Commentators: Byron Saxon & William Regal
Championship’s roll call: WWE Champion: CM Punk… World Champion: Sheamus… Intercontinental Champion: The Miz… United States Champion: Antonio Cesaro… Tag Team Champions: Kofi Kingston & R-Truth… NXT Champion: Vacant… Diva’s Champion: Layla
Seth Rollins discusses winning the NXT title and how anyone can win. We get clips of him winning the title spliced in. We also see him celebrating with the fans. Seth adds the “new guard” will rise up.
Richie Steamboat vs. Kassius Ohno: This was brought on from an incident two weeks ago. They lock up and Steamboat applies a side headlock; he nails a shoulderblock and Ohno shoves him. Richie gets a little hotheaded and Kassius retreats into the ropes to frustrate him. Steamboat responds with Dragon Chops and nails some head-butts. William Regal feels that Richie is meaner than his dad; Kassius gets a boot up in the corner but Steamboat backdrops him and continues to chop away. Ohno just pokes him in the eye REALLY pissing off the referee. Steamboat sells it like death but still fights back. Ohno rakes Steamboat’s eyes again so the referee disqualifies him. Post-match, Ohno lays Richie out from behind and presses him into the guardrail. Back in the ring, he kayos Steamboat with a roaring elbow. A concerned Ricky Steamboat runs into the ring and gives the referees a piece of his mind. 6.5/10 I actually liked that ending. It shows that the NXT referees are not to be fucked with. No one loses or jobs and it keeps Ohno’s viscous heat on and Steamboat gets a win. The beat-down was good. As far as the match goes it was not so great but as angle advancement it was excellent.
Here is your winner… Richie Steamboat @ about 5:55 via DQ.
Audrey Marie vs. Paige: They lock up and Marie applies a chinlock; they wrestle on the mat and Paige whips her onto her back. She unless her inner heel and pulls up on her arms while standing on her hair; a catfight breaks out and Marie winds up with a body scissors roll. She charges in the corner but Paige LAYS HER OUT with a forearm smash. She screams like Daffney and hits a package DDT for three. 3/10 This was fine; Paige is a pretty good worker and that finisher was pretty deadly.
Here is your winner… Paige @ about 3:00 via package DDT pinfall.
In the back Rickie Steamboat runs into Kassius Ohno (in his Buddy Holly GLASSES and hair tied back). He taunts him about his injured son and gets into a shoving match with the Dragon. Referees separate them and Ohno teases him with “whatta gonna do, ARM DRAG me?” There’s that Chris Hero personality.
“Showtime” Percy Watson vs. Leo Kruger: Kruger is not wearing trunks anymore but in khakis with the boots tucked in. He smiles and looks insane. They lock up and Kruger pounds away; he hits a nice snap-suplex and sledges the crap out of Watson. He beats the tar out of him in the corner and gets a nearfall. Leo is acting like a deranged sociopath. Percy tries a comeback with a forearm but Kruger slams him. He misses an elbow drop; Watson tries another comeback and hits a nice pair of dropkicks. He nails the Showtime Splash for two. Kruger changes the momentum with a Stungun and hangman’s neckbreaker into a faceplant for the three. 4.5/10 Complete squash to establish Kruger’s new crazy character; I think he is supposed to be a deranged animal poacher or big game hunter, but I’m not sure. I like this character better than the bland “South African royalty” he was doing.
Here is your winner… Leo Kruger @ about 4:50 via neckbreaker into a faceplant pinfall.
“Funkasaurus” Brodus Clay vs. Ryan Collins: Jim Ross joins for commentary. They lock up and Clay tosses his opponent around. He squishes Collins in the corner with an avalanche. He nails the Schuplex and the rhino head-butt. Funk It splash ends the decimation. Post-match, the kids dance. 2.5/10 Squash for the kiddies in the crowd.
Here is your winner… Brodus Clay @ about 1:00 via Funk It splash pinfall.
The Usos vs. The Ascension: This is the battle of the awesome entrances. Last week O’Brian and Cameron laid out the Usos, Jimmy and Jey are looking for some revenge here. We still got Jim Ross on commentary. Jimmy and Cameron start and Jey and O’Brian waste no time getting involved as well; the Usos clear the ring. Cameron charges right back in and immediately gets extricated once again. Back from commercial, the Usos hit a tandem splash in the corner. Jimmy tags and they hit more tandem moves with a double elbow drop. O’Brian blind tags in and levels Jimmy with a clothesline for two. They begin the quick tag mudhole stomping in the corner. Connor applies a wrenching body scissors. Cameron paces anxiously on the apron. Cameron tags in and hits a unique rolling neckbreaker stretch; even William Regal does not have a name for it. Ascension continues to torture Jimmy with armbars. O’Brian tags in and hits rolling side headlock takeovers. Jimmy tries to fight back and kicks O’Brian in the chest. The tag is cut off and Jey Gibsons his way into the ring allowing more damage to his twin brother. Cameron tags back in and drops a high angle elbow drop. Cameron applies a seated keylock. They continue their dominance and work more chinlocks and headlock; Uso finally gets a boot up in the corner to stop Ascension’s momentum. Jey tags in and he runs over Cameron and hits a twirling reverse back elbow. The Samoan Avalanche sets up something… we’ll never know because O’Brian runs in. Jey dispatches with him and superkicks Cameron. Jey heads up but O’Brian distracts him; Jey survives and kicks O’Brian back to the floor. Jimmy then wipes him out with a huge plancha. Cameron leaps onto the ropes to cause Jey to fall and crotch himself. Ooh, that looked ugly. Cameron nails Velvet Noise to get the Ascension the win. 6.5/10 Very good tag match; Ascension continues to dominate and they do it in convincingly strong fashion. They have great characters and the gothic gimmick always remains popular.
Here are your winners… Ascension @ about 9:10 (broadcast) via Velvet Noise pinfall.
Jim Ross is in the ring to interview the new NXT champion, Seth Rollins. He puts on a NXT t-shirt. JR asks him how he overcame the injured back to defeat Jinder Mahal. Rollins said that Mahal called him a “born loser”. Rollins has heard that before and used it a s “bulletin board” material to win the match. Ross then discusses being the champ and having a target on his back. Rollins says eventually everyone gets Blacked Out. JR concludes the interview and Rollins celebrates his title win by twirling the belt overhead as the show ends. 4/10 Good but short, perhaps too short; Rollins barely said anything on note except he’s not a loser and is ready for the challenge. Although, if this promo had gone on and on it could have been much worse than this one.
OVERALL 5/10 Fun show as usual; we got some angle development in the beginning, a retooled character and an excellent tag match. Hey, even the champ had something to say. Good show as usual but one of the weaker versions.
