NXT
Date:
June 27, 2012
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Byron Saxton Jim Ross
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We're
back again after last week's great debut episode. Tonight we're
going to get a lot of new people debuting which is a cool idea. The
perk of NXT being merged with FCW is that there are a ton of guys
that the masses haven't seen before and they're letting them trickle
in, which is a good way to keep people watching. Let's get to it.
Seth
Rollins vs. Jiro
Rollins
is Tyler Black from ROH. Jiro is a Japanese guy who looks to be a
jobber. Regal isn't on commentary this week which makes this show go
down a bit already. They chop it out and Rollins sends him into the
corner. Rollins hits a kind of running curb stomp called The
Blackout for the pin at 1:32.
Rollins
says he's here to rip the roots out of the ground and the clouds out
of the sky and change the world. Jinder Mahal comes out and glares
at him on his way to the ring for the next match.
Jinder
Mahal vs. Jason Jordan
Jordan
is regarded as a top prospect according to JR. The bell rings twice
for no apparent reason. Mahal pounds him down in the corner and hits
a neckbreaker for two. Off to a chinlock followed by a butterfly
suplex for two. Jordan tries a comeback but is quickly kneed down.
Camel Clutch ends this at 2:51.
Mahal
says he's going to remake NXT in his vision. My goodness why does
WWE think we care about this guy?
Leo
Kruger is coming. He comes off like a smarmy heel from Africa. He
says he's the alpha male lion. So he's a white Monty Brown?
Apparently he debuts tonight.
The
first Raw is a Raw moment.
Leo
Kruger vs. Aiden English
Kruger
pounds him down but English hits a quick dropkick. That's the extent
of his offense though as Kruger chokes away in the corner and hits a
snap suplex. Kruger looks like a psycho Al Snow with curlier hair.
Rear naked choke/sleeper gets the pin at 1:25.
Richie
Steamboat says he's not trying to fill his father's shoes, but rather
his own. He looks JUST like his daddy too.
Usos
vs. The Ascension
Regal
and Chris Russo are on commentary now along with JR. You know the
Siva Tao is popular here with a college crowd. The Usos take over to
start and double team Cameron for two. Cameron goes insane and
pounds both Usos down until he brings in O'Brien for the same kind of
stuff. They tag in and out a lot and pound away on Jey with a bunch
of pounds and stomps. Jey hits a headbutt to bring in Jimmy who runs
over Cameron a bit. Samoan Drop puts him down as does the Umaga
Attack in the corner. Jey gets sent to the floor and Jimmy walks
into the Downcast for the pin at 3:40.
Rating:
C+. The match was nothing of
note but I'm more impressed by the entrances. This is something you
don't get in the homogenized world of WWE anymore. The Usos had
their full screaming entrance while the Ascension looks like
something out of a thriller movie. That's not something you get with
the big arenas and Cole riffing on half the people that come out and
ignoring the other half. The match was basically a squash.
Richie
Steamboat vs. Rick Victor
Man
they don't waste any time around here do they? Papa Steamboat is in
the front row. Richie armdrags Victor down a few times and hooks an
armbar. Steamboat chops in the corner and the fans chant WOO, so
apparently we have an educated crowd here. A clothesline gets two
for Richie and it's back to the armbar. Richie hits a crossbody and
some clotheslines followed by elbows in the corner. A running
spinning mat slam (Heath Slater used to use it) called the Slingblade
gets the pin at 4:25.
Rating:
D+. I really wasn't huge on
Richie here. He didn't come off as anything special and his offense
was just a step above basic. I'm also not a fan of that spinning
finisher and I'd have rather seen him use a superkick like he used in
FCW. Either way, this was a pretty disappointing debut, but that's
just his first match and there's no way you can predict a career off
of one match.
Antonio
Cesaro is a dangerous man.
Raw
ReBound is about the end of the show.
Dante
Dash vs. Antonio Cesaro
Dash
is a big muscular black guy. Cesaro takes him to the mat almost
immediately and rubs his face in the mat. A gutwrench suplex puts
Dash down and it's off to a chinlock. A spinebuster puts Dash down
again and the Neutralizer gets the pin at 1:48.
Bray
Wyatt video with him talking about real love.
Derrick
Bateman vs. Johnny Curtis
Curtis
slaps him in the face and runs away almost immediately. Bateman
chases him back inside and dropkicks him down. Curtis takes over and
goes after the leg and we're told Kassius Onoo debuts next week.
Curtis hooks an inverted Indian Deathlock but Bateman chops his way
out of it. There's a spinning toehold by Johnny but Derrick escapes
pretty quickly. He comes back with a falling forward DDT and the
falling bulldog which he calls the DVD for the pin at 3:45.
Rating:
D+. The match was pretty dull
and it wasn't helped by the fact that we saw them fight for the
better part of a year. This was nothing of note and it being so
short made it even less interesting. At the end of the day these two
aren't that interesting as Bateman is kind of an everyman who has
some quirks to him while Curtis is “weird”. Nothing to see here.
Overall
Rating: B-. This wasn't quite
as good as last week's show but it was still a very solid show. The
running idea of debuts is fine as you have to introduce the
characters to the audience as a lot of them are new guys. They're
putting together some very good stuff here as they have a lot of
fresh faces and a GREAT presentation. Also there are no frills to
this show and they flew through six matches and some video packages
in under 45 minutes. That's not bad.
Results
Seth
Rollins b. Jiro – Blackout
Jinder
Mahal b. Jason Jordan – Camel Clutch
Leo
Kruger b. Aiden English – Rear Naked Choke
Richie
Steamboat b. Rick Victor – Slingblade
Antonio
Cesaro b. Dante Dash – Neutralizer
Derrick
Bateman b. Johnny Curtis – DVD
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