NXT 20/3/13 review
We open with WWE's signature (obviously) which leads into a recap of two weeks ago where the Wyatt Family jumped the British guy who can't do a spinning backflip, forcing Adrian Neville to have a truly terrible handicap match with a pair of jobbers. He's going to be wrestling Luke Harper tonight.
Welcome Home gives me a chance to talk about the opening 'credits' especially in comparison to the former developmental territory which it essentialy replaced. There actually are some similarities, they both consist almost entirely of shots of the talent doing what they do to a song that fits into the 'rock' genre with the final shot being of the champion. However, while FCW's was mostly action shots taken from TV tapings, most of NXT's were clearly filmed on a set of some description. The production of the NXT opening is (as you may expect) higher quality, actually adding some effects like a flying logo to these credits. However, I actually prefer the low budget charm of the FCW opening. "Monster Rock" (the generic production piece used for the entrance) is faster paced, and the shorter clips combine to make the opening more excited. I certainly feel more pumped for the show after watching FCW's opening than I do for NXT's. So onto our first match.
Justin Gabriel comes down first with a noticeably high pitched pop. He's also being less energetic in what he does, selling the seriousness of his upcoming match. Leo Kruger's theme is just awesome, and fits his gimmick to the ground. While Leo walks to the ring Regal mentions them knowing eachother very well (despite Gabriel saying just last week that they've never met, but he'd heard of Kruger from news reports during his time in the South African militia) and being trained by "the great" Danie Brits (they weren't, or at least he wasn't their primary trainer)
Match 1: Justin Gabriel vs Leo Kruger
We start with a lockup, quickly broken. Kick to the midsection by Kruger allows him to lock in a side headlock to take control. Gabriel tries to push him off using the ropes, but Kruger holds on to Gabriel's hair to stop himself going far and quickly reapplies. That's a really smart move, and probably painful for Gabriel, because it does look like Kruger's legit pulling on the hair. Gabriel tries again to the same result. Luckily, Kruger himself breaks the hold hits him (still maintaining his grip on the hair) before whipping him into the ropes.
Telegraphed back body drop meets a kick and a headlock by Gabriel. Takedown, but Kruger quickly stands. Push off using the ropes but Gabriel holds onto the hair, which is a smart thing to do despite being heel move, since it shows Gabriel isn't just going to let Leo get away with cheating as well as how seriously he's taking the match. I love these two at times like that. Kruger tries again, once more getting the same result. Takedown by Gabriel who as noted by commentary is keeping the match slower than he usually does. Kruger stands, backing Gabriel into a corner. They break, Kruger tries to cheapshot Gabriel, who blocks and elbows him in the face before Biel tossing Kruger twise by the hair.
Kruger back to his feet. Gabriel goes for another, but gets decked by a punch to the throat. Kruger follows up by dropping an elbow to the back of Gabriel's neck/head before stomping on Gabriel's neck and applying an arm hold to take us to the break. We return to a shot of the back of Regal and Dawson's heads (which Regal lampshades). In the ring, not much has changed. Kruger's got Gabriel on the mat and is working his arm over. This continues, with Kruger and Gabriel constantly moving, Gabriel trying to get to the ropes and/or escape, Kruger reacting or positioning himself to drop a knee over the arm.
Gabriel feeds of the crowd to get to his feet, but takes a knee to the upper chest for his troubles and gets whipped across the ring. Collision in the middle of the ring takes both down, selling their heads. After the ref starts counting both men exchange punches to the head while kneeling. They rise and continue to trade stiff strikes. Gabriel seems to get the best of it until Kruger delivers a short arm spinebuster for the first nearfall of the match. Kruger tries for an submission, but Gabriel counters and retreats to the corner. Kruger charges in, but a dropkick to the leg drops him head first into the second turnbuckle. Stinger splash avoided by Kruger but Gabriel lands on the second rope and jumps off with a back kick which lands on Kruger for another nearfall. Three stiff kicks to a kneeling Kruger's chest followed by a spinning kick to the head gets two. Blue Thunderbomb gets another nearfall. Kruger tries to escape the ring, but Gabriel grabs a leg and stops him. STO gives Gabriel the chance to go up top for the 450, but Kruger rolls away to the ring apron.
Gabriel leans over the top rope, pulling Kruger to his feet. Thumb to the eye by Kruger allows him to drop the arm over the rop rope. Lariat to the back of the head sets up the mounted wristlock, but Gabriel manages to get to the rope. Hold's broken on two. Hammerlock shoulderbreaker by Kruger, which just looks cool. Kruger reapplies the hold and Gabriel taps.
Winner: Leo Kruger via mounted hammer lock. 11:00 shown
Rating: B+ This was a fucking good match. These two know eachother damn well. They've got damn good chemistry and their contrasting styles backed up by solid psychology made this a winner with me.
Post-match Kruger shouts in Afrikaans to Gabriel.
Backstage interview time with Audrey Marie and a blonde I don't recognise from the roster. Audrey's been sending Sasha Banks love letters and then taking her from behind (and the Mickie James comparasons continue). It's always calmest before the storm, and now Sasha knows Audrey's coming and can't do anything about it. This was a fairly lame promo but being able to make lesbian insinuations about Audrey and Banks this is the most I've enjoyed anything Audrey's ever done.
More hype for Neville vs Harper, then the Raw Recap (HHH/Heyman segment). Can't say I'm overwhelmed by either.
Regal's in the ring. Dawson points out the obvious to say that he's left commentary. He talks about how he owes Ohno an apology for last week, he was unprofessional. Ohno has a terrible theme, goes with well with his look, promo skills and ring work when you think about it. Regal tells Ohno not to work like him (he couldn't if he wanted to). Ohno refuses to shake his hand. Ohno's talking, I wish he wasn't. He admired Regal, and Regal did quite a bit for him and wants him to succeed. Ohno doesn't want Regal's advise or career (in a few years he'll be wishing he had it). Ohno continues talking, calling Regal a joke. Regal decks Ohno, legit busting an eardrum. THANK YOU REGAL! Ohno sucks. Next segment.
More Raw Recaps. This time it's the Punk/'Taker stuff.
We come back to a new diva (Bayley) in the ring to go against... Paige, who is still over.
Match 2: Bayley vs Paige
Lockup, armdrag by Paige. Lockup again, wristlock by Bailey. Paige rolls through andarmdrags her way out. Rollup by Paige, kicked out. Bayley's whipped across the ring. Telegraphed back body drop means Paige gets thrown onto her back by her hair. Pin gets one. Armbar by Bailey, transitioned to a double arm hold, with a neck crank which is fairly cool. Bailey dransitons to a cradle which gets two. Back to their feet, Paige gets a back kick to the midsection to take over. Biel toss to Bayley sets up some boots in the corner. Bayley's whipped into the corner. Blocked big boot allows Paige to set up a cool cloverleaf variation for the tapout.
Winner: Paige via cloverleaf 2:20
Rating: N/A, it's a squash. Both girls put on a pretty good show though.
Post match Summer Rae makes an appearance but backs off before getting into the ring
Neville and Harper are next. Oh goodie [rolleyes], but first we've got a 'Mania promo.
Neville's out first. Harper comes with the family (obviously).
Match 3: Adrian Neville vs Luke Harper w/ Wyatt Family
The Brit starts us out fast, hitting a dropkick and a half dozen punches to the big man within the first thirty seconds. None of them do anything and he's quickly taken off his feet by the big man. He quickly gets back to his feet. Side suplex is flipped through and a dropkick to the knee enables him to kick Harper some more. Harper quickly gets back to his feet and is forced into the corner by relentless elbows from Neville. Monkey flip is blocked and countered into a hotshot. Back suplex slam gets two. we take a break.
We come back to Adrian Neville getting back to his feet, only to get knocked down again ancd then bodyslammed. He's pulled back to his feet and headbutted while he's leant over backwards, allowing Harper to taunt him, before applying a chin lock. Adrian troes to get up, but goes straight back down. This is beginning to sound more like Tubthumbing than a wrestling match. Neville forced into the corner but meets an elbow and then headbutts Neville's boot. Neville kicks the leg, but a couple of strikes later he's on the canvas again. Cover gets two. Two elbow drops get Harper no closer. Argentine backbreaker kills some time but achieves nothing. Big boot by Harper gets multiple nearfalls.
Neville to the ring apron, selling fatigue and exhaustion. Harper doesn't do anything, giving him enough time to shoulderbarge the bigger man through the ropes, and fights back with elbows. He's sent to the other apron, high kick to the head. Regal compares Neville to Dynamite Kid. I didn't realise the man that inspired Benout was awful, Regal. Springboard missile dropkick gets a near fall. Neville's whipped across the ring. Stupid plancha onto Rowan. Harper charges in, top rope's pulled down to send him to the outside for an Asai moonsault from the top rope. Back into the ring, Harper walks into a pair of boots in the corner, which is followed up with a tilt-a-whirl DDT. Neville's not going for a pin, instead going to the outside. so he can go for his finisher. Wyatt distracts the ref, Rowan gets kicked in the head and Harper yanks Neville off the top rope. Harper hits a discus lariat which gets three.
Winner: Luke Harper via discus lariat. 7:30 shown
Rating: D. This match was not fun to watch. Both men are new to WWE (though they've both got several years of experience on the indies) and therefore its style. Harper's a fairly dull big man who hits fairly dull big man things. Neville's a high flier who's got little to no clue about logical transitions to his spots, leading to things like his plancha looking overcomplicated and contrived. There's only so many times that someone can walk into the corner and meet a boot/elbow each time that without it looking stupid. Both men flat out suck right now and the match barely gets a passing grade because of it.
Post match the Wyatt family come in to beat up Neville some more but get driven off by the arrival of Bo Dallas and Oliver Grey.
Show rating: C+. I liked the show. The opening match in particular I loved. However, much of the rest of the show felt like a drag. Regal cut a solid promo which was brought down by Ohno. Paige squashed a debuting wrestler, and furthered her angle with Summer, which didn't really excite me very much. I did get a smile out of Audrey's lesbian undertones, but when that's the highlight other than the opening match, your show has problems. The main event was dreck between a big man who hasn't learned to carry a match and a small man who hasn't been taught how to work. It sucked, but I fully expected it to.
I'd also like to compare the show to FCW again. The two are as you'd expect similar. They feature the same wrestlers being booked by the same people, after all. However, there was less wasted time in FCW, and it showed. On FCW you wouldn't see two Raw recaps and a Wrestlemania promo. That time would instead be spent on backstage promos and possibly another match, though not a long one.
We open with WWE's signature (obviously) which leads into a recap of two weeks ago where the Wyatt Family jumped the British guy who can't do a spinning backflip, forcing Adrian Neville to have a truly terrible handicap match with a pair of jobbers. He's going to be wrestling Luke Harper tonight.
Welcome Home gives me a chance to talk about the opening 'credits' especially in comparison to the former developmental territory which it essentialy replaced. There actually are some similarities, they both consist almost entirely of shots of the talent doing what they do to a song that fits into the 'rock' genre with the final shot being of the champion. However, while FCW's was mostly action shots taken from TV tapings, most of NXT's were clearly filmed on a set of some description. The production of the NXT opening is (as you may expect) higher quality, actually adding some effects like a flying logo to these credits. However, I actually prefer the low budget charm of the FCW opening. "Monster Rock" (the generic production piece used for the entrance) is faster paced, and the shorter clips combine to make the opening more excited. I certainly feel more pumped for the show after watching FCW's opening than I do for NXT's. So onto our first match.
Justin Gabriel comes down first with a noticeably high pitched pop. He's also being less energetic in what he does, selling the seriousness of his upcoming match. Leo Kruger's theme is just awesome, and fits his gimmick to the ground. While Leo walks to the ring Regal mentions them knowing eachother very well (despite Gabriel saying just last week that they've never met, but he'd heard of Kruger from news reports during his time in the South African militia) and being trained by "the great" Danie Brits (they weren't, or at least he wasn't their primary trainer)
Match 1: Justin Gabriel vs Leo Kruger
We start with a lockup, quickly broken. Kick to the midsection by Kruger allows him to lock in a side headlock to take control. Gabriel tries to push him off using the ropes, but Kruger holds on to Gabriel's hair to stop himself going far and quickly reapplies. That's a really smart move, and probably painful for Gabriel, because it does look like Kruger's legit pulling on the hair. Gabriel tries again to the same result. Luckily, Kruger himself breaks the hold hits him (still maintaining his grip on the hair) before whipping him into the ropes.
Telegraphed back body drop meets a kick and a headlock by Gabriel. Takedown, but Kruger quickly stands. Push off using the ropes but Gabriel holds onto the hair, which is a smart thing to do despite being heel move, since it shows Gabriel isn't just going to let Leo get away with cheating as well as how seriously he's taking the match. I love these two at times like that. Kruger tries again, once more getting the same result. Takedown by Gabriel who as noted by commentary is keeping the match slower than he usually does. Kruger stands, backing Gabriel into a corner. They break, Kruger tries to cheapshot Gabriel, who blocks and elbows him in the face before Biel tossing Kruger twise by the hair.
Kruger back to his feet. Gabriel goes for another, but gets decked by a punch to the throat. Kruger follows up by dropping an elbow to the back of Gabriel's neck/head before stomping on Gabriel's neck and applying an arm hold to take us to the break. We return to a shot of the back of Regal and Dawson's heads (which Regal lampshades). In the ring, not much has changed. Kruger's got Gabriel on the mat and is working his arm over. This continues, with Kruger and Gabriel constantly moving, Gabriel trying to get to the ropes and/or escape, Kruger reacting or positioning himself to drop a knee over the arm.
Gabriel feeds of the crowd to get to his feet, but takes a knee to the upper chest for his troubles and gets whipped across the ring. Collision in the middle of the ring takes both down, selling their heads. After the ref starts counting both men exchange punches to the head while kneeling. They rise and continue to trade stiff strikes. Gabriel seems to get the best of it until Kruger delivers a short arm spinebuster for the first nearfall of the match. Kruger tries for an submission, but Gabriel counters and retreats to the corner. Kruger charges in, but a dropkick to the leg drops him head first into the second turnbuckle. Stinger splash avoided by Kruger but Gabriel lands on the second rope and jumps off with a back kick which lands on Kruger for another nearfall. Three stiff kicks to a kneeling Kruger's chest followed by a spinning kick to the head gets two. Blue Thunderbomb gets another nearfall. Kruger tries to escape the ring, but Gabriel grabs a leg and stops him. STO gives Gabriel the chance to go up top for the 450, but Kruger rolls away to the ring apron.
Gabriel leans over the top rope, pulling Kruger to his feet. Thumb to the eye by Kruger allows him to drop the arm over the rop rope. Lariat to the back of the head sets up the mounted wristlock, but Gabriel manages to get to the rope. Hold's broken on two. Hammerlock shoulderbreaker by Kruger, which just looks cool. Kruger reapplies the hold and Gabriel taps.
Winner: Leo Kruger via mounted hammer lock. 11:00 shown
Rating: B+ This was a fucking good match. These two know eachother damn well. They've got damn good chemistry and their contrasting styles backed up by solid psychology made this a winner with me.
Post-match Kruger shouts in Afrikaans to Gabriel.
Backstage interview time with Audrey Marie and a blonde I don't recognise from the roster. Audrey's been sending Sasha Banks love letters and then taking her from behind (and the Mickie James comparasons continue). It's always calmest before the storm, and now Sasha knows Audrey's coming and can't do anything about it. This was a fairly lame promo but being able to make lesbian insinuations about Audrey and Banks this is the most I've enjoyed anything Audrey's ever done.
More hype for Neville vs Harper, then the Raw Recap (HHH/Heyman segment). Can't say I'm overwhelmed by either.
Regal's in the ring. Dawson points out the obvious to say that he's left commentary. He talks about how he owes Ohno an apology for last week, he was unprofessional. Ohno has a terrible theme, goes with well with his look, promo skills and ring work when you think about it. Regal tells Ohno not to work like him (he couldn't if he wanted to). Ohno refuses to shake his hand. Ohno's talking, I wish he wasn't. He admired Regal, and Regal did quite a bit for him and wants him to succeed. Ohno doesn't want Regal's advise or career (in a few years he'll be wishing he had it). Ohno continues talking, calling Regal a joke. Regal decks Ohno, legit busting an eardrum. THANK YOU REGAL! Ohno sucks. Next segment.
More Raw Recaps. This time it's the Punk/'Taker stuff.
We come back to a new diva (Bayley) in the ring to go against... Paige, who is still over.
Match 2: Bayley vs Paige
Lockup, armdrag by Paige. Lockup again, wristlock by Bailey. Paige rolls through andarmdrags her way out. Rollup by Paige, kicked out. Bayley's whipped across the ring. Telegraphed back body drop means Paige gets thrown onto her back by her hair. Pin gets one. Armbar by Bailey, transitioned to a double arm hold, with a neck crank which is fairly cool. Bailey dransitons to a cradle which gets two. Back to their feet, Paige gets a back kick to the midsection to take over. Biel toss to Bayley sets up some boots in the corner. Bayley's whipped into the corner. Blocked big boot allows Paige to set up a cool cloverleaf variation for the tapout.
Winner: Paige via cloverleaf 2:20
Rating: N/A, it's a squash. Both girls put on a pretty good show though.
Post match Summer Rae makes an appearance but backs off before getting into the ring
Neville and Harper are next. Oh goodie [rolleyes], but first we've got a 'Mania promo.
Neville's out first. Harper comes with the family (obviously).
Match 3: Adrian Neville vs Luke Harper w/ Wyatt Family
The Brit starts us out fast, hitting a dropkick and a half dozen punches to the big man within the first thirty seconds. None of them do anything and he's quickly taken off his feet by the big man. He quickly gets back to his feet. Side suplex is flipped through and a dropkick to the knee enables him to kick Harper some more. Harper quickly gets back to his feet and is forced into the corner by relentless elbows from Neville. Monkey flip is blocked and countered into a hotshot. Back suplex slam gets two. we take a break.
We come back to Adrian Neville getting back to his feet, only to get knocked down again ancd then bodyslammed. He's pulled back to his feet and headbutted while he's leant over backwards, allowing Harper to taunt him, before applying a chin lock. Adrian troes to get up, but goes straight back down. This is beginning to sound more like Tubthumbing than a wrestling match. Neville forced into the corner but meets an elbow and then headbutts Neville's boot. Neville kicks the leg, but a couple of strikes later he's on the canvas again. Cover gets two. Two elbow drops get Harper no closer. Argentine backbreaker kills some time but achieves nothing. Big boot by Harper gets multiple nearfalls.
Neville to the ring apron, selling fatigue and exhaustion. Harper doesn't do anything, giving him enough time to shoulderbarge the bigger man through the ropes, and fights back with elbows. He's sent to the other apron, high kick to the head. Regal compares Neville to Dynamite Kid. I didn't realise the man that inspired Benout was awful, Regal. Springboard missile dropkick gets a near fall. Neville's whipped across the ring. Stupid plancha onto Rowan. Harper charges in, top rope's pulled down to send him to the outside for an Asai moonsault from the top rope. Back into the ring, Harper walks into a pair of boots in the corner, which is followed up with a tilt-a-whirl DDT. Neville's not going for a pin, instead going to the outside. so he can go for his finisher. Wyatt distracts the ref, Rowan gets kicked in the head and Harper yanks Neville off the top rope. Harper hits a discus lariat which gets three.
Winner: Luke Harper via discus lariat. 7:30 shown
Rating: D. This match was not fun to watch. Both men are new to WWE (though they've both got several years of experience on the indies) and therefore its style. Harper's a fairly dull big man who hits fairly dull big man things. Neville's a high flier who's got little to no clue about logical transitions to his spots, leading to things like his plancha looking overcomplicated and contrived. There's only so many times that someone can walk into the corner and meet a boot/elbow each time that without it looking stupid. Both men flat out suck right now and the match barely gets a passing grade because of it.
Post match the Wyatt family come in to beat up Neville some more but get driven off by the arrival of Bo Dallas and Oliver Grey.
Show rating: C+. I liked the show. The opening match in particular I loved. However, much of the rest of the show felt like a drag. Regal cut a solid promo which was brought down by Ohno. Paige squashed a debuting wrestler, and furthered her angle with Summer, which didn't really excite me very much. I did get a smile out of Audrey's lesbian undertones, but when that's the highlight other than the opening match, your show has problems. The main event was dreck between a big man who hasn't learned to carry a match and a small man who hasn't been taught how to work. It sucked, but I fully expected it to.
I'd also like to compare the show to FCW again. The two are as you'd expect similar. They feature the same wrestlers being booked by the same people, after all. However, there was less wasted time in FCW, and it showed. On FCW you wouldn't see two Raw recaps and a Wrestlemania promo. That time would instead be spent on backstage promos and possibly another match, though not a long one.