WWE Seth Rollins: Building the Architect Review

WWE Seth Rollins: Building the Architect is out on DVD in the UK now from all reputable outlets as the two time WWE World Heavyweight Champion gets the Home Video treatment. The set takes the form of an interview with Rollins which is spread across the set, around a total of 18 matches, including The Sheild against John Cena, Ryback & Sheamus and then Team Hell No & The Undertaker, a Triple Threat match with Brock Lesnar and Cena, a Ladder match with Dean Ambrose, a title for title match and then a Steel Cage match with Cena, the injury return against Roman Reigns, a triple threat with former Shield stablemates Ambrose and Reigns, the first WWE Universal title match opposite Finn Balor as well as appearances from Triple H, Randy Orton, The Big Show, Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes. But is it any good? Let's take a look.

Rollins Interview

Overall the interview goes just over half an hour as Rollins sitting down to talk about each match or moment which gives a good insight and sometimes a new spin. The interview is extremely candid, included moments like Seth discussing almost signing with TNA, demanding to be the first NXT Champion, disagreeing with splitting The Shield, as well as not wanting to do The Shield triple threat at Battleground. Rollins comes across confident, yet humble, putting over a number of his opponents and seems to have a real connection with the audience and an understanding of how a crowd will react and what the die-hards want to see.

The Matches 

The first match sees Rollins in the Finals of the Jack Brisco Classic facing up off with a masked Hunico [Sin Cara] (FCW TV, Feb '11) in a 15 Minute Iron Man Match, a bout that doesn't really get going until the later stages. The sudden death period with the pair trading near falls and throwing out big moves wakes the crowd up and we even get appearances from Steve Keirn and Gerald Brisco, although the medal the winner receives is ridiculously lame compared to pretty much every other wrestling prize in history. Another 15 minute Iron Man bout is next and is a much better use of the gimmick, in the form of the first of what is currently 63 matches with Dean Ambrose (FCW TV, Aug '11). The match builds well to it's conclusion, with the pair working at much higher pace and creating a couple of crisp back and forth sequence with the door left wide open for a rematch. Rollins' FCW Florida Heavyweight title win against Leo Kruger [Adam Rose] (FCW TV, Mar '12) takes a little while to find it's groove and a sequence where Kruger gets dragged back to the ring after trying to leave is completely cringe-worthy. However, the last five minutes as the two trade false finishes amidst a number of really good reversal sequences, manage to turn things around with the finish being particularly strong. 

Rollins dropping the NXT title to Big E. Langston  in a No DQ (NXT, Jan '13) tells an effective story and got a good reaction out of the early Full Sail crowd. The Shield (Rollins alongside Ambrose & Roman Reigns) battling John Cena, Sheamus & Ryback (Elimination Chamber, Feb '13) is a good example of how well the trio were booked over the first few months of their WWE run, as they look magnificent when working as team. The bout is part wild brawl, part classic tag team bout, featuring a marvellous Ryback hot tag and concluding with a slick momentum swinging sequence. The trios match with Sheamus, Randy Orton and The Big Show (WrestleMania XIXX, Apr '13) is a step down, but still has a couple of cool moments. The bout is much more focused on the relationship of the opposing team, but as Rollins' first WrestleMania match it deserved to be on the set.

A rare TV appearance from The Undertaker sees the Deadman tag with Team Hell No (Kane & Daniel Bryan) against The Shield (Monday Night RAW, Apr '13) in a good six man tag from London. Part of the excitement of 'Taker appearing on RAW is gone on rewatching, but there's still a lot of strong action including Bryan and 'Taker hot tags and a great angle at the start with Undertaker having to go it alone. The drama is turned up to 11 when Rollins tags with Reigns against Cody Rhodes & Goldust (Battleground, Oct '13) as the opponents battle for their WWE careers . The finish as Dusty Rhodes gets involved with Ambrose gets

nuts. The break-up of The Shield with Rollins turning on Reigns and Ambrose, to side with Triple H and Randy Orton (Monday Night RAW, Jun '14) is one of the most iconic moments in The Architect's career, it's dramatic and at times uncomfortable as we see Rollins and then Orton brutalise the former Shield brothers. 

A triple threat over the WWE World Heavyweight title with John Cena and Brock Lesnar (Royal Rumble, Jan '15) features a star-making performance from Rollins in what is still his best match as a singles competitor in WWE. Alongside two bonafide megastars the then Money in the Bank contract holder more than holds his own in a thrilling near 25 minute epic that is full of dramatic near falls and awe-inspiring highspots. There's almost always something brilliant going on, but the stretch Rollins' has with Cena before the finish is particularly special and a big part of what makes this the best triple threat match of the decade. Randy Orton provides Rollins' first WrestleMania singles match (WrestleMania 31, Mar' 15) and it's a bloody good wrestling match to boot. The two put on a crisp bout, full of twists and turns and with the help of J&J Security, a shit load of RKO's out of nowhere. From the same show, the history making moment of Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and interjecting himself into the Lesnar v Roman Reigns main event is one of the most shocking conclusions the Show of Shows has ever seen. 

Arguably the best match of Rollins' 221 day title reign is a Ladder match with Dean Ambrose (Money in the Bank, Jun '15) that see's the two mix cute storytelling with huge creative highspots. It's a lengthy at over 35 minutes, but fills it's time well, starting as a slower paced traditional wrestling match before incorporating the toys. When the narrative of Ambrose injuring his leg comes into play, the bout gains depth as Rollins effectively hams it up as the bouts antagonist, targeting in on the body part and drive the second half of the match. The finish is a little disappointing after such a long match, but this is still an epic match. Rollins' open challenge (with brilliant specific regulations laid down post-match) getting accepted by Neville (Monday Night RAW, Aug '15) produces a very good TV bout with two of the best near falls Monday Night RAW ever seen, as well as some lovely crisp and pacy wrestling. 

 The winner take all bout with Rollins' putting his World Heavyweight Championship up against John Cena's United States Championship (SummerSlam, Aug '15) is a belter of contest, as the two use the work rate template that made Cena's US title run. The big moves, near falls and glossy reversals are complimented by a number of story threads and a lively Brooklyn crowd. The finish leaves the bout without the satisfying finish that it deserves, but Jon Stewart's interference got a sizable pop and earned mainstream attention. A Steel Cage rematch with Cena (Live at MSG: Lesnar v Big Show, Oct '15) over the United States title didn't exactly jump to my mind when I was considering bouts that might be on this DVD, in all honesty I remember not enjoying the bout all that much when it aired on the WWE Network. However on a rewatch (when it's not silly o'clock) this match is much better than I had originally considering, as the two get creative with the cage, making some nice spots and incorporating the escape rule to produce some fun near "falls". The conclusion with Kane is a little lame, but considering this was essentially a televised house show it more than surpasses what it needed to be and both men deserve credit for that.

Rollins' return from injury against Roman Reigns over the World Heavyweight Championship (Money in the Bank, Jun '16) is a strong WWE-main event style bout with finisher kick-outs, ref bumps and outside brawling. At points the sequences feel a little contrived and the decision to keep Rollins heel despite the crowd desperately wanting to support him was questionable, but Rollins and his doctors deserve a tonne of credit for how he was able to step back into a match of this quality straight away. The crowd reaction throughout is loudly behind Seth and at points it looks like Reigns might heel it up as he picks on the leg injury, but this isn't fully realised leaving what could have been an interesting story on the table. The booking of Rollins' initial comeback was almost completely fumbled and Dean Ambrose cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase post-match is a big part of that, even if the crowd pops for it. 

A triple threat against former Shield buddies Ambrose and Reigns over the WWE World Heavyweight title (Battleground, Jul '16) might not have been as massive as it could have been, but all three guys bring it in a pacy main event in front of a loud Washington crowd. There's plenty of call-backs to their time in the Shield and various matches together that make the match as the rich history the three share pays dividends. It's a shame that WWE didn't hold off to do the bout at a WrestleMania because the broad strokes and little touches would've worked perfectly in a gigantic stadium full of die-hards. The first ever WWE Universal Championship match with Finn Balor (SummerSlam, Aug '16) displays Rollins ability to help showcase new stars as he offers up a giving performance that makes Balor look incredible. It's a shame that the Brooklyn crowd became fixated on the new title belt for the first five minutes or so as it then takes them another ten to get into the action in front of them, which is of a high standard. The bout is made even more spectacular and at times uncomfortable, with the knowledge of the damage that Balor does to his shoulder after taking a powerbomb into the barricade very early on in the match. 

The final match is a No Disqualification match with Kevin Owens for the Universal title (Monday Night RAW, Nov '16) which features some fun plunder based offence, as well as one significant spot out in the crowd. The bout is a good watch, but doesn't have the same impact as some of their PPV bouts, whereas Rollins' bout with Triple H at this year's WrestleMania would've been offered a much better conclusion so it's strange that WWE didn't hold off this release to include that match. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 7.22/10

Building the Architect is a very good DVD and obviously a must-buy for anyone Seth Rollins fans. The interview portion gives the match extra depth and offers a number of nice tidbits of info on the backstage goings on, as well as how Rollins was feeling at that point in his life. There could have been more focus on how Rollins broke into the business, but with no footage available of clashes with the likes Davey Richards, Nigel McGuinness or Bryan Danielson in ROH, it's understandable that it's quickly skimmed over. The match quality is strong, especially when focusing on The Architect's singles run with bouts like the Royal Rumble triple threat with John Cena and Brock Lesnar, the Ladder match with Dean Ambrose and the title for title bout with Cena all standing out as great examples of the The Man's work. Rollins' time in FCW and The Shield is perhaps under-served in the bouts chosen with better matches against Dean Ambrose and The Wyatt Family (amongst others) not being included. However, that doesn't stop this being a stellar effort in presenting a look at Rollins career to date, which will make any Seth fan very happy for hours and hours.

WWE NXT 11th September 2013 Review

This week's WWE NXT, was a bit of an underwhelming edition of the show, for me. Whilst there wasn't anything on the show, that I would call particularly bad, it was distinctly average, with really only the women's match between Paige and Sasha Banks fighting to stand out.

Xavier Woods 

vs. 

Leo Kruger

The main event of this week's NXT, saw Xavier Woods taking on Leo Kruger, after Kruger had attacked Woods last week in the parking lot. Personally, I was surprised that WWE decided to hot shot this into a match, as imagined they could have pulled out the angle a lot longer than one week and really build up anticipation to a singles contest between the two. I've noticed this a few times with NXT, that one week something will happen between two wrestlers and then the week after they'll have a match and that's the feud done with. Usually, it's when they have main roster wrestlers appearing on the show and they don't have long with that particular wrestler, but here there really is no excuse, they had the time to build a nice feud and decided not to.

The match itself was decent, it wasn't anything to shout about, but for the most part the action was strong, even if for some reason the Full Sail Arena wasn't having any of it, with what sounded like a small group of fans trying to get themselves over. This might be NXT, be the action gave off an old school vibe, with Kruger running around the ring to evade Woods, until Woods got hold of Kruger's hair, which got a nice pop from the crowd. Kruger spent the majority of the match in control, although continuing with the old school theme was mainly made up of rest holds, which never goes down well with a modern audience. There were some nice near falls towards the end of the match, once Woods started to edge his way into the contest, such as a nice High-Angle Spinebuster from Kruger after catching Woods in his attempt to hit Honor Roll.

The finish saw Woods duck a Slice from Kruger, and counter with a headkick followed with a version of former partner Jay Lethal's Lethal Injection for a near fall, with Woods going on to hit Honor Roll and then a slightly botched Lost in the Woods to pick up the pinfall victory. Personally, I could have done with the near fall off of Woods ducking the slice, and feel that Woods hitting Lost in the Woods straight off the duck, would have been a much more satisfying ending, if it hadn't been botched. I thought it was strange to see Woods go over Kruger here, and automatically get his revenge on Kruger, who they seemed to have a plan for at last. Kruger has suffered a series of losses in high profile matches and it's becoming difficult to take his character seriously, which is a shame because the character does have potential.

Whilst this match won't be making my list for Match of the Year, I do like both men involved in the contest. We've seen good stuff from both Woods and Kruger on NXT before, and both deserve decent programmes before getting called up. With Woods currently travelling with the main roster and appearing on a number of house shows recently, it would have to assumed that Woods is close to being called up to the main roster very soon. I do think he will fit in on Raw and Smackdown well, being able to put on exciting matches, with a recognisable look and move set, I'm pretty sure he will go down well with the quirky mix of kids and adults that WWE attracts. Kruger on the over hand, I still think still needs some time, he is in desperate need of a nice long programme, that I think will really sell to me what Kruger has to offer, which isn't something he hasn't been afforded on NXT. He has potential, but it isn't being fully realised, just yet.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

NXT Champion Bo Dallas also turned up this week to speak to the Full Sail Arena about Sami Zayn. I'm beginning to realise why I was beginning to like Bo Dallas in this segment, because the scripting is so strong. It realised the feelings the fans in the Full Sail and elsewhere were feeling against Dallas as a face and began to turn add it to his character, over empathising the elements that were already gaining the ire of wrestling fans all over the globe. Once again this another very well written promo with Dallas claiming he was a mentor to Zayn, reminiscent of the way The Miz gained heat in 2010 as Daniel Bryan's “Pro” on the very first series of NXT. However, Dallas' actually delivery does leave a lot to be desired. In front of a live crowd, Dallas seems easily put off, often corpsing when the often imaginative Full Sail Arena faithful chant at him, which definitely affects the flow of his promos.

I am actually quite excited to see the Dallas and Zayn feud play out on television, as NXT has been consistently strong at creating feuds that are watchable from start to finish and giving them enough time to breath, which isn't always the case when it comes to regular WWE television. However, this offering from Dallas, just simply wasn't up to scratch, and he won't have the strong booking of NXT to protect him once he heads to the main roster, but that probably says more about how WWE operates than it does about Dallas himself. It could take a while for Dallas to be ready to be able to step up to next level, but giving him more opportunities like this can only help the Twenty Three year old.

In the strongest match of the night, NXT Women's Champion Paige took on Sasha Banks. The action was fought at a good pace throughout, with both women working together to put on an enjoyable bout. Whilst the match might've rested a little too heavily on rest holds, especially considering neither woman was heel at this point, there was a really nice section that saw Paige attempting to hold Banks' arms to the mat, with a good looking reversal into a roll up getting a near fall for Banks. The finish saw Paige reverse a running Cross Body block from Banks into a pinfall to pick up the victory. It was ending that we've seen plenty of times before, but allowed Banks to continue to look competitive, and sold the story of the bout well. After the match was over, as had been hinted in the build up to this one, Banks attacked Paige from behind to complete her heel turn, and was later seen to be fully aligned with Summer Rae, in a pretty awful backstage segment, which really showed up both girls lack of acting ability.

In a very disappointing tag team contest, the Sylvester LeFort managed team of Alexander Rusev and Scott Dawson took on Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. Amore looked great in his pre-match promo, unfortunately that didn't translate to the ring. To be fair, the main body of the contest, actually wasn't a complete failure, with both Rusev and Dawson looking impressive whilst in control. However, it was the ending of this contest that really let it down, after a awkward looking version of the Hart Attack, featuring a Spinning Heel Kick from Rusev, the referee ending up disqualifying the heels for being in the ring for too long. It really was bizarre, with no one knowing exactly what had happened and simply wandering around. It felt like the DQ was shoot, as Harry Smith talked about in his interview with Wrestle Talk TV, but if that was the case NXT is taped, why didn't they just re-shoot the ending?

Something that did work on the show was a Renee Young interview with CJ Parker. I've been calling out for some interview time for Parker over the last few weeks, as his character will only work if it is given time to speak and get over with the people, other wise it is just another 2D gimmick that will be hard to buy into. Luckily, Parker did a good job here, with a quirky promo about beavers and phoenixes, to explain his feud with Tyler Breeze. In a solid wrestling cliché, Breeze turned up at the end of the interview to lay the boots into Parker, with the nice added touch of a cheeky selfie whilst posing on top of Parker.

Finally...

My final thoughts on this week's WWE NXT.

1. Xavier Woods could easily slot into the main roster of WWE, Leo Kruger still feels like he needs a bit more time.

2. The scripting of the Bo Dallas character, is strong than it's delivery.

3. Sasha Banks might be able to wrestle, but she certainly can't act!

WWE NXT 4th September 2013 Review

WWE NXT continues to be in the shadows of Antonio Cesaro and Sami Zayn's epic Two out of Three Falls contest, and it's a bit like the week after Christmas Day when everything is getting back to normal. Luckily, Sami Zayn was back in action this week against Jack Swagger, so things were not all lost. 

Sami Zayn 

vs. 

Jack Swagger with Zeb Colter

This match stemmed from a Jack Swagger attack on Sami Zayn last week, after Zeb Colter had caused the distraction. Essentially this story was in place to allow Zayn's NXT Championship match with Bo Dallas to build up a bit longer, but it was still a nice jaunt non-the-less. It's been a while since Swagger has looked like a genuine threat to any on WWE, after falling out of favour due to his extra curricular activities earlier in the year. Personally, I think it was a real shame, obviously it was all Swagger's fault, but it did feel like at that time he had something to offer WWE and I actually did enjoy Swagger's run opposite Alberto Del Rio, with Colter working as a great mouthpiece during the feud. 

The match was a very enjoyable bout, with both men looking very good throughout. Something that we haven't really seen WWE play up very often with Swagger is his size and power. So it was good to see the come into play here, with Swagger who is close to 290 lbs, really looking dominate against Zayn with some good looking power moves and some well executed submission moves. The story that would run throughout the match was Zayn attempting to get going against the bigger Swagger, Zayn did a great job of this role and it's certainly a role that he seems to relish in the ring, with some believable selling of Swagger's offence.  Zayn would get in some offence, in fits and bursts, including a beautiful dive over the top rope to the outside, but Swagger would quickly gain control.

The finish saw Zayn beginning to get a role together, with a Yakuza Kick followed up with by a number of blows to keep Swagger down and it was clear that the Full Sail Arena absolutely adores Zayn, as he got a huge pop from just pointing to the top rope! With Zayn getting a near fall off of a Sunset Flip Powerbomb out of the corner, NXT Champion Bo Dallas headed down to ring side and caused enough of a distraction to allow Swagger to lock in the Patriot Lock for the second time in the match and pick up the submission victory. The interference only added to the match for me, as the short Swagger and Zayn story, simply flowed into a continuation of the feud between Zayn and Dallas. It's certainly built my anticipation for seeing Zayn finally get his opportunity with Dallas, eve more and a competitive loss to another main roster wrestler will do no harm for Zayn.

So, how long can WWE go before having Zayn get his shot at Dallas? They can only realistically keep it going for a few more weeks, as it has been boiling underneath the Zayn and Cesaro rivalry for a good few months. Zayn is also red hot after coming off the series with Cesaro, so it would be wise for the show to capitalise on his popularity by putting the strap on him pretty soon. At the same time, whilst Dallas has improved a lot over the last few months as champion, especially since switching over to a heel, but he certainly has never really felt strong enough to carry the belt around, after strong reigns from Seth Rollins and Big E Langston, and would still seem to have some time in the developmental territory before he's ready to make the step. 

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on NXT, NXT Tag Team Champion Corey Graves was in action against The Ascension's Rick Victor, with both beign accompanied by Adrian Neville and Conor O'Brian respectively. The story behind this match was that Graves had suffered injured ribs after an attack from The Ascension last week. In the early part of the match, the rib injury was not played up as much of it should have been and it took a fair while for the match to really get going. They had a perfect moment to bring to the ribs into the match, with Graves going to lock in Lucky Thirteen, but instead of using the ribs to get out of the hold quickly, Victor just punched him in the face instead. Luckily, in the later stages of the match, they did begin to work the ribs and actually did a great job of it, with Graves putting in a solid performance selling the ribs and his difficulty breathing, this really brought the match to life for me.

The finish of the bout saw O'Brian looking to get involved to aid his partner, with Neville making the save, entering the ring and hitting a springboard crossbody to the outside, taking out O'Brian. With Graves momentarily distracted Victor attempted to go for a Gutbuster, only for Graves to reverse into a Small Package and pick up the pinfall victory. I liked the finish to this one, it worked well on the idea of Graves battling throughout the match and finally being able to pull out the victory, as well as including their partner's building towards a future title match for The Ascension. Whilst Neville and Graves both have singles victories over member of The Ascension, it would seem likely that The Ascension would be next in line for a title shot, mainly down to the fact they're the only other tag team on NXT! 

WWE also continued to build towards a match on next week's show, between NXT Women's Champion Paige and Sascha Banks. Firstly, with Summer Rae once again talking to Banks about showing a nasty side, with Banks looking reluctant. Rae looked really awkward throughout the entire segment, and her performance put me in mind of a GCSE drama performance. Paige later showed her how it was done, with a solid promo during an interview with Renee Young, where Paige put over Banks well, before reminding the audience of the meaning of Anti-Diva. It was a good performance from Paige on the microphone, it's an area she definitely needs to have more time working on to help build her character on television to match what we see in the ring, but she at least has a sound foundation to build upon. 

There was also an intriguing segment which saw Leo Kruger standing over Xavier Woods in the parking lot, laughing in his signature maniacal fashion. With no follow up on the show, and such as a short segment, I was left wanting to know more about what happened and see more of Kruger. I thought it was really effective way of building Kruger's character back up after his recent NXT Championship loss to Bo Dallas. I wouldn't mind seeing them build to a Woods vs. Kruger feud, with the feud allowing us to see a more serious side of Woods, as well as the potential for some interesting match ups between the two. Either way, as long as Woods isn't about to disappear from television like Kassius Ohno, I'll be happy with this.

Alexander Rusev was back in action this week against Mason Ryan. I had expected them to take a little long to build for this match, with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassasdy being involved, therefore this felt a little bit rushed. I've been quite open about not being a fan of Mason Ryan, and this match didn't change my mind, whilst he looks good when in control, the guy can't sell the save his life, so the decision to have him work as a face just befuddles me. The finish saw interference from both Scott Dawson and Sylvester LeFort, before Rusev hit Ryan with a charging attack in the corner, before locking in the Camel Clutch to pick up the submission victory. What I've seen of Rusev, I like, he's looked impressive in his match with Dolph Ziggler and came across fairly well here, as well, but I have no clue why they've given him a Camel Clutch as finisher. Does anyone from Eatern Europe or Asia automatically have to have that move as a finisher? Is written into the rule book? It would seem so.

The opening contest saw woman's tag team action with Bayley & Charlotte teaming up to take on Alicia Fox and Aksana. By far the best section of the match came between Alicia Fox and Bayley who put on some decent wrestler, with Alica Fox's Northern Lights Suplex into a bridge being the highlight for me. Charlotte didn't spend much time in the ring and the less said about Aksana the better. The finish was poorly worked, with Bayley supposedly meant to move out of the way of a boot in the corner from Fox, so that Fox hit Aksana. But Bayley didn't really move, Aksana still bumped and Bayley rolled up Fox for the pinfall victory. Some positives here, but not many. 

Finally...

My final thoughts on this week's WWE NXT.

1. Sami Zayn is the hottest property on NXT at moment.

2. NXT still needs more tag teams!

3. Paige needs more time on the mic to developed, but she's still better than most women in WWE. 

WWE NXT Face-Off Week Review

This week saw a special edition of NXT entitled Face Off Week, with long running rivalries coming to a head and two championship battles on the card, there was a lot to look forward to this week. Did the show live up to the anticipation? Let’s find out.

NXT Championship Match: 

Bo Dallas © 

vs. 

Leo Kruger

We’ve seen a long slow build up to this title match, with Dallas and Kruger, along with Antonio Cesaro and Sami Zayn being involved in old school type build, with multiple match combinations that built to this contest. After Kruger cemented himself as Number One Contender three weeks ago, and managed to pin Dallas in a tag team match last week, there seemed a strong possibility that we might see a new NXT Champion on the show. Building up to the contest, we saw a vignette involving Kruger talking about Dallas’ negative relationship with the NXT Arena faithful. The vignette was well edited, and really helped Kruger’s crazed character to come over well, this is by far the strongest gimmick I’ve seen him handed in NXT. The NXT Champion was interviewed backstage by Renee Young, and personally I think Bo Dallas is a heel now, at least one aimed at your average internet wrestling fan, as he bad mouthed Antonio Cesaro and Sami Zayn, saying they weren’t ready, insult the internet darlings your almost guaranteed to get heat.

The match contained an interesting dynamic, as anything Bo Dallas would do offensively would get heavily booed by the NXT Arena, whilst all of Kruger’s actions were cheered. Therefore the structure of the match was a little off and it didn’t really capture my attention, as a comeback from Dallas became a heel move against the bigger Kruger. Whilst Dallas has improved on his mic skills and developed a coherent character over recent months, his in ring work still leaves a lot to be desired, in particular, his selling. Whilst in the closing segments of the match with Kruger looking to be closing in on victory, Dallas was placed in the GC3 submission hold, and I just couldn’t believe that Dallas was in any kind of pain and it really ruined what should have been a great moment in the match.

The ending saw Kruger go for a splash off the top rope, only to receive two knees to the gut from Dallas, who locked in a new submission hold, an elevated version of an armbar. Kruger did a better job of selling the hold, and Dallas actually looked to be putting some effort into the hold. After about ten seconds, Kruger had had enough tapping out to the hold, as Dallas retained the NXT Championship. I wasn’t a massive fan of the ending, as having Kruger tap out here removed any kind of mystique from the character and pretty much removed him from the championship scene once again, personally I think a roll up victory for Dallas would have continued to cement his new character, as he could have bragged about his “spectacular” victory for weeks and week.

So, where does the NXT Championship picture move on from here? Personally, I think NXT should continue to build Bo Dallas into the heel role he has grown into over the last few months, by finally placing him against a face. Who better to step into that role than arguably the most popular face on NXT at the moment, Sami Zayn. It would set up a nice dynamic with the crowd and allow Dallas to gain the experience that working with someone of the calibre of Zayn would. Plus, seeing Zayn pick up the NXT Championship would be a big moment for the show, against the despised Bo Dallas.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

 

Elsewhere on the show, WWE presented a legitimate dream match for the United States Championship with The Shield’s Dean Ambrose defending his title against NXT Tag Team Champion Adrian Neville. I have to say, I was slightly disappointed by the bout. Whilst the wrestling was, of course, solid, the slow build of the match didn’t quite seem to go anywhere. It felt to me like the match was building for a half hour epic, and it didn’t quite turn out the way. After some strong mat and submission wrestling from Ambrose, I really wanted to see Neville able to let loose and the pace of the match to lift, whilst that did happen to some degree with Neville making a strong comeback, it felt like this match still had some extra layers of story to tell.

The ending saw some good athletic work from Neville as head made his comeback, and following a spectacular dive to the outside, Neville headed to the top rope and actually hit Red Arrow, only for Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns to make the interference, to give Neville the disqualification victory, but allow Ambrose to retain the United States Championship. I was really surprised by this ending as it made Neville look incredibly strong, as he really should have won the title belt, and rematch must surely be on the cards. With The Shield beating down Neville, Neville’s tag team partner Corey Graves and NXT favourite Xavier Woods made the save, chasing off the Shield. With a six man tag now set for next week, I hope that this match is giving enough time to build naturally and allow the layers of story to be put in place properly.

The show also saw a Dance Battle between Emma and Summer Rae with the winner receiving a shot at Paige’s NXT Women’s Championship. I’ve been pretty vocal about WWE’s over reliance on dance gimmicks lately and this pretty much typified the situation for me. Why not just Summer Rae and Emma battle it out in the ring have, you know in a wrestling match? To be fair to Emma and Summer Rae they did do a good job with what they were given and managed to build the battle as it went along, but I’m a wrestling fan, not a dance fan. It was clear who the winner would be from the outset with the NXT crowd deciding the winner. After Emma was declared the winner, Summer attacked her, hitting an Inverted Leg Drop Bulldog to close the segment. Bizarelly after Emma won the contest, it was declared later in the night that Summer Rae would get a shot at the Women’s Championship next week. After the strong booking of the Women’s Championship tournament, NXT has really let itself down with this.

Tyler Breeze returned to action with a squash match against London’s Danny Burch, who hadn’t been seen since May. Breeze’s character is really coming into its own, and was helped this week by not spending too much time on the “Selfie’s” before the match, allowing us to get more of a glimpse of what he can do in the ring. Breeze picked up a quick victory with a Spinning Wheel Kick. After the match, Breeze lay on top of Burch, whilst taking one final selfie. It will be interesting to see how the Tyler Breeze character begins to develop over the coming months, as it has the potential with a little work to be a top heel gimmick for NXT.

Backstage, Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady met up with Scott Dawson and Sylvester LeFort to discuss Dawson’s match with Mason Ryan next week on television. Amore continued his entertaining way, throwing in his “SAWFT” catchphrase for good measure, as he told Dawson that he would easily beat Ryan. In an interesting twist once Dawson and LeFort left, Amore told Cassady that Dawson didn’t stand a chance, saying they’d be at ringside next week because they didn’t want to miss it. Whilst, I don’t have a particularly high expectation of the Mason Ryan vs. Scott Dawson contest, I’m sure with Amore at ringside there will be some entertainment coming from somewhere and am interested to see where it goes. CJ Parker was once again spotted in the background of the scene, pulling some more funny face, where it is going I have no idea, but for now it’s kind of funny, at least.

Finally....

What did I learn from NXT Face-Off Week?

1. I'm beginning to like Bo Dallas' mic work, but his in ring ability still isn't up to scratch.

2. Even Dream Matches can disappoint. 

3. I have no idea why dancing is WWE's in thing at the moment.

WWE NXT 31st July 2013 Review

This week’s NXT was another mixed bag from WWE’s developmental show. There was relatively little match time compared to previous week’s episodes, and the emphasis on dancing was a little too strong, as has been with a theme with WWE in the last year or so. 

Tag Team Match: 

NXT Champion Bo Dallas & Sami Zayn 

vs. 

Antonio Cesaro & Leo Kruger

These four guys have all been involved in some interweaving storylines over the last two months or so, and it has actually been done pretty well, feeling like fairly old school in its booking. With the four wrestlers having matches with each other in a varying combination. So with the blow off seemingly on its way with Bo Dallas defending his NXT Championship against Leo Kruger, and Sami Zayn and Antonio Cesaro surely having their rubber match sooner rather than later, this was a nice way to build to those match, as well as beginning to tease to what might be coming once those rivalries are finished.

It’s interesting to note that Dallas got the biggest heel reaction from the crowd, despite playing a face character. The Full Sail arena are certainly not fans of Dallas’ and they’ve made that clear since he became NXT Champion, and it simply boils down to the fact that Bo isn’t ready to be the top guy on NXT and his character is so damn annoying. A smiling happy babyface is a difficult character to get over with anyone anymore, especially when the in ring skills aren’t quite there as well. This being said, the match did a good job of playing on this, with Dallas tagging himself in and looking reluctant to tag in fan favourite Sami Zayn. If WWE changed Dallas heel they could at least have a chance of rescuing him after they through him in at deep end to early, and a rivalry with a Zayn fresh off of beating Cesaro would certainly work well.

The match saw Cesaro and Kruger working well as a team to dominate Zayn for most of the match, with some nice psychology between Cesaro and Zayn, where Cesaro would only face Zayn after Kruger had beaten him down. The interesting turning point, where Zayn got the hot tag to Dallas, got roundly booed, and Dallas did his happy face routine. With Cesaro and Zayn pulling out an angle that is rarely used these days, the fight to the back, it really helped to sell their rivalry even further. The ending saw Dallas throw a fleeing Kruger back into the ring, only to take a knee to the face and Kruger’s Slice Lariat to pick up the pinfall victory for his team. It was a nice ending and gave Kruger momentum heading into the NXT Title match, and the crowd loved it because Dallas lost!

Now, I’ve already touched on where I think this is going to go in the next few weeks. It can only be a matter of time before Bo Dallas is turned heel, WWE can’t keep putting out the smiling babyface Dallas, because people just aren’t buying it, and he isn’t technically strong enough for people to get behind, against stronger competitors like Cesaro and Kruger. Cesaro and Zayn could very well be NXT’s match of the year, they’ve already have two fantastic battles on NXT, but you know that these two will bring everything possible to knock this one out of the park. Personally, I’d have Zayn pick up the victory, because it won’t harm Cesaro, whilst it would allow Zayn to move into a feud with a newly heel Bo Dallas for the NXT Championship.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on the show, new NXT Tag Team Champion Corey Graves was in action against Scott Dawson, who had Sylvester LeFort in tow. With Graves accompanied by partner Adrian Neville who in a backstage segment said he’d be joining Graves, in case The Wyatt Family turned up. The match was pretty basic with Dawson working over Graves for the majority of the match, with some simple holds and blows. The ending was quick, with Graves making a comeback with a chopblock, before locking in Lucky 13 for the submission victory. The match did what it had to do, in setting up what was to come, but could not be accused of being exciting.

After the match, the distinctive opening of The Shield’s music hit, as United States Champion Dean Ambrose and Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns, made their welcome return to NXT. With Seth Rollins renewing his feud with Corey Graves with a solid promo, and then Dean Ambrose ripping into Adrian Neville, accusing him off simply stepping into Kassius Ohno’s shoes. Neville retored by challenging Ambrose to put his money where his mouth is, in a match for his United States Championship, which Ambrose eventually agreed to have next week. It was a great segment and a good way to bring The Shield back into the NXT fold, the prospect of Ambrose vs. Neville next week is one I’m definitely looking forward to. I imagine we may see a Champions vs. Champions Tag Team Match somewhere down the line.

The Wyatt Family made what looked to be their final appearance on NXT this week, and did so as faces. After Luke Harper and Erick Rowan had quickly squashed Mickey Keegan and Aiden English, via pinfall after a big splash from Rowan. Bray Wyatt went to cut a fantastic face promo, possibly my favourite of any promos I’ve seen him cut. It really opened my eyes to the fact that the Wyatt’s could be used as a face group without too much tweaking to the gimmick. It will a new NXT landscape without The Wyatt Family, and I expect them, like we’ve seen with The Shield, to make occasional appearances from now.

In the opening segment of the show, Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady came out with Amore cutting a charismatic promo, however Cassady’s attempt was not so great. Maybe it would be better if WWE keep Cassady as Amore’s silent stooge. With Amore mentioning dancing, a surprise appearance from Tons of Funk (minus The Funkadactyls) as they came out to confront Amore and Cassady, who attempted to run off. They were stopped by rival Mason Ryan who sent them back into the ring to be destroyed by Brodus Clay and Tensai. This really didn’t work for me, as with Ryan getting involved, it was basically three on two, towards the faces, which wasn’t helped by the fact that Amore and Cassady are more over with the crowd.

There was also womens action this week, with Charlotte taking on Sascha Banks. Charlotte is clearly incredibly green in the ring, and I’m surprised she’s been pushed so heavily on NXT so quickly, with most wrestler’s having to do a certain amount of time at the bottom of the card before getting the treatment Charlotte is, obviously Daddy has done a lot. Now that’s not saying she is awful and she does have some impressive moves, like Charlotte’s web, but there was no sense of story or flow to this match. As for Sasha Banks, I didn’t even know she meant to be heel until about half way through the match. Charlotte picked up the victory with a Forward Somersault Cutter. Charlotte does seem to have potential, but WWE needs to be careful not to push her too quickly, because she simply isn’t ready.

Continuing on the dance theme, with NXT General Manager Dusty Rhodes talking to new NXT Women’s Champion Paige, alongside Emma, Summer Rae interrupted to complain about not being involved. There was some bickering between Emma and Summer, before Summer offered up the idea of a Dance Contest next week, with Dusty making the “match” official. Paige summed it for me, reminding Emma and Summer that this was wrestling, if only someone in WWE would listen to her words.

After his debut last week Tyler Breeze was interviewed by Renee Young. We didn’t get many answers, but Breeze plays the obnoxious heel role pretty well, it’s an old gimmick that’s been updated for the Selfie generation. CJ Parker also turned up in the background of the interview, including making a dreadlock mustache. We haven’t seen much of Parker on NXT, mainly jobbing to talent higher up the card and so it will be interesting to see him moved into a more prominent role.

Finally...

What did I learn from this week's NXT?

1. Even Sami Zayn can't get the NXT crowd to cheer for Bo Dallas.

2. With Ambrose vs. Neville and Cesaro vs. Zayn III on the way, the next few weeks of NXT are must watch.

3. WWE needs to remember the cliche, "This ain't ballet" and minimize the dancing gimmicks.

WWE NXT 17th July 2013 Review

It was another big week in the history of NXT, with the Tag Team Championships on the line in the main event, as well as the crowning of a brand new number one contender for Bo Dallas’ NXT Championship. To add to the important feeling of the night, we also got appearances from Hall of Famer Ric Flair, and main roster wrestlers Sheamus and Antonio Cesaro throughout the night.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match: 

Adrian Neville & Corey Graves 

vs. 

The Wyatt Family (Eric Rowan & Luke Harper) © 

with Bray Wyatt

It’s been a busy week for the Wyatt Family, turning up on Raw to attack R-Truth, before taking out 3MB and Justin Gabriel on Main Event, as they continued to send messages to Kane in the build up to a possible contest at Summerslam. Over in the alternative universe of NXT, The Wyatt Family have been feuding with Adrian Neville & Corey Graves for sometime now, with The Wyatt Family taking out Neville’s former tag team partner Oliver Grey and interfering in a number of Corey Graves’ matches, with all the matches we’ve seen with these two versus The Wyatt’s in varations combinations involving the likes Bo Dallas, Kassius Ohno and William Regal, it seemed this match could very well be the last of the feud that has built well to this over the last few months. In the build up to the contest, The Wyatt Family attacked Sheamus during a backstage interview about Sheamus’ match next week, leaving him lying.

In terms of the story being told, the match was nothing much out of the ordinary, with The Wyatts dominating Corey Graves for most of the opening section. Rowan and Harper continue to look impressive in the natural big man tandem role, with a number of nice double team moves added to their arsenal, it only helps to add variety of the match which is needed when telling a basic story like this one. Corey Graves’ selling has also improved in recent weeks, at first I questioned how Graves would transfer into a face role on NXT, as seeming like a natural heel on the earlier episodes of the new format, however coupled with his great rallying promos, his stronger selling ability has really turned him into a fan favourite, which was needed here for Graves to really work the crowd up in anticipation of the hot tag.

The moment when Graves managed to make the tag to Neville, after Harper had missed a running big boot in the corner, was made ten times better by Neville really reaching out for the tag, making it seem of the upmost importance that the tag be made, as Graves did a good job of edging towards his corner. William Regal also did a fantastic job on commentary in really building up the moment, why Regal isn’t on regular WWE programming I’ll never know. After some fantastic high-flying action from Neville, including a great hurricanrana from the apron to the floor on Luke Harper, and a top rope springboard moonsault onto both of this opponents, things swung into the favour of the challengers. That is until Bray Wyatt got involved pushing Neville off the top rope, for a near fall for his family. This brought out Sheamus in a pay off of the segment we saw earlier, as Sheamus took out Wyatt sending him into the steel steps. With Graves taking out Rowan’s knee, Neville headed to the top rope, hitting Red Arrow to win his team the NXT Tag Team Championships. It was a good ending and a logical one with The Wyatt’s now competing on the main roster WWE shows, and having Sheamus come down to even the odds, elevated the match by association.

I’m not sure how many appearances the Wyatt Family have left on NXT, so I’m enjoying their run on the show while it lasts. It’s been an enjoyable run for the trio and I hope they can continue to relate this success to the rest of the WWE, because as a group they have a lot of potential. I see Neville and Graves, as almost placeholder champions however, yes both men are extremely talented in differing ways, but I see both guys having separate careers, rather than continuing as this tag team. It will be interesting to see who steps up to challenge Neville & Graves, as NXT is currently pretty bare on tag team combinations.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on NXT, there was a triple threat match to decide the new number one contender for Bo Dallas’ NXT Championship, featuring Sami Zayn, Antonio Cesaro and Leo Kruger. The story has built well heading into this one, with Cesaro and Zayn having a long running series, and Kruger’s involvement with Dallas interweaving heading into the triple threat. The match as well as similar well built and well paced, with solid action throughout that involved all three of the competitors involved for an optimum amount of time. The three men meshed together well, which can be a problem within triple threat matches, with each man bringing a new element to the contest. Sami Zayn brought his high flying skills to match, hitting a nice running senton over the top rope to Cesaro and Kruger. Whilst Cesaro brought a technically sound power game to the proceedings, and Kruger bringing some nice character work, as he remains something of an unknown entity on NXT.

The highlight of the match for me, saw Cesaro german suplex both Kruger and Zayn at the same time, it was an impressive moment that was reminiscent of Kurt Angle in the way it was delivered. The ending saw some more good work between Zayn and Cesaro, with Cesaro eventually hitting the Neutralizer, only for Leo Kruger to run in and steal the victory, becoming Number One Contender for the NXT Championship in the process. It was a good ending, that built on Kruger’s character as a former poacher, as he poached the victory off Cesaro, whilst also leaving it open for another Cesaro and Zayn match in the future. However, I’m not quite sure Kruger is the ideal opponent to face Bo Dallas, who simply can not get over with the NXT crowd, therefore surely have Dallas defend against a face, before eventually turning on them would have been the better option here.

Dallas himself was in action later in the night, against Scott Dawson who was accompanied by his manager Sylvester LeFort, who cut a good pre-match promo hying up Dawson for the match. It wasn’t a particularly great contest, with Dallas looking increasingly sloppy in the ring with some poor looking dropkicks and an awkward bulldog. Dallas simply isn’t ready to be competing at this level, and whilst Dawson did a good job working over Dallas, it doesn’t really matter when the crowd doesn’t like the guy you’re beating down. Dallas picked up a fairly speedy victory after a comeback, with his belly to belly suplex finish, which still doesn’t look anything like a finishing move. After the match, Leo Kruger came out and took Dallas, finishing him off with Kruger End. The crowd confirmed my earlier thoughts about the decision to have Kruger named number one contenders by chanting “Thank You Kruger”.

Ric Flair made a second consecutive appearance on NXT this week, to accompany his daughter Charlotte to the ring for her first match on NXT against Bayley. In terms of looks, Charlotte looks like she might have just wandered off the set of ITV’s Gladiators, with a strongly muscular physique, much more so than any of the Divas on the current roster, she also looks incredibly tall. I was actually pretty surprised by the match, as I expected to see Charlotte look a little awkward in the ring (she might be related to the Naith, but so was David Flair) but she appeared calm and athletic throughout with a number of interesting moves to boot. Being up against Bayley also helped as the two women’s styles fitted together well, and Bayley’s character is always a joy to watch. After Charlotte won the contest with a forward somersault cutter, she celebrated in the ring with her father, performing his signature strut. Whilst Charlotte looked pretty good for her first match, one thing that will need to be worked on is character, as I’m not sure how far she will get on the gimmick of being Ric Flair’s daughter. 

Finally...

What have I learnt from this week's NXT?

1. You can still make a well-trodden story feel exciting and fresh, given the right combination of action and character, as seen in the Tag Team Championship contest.

2. Leo Kruger was the wrong choice for Number One Contender, not because he isn't ready, but because he is a poor fit for Bo Dallas at this time.

3. William Regal is the best commentator around, bar none. 

WWE NXT 10th July 2013 Review

NXT has definitely found it’s feet again, and this might have been the best episode of the show to date. Every match gave you a reason to watch, the seeds were planted for future rivalries and we not only got to see NXT Commissioner Dusty Rhodes, but the Nature Boy himself Ric Flair.

Six Man Tag Team Match:

William Regal, Adrian Neville & Corey Graves vs. The Wyatt Family

For me, this match felt similar in build to a number of The Shield’s high profile tag team matches on Raw and various pay-per-views in the last six months. With somewhat of an NXT dream team being built to combat them, even recruiting a wily veteran in the form of William Regal. The build up to the match featured a good backstage interview from Renee Young with William Regal, Adrian Neville and Corey Graves. Each man got there turn, with Neville going first. He seems to have taken my advice from last week, as he spoke a lot slower in this promo and therefore it was a lot easier to understand. In fact when delivered like this the Geordie accent actually helped to deliver a certain intensity to what Neville had to say about the Wyatt Family. Graves also did a good job with what he had to say, letting people know he’d do his talking in the ring. But it was Regal who stole the show for me, masterfully switching between an impression of Adrian Neville and a delivering a serious message to The Wyatt Family, so times the old ones are still the best.

As The Wyatt Family headed to the ring, Bray Wyatt delivered a signature, chilling promo about how this match would be a mistake for Regal, Neville and Graves. Wyatt seems to have a hypnotising quality to his voice, that coupled with the creep music, makes sure that when Wyatt is talking your listening closesly. The match started with the face team getting the upperhand, with Regal using his old dirty tactics, distracting the referee whilst Neville kicked Eric Rowan in the face, which was well worked and lapped up by the NXT Arena. We soon settled into a regular pattern with Adrian Neville being the focus of The Wyatt’s attack. What worked so well here for me, was the amount of time Neville was trying to reach for the tag, with Regal and Graves doing a good job of making it feel even more important. Each time Neville made it closer to his tag team partners you wanted him to make the tag even more, with his selling ability whilst fighting underneath really help push the match along.

With Neville eventually reaching Regal for the hot tag, we saw a frenzy of offense from the Staffordshire born veteran, taking down Luke Harper with a knee trembler for a near fall, only thwarted by Eric Rowan making the save. Straight after we saw the breakdown of the match, with Graves and Rowan battling out of the ring, and Neville hitting a beautiful corkscrew plancha taking out both me. With Regal left in a two on one situation, Bray Wyatt got the tag and hit Sister Abigail for the pinfall victory. The ending worked well for me with pace really lifting as we headed towards and ending and having Regal take the pin keeps Graves and Neville looking strong heading into their Tag Team Title contest with Harper and Rowan.

With The Wyatt Family debuting on Raw last Monday, it would have to be suggested that it is very likely they will be dropping the NXT Tag Team Titles in the near future, whether to Corey Graves and Adrian Neville or another pairing. How many appearance will the Family have left in the NXT Arena? Probably only a handful, we still see a number of main roster superstars on a regular basis, but with The Wyatt Family surely heading into a big summer angle, they might not have the time to return to Full Sail. Another question for me here is, Was this William Regal’s last match? Personally I wouldn’t think and I’m sure Regal will find another opponent he wants to face and teach in the future, I’m also pretty sure we will see at least on more match between he and Kassius Ohno.

 

Best of the Rest

In another big match on NXT this week, Sami Zayn faced off against Leo Kruger. This stemed from the end of las weeks show where Zayn made the save for NXT Champion Bo Dallas against Kruger and Antonio Cesaro. I have to say I haven’t been too impressed with Leo Kruger during his recent run, but I think that’s mainly due to the fact he hadn’t faced an opponent the calibre of Zayn and simply phoned the match in. This one started slowly and didn’t look to be heading anywehere for sometime, but I stuck with it and Kruger and Zayn produced one of the best singles matches in NXT. With near fall after near and some good in ring psycology this match really built into some what of an epic.

Kruger spent a lot of the match focusing on Zayn’s arm, supposedly in an attempt to soften it up for the GC3 submission hold he’s been using lately. Zayn’s speed and quickness was worked into the match with this giving his best opporutnities of winning for most of the match. There was a clever spot where Zayn couldn’t lift Kruger first time, but eventually lifted him up for a spin out powerbomb for a near fall. The match was littered with near falls for Kruger, which really allowed the crowd to get behind Zayn willing him on as he fought against the adversity. After a superplex from Kruger however, followed by sending Zayn into the ring post arm first, Kruger locked on the GC3 for an impressive submission victory. As announced later in the show by Dusty Rhodes, these two will be joined next week by Antonio Cesaro, with the winner getting a shot at Bo Dallas’ NXT Championship.

The Semi-Finals of NXT Women’s Championship Tournament concluded on this episode as Emma faced Summer Rae. In the quarter finals, Emma had put away Aksana, whilst Summer Rae defeated Sasha Banks. This was another solid outing for both Rae and Emma who continue to impress me every time they step into the ring. Emma’s gimmick is extremely over in the NXT arena, and it will be interesting to  see if it can migrate to a larger scale at some point. Rae used her long legs to keep Emma in an arm bar for some time, with Brad Maddox doing a good job of letting us know the dynamic of the match on commentary. With Emma fighting back, we got a nice roll up sequence where it seemed like either Diva could pick up the win, with Emma eventually coming out on top for the upset victory. With Summer attacking Emma after the match, other tournament finalist and long time Summer Rae rival Paige came out to make the save. I had been hoping we’d see one last match between Paige and Summer Rae for the final, however I’m intrigued by how the dynamic of Emma and Paige will work out when they face each other in the final.

Mason Ryan was also in action, this time in a Handicap Match, agains Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. Amore is very interesting to listen to on the microphone and certainly has that mad cap ability that just draws you into what he is saying, as he set up the match due to Ryan’s “cheap shot” on him in the previous episode. As handicap matches go this was actually pretty well worked, with Ryan able to show of his power by dominating two men for a period, whilst the cunning Amore laying wait to trip Ryan as he went for a powerslam on Big Cass to give his team the victory. Obviously, there’s going to be repercussions from this is the coming weeks and it will be interesting to see who eventually comes out on top.

Also, we got the return of Ric Flair to WWE television! With Dusty Rhodes talking to Bayley about her match in the NXT Women’s Championship Tournament a few weeks ago, Flair turned up with his daughter Charlotte. With Charlotte supposed to debuting next week, Bayley offered herself forward to face her, before asking Flair to do the “Woo” he eventually obliged. I actually really like Bayley’s character, the only way I can describe it is like a female Eugene, but more cute and naïve than mentally challenge. It’s a character that could really connect certain sections of the “WWE Universe” and I can see her becoming quite popular if she continues to work hard in NXT.

Finally...

 

What have I learned from this week's NXT?

1. William Regal is still one of the bes in the business.

2. Leo Kruger can go in the ring, when challenged properly.

3. Brad Maddox is a damn good commentator but he ain't no Man's Man.