NXT
Date: December 5, 2012
Location: Full Sail
University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony
Dawson, William Regal
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
This might be the week
where Mahal finally gets the title shot that he earned weeks ago.
It'll be nice if they've finally caught up with Raw and he's in the
Band rather than being his usual self. Other than that hopefully
we'll have a better show than last week, which was probably the worst
show they've had in this season. Let's get to it.
Opening sequence.
Michael McGillicutty
vs. Antonio Cesaro
Heel vs. heel? Or was
there a McGillicutty face turn that I completely missed? This is
non-title I believe. They head to the mat to start and Dawson talks
about how McGillicutty wants to complete the first father/son pair to
hold the US Title. I'm pretty sure Dusty and Dustin already did that
but. Anyway, Cesaro chops away and goes to the stomach to take over.
Apparently we're just ignoring Dustin as we hear about Dusty winning
the US Title as well.
The fans are firmly
behind McGillicutty with a pair of chants for him. Cesaro turns that
to a big gasp instead with a double stomp to the ribs. There's a
body vice to stay on the ribs but McGillicutty comes back with a
sunset flip for two. Cesaro gets the same off a clothesline,
followed by the gutwrench suplex for two more. Back to the body vice
but Michael GOES OFF on Cesaro, pounding him into the corner and
hitting a clothesline to take over. Cesaro comes back with a classic
thumb to the eye and the European Uppercut to set up the Neutralizer
for the pin at 6:00.
Rating: C-.
The match was pretty dull, but McGillicutty showed a lot of fire
here. That comeback with punches into the corner was a cool moment
and it's clear that McGillicutty could be an excellent face. Well,
if you change his name to the one he should have had for like three
years now.
Axl Keegan vs. Bo
Dallas
This is Keegan's debut.
Dallas takes the bigger guy to the mat to start but goes face first
into the middle buckle. A slam gets two for Keegan and it's off to
the neck crank. Dallas makes his comeback with a bunch of forearms
and clotheslines followed by the spear for the pin at 2:47. Dallas
still does nothing for me.
Dallas says he's lost a
bit lately but he gives the pain the respect it deserves. He issues
an open challenge to anyone in the WWE to come and face him, no
matter how big a name they are.
The Raw ReBound is the
end of the show with the lie detector segment and Ryback standing
tall.
Corey Graves vs.
Yoshi Tatsu
Graves jumps Tatsu in
the aisle and has a big advantage to start. He goes for Yoshi's leg
and beats on that for awhile, kicking it in the corner and bending it
around the ropes. There's a leg crank as the fans think Corey is
awesome. Yoshi fights up and hits some backdrops followed by his
kicks but Graves stops him dead with a knee crusher. Graves hooks
that reverse figure four of his, apparently called the 13th
Step for the pin at 2:59. Just a squash.
Gavid Reid vs. Roman
Reigns
Oh come on. We're
supposed to care about a guy named GAVID? Reigns stomps him down in
the corner and shouts a lot. Reigns puts on a cravate and asks the
fans what his name is. A clothesline puts Reid down and that belly
to back slam gets the pin at 2:09.
Reigns yells at ring
announcer Byron Saxton and tells him to get out.
Tyson Kidd says he's
ready for Leo Kruger and says if that's what he has to go through to
get to the NXT Title, so be it. Kassius Ohno comes in to make fun of
Kidd, so Kidd quotes Albert Einstein. Ok then.
Rollins vs. Mahal is
next week.
Tyson Kidd vs. Leo
Kruger
Kruger stares in the
corner while the fans chant for Kidd. We quickly hit the mat but
Kruger makes the rope. Kidd speeds around and has Kruger frustrated
very quickly. Off to a headlock on the mat by Tyson as we take a
break. Back with Kruger holding a full nelson but Kidd fights out.
A cross body misses Leo though and Kidd crashes to the floor. Back
in and Leo stomps away very slowly, which is appropriate for him.
Kruger keeps pounding
away and hooks the full nelson again which even Regal calls an
unusual move. Tyson tries to stomp on the foot to escape but Leo
pounds him down with ease. Here come the kicks from Kidd for the
real comeback including one from the apron. A springboard elbow hits
Kruger's knee, which again hurts Kidd more than Kruger. Kruger
pounds away some more and goes up, only to be armdragged off the top.
After a kick to the face from the apron, the Dungeon Lock gets the
tap out from Kruger at 9:05 shown of 12:35.
Rating: C+.
Is Kidd capable of having a bad match if he gets more than five
minutes? The match was nothing great, but Kidd looks so smooth out
there every time he's in the ring. Decent main event here, as I
continue to wonder how much I like Kruger's character. I like the
facials he gives, but I'm not sure how far a human big game hunter
can go.
Post match Kassius Ohno
comes in for the double beatdown until William Regal of all people
comes out and pulls Kidd away.
Overall Rating: C+.
This was an episode where we got to see a lot of people, mostly in
squash matches. NXT is still a place where that can work, as most of
the matches were short and therefore still got to see a lot of
people. That's good when you just have an hour a week. Not a great
show or anything, but it was an entertaining hour of TV and I want to
see more of it, which is a good thing.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com
I wonder if the WWE may keep some gimmicks separate in NXT. Mahal with 3MB and Reigns and Rollins in the Shield. Seth is the top babyface and champion of NXT, do you think they will alter his character and make him a heel?
ReplyDeleteThey might. His title reign can only go on for so long.
ReplyDeleteNXT is taped so far in advanced that it about a month and a half outdated by the time it airs. While that wasn't a big deal before (although thewith Jinder Mahal thing is very jarring) the recent Shield storyline referring to NXT on the other WWE shows will make things a lot more confusing. Last night they taped another set of shows that won't air until January or February featuring the Shield. By the time those shows air things may be very different with the Shield. Having Seth Rollins go from smiling babyface to a heel with no real heel turn will be very jarring. They would be bettwler off after next week:s show skipping to the set of shows taped last night so there would be more congruence with WWE storylines
ReplyDelete