411’s WWE NXT Report 02.20.13

From Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida

Commentators: Tom Phillips & 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: Adrian Neville & Oliver Grey… Diva’s Champion: Kaitlyn

Yoshi Tatsu vs. Bray Wyatt (w/The Wyatt Family):   The Family is not too happy about their loss last week; Yoshi tries chops but Wyatt no-sells them and hits a standing uranage slam. Tatsu is dead already so Wyatt drags him to his feet and pounds away in the corner; a locomotive slam in the corner sets up the Kiss of Death and gets the three. Post-match, Wyatt tosses Tatsu to the floor and calls the Family into the ring; he shows them the clip of Adrian Neville splashing Harper and winning the NXT tag titles. He berates them over the loss; he calls them brothers and tells Rowan to hit Harper, who took the fall. Wyatt makes Harper slap Rowan and they get into a fight until Wyatt stops them and the all smile over it.  2.5/10 THAT was the definition of squash as Tatsu got obliterated there. The post-match stuff was awesomely demented and the Family is so awesome. I think these three could come up into the WWE into the next year and they would get WAY over, especially with Wyatt at the head.

Here is your winner… Bray Wyatt via Kiss of Death pinfall

In the back, Renee Young is with Sasha Banks; she is all aglow about the secret admirer. Another letter is handed to her and, of course, she gets attacked from behind by Audrey Marie. She says this is who they replaced her with after her injury and tells Sasha to get out of NXT.

Xavier Woods vs. El Local:   El Local is the Luchadore version of Ricardo Rodriguez; I assume that is him under the mask here too. Local grabs a side headlock and steamrolls Woods with a shoulderblock. Woods comes back with a pair of armdrags; they go through some nifty avoidance moves until Woods back leg sweeps Local. Local backdrops Woods onto the apron; he tries a shoulderblock but Local leaps up and double stomps the back of his head. He slams Woods and hits a Lucha legdrop; he pounds away in the corner and wrings the arm. He hits a nice Del Rio Enziguri for two. Tom Phillips describes Local as portly.” He locks in a chinlock until Woods powers free; he tries to punch away but Local nails him with a scissors enziguri from his back. Local keeps him back in the chinlock. Phillips calls the chinlock a “headlock from behind” allowing William Regal to tease him throughout the rest of the match. Phillips, to his credit, rolls with the punches; Local kicks again and reapplies the chinlock. Rudos in the WWE never work because they can’t fly around the ring or else get cheered so they have to grind the match to a halt with chinlocks and that usually bores the crowd to tears. Woods frees himself, hits the ropes and lassos Local in a hurracanrana; the pace quickens with the babyface on O as he hits a dropkick, for two. Local sneaks in an inside cradle for two; he catches Woods with a jawjacker and then tries a superplex. Woods counters and plants him with a tornado DDT for the pinfall.   3.5/10 As noted earlier, the Rudos needed to keep his offense simple which made the bulk of this match boring. Woods gets a win but I do not see big things in his future in the WWE, he looks way too small and the WWE already has a Funkasaurus and a dancing black guy, so I don’t see him fitting in anytime soon.

Here is your winner… Xavier Woods via tornado DDT pinfall

Renee Young is with Dr. Sampson, the NXT head doctor; she asks him about Paige’s shoulder injury. He says they have done tests and it could be Tendinitis. There is no timeframe for her return.

Sasha Banks vs. Audrey Marie:   Banks gets a schoolgirl for two and Marie knees her in the guts to take over. Marie gets two. Marie applies a top wristlock and wrenches back on it; she segues her into an armbar. Banks tries to sneak in a pinfall so Marie segues into a double armlock; Banks frees herself, this time with a spinning head scissors. She hits a pair of clotheslines and a one-footed dropkick. She tries a Mysterio Wheelbarrow but Marie plants her right on her face. Apparently, that’s called the Photo Finish and she gets the pinfall.   2/10 Nothing special here although b0th girls are attractive in a normal sort of way; they look more real, as in someone you may actually hang out with, which is better in my opinion. The match was pretty crappy and boring; it was kept really short too.

Here is your winner… Audrey Marie via Photo Finish pinfall

Now Renee Young is with Summer Rae; Summer does not care about Paige and says she does not feel for her. Her only regret is that she broke a nail. She says she will become the greatest diva ever and dubs herself the First Lady of NXT.

Tony Dawson is in the ring for an interview with Tyson Kidd regarding his injury. He hobbles to the ring on his crutches. He had reconstructive knee surgery (via Dr. James Andrews); he says he tore every ligament in his knee on a dive during a WWE Live event. He also competed the next night despite the injury (apparently did not know the severity of it at the time). He promises to return but does not give a timetable for a return. Dawson brings up the comments from CM Punk, from Raw from a few months ago, where he chastised the WWE for putting Little Jimmy in better position on Raw than “the workhorse” Kidd. He says you have to respect Punk for being the longest reigning champion in the modern era; he’s flattered at the comments. Kidd says “workhorse” is his way of life going back to his days in the Dungeon. Leo Kruger interrupts. He says he’s going to “end’jor careerah, Mr. Kidd.” He says he’s weak and vulnerable. He tells him that he should have stayed away. Kruger kicks at his leg and steals a crutch. Justin Gabriel comes to his partner’s aid, chasing Kruger away.   6/10 I like the fact that they gave Kidd some in ring time for a promo keeping him fresh in the WWE’s fans minds. Usually this stuff is reserved for guys like John Cena or Shawn Michaels; it shows a lot giving it to Kidd. The attack from Kruger will probably trigger a feud between him and Justin Gabriel.

Big E Langston vs. “The Ascension” Conor O’Brian:   This is a nontitle special challenge match. Langston is still pretty over in the NXT Arena despite him clearly a heel in the WWE. This is the battle of the two physically biggest men in NXT. Langston begins a “five” chant and they lock up and stalemate. They each retreat to opposite corners… and CHARGE into another lockup. They stalemate again. O’Brian hits the ropes and no one moves; Big E tries his hand at the rope charge but meets the point of Conor’s elbow. O’Brian takes over and elbows the back his head. Langston fires back and hits him FIVE times (sending him to the floor). Back from break with Langston tossing O’Brian into the corner but misses a charge and posts his shoulder. O’Brian takes over and kicks the crap out of him in the corner. Punches too. He continues on the offense with clubbering blows to the back of his head and then applies a keylock chinlock. Langston responds to the fans’ five count but Conor drops him with a full nelson slam; he then sequesters him in another keylock chinlock. Big E powers back and hits a few clotheslines. He hits a series of short kneelifts. He and O’Brian trade bombs and exchange fisticuffs in the corner; the referee has to separate them allowing Conor a big roundhouse right. He forces Langston back into the opposite corner and the referee separates them again, this time allowing Langston a blow to the face. They lock up again in a third corner and, once again, the referee tries to separate them. This time he had zero luck and gets shoved on his ass by the both of them. He calls for the bell ending the match in a double disqualification. Post-match, Langston manages to finally knock Conor out of the ring. Langston celebrates but gets attacked from behind from Corey Graves who steals the NXT title and runs off.   7/10 I thought this was a good exhibition of the two biggest dogs in NXT. The match was hard hitting and the same type of match you get from Sheamus and Wade Barrett. The Corey Graves stealing the belt was a clever way to get him back into the title picture. Ironically they just did the same type of angle with CM Punk and the Rock. Very good main event this week.

Here is your winner… Double DQ

OVERALL 5/10   This show was better than the sum of its parts; most of the matches were squashes but it resets the stage a little considering some of the top NXT guys are up in WWE permanently and we won’t see them very often. Last week the tag titles were the big feature; this week it’s the champ. Big E is s till there but I fear, with him teamed with Dolph Ziggler, that belt won’t be around his waist much longer. I pegged Corey Graves as champ soon but I hear he may be headed up too. We shall have to see.

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