NXT
Date:
July 31, 2013
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Tony Dawson, William Regal
This
is an odd show for NXT as there isn't anything planned coming into
this episode. Last week saw Paige become the first Women's Champion
in a good match and Sheamus defeating Luke Harper in a stand alone
match. That doesn't leave much to build on this week but I'm sure
NXT will pull something off. Let's get to it.
Welcome
Home.
We
open with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy running their mouths. Colin
brags about being undefeated as a team and not being soft
(“S-a-w-f-t!”). Enzo says he sees NXT as a dance floor and
they're going to dance all over it. Cue Tons of Funk to chase them
off in an obvious cameo. Cassidy and Amore talk trash from the floor
but here's Mason Ryan to chase them into the ring. Tons of Funk beat
up the annoying ones and we have a referee but no bell. Ryan comes
in and plants Amore with a cobra clutch slam before dancing with the
fat guys to the only pop of his career.
Dusty
is in the back with Emma and Paige when Summer Rae comes in to
complain. She wants the title right now but Paige offers to break
Summer's teeth. Emma says she beat Summer fair and that Summer's
dancing sucks. Dusty calls the idea ridiculous but he likes it so
the idea is on.
Charlotte
vs. Sasha Banks
Sasha
hooks a headlock to start but Charlotte rolls away. A dropkick puts
Charlotte down for two and it's off to an armbar. Charlotte fights
up and backflips out of the corner before wrapping up Sasha's legs
for a sweet rollup, getting two. A chop (of course) staggers Banks
but she easily takes Charlotte down and puts on a camel clutch. Back
up and a running knee in the corner has Charlotte in trouble but she
comes back with a clothesline. That front flip into a facejam/cutter
(like Cena's Throwback) is good for the pin at 3:19.
Rating:
C-. Charlotte isn't polished
yet but it's clear she's got a good foundation to start with. I
liked this better than her last match as she looked a lot more
confident out there this week. It was a good idea to have Sasha
control most of the match and just let Charlotte do her gymnastics
stuff. Charlotte has a good future it would seem.
Tyler
Breeze looks at himself a lot and talks about being breathtaking,
magnificent and gorgeous. Someone with long hair is behind him
making faces, getting a good reaction from the crowd.
Wyatt
Family promo, set to Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Mickey
Keegan/Aiden English vs. Wyatt Family
The
Family has their full Raw intro now. The fans are going NUTS for the
Wyatts which is strange to hear. Luke and Erick clean house and the
discus lariat sets up the splash from Rowan for the pin on English at
26 seconds.
Post
match bray talks about how there are men that try and fail but then
there are men who change the landscape of this world. He's the
second kind of man and now he wants to know what the people around
here are like. Today is the day that Bray Wyatt has decided to
change the world.
Today
is the day when pigs fly because Wyatt has told Mr. Fear that he is a
liar. Go and tell all the world leaders because Bray Wyatt is coming
to bring down the machine. Today the Wyatts say goodbye to NXT for
now, but if you need to find Bray Wyatt, follow the buzzards. He
throws in a little Time Is On My Side and drops the mic to chants of
THANK YOU BRAY. This was WAY more intense than anything Wyatt has
done and it worked very well.
Adrian
Neville comes in to say he's got Corey Graves' back tonight in case
the Wyatt Family interferes. Graves says if the Wyatt Family thinks
they've seen a war, maybe the new champions should show them what war
is.
Corey
Graves vs. Scott Dawson
Graves
misses a charge into the corner to start but the fans are entirely
behind him. Dawson hits an elbow to the jaw for two and he does it
again for the same result. Graves comes back with a kick to the jaw
and a chop block to set up Lucky 13 for the tap at 2:00. This was
nothing.
Post
match Corey celebrates with Neville but here's the Shield to
interrupt. Rollins says Graves remembers the Shield for laying him
out last time they were here. Graves and Neville are almost like
Reigns and Rollins....but not quite. Ambrose says Neville is
carrying around a belt because he slid into Kassius' Ohno's spot.
That
makes him a thief, and that is an injustice. He offers Adrian a shot
at greatness in a match but Neville wants the US Title on the line
and to do it RIGHT NOW. Dean says Adrian isn't talking to some NXT
chump but rather the US Champion. The title match is on for next
week, and Neville says justice is served next week.
Leo
Kruger/Antonio Cesaro vs. Bo Dallas/Sami Zayn
Kruger
vs. Dallas for the title next week. Something I've touched on
tonight has been the crowd who will cheer everyone from the bayou
religious cult to the paramilitary group to the white supremacist.
Bo Dallas comes out and is BOOED OUT OF THE BUILDING. A loud No More
Bo chant breaks out as Zayn and Kruger get things going. There's an
Ole chant and Zayn sends Leo across the ring out of a wristlock.
Zayn jumps over Kruger in the corner and three straight armdrags set
up an armbar on Leo.
Bo
tags himself in and you can feel the crowd die. Off to Cesaro as the
fans chant WE THE PEOPLE. Dallas snaps off some armdrags of his own
but he takes too much time to tag, allowing Cesaro to kick him in the
ribs to take over. A big boot puts Zayn on the floor but Dallas
dropkicks Antonio down. Zayn gets the tag and Cesaro runs to the
corner to tag Kruger who runs Sami over with a right hand.
We
take a break and come back with Kruger getting two off a snap suplex
to Zayn. Cesaro comes in with a European uppercut for two before
putting on the standing chinlock. Back to Kruger who gets two off a
headbutt and a double stomp. We hit the chinlock for a bit before
Sami fights up and gets two off a sunset flip. Cesaro comes back in
before the hot tag can be made and gets two of his own off a
powerbomb.
Off
to a regular chinlock from Antonio but Sami fights up and kicks him
in the face to escape. Bo gets the tag and is booed out of the arena
again which I don't remember hearing on a hot tag before. Everything
breaks down and it's Kruger vs. Dallas in the ring. Bo hits a quick
powerslam to send Kruger to the floor but back inside the Slice
(running clothesline) is enough to put Dallas down for the pin (and
an ERUPTION) at 10:40 shown of 13:10.
Rating:
C+. The match was a basic tag
team formula to set up the title match next week. The interesting
thing again though was the reaction to Dallas. I haven't seen
consistent hatred for a guy like this since probably X-Pac. No
matter what the guy does he gets booed out of the building but is
still pushed as a face. There aren't any shades of gray with his
character. He's a face through and through and for the life of me I
don't know why.
Overall
Rating: B. Another good show
this week for all the same reasons: a lot of stories were covered and
those matches were the most important thing on the show at the time.
It's a good sign that this show can come up with a good hour of TV
while having nothing set up in advance. Can you imagine Raw trying
to be spontaneous like this? Good show this week like almost always,
with NXT being the highlight of my wrestling week.
Results
Charlotte
b. Sasha Banks – Front flip facejam
Wyatt
Family b. Mickey Keegan/Aiden English – Splash to English
Corey
Graves b. Scott Dawson – Lucky 13
Leo
Kruger/Antonio Cesaro b. Sami Zayn/Bo Dallas – Slice to Dallas
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and pick up my new book of Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw Reviews for just $5 from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E8HXYM2
Also check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books as low as $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
Time to retire "X-Pac Heat" in favor of "Bo Dallas Heat."
ReplyDeleteThat Tyler Breeze gimmick has opening match guy written all over it. Too bad, as Dalton is a solid worker
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I think Dalton lacks the proper charisma to make the gimmick work. Say what you will about Rick Martell's "The Model" character but he played it up tremendously and looks like he was having a blast. Dalton is too subdued.
ReplyDeleteOther than some of the ladies who think he's hot for whatever reason, everyone at the tapings really hates the fact Bo got the Royal Rumble spot, and that is what caused the crowd to turn on him. Everyone felt there were much better guys who deserved that main roster spot, and then the title win a couple weeks back just turned the crowd against him even more.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing when you look at the Rotundo brothers together how much better Bray Wyatt is in all aspects of being a pro wrestler. Bray/Husky/Duke has that "IT" factor that Bo lacks even though it often seems like the WWE treats Bo like the chosen one. Even when Bray was "Husky Harris" the FCW fans made him one of their most popular babyfaces even though the intention was to push Bo (Bo's injury at the time changed plans but that push was about grooming Bo for the main roster). I was surprised when Husky was repackaged as a "Bray Wyatt" but man did he knock that character out of the park. Meanwhile the constant shoving of Bo down our throats just made the crowd turn on him more. He was a moderately popular babyface but the fans had no desire to see him as the top face. Frankly unless he gets massive repackaging his best role would have been half of a tag team/occasional singles JTTS. At this point he's been so tainted that such a repackaging would work for him now. Even as Husky, Bray hawaygood that d much more charism hN Bo but Bo is prettier
ReplyDelete