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NXT - October 17, 2012

NXT
Date: October 17, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, William Regal

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

Things have kind of reset after last week and now we need a new challenger for Rollins and the NXT Title. Other than that we had Punk here last week who really didn't do all that much. The good thing about last week's episode was that the show stood alone but it had some great stuff on it. Hopefully that keeps up tonight. Let's get to it.


We open with a recap of last week's main event with Rollins successfully defending against McGillicutty.

Alex Riley vs. Jinder Mahal

This is before the 3MB phase began for Mahal and is apparently the first time he's been on NXT since he lost in the title tournament final. Feeling out process to start with Mahal working over the arm. Riley does exactly the same as the first minute is pretty even. They mix things up with a headlock and Riley dropkicks him down with one foot to the stomach and one to the chest.

A middle rope shoulder gets two for Alex as Regal is talking about his family singing in the bathroom. You certainly can't say he lets things stay dull. Mahal drives knees into the chest for two and it's off to a chinlock. Out of absolutely nowhere, Riley grabs a rollup and gets the big upset at 3:50.

Rating: C+. I like Riley and for the life of me I don't get why the guy can't get on TV more often. Even when he's jobbing, the guy gets at least a small reaction which is more than you can say for a lot of people. I was really surprised to see him win here, as Mahal was the top heel on NXT just a few weeks ago. More Riley is fine with me.

Post match Mahal beats up Riley and puts him in the camel clutch.

Jake Carter vs. Trent Barretta

This was set up in a backstage segment last week. Regal talks about Vader training Carter (his son) since he was a kid and now it's paying off apparently. Trent takes him to the mat with a headlock to start but Carter shoves him off and pounds away in the corner to take over. If there is ever a guy who you wouldn't associate with his father based on his look and gimmick, Carter would be near the top of such a list. Jake hooks a chinlock but gets suplexed down by Trent.

An enziguri puts Carter down again and the fans are behind Trent. Not that it works that well as Carter takes his head off with a clothesline but the fans were indeed behind him. Carter loads up a belly to back superplex but gets knocked to the mat. A Whisper in the Wind gets two for Trent but he walks into a belly to belly overhead suplex for two. Another suplex is escaped and Trent hits a running boot/knee to the face for the pin at 6:28.

Rating: C+. This was another good match with a guy that I like who isn't on TV enough. Trent is a guy who seems like he's having a great time out there and looks incredibly smooth at the same time. Carter isn't quite clicking for me but he certainly isn't terrible. I think being Vader's son hurts him a bit because you expect someone similar to Vader, but he's got a long way to go to get that close to Vader's level.

Here's Sandow who says George Washington would be ashamed of everyone here. He thinks the fans boo him because they know he's right.

Damien Sandow vs. Brandon Traven

I think I got the jobber's last name right. Damien takes it to the mat to start and they trade some basic holds. Sandow misses a clothesline but runs to the corner to avoid a right hand. Damien takes it back to the mat and works on a headlock before stomping away a bit. Traven misses a dropkick and Sandow snaps, punching Traven down and raking his face with a knee. Off to a chinlock followed by some knees to the chest and then right back to the chinlock by Sandow. Traven gets in some jobber offense but misses a knee drop. The wind up elbow and the Terminus neckbreaker get the pin at 6:07.

Rating: C. This was just a squash and that's all it should have been. Sandow is a guy who has a lot of upside and while his in ring stuff isn't great, it's good enough to get by when you have a solid gimmick like he's got. The more I see of his singles stuff, the less I care for the Rhodes Scholars team, as Sandow is more than entertaining on his own.

Ascension/Kassius Ohno vs. Richie Steamboat/Usos

Main event time. Steamboat charges at the ring to get at Ohno and we take a break during the brawl. We come back with Cameron controlling Steamboat before tagging in to Ohno. Steamboat starts his comeback and Ohno immediately runs away. It's off to O'Brien vs. Jey and O'Brien can't hurt Jey head. I miss racial stereotypes in wrestling. Conor takes him down into a bodyscissors instead to take over.

Jey gets put in a chinlock as we take a break. Back with Conor kicking Jey in the head from the apron and Cameron dropping an elbow for two. Off to Ohno who stomps away in the corner for two. We hit the cravate and then a front facelock and Jey crawls for the corner, only to get dragged back to the wrong part of town. Back to Conor for more beating but Jey grabs a quick kind of Angle Slam move into a rollup for two.

Cameron comes in and gets caught in a backslide for two but Jey still can't make the tag. This is quite a beatdown. JR says most people would have folded their tent by now, which launches Regal into stories of his carnival days. Back to Ohno but Jey punches his way to the corner for the hot tag to Steamboat. Richie destroys Kassius as everything breaks down. The Usos hit stereo dives onto Ascension on the floor but Ohno hits the spinning forearm (called OBE, or One Behind the Ear) for the pin at 10:16 shown of 12:46.

Rating: C-. This one missed for me. I don't know if it's because I really don't like Ohno or if it's something else, but I had problems making myself care about this. Ascension and the Usos continue to be entertaining, but I'm having a really hard time making myself care about Steamboat vs. Ohno. That elbow to the head looked even worse than usual today.

Overall Rating: B. This was another good show although not as good as last week. NXT is 45 minutes of pretty good wrestling with almost no stupid stuff at all. The main event was probably the weakest of all the matches and it certainly wasn't bad. The one thing NXT is very good at is mixing things up from week to week. It keeps things on the show from getting worn out and stale, which is one of WWE's biggest problems anymore.

Results
Alex Riley b. Jinder Mahal – Rollup
Trent Barretta b. Jake Carter – Running knee to the face
Damien Sandow b. Brandon Traven – Terminus
Ascension/Kassius Ohno b. Usos/Richie Steamboat – OBE to Steamboat

Remember to follow me on twitter @kbreviews and check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com

Comments

  1. I think Jake Carter suffers from the same trap Micheal Mgillicuty(sp) suffers in that they dont resemble their famous dads in any way at all, not just physically. At least with Orton, he had his dad's chickensh*t heel side when need be. Honestly, when Nexxus first arrived, I couldn't figure out which one was Perfect's son. Same with Carter the first time I saw NXT. These two may be an example of guys who just need to have their lineage not mentioned at all during their development years, to set themselves as individual personages, so when it was brought up who their father was, it wouldn't be such a hinderance of comparisons.

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  2. McGillicutty would be fine as Joe Hennig. Michael McGillicutty sounds like a character from a bad vaudeville sketch.

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  3. The Michael McGillicutty/ Jake Carter name thing is really one of the dumber things WWE does (and consider how much ground that covers). If you want to let them stand on their own, fine; give them new names. But if you are going to constantly mention their fathers, WHY GIVE THEM FAKE NAMES?! Any WWE fan who knows McGillicutty knows he is Curt Hennig's son. And he doesn't have to be Jake Vader or anything, but most of us know Vader's last name was White. Sooooo stupid.

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  4. I heard someone (I forget who) one if the Superstars broadcasters mention that McGillicutty is his mother's maiden name and that Mike wants to "blaze his own trail." I kind of understand that part since it would be near impossible to overshadow his father. Richie Steamboat has that problem right now as everyone expects him to be like his fisher.

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  5. And that's logical. I just don't think they should then mention in every match that he's Hennig's son. If it was thrown out on wwe.com, then fine, since everyone already knows.

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  6. It's funny; I agree with the lower scores of the matches but I also feel the show, as a whole, is better than the sum if its parts, hence the higher overall score.

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  7. Good point. It will be an interesting comparison. Ted Dibiase and Richie Steamboat vs. Jake Carter and Michael McGillicutty.

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  8. Another point about Orton was that his dad Bob Orton wasn't as memorable as the likes of Curt Hennig or Vader. I mean a lot of fans are aware of who Bob Orton is and was but people remember him as Roddy Piper's henchman rather than for his performances in the ring. I find wrestlers with really famous dads struggle more because the fans will inevitably compare how good they are to their dads. In a way I feel sorry for David Flair as when you have someone as big a star as Ric Flair there's virtually no way David could ever live up to the legacy his dad created simply because there's no way that David could gain the experience Ric did back in the territorial days of wrestling. His daughter Ashley has a better chance simply because she's female and fans won't be expecting her to be as good as her old man simply because women wrestlers aren't perceived by the casual fan to be as good as the men. On the other hand The Rock for example was rarely compared to his dad by the fans simply because Rocky Johnson's main time in wrestling was just before the Rock N Roll era of the then WWF. Also Rock seemingly tried to emulate is grandfather High Chief Peter Maivia when he first debuted to little success, and only when he forged his own character did he become a massive star.

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  9. 'the Superstars broadcasters mention that McGillicutty is his mother's maiden name'


    So looks like Beulah got around more than we thought... What would Dreamer think hey? Am I right guys?


    Seriously am I right?


    Anybody?


    Nope just me then.... back to my corner I go!

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