My NXT project

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

That's kinda how I feel about him. He actually does some interesting things in the ring that make him stand out, but there's just no connection there. And I think it's mostly the gimmick. 

[Greggulator]

4 hours ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

7/31/13

Luke Harper and Erick Rowan Vs Aidan English and Mickey Keegan: The Family won a squash, and then Bray added a Sister Abigail. Bray then cut a promo basically saying they were moving on to go take down the machine, and invited the fans to follow the buzzards. Really good promo and, I assume, end to the Family on NXT.

 

This is Bray's last appearance on NXT. And I believe his first match in NXT was against Aidan English. Not sure if the final send-off was meant but that's a really cool coincidence. That's also one of my favorite promos. 

Leo Kruger worked a slow, plodding Kraven The Hunter character. I liked the gimmick but it didn't lead to good matches. 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

8/7/13

Alex Riley making his commentary debut here, which has to be a step-up from Brad Maddox. 

Adrian Neville Vs Dean Ambrose: Ambrose is putting the US title on the line. The match is pretty good, and a good showcase for Neville. Surprisingly, Neville has the match won with the Red Arrow, but the Shield run in to make the save and cause the DQ. The beatdown commenced but Corey Graves and Xavier Woods of all people ran in to run the Shield off.

Next was the dance battle between Emma and Summer Rae. This was actually a fun segment, thanks mostly to Emma and the NXT crowd, who were really into it, 'yes'ing all of Emma's routines, and 'no'ing Summer's. It would have worked better if Summer could actually dance, which would have given a basis for her exasperation. As it is, it was just a dance battle between two people who couldn't dance, but one of them does it in a really fun and adorable way. Anyway, Emma predictably won the crowd vote, and I guess this was for a shot at the women's title. Summer laid Emma out with her finisher to end the segment. 

Tyler Breeze Vs Danny Burch: I'm surprised Burch is still around. Breeze gets the win with the spin kick in a very quick match. They're doing 'Tyler Breeze has left the building' announcements for Breeze.

Bo Dallas Vs Leo Kruger: Finally we can get this match out of the way. It goes exactly how I thought it would. Pretty dull, but not really bad by any means. Crowd babyfaces Kruger and he pretty much works as the face in the match. Bo picks up the win with a new submission hold.

In other news, I guess CJ Parker is doing a photobombing gimmick now. Last week he photobombed Breeze, and this week he showed up in the background of an Enzo and Cass segment, making stupid faces. I'm not sure how far this gimmick can go, and actually thought Parker had already left the company. The Enzo and Cass thing was them talking to Scott Dawson, who I guess is facing Mason Ryan next week.

Episode MVP: Emma. She shone in what should have been a stupid segment.

 

[MORELOCK]

Parker stuck around for about a year and a half after that, mostly as the designated jobber to whoever was debuting.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

8/14/13

The show starts with Paul Heyman coming out, saying he is here to scout for a new Heyman guy. Then Curtis Axel came out and said no-one in NXT was man enough to beat him for the IC title. That sounds like a challenge to me and Big E duly answered. Heyman and Axel said they didn't come here to fight, but one wonders what they thought was going to happen.

Big E. Langston Vs Curtis Axel: Pretty good match between two NXT alum here. Big E was closing in on the win before Heyman came in and drew the DQ. 

Mason Ryan Vs Scott Dawson: Enzo and Cass come out to distract Ryan, but it doesn't work and Ryan wins quickly. He then fights off all three men.

Paige Vs Summer Rae: So, I guess that one move Summer did to Emma a week ago meant that Emma couldn't compete tonight. So Summer gets a women's title match by virtue of losing a dance battle. Thankfully Paige put Summer away pretty quickly, as I'm bored with Summer now. Emma came out and attacked Summer post-match. This kinda looked like writing Summer off the show.

Renee is interviewing, ugh, AJ Lee in the back, who I guess is going to be defending her diva's title on the show next week. Bayley comes in with a hug and says she'd like to have a shot. AJ agrees and Bayley thanks her with another hug.

 The Shield Vs Adrian Neville, Corey Graves and Xavier Woods: Woods is an odd choice for this spot, as he shows up so sporadically on NXT, and is kind of a goofy comedy character. That said, he puts in a really good shift in this match, and doesn't look out of place at all mixing it up with The Shield. And I'm a big fan of Woods in the here and now, so I'm not necessarily surprised by that. I'm liking the Graves/Neville team more and more too. So, this is a good match. Camerawork is garbage though. It ends up with Woods playing hot tag, but eating a killer spear from Reigns to give the Shield the win.

The show ended with Cesaro accepting a challenge Sami Zayn laid out earlier in the show for a 2/3 falls match next week. Zayn attacks Cesaro, and Cesaro responds with a cry of 'ZAAAAAAYN" in the style of 'KAAAAAAHN'.

Episode MVP: Xavier Woods.

3 star match: The Shield Vs Corey Graves, Adrian Neville and Xavier Woods. 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

8/21/13

AJ Lee Vs Bayley: @DreamBroken, this is your dream match isn't it? Divas title on the line. AJ takes advantage of Bayley's naivety. Bayley fights back with some hug-based offence. AJ retains. Bayley continues to gain popularity.

Another backstage bit with CJ Parker photobombing Tyler Breeze. Parker's a prick. Is that Alexa Bliss in the role of 'cute girl taking Breeze's photo'? Breeze is mad when he looks at the pictures.

The Ascension Vs Mickael Zaki and Ron Hicks: Zaki is a Tough Enough alum. I can't find anything on Hicks. They're on pure jobber duty here anyway.

CJ Parker Vs Baron Corbin: This is billed as the debut of the new CJ Parker. And he can fuck right off. He comes out 'freaking' like a hippy, which I guess is his character. I've got nothing against hippies, but I don't want to see this fool swinging his dreads and pulling faces on my TV. Homer Simpson already did it better anyway. Corbin is still green as grass. After Parker wins, he is interviewed by Renee and says hippy stuff, while I wonder how on earth he got a gig with New Japan. Breeze comes out to confront him about the picture, but backs off when it threatens to get physical.

Dolph Ziggler Vs Alexander Rusev: What the what?! Why is Rusev copper-coloured? He comes out with a plank of wood with Ziggler written on it, which he proceeds to break. Rusev really ran the gamut of evil foreigner cliches during his early years, didn't he? Of course he has the Eastern European/Soviet Block/Russian stuff, his vaguely Islamic pre-match praying, bear feet like a Pacific Islander, a martial arts background, and here he has sumo garb while his sumo training is played up. I make no secret of the fact that I'm a big Rusev mark, and I have to say, weird look aside, he was pretty good here. Way better than I was expecting. He got a lot of offence- pretty much dominated the match actually, and got to kick out of some of Ziggler's signature stuff. Ziggler ends up scraping a victory with the Zig Zag.

Antonio Cesaro Vs Sami Zayn: 2/3 falls. This is one of the few NXT matches I have seen before doing this project. Seriously excellent match, which is pretty much one long highlight reel of incredible spots, but anchored by a really great babyface performance from Zayn. Sami takes the first fall in quick fashion after greeting Cesaro with a dive over the top, and then hitting a Helluva kick. Cesaro fights back and takes the second fall via tap out with his swinging chinlock. The third fall has the incredible through the ropes DDT from Zayn, and then an awesome finish with Cesaro blocking a tornado DDT, nearly losing Zayn but managing to deadlift him up and hit the big uppercut from out the sky, before finishing with the Neutralizer. Super intensity from Cesaro at the end. This was great stuff.

Episode MVP: It could go to either one of Zayn or Cesaro, but ultimately I just lean towards Cesaro who, as well as being great on offence, was an excellent base for Zayn's stuff.

4 star match: Antonio Cesaro Vs Sami Zayn.

 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

8/28/13

The show starts with The Ascension attacking Corey Graves in the back as he is being interviewed by Renee. I guess we're heading towards an Ascension title reign.

Tyler Breeze Vs CJ Parker: Character based match here. I can see Breeze getting over with this crowd as he's very entertaining in his role. Parker would work so much better as a heel. Breeze gets the win after hitting Parker with his cell phone, which is certainly novel.

Emma Vs Summer Rae: So I guess Summer is still on NXT. Decent match with Emma picking up the win with the Emma Lock. After the match Summer pours bubble solution into Emma's eyes. Emma sells it like Jake Roberts being sprayed with the Atomizer, which I love. I'm liking the character-specific foreign objects on this show.

They did a backstage bit with Summer and Sasha Banks, which I guess was Summer trying to pull out Sasha's inner Boss. She told her she needs to do anything it takes to succeed.

Scott Dawson Vs Enzo Amore: This was set up earlier as Enzo and Cass argued with Dawson and Sylvester Lefort about Dawson's failure to beat Mason Ryan, or anyone else for that matter. I guess that was a babyface turn for Enzo and Cass. They're super over here, with the crowd 'singing' along to the catchphrases, and breaking out into an Enzo chant. Regal called Enzo an electrified ferret and said he'd never get bored of punching him. Dawson won when Rusev came out and caused a distraction. Dawson, Rusev and Lefort celebrated together. I'm down for this team.

Sami Zayn was interviewed in the ring next by the ever-excellent Renee. He still comes off kinda douchey even when he's being humble and putting Cesaro over as the better man last week. He says his goal is to be NXT champion which brings out Bo Dallas, who cuts his most overtly heel promo yet. He thinks the crowd is chanting Bo, so Sami asks if they're saying 'Bo' or 'Boo'. If there isn't an 'I was saying Bo' sign in the next couple of weeks, I will be sorely disappointed. It looks like they're setting up this match, when Zeb Colter comes out and cuts a promo on Zayn being an illegal. I liked the Real Americans as a team, but Colter's promos on this slant really added nothing. And in this case didn't make any sense, since Zayn is Canadian anyway. Jack Swagger came from out of nowhere and attacked Zayn, laying him out and covering him in the 'don't tread on me' flag. Swag looked like a hoss here.

Adrian Neville Vs Conor O'Brian: A bit of a lacklustre main event here. Neville gets the clean win with a 450 splash, but then the Ascension start beating him down. Graves comes out selling his injuries from earlier, but soon gets overwhelmed. We close with the Ascension standing tall. Pretty good angle to set up a tag title match down the line.

Episode MVP: Tyler Breeze.

 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

I'm loving NXT. Even a show like that last one which reads like a kind of down week, had a tonne of stuff going on. You establish The Ascension as the next contenders for the tag titles, you continue the Emma/Summer feud, plant the seeds for a Sasha heel turn, turn Enzo and Cass face, introduce Rusev to Lefort's stable, set up a match between Swagger and Zayn while planting the seeds for a future Dallas/Zayn programme, and you have strong character work throughout the show. And that's pretty typical.

[John from Cincinnati]

I'm going to need to go back and watch the Swagger-Zayn match that's coming up. I remember it being fantastic. 

[JonnyLaw]

1 hour ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

I'm loving NXT. Even a show like that last one which reads like a kind of down week, had a tonne of stuff going on. You establish The Ascension as the next contenders for the tag titles, you continue the Emma/Summer feud, plant the seeds for a Sasha heel turn, turn Enzo and Cass face, introduce Rusev to Lefort's stable, set up a match between Swagger and Zayn while planting the seeds for a future Dallas/Zayn programme, and you have strong character work throughout the show. And that's pretty typical.

This was pretty much the start of prime NXT as it stopped being strictly developmental and you had more of the indie/international guys coming in. 

Its also interesting to see how certain people who are now minor characters or no longer with the company played key roles in developing some of today’s big stars, like Summer Rae and the NXT Horsewomen.

Also, CJ Parker isn’t going to show you anything to make you think he’d be a big deal in NJPW.

[Brian Fowler]

I love that AJ/Bayley semi-squash so much. Two of my favorite wrestlers.

Juice Robinson becoming a bonafide star in New Japan is one of the most shocking things that ever happened. He's the poster child for getting out of the WWE system if they aren't really using you. He's not just a big deal, he's become a serious candidate for best promo in the business today.

[DreamBroken]

11 hours ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

8/21/13

AJ Lee Vs Bayley: @DreamBroken, this is your dream match isn't it? Divas title on the line. AJ takes advantage of Bayley's naivety. Bayley fights back with some hug-based offence. AJ retains. Bayley continues to gain popularity.

Lmao, my nightmare. I vaguely remember seeing the segment the previous week setting it up and definitely avoided it.

[Greggulator]

12 hours ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

8/21/13

AJ Lee Vs Bayley: @DreamBroken, this is your dream match isn't it? Divas title on the line. AJ takes advantage of Bayley's naivety. Bayley fights back with some hug-based offence. AJ retains. Bayley continues to gain popularity.

Another backstage bit with CJ Parker photobombing Tyler Breeze. Parker's a prick. Is that Alexa Bliss in the role of 'cute girl taking Breeze's photo'? Breeze is mad when he looks at the pictures.

The Ascension Vs Mickael Zaki and Ron Hicks: Zaki is a Tough Enough alum. I can't find anything on Hicks. They're on pure jobber duty here anyway.

CJ Parker Vs Baron Corbin: This is billed as the debut of the new CJ Parker. And he can fuck right off. He comes out 'freaking' like a hippy, which I guess is his character. I've got nothing against hippies, but I don't want to see this fool swinging his dreads and pulling faces on my TV. Homer Simpson already did it better anyway. Corbin is still green as grass. After Parker wins, he is interviewed by Renee and says hippy stuff, while I wonder how on earth he got a gig with New Japan. Breeze comes out to confront him about the picture, but backs off when it threatens to get physical.

Dolph Ziggler Vs Alexander Rusev: What the what?! Why is Rusev copper-coloured? He comes out with a plank of wood with Ziggler written on it, which he proceeds to break. Rusev really ran the gamut of evil foreigner cliches during his early years, didn't he? Of course he has the Eastern European/Soviet Block/Russian stuff, his vaguely Islamic pre-match praying, bear feet like a Pacific Islander, a martial arts background, and here he has sumo garb while his sumo training is played up. I make no secret of the fact that I'm a big Rusev mark, and I have to say, weird look aside, he was pretty good here. Way better than I was expecting. He got a lot of offence- pretty much dominated the match actually, and got to kick out of some of Ziggler's signature stuff. Ziggler ends up scraping a victory with the Zig Zag.

Antonio Cesaro Vs Sami Zayn: 2/3 falls. This is one of the few NXT matches I have seen before doing this project. Seriously excellent match, which is pretty much one long highlight reel of incredible spots, but anchored by a really great babyface performance from Zayn. Sami takes the first fall in quick fashion after greeting Cesaro with a dive over the top, and then hitting a Helluva kick. Cesaro fights back and takes the second fall via tap out with his swinging chinlock. The third fall has the incredible through the ropes DDT from Zayn, and then an awesome finish with Cesaro blocking a tornado DDT, nearly losing Zayn but managing to deadlift him up and hit the big uppercut from out the sky, before finishing with the Neutralizer. Super intensity from Cesaro at the end. This was great stuff.

Episode MVP: It could go to either one of Zayn or Cesaro, but ultimately I just lean towards Cesaro who, as well as being great on offence, was an excellent base for Zayn's stuff.

4 star match: Antonio Cesaro Vs Sami Zayn.

 

This might be the truly first classic episode of NXT. I remember the AJ/Bayley, Rusev and of course the Sami/Cesaro matches. I had zero recollection of all of them being on the same show. 

That Sami/Cesaro match was hugely responsible for NXT's huge buzz. A lot of things had been building to that -- Bray's crazy promos, Paige and Emma, etc. But the two-out-of-three falls match was the first match NXT had that was PPV quality. It still holds up as something that would be great on a NXT Takeover.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

9/4/13

Bayley and Charlotte Vs Alicia Fox and Aksana: Aksana might be the worst person they've ever employed. Fans continue to be into Bayley. She gets her ass kicked for most of this match. We see our first Bayley-to-Belly, which Alex Riley dubs the Hugplex, which I think is actually a better name for it. Charlotte is on a role off the hot tag, but Bayley tags herself in and ends up rolling up Alicia for the upset. I thought this might have been planting some seeds for a Charlotte heel turn, but she seemed fine with this turn of events, so maybe not.

Corey Graves Vs Rick Victor: Man, this match went way too long. I mean, both of these guys are solid enough in the ring, but this long of a match with Victor working over Graves's ribs, which I do appreciate he was still selling from last week's attack, was just the wrong decision here. Graves ended up nicking the win.

They followed up on the Summer/Sasha story by having Summer trying to rile Sasha up about the match Sasha has with Paige next week. This was shot like a really shitty TV movie thriller, complete with acting to match from Summer. But I am more interested in seeing the Paige/Sasha match now. Paige was then interviewed by Renee about the match. Paige is actually a decent talker I'm coming to realise.

Alexander Rusev Vs Mason Ryan: Why am I starting to like Mason Ryan? Not in the sense that I really want to see him wrestle, but just in the sense that I wish they'd have given him a real go on the main roster. Is he still doing anything? This match was fine as a short power affair, with Rusev actually getting the win via tap-out with the Accolade.

We cut to Xavier Woods who is laid out in the back with Leo Kruger standing over him laughing. No, no, no! Fuck off Kruger You were supposed to be done.

Jack Swagger Vs Sami Zayn: Yeah, this is cool as. Crowd is super-hot for this, and I think Zayn at this moment is the most over person NXT has had to this point. They just really buy into him. Swagger is very good here throwing Zayn around, and Sami gets to show lots of heart, and some great hope spots. Swag kicks out of the Helluva kick, and Zayn kicks out of the gutwrench powerbomb. The finish has Bo Dallas come our trying to encourage Sami, but this distracts Zayn and allows Swagger to lock on the Patriot Lock for the second time, forcing the tap out. I really like the way they still protect the main roster guys while showcasing the NXT guys. I had a lot of fun watching this one. Riley annoyed me with a dumb comment regarding Zayn, about how he's a good talker, when usually technical wrestlers can't talk. What the fuck does that even mean? Riley also brings up his time as Miz's bag-carrier too much. It comes off kind of sad. 

Episode MVP: Sami Zayn.

3 1/2 star match: Jack Swagger Vs Sami Zayn.

[Sky Blue Sam]

I thought Mason Ryan was getting quite good around this time, felt like he was developing a personality. I'm pretty sure he's a Cirque de Soleil performer in Vegas now, there was an article on the WWE website where he mentioned that WWE helped him get the job.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

9/11/13

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady Vs Scott Dawson and Alexander Rusev: This was short, and had one of the most stupid finishes I've ever seen in wrestling, purely because of the context in which it happened. Dawson and Rusev were pretty much dominating the match, and hit a double team move on Enzo- like a Hart Attack, but with Rusev doing a spin kick. As Dawson went for the cover the ref called for the bell and declared the 'Legionnaires' had been DQ'ed for exceeding the allowed 5 seconds in the ring together after a tag. Seriously? What? Who came up with that finish? I guess you don't want to beat Enzo and Cass but want to protect the heels, but randomly enforcing that archaic rule has to be the worst way to achieve this effect. Leforte and his cronies are understandably apoplectic, while Enzo and Cass have the gall to celebrate this miscarriage of justice.

Bo Dallas came out to cut a promo, basically doing his smug deluded heel schtick, thanking the fans for Bo-lieving in him. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Bo is such a creepy dude. I just... don't want to see him on my screen. He's a a really bad talker too. Which arguably helps with this gimmick.

Paige Vs Sasha Banks: Okay, looking forward to this. And it delivers. Nice competitive match with Sasha getting a lot of offence and being very aggressive, but not doing anything truly heelish. Paige ends up winning by rolling through on a cross body attempt, and Sasha is visibly frustrated after the match. Paige tries to console her, but everyone can see the heel turn coming a mile away. Sasha lays Paige out, and I guess this is the start of The Boss. In the back Summer congratulates Sasha, and Sasha thanks her for bringing this side out of her.

Xavier Woods Vs Leo Kruger: This got a lot of time and, like most Kruger matches, wasn't particularly interesting. Standard stuff with him working over the arm. Woods wins, which I guess is a mild upset.

This episode also featured Tyler Breeze attacking CJ Parker in the back. He deserved it.

Episode MVP: Sasha Banks.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

9/18/13

Sami Zayn Vs Curt Hawkins: This is a rematch from Zayn's debut match. They get a good amount of time and have a decent match, but the crowd isn't as into it as they have been for big Sami matches before. Maybe because they don't buy Hawkins as a real threat. Hawkins did look pretty good here, bullying Sami around, allowing Sami to do what he does best- selling and making comebacks. Sami picks up the win.

Aiden English Vs QT Marshall: I don't think Marshall's name was even mentioned here. I guess he's done some work for ROH before but that's all I can find on him. This is the debut of English's singing gimmick, and it's awesome! This is going to get over huge with this crowd. They're already into it and cheering when he gives a post-match encore.

Corey Graves, Adrian Neville, CJ Parker and Xavier Woods Vs The Ascension, Tyler Breeze and Leo Kruger: This was a fine 8-man tag, but it was Breeze that made it really fun. First, he was really over with the crowd, by far the most over guy in the match. Secondly, the story running through the match was that he kept tagging himself in when he had a downed opponent, but would immediately tag back out at the first sign of any danger. All of which was getting big cheers. Finally, his team mates got sick of him and they all abandoned him, leaving him to take a beating from the babyfaces, before Neville finished him off with the Red Arrow. Really funny stuff.

Episode MVP: Tyler Breeze.

[JonnyLaw]

Re: the finish in the tag match, IIRC, the refs were instructed to actually enforce the rules for stuff like that (and counting to three if a shoulder isn’t up in time, even if it wasn’t the finish). I vaguely remember there being one or two other sudden endings because of that. You still see some of that in NXT tag matches, with there supposedly being a rule teams are only allowed one save per match, hence that Mustache Mountain match where Bate stands in the corner forever before throwing in the towel instead of just making a save. Of course, that rule was never mentioned by the announcers (I heard it in a podcast, maybe E&C) so it just made Bate look kind of stupid.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

9/25/13

So there's a big tag team turmoil match schedules for tonight to crown the number one contenders to the tag titles. i wonder who's winning that. Anyway, we start with CJ Parker asking Brad Maddox to be part of the match. Why he's asking Brad Maddox is never explained. Then Tyler Breeze comes in and says he wants to be part of the match too. I think I know where this is heading. Sure enough, Maddox has a 'great' idea and forces them to team. Main roster booking tropes trickling down to NXT. To be fair, if anyone can make this work, it's Breeze.

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady Vs CJ Parker and Tyler Breeze: I guess we're kicking off with this right away. Waste of time, as there's really no interaction between Breeze and Parker and in fact Breeze doesn't even get into the match as Cass quickly puts Parker away. As a side note, Enzo looks more competent in the ring than Cass at this point.

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady Vs Scott Dawson and Alexander Rusev: This doesn't get a tonne more time. The Legionnaires dominate, but Enzo small packages Dawson to eliminate them. Dawson and Rusev beat Enzo down after the match.

The Ascension Vs Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady: Ascension win in basically a squash, pinning Enzo. And that's it, I guess. What a lame tag team turmoil match, and it sorta begs the question of what the plan was had Parker and Breeze not both asked to be put in the match. 

Sasha Banks Vs Bayley: Well, look at this match. Summer is in Sasha's corner, and also of note is that Renee Young joins Tony Dawson and William Regal on commentary. Good little match here, and interesting to see them go at it so early in their careers and in their gimmicks. Sasha picks up the win with a straight-jacket neckbreaker. Summer then cuts a promo about how Fandango will be on NXT next week, and how he and Sasha are going to run NXT since they already took care of Emma and Paige (and she refers to Sasha as The Boss here). Emma comes out and runs them both off.

Aiden English Vs Bull Dempsey: Okay, I've heard of Bull Dempsey before. This is pretty much the same as English's match last week. It's impressive that he can work even a short match like this, and still hold a note afterwards. I can't talk after walking up a set of stairs.

Sami Zayn Vs El Local: They dust off Ricardo Rodriquez to give Sami a warm body to defeat. After the match, Bo comes out and says that next week he will be having a Bo Dallas Invitational and anyone who can beat him will get a shot at the title. But he says Sami won't be in that match. 

Brad Maddox is in the back whittling on his phone to someone, since all authority figures do is spend the whole show on their phones. Even authority figures who have no authority, unless I missed something somewhere. He is interrupted by KASSIUS OHNO! Yes! I kinda thought Ohno was done, but I guess he was just injured. Anyway, Ohno is saying his return has been held back and Maddox says that that was a decision by the higher-ups. Some allusions to Ohno's weight problems here, I think. Maddox says the company sees Ohno as a D+ player but after Ohno threatens him, he says next week he can have a match with a member of the Wyatt Family. Please keep the Authority bullshit off NXT.

And on that note, here comes Triple H to make a big announcement. He gets a hero's welcome, before bringing up his main roster issues with the Rhodes family. That's the problem when you have a guy who is seen to be doing to much good behind the scenes play an on-screen heel. The announcement is that JBL is replacing Dusty Rhodes as commissioner of NXT. Fuck no to that. JBL comes out and cuts a shit promo.

Episode MVP: Aiden English.

 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

10 minutes ago, JonnyLaw said:

Re: the finish in the tag match, IIRC, the refs were instructed to actually enforce the rules for stuff like that (and counting to three if a shoulder isn’t up in time, even if it wasn’t the finish). I vaguely remember there being one or two other sudden endings because of that. You still see some of that in NXT tag matches, with there supposedly being a rule teams are only allowed one save per match, hence that Mustache Mountain match where Bate stands in the corner forever before throwing in the towel instead of just making a save. Of course, that rule was never mentioned by the announcers (I heard it in a podcast, maybe E&C) so it just made Bate look kind of stupid.

Yeah, I do remember that being talked about. But that shit happened in every tag match. Every Ascension match, for example, ends with them snarling at each other for several seconds before hitting the Fall of Man. If you're gonna enforce the rules, which I'm all for, you have to do it across the board.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

10/2/13

Santino Marella and Emma Vs Fandango and Summer Rae: Comedy match with a couple of really funny spots. My favourite is a bit Santino and Emma do where they keep high-fiving each other, which the ref construes as a tag each time, meaning they have to keep getting in and out of the ring. It looked like something Chico and Harpo might come up with. In the end, Santino pins Fandango with the cobra.

Luke Harper Vs Kassius Ohno: This was good for what we got, but Harper won awfully quickly, which doesn't seem to bode well for Ohno.

The Ascension Vs Corey Graves and Adrian Neville: So, here's the long-awaited crowning of The Ascension as tag team champs. This match is a snoozer, except when Neville is on offence. I think I've seen reference to these guys holding the belts for a long time, which I am not looking forward to.

Bo Dallas invitational: So, i guess this is an open challenge deal, and if anyone can pin Bo, they get a title shot in 2 weeks. First out is some skinny guy who doesn't even get a name. he does get a huge pop for rolling Dallas up for a 2 count though. NXT crowd elevating things as usual. Bo gets serious and puts him away with a spear. Next Leo Kruger's music hits. Ugh. Big pop for Kruger but then a bigger one when Cesaro's music hits. Cesaro and Kruger end up fighting over who is going to face Dallas, and Bo tosses them both out of the ring. Next 'El Local' comes out, only it's clearly Sami Zayn. That explains why they had El Local back on the show last week then. Next bit of pre-planning, although it would have worked better if someone had clued Alex Riley in on this, and he wasn't pretending that this was some guy we'd never seen before. So, anyway, the difference in body type between the real El Local and Sami kinda spoils the illusion of this angle, but of course, there's a big pop when Sami puts Dallas away quickly with the helluva kick, and then takes off the mask.

Show also featured a hype video (see what I did there?) for Mojo Rawley.

Episode MVP: Emma.

[NikoBaltimore]

56 minutes ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

Santino Marella and Emma Vs Fandango and Summer Rae: Comedy match with a couple of really funny spots. My favourite is a bit Santino and Emma do where they keep high-fiving each other, which the ref construes as a tag each time, meaning they have to keep getting in and out of the ring. It looked like something Chico and Harpo might come up with. In the end, Santino pins Fandango with the cobra.

This match is one of the more recent examples of comedy matches being a good thing when done right.  It helped they were in the right kind of crowd to go along with it but I loved this match a ton.  Might have to check it again to see if it holds up.

[Greggulator]

13 hours ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

10/2/13

Santino Marella and Emma Vs Fandango and Summer Rae: Comedy match with a couple of really funny spots. My favourite is a bit Santino and Emma do where they keep high-fiving each other, which the ref construes as a tag each time, meaning they have to keep getting in and out of the ring. It looked like something Chico and Harpo might come up with. In the end, Santino pins Fandango with the cobra.

I have been dying for you to get to this match. I am rewatching this right now. I actually gave this 2013 MOTY consideration when it happened. I love good comedy matches so much. Santino is, IMO, an all-time great WWE wrestler. I think one thing the current NXT lacks at times is levity. NXT in 2013 had a lot of ridiculousness with workers heavy on comedy (Emma, Bo Dallas) being at the top of the card. Having something there that's silly makes cards work so well. 

This match holds up so ridiculously well. It's perfectly executed and gloriously dumb. A+. This is still in my Top 5 NXT matches of all-time. There are certainly a lot of great serious matches. But never forget the sublime when it comes to professional wrestling.

[The Natural]

@Greggulator, just watched Santino Marella/Emma vs. Fandango/Summer Rae Mixed Tag from NXT for the first time. Entertaining package including the entrances with miscommunication at first by Santino and Emma.

[JonnyLaw]

That’s one of my favorite NXT episodes of all time, and a perfect example of early prime NXT.