411’s WWE NXT Report 12.19.12

From Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida

Commentators: Tony Dawson & William Regal

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

The Usos vs. Primo & Epico (w/Rosa Mendes):   This should be good; lots of pro wrestling family history in this one. Primo and Jimmy opens with a side headlock. Primo escapes so Jimmy armdrags him; an armbar follows but Primo nips up to free himself. Jimmy wrestle on the mat a bit and trade armbars and side headlocks. Primo frees himself and Rosa shakes her ass for him. Jimmy gets his own armdrag and tags in his brother; they hit the tandem elbow drop for two. Primo manages to get the advantage on Jey and tags Epico in. He punches away and snapmares him into another chinlock. Jey frees himself and hits a reverse chop; a head-butt follows. Jimmy reenters off the top with a sledge. He slams Epico and the Usos think Headshrinker Splash but Epico slips to the floor and meets up with his cousin. Jey slides out after them which allows Jimmy to clobber both Colóns with a no-hands plancha. Back from break, somehow Epico has a chinlock applied. Jey tries to power up but gets caught in the rolling back suplexes. Primo gets a tag and Epico whips Primo into a dropkick for two. He hits a suplex for two more. He backs Jey into the corner and tries a running dropkick but misses completely. Jimmy finally gets a tag but Epico had the referee distracted and we get a false tag spot! Haven’t seen one of those in a while; the Colóns stomp away as the referee puts Jimmy out of the ring. Jey manages a backdrop and now the hot tag is made. He runs over Primo and hits a Bubba Bomb and Samoan Avalanche. The Samoan drop scores which draws Epico in to break up the pinfall. Jey tosses him onto the apron and superkicks him off. Primo misses a Stinger Splash and Jimmy superkicks him. The Headshrinker Splash finishes off Primo. Post-match, the lights go out, flicker blue with lightening, and the Ascension appears on the screen to tell the Usos that they will rise. 5.5/10 Fine tag match as the Usos have bumped up higher than Epico/Primo on the tag scale, a few months ago, the Colóns win that match easy. Not sure if that was Kenneth Cameron in the Ascension promo or of the WWE has replaced him, it was dark and hard to recognize, and I don’t know when this was taped, since Cameron was released late November.

Here are your winners… The Usos via Headshrinker Splash pinfall.

Big E Langston vs. Camacho & Aiden English two-on-one handicap match:   Langston gets the Ryback treatment; this is an heel odd paring, Camacho choosing a jobber to be his partner. Langston, a babyface on NXT, gets the crowd to chant five. Aiden starts with Big E and promptly gets kneed in the face a few times. He steamrolls him with a running bear splash. English is down and Langston DRAGS him to the corner and tells Camacho to tag in. Camacho refuses to tag so Langston flattens English with the Big Ending for the pinfall. Post-match the fans want the five count so Langston obliges with another big ending and five. There is a fan with a huge “E” in the crowd, in support of Langston. The crowd is bloodthirsty tonight, and wants another five count, so poor Aiden gets another Big Ending. 3.5/10 This was just to keep the Camacho/Big E feud going. Langston is MAJOR over here and it surprises me that they brought him up into the WWE so quickly (and as a heel) since this monster babyface position is already filled by Ryback. I also think the five count thing can get over in the WWE too. Hell… “feed me more” did!

Here is your winner… Big E Langston via Big Ending pinfall.

Percy Watson vs. Kassius Ohno:   So we’ve dropped the “Showtime” from Percy’s name, so he’s a just an NXT jobber now, which is surprising considering he’s so athletic. They lock up and Ohno pounds in the corner with bodyblows; they hit the ropes and Watson gets a unique flipping hiptoss for two. Watson pounds away but meets a savate kick; Ohno locks in a cravat-like move but Percy counters and hits a release Strongest Slam for two. He looks for a delayed vertical suplex but Ohno knees him in the face, mid move, and takes over with a running forearm splash in the corner. Kassius utilized his most effective weapon: his strikes. Then a Dragon Sleeper. Watson counters, surprising William Regal, and then backs Ohno into the corner; he tries to fight back but Kassius sneaks in a forearm and chokes in the ropes. He hits a running knee strike in the corner but Watson fires back. They exchange blows and chops and surprisingly Percy wins that endeavor. He hits a dropkick and begins a comeback with clotheslines and a spinebuster. The Showtime Splash nets two for Watson. He hoists Ohno up for the Percycution but Kassius grabs the ropes to counter. Ohno sets him up for a neckbreaker but decides to nail the OBE for three. Post-match, Ohno stares Regal down and heads over to the announce boot to put the badmouth on William. 2/10 Squash for Ohno; nothing too special just the usual for him. Watson looks like a talent and is surprising that he’s not pushed more. He can talk too from what I remember on NXT Season 2. Although, when he was “Showtime” and wore the multicolor ring gear and glasses, he had a different look; now he just looks like the generic CAW you get before you begin altering in in WWE ’13.

Here is your winner… Kassius Ohno via OBE pinfall.

Jim Ross is in the ring to interview NXT Champ Seth Rollins (still pre-Shield). JR asks about being the hunted; Rollins enjoy having the “bull’s-eye on the back.” He’s ready for the next challenge and he’s not hard to find. Corey Graves bum rushes the ring and submarines Rollins’ leg; he slaps on the Thirteenth Step until referee pry him off and help Rollins to the back. Graves stops Ross and hijacks the interview. Graves wants to be interviewed by JR. He describes the tattoos on his body telling a story; he just told Seth a story, that story is he wants the NXT title. He also adds that he feeds off anarchy. Cory talks about a stairwell to the NXT title and his runs through Hell. “See you in Hell, Rollins.” 7/10 Short but I liked it; they are building another NXT title feud between Rollins and Graves. I like Graves, initially I though he was kinda generic when he was teaming with Nick Carter; but here, as a singles submission wrestler (I usually enjoy submission wrestlers) he works for me. I like the anarchist gimmick as well, it looks like it will work, mainly because it seems to be his actual persona, which wrestling fans have a sixth-sense for: legitimacy, fake characters are transparent (example: Rocky Maivia versus The Rock).

Bo Dallas vs. Big Show:   I don’t see this ending well for Dallas. We get Jim Ross and William Regal for commentary here. Dallas tries to attack but Show catches him and head-butts him; a huge chop in the ropes follows. Bo keeps trying to fight but Show keeps him down with a shoulderblock. The big guy smiles as he tosses Dallas into the buckles face-first. Bo keeps getting up and tries to punch back but Show curs him off again and chops him in the ropes; a huge series head-butts puts Dallas on his ass. More chopping follows; Show casually lifts Dallas up but Bo slips over the top and slaps on a sleeper. Show struggles as Regal blatantly roots on Dallas; Show counters falling back onto Dallas with a sideslam move. Show sells the impact of the sleeper slowly struggling to his feet and missing an elbow drop. Bo keeps fighting back as has Show on his knees. He hits a couple of dropkicks but Show is able to erect himself. Dallas hits the ropes but runs right into a goozle; he counters the chokeslam and tries for a Sliced Bread #2 but Show blocks and tosses Dallas onto his back. The WMD connects and Bo is pinned. 3.5/10 Not a complete whitewash. Actually they made Dallas look competent and did not go quietly, that’s the story they’re trying to tell here: we knew that Bo was not going to win but his tenacity was what we were led to believe to root for.

Here is your winner… Big Show via WMD pinfall.

OVERALL 4/10 Not one of the better in-ring show but still quite acceptable. We got a rare appearance from the World champion Big Show and he got a win for the fans in attendance. It’s still weird seeing Rollins as the babyface when he’s such a ruthless heel currently in the WWE (Big E as well). It’ll be better (and interesting) when the NXT catches up.

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