411’s WWE NXT Report 01.30.13

From Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida

Commentators: Tony Dawson & William Regal

Championship’s roll call: WWE Champion: The Rock… World Champion: Alberto Del Rio… Intercontinental Champion: Wade Barrett… United States Champion: Antonio Cesaro… Tag Team Champions: Team Hell No… NXT Champion: Big E Langston… NXT Tag Team Champions: Vacant… Diva’s Champion: Kaitlyn

Alex Riley & Derek Bateman vs. Kassius Ohno & Leo Kruger NXT Tag Team Championship Tournament, first round:   Bateman and Kruger kick this off and smiling occurs. They lock up and Bateman shoves Kruger to his corner and smiles back; Kruger works a top wristlock but Bateman comes back with an armdrag and wring the arm. Riley tags in and Kruger runs away. Ohno gets a LEGAL TAG and now has an armband with “KO” printed on it. Kassius wrings the arm but Riley powers out and nails an armdrag; he then drops an elbow onto the shoulder. He armlock lifts the wrist and drives a knee in, twice; Riley hits a dropkick and tags in Bateman who hits a clothesline. Bateman chops him and wrings the arm some more. Ohno reverses a cross-corner whip and backdrops Kassius to the floor; Kruger charges and winds up in the same place. Back from break, Bateman is controlling with an armbar. Kruger backs him into the corner and pounds the shit out of him there; Bateman reverses and clubbers away, literally. Bateman tries a cross-corner whip but misses a running knee in the corner; this is the same knee that kept Bateman out of action for four months. Kassius tags in and zeros right in on the leg; he drops a leg and applies a seated leglock. Ohno tags in Kruger and he immediately drops elbows onto the leg; he twists him around and drops him on the knee. Ohno tags in and blocks the tag to Riley. He applies an inverted grapevine with a heel hook. Bateman chops his way back but Ohno keeps the advantage and stomps away; Kruger tags in again and he applies a knee bar crab. He then scissors the knee in between his legs and drops on it; the legwork keeps up with a shinbreaker. Ohno tags in and works the leg some more with fallback whiplash moves. The commentators use words like masterful technicians with regards to the legwork. Bateman sneaks in an inside cradle and lunges for Riley… and makes the tag. Riley runs in with clotheslines and a spinebuster; he nails the A-Bomb in the corner. Kruger interrupts the count and gets wiped out by Bateman. Derek heads to the floor to go after Kruger but Leo clips his leg on the apron and Bateman takes a tumble. Riley gets distracted and nearly falls prey to a schoolboy from Ohno. Riley goes for You’re Dismissed but Ohno fires him off; Kruger tries to reenter but Riley knocks him back. Kassius takes the advantage of the briefly distracted Riley to hit big boot to the face; he locks in a cravat to tap Riley. Post-match, Corey Graves shows up to get a little payback for Riley insulting him and snags him in the Thirteenth Step. It takes two referees to pull him off of Riley.   6/10 Interesting finish there as they got Ohno the submission victory; I actually like the team of Ohno and Kruger and I think they are going to take the entire tournament. The legwork of the match was a good psychology and the tag formula was in full effect here. The continuum of Graves and Riley is good too as NXT likes to build many feuds.

Here are your winners… Kassius Ohno & Leo Kruger via cravat submission

Mason Ryan vs. Sakamoto:   Wow a Mason Ryan sighting! Ryan tosses Sakamoto as William Regal gives us a Welsh history lesson of their toughness. Sakamoto kicks back but gets caught trying a crossbody off the second turnbuckle and gets a backbreaker and then thrown into ORBIT off a fall-away slam. A hammer-toss kills Sakamoto as does a short-clothesline; Ryan applies a trapezius hold. Mason has cut his hair since the last time I saw him. Sakamoto tries a comeback but eats a big boot and jackhammer for the pinfall.   3/10 Total squash for Ryan; not sure if he’s a heel or babyface. We’ve seen Ryan before but the WWE is getting flooded with over muscly mongoloids with Big E Langston and Ryback the problem here is where Ryan will fit in here?

Here is your winner… Mason Ryan via jackhammer pinfall

Paige vs. Aksana:   Okay, let’s see how good Paige is here to carry Aksana, because she (Aksana) is AWFUL in the ring. Aksana powers her onto the top rope and pushes her to the floor. Back in the rig she slingshots Paige into the ropes and back onto her knees. She rubs her forename into Paige’s face and chokes in the ropes. She hammer-tosses Paige into the ropes and hits a sideslam for two. Aksana then applies a bow-and-arrow lock, which goes on for a little while; she releases and clubbers and then reapplies the bow lock. Paige wakes up and tries a charges in the corner but meets a boot; Aksana tries to come off the second rope but Paige trips her up and applies a the Liontamer version of the Texas Cloverleaf to get the tapout. Post-match, Paige accidentally bumps the ring announcer Summer Rain who blindsides Paige and attack her.   3/10 Well it was short but the post-match attack was… odd. I think Tony Dawson accidentally called Aksana Natalya at the end there as well.

Here is your winner… Paige via Texas Cloverleaf submission

In the back Renee Young is with Sasha Banks; she is excited to win a match in the WWE. She calls it her dream to defeat Alicia Fox. She’s handed a letter from a secret admirer.

Bo Dallas & Michael McGillicutty vs. Primo & Epico (w/Rosa Mendes) NXT Tag Team Championship Tournament, first round:   Primo and Dallas open the contest and he applies a side headlock. Dallas powers out and Bo hiptosses him to the floor; he takes his time reentering. He backs Dallas into the corner and tags in Epico; he nails a clothesline for two. Quick tags abound and Primo stomps the yard in the corner; he slams Bo but misses a legdrop. Dallas fires back with a backdrop and atomic drop. McGillicutty tags in and they hit a tandem reverse elbow for two. He hits a backbreaker for two. Primo sneaks in a savate kick and tags in Epico; McGillicutty takes a quick advantage on him and chops in the ropes. Dallas tags and they team up for a clothesline/knee strike combo, which nets two for Bo. McGillicutty tags back in for a nice dropkick off a Manhattan drop (from Dallas). Epico tries a body scissors move but McGillicutty catches him and catapults him to the floor. Epico has his hair out of the cornrows and looks odd with flowing hair. Back from break, Epico is in control but it does not last long as McGillicutty hits a running dropkick. Epico fires back and deposits him onto the apron where Primo provides distraction allowing Epico a dropkick; on the floor Primo rams McGillicutty into the ring barricade. Back in the ring, Epico hits a Hilo and tags in Primo; he heads up top and hits a big boot. Primo taunts Dallas and applies a body scissors chinlock. McGillicutty tries to fight back but gets drop-foe held onto his face; Epico tags and hits a back suplex. He slaps on another chinlock. Dallas is salivating to get into the ring. McGillicutty responds but he and Epico crack heads to cut off the official comeback. Double tags are made and Primo is the victim of a Dallas house-of-fire. Bo hits clotheslines and drops a knee for two. Primo misses a charge in the corner and Dallas capitalizes with a walk-up-the-ropes bulldog but Epico spoils the pinfall. McGillicutty runs in and gets tossed to the floor; Dallas wipes Epico and nearly fells to a schoolboy with trunks. Primo hits a weird hammerlock/Russian legs weep/DDT looking move… for two. Wow, that was a cool looking move and probably should have gotten three. Dallas comes back with a scoop powerslam, the same move he pinned Wade Barrett with on Raw this past week, and it gets the three on Primo too.   6/10 Spirited and fun main event with Dallas and McGillicutty but with his recent call up to the WWE, I don’t see this team advancing too far. They have to face the Wyatt Family next. Any combo of these four remaining teams will be a fun final in two weeks. This was a good match too.

Here are your winners… Bo Dallas & Michael McGillicutty via powerslam pinfall

OVERALL 5/10   I love the tag tournament and both matches were good and entertaining; Mason Ryan made a return to the ring but I don’t know where he fits in the WWE anymore. Paige has a new rival in a ring announcer/wrestler. The big draw to these shows is the tag tourney and it delivered.

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