NXT
Date:
April 24, 2013
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Tony Phillips, William Regal
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
If
my memory is correct tonight we've got the Clash of the Champions,
which means four title matches and I don't think anything else.
We've got Maddox challenging Langston for the NXT Title, Kaitlyn
defending against AJ Lee, Cesaro (no longer champion) defending
against someone and Barrett defending against Bo Dallas. Hopefully
the show isn't horrible like the last time it was mostly main roster
guys. Let's get to it.
Dusty
tells us the basic idea of the show.
Welcome
Home.
US
Title: Antonio Cesaro vs. Adrian Neville
A
crawler tells us that this was taped several weeks ago. The fans of
course chant USA with an Englishman challenging for the title.
Cesaro says hey to the crowd and the fans shout him down. Antonio
demands a standing ovation because he's the best US Champion in
history. This would be before Cesaro was turned into a yodeler who
lost clean to Zack Ryder on Raw. After some big match intros we're
ready to go.
Neville
grabs a quick rollup for two but Cesaro takes him down and messes
with his hair. A rollup gets two for Adrian and it's off to a
chinlock by the champion. That would be the US Champion as Neville
is half of the NXT Tag Champions here. Neville fights up and sends
Cesaro to the floor with a headscissors before a quick rollup gets
two on Cesaro. A monkeyflip attempt is countered into a hot shot
onto the top turnbuckle as we take a break.
Back
with Antonio holding another chinlock and countering a sunset flip.
The crowd was freaking out as he tried to fight it off too. Neville
goes up but dives into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two and Cesaro
is getting frustrated. Back to the chinlock but Neville fights up
and sends Cesaro to the floor. A BIG top rope Asai Moonsault lays
out Cesaro and a springboard missile dropkick gets two for Neville
back inside.
Adrian
hits a standing shooting star (described as “WHOA LOOK AT THAT”
by Phillips) and a quick rana for two each. A moonsault into a
tornado DDT gets two more and Neville loads up the corkscrew shooting
star, only to be crotched down. The European Uppercut and
Neutralizer retain the title for Cesaro at 8:00 shown of 11:00.
Rating:
C+. This was fine. Neville
wasn't going to win the title and even with the mystique of the match
being gone due to the crawler, the power vs. speed dynamic worked
quite well here. Neville's flips worked fine out there and Cesaro
actualy looked like the worse of the two talents in the match. The
chinlocks got annoying after awhile but the stuff after the break was
much better.
Divas
Title: AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn
is defending. The fans chant YES at AJ before we get going. Kaitlyn
runs her down to start but Kaitlyn shoves her into the corner to take
over. Off to a Fujiwara Armbar by the challenger and she even throws
in a Dolph Ziggler handstand. A hammerlock suplex puts Kiatlyn down
and AJ is in full control. Kaitlyn gets in some right hands before
rolling through a top rope cross body for two. A reverse DDT gets
two on AJ but she sends Kaitlyn to the floor for an eight count.
Back in and AJ puts on a sleeper followed by an enziguri for two.
Kaitlyn pops up and spears AJ out of nowhere to retain at 5:06.
Rating:
D. Again, the WWE Divas show
that they have nothing on the NXT girls. I have no idea what the
appeal of Kaitlyn is as her two moves are both terrible and she can't
work a match to save her life. AJ was fine with the Ziggler
impersonations being a nice touch. Anything from Kaitlyn was just
dreadful though.
NXT
Title: Big E. Langston vs. Brad Maddox
Maddox,
the challenger, introduces himself at 295lbs. Langston throws Maddox
around to start and runs him over for good measure. The Big Ending
ends Brad at 1:16.
Post
match Langston hits another Big Ending for a five count. Maddox's
carcass rolls to the floor so Langston throws him back in for another
Big Ending and five count.
We
recap the history between Bo Dallas and Wade Barrett which started
great and then stopped cold with no explanation.
Bo
Dallas talks about Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Randy Savage being
underdogs but winning the Intercontinental Title. Tonight it's about
the Bo Barrage.
Chris
Jericho will be here next week.
Intercontinental
Title: Wade Barrett vs. Bo Dallas
Dallas
gets a mixed reaction but the fans chant for him during Barrett's
intro. After the intros that chant sounds a lot like “No More Bo.”
Ouch. Dallas hits a hard forearm out of the corner to start and
three straight rollups for two each. A dropkick sends Barrett to the
floor and we take a break. Back with Barrett hitting a hard elbow
and what looked like a shoulder block to put Bo down. The fans are
almost entirely behind Barrett here.
A
hard forearm to the head gets two for Barrett so he puts Dallas on
the top rope and kicks him to the floor. Off to a bow and arrow hold
by Wade (bends both arms back and puts a knee in the back) followed
by the pumphandle slam for two. Barrett puts him in the ropes and
hits the big boot to send Dallas back to the floor. This has been
completely one sided since the break. Barrett suplexes him in from
the apron and puts on a reverse chinlock (fans: “TAP! TAP! TAP!”)
before charging into some boot in the corner.
Dallas
drop toeholds him down into the corner and fires off some forearms
for two. Another pumphandle is countered into a rollup for two for
Bo but the tornado bulldog is countered. Winds of Change get two for
the champion but the Bull Hammer misses. Tornado bulldog gets two
but Barrett can't hit Wasteland. Bo tries to dive at Barrett but
jumps into the Bull Hammer for the pin at 8:40 shown of 12:10.
Rating:
C+. The match was ok but man
alive I haven't heard a crowd turn on someone that fast in a long
time. The fans just did not care about Bo Dallas in the slightest,
and that's a major issue for NXT given that the crowd is the same
group of people every month. They're going to have to change
something fast or Bo's matches are going to become rather
embarrassing. As for the match itself, it was nothing of note and it
came off as a learning experience for Dallas.
Overall
Rating: C+. Well it was better
than the Wrestlemania show but that's not saying much. The show was
entertaining enough but the main problem here was you didn't need to
see this show at all. It came and went with nothing of note going on
and that's not what I watch NXT for. The show wasn't horrible or
anything but it was certainly nothing I'll remember in a few hours.
Results
Antonio
Cesaro b. Adrian Neville – Neutralizer
Kaitlyn
b. AJ Lee – Spear
Big
E. Langston b. Brad Maddox – Big Ending
Wade
Barrett b. Bo Dallas – Bull Hammer
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com