The Glimpse:
William Regal takes on Kassius Ohno. Will the veteran teach the upstart a lesson, or will Kassius show Regal that his time has finally passed?
Welcome to Pulse Wrestling’s new coverage of NXT, The Yellow Ropes Report – We’ll keep you up to date on the proving ground for WWE’s future stars. Those gents in The Shield you like so much? All NXT alums. WWE has changed their policy on how they develop and have started recruiting top indy stars, like Chris Hero, Antonio Cesaro and El Generico to name only a fraction.
The Action:
Match 1: The Shield vs Percy Watson, Scott Dawson & Axel Keegan
Winners: The Shield via pinfall
That might not be Axel’s name. Nobody is worried about this. All six men fight as soon as The Shield get in. Reigns hits a headbutt on Dawson then lifts him by his neck to his corner, tagging in Ambrose. Front dropkick and then a single leg dropkick from Rollins to follow up. Rollins was apparently legal and now tags Ambrose for a clothesline. Elbow drop and a stomp from Ambrose then a short arm clothesline. Dawson escapes a suplex and tags in Axel for some punches. Ambrose chases to the ropes with a knee to the gut and a scoop slam. Bow and Arrow stretch and Rollins dives off with a knee drop. Reigns clears the apron, allowing Rollins to his Skywalker shiranui for the win.
After the match, Shield hands Dawson the Cerberus Bomb (I don’t care at all that that’s not official. If they’re going to stress that they’re the hounds of justice, I’m sticking with that name!). “Justice has been served…We are The Shield…Believe in The Shield”. You know how it goes. Corey Graves pops up on the NXTtron and says they’re not running NXT, he is. It’s an open challenge to any member of The Shield for next week. Rollins says he’ll take him on all by himself.
Tony Dawson is standing by with “The First Lady of NXT”, Summer Rae and questions why she ran away from Paige last week. She left her curling iron on and demands thanks. She says Paige should thank her too for saving her career by not fighting.
Next up is Emma, who says her path is akin to Lady Gaga’s…no no, more like Madonna. Fans think she’s a klutz and Emma does her dance. Then she walks into the mic as she leaves.
Match 2: Funkadactyls vs Bella Twins
Winners: Bella Twins
Brie and Naomi start it off with a lock up. Kick to the gut from Brie, but Naomi tries a headscissors out of the corner. It looks like Brie counters, but Naomi squats on her shoulders and rubs her ass on Brie’s head then hits the Rearview ass to the face. Naomi follows with a flipping clothesline for two. Double split legdrop from Brodus’ ladies and Nikki jaws at Cameron from the apron, allowing a back attack from Brie. Cameron is choked in the corner as Nikki comes in to do the same. Brie is back in to attack, then back to Nikki. Arm wrench and a flip, then another. Nikki drops a leg on the arm and gets one. Seated abdominal stretch as the crowd rallies behind Cameron. Nikki rolls her up for one and Cameron fights back to her feet. Kick to the gut and a neckbreaker leaves both women down. Nikki knocks Naomi off the apron and tags Brie back in for a double mat slam and a double rolling grapevine slam for the win.
Kassius Ohno is on the scene (In a “Real Man’s Man” shirt to boot) and says he’s done his research on Regal’s entire career. He’s seen it all, but after tonight nobody will hear or see from William Regal again.
After a WrestleMania weekend video, William Regal contemplates his upcoming match. Regal says it’s not a nice place to be, inside his head. He’s happy to lock the darkness away and be an announcer, but Ohno has broken down the door. Regal apologizes to his children for what he’s going to do to his opponent.
Match 3: Kassius Ohno vs William Regal
Winner: William Regal via pinfall
Regal backs Ohno into the corner after locking up, then Regal takes him down on the next one. They hold the tie up and get back to their feet, then exchange strikes. Regal gets an arm wrench and drives Ohno to the mat. Ohno tries to use his foot to escape, but Regal isn’t having any of it. Another exchange and an arm drag by Regal, transitioned to a hammerlock. Elbow by Ohno to escape and Regal comes right back with a drop toe hold and a top wrist lock. Ohno continues to try to fight from his back and Regal allows him to get up. Ohno gets the upperhand but gets backed into the corner and takes knees from Regal. The ref argues with Regal and he kicks backwards into the face of the grounded Ohno. Ohno tries another kick to escape the corner but Regal puts a stop to it and hits a forearm. Now a cravat in the ropes which Ohno answers with a big knee to the midsection, then tosses Regal to the floor. Ohno with a low dropkick out to the floor and we go to commercial.
Back from break, Ohno is still in control and delivers boots to the head of Regal in the corner. Regal kicks out in one and starts to sell his eardrum and equilibrium. Full nelson from Ohno and Regal fights to his feet and uses his leg to escape with leverage, then levels Ohno with a forearm. Regal stomps at the fingers and then extends them while wrapped in the ropes. Knees to the head in the corner and Regal stays on the hands and fingers. Regal pulls at each finger to keep Ohno from using his submission finisher later in the match. Ohno tries to beg off and gets a knee to the face for his efforts. Very deliberate arm drag with a knuckle lock and Regal follows with a kick to the chest. Ohno breaks the knuckle lock and delivers a knee to the head, continuing the focus on Regal’s equilibrium. With some space, Ohno works on his own hands, popping a digit back into the socket. Ohno heads out to the apron and floor to delivers stomps and a boot to Regal’s head, bouncing it off the ring post. Ohno wants a cravat outside but can’t lock it in with his hurt hands. Regal tries to fight from his back by thrashing about, but Ohno lands another stomp to the ear. Regal kicks out at one and looks completely out of it. Ohno still can’t lock in the cravat and goes for a chinlock instead. Regal is up to his feet finally and throws Ohno off. Regal comes in close for a slam and wants the Regal Stretch but Ohno elbows out. Regal stumbles into a saito suplex and Regal is out at two. Regal wills himself to his feet but his completely off balance then takes a boot to the face from Ohno for a very near fall. Ohno wants a Rolling Elbow but Regal throws a forearm to stop him and hits the Knee Trembler – He collapses on Ohno for the three.
The Reaction:
Yay for squashes making guys look strong. Again, until they make it official or call it something else, it’s the Cerberus Bomb to me. Nice and strong from the NXT alums. Shame for Percy Watson to be tossed into Team Job, but a paycheck’s a paycheck I guess. The usual mic work from all three men who each play their part. Graves’ involvement will be just to explain a singles match with Rollins – Graves is possibly the least intimidating “tough guy” character in wrestling in a long time.
Solid work from the girls, but after seeing the Four Corners Survival involving MsChif it’s kind of hard to be impressed by this action. For what it is, it was entirely serviceable.
Fifteen minutes of mat work and strikes, and not a person in that building wasn’t completely mesmerized. I love me some high spots, but it just feels like nobody even tries to do this style anymore aside from Regal. Very reminiscent of Dean Ambrose and Regal when Ambrose was on his way out. Having that big blow off with Regal on NXT could be a great rite of passage for certain guys as they leave developmental, but it would be nice if light was made of it once they get on WWE main shows. It’s a stretch, but it seemed like Regal sold the equilibrium earlier than he did with Ambrose – That in and of itself could become part of the storylines with the guys moving on.
The Preview:
Next week, The Shield’s Seth Rollins takes on Cory Graves in a Lumberjack Match.
The Shill:
As always, if you like what you read here, let me know in the comments or on twitter @sbfantom. I sincerely would like to hear what people think and strike up some conversation!
