WWE NXT (7/11/12)

Full Sail University

Winter Park, FLA

July 11, 2012

Commentators: Byron Saxton & William Regal

This was the fourth and final set of tapings from Full Sail to establish the new NXT. We've established the core of the roster of what this show will be but we still have one big name to go with Bray Wyatt set to make his debut. The debut episode had a great Tyson Kidd vs Michael McGillicutty match and Tyson is opening this show against Camacho fresh off last week's main event. We also got The Uso's taking on the Prime Time Players so let's get to the action.

Match 1

Alberto Del Rio vs Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship

This is actually a dark match shown just for the fans in attendance. Why they chose to never air this or have this match at all makes no sense. Still, Sheamus retained the title by beating Del Rio.

Winner: Sheamus

Match 2

Tyson Kidd vs Camacho (with Hunico)

This stemmed from last week's match where Camacho's team defeated Kidd's team. Regal tells the exact same story he told last week where Camacho saved Hunico by biting someone's eyeball out....of course last week it was the dude's nose off. Bell's gone and Camacho throws Kidd down to start. Kidd shows off his agility before dropping Camacho with a dropkick. Camacho charges but Kidd counters with a roll-up before telling the ref to watch out for Hunico. Camacho takes over with right hands but Kidd rolls over the back of Camacho and dropping him with first a leg-lock, then a drop toe hold. Kidd hits a backslide for two then goes for an arm-bar. Regal praises Kidd's training from his Hart Dungeon days but Camacho heaves Kidd over the top rope. Kidd skins the cat and head-scissors  Camacho to the floor. Kidd baseball slides out but he's cornered by Hunico & Camacho. The ref throws Hunico out despite him not doing anything as Kidd dives out onto the floor onto both men. Saxton sends us to commercial and when we come back, he's got an arm-bar on Camacho with Hunico gone from ring side. Camacho sends Kidd off the ropes but eats a kick to the head. Kidd victory rolls Camacho and goes for the sharpshooter but Camacho makes it to the ropes. Camacho bails to the outside but blocks a kick and sends Kidd face first into the apron. Camacho sends Tyson ribs first into the apron twice before throwing him back in. Camacho covers for a near-fall then delievrs a backbreaker. Camacho stomps the ribs of Kidd but Tyson rallies with right hands. Camacho regains control with shoulderblocks into the corner then sends Kidd sternum first into the other corner, Bret Hart style. Camacho covers for 1...2...nope. Regal says every inch of the ring can be used as a weapon as Camacho hotshots Kidd into the bottom rope. Camacho locks in a modified abdominal stretch before Kidd fights out of it. Camacho headbutts Kidd down then delivers a back suplex. Camacho taunts Kidd and drops a leg before covering...1....2...nope. Camacho unloads with right hands and hits a facebuster on Kidd. He covers for 1...2....no. Camachi goes to the second rope but misses a leg drop. Regal says that's gonna hurt as Kidd kicks away at the left leg of Camacho. Kidd lands a dropkick and covers for 1....2..no. Kidd springboard legdrops Camacho on the bottom rope then goes upstairs. Camacho crotches Tyson and hits a top rope double underhook suplex. Camacho covers for 1..2...nope. Kidd flips over Camacho onto the apron and kicks him in the head. Kidd hits the Blockbuster from off the top rope and covers for 1......2....NOOOOO. Camacho got the foot on the rope but Kidd pulls him into the center of the ring. He goes to lock in the sharpshooter but Michael McGillicutty runs in and distracts Kidd. Camacho boots Tyson in the ribs and hits a DDT. He covers for 1...2....3 that's it. Camacho wins it off the distraction. Took Michael and Hunico to help him out to win the match, but that's a big win for Camacho. Regal says the feud between Tyson and Michael is gonna go on forever. Kidd once again puts on a great match and Camacho did his best to keep up.

Time of match: 14:19

Winner: Camacho

Before we go to commercial, Saxton hypes up the main event of The Uso's against the Prime Time Players. After commercial we get the Bray Wyatt vignette from last week saying he doesn't feel pain or fear. After that we go to Matt Striker interviewing Justin Gabriel of all people. Gabriel is back from an elbow injury and he's a former 3 time tag champion. Gabriel is booked to face Heath Slater next week and Justin says he's going to make a statement. Heath Slater walks in and cuts a promo says the statement is of failure and he's a legend killer. Gabriel says Slater won't be embarassed by WWE legends, he'll be embarrassed by him next week. Those are fightin words in my country! On to the next match.

Match 2

Aiden English vs Bray Wyatt

English enters first and Bray enters second cutting a promo to the song Broken Out In Love. Bray calls himself the angel in the dirt and he's pleased to meet everyone. Bray is wearing the Waylon Mercy shirt and straw fedora hat. Regal says Wyatt gives him the "collywobbles" as the bell rings. Wyatt kicks English in the gut to start and rakes the eyes. Wyatt heaves English outside of the ring, goes outside and throws him into the apron. Wyatt heaves Aiden into the barricade and then into the ring. Wyatt looks to hit a snap suplex but just throws English across the ring. Wyatt hits a big splash in the corner and literally dances around with English before hitting Sister Abigail. He covers for 1...2....3 and that's it. Between Regal saying Wyatt scares him, the aggressive squash and the finisher, that's how you put a guy over. The sky was the limit for Wyatt with the right booking.

Time of match: 1:48

Winner: Wyatt by pinfall

Before we go to commercial we get another video plug for The Uso's against the Prime Time Players. When we get back, Saxton hypes up this Sunday's WWE Money In The Bank 2012 ppv headlined by Daniel Bryan going one on one with WWE Champion CM Punk. AJ Lee will be the special guest referee for the bout. The MITB match for the WWE title shot is between Kane, John Cena, Big Show and Chris Jericho. Meanwhile the World Heavyweight Championship title shot will be between Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara, the Intercontinental Champion Christian, Damien Sandow, the US Champion Santino Marella, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler and Lord Tensai. Sheamus puts the WHC title on the line against Alberto Del Rio. We go to Briley Ziggl....Pierce who's with Richie Steamboat who says he's going to show NXT how good he is. All of a sudden Leo Kruger comes up and hypes himself up before they brawl. There's a match for next week. Cue "Don't Try This At Home" before we get a vignette for Raquel Diaz....Eddie Guerrero's daughter Shaul (and Aiden English's girlfriend). Raquel makes her debut next week. Onto the main event.

Match 3

The Uso Brothers (Jimmy & Jey) vs The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil)

Guest commentator: Jim Ross

Good ol JR joins on commentary for the main event. Regal says there's nothing wrong with bragging if you can back it up. Darren starts with Jimmy Uso as JR asks how how you can tell them apart. At the time Jey had a big tattoo on his left arm that Jimmy didn't. They lock up and Jimmy backs Darren into the corner before messing up his hair. Darren pushes Jimmy who slaps him in retaliation. Darren hugs Titus in the corner as JR says the Uso's are the twin sons of Rikishi. Jimmy tags in Jey and they deliver a double back elbow smash. Jey hits a big splash in the corner before landing a double chop clothesline. Jey covers for 1...2..nope. O'Neil tags in and rams Jey's head into the buckle. Titus lands a headbutt but Jey no-sells it like his dad used to. Jimmy tags in and hits a big splash in the corner but the cover gets 1. Regal says Titus is shilling the "Save the donkey association" this week. Darren tags in and Jey drops him causing him to bail to the outside. Jimmy grabs the comb the heels left behind and mock the Players with it. Darren runs inside only to get clotheslined out of it by Jey. Jimmy then launches Jey onto both men outside of the ring. The Uso's taunt them outside as we go to commercial. Jimmy has chinlock in but Darren makes it to the corner to tag Titus in. Jimmy gets in an arm-bar but Titus powers out of it only to eat a thrust to the throat. Jimmy knocks Darren off the apron but Titus trips Jimmy up. The Players make frequent tags on Jimmy including Titus stomping away. Titus locks in a leg lock before tagging in Darren. Young stomps away in the corner and locks in his own leg-lock. Jimmy kicks Darren through the ropes and to the outside so he knocks Jey off the apron so Jimmy couldn't make the tag. JR says that was good strategy but Jimmy rolls up Darren for a near fall. Young hits a dropkick to the knee and covers for 1...2...nope. Young does a stepover toe hold and Jimmy escapes but Young goes back to the leg-lock. Titus tags in and tries to suplex Young on top of Jimmy but Uso rolls out of the way. Titus dives on Jimmy to prevent him from making the tag and locks in a modified leg lock. Jimmy kicks him off but Titus rams him with a forearm. Titus misses a charge in the corner and Jimmy backdrops him. Titus tags in but so does Jey who cleans house. Jey hits a superkick to Darren's ribs and Darren clotheslines Titus by accident. Jey hits a samoan drop and a running ass bump to Darren. Jey covers for 1...2...Titus breaks it up. Jimmy pulls Titus out of the ring but Titus drops Jimmy. The ref inexplicably turn his back to check on Jimmy as Titus nails Jey from behind. Titus sets Jey up for the Decapitator and Darren lands it. Darren covers for 1....2....3 that's it. The Players win it with a page out of Demoltion's playbook. JR says they're gonna get better as a team because they're too smart not too but the Uso's are THIS close to figuring it out. Great praise by JR for both teams as it was defnitely a serviceable match. Hard to imagine that The Uso's were in purgatory doing jobs on NXT knowing what would happen a decade later.

Time of match: 11:49

Winners: Young & O'Neill by pinfall

Well now NXT is off and running and we have some talent, that's for sure. The matches were solid if not spectacular but better to be solid than boring or bad. Wyatt and Mahal are definitely going to be key players down the road in different ways. Kidd and McGillicutty as well. Next week we have the debut of Raquel Diaz, ex-Nexus members Gabriel & Slater going at it plus Leo Kruger vs Richie Steamboat. Should be a great show.

WWE NXT (7/4/12)

Full Sail University

Orlando, FL

July 4, 2012

Commentators: Jim Ross & Bryon Saxton

After the great debut show two weeks ago, last week's NXT felt like an old episode of WWF Superstars with vignettes and squash matches. Hopefully the upcoming weeks will be better once everybody is introduced and they can all just wrestle. We got a women's match and Kassius Ohno making his debut. JR thanks us for joining and sends us right to our first match.

Match 1

Sofia Cortez vs Paige

Sofia Cortez was Ivelisse Velez on Tough Enough the year earlier and she was actually the protoge of indy legend Steve Boz in Chicago before being signed. Her opponent was actually a 19 year old Saraya Bevis who made her debut at the age of 13 in her native England in 2005. She's the daughter of Sweet Saraya and Roy Bevis, both English wrestlerts. This is booked as a "divas" match and Saxton gets excited before the bell. They lock up but Paige throws Sofia backwards. Sofia ducks under a clothesline and goes for a waistlock but Paige blocks it with a headbutt. Sofia blocks a hiptoss with a headscissors into a frankensteiner. Paige bails to the outside as JR brings up Sofia;s singing talent and martial arts skills. Back inside Sofia kicks and punches away in the corner and tells the ref to shut up. Paige follows with right hands but Sofia lands a martial arts kick. Sofia covers for a 1 count and locks in a arm-trap chinlock but Paige flips out of it and chops Sofia. Paige eats a kick to the face and Sofia executes the Mysterio DDT. She covers for 1....2....3 and that's it. This was definitely nearing the end of the "divas" era as 19 year old Paige looked pretty good selling here and just needed more experience. Sofia gets the duke as JR puts over both having a future. We go to the highlight of the finish as Saxton calls it an impressive debut.

Time of match: 2:27

Winner: Cortez by pinfall

Saxton hypes up Kassius Ohno's debut later tonight but up next is Seth Rollins taking on Camacho with Hunico in his corner. After the commercial break we go right to the match.

Match 2

Camacho (with Hunico) vs Seth Rollins

Camacho was born Tevita Fifita, the son of Haku. He was signed in 2009 as Tonga before becoming Donny Marlow in FCW. He made his main roster debut as Camacho, bodyguard of Hunico. Hunico was born Jose Arriaga who won the Texas state wrestling tournament his senior year of 1996 and was voted tournament MVP. He turned pro in 1999 and worked as Mistico in Mexico until someone else named Mistico (Luis Urive) showed up and Arriaga had to change his name. He signed with WWE in 2009 under the name Hunico and was in their developmental program when WWE signed Urive to work as Sin Cara. When Urive got suspended for 30 days following a wellness violation, Arriaga became Sin Cara. We all know how Sin Cara vs Sin Cara came out of that and eventually Arriaga became Hunico again doing a cholo gimmick. Now he's backup for Camacho against Rollins who made his debut the week before. Rollins makes his entrance punching up the ramp like Donkey Kong before getting in the ring. Rollins and Camacho slug it out at the bell but Camacho takes his head off with a big elbow. Camacho works him over in the corner before whipping Rollins off the ropes who turns it into a cradle for a deuce. Rollins trips up Camacho and covers for a 1 before chopping Camacho. Rollins works him over in the corner then whips Camacho into the other corner. A charge eats boot to drop Rollins and Camacho drops a leg before stomping away. Camacho pulls Rollins into the middle and covers for 1 before taunting him. Camacho executes a back suplex and covers for 1....2...nope. Camacho stomps away at Rollins as JR calls Seth highly regarded. Saxton says that's driving Camacho to beat him up if everyone's high on Rollins. Rollins nips out of a giant swing to hit an enziguiri to stun Camacho and drives Camacho into the buckle with a one armed ddt. Rollins hits a dropkick and kicks Hunico down but runs into a big forearm by Camacho.  Camacho holds Rollins for Hunico to hop up on the apron. Rollins sends Camacho into Hunico then hits the curb stomp on him. He covers for 1....2....3 and that's it. Hunico gets in and beats up Rollins with Camacho joining in. They doubleteam Rollins until Bo Dallas hits the ring to save Rollins. Rollins had a bright future ahead and he did the best he could in that.

Time of match: 4:33

Winner: Seth Rollins

We go right to the next match after commercial.

Match 3

Corey Graves and Jake Carter vs CJ Parker and Nick Rogers

Tag team match to showcase the four new guys. Parker we know but Corey Graves was born Matthew Polinsky and started wrestling in 2000 at age 16. He took the name Sterling James Keenan which was a tip of the hat to Sterling Sharpe of the Green Bay Packers and Maynard James Keenan of Tool. In 2006 he worked dark matches with WWE before signing a developmental deal in 2011. Jake Carter is the son of none other than Big Van Vader and played football for Oklahoma University before injuries derailed him. He also got a developmental deal in 2011. Rogers was born Austin Spencer and he made his name on the Canadian indies before signing with FCW. He had a good run there and now he's here on NXT. Graves & Carter were the FCW tag champs right around the time FCW closed. Parker starts with Graves at the bell and Graves gets in a sideheadlock before Parker monkey flips him. Graves gets mad and rams Parker in the corner who punches Carter. Carter tags in and beats up Parker before landing a forearm. Graves tags in and holds him down before Carter splashes Parker in the corner. Graves chokes Parker on the middle rope before Parker fights back with punches and a backdrop. Rogers gets the tag but runs into a Carter spinebuster who had tagged in. Carter knocks Parker off the apron and tags Graves. They hit their finisher "Bottoms up" on Rogers and Graves covers for 1....2...3 to win the match. Carter & Graves definitely had chemistry and it showed in this match. Just a basic squash to get the team over.

Time of match: 2:25

Winners: Graves & Carter by pinfall

We go to JR and Byron and JR calls Kassius Ohno a knockout artist. We go to a highlight package of Kassius before we go to commercial. Back from commercial we get a Bray Wyatt vignette saying he's not afraid of anything and feels no pain. He tells his future opponents they need to run as we hear sinister laughing. Wyatt is making his debut next week.

Match 4

Mike Dalton vs Kassius Ohno

Ross says Dalton was trained by Lance Storm as Dalton starts with an arm-bar but Ohno overpowers him. Dalton sends him off the ropes and hits a drop toe hold before high school pinning Ohno for a 1 count. Ohno reverses a prawn hold and hits a dropkick to the face. Ohno goes in the corner and shouts "OHHHH....NO" then delivers a clothesline in the corner followed by a jumping forearm. Ross says Ohno prefers knocking people out as Ohno kicks Dalton around. Ohno chops Dalton in the corner and locks in a cobra clutch. Dalton fights out of it and hits a spinning wheel kick. He covers for 1...2...nope. Ohno rakes the eyes then hits the K.O. punch. Ohno covers for 1...2....3...its over. Dalton is out cold as Ross puts over the discus punch as something special. Ohno grabs the mic and says he knocks people out and when they hear him coming they say "Oh no!". Gonna need to do better than that but its a start.

Time of match: 2:32

Winner: Ohno by pinfall

We go to commercial then straight to the next match.

Match 5

Derrick Bateman vs Jinder Mahal

Both Mahal and Bateman won in the previous weeks before so it makes sense to put them together to give someone a possible winning streak. Bell's gone and they tie up to start with the crowd starting a small USA chant, ha! Bateman takes advantage with a northern lights suplex and clotheslining Mahal over the top rope to the floor. Bateman dives onto Mahal on the floor before sending him back inside. Mahal snaps Bateman off the top rope and covers for a near fall before choking him on the second rope. Mahal drops some knees to the sternum and goes for a Rude Awakening but Bateman counters with a backslide for a deuce. Bateman catches Mahal with a cradle for a two count then a slam with a roll up for yet another near fall. Bateman drops Mahal with two clotheslines and a facebuster. A running neckbreaker by Bateman gets a two count and Derrick gets frustrated. Bateman is sent into the ropes and Mahal delivers a knee to the back of the head. Mahal then locks in the camel clutch and Bateman quickly submits. Mahal sold his ass off for Bateman yet one move turned the tide for him. The crowd boos but Mahal is your winner.....but wait! Mahal puts the clutch back on as JR says there's no call for this. Guess he needed some more heat.

Time of match: 4:02

Winner: Mahal by submission

Late breaking news, tonight's main event is now a six man tag with Michael McGillicutty teaming with Hunico and Camacho against Tyson Kidd, Bo Dallas and Seth Rollins. Dusty Rhodes isn't wasting any time plus Rollins & Camacho are pulling double duty. After an obligatory "Don't try this at home" commercial we got to our main event.

Match 6

Seth Rollins, Bo Dallas and Tyson Kidd vs Michael McGillicutty, Hunico and Camacho

Guest Commentator: William Regal

Stemming from the match to start the night, now we got an impromptu six man. Kidd and McGillicutty had a great match two weeks earlier and Dallas was victorious last week. Dallas starts with Michael who Michael tells to scram. Tyson tags in so Hunico does as well. JR complains about Hunico's durag as Kidd hits a top rope headscissors. Hunico gets a boot to the mid-section and a Gory Special and uses it as a pinfall attempt for 1...2...no. Kidd uses his abdominal strength to sunset flip out of it for a two count then Kidd victory rolls out of a waistlock. Kidd armdrags Huncio and tags in Dallas who drops an elbow to the left arm. Rollins tags in and goes to town on Hunico in the corner before splashing him in the other corner. Rollins gets distracted by Camacho allowing Hunico to nail him from behind. Camacho tags in as we cut to commercial. We're back with Camacho covering Rollins for a near-fall before locking in a chin-lock. Rollins fights out of it but is in the wrong corner as Hunico tags in to stomp away. Hunico charges but eats boot then Rollins monkey flips Hunico halfway across the ring. Rollins rolls into the corner to tag Dallas but Camacho tags in. Camacho falls down so Dallas somewhat misses a big elbow so they repeat the spot. Dallas kicks Camacho in the head then knocks Michael off the apron. Camacho counters by throwing Dallas head first into the bottom buckle. Regal says Camacho manhandles people with ease. McGillicutty tags in and and puts the boots to Dallas. Michael gets in a chinlock and punches Dallas for good measure. Dallas powers out of it but Michael locks in a leglock to keep Dallas from tagging. Hunico tags in and delivers a double-underhook backbreaker then covers for 1...2.....nope. Hunico locks in a chinlock as Regal tells a cockamamie story of how Camacho saved Hunico in the barrio from a gang stabbing by biting the nose off the guy stabbing Hunico. Hunico tags in McGillicutty to deliver more damage before executing a backbreaker. The cover gets a deuce and Michael pounds away as Regal says Dallas suffered a kidney injury a few months earlier. McGillicutty cheap shots Rollins but that allows Dallas to make the tag to Kidd. Kidd cleans house of the heels and hits a dropkick to the face. A pier sixer develops with Dallas taking out Hunico to the floor. Rollins dives off the top onto Dallas, Hunico and Camacho. Down to Kidd and McGillicutty, Michael chopblocks Kidd and hits the McGillicutter. He covers for 1...2....3 that's it. Good booking to have Michael get a big win after putting Tyson over two weeks earlier. Hunico struts around as JR signs off. Damn good match for time constraints and it showcased the stars of the future. Kidd and McGillicutty took command but the others kept up nicely.

Time of match: 13:19

Winners: McGillicutty, Camacho and Hunico by pinfall

That was a better show than last week as they're still in weeding out mode. They're trying to establish everyone's skills before they start storylines. It's fairly obvious a lot of these guys could go like Kidd, Rollins & McGillicutty and NXT was to develop character. Paige was only 19 here which is a blessing that NXT was established to get her experience before being put in a WWE ring. Kassius Ohno is a bit of a gimmick but he can definitely work on it. Jinder has a GREAT look and he could be a special heel someday. Bray Wyatt makes his debut next week so let's see what the former Husky Harris has in store.

WWE NXT (6/27/12)

 

Full Sail University

Orlando, FL

June 27, 2012

Commentators: Jim Ross & Bryon Saxton

Last week's show established the new direction NXT to be the new developmental show with Florida Championship Wrestling closing. We saw the debuts of The Ascension & Bo Dallas along with a damn good Tyson Kidd vs Michael McGillicutty match. This week we have the debut of someone you might have heard of, guy named Seth Rollins. Also we got Derrick Bateman against Johnny Curtis and another debut, guy named Antonio Cesaro. Should be a fun show so let's get right to it.

Match 1

Seth Rollins vs Jiro

The NXT debut of Seth Rollins has him going against Jiro. For those that don't know, Seth Rollins was born Colby Lopez in Davenport, Iowa. He started wrestling on the indies at 19 years old and took the name Tyler Black while wrestling for Ian Rotten's outlaw promotion. He made his name working for Ring Of Honor from 2007-09 before signing a developmental deal with WWE in August 2010. After 2 years of FCW as Seth Rollins, he's here in NXT. His opponent was born Yuki Tazikawa who was trained by former WWF Light Heavyweight champion Taka Michenoku. Ironically this would be Jiro's only NXT match as he'd go back to Japan shortly after. Ross calls Seth a hot prospect as the bell rings. Rollins rolls through some armdrags before tripping up Jiro with a leg sweep. Seth sends Jiro off the ropes but eats an open handed slap to the chest. Rollins acts like it doesn't hurt and returns the favor. Jiro gets a kick in but is dropped with a clothesline. Rollins dropkicks Jiro and hits him with an enziguri. Rollins hit a splash in the corner and then hits a curbstomp to the back. Ross calls it the blackout as Seth covers for 1....2...3 and that's it. Took Seth 90 seconds to dispose of Jiro and send him back to Japan. Ross goes to the replay of the curbstomp and Saxton says Seth has turned a lot of heads. He's not kidding.

Time of match: 1:32

Winner: Seth Rollins

Dolph Ziggler's brother Briley Pierce hits the ramp to interview Seth after his victory. Seth thanks Briley, introduces himself and he's here to rip the clouds out of the sky. Kind of funny to see him struggle a bit here on the mic considering what we would see in the years'/:#$$##### after this. Before he can go any further he's interrupted by Jinder Mahal who's in the next match. Mahal and Seth give each other the stank eye as Jinder makes his entrance.

Match 2

Jinder Mahal vs Jason Jordan

We get back from commercial with Jinder cutting a promo in half Hindi/half English until he's interrupted. We saw Jordan last week but Jinder was born Yuvraj Singh Dhesi in Calgary, Alberta Canada. He's another Canadian Indian like Tiger Jeet Singh or his uncle Gama Singh who used to be a heel in Stampede Wrestling. He was trained by none other than Bad News Brown and the fake Razor Ramon, Rick Bogner. He made his debut in Canada in 2002 but was signed to a developmental deal in February 2010 as Jinder Mahal. After his FCW run, here he is in NXT. Ross brings up Damien Sandow refusing to wrestle Jordan last week but Mahal bum rushes him at the start. Jinder puts the boots to Jordan and hits a forearm to the back. Jinder hits a neckbreaker and covers for 1...2...nope. Ross calls Jinder athletically arrogant and he's right, Jinder always was in great shape. Jinder drops a series of knees as Ross brings up Jason's Indiana wrestling days. Mahal locks in a half nelson before Jordan gets to his feet but is dropped with a knee to the head. Jinder does a double underhook takeover and covers for 1...2...nope. Mahal misses a knee drop and Jordan rallies with a right hand but Mahal counters with a high knee. Jinder slaps on the camel clutch and Jordan taps out to end the match. Ross says somewhere the Iron Sheik is smiling......why? Sheik is Iranian, not Indian. Inconsistency aside, Mahal looked great in this and he definitely had a bright future ahead. After the match Jinder cuts another promo in Hindi then switches to English to say he'll mold NXT in his image establishing a new wave of dominance in WWE. Sounds good to me.

Time of match: 3:08

Winner: Mahal by submission

We cut to a vignette of a newcomer coming to NXT, the South African Leo Kruger. He claims he took the name Leo because he's the alpha male lion. He says he's a god in Africa which isn't that farfetched. Born Raymond Leppan, he was born in South Africa in 1979 and turned pro at the age of 16. His ancestor was former president of South Africa Paul Kruger so there's the hint of truth in his words. Saxton calls him the South African Aristotle and he's up next.

Match 3

Leo Kruger vs Aiden English

Kruger we just learned about but his opponent is Aiden English. Born in Chicago, he was an accomplished stage actor before turning pro in 2011. One year later he was signed to NXT and here he is. Bell's gone and Kruger gets the upper hand with forearms to the back but eats a dropkick. Aiden misses a second attempt and Kruger starts punching away. He clotheslines English in the corner and stands on his chest. JR says Kruger doesn't make a lot of mistakes and likes to beat people up. Kruger hits a snap suplex and taunts the crowd. Kruger applies a sleeper wrapping his legs around English and Aiden quickly taps out. Took 82 seconds for Kruger to dispose of English and he taunts English on his way out. Kruger had a great look, we'll see how he does moving forward.

Time of match: 1:21 

Winner: Kruger by submission

After the match JR says we'll be seeing Richie Steamboat in action later. Yes, the "Little Dragon" from Wrestlemania 4 was now 25 and wrestling on his own. We get a montage of Steamboat in FCW and saying he's not trying to fill his father's shoes but make his own name. Richie in an interview says he wants to add to the last name, not ride it. When we get back from commercial, the Uso brothers are in action.

Match 4

The Ascension (Connor & Kenneth) vs The Uso's (Jimmy & Jey)

Commentators: Chris Russo, William Regal and JR

William Regal and Chris Russo join us on commentary for this tag team match. Ascension won their first match last week and now face the Uso twins. Kenneth starts with Jimmy and foolishly tries a headbutt only for Jimmy to make like his father and do a dance shimmy before dropping Kenneth with a right hand. The Uso's double team Kenneth but he heaves Jimmy out of the ring. Connor tags in and stomps away at Jimmy in the corner. Kenneth and Connor make frequent tags to isolate Jimmy in the corner. Connor locks in a chinlock but Jimmy powers out of it. Jimmy hits a diving headbutt to drop Connnor and both men make the tag. Jey hits a back samoan drop then hits a running ass smash in the corner. Connor breaks up the pinfall attempt and throws Jey on the outside. Kenneth tags in Connor who hit Downcast on Jimmy. Connor covers for 1...2....3 that's it, Ascension win it. Really tough to tell the Uso's apart and even JR & Regal had trouble doing it. Russo "If Jimmy and Jey, NXT mainstays couldn't beat The Ascension, who can?"

Time of match: 3:31

Winners: The Ascension by pinfall

We head right to the next match

Match 5

Richie Steamboat vs Rick Victor

Little Dragon gets a match with Rick Victor who desperately needs a win. Steamboat starts with a go-behind with a waistlock takedown. Richie hits a series of arm-drags and Ricky The Dragon himself is shown in the crowd. Richie gets an arm-ringer in and takes Victor down with it. Richie drops a leg on the left arm before locking in an overhead armbar. Richie slugs away at Victor in the corner and rams his head in the buckle. Steamboat delivers a snapmare and a clothesline but the cover only gets 1. Victor shoulderblocks Steamboat in the corner then hits some european uppercuts. Steamboat flips over Victor and delivers another arm-drag as JR calls it his go-to manuver. Steamboat hits a crossbody and a shoulderblock before delivering another clothesline. Richie elbows Victor in the corner and hits a slingblade for 1.....2.....3 to win the match. Ricky in the crowd gives him a big hand as Saxton says so far so good. That was a straight jobber match out of 1993 with Victor barely getting any offense in. Still, he made Steamboat look damn good.

Time of match: 4:24

Winner: Richie Steamboat by pinfall

 

JR hypes up the main event coming up of Johnny Curtis vs Derrick Bateman. We get a vignette of Antonio Cesaro and Aksana saying he's up next. Oh joy.... We get back from commercial for the Raw Rebound and its Chris Jericho vs John Cena going one on one in a tune-up for Money In The Bank coming up. Jericho has Cena in the Walls of Jericho when Big Show interferes and drops a leg on Cena's neck. Jericho bails and Big Show chokeslams Cena before locking in the Colossal Clutch. Big Show gets some serious heat for that one. Back to NXT for our next match.

Match 6

Antonio Cesaro (with Aksana) vs Dante Dash

We all know Cesaro and Aksana from their WWE run earlier in 2012 but who's Dash? Born Teon Freeman, he got his start in his native New Jersey in 2010 before signing with FCW in January 2012. Bell rings and Cesaro waistlock takesdown Dante before rubbing his head into the mat. JR says Cesaro speaks 5 languages and Antonio picks up Dash in a gutwrench while lying down before kicking Dash in the kidneys. Cesaro neck twists Dante and drops him with a european uppercut. He pummels Dash in the corner and hits a big boot in the corner. Cesaro hits a spinebuster then cracks his neck to signal for the finisher. He hits the Neutralizer and covers for 1...2....3 that's it. JR marvels at the strength of Cesaro and says he's got the talent to be a world champion in the future. In a few years fans would agree, Cesaro is freakishly strong.

Time of match: 2:45

Winner: Cesaro by pinfall

We go to a Bray Wyatt vignette to signify his impending arrival to NXT.  A few NXT guys and a little girl reach their hands out to Wyatt. This whole show is right out of 1995 with vignettes and jobber matches. Anyway, time for the final match.

Match 7

Johnny Curtis vs Derrick Bateman

This match stemmed from the week before where Bateman confronted Curtis in the men's crapper and they settle it a week later. Bell rings and Curtis slaps Bateman before running for the hills. Johnny misses a knee drop and Bateman rams his head into the buckle. Bateman locks in an arm-ringer and slaps Curtis in retaliation. Bateman whips Curtis in the corner but misses a charge. Curtis does a spinning leg-wringer as JR says next week we'll see a women's match but doesn't name them. Also next week will be the NXT debut of Kassius Ohno. Curtis goes to work on the left leg and goes for the Indian death lock. Bateman slaps Curtis to break the hold and chops him in the chest. Curtis uses a spinning toe hold but Bateman gets out of it. Bateman hits a series of clothesline and uses a reverse DDT. Bateman then uses a D-D-D then covers for 1....2...3 for the W-I-N as JR proclaims. Big win for Bateman who gets revenge for Curtis wiping his hands on Bateman's shirt the week before. JR signs off saying more debuts are coming next week.

Time of match: 3:46

Winner: Bateman by pinfall

Kind of a let down show from the previous week as this felt like an episode of WWF Superstars from 1992 more than a WWE show from 2012. The jobber matches and vignettes would have fit right in 20 years earlier. Still, with the NXT and FCW merger some guys are going to be pushed over others, it depends on how they respond. With Rollins, Cesaro, Bo Dallas and others on their way, good things were coming. Next week we get Kassius Ohno and a women's match, yay. Still, this was the future of WWE in a few years so get used to these guys.

WWE NXT (6/20/12)

June 20, 2012
Full Sail University

Winter Park, Florida

Commentators: Jim Ross, William Regal

For all intents and purposes THIS is the first episode of NXT in the format we know of today. To give a little backstory, NXT started in 2010 to replace the failing WWECW. It was basically Tough Enough under a different name taking "rookies" and seeing who'd be a future WWE star. Unlike the earlier Tough Enough's where they'd hire people off the street or small time independent wrestlers, the 2010 class featured veterans such as Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett. Up until 2012, NXT kept the game show, elimination format until right around this time in June. Someone had the bright idea to merge their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling with NXT to create one big developmental conglomerate. As FCW came to a close, one by one their top stars started making their way to NXT. 

The show opens with a montage of the WWE legends and saying the next ones are on the way, the future begins...right now. The theme song is pretty badass and worth a listen if its your first time hearing it. William Regal is on the voice-over greeting us when Jim Ross makes his entrance. He welcomes everyone and introduces your new general manager Dusty Rhodes. Dusty says the main event will be Michael McGillicutty and Tyson Kidd one on one. Dusty says NXT will be wilder and crazier than ever and we're sent to a montage of a new NXT rookie named Bo Dallas. Dallas says he's the grandson of Blackjack Mulligan, son of Mike Rotunda and nephew of Barry & Kendall Windham. He says he knew he was going to be a wrestler his whole life and he says he's ready to fulfill expectations. He like to smile....yay. Its time for the first match

Match 1

Bo Dallas vs Rick Victor

Dallas makes his debut against FCW's Rick Victor. Ironically around this time Victor had beaten Seth Rollins to be the FCW Champion. Victor was a 10 year veteran of the independent scene so he definitely had experience going into his developmental deal. Dallas is in the black and white striped trunks and Victor is in the long purple tights. Victor starts with a headlock and Dallas gets in a top wristlock. Ross says Victor is a superbly conditioned athlete as Regal reminds us that he was trained in the legendary Dungeon with Bruce and Ross Hart. They trade armringers before Dallas gets a fireman's carry takeover followed by a few armdrags. Victor backs Dallas into the corner and chops away but Dallas reverses it with right hands. Dallas heaves Victor across the ring then hits a clothesline in the corner. Dallas tosses Victor again and hits a powerslam. Dallas hits a spear and covers for 1...2...3 that's it. Dallas wins it quickly and that was pretty good for what it was supposed to be. Rather them go 2 minutes than 10 and bore everyone.

Time of match: 2:20

Winner: Bo Dallas by pinfall

After the match Briley Pierce in a coat and tie interviews Bo. Pierce is none other than Ryan Nemeth, the real life brother of Dolph Ziggler who was nursing an injury at the time. Dallas says he had a gameplan and he executed it. He says its just the beginning for him and his smile is here to stay. "You will know Bo!" He's only 22 years old here so this is the perfect training ground for him. Ross then says another guy will be making his debut the following week, you might have heard of him......Seth Rollins. As mentioned earlier, Rollins was the former FCW champion and in the montage, he says he's the change we've all been waiting for. He called that one. Ross hypes up the main event and the debut of the intellectual Damien Sandow next before we go to commercial.

Back from commercial we get a montage for another guy about to make his debut, Antonio Cesaro. The next match was supposed to be Damien Sandow making his NXT debut against Jason Jordan. In case you forgot, Sandow was Idol Stevens back in 2007. His opponent is actually former Indiana University wrestler Nathan Everhart going by the name Jason Jordan. The announcer incorrectly calls Palo Alto "Palto Alto" causing Sandow to get pissed off and say he's not wrestling Jordan. No I'm not kidding, Sandow legit leaves.....the only time I'd ever seen that before is when Diamond Dallas Paige refused to wrestle a jobber in 94 or 95. Ross says he doesn't know whether to be mad or thankful as we go to a vignette introducing The Ascension. Longtime developmental wrestler Ryan O'Reilly was rechristened Conor O'Brien and his partner is Kenneth Cameron aka Thomas Latimer....yes, Charlotte Flair's ex. The British accent of Kenneth works here as Conor says they're the gateways of the future and they will rise.

We go to the Raw Rebound where we show John Cena vs John Laurinitis from the recent Raw. Vince McMahon had fired Laurinitis and he came out in a neckbrace saying he made a main event handicap match of David Otunga, Big Show and himself against Cena. Big Show says thanks for the contract and leaves Johnny Ace high and dry. In the actual match, Cena beats the crap out of Otunga and Laurintis refuses a tag. Then when Otunga gets the upper hand, Laurinitis tags in and beats up Cena causing Otunga to turn around and leave too. Cena hits three FU's in a row on Johnny and locks in the STFU to send him off TV. On to the next match.

Match 2

The Ascension (Conor O'Brien and Kenneth Cameron) vs CJ Parker and Mike Dalton

The Ascension's entrance is pretty cool, especially when Conor's eyes light up. For those that don't know, CJ Parker is now known as Juice Robinson and we got a young Tyler Breeze (Mike Dalton) here. Cameron bullrushes Parker to start with takedown punches before knocking Dalton off the apron. Cameron heaves Parker in the corner and stomps away before tagging in Conor to do the same thing. They frequently tag to stomp and drop elbows on Parker.. Cameron screams and tags in Conor before hitting a jawbreaker. Parker turns right into a flapjack by Conor who Ross calls The Downcast. Conor covers for 1..2....3 and that's it. Ascension makes quick work of Juice & Breeze to establish them as mean looking fellas. Cameron and Conor pose over the fallen Parker as we go to the replay. Regal says the rest of the roster is in a panic over them. Standard jobber match, not much to say.

Time of match: 1:18

Winners: The Ascension by pinfall

We go to a vignette of another fella making his debut, a weirdo named Bray Wyatt. Hmmm, where have we seen him before? Its Husky Harris under a new gimmick. He cuts a promo saying monsters and boogeyman are real. Of course he's real, he beat Booker T at Wrestlemania! We then cut to Derek Bateman, today known as EC3 looking for Johnny Curtis, now known as Fandango, in the bathroom.  Next week its going to be Bateman vs Curtis in the main event. Its funny how Curtis towers over Bateman and Bateman admonishes him for not washing his hands. Curtis says he's going to win next week and washes his hands on Bateman's shirt. Derek calls Johnny a dirtbag as we cut. Today Curtis is known as Dirty Dango on the indies so I guess this is where he got the "dirty" part from. Anyway let's go to the main event.

Match 3

Tyson Kidd vs Michael McGillicutty

Both these guys had their runs in WWE before being sent down to NXT to get some fresh feuds. Both of them will be back on the main roster but for now they go one on one here to show the "rookies" how its done. Before the match, Regal calls Johnny Curtis a "dirty, filthy swine." The match starts and Regal says Kidd started wrestling when he was 12 years old in the Dungeon. Ironically Kidd came from the Hart clan and their battles with Michael's father Mr. Perfect are well documented. They lock up and Kidd gets in an armringer before Michael grabs the rope. Ross explains the rope break rule as Kidd gets in a headlock. Kidd and Michael exchange go-behinds as Regal says both men have evilness about them that he respects. Kidd and McGillicutty circle before Kidd gets in another headlock before exchanging takedowns. Kidd drops McGillicutty and Michael bails to the outside to stall for some heat. The crowd chants and Kidd caters to them as Michael gets back in. Michael gets a greco-roman knucklelock to gain control but Kidd springboards into an armdrag as Regal says its wonderful to watch. Regal says Kidd was heavily influenced by Owen Hart which makes sense since Kidd made his debut in 95 when Owen was still alive. He also says the aggression he sees in McGillicutty reminds him of Mr. Perfect and Larry "The Axe" Hennig. Michael kicks at him in the corner and hits a snap suplex. Michael covers for a deuce but puts his head down and eats a boot. Kidd clotheslines Michael over the top to the floor and Tyson hits a suicide dive through the ropes. We cut to commercial and when we come back Kidd rams Michael's head into the buckle. Tyson stomps on Michael and hits a dropkick. A cover gets a deuce and Michael blocks a headscissors attempt to throw Tyson on the apron. Tyson goes for the shoulderblock but Michael blocks it with a knee. Michael nails a second rope neckbreaker and covers for 1...2.. nope. Michael rakes the ear across the apron and Regal likes that. Jim Ross "You're essentially an evil man." Regal "Yes." Kidd takes a sternum bump into the corner and Michael covers for another deuce. Michael locks in a chinlock but Kidd powers out of it. Kidd tiltawhirls into a sunset flip for a two count and Michael hits a powerful clothesline to stop the momentum. Another lateral press gets a two and ties Kidd into the tree of woe. Michael pounds away on the chest and chokes him from under the bottom rope. Michael covers for 1...2..nope. Michael goes for the Tajiri dropkick but Kidd rolls up, sending Michael nut first into the ringpost. Kidd strikes with hard kicks to the quadriceps and one to the face. A dropkick drops Michael and covers for 1..2....nooooo. Michael runs into a boot and a kick on the apron. Kidd springboards but Michael counters with a dropkick of his own. Michael covers for 1...2...nooo, Tyson gets the shoulder up at the last second. Michael sets up Tyson for a superplex but Tyson shoves him down. Tyson comes off the top with a moonsault but the cover only gets two. Kidd goes for the Dungeon Lock but Michael holds onto the apron to kick him off. Michael then hits a Saito suplex then covers for 1...2...nope. Michael applies the sharpshooter to add insult to injury but Kidd makes it to the ropes. Michael goes for the Perfect Plex but Kidd counters with an inside cradle for 1...2...nope. Kidd rolls up Michael then finally applies the Dungeon Lock. Michael taps and this one's over, Kidd wins it. Regal says he's proud to be a wrestler and there's no losers here. He's right about that, that was a great match and the crowd salutes it. McGillicutty made one mistake and Kidd made him pay. We go to the highlights and Kidd salutes the crowd after its over. That was a hell of a match between two guys that know what they're doing. Kidd had been wrestling for 17 years at that point and Michael 5. They were perfect to end this show by showing what veterans can do. As the FCW stars began to migrate toward NXT the vets would be called up to the main roster and anyone not getting over would get the boot. No way in hell these two were getting the boot, both had a future.

Time of match: 14:06

Winner: Tyson Kidd by pinfall

Ross and Regal sign off and that's it for the first episode of the "new" NXT. With the FCW stars such as Rollins, Wyatt and Cesaro coming, it was the end for what people called "NXT Red". It was only the beginning as NXT as been WWE's version of Triple A baseball ever since. Basically half of the crew for Wrestlemania 30 were in or going to be in NXT around this time. That's how great a crop WWE had at the time. They also had the perfect team in Regal and Ross to do the commentary as Ross shills his ass off for anyone in the ring and Regal puts over any and all dirty, underhanded tactics he himself would have done. All in all this was pretty good for a "debut" show that was now trying to take itself seriously after that weird period where NXT Redemption just kind of ended with no notice. Next week we got Curtis vs Bateman, the debut of Antonio Cesaro and the debut of Seth Rollins. That should be good.