, it's finally ending. This
is the last episode of this season and I can't believe it's really
here. Let's get to it.
I
can't believe I'm saying this but it's kind of saddening to hear this
song for the final time this season.
Curt
Hawkins/Tyler Reks vs. Derrick Bateman/Percy Watson
Regal
says the bright green is apparently a tribute to the Dynamic Dudes.
There's something you'll never hear again. Hawkins and Bateman gets
us going here. Bateman takes it to the mat so Hawkins celebrates his
escape. The fans start clapping for Bateman so it's off to Reks who
gets crucifixed down for two. Watson comes in and speeds things up a
bit.
Reks
gets knocked into the wrong corner by a European Uppercut. Hawkins:
“REKS I'M OVER HERE!” Bateman hooks a headlock but charges into
a boot in the corner to shift momentum again. Hawkins hooks a
chinlock which is quickly broken by a jawbreaker. Watson comes in
for some dropkicks and throws Hawkins into Reks to send them out to
the floor. Bateman dives on both guys and we take a break.
Back
with Watson fighting off both guys but getting dropped on the top
turnbuckle for two. Reks hooks a chinlock for a bit followed by a
neckbreaker for two. Back to Curt who hits a suplex for two. Off to
another chinlock as Regal talks about how a chinlock is supposed to
be executed. An other the shoulder bicycle kick gets two on Watson.
Josh confirms that next week the New NXT begins.
Back
to Reks who kicks Percy in the ribs and hooks chinlock #3. Watson
finally comes back and hits an enziguri to Tyler, allowing for the
hot tag to Bateman. Reks doesn't tag out at all and things speed up.
Bateman hits a running flip neckbreaker (think Morrison's flip
neckbreaker) for two. After a Hawkins distraction, Reks hits his
powerbomb into a spinning DDT for the pin at 11:05.
Rating:
C+. This was fine. It was a
formula based tag match and the ending was pretty solid. Bateman has
gotten a lot better in the last few months and it's no longer a
strain to watch the guy. I don't see him as anything better than a
jobber at the moment but maybe things could change with the proper
changes.
During
the break we get a clip of the All New NXT. It looks pretty awesome
actually.
Kaitlyn
vs. Natalya
Natalya
immediately takes her down with a heel trip and they trade rollups
for two each. Another rollup gets two for Kaitlyn. Natalya sends
her to the floor and poses before knocking Kaitlyn off the apron.
She sits on Kaitlyn for two and then hooks on a bow and arrow hold.
Kaitlyn rolls her up again for two. That seems to be her only
offense. Nattie misses a charge in the corner and Kaitlyn shoves her
down. A crossbody gets two. Natalya cradles her in the corner with
feet on the ropes for two. Her argument with the referee lets
Kaitlyn hook ANOTHER rollup for two. A sunset flip out of nowhere
gets the pin for Kaitlyn at 5:20.
Rating:
D-. This was horrible. Kaitlyn
looked terrible out there, both in the ring and in the face. For
some reason all she did here were rollups other than just a few shots
here or there. The match was terrible with neither girl really doing
anything at all other than Natalya posing and Kaitlyn rolling people
up. Terrible match.
Natalya
throws a fit post match.
We
get a quick word from Bo Dallas (Taylor Rotunda) who is ready to
fight.
Raw
ReBound is about Vince/Ace/Show/Cena.
Usos
vs. Michael McGillicutty/Johnny Curtis
They
have almost fifteen minutes for this. Before the match starts,
Richie Steamboat says he's looking to fill his own shoes, not his
father's. Michael and Jimmy start things off and McGillicutty takes
him down to the mat with ease. Regal talks about how great Samoans
are at wrestling as well as rugby. Jimmy takes him down with an
armbar and it's off to Jey. Curtis comes in and rips at Jey's face.
A
legdrop misses and Jey hooks a chinlock. McGillicutty offers a
distraction and Curtis drops him onto the top rope in the EXACT same
sequence from the first tag match. Curtis drops Jey's leg onto the
top rope to ground him even further and McGillicutty adds some
cheating offense of his own to it. Curtis cannonballs down onto the
knee as we take a break. Back with McGillicutty with a knee hold on
Jey.
Back
to Curtis and the knee gets wrapped around the post. We get a full
Indian Deathlock but Jey chops his way out of it. When all else
fails, hit the other guy I guess. Curtis prevents the tag but
McGillicutty's attempted cannonball onto the leg is countered by
having him kicked over the top. Off to Jimmy who cleans house. Jey
is almost immediately tagged back in for a double team Samoan Drop.
Curtis drops a guillotine legdrop to break up the cover and both guys
are down. The McGillicutter is countered and after a superkick from
Jey, the Superfly Splash from Jimmy gets the pin on McGillicutty at
11:42.
Rating:
B-. Another good match here
with the leg work being a good idea, as the Usos are a flying team so
slowing them down is the right idea. There's something appropriate
about the Usos winning the last match of this season, and there's
something even more appropriate about it being a meaningless tag
match as so many of their matches have been.
Overall
Rating: C+. And that's NXT
Season 5. The overall rating of slightly above average is about
right for the whole season too: there were some ok moments, but all
in all it was just ok. Nothing significant ever happened, no one
won, almost everyone wound up on Smackdown, and it was clear that the
contest part of the show was worthless by the end of it. The new
season will help things a lot as it can be just a regular show
instead of a contest, which is something they've needed to do for
about a year now. Tonight's show was decent but as usual, it means
nothing at all.
Results
Curt
Hawkins/Tyler Reks b. Percy Watson/Derrick Bateman – Spinning DDT
to Bateman
Kaitlyn
b. Natalya – Sunset Flip
The
Usos b. Michael McGillicutty/Johnny Curtis – Superfly Splash to
McGillicutty
Remember to like this on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @kbreviews
What's funny is that, at least on paper, Richie Steamboat wrestles just like his father. He's not near the worker, obviously, no one is, but he has that same super-technical style where he doesn't really do a ton of unique offense and most of his wrestling is just based off reversals or what his opponent does. He needs a unique finisher to really put a button on his personal style.
ReplyDeleteso is this as advice to someone you could be a fan of, and not just put the daunting "oh you're not your father " though? That said, you're mostly right, but it also says alot about talking about soemone who isn't on tv yet, and not the actual folks (this season of NXT folks) who were on tv/net lol and smh, that's how memorable they are.
ReplyDeleteWrestling has changed though. I don't think people needed to have super iconic finishing moves back in the 80s, I think it was Roberts who made a finisher into a defining aspect of their character. My point is that Richie will probably find a good move to use, just like Ricky could've, he just...y'know...didn't have to.
ReplyDeleteThat's why it's so notable with Richie, it's a really unique thing nowadays because not many people wrestle like that. I just worry that without the opportunity to show it off, he'll just seem like he doesn't know what he's doing.
ReplyDeleteAnd I always thought Ricky made the flying cross-body into his own during the finisher era. He'd bust out a tombstone now & then too, that could have really been a killer for him especially since no one in WCW was doing it at the time.
Haha "Kaitlyn looked terrible out there, both in the ring and in the face"
ReplyDeleteRichie's finisher in FCW is the superkick but that move is so associated with Shawn Michaels that it would be a good idea for him to find another finisher should he get called to the main roster.
ReplyDeleteEh, it's not like Shawn needs it anymore. It's a good finisher and shouldn't be retired just because Shawn is.
ReplyDeleteThey seem really ready to cannibalize that one, since they have Rollins doing Avada Kedavra with the foot stomps in the corner & everything.
ReplyDelete