Original Airdate: Thursday, March 6th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Well, I can finally write about something else other than 1994 WWF as Peacock continues to try to get as much of the content loaded as they can. They show a recap of NXT Arrival, which was where I left off.
Adrian Neville vs. Camacho
Neville is fresh off his NXT Championship win, while Camacho gets the "already in the ring" treatment. After some smooth offense from Neville, Camacho actually gets a powerslam in. Neville fires back with a series of kicks and then hits the Red Arrow for the easy victory. This was obviously just a showcase for the new champ and it worked fine.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Renee Young joins Neville in the ring for an interview. Neville calls himself a crazy elf-man and then askes Renee if she can even understand what he's saying. This is probably the most personality Neville has shown on the mic so far. He then leads the crowd in a "No more Bo" chant, so of course Bo's music hits. Bo says that he's going to use his rematch clause...soon.
They then cut to a taped interview with Emma and Renee Young. Emma says that Paige is the toughest opponent and says that one day she'll be a champion. Ric Flair comes in and tells her that she needs to understand that Charlotte is going to be the next champion. Charlotte tells Emma to call her if she needs a shoulder to cry on and then Emma walks away.
After a WrestleMania XXX commercial, they show an interview with Paige and Renee. Paige says that she welcomes all challengers and then of course it's Flair again. Charlotte of course wants to be the next challenger.
Emma vs. Charlotte
Sasha Banks is ringside with Charlotte and a Summer Rae face on a stick. It's kind of amazing how much more the crowd is into the NXT product seemingly overnight. Charlotte leaps over Emma in the corner and sells an ankle injury from her landing. Sasha distracts the referee and Emma, allowing Charlotte to hit Natural Selection for the quick victory. They are moving onto the next phase of the division and it's obvious that Charlotte is the darling. This was too quick to be much of anything.
Match Rating: 3/4*
We go back to another Arrival interview with Sami Zayn who is full of emotion after his match with Cesaro.
Yoshi Tatsu vs. Corey Graves
Tatsu surprisingly gets an entrance here. Corey Graves introduces himself, but says he shouldn't have to do this because he should have been at Arrival. He then rips on Sami Zayn for not winning any matches and continuing to get chances. Graves says that he only needs one chance and he would beat Cesaro, but instead he's here wrestling Yoshi who has never been relevant. Graves rolls out of the ring before anything happens and says to forget this. He teases walking in the ring and heads back. Yoshi runs after him and Graves hits a clothesline. He throws him into the ring steps and Graves gets the countout win. This episode is clearly a re-establishment of the NXT brand and they're letting us know who they are focusing on. After the win, Graves tosses Yoshi in the ring and puts him in Lucky 13. Zayn comes out and makes the save, with Graves retreating. Zayn says that he didn't know that they had a problem with each other, but if he wants a match, all he had to do was ask. He's ready to wrestle tonight.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show a behind the scenes of the Adam Rose party, including Braun Strowman in Roman gear. Alexa Bliss is also in there I believe.
They show clips of Rusev destroying Xavier Woods and Tyler Breeze. Woods says he'll destroy him and we then get a Rusev interview where he answers in Bulgarian. Lana says he accepts.
Adam Rose vs. Wesley Blake
Rose gets the big entrance with all of his Rosebuds. Apparently this was taped awhile ago for whatever reason. The NXT crowd loved it though and I will say it is pretty fun. It's kind of weird that it's clearly Leo Kruger, but it was good enough to make everyone forget it. Rose has completely changed his in ring work here as well, so credit deserves to be given there as well. Rose hits a spear and some elbows to the head. Rose hits a big spinebuster and a running lariat for the easy victory. This was pretty fun.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Corey Graves vs. Sami Zayn
We start off intensely with both men, but mostly Graves, getting some stiff shots. Zayn fires back with some arm drags and Graves rolls out of the ring. Zayn teases a dive, but Graves backs off, so Zayn shows off. On his way back in, Graves snaps Zayn's neck on the top rope and goes on the attack. Graves is still in control when we come back from the commercial break. Zayn finally fights back with some clotheslines and a back body drop. Graves gets Zayn up on his shoulders though and hits a GTS style backbreaker. Zayn hits a top rope crossbody for a nearfall. Zayn charges at Graves in the corner, but eats an elbow. Zayn fires back with a Blue Thunder Bomb and another 2 count. Graves takes our Zayn this time with a chopblock. Graves again goes for the backbreaker, but this time Zayn counters it into a small package and gets the victory. This wasn't one of Zayn's best matches, but it felt like a TV main event and both guys gave a good effort.
Match Rating: **1/4
There was nothing special on this episode, but it was much more enjoyable than a lot of the early NXT shows. The crowd is a lot more into the product and they are establishing their stars as we begin to roll into the TakeOver era. This episode was very breezy and and easy one to watch.
Overall Rating: 58%
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