NXT 4-3-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, April 3rd, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Emma vs. Sasha Banks

Emma goofs around a bit, but Sasha has enough of that. Emma ends up hitting a splash in the corner and then gets distracted by Charlotte. She ducks Sasha's attack from behind and Sasha knocks Charlotte off of the apron. She puts on the Emma Lock and that is all. They continue to keep giving us short women's matches, even when it's between top stars. They just still weren't ready to make a full time commitment to the division just yet. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

The Ascension vs. Jack Hurley & Jonny Vandal 

Konnor hits a trifecta of body slams onto the ropes for extra impact on the way down. They hit Fall of Man and that is all. This was your usual Ascension squash. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Brodus Clay vs. Xavier Woods

Woods gets a few kicks in before Clay hits a suplex. They are trying to sell Clay as a more serious competitor now. Woods hits a Shining Wizard for a 2 count. Clay comes back with a running headbutt and a powerbomb. Clay then hits a second rope splash and that's all. It's just another one of those short match nights here on NXT. I really do not understand the booking of Xavier Woods. Clay grabs a microphone and he says that WWE took away everything from him. He says now he's going to take away the NXT Championship from Adrian Neville. Yeah, sure. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Adrian Neville is backstage and tells Brodus that NXT is just as good as Raw or SmackDown. He declears that if he earns an opportunity, he'll be right here. 

Tyler Breeze vs. Yoshi Tatsu

Breeze starts things off aggressively here tonight and I still can't believe that WWE released him. Breeze gets in a little bit of offense and then hits the Beauty Shot and that's it. Yoshi couldn't be much lower on the card at this point. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Sami Zayn says that he has been cleared for his match tonight against Corey Graves. Graves then is shown from earlier today and gives a Rancid inspired promo. 

Paige cuts a promo on Charlotte and tells her to stop hiding behind her daddy. 

Corey Graves vs. Sami Zayn

We get a lot of cat and mouse stalling, which leads to Graves pretending to leave. Zayn is one step ahead and ducks a clothesline and attacks him. Zayn hits a senton dive over the top rope to the floor and tosses Graves back in the ring. Graves puts on a lengthy chinlock to slow things down. Graves hits a face-first sitdown powerbomb for a 2 count. I'm sure that probably has a name, but that's what I'll call it. This match feels a half step slow. Zayn is able to hit an exploder suplex into the turnbuckle. Zayn hits the Blue Thunder Bomb for a 2 count. Has Zayn ever pinned someone with that move? Zayn starts selling a brain injury. Graves hits him with an unprotected shot to the head and he locks in Lucky 13 for the victory. Zayn gets checked out by officials and then begins arguing with the referee for stopping the match. This whole match was disappointing. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Well, this show wasn't a very good one. There were no stand out matches and the squashes weren't good. The pacing did feel a little bit better than some of the older shows and the crowd is extremely into the product. Still, this episode isn't great. 

Overall Rating: 45%