NXT 8-8-12 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida

We get a solid promo about the Gold Rush Tournament to start the show.

Gold Rush Tournament Match
Michael McGillicutty vs. Justin Gabriel
We get a nice little bit of mat wrestling from Gabriel to start the match. Gabriel dominated the first few minutes. As soon as we come back from commercial, McGillicutty is now in control. I feel like there is no excuse for that on a taped show. Bring us back to where the change in momentum happens. Gabriel goes off the second rope but McGillicutty hits a dropkick for a nearfall. Both men go for the cross body and they are both down. Gabriel gets in some kicks and eventually a sit down powerbomb. I'm still shocked they didn't get more out of Gabriel. McGillicutty does a roll through into a Perfect Plex for a 2 count. Springboard moonsault by Gabriel misses and McGillicutty hits the running neckbreaker for the victory. Everything they did was well executed, but the match itself was pretty blah.

Match Rating: ** (out of 5)

CJ Parker vs. Kassius Ohno
Parker is already getting in more offense than I thought he would. After his opening burst, it is all Ohno as it should be here. After a missed boot and clothesline, Parker is now on fire. The crowd is not into Parker at all. Parker gets a running start right into a big boot by Ohno. Ohno then hits him with a clubbing elbow to the back of the head for a victory. I enjoy squash matches like that.

Match Rating: *1/2

They show an interview from last week from Jason Jordan and Mike Dalton. They cut a pretty cheesy promo about how they beat Smackdown Superstars.

We get a vignette for The Ascension. I still don't get why they changed them to whatever they are now.

Paige & Tamina Snuka vs. Caylee Turner & Kaitlyn
Tamina, Paige and Kaitlyn would all fall under my least favorite female superstars. So obviously I have high hopes here. This has the feeling of what I would imagine a training session at the Performance Center would be like. Just a bunch of moves, tag, bunch of moves, tag. No real story until they finally have Tamina worn down. Tamina finally makes the hot tag to Paige, who hits some shoulder tackles. Paige then gets a small package to get the win. This was really bad.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Bateman walks up to Bo Dallas and isn't happy about not being in the tournament even though Bo cost them the tag team match. But they're cool. Awesome.

Gold Rush Tournament Match
Bo Dallas vs. Jinder Mahal
This is a match I was hoping I would never see and I'm going to guess that this won't help me from dozing off on the couch. After a whole bunch of nothing, Bo goes for a couple of quick pins, but only gets 2. After the commercial, Mahal is now in control. Man, Mahal really needed some better offense. How in the world was this the main event? After what seems like an eternity, Bo is in contol. This match is harder to recap than the Superstars squashes that I have been doing. Jinder finally gets him in the Camel Clutch and after a little bit, Dallas submits. That was not a good match.

Match Rating: 1/2*

I like the focus, but this crop of talent is just very lackluster. It truly is amazing how different this show became about 2 years later. I just can't wait until they move on from guys like Bo Dallas and Jinder Mahal.

Overall Rating: 26%