NXT Arrival Review

Thursday, February 27th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Triple H is out with lasers and Earthquake's entrance music, which I 100% for sure did not remember. 

Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro

It's very apparent right off the bat that this show is live. You can actually feel the energy from the live crowd here. Cesaro catches Zayn's hurricanrana, but Zayn counters out of it and then hits a senton dive to the outside. I actually was in Orlando when this event occurred, but I was unable to get tickets. On a side note though, Michael Hayes was on my connecting flight to Atlanta and he was dressed exactly how you would expect him to be dressed. They brawl a bit outside of the ring and Cesaro throws him into the guardrail. Zayn goes for his dive through the ropes, but Cesaro hits him with a big uppercut. Absolutely awesome. Cesaro is working on the knee now, while William Regal gushes over how good he is. He isn't wrong. Zayn buys himself some time by hitting a variation of a dropkick. Zayn goes for a springboard moonsault to the floor, but Cesaro catches him and slams him on the ramp. Zayn hits an exploder suplex into the corner and gets a 2 count. Zayn hits the Blue Thunder Bomb and again gets a 2 count. Zayn puts on the Koji Clutch, but Cesaro rolls out of it and into a leg submission. It's time for the Cesaro Swing, but Zayn counters into a pin, but Cesaro kicks out and this time hits the Cesaro Swing. Cesaro hits a big stomp to the face of Zayn and that looked painful. Zayn goes for a top rope hurricanrana, but Cesaro catches him and is going for a powerbomb. Zayn counters the counter and into a hurricanrana. He hits the Helluva Kick and Cesaro barely kicks out. They start hockey fighting, but Zayn hits a suplex out of nowhere. Zayn then runs right into a big boot. The crowd is now giving them a standing ovation after Cesaro kicked out of a Canadian Destroyer. Cesaro hits a pop up uppercut and Zayn is able to kick out at 1. Cesaro this time hits a spinning uppercut and then the Neutralizer for the victory. That was flipping fantastic and a much stronger match than the 2-out-of-3 falls match in my opinion.

Match Rating: ****1/2

After the match, Cesaro pulls Zayn up and they hug. All of that very much felt like real emotion. 

CJ Parker vs. Mojo Rawley

Rawley really hasn't been on NXT TV a ton and when he was, he was one of the least impressive. Parker recently turned heel and has been doing a pretty good job with it. Rawley hits two splashes in the corner and then Hyperdrive, which is one of the worst finishers I can think of. That's enough to get the win. Rawley continues to be unimpressive. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show Emma getting ready backstage and that leads into a video package of Emma. 

This leads into a video package of the Ascension. 

NXT Tag Team Championship Match

The Ascension vs. Too Cool

Too Cool are the mystery opponents here tonight. And would you look at that, they have a video package of them on demand. I'm not sure they really got the nostalgia pop they were hoping for here. Scotty 2 Hotty turned into such a jobber for the end of his career and Brian Christopher basically disappeared from WWE for years. Scotty is shaved bald here and Christopher has his dad's genes. The Ascension dominates Christopher from the get go. Grand Master Sexay finally makes the tag and of course this all leads up to the worm, but Viktor grabs him before he can hit it. They hit Fall of Man and that's it. This was...not very good. The Ascension are not a team that can carry an older team to a good match. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

They show a Paige hype video. They then show Ric Flair and Charlotte in the crowd. It really is pretty remarkable how different Charlotte looks.

NXT Women's Championship Match

Emma vs. Paige

Stephanie McMahon comes out before either competitor is announced. We get a really nice start to the match, with Paige getting the early advantage. Emma fights back and goes for an Emma Sandwich. Paige puts a boot up, but Emma catches it and goes for the Emma Lock. Paige is able to get out of it and greets Emma with a series of high knees. Emma gets the Dil-Emma on and then this time is able to hit the Emma Sandwich. Emma slows it down with a submission hold. They both end up at the top rope. Emma goes for a sunset flip powerbomb, but Paige blocks. Emma is able to pull her away and hits a sit down powerbomb for a 2 count. The crowd chants "Better than Batista" for that one. Paige is able to hit the Paige Turner and Emma is able to kick out. The crowd didn't sell that as much as they probably had hoped. Paige puts her in an awesome submission that Regal says is called the Scorpion Cross Lock and Emma taps. This wasn't as good as what they were going for, but was miles better than what we were used to being presented. They were given time, I just think they kind of ran out of steam towards the end. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Now it's time for Neville's video package. Pat Patterson and Dusty Rhodes are in the crowd. 

Xavier Woods vs. Tyler Breeze

Before they can even get started, out comes Alexander Rusev. Woods and Breeze try to fight him off, but Rusev destroys them both. I wish they would have had him do this during the Mojo match. 

No Rating

It's time for Bo Dallas to get a hype video. 

Ladder Match For The NXT Championship

Adrian Neville vs. Bo Dallas

So this time Shawn Michaels comes out to introduce the match. Neville hits a quick burst of his signature offense, but Bo is able to slow him down rather quickly. Bo hits a clothesline that turns Neville inside out. Bo ties Neville's leg in the ropes while hanging upside down and Bo goes and grabs a ladder. Bo takes forever and a day, allowing Neville to hit a baseball slide and then a dive over the top rope. Bo throws Neville into the steps, giving him a moment to recover. Bo tries to spear Neville with it, but Neville ducks and hits a back body drop on the ramp. Neville is able to climb the ladder, but Bo launches the ladder to knock him off. Bo traps Neville under the ladder, but Neville uses his strength to push the ladder over and Bo kind of just sorta falls on the top rope. Neville runs up the sideways ladder and ropes to hit a tornado DDT. Neville throws Bo into the ladder and he then takes forever to get a ladder up to climb. Bo is climbing up the other side now and they battle on the top. Bo grabs Neville's arm and pulls him into the ladder. Bo is able to throw Neville off the top rope and to the floor. Bo hits a buckle bomb into the ladder in the corner. Neville fights back and puts Bo on a ladder. Neville hits the Red Arrow and both men are in pain. Bo has rolled out of the ring for some reason and Neville begins to climb. Bo rolls in, but Neville is able to grab the title. That was one of the worst endings to a ladder match that I can think of. The match itself was on the weaker side for ladder matches as well. Bo's title run is among the weakest in NXT history. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Sami Zayn and Cesaro set the bar a little too high with their incredible match here. The rest of the card was just a little too weak to really showcase what this roster is capable of. They are still a few additions away from putting on a really strong show. This isn't technically a TakeOver, but I consider it to be one and it's definitely the weakest one. It's not all negative though because this is a pleasant show for the most part, it's just a big drop off after the opener.

Overall Rating: 66%