NXT
Date:
March 20, 2013
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Tony Dawson, William Regal
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
Last
week's show was about building for the future, so hopefully we get
what the stuff that was being built to this week. The main stories
are the Wyatt Family vs. Bo Dallas and the tag champions and Langston
vs. O'Brian which should be a good match when we get around to it. I
love how they make us wait around here. It's like the old days when
they didn't have PPVs every month to build to and things can flow
more naturally. Let's get to it.
The
opening video recaps the Family vs. Neville and Gray and sets up
Neville vs. Family member Luke Harper tonight.
Justin
Gabriel vs. Leo Kruger
This
was set up by a Gabriel challenge last week. Feeling out process to
start with both guys shoving the other into the corner. Kruger gets
the first control with a headlock before Gabriel grabs one of his
own. Back up and Kruger shoves him down before driving an elbow into
Gabriel's neck. We take a break and come back with Leo still in
control, this time via a hammerlock.
Justin
fights up for a few seconds but is driven right back down by the
hammerlock. He escapes again but they ram heads to put both guys
down. Back up and they slug it out by exchanging forearms until
Gabriel takes over with a series of right hands. A big spinebuster
gets two for Kruger but as he goes for an arm hold of some kind,
Gabriel suplexes him down to get a breather.
Gabriel
goes to the middle rope for a kind of jumping mule kick for two
followed by a HARD kick to the chest. Justin is consistently selling
the arm work from earlier which is a very nice thing to see. A big
spinning kick to the head of a kneeling Kruger gets another two count
as does a sunset flip.
Gabriel
plants him down but Leo rolls away before the 450 can be launched.
Kruger goes old school villain with a thumb to the eye before draping
the bad arm over the top rope. A seated armbar has Gabriel in
trouble but somehow he crawls over to the ropes. Kruger hits a kind
of Stroke onto the arm before putting the armbar back on and that's
good enough for the tap at 9:56 shown of 13:26.
Rating:
B. I really liked this match as
they had a great story going out there. Gabriel sold the arm the
entire way through the match which was really nice to see. Kruger
continues to impress me and having him as a crazy man who was driven
over the edge by his time in the South African militia is a fine
character. Good stuff here.
Audrey
Marie says it's always the calmest before the storm because Sasha
knows Audrey is gunning for her.
We
recap the ending segment from Raw.
William
Regal is in the ring with something to say. He calls out Kassius
Ohno who comes out in a shirt which says fighting spirit. Regal says
whatever their issue is, it isn't worth it because Ohno doesn't want
to end up like Regal is. William offers an apology and a handshake
but Ohno won't shake it. Ohno talks about growing up idolizing Regal
and traveling with CM Punk to attend a camp Regal held to learn from
him. During Kassius' time in Europe, Regal was a mentor to him and
made sure the right people saw Ohno's footage which was his foot in
the door to the WWE.
Now
though, Regal is on the downside of his career and it's not a career
that Kassius wants. Ohno wants to know what Regal has accomplished
in this industry because he used to be an amazing villain, but now he
tries to laugh with the people, but the people are really laughing at
him. All anyone is going to remember is Regal bending down to kiss
Vince, and that's enough for Regal to shove Ohno down.
We
look at Punk and Undertaker's segment from Raw.
Bayley
vs. Paige
Bayley
is some new chick here apparently. Paige easily throws her down to
start and gets a rollup for two. Off to an armbar by Bayley for a
minute or so before Paige fights up and screams a lot. Paige whips
her into the corner and trips her down so a kneeling Texas Cloverleaf
can make Bayley submit at 2:23.
Post
match Summer Rae runs out to the ring but Paige stares at her to send
Summer backpedaling.
Adrian
Neville vs. Luke Harper
We
finally learn something new about the Family: Harper is from
Rochester, New York. Harper lands a STIFF right hand to take over
early but Neville charges right at him, only to be dropped with a hot
shot for two. We take an early break and come back with Harper
headbutting Neville down and crawling on the mat to hook a chinlock.
A kick to the head and an elbow drop get two for Luke and it's off to
an over the shoulder backbreaker.
Harper
clotheslines Adrian's head off and gets five straight two counts.
Luke looks to Wyatt for inspiration, allowing Neville to fire off
some forearms to get himself a breather. A running forearm staggers
Harper and a kick to the head from the apron staggers him a bit more.
There's a missile dropkick for two but Neville has to dive on Erick
Rowan who was approaching the ring. Harper heads outside as well and
there's a top rope Asai Moonsault to take him down as well. Back in
and a spinning DDT puts Luke down but Wyatt himself distracts
Neville, allowing Harper to hit a discus lariat for the pin at 7:33
shown of 11:03.
Rating:
C+. I was digging this match
with the David vs. Goliath formula working the entire way through.
The ending is good too as Harper winning gives the Family a reason to
get another shot at the titles but Neville only lost because he was
at a 3-1 disadvantage. Good match here and a solid main event.
Post
match Oliver Gray comes out to save his partner which makes you
wonder where he was during the match. Bo Dallas comes out to make it
3-3 and the Wyatt Family is cleared out to end the show.
Overall
Rating: B+. NXT just works.
The matches are good, the promos are good, the stories are
interesting, the show never drags, the commentators actually talk
about what is going on in the NXT world and I want to see what
happens next. What more can you possibly ask for than that? The
main event sets up a nice six man tag and we have the title match to
look forward to also. Another good show this week.
Results
Leo
Kruger b. Justin Gabriel – Seated Armbar
Paige
b. Bayley – Kneeling Texas Cloverleaf
Luke
Harper b. Adrian Neville – Discus Lariat
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