Original Airdate: Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Shawn Michaels is in the ring to start things off. He announces a tournament to crown the first NXT Tag Team Championships.
Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Match
The Wyatt Family vs. Yoshi Tatsu & Percy Watson
Yoshi's music is always good for a laugh. They get a little bit of offense on Rowan until he catches Yoshi and hits a backbreaker. Bray Wyatt is watching in the rocking chair from the ramp. The Wyatt's cut the ring in half, but Yoshi makes the hot tag to Watson. It doesn't last long, as Harper hits a clothesline and gets the pin. This is about as uninspired tag team match as you will ever see.
Match Rating: 1/4* (out of 5)
Dusty Rhodes tells Alex Riley and Derrick Bateman that they will be fighting Leo Kruger and Kassius Ohno in the tournament next week. Corey Graves comes in complaining that he won't be in the tournament and then Riley steps up to him and calls him a circus boy. Dusty tells Graves that no one wanted to be his partner, including Jake Carter. He then says they should have a match tonight.
Alicia Fox vs. Sasha Banks
Sasha is in full smile and wave babyface mode here. Fox has the rare ability to make every match look like it's her first match. It's funny that in 2013 they had to say without any irony that Alicia Fox was one of the best women on the roster. Sasha hits some of her now signature moves. Sasha counters the body slam and gets the quick victory. The announcers telegraphed this finish and then didn't even really sell it afterwards. Sasha looked good though.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They show a Paige promo.
Renee Young alert! Her first ever interview is Aksana, who says 2013 is going to be her year. I bet it won't be.
Jake Carter vs. Corey Graves
One of the worst quirks that WWE has is acknowledging when someone is the son or daughter of a famous wrestler, but still pretending that they have a different last name for some reason. Back and forth they go. Graves out of nowhere hits a shoulder to the knee of Carter and puts him in the 13th Step for the submission victory. This was another match with no heat at all. After the match, Graves grabs the mic and says that he was screwed out of a rematch for the NXT Championship and then he's not allowed in the tag team tournament. Since he can't be in the tournament, he's declaring anarchy on NXT.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Bo Dallas and Michael McGillicutty are backstage and Bo asks him why he helped him. McGillicutty says it's a new year and a new him. They shake hands. Absolutely fabulous TV here.
Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Match
3MB vs. Adrian Neville & Oliver Grey
McIntyre and Slater are representing 3MB. It's amazing how much more intimidating McIntyre is in 2019 than he is here. It only takes about 30 seconds for Neville to show how talented he is. Neville does a somersault dive over the top rope which is kind of ruined because McIntyre just stood there and watched him do it. It really never made sense that McIntyre was in 3MB. Slater hits a big kick and gets a 2 count. The ref is getting out the gloves, so we must have a little bit of blood. Hot tag to Neville. Neville goes up top hits the Red Arrow and that's enough to win the match and bring the crowd to their feet. That was about as good of a match as we get on NXT in this time period.
Match Rating: **1/2
Axl Keegan vs. Big E Langston
Not that it matters, but this is a non-title match. Keegan is a big guy, so it doesn't look like your typical squash. But don't worry, it still is. Within 30 seconds he hits the Big Ending and gets the 3 count. Of course, Big E wants 5. He puts him up for the Big Ending again, but the lights go out and Konnor goes on the big screen and says that in two weeks he'll show Big E about the 5 count. Big E still hits the Big Ending and counts to 5. The crowd wants more and he gives it to him
Match Rating: 1/4*
Much like Superstars, all I ask for is one good match on each episode and this one did that. However, the rest of the show was pretty ho hum. There just isn't enough star power to the show yet and just too few wrestlers that show any real promise. The good thing is Sasha and Neville are both about to become mainstays and that can only improve the overall quality.
Overall Rating: 49%
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