On the Marc Reviews: WWE NXT 10.03.12

Commentators: Byron Saxon & William Regal

Championship’s roll call: WWE Champion: CM Punk… World Champion: Sheamus… Intercontinental Champion: The Miz… United States Champion: Antonio Cesaro… Tag Team Champions: Team Hell No… NXT Champion: Seth Rollins… Diva’s Champion: Eve Torres

The video package for Kassius Ohno and Richie Steamboat looks like a million bucks. Steamboat attacks Ohno as he is entering the arena.

Richie Steamboat vs. Drew McIntyre:   Drew has the cast on here and it’s mentioned that he’d be disqualified if he uses it. This was taped before the formation of Encore since neither Jinder Mahal nor Heath Slater is with McIntyre. They lock up and Steamboat slams his hand on the floor; Richie gets a reverse rollup and gets two. Drew retreats to the apron. Steamboat comes back and works the arm until Drew makes the ropes and pops him in the face. He steamrolls Richie with a shoulderblock; McIntyre works him over briefly and then makes the mistake of tossing a Steamboat in to the ropes. Richie gets a leapfrog and speedsters his way into a dropkick. Richie gets some chops in the corner and the mounted ten-punch. Drew shoves him off but charges right into a huge chop. He pounds way in the opposite corner but Drew pushes him off again; Steamboat gets a whip reversed but manages a float-over in the corner. Drew counters that by kicking him in the gut to stick the landing. McIntyre takes over and stomps in the corner; the snap-suplex follows. He locks in a sit-down abs stretch; Steamboat fires back but gets kneed in the ropes. He tumbles onto the apron but comes back with a shoulderblock slingshot sunset flips his way back in but only gets two. Drew takes the advantage back with a fireman’s carry splat and gets a few leaping stomps. Drew goes for another fireman’s carry move but it’s countered. Not sure what it was to be countered into because Steamboat stumbled when he landed. Steamboat fires back with kicks and a superkick. He looks to have the match well in hand but Kassius Ohno shows up to distract him and Steamboat turns right into a punch to the head; the Future-Shock DDT gets the three. 5/10 This was not a very bad match, both guys have reputations of being tremendously boring (Drew more than Richie); the match was more to build the Ohno/Steamboat battle rather than have an actual match. It did benefit McIntyre with a win, something that he desperately needs.

Here is your winner… Drew McIntyre @ about 5:10 via Future-Shock DDT pinfall.

Aiden English vs. Big E Langston:   Fans chant “five count” at Langston referencing the promo from a few weeks ago. English tries to punch away at the bell but Langston no-sells it and kneelifts the crap out of him. Langston clobbers the kid with a press backdrop, running clothesline and the Big Ending for the five count. Post-match he plants poor Aiden with two more Big Endings for poops and giggles; he gets a huge reaction from the crowd too, not sure if he is a heel or babyface. 2.5/10 Total squash for Langston as he is getting the early Ryback treatment in NXT.

Here is your winner… Big E Langston @ about 3:00 via Big Ending pinfall.

Michael McGillicutty comes out and says that he is next in line to face Seth Rollins for the title; he also mentions that it is the first title defense for Seth… and will be his last. He calls Rollins he’s a paper champion. McGillicutty calls Rollins out and he obliges. Seth says he runs his mouth nonstop. McGillicutty is all I’ve never heard that one before. Rollins says that McGillicutty does not respect him. What’s with these ROH guys and respect in the WWE? Michael says that he never respected him and never will. Rollins says that he had to blaze his own trail and wants to have the title match RIGHT NOW. McGillicutty says he’ll do this on his own time and walks off. Apparently, the title match will be next week. 4/10 Good little promo to get the crowd hyped up for the first title match for Rollins. McGillicutty’s matter-of-fact attitude is weird to see on a heel, almost feels like a bit Indy, but that is what this show is like.

Briley Pearce talks to Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel (in an empty arena) about fighting the Ascension. Kidd says that they trust each other and that’s why they are former tag champions (not together though). Gabriel says that, other than in the ring, no one knows much about Ascension. All of a sudden Ascension’s music and strobe lighting comes on; Ascension is watching from a distance.

“Showtime” Percy Watson vs. Kassius Ohno:   Richie Steamboat attacks Ohno during his entrance and beats him up in the entrance ramp. They’re doing a great job selling this rivalry. Ohno sells the attack stumbling into the ring; he tells the ref to ring the bell… and all of a sudden he’s fine and kicks away on Watson. Percy comes back with a dropdown and leapfrog into a one-footed dropkick. He does a little boxing and hits a release stomach breaker drop. Watson hits a wishbone into a legdrop and gets two. Ohno counters a charge with a rake to the face. Kassius take over with a bunch of stomps and chops in the ropes; Percy shops back but Ohno maintains his advantage. He hits a short kneelift but Watson fires back with a Manhattan drop and dropkick… and then another. The Showtime Splash gets two. He tries for Percycution but Ohno grabs the ropes to break. He charges in the corner but meets Ohno’s knee. The roaring elbow to the back of the head kayos Watson for the pinfall. 5/10 Poor Watson is an NXT jobber; I think that he should bring the glasses back, to differentiate himself from the rest of the bald athletic highflyers. Ohno wins again but we go back to the earlier Ohno rather than last week’s Ohno; i.e. stomps and kicks. I hope we see more of the last week Ohno versus this one more often. Also, Percy looks tremendously weak jobbing after the Steamboat attack.

Here is your winner… Kassius Ohno @ about 5:15 via roaring elbow pinfall.

Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel vs. The Ascension:   I still love Ascension’s entrance. I like Kidd/Gabriel coming out to Gabriel’s theme better. Main event time so Jim Ross appears. Kidd and Cameron start off and they trade waistlocks; Gabriel surprise tags and they hit stereo leapfrogs and a double hiplock. They level Kenneth with soccer double kicks. Gabriel flips over a backdrop and kicks away; he tries a hurracanrana but Cameron blocks and tries a powerbomb but Justin wriggles free. He tries an O’Connor roll but Cameron elbows free; he hits a release overhead release suplex. Cameron screams and tags in O’Brian as we head to break. Back from commercial. Conor tries a release German but Gabriel flips and lands on his feet; he rolls to tag Kidd. Tyson kicks the crap out of O’Brian. He hits the dropsault, propelling himself onto the apron, where he meets Cameron with an elbow to the face; pendulum kick connects as does a springboard missile dropkick. O’Brian rolls to the floor and Kidd tries a baseball slide but Conor blocks and mauls Kidd on the floor. Back onto the apron, Kidd eats some clubbering; Ascension traps Tyson in the corner with rapid-fire tag stomping. Cameron applies a reverse chinlock/body scissors wear down hold. O’Brian tags in and keeps Kidd down with clubbers. William Regal notes a conversation he had with fellow Englishman Kenneth Cameron; Cameron admits the Ascension is part of the “Church of the Poisoned Mind”. Cameron keeps on Kidd in the corner, tags, and the former “Rat Boy” kicks him some more there. O’Brian applies a front facelock; Cameron tags but Kidd uses his speed to out quick Ascension and avoids a splash in the corner. Tyson slowly crawls to a tag, Cameron makes the save, but Kidd eventually does tag; Gabriel springboards into the ring with a crossbody. He hits kicks and a diving shoulderblock. Kidd and O’Brian get entangled on the floor as Gabriel heads to the top for the 450 Splash but it MISSES. O’Brian tosses Kidd into the steps on the floor and they clobber Gabriel with the Fall of Man (Total Elimination) to score the pinfall. 6/10 Ascension wins again and they defeat a WWE tag team, much like The Usos in the past few weeks. This was a good exciting main event, quite enjoyable and entertaining; good main event.

Here are your winners… The Ascension @ about 12:15 (broadcast) via Fall of Man pinfall.

OVERALL 5.5/10 Good show as usual not as good as the usual but not crappy either. I like the Steamboat/Ohno rivalry. They built the title match for next week which is good. Big E Langston continues to impress the fans in the arena and get over as a babyface (not sure if he is supposed to be a heel or not) but the five count thing works for him. The tag main event was good as Ascension continues to climb the NXT ranks; I’m guessing we’ll see them appear in the WWE soon, perhaps they can unseat Team Hell No for the titles and make a HUGE impact in the WWE.

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