NXT
Date:
January 16, 2013
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
William Regal, Tony Dawson
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We're
officially in the Langston Era here and if my memory is right, this
was filmed recently which means we're actually going to be closer to
being caught up with the current WWE product. It's hard to say what
to expect here but the word seems to be that something big is going
to be announced soon. Let's get to it.
We
open with a recap of last week's main event and the title change.
Welcome
Home.
Adrian
Neville vs. Sakamoto
Neville
is formerly known as Pac. Interestingly enough a guy on the forums
that I run used to backyard wrestle with him. Sakamoto is in way
better shape than you would expect him to be given the robe he always
wore. Neville is apparently an amazing high flier and he spins out
of a wristlock and grabs a headlock to start. A headscissors puts
Sakamoto down and Adrian flips back to his feet. The fans dig him so
far.
Sakamoto
gets a boot up in the corner and hooks a chinlock to take over for a
little bit. Make that a decent bit as the chinlock continues.
Adrian suplexes out of the hold and flips forward a few more times
before hitting an enziguri to stagger Sakamoto. Neville goes up and
hits a HUGE corkscrew shooting star for the pin at 3:25.
Rating:
C-. The ending was great but
until then, Neville didn't really show off a ton of flying otherwise.
It's a very flashy looking move and the rest of his stuff looked
fine so I can't say it's a bad debut or anything. Sakamoto has some
potential in him too now that he's away form the black hole known as
Tensai. The match was pretty dull until the ending though.
Leo
Kruger vs. Trent Barreta
Ohno
sits in on commentary. This is as a result of Trent getting beaten
up and injured by Kruger a month ago. Trent takes over with a fast
clothesline and a knee drop for two. A bridging northern lights
suplex gets two for Barreta and it's off to a headlock. That goes
nowhere as Kruger fights up and hits a hard knee to the ribs to take
over. Trent gets draped ribs first over the top rope for two as we
take a break.
Back
with Kruger working over the ribs with a knee drop and a half crab.
A gutbuster gets two for Leo as Kassius and Regal continue to argue.
Regal threatens Ohno so Kassius acts as if nothing has ever been
wrong between them. Kruger misses a charge in the corner so Trent
comes back with chops and a clothesline. The running jumping elbow
in the corner puts Leo down again and a missile dropkick gets two for
Trent.
The
tornado DDT is countered into another half crab with a knee in the
back but Trent finally makes a rope. An enziguri sends Kruger down
to the floor, followed by a BIG flip dive from Trent to take him down
again. Kassius runs down and decks Trent though, allowing for Kruger
to hit the Kruger End back inside for the pin at 7:53 shown of 11:23.
Rating:
C+. Why Barreta is released
while Ohno gets to keep a job is beyond me. Trent continues to be as
smooth as ever in the ring and Kruger is starting to get things
working well too. I'd assume we were supposed to get a tag match out
of this but with Barreta being released that isn't very likely.
A
second referee informs the first one of Ohno's interference and the
decision is reversed.
Here's
the NEW NXT Champion Big E. Langston with something to say. He
welcomes us to the Era of Five but here's Camacho to interrupt him.
Hasn't Langston already beaten this guy? A referee comes out and we
get a match which I think is non-title.
Camacho
vs. Big E. Langston
Camacho
pounds away in the corner to start but Langston no sells it and
clotheslines Camacho down. The Big Ending finishes Camacho in 1:15.
Langston
does his usual stuff post match. This takes longer than the match
itself.
Damien
Sandow/Antonio Cesaro vs. Justin Gabriel/Tyson Kidd
Before
the match, Sandow says that the people here will learn to appreciate
him. Sandow and Kidd start things off but it's quickly off to
Justin. Damien gets his arm cranked on a bit so it's off to Cesaro.
Gabriel dropkicks him to the floor and we take a break. Back with
Justin getting two off a sunset flip on Sandow. He cranks on
Damien's arm and messes with his hair to really get on Sandow's
nerves.
Off
to Cesaro for a hard headlock for a few seconds before Gabriel fights
back with chops and right hands. Cesaro elbows him down before it's
back to Sandow for some knee drops. The Wind-Up Elbow gets two and
it's back to Antonio. Off to a front facelock before Justin fights
up and backdrops Cesaro to the floor. That's about the extent of his
offense though as Cesaro comes back in with the gutwrench suplex for
two.
Back
to the chinlock but Gabriel escapes for the third time, with this one
being followed by a hot tag to Tyson. Everything breaks down as
Sandow comes in again with Damien getting two off a rollup. Back to
Gabriel as Kidd dives onto Cesaro. A Lionsault and the springboard
elbow to Sandow get the clean pin at 8:00 shown of 11:30.
Rating:
C+. Basic tag match here with
the smaller guys getting to hang with the more established guys with
no real problems at all. Unfortunately Kidd is gone for the next
eight months or so due to destroying his knee. Cesaro again gets to
look strong here by not getting pinned, which is a nice touch from
WWE.
Overall
Rating: B-. Another good show
tonight as we transition to the next stretch of shows. Langston gets
to close out an old issue he had while at the same time getting to
look dominant over a WWE guy. This wasn't a blow away show or
anything and unfortunately two guys here aren't going to be around
for a very long time anymore after this show. Good show here with no
time wasted, which is the standard procedure on NXT.
Results
Adrian
Neville b. Sakamoto – Corkscrew Shooting Star Press
Trent
Barreta b. Leo Kruger via disqualification when Kassius Ohno
interfered
Big
E. Langston b. Camacho – Big Ending
Tyson
Kidd/Justin Gabriel b. Antonio Cesaro/Damien Sandow – Springboard
Elbow Drop to Sandow
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com
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