NXT
Date: May 15, 2014
Location: Full Sail
University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William
Regal, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We're two weeks away
from Takeover and the main story coming into tonight is finding a
challenger for Adrian Neville's NXT Title. Last week, Tyson Kidd,
Tyler Breeze and Sami Zayn tied in a battle royal, setting up a
triple threat for the show this week. My guess is the two losers
will face off at Takedown as well. Let's get to it.
We open with a recap of
the battle royal and the three winners.
Roar of the Crowd.
Ascension vs. Buddy
Murphy/Elias Samson
Non-title. The
announcers talk about the tag team initiative, meaning a lot of new
teams will be formed. Again, NXT has a problem and they do something
to solve it. Murphy gets things going and the beating is on in a
hurry. Samson never even makes it into the ring as a series of
clotheslines, forearms and stomps set up the Fall of Man to Murphy
for the pin at 1:30.
Post match Ascension
says bring them someone new to destroy. This brings out El Local and
Kalisto to make a challenge for Takeover. A LUCHA chant starts up
and Ascension seems to like the idea.
Sami Zayn says this is
his chance to redeem himself and get one step closer to the NXT
Title. It won't be easy but he'll do whatever it takes to reach his
goal.
NXT Womens Title
Tournament Semifinals: Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte
Charlotte gets caught
in a quick rollup for two but comes back with a clothesline for a
pair of two counts. We hit a modified abdominal stretch from
Charlotte but Bliss counters into another rollup for two. Charlotte
slams her face first into the mat and it's back to the stretch, only
to have Bliss reverse into a sunset flip for another near fall.
Bliss is bent over Charlotte's knee for a few moments before Bow Down
To The Queen (the flipping facebuster) is good for the pin at 5:00.
Rating: D+.
Charlotte is clearly getting the rocket push here and it's going to
be good when she wins the title. The title needs to be held by a
heel for a change so someone else can be built up to take the title
from her down the line. Bliss clearly doesn't have the in ring
skills yet but she's got the character down for the most part.
Tyler Breeze is ready
to win because he's fighting two ugly Canadians.
Mojo Rawley vs.
Aiden English
English sings about how
proper he is before Rawley throws him around after the bell. He hits
a few football tackles to put the proper one down and English looks
shaken up. Rawley chases him into the ropes but gets caught coming
in, allowing English to take over. Ascension vs. Kalisto/El Local is
official for Takedown. A DDT gets two on Mojo and we hit a quickly
broken chinlock. Mojo fights up and hits some splashes in the
corner, setting up Hyperdrive for the pin at 3:32.
Rating: C-.
Better match here and Rawley is at least beating some better talent.
No he doesn't go long out there, but he's the kind of character that
doesn't need to. I don't like English losing, but he's ready for WWE
and has been for awhile. The character alone is going to carry him
with ease.
Tyson Kidd wants to win
here to make himself a bigger deal in NXT. He's the leader of the
pack in NXT and will be its champion.
Big Cass vs. Angelo
Dawkins
It's a new name for
Cassidy this week. Cass hammers Dawkins into the corner as CJ Parker
comes out to ringside with a recycling sign. It doesn't matter much
as Cass stays on offense as we're firmly in squash territory here. A
big slam gets two but Dawkins gets an elbow up in the corner.
Dawkins hits a nice dropkick but gets caught by a knee to the jaw.
The S-A-W-F-T Forearm sets up a spinning Rock Bottom (East River
Crossing) for the pin on Angelo at 3:26.
Rating: D+.
Total squash here but man alive I hope Parker doesn't get another
feud anytime soon. Cass is a guy with some talent but he needs a
wingman like Enzo to keep things interesting. The name change helps
as Colin isn't exactly the most intimidating name in the world.
Bo
Dallas shows JBL a stack of letters from fans who say he should get
another title shot. The fans on his hotline think he should get
another as well. JBL thinks it should be a gamble though. How about
this: if Dallas wins his next match, he gets a title shot. If he
loses, he's gone from NXT forever. JBL gives him FIVE guesses who
the opponent is.
Tyler Breeze vs.
Sami Zayn vs. Tyson Kidd
Winner gets the shot at
Neville in two weeks. The fans chant for Yoshi Tatsu of all people
but settle down for the bell. Kidd takes over to start and hits a
running kick to both heads. Sami and Breeze send Tyson to the floor
before brawling in the corner. Tyson is back in now but has to break
up a cover on Sami after the Beauty Shot as we take a break.
Back with Sami on the
floor and Kidd charging into Breeze's boot in the corner. Kidd is
quickly back up but Breeze is in the ropes to avoid the Sharpshooter.
The fans want Yoshi but get Tyler stopping a dive with a forearm to
the head. Sami dives on Breeze instead and gets two off a high cross
body to Kidd. Breeze escapes the Blue Thunder Bomb but the second
attempt works a bit better for two.
Sami takes a lot of
time in the middle of the ring for some reason before grabbing Breeze
for an exploder suplex. Kidd grabs Sami for a German suplex at the
same time and all three are down. Breeze falls to the floor so the
good guys can slug it out. Kidd slaps on the Sharpshooter in the
middle of the ring but Breeze makes the save. Breeze gets suplexed
into the corner for two for Kidd. Sami can't hit the tornado DDT on
Tyler but Kidd's Blockbuster attempt is broken up. The Helluva Kick
takes Breeze down but Kidd throws Sami outside, setting up a top rope
elbow to Breeze to send Tyson to Takeover at 11:33.
Rating: C+.
There was a bit too much laying around but this was one of the
matches that didn't have a bad option. Kidd is a good choice for a
title shot as he could take the title but will get at least a solid
match no matter what. Breeze was in a bit over his head but he
certainly wasn't bad out there.
Sami
is stunned as Kidd celebrates.
Overall Rating: C+.
As usual, NXT is capable of pulling a rabbit out of its hat without
hurting the ears at all. This took care of a lot of the issues the
show has been having lately, including giving us a tag team to fight
Ascension. No they're not all that established, but at least there's
someone instead of two jobbers. That and Bo Dallas should be written
off TV to go to WWE full time. What more can you ask for?
Results
Ascension b. Buddy
Murphy/Elias Samson – Fall of Man to Murphy
Charlotte b. Alexa
Bliss – Bow Down To The Queen
Mojo Rawley b. Aiden
English – Hyperdrive
Big Cass b. Angelo
Dawkins – East River Crossing
Tyson Kidd b. Sami Zayn
and Tyler Breeze – Top rope elbow to Breeze
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
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