NXT
Date: August 21, 2014
Location: Full Sail
University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Renee
Young, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The show has changed
timeslots for the first time ever and is now airing at 4pm EST on
Thursdays. Things picked up for the first time in a good while last
week with an awesome Tyler Breeze vs. Adrian Neville title match,
ruined by Tyson Kidd interfering. Sami Zayn made the save and in
theory it's time for a big tag match. Let's get to it.
Tag
Team Titles #1 Contenders Tournament Semi-Finals: Enzo Amore/Colin
Cassady vs. Vaudevillains
Cass throws English
around to start and nails him with a big boot to the jaw. Off to
Simon vs. Enzo with Amore nailing some fast punches to the ribs for
two. Cass throws Amore into the corner to crash into Gotch but Simon
catches Enzo's cross body and That's A Wrap sends the Vaudevillains
to the finals at 1:47. That was really quick.
The Legionnaires attack
Cass post match and shave half of Amore's beard.
Here's HHH to make an
announcement. He talks about how important NXT is to the WWE Network
and thinks it's time for NXT to take over again. On September 11,
it's Takeover II, airing live with all three titles on the line. In
addition, there will be a new NXT General Manager named next week.
We look back at Kidd
costing Breeze his title match last week.
Breeze is ticked off at
Tyson Kidd and says Tyson Kidd is going to find out why Prince Pretty
is more than just a pretty face.
Tyson
Kidd vs. Tyler Breeze
Breeze is much more
aggressive this week and goes off on Tyson in the corner. Kidd comes
back with forearms and a hard kick to the back. A suplex into a
neckbreaker puts Tyler down and there's a hard dropkick to the side
of the head. Breeze gets to the ropes to avoid the Sharpshooter and
bails to the floor, walking out for the countout at 1:46.
Breeze says he's fine
with walking out because his attention is on the title match at
Takeover.
Charlotte
vs. Becky Lynch
Non-title. Becky has
no green in her attire anymore. Charlotte takes her down into a
front facelock but Becky takes her down by the leg. They stay on the
mat with Becky getting a few rollups for two each but Charlotte kicks
the redhead into the corner. Charlotte hooks the figure four neck
lock for a bit before getting two by just shoving Lynch to the mat.
Back up and Lynch nails some clotheslines but walks into a kind of
t-bone suplex. Bow Down to the Queen gets the pin at 4:10.
Rating:
C-. Not much of a match here
for the most part with Lynch not looking all that comfortable on the
mat but trying her best. Charlotte continues to look good in the
ring and has a good finisher to go with the attitude. That puts her
way ahead of a lot of female wrestlers so she's got the first major
steps down.
Amore
and Cass come out and make Star Wars references while challenging the
Legionnaires to a hair vs.
hair match. If they don't
accept, they must be S-A-W-F-T!
We
look back at Bull Dempsey beating up Mojo Rawley.
Mojo
Rawley vs. Steve Cutler
Mojo
takes him into the corner to start and gets two off a shoulder block.
Cutler is sent into the
corner and crushed by a few splashes. Hyperdrive gets the pin for
Mojo at 1:34. This is what he should have been doing for since he
debuted.
Post
match Rawley says he's still standing here and can take everything
Bull can throw at him.
Tag
Team Titles #1 Contenders Tournament Semi-Finals: Sami Zayn/Adam Rose
vs. Sin Cara/Kalisto
Rose
and Kalisto get things going and we're already prancing. They trade
wristlocks until Adam tags in Sami to a very nice ovation. Sin
Cara comes in and they hit the mat with Sin grabbing a headscissors.
Cara quickly sends Sami out
to the floor and the luchadores tease dives as we go to a break.
Back with Kalisto
headlocking Rose for two. Adam
powers up and tags in Sami as things speed up. Kalisto avoids a
clothesline, lands on his fingers and crawls across the ring without
using his feet.
Sami
is rightfully freaked out and it's off to Cara for a kick to the
chest. A hiptoss gets two
on Zayn and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Sami nails a
tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two of his own. Rose comes in again and
puts on a chinlock of his own. Kalisto gets the tag and walks into a
powerbomb for two. It's quickly back to Cara who cleans house and
nails a Tajiri elbow for two on Rose. Everything breaks down and
Cara dives out onto Sami. Rose gets all fired up but walks into the
sitout Sliced Bread #2, followed by Cara's Swanton Bomb for the pin
at 10:10 shown.
Rating:
C. This was just a step above a
squash with the luchadores running circles around Rose and Zayn.
This is the kind of win that they need to establish themselves as a
big tag team. Sami not taking the pin was a good idea and he didn't
look horrible throughout the match. Nothing all that interesting but
it sets up a good match in the finals.
Overall
Rating: C+. I'm not wild on the
matches ending so fast but they kept this show moving. A lot of
stuff has been set up for the coming weeks and we finally have
something to build to at Takeover II. The three title matches and
presumably a hair vs. hair match should make for a good card with a
few other surprises through in. Good but not great show this week.
Results
Vaudevillains b. Colin
Cassady/Enzo Amore – That's A Wrap to Amore
Tyson Kidd b. Tyler
Breeze via countout
Charlotte b. Becky
Lynch – Bow Down to the Queen
Mojo Rawley b. Steve
Cutler – Hyperdrive
Sin Cara/Kalisto b.
Sami Zayn/Adam Rose – Swanton Bomb to Rose
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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Is that Rose's first loss as that character?
ReplyDeleteRight when I was planning to watch it live tonight too.
ReplyDeleteSo far it still airs in the 9 pm est time slot.
ReplyDeleteI believe so yes.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking Kalisto is brought up pretty soon, which is fine because WWE needs new Latin blood on the main shows.
ReplyDelete"Vince said we can't do Lucky the Leprechaun. Anybody got any other ideas? No?
ReplyDeleteWell, let's just break for lunch."
--WWE creative, on what to do with Becky Lynch.
Watching NXT tonight reminded me how good the 3 match El Generico/Samuray Del Sol series was in Evolve.
ReplyDeleteProbably the "height" of Sapolsky's non-ROH booking.
Steve Cutler's appearance causes me to suspect that the Miz's father hooked up with Tyson Kidd's mother 20 some years ago.
ReplyDeleteBefore Final Battle 2010, I suggested in the ROH board that Generico should voluntarily take off his mask after beating Steen and be pushed long term to win the title at Final Battle 2011. I was told by many that this was ridiculous, that it would destroy his indie marketability, and that no one would take him serious without the faux-Luchadore gimmick because he was really just a "skinny ginger". Hey ROH message board community--check out Sami Zayne and suck it!
ReplyDeleteIronically Cornette would have been on board with that since he's stated he doesn't like the El Generico gimmick but mostly because he didn't think he needed it.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great starter gimmick, and it speaks worlds of Sami's innate charisma that he got as far as he did with it, but by FB 2010, I believe it really had reached it's ceiling. I'm actually glad WWE decided to bring him in unmasked, but it would be fun to see the character again and some point, it's a perfect fit for a Dirty Yellow Dog angle.
ReplyDeleteIs NXT really the kind of show that even needs a GM? Is this role an absolute necessity for every single wrestling show ever on the face of the earth?
ReplyDeleteNot really but they've been perfect with their use. JBL has been GM for months now and hasn't appeared ten times in total.
ReplyDeleteBut that's kind of the problem I have with it. The role is completely superfluous for a one-hour show, so why even have one at all? It just seems logistically unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't need to exist but if WWE insists on it, I can more than live with it this way.
ReplyDeleteNot if you count losing the crowd.
ReplyDeleteHaha, awesome
ReplyDelete