The SmarK Rant for WWE NXT – 03.27.14
Taped from Orlando, FL
Your hosts are Tom Phillips, Alex Riley & Jason Alberts
This is subtitled “Vengeance” so I guess they’re going with a “big show every month” format now. Fine with me. The graphic on the front page of the Network shows Neville holding up the belt, so hopefully they didn’t spoil their own main event.
Mojo Rawley v. CJ Parker
The CJ Parker enviro-terrorist deal isn’t a bad gimmick, but Parker just has nothing to back it up in the ring or on the microphone. He just comes across as a guy who would be doing jobs on WWF house show openers in the 80s. It’s fine to have guys like that on the roster, but why waste a spot on him? Just cut him loose and let him go learn on the indies. Parker slugs away to start and Mojo misses a blind charge, but a second one connects and the butt splash finishes at 3:18. This was nothing. Mojo’s terrible but the crowd loves him and he’s got something. ½*
Meanwhile, the NXT interviewer interrupts the doctor while he’s examining Sami Zayn. That seems a tad unprofessional.
Tyler Breeze v. Xavier Woods
Breeze works a headlock, but gets cradled for two. Woods with a headscissors for two and he catapults Breeze into the corner, but Breeze runs him into the turnbuckles with a bulldog for two. Woods puts him down with a legsweep and running knee for two, but Breeze runs away from the Honor Roll. Beauty Shot out of the corner finishes for Breeze at 3:50, however. Seriously, if they’re gonna have Breeze take a beating and come back for the surprise win all the time, they really need to turn him babyface. *1/2
Meanwhile, Bo Dallas continues to insist that he never lost.
Corey Graves v. Yoshi Tatsu
Graves attacks to start, but Tatsu fires back with strikes in the corner until Graves hits the knee. He goes to work on the leg and finishes with Lucky 13 at 3:14. *
Natalya v. Charlotte
Nattie has Bret Hart with her, so I’m PRETTY sure she’s going over here. Just a hunch. They trade headlocks to start as Charlotte shows some impressive flexibility on the mat. Natalya with a rollup for two and she dropkicks her down for two. Charlotte does a modified Flair Flip and walks into a clothesline that gets two. Charlotte gets a cheapshot and works Nat’s knee over in the corner, which gives us a figure-four. Nat turns that into a small package and gets two. Charlotte lays her out again for two and goes back to the knee as Bret is OFFENDED by the chicanery going on. Charlotte tries another figure-four and gets blocked, as Natalya reverses into the Sharpshooter and Sasha promptly runs in for the DQ at 5:06. They were having a HELL of a match by Divas standards before the crap finish. **1/2
NXT title: Adrian Neville v. Bo Dallas
Slugfest to start and Neville flips away from him, hitting a missile dropkick to send Bo running. Neville follows with a moonsault to the floor, but Bo catches him coming back in to take over. Back to the floor and Bo clotheslines him out there, which gets two. We take a break and return with Bo getting a lariat for two and working the count, which I always like. Bo blocks a sunset flip and gets two, but Neville reverses for two. Neville makes the comeback and boots him down, and a springboard clothesline gets two. Neville keeps coming with a back elbow in the corner, but Bo rolls him up for two. Neville puts him down and tries the Red Arrow, but Bo gets the knees up and cradles for two. Man, the crowd nearly shit their collective pants on that one. Bo tries for the DDT, but Neville runs him into the corner. Bo returns the favor, but runs into a kick, and a reverse 450 finishes at 16:47. Neville 1, Physics 0. And that should be the end of Bo Dallas for a while. ***
The Pulse
It was dodgy for a bit this week, but turned into a hell of a show in the second half. Well worth seeking this one out.
