WWE NXT Rankings & Evaluation
By George Chiverton, PWTorch NXT specialist

Latest NXT Rankings

(1) Bray Wyatt (-)
(2) Kassius Ohno (-)
(3) Paige (-)
(4) Seth Rollins (-)
(5) Jake Carter (-)
(6) Richie Steamboat (-)
(7) Mike Dalton (-)
(8) Big E. Langston (-)
(9) Bo Dallas (-)
(10) The Ascension (-)
(11) Jason Jordon (-)
(12) Leo Kruger (-)
Waiting List - Bronson, Roman Reigns

10/31 WWE NXT Episode Evaluation

- Micheal McGillicutty and Johnny Curtis took on the Usos to kick off the show. Curtis milked his entrance for all it was worth with gyrations and self-stroking to push his "dirty Curty" creep gimmick. He is clearly trying to get noticed and I'm all for that. The story of the match revolved around Curtis being distracted while McGillicutty was focused on getting the win. After a hot tag, Jay cleaned house and Jimmy won with the splash.

The Ascension then appeared in the rafters to keep the feud going with the Usos. Why not?

- Up next was Xavier Woods's NXT debut against Leo Kruger. Woods (formerly Consequences Creed in TNA) was a mid-carder over at FCW and I can see him being lost in JTG land if he were to transfer to the main roster. This is not a negative statement about his talent, as the guy can really go, but I don't think WWE quite knows what to do with him. Regardless, his ring gear is awesome with "Over 9,000" plastered on his legs. The squash was inevitable, unfortunately, with Leo Kruger picking up a win to zero reaction. Real lead balloon stuff.

- Big E. had an interview with Byron Saxton, where he explained he liked the five count because he has five fingers. Inspired. Vickie Guerrero came out to flirtatiously try to employ him for her roster, which drew a "Just say no" chant from Full Sail. Inspired. Big E. responded by clapping up some flour in her face. Fair enough.

- Jinder Mahal cut a promo. It was fine, but not a lot more. If WWE didn't promote xenophobia so strongly, I doubt he'd get any heat at all. Justin Gabriel then came out to bring some charisma to the show and say he deserved an NXT Title match. Drew McIntyre then came out to claim the same, with the only legit claim that he beat Rollins earlier in the season (in a great match). Bo Dallas followed (really) to set up four people in the ring. I wonder where this is going. Dusty Rhodes came out to make the inevitable official - a Fatal Four-Way next week. Dusty Long has been born. Imagine the dancing.

- Up next was the debut of Roman Reigns. He was formerly known as Leakee and, as with every American Samoan in WWE, is part of the Anoa'i family. This makes him a blood relative of the Usos, Rock, and everyone else you can think of. His brother is Rosey, who you may remember being labeled as the Hamburgler while a tag team partner with Hurricane Helms. Yeah, weird one, eh. Anyways, Reigns's debut was far from perfect with slightly off pacing until the finish, which seemed to be a back drop pick-up into a Rock Bottom-style slam. Regal and Tony Luftman (who was nothing short of dreadful this week) seemed to be high on him, though, I need to see some more before I make my mind up.

- Main event time was just around the corner with Tyson Kidd taking on Antonio Cesaro for the U.S. Title. Although a title change was never really in the cards, I knew this match would deliver. The early exchanges were fantastic with counter after counter making for a fluent and natural feel to the match. Down the line, this continued with some of the purest and most perfect wrestling you will see in a nine-minute match. Kidd kept the upper hand before Swiss Death from Cesaro, followed by the Neutralizer picked up the win. This needed more than nine minutes, but it was still a great match. Regal was silent throughout, clearly in awe of the in-ring work. It was great.

All in all, a great week of NXT, although I would have happily cut everything to have given Kidd vs. Cesaro 45 minutes.

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