Ratings:
Bo Dallas vs. Rick Victor: *
Damien Sandow vs. Jason Jordan: N/A (no match)
Conor O'Brian & Kenneth Cameron vs. Mike Dalton & CJ Parker: N/A (squash)
Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty: ***1/2
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
FINALLY, a new season of NXT, meaning fresh talent, storylines, and venue! Full Sail University in Orlando will be the permanent site for NXT for now. Nice video package to open the show and debut the new season.
Some female announcer introduces Jim Ross...and he has a goatee. Interim NXT GM is Dusty Rhodes. In the meantime, William Regal is the voiceover guy and color commentator for the show.
Video package on Bo Dallas. Huge pedigree, being a third-generation star. He'll be in the first match of the season. Guess they'll really be pushing this guy. His opponent gets mentioned as the last Hart Dungeon guy. Wait, what about Tyson Kidd? Bo's finisher is a spear. Pretty straightforward match. Bo knows how to win. I like it.
Video package on Seth Rollins. Yup, the guy formerly known as Tyler Black. We'll see him in action next week. Antonio Cesaro also on NXT next week. Probably a good move for both guys who might initially get lost in the shuffle on RAW or Smackdown.
Damien Sandow also appears this week. He faces Jason Jordan, one of the guys otherwise on the FCW roster. "What?" chants are awesome in a smaller building. Of course, Sandow refuses to fight. So much for that.
Great video package on a new tag team: The Ascension. Yes, that is the same Conor O'Brian that didn't make it on two prior seasons of NXT. The other guy is Kenneth Cameron. I really like the look of this tag team.
I found it fitting that -- at least on the video I saw -- there was also a short video package of Ricardo Rodriguez and Alberto Del Rio. Ricardo is a former Ascension member, at least before he transitioned to the main WWE roster.
Ascension's ring entrance is a dark, strobe light-filled mix of live entrance and clips from the entrance video. Suspenseful music. It's already become one of my favorite ring entrances. Dalton and Parker are their opponents. Lots of kicks and great tag teaming in the corner from Ascension. Parker gets nuked and the other guy doesn't even sniff official action. Downcast is the Ascension's tag team finisher.
Video package hyping Bray Wyatt. You may remember him as Husky Harris. I have no freakin' clue of what to think about that video package, other than he says monsters and Boogeymen are real. Somehow, it needed worms to really drive that point home.
Bateman and Curtis are still on NXT. The bathroom is Curtis' office, so is he supposed to be that much more like the Fonz now? Curtis and Bateman will main event NXT next week.
Because we apparently still can't get Kidd and McGillicutty off NXT, they main event the season premiere. Not that I'm fully complaining. Kidd with a bunch of exciting moves for the crowd. MM showing a few new moves, at least to me, and also getting the heel heat from the crowd. Great second half to the match, with several near falls. Note that MM locked that Sharpshooter in wrong. Perfect-plex countered, inside cradle...which man's shoulders are down? Doesn't matter. Kidd rollup, into the Dungeon Lock for the submission win. Awesome main event, one of the best matches these two have had to date.
No comments:
Post a Comment