8/8/12 NXT

Ratings:
Michael McGillicutty vs. Justin Gabriel: **1/2

Kassius Ohno vs. CJ Parker: *1/2

Tamina Snuka & Paige vs. Kaitlyn & Caylee Turner: 1/2*

Jinder Mahal vs. Bo Dallas: *3/4
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Reviews/Thoughts:
We start off with the next Gold Rush tournament quarterfinal match to crown a new NXT champ. Gabriel and McGillicutty here. Fans saw a new side of Justin Gabriel, going a lot more to the ground game early, being more technical a superstar. The second half was vintage Gabriel. Awesome, in my opinion. He becomes a more well-rounded competitor and an even bigger threat. A bit more unpredictability never hurt anyone here. MM couldn't win with his dad's finisher, but gets it with his neckbreaker. The finish shows how one mistake can be the end of you.

Kassius Ohno back in action this week. Fear the beard! Ohno in control for most of the match, and rolling elbow wins it. Love that finisher.

Another video package for The Ascension. They will be in action again next week. I've got high hopes for this duo.

Divas tag team action on NXT, and we see the first match for Caylee Turner, the (real-life) younger sister of Alicia Fox. We've seen Paige before; WWE is pretty high on her to help be part of the next wave of divas to blaze a trail. Not sure who the faces really are anymore, aside from Tamina, and I'm not too concerned about that anyway. Funny how they push Kaitlyn and Tamina as two of the strongest divas in WWE, ignoring the likes of Beth Phoenix and Natalya. Not saying the former two divas are weak, but it just implies ignorance from the commentating team. Caylee with a couple of botches, but she'll get better. Paige rolls Caylee up for the win, and in an awkward spot, Kaitlyn just stands there on the apron thinking nothing of it. Come on, it's the little things that help make a match a bit more believable.

Bateman pulls a bit of the jealous/peeved card that Bo Dallas qualified, McGillicutty qualified, and he didn't. On top of all that, commentating team really praises Bo and pegs him the front-runner to win the Gold Rush tournament.

So naturally, it was obvious Bo would lose this match. I was just wondering if Bateman would interfere to cost him the victory (didn't happen). Bo and Jinder have family pedigrees in pro wrestling, so both have the genes to be in the business. Unfortunately, the crowd again was quiet and didn't seem to care much. Mahal got the win with a flatliner and a camel clutch.