WWE NXT - October 16, 2013
by Samoa Rowe
-From Orlando, FL. Our hosts are (recently released) Tony Dawson, William Regal, and Renee Young.
-We start with a major league hype video for Sami Zayn vs. NXT Champion Bo Dallas. More thought has gone into this rivalry than anything I’ve seen on Raw in the past couple months.
NXT Tag Team Championship:
The Ascension © (Rick Victor and Conor O’Brian) vs. Adrian Neville and Corey Graves
Graves is off to a hot start against Victor. Graves applies a head scissors over the ropes. Neville tags himself in and delivers a springboard missile drop-kick. O’Brian distracts long enough for Neville to miss a high flying opportunity. O’Brian trips Neville from the apron to shift the momentum as we head to commercial. After the break, The Ascension are in firm control of Neville, making quick tags to keep him isolated. Neville makes an awkward landing and might have legitimately hurt his leg. Graves gets the hot tag and cleans house on The Ascension. Graves locks O’Brian in his Lucky 13 submission, but Victor makes the save. Neville limps back in, but O’Brian drop-kicks the hurt knee, so mystery solved. Neville counters with a good knee to the face, but O’Brian drop-kicks him into Graves. Technically, Graves is the legal man, but The Ascension still finish Neville with TOTAL ELIMINATION at 7:40! That finish indicates this feud is far from finished. The match was nothing special, but serviceable as a middle chapter in a longer story, **.Winners and still NXT Tag Team Champions: The Ascension
-Graves scolds Neville for the loss, but helps him to his feet anyway… only to CHOP BLOCK THE HURT KNEE! So much for them rallying over Neville not being the legal man when he was pinned.
Tyler Breeze vs. CJ Parker
Breeze talks some smack and gets chopped for his trouble. Parker spins Breeze around on his shoulders, sending him to ringside to recover. Parker delivers a sunset flip while Regal hits on Young on commentary. Breeze takes control and finds time to admire himself on his phone. Parker fakes him out on a strike and builds some steam. Breeze delivers a blind thumb to the eye and finishes it with a leg lariat at 3:16. They kept things simple and let their personalities carry the match, *.Winner: Tyler Breeze
-Breeze tries to take a selfie of himself and his vanquished opponent, but Parker regains his bearings and puts Tyler down with a big punch. Parker takes Tyler’s phone to take selfies with numerous fans.
NXT Women’s Champion Paige and Emma vs. Summer Rae and Sasha Banks
I haven’t been this excited to see a WWE divas match since… I don’t know… Trish vs. Mickie? Paige insists on starting the match and grounds Sasha with a Lou Thesz press. The ref pulls Paige off of Sasha, but Paige takes the fight to Summer as well. Summer quickly retreats, instructing Sasha to duke it out with Emma. Summer pulls Emma’s hair from the apron to give Sasha the advantage. Summer drives Emma’s head into the mat and rolls her over for an innovative cover. Emma reverses an arm submission and rolls into a hot tag to Paige. Fisherman suplex on Summer by Paige, but Sasha makes the save. Summer comes back with a standing leg drop for the win at 5:48. Surprising clean finish for Summer. Good outing that might have become great with some more time, **.Winners: Summer Rae and Sasha Banks
NXT Championship:
Bo Dallas © vs. Sami Zayn
The crowd is ready for this one with “Ole!” and “No more Bo” chants. They feel each other out to a “Bo has cooties” chant. They come to a stalemate as a “Pocahontas” chant directed at Bo breaks out. Dallas turns up the aggression with some knee strikes. Dallas slows it down with a cravat. Zayn explodes with a clothesline and a back body drop. The Yakuza Kick gets a 3 count, but Dallas had his foot on the ropes. NXT GM John Bradshaw Layfield storms out and restarts the match. The bell rings and Dallas nails a desperate running elbow. Cue the commercial! After the break, Zayn is breaking a chinlock, but Dallas remains in control. Zayn pulls the ropes to send Dallas to ringside for a running dive! High cross body by Zayn only gets 2! Dallas blocks the Yakuza kick, but Zayn delivers a Falcon’s Arrow for another near fall! Dallas desperately nails Sliced Bread #2 for a 2 count. Inverted DDT by Dallas but Zayn kicks out! Zayn bounces back with a spear, but DALLAS KICKS OUT! Dallas counters Zayn’s tornado DDT set-up and nails the spear FOR ONLY TWO! Zayn desperately counters a superplex with a sunset flip power bomb! DALLAS KICKS OUT AGAIN! Sami delivers rolling German suplexes, but Dallas counters with an exposed turnbuckle. That’s enough for Dallas to steal the pinfall at 17:10! Emotionally exhausting match here, with Zayn using every last trick he had, and Dallas only surviving due to circumstance. Dark horse MOTYC here, ****¼.Winner and still NXT Champion: Bo Dallas
Final Thoughts: I think the Raw, Smackdown, TNA, and ROH writers need to start paying attention to what’s happening on NXT, as this is exactly how an episodic wrestling show should be booked. This episode brought four feuds to a head and set the foundation for more storylines going forward (Graves vs. Neville, Summer vs. Paige). You need to check this episode out, as it felt like the NXT version of a pay-per-view. Enthusiastic thumbs up.
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