The SmarK Rant for WWE NXT–10.16.13

The SmarK Rant for WWE NXT – 10.16.13

Taped from Orlando, FL

Your hosts are Tony Dawson (in his last appearance) & William Regal, with special guest Renee Young!

Tonight: Sami Zayn v. Bo Dallas! FINALLY!

NXT Tag Team Titles: The Ascension v. Corey Graves & Adrian Neville

Victor slugs it out with Graves and loses that pretty easily, as Corey is apparently unhappy about losing the belts. He hangs Victor in a Tarantula on the ropes, and Neville comes in with a running elbow in the corner. O’Brien quickly low-bridges him to put him on the floor, however, and we take a break. Back with the champs working Neville over in the corner and beating on his now-injured knee, but he quickly makes the hot tag to Graves. Corey cleans house with an STO on Conor and a clip to the knee, which sets up his reverse figure-four. Victor breaks that up and Graves tags out again, but Neville is still hurt and looks pissed. Aha, the old Strike Force split! Good old Dusty booking with the team ending their usefulness and then moving on to a program against each other. And Conor quickly destroys the knee again before tossing him into Graves and finishing with Total Elimination at 9:20. Corey Graves, sore loser, bitches at the injured Neville, offers a handshake of peace, and then turns on him. You know, people rag on Dusty’s booking the bad end of Crockett Promotions, but as long as he’s held in check (like here) it’s just tremendous. **1/2

Tyler Breeze v. CJ Parker

Holy cow, this is like NXT Wrestlemania or something. Crowd: “Breeze Is Gorgeous”. Indeed. Parker quickly gets an airplane spin while Renee compares ponytails with Breeze. Sunset flip gets two and they have a shoving match before CJ misses a dropkick and Breeze takes over. Parker with a cradle for two and Breeze begs off due to too much hitting in the face, and then goes to the eyes and finishes with a leg lariat at 3:22. William Regal gives the finish high marks from the perspective of an old villain like himself. How can you not love this show? Parker, the worst person in the world, hits Breeze in the face and then steals his iPhone and sullies it with his own ugmo face. Renee’s disgust at Parker stealing someone’s phone is yet another highlight. Match was junk but Breeze is owning this character and getting over bigger every week while the crowd continues to HATE supposed babyface CJ Parker. ½*

Paige & Emma v. Summer Rae & Sasha Banks

Paige attacks Sasha and pounds away on her to start, and brings in Summer Rae, who quickly runs away and tags out again. Emma comes in with a sunset flip for two and a cradle for two, but a cheapshot from Summer turns the tide. William Regal going off about his girlfriend Doris and just how ugly she is, while Renee analyzes the gear of the Divas, renders any action in the ring totally superfluous compared to the awesomeness of the commentary. Summer continues to work Emma over, but she rolls away and makes the hot tag to Paige. Paige throws knees on the apron and gets a dropkick for two. Perfectplex gets two. It’s BONZO GONZO and Summer hits Big Show’s Final Cut to finish at 5:42. Big night for the heels, and Summer is set up as the next challenger. *1/2

NXT Title: Bo Dallas v. Sami Zayn

Big atmosphere for this one. Zayn takes Dallas down with a pair of rollups for two, but Bo goes to a headlock. After working on that for a bit, Zayn comes back and hits the running boot in the corner an wins the NXT Title at 4:32! However, JBL quickly comes out and points out that Bo’s foot was on the rope (“Referee…don’t make me learn your name! Restart the match!”) and so we continue after a break. Back with Sami tossing Dallas and splatting him with a dive. Back in, Sami with a crossbody for two. The running boot is caught by Bo, but Zayn powerbombs him for two. Dallas comes back with a springboard bulldog for two and an inverted DDT for two, and the crowd is going CRAZY for Zayn. Sami hits a spear for two and goes up, but Dallas brings him down and hits his own spear for two. The crowd’s reaction to the near-fall is tremendous, as they get sucked into the old school babyface-heel dynamic with no irony whatsoever. They fight to the top and Sami brings him down with a powerbomb for two, and Dallas manages to pull off a turnbuckle while trying to fight off a german suplex. Sami manages to throw two of them, but Bo runs him into the exposed steel and steals the cheap rollup win at 18:40. This has to be the end of Sami in NXT, as it’s obviously time to bring him to RAW sooner rather than later. Clearly Bo Dallas’s best match ever, by far. ****

The Pulse

Not only did this blow off FOUR ongoing feuds in NXT, but it set up two brand new programs! This show is not only insanely entertaining, but a lesson in how to book professional wrestling.