NXT 3-20-13 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Justin Gabriel vs. Leo Kruger

Gabriel shows off a little aggression here, throwing Kruger around by his hair. Kruger comes back and throws Gabriel down. He hits him with an elbow and follows it up with some stomps. Gabriel tries to fight back, but Kruger hits a pretty nice looking spinebuster on him for a 2 count. Gabriel hits a desperation suplex and then follows up with a dropkick to the legs, sending Kruger into the turnbuckle. Gabriel goes up top for the 450 splash after a series of kicks, but Kruger rolls away. This may be the most impressive match I have seen Kruger in. Kruger is able to put a submission hold on, but Gabriel is able to crawl to the ropes. Kruger hits a unique move on Gabriel's shoulder/elbow and then puts him back in the submission for the victory. That was Kruger's best NXT match that I can think of. Gabriel was always a good hand.

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

Renee Young is with Audrey Marie. She says that Sasha knows she is coming for her and there is nothing she can do about it.

William Regal is in the ring and apologizes for his unprofessional actions last week. He calls out Kassius Ohno to apologize to him. Regal offers his hand to him, but Ohno talks about his history with Regal. He starts to go off on him for not being a villain anymore and that he is now a joke. He keeps going off until Regal slaps him across the face. Ohno did a good job on the sell.

Bayley vs. Paige

This is Bayley's NXT debut. The announcers are selling how this is a dream come true for her and gets in some early offense. She puts Paige in an arm bar. Paige snaps and starts stomping Bayley in the corner. Paige quickly gets her in a Sharpshooter type submission and Bayley taps. Summer Rae is out, but Paige sees her and she backs off. Bayley showed some good technique, but this was just a quick squash for Paige.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Adrian Neville vs. Luke Harper

Neville charges at Harper, but eats a big boot. Harper shows off his unique abilities for his size and I can't help but think being in the Wyatt Family may have been the worst thing for him. I have been reviewing all of the WWE in the year 2005 on here as well and it just blows my mind that they were giving guys like Heidenreich, Luther Reigns and Matt Morgan chances and yet they never found a true spot for Harper. After a long beatdown by Harper, Neville fires back with some forearms. Neville then hits a kick to the head and a missile dropkick for a 2 count. Neville hits a somersault over the top onto Erick Rowan. Harper charges after him and Neville ducks, sending Harper outside. Neville then hits a springboard moonsault. Neville goes up top, but Wyatt distracts the ref. He fights off Rowan, but the numbers game gets to him. Harper hits a lariat and gets the victory. These guys are capable of better, but this was still quite good for 2013 NXT. After the match, the Wyatts are looking to inflict more damage on Neville but out comes Oliver Grey. The Wyatts take care of him and out comes Bo Dallas. The faces come out on top and the Wyatts head to the back.

Match Rating: ***

Well, would you look at that? A good show top to bottom here for NXT. Finally. The two feature matches were both entertaining, the Paige showcase made sense and the Regal/Ohno segment was a breath of fresh air. Nice work here and it will be interesting to see if this was just a coincidence or if it's the beginning of a major improvement for the yellow brand.

Overall Rating: 66%