Original Airdate: Wednesday, January 1st, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
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Out comes Lana to kick off 2014 and introduce Rusev.
Alexander Rusev vs. Kofi Kingston
It feels like an eternity since I have seen Kofi come out to "S.O.S.". After doing a quick browsing of early 2014 pay-per-views, it seems like Kofi was doing a whole lot of nothing up on the main roster. Rusev overpowers Kofi to start. Kofi hits a dropkick and a Boom Drop and then signals for Trouble In Paradise. Rusev counters, but Kofi hits a leaping springboard crossbody off the top rope for a close call. Kofi goes up top, but Lana distracts him and Rusev is able to throw Kofi off. He immediately puts him in the Accolade and gets the victory. I didn't see Kofi losing that quickly here. This was pretty good, but way too short to mean much more than that.
Overall Rating: *3/4
Sylvester Lefort is backstage for an interview and he's looking for a new client. In walks Bull Dempsey, but Lefort tells him that he is too fat. Mason Ryan is next, but he stuffs money in Lefort's mouth. Well, this was pretty terrible.
#1 Contender For The NXT Women's Championship Match
Natalya vs. Emma
Things get off to a nice start here with some back and forth wrestling and Emma getting in a few pin attempts. Emma puts in the Dil-Emma, but Natalya hits a discus clothesline. After a very unique submission by Natalya, she goes for a Sharpshooter, but Emma rolls her up for a 2 count. Emma locks in the Emma Lock and Natalya taps. That was going along very nicely until the abrupt ending. That's two matches that were much too short tonight.
Match Rating: **
It's time for a sing off between Colin Cassady and Aiden English. Cassady does better than expected and the crowd votes him as the winner. But before it can be announced, English attacks him and retreats to the back.
Tyler Breeze vs. Mason Ryan
Breeze attacks and we're underway. Out comes Lefort in a shocking development. Ryan dumps Breeze on the top rope and then goes outside to hit Lefort. On his way back in the ring, Breeze hits a Beauty Shot and gets the victory. Yet another disappointingly short match here.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Two-Out-Of-Three-Falls Match
Leo Kruger vs. Sami Zayn
Kruger starts off in control until Zayn hits an exploder suplex into the turnbuckle. He follows it up with the Helluva Kick and scores the first fall, putting him up 1-0. Zayn goes for a superplex, but Kruger knocks him to the floor. Upon his arrival back into the ring, Kruger hits a big DDT for a 2 count. Zayn goes for a springboard move, but Kruger hits him with a forearm instead. Zayn goes up top, but again Kruger slows him down. Zayn this time pushes him off, but misses with the crossbody. Kruger finally gets the hammerlock in the middle of the ring. Zayn scratches and claws his way to the bottom rope. Zayn tries making his comeback, but out comes the spinebuster from Kruger. Zayn blocks the clothesline and hits a flatliner. Zayn puts on the Koji Clutch and Kruger taps. Zayn gets the decisive 2-0 victory here tonight. Not the show stealer that we are used to from Zayn, but a good enough main event here to kick off 2014.
Match Rating: **1/4
This episode felt a bit rushed tonight with the ladies in particular deserving a few more minutes to tell their story. With that being said, the episode never dragged and gave victories to the two breakout performers of 2013 over credible opponents. All in all, a better than average episode.
Overall Rating: 60%
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