NXT 1-16-13 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, January 16th, 2013
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Adrian Neville vs. Sakamoto

Here is the NXT debut of Adrian Neville. He wins over the crowd pretty quickly with his athleticism. Sakamoto then completely sucks the air out of the building with rest holds. Neville hits a flurry of moves that gains him no reaction, even though they are fantastic. Neville then goes up top and hits the Red Arrow to a big applause and picks up the victory. They could have gave him a more talented opponent, but regardless Neville still looked impressive.

Match Rating: 1/2* (out of 5)

Leo Kruger vs. Trent Barreta

Well we're two matches in and we already have two guys who are on the AEW roster here in 2019. Kassius Ohno joins the commentary team. Kruger is just so miscast in this gimmick. Trent hits a springboard elbow and follows it up with a missile dropkick off the top. Kruger counters a DDT attempt into a half crab. Barreta follows it up with a leaping senton over the top rope. Kassius leaves the booth and interferes, allowing Kruger to hit his finisher for the victory. The referees come down and talk it over that Barreta is the winner of the match by disqualification. Trenty was trying his best, but Kruger sucked the life out of the building.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Big E Langston welcomes everyone to a new era but then Camacho interrupts him and says that they have a beef. Camacho wants the title and he says that he will take it from him tonight.

NXT Championship Match
Big E Langston vs. Camacho

William Regal questions Camacho's intelligence by challenging Big E here. Big E no sells Camacho's punches and hits five knee lifts to the gut. Big E hits the Big Finish and gets the victory. They continue to sell Big E as unstoppable. The crowd wants a 5 count and so he gives it to them. And then he does it again.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Damien Sandow & Antonio Cesaro vs. Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd

Here's a match that has some potential, although this era of NXT isn't typically balls to the wall like we see today. It's a little weird that they have Cesaro with Sandow instead of Cody Rhodes here, who I believe he was tagging with at the time. After some back and forth for the first couple of minutes, Cesaro and Sandow cut the ring in half with Gabriel. Hot tag to Kidd, who hits a springboard dropkick on Sandow. He goes for the Sharpshooter, but Cesaro interferes. Gabriel hits a springboard moonsault and Kidd hits the elbow drop for a semi-surprising victory for Kidd and Gabriel. The main events on these shows continue to feel like house show matches. This was technically fine, but I know all four men are capable of a lot more when allowed.

Match Rating: **1/4

Well, we go the debut of Neville, who will go on to be one of NXT's biggest stars and a solid main event. Big E continues to dominate and I'm curious to see who they will have be his first contender be. Every week there are positives, but overall the show still feels like it's in a little bit of a funk.

Overall Rating: 42%