NXT
Date:
September 18, 2013
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Tom Phillips, Alex Riley
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
There
isn't much to say after last week's show. The main story is still
Zayn chasing a title shot with Bo Dallas but Bo coming up with excuse
after excuse. Last week was the first bad show NXT has produced in a
long time so hopefully this show can pick things way up in quality.
Let's get to it.
Welcome
Home.
Sami
Zayn vs. Curt Hawkins
Hawkins
takes him into the corner to start but hides in the ropes. Sami
hooks a hammerlock and some armdrags before chopping away in the
corner. Zayn drives in right hands in the corner and gets some near
falls off rollups. We hit a chinlock on Hawkins but Curt takes over
with a basic slam. An elbow drop and a knifeedge chop get two each
and we hit a chinlock on Sami.
Back
up and Sami scores with a leg lariat for two, making Curt begging for
mercy. Zayn is sent to the apron and rammed face first into the post
as we take a break. Back with Curt getting two off a suplex and
hitting another chinlock. Hawkins trips Zayn down to stop a comeback
and we hit chinlock number three. Back up and there's a double
clothesline to put both guys down.
They
fire off simultaneous right hands with Sami taking over via a
dropkick. A high cross body gets two for Sami as Riley talks about
how Sami must be 225lbs before saying Sami is 180lbs at most. He was
announced at 192lbs but that's probably too far back for Riley to
remember. Hawkins hits something resembling a Pele kick for two and
an Impaler DDT gets the same. Back up and Hawkins hits a freaky
looking throw (something resembling an Angle Slam with Sami's leg
around Curt's head) for two, only to have Sami kick his head off and
walk up the corner for the tornado DDT and the pin at 11:18 shown of
14:18.
Rating:
C+. This was an interesting
match as Hawkins had nothing for the nearly the first ten minutes
(three chinlocks should tell you something) but he turned it way up
in the last bit to make up for it. I'm not sure what more Sami can
do in developmental other than winning the title and having a quick
run and moving up to the main roster. The guy clearly knows what
he's doing and can hang with anyone. Nice stuff here and the fans
love them some Sami.
Aiden
English asks for a spotlight. He says he's the only legitimate
artiste to cross over into this industry. English sings a promo
about facing and defeating everyone he faces, even defeating their
“fancy pants and technical maneuvers”. Not a horrible voice
either.
Aiden
English vs. Michael Cuellari
Cuellari
is more famous as QT Marshall in ROH. English shoves him into the
corner and sings a bit before shoving Michael down. A big
clothesline and some right hands have Cuellari in trouble and a cobra
clutch into Matt Hardy's Side Effect is good for the pin on Michael
at 1:25. I've seen worse than English
English
demands a spotlight and sings an encore.
Bo
Dallas is very excited about his new Bo Dallas Hotline, currently
testing in Bo-Livia. He thought Zayn's win was nifty but wonders how
much a win over Hawkins means. Good point actually. Bo says he
might have a say in who gets a title shot and he'll make said
announcement next week.
HHH
also has an announcement next week.
There's
a tag team turmoil match next week for the #1 contendership.
Tyler
Breeze/Ascension/Leo Kruger vs. CJ Parker/Xavier Woods/Corey
Graves/Adrian Neville
Graves
and Neville are tag team champions. That's quite the packing of
several feuds into one match. Entrances alone take up about seven
minutes. Neville takes Victor down by the arm to start before
bringing in Graves. Parker and Woods get in their own shots to the
arm before it's back to Neville for a top rope ax handle to the arm.
Some good old fashioned hair pulling takes Adrian into the corner for
a tag off to Kruger, only to have his arm pulled on as well.
All
four good guys work on Leo's arm with Neville again staying in longer
than anyone. Woods and Parker both come in off the ropes to work on
the arm as we're on about the 12th tag in three minutes.
Graves hooks an armbar to slow things down a bit as the fans want to
see the tagging cycle again. Kruger finally pulls him over to the
heel corner for the tag off to O'Brian, even though the fans want
Breeze. Back to Leo for a pounding in the corner before it's back to
Victor to work on the ribs.
Graves
rolls away from a charging Kruger to bring Woods back in. The Honor
Roll sends Leo to the floor and the heels have a meeting but Parker
and Graves hit baseball slides followed by planchas from Woods and
Neville. We take a break and come back with Victor cranking on
Woods' arms to slow things down a bit. Back to Kruger as Breeze
still hasn't been into the match yet.
O'Brian
and Leo take turns stomping away in the corner until it's off to
Breeze for the pop of the night. Tyler hits a single right hand,
gets punched in the ribs and bails to the corner for a tag. Fans:
“THAT WAS AWESOME!” Leo hooks a chinlock on Xavier to calm
things down a bit but a jawbreaker gets him out. It's back to Breeze
for some knee drops but again a single shot to the ribs sends him
running off to Conor for a tag.
Woods
gets caught in a bodyscissors but it's back to Breeze. Tyler's
suplex is countered into one by Xavier, allowing for the hot tag to
Parker. CJ cleans house and gets two off a side kick as everything
breaks down. Conor misses a splash in the corner but catches CJ in
the flapjack. The fans want Breeze though, only to have Parker throw
Tyler off at two. Parker gets all fired up as Breeze's partners walk
out, allowing all of the good guys to hit Breeze in the face. Fans:
“NOT IN THE FACE!!!” The Red Arrow gets the pin on Breeze at
13:00 shown of 16:00.
Rating:
B-. This wasn't a classic or
even very good, but it was such a fun match that it was hard to not
like it. Breeze is so goofy and over the top that the fans have made
him the flavor of the month. Ascension vs. Graves/Neville should be
fun for a power vs. speed match and Woods vs. Kruger was fine.
Really fun stuff here.
The
winners all pose over Breeze to end the show.
Overall
Rating: B+. I had a great time
with this show. They didn't take anything too seriously and the main
event was done perfectly with the Breeze stuff stealing the show.
Aiden English is something that has potential and I got fifteen
minutes of Sami Zayn. What more can you possibly need out of an hour
long TV show?
Results
Sami
Zayn b. Curt Hawkins – Tornado DDT
Aiden
English b. Michael Cuellari – Corba clutch side slam
CJ
Parker/Xavier Woods/Adrian Neville/Corey Graves b. Ascension/Tyler
Breeze/Leo Kruger – Red Arrow to Breeze
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:
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I am so seeing Aiden English and Fandango as a tag team. Or even better English as an Alex Riley type lackey for Sandow to sing him down to the ring.
ReplyDeleteTyler Breeze is awesome, he did a mean Zoolander impression on the mic too.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the episode much more than the previous one. The next batch of shows were pretty good, more Sami Zayn awesomeness (Kinda worried about possibly being on tv after how much I got into the final match of that taping he was involved in).
ReplyDeleteAiden English is interesting, always have liked him at the house shows as he has always had good fan interaction and the crowd started off hating him, lots of cat calls as he started his routine, but then everyone cheered as he finished his song. Same thing happened at his next appearance, cat calls and boos turning into cheers and unanimous applause, very very odd thing to witness. And yea Breeze is so over, fans love to do the "Breeze is Gorgeous" and "Not in the Face" chants.
The next tapings do have a lot of good, don't want to spoil anything but the crowd was real hot most of the night.
I think he'd be perfect as a tag team partner for Sandow once Sandow's Money in the Bank stuff is over. You can so see the characters getting along, and can eventually lead to a breakup theatre vs literature feud.
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't even shown his in ring skills, but he was pretty good at house shows before the Breeze character. He's also the first guy trained by Lance Storm to be signed by the WWE.
ReplyDeleteWasn't he the last FCW champ before it all got rolled into NXT.
ReplyDeleteHe was a champion, but not the final one, they traded the title around a lot before FCW rolled into NXT http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCW_Florida_Heavyweight_Championship
ReplyDeleteArts and Entertainment would be a good name for that team.
ReplyDeleteodds that Corey Graves saw a rumor about Punk not re-signing nodded intently and said "soon"?
ReplyDelete