CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
Pro Wrestling Torch
Pro Wrestling Torch Reaches The Most Wrestling Fans Every Week: #1 in iTunes • #1 on iPhone and iPad • #1 on Android • #1 on Kindle
GOT THE PWTORCH APP YET?
iPhone & iPad
Android
Amazon Kindle
Windows Phone
PWTorch Phone App
THE SPECIALISTS
CHIVERTON'S WWE NXT SCOUTING REPORT: Detailed Evaluation of top feuds leading into "NXT Arrival"

Feb 27, 2014 - 3:15:37 PM
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BOOKMARK US & VISIT US DAILY


NXTFCWlogo_2.jpg



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


In the lead-up to "NXT Arrival" Thursday night on WWE Network...

February 12 NXT Evaluation

- The first match this week came from a Teddy Long special from the previous week with Natalya, Emma, and Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, Summer Rae, and Alicia Fox. Charlotte came down to ringside apparently to scout Alicia and see if she belonged in the BFFs.

On the verge of Valentine's Day, Renee Young busted out a sweet Simpsons reference on commentary with an "I choo-choo choose you" towards William Regal. That was probably the best bit of the segment. The match was simple and fairly poor with Bayley being worked over before making the hot tag to Emma. Alicia Fox was on the receiving end and took some signature Emma offense. When Alicia went for the tag to get away from the angry Aussie, Sasha and Summer dropped off the apron and walked out with Charlotte. BFFs r so b----y OMG. Emma picked up the win with her impressive bridging STF submission, picking up momentum heading into her title match.

This match wasn't terrible, it just wasn't good. There are so many talented women in the world of wrestling and seeing people touting Emma so highly shows how little they expect of a Divas match. I'm not trying to be mean to Emma here, she's just not there yet by any standards other than WWE's. It makes you question why Sara Del Ray is training talent instead of bringing WWE to the 21st century in the ring alongside the Candice LeRaes of this world. Here's to hoping Paige comes back with a bang.

- Up next was Colin Cassidy vs. Aiden English to continue their feud. Aiden did his singing routine on the way to the ring and once again I absolutely hated it. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I'll adjudge his whole gimmick to belong to a showreel of how not to do things good. I'm on it for grammar. The match? Aiden won clean with the Director's Cut after a couple of minutes. There really wasn't any more to it.

- Out next was Sami Zayn with microphone in-hand. Boy, was I glad to see him. Zayn said his 2/3 Falls match loss to Cesaro last year had been torturing him. He talked about how he watched the match over and over (him and me both) but still couldn't work out where he went wrong to lose the match. This brought out Cesaro, who said there was never a moment where Sami lost it... as it was always Cesaro's from the start. Cesaro said that Zayn will have a great career - at NXT, before saying his whole life will be just like that match... close, but no cigar. Three ellipses later, everyone had an appreciation for short pauses.

Zayn responded by first talking up Cesaro. He talked about their past, respecting Cesaro's work ethic and the fact that a big WWE Superstar still comes to NXT because he is a true competitor. This was warmly reciprocated by the Full Sail audience who clearly both liked the sentiment and the fact that Zayn was being genuinely appreciative of a fellow athlete.

Zayn changed the tone with, "You will fight anyone, anywhere but yet, you won’t face me." Cesaro fired back by asking how many more matches will it take until Zayn understands that Cesaro is better? Zayn quickly fired back with "one." Which drew a "one more match" chant. Zayn whipped out the afraid jibe to which Cesaro dryly asked, "How is your knee?" referring to Sami's recent injury woes. Zayn said he was fine but sold a little apprehensiveness. Cesaro said, "Man to man, if I accept to one last match, there will be no excuses when I beat you again." This was applauded, too, and rightfully so. When did you last see a heel do that? I LOVE THIS.

Zayn said, "You have my word," and offered his hand for the match. There was a pause and the crowd picked up a hilarious "pinkie promise" chant. Zayn smiled and switched up his hand to massive cheers. Cesaro readied the pinkie (in true European style) and the crowd went mental. So did I. Unfortunately, Cesaro did the ol' switcheroo with a rejection followed by a swift sharp kick to Zayn's injured knee. As he walked out and up the ramp, Triple H entered and made the match official for the big Feb 27. edition of NXT. Happiness all around.

OVERALL: Such a fantastic exchange with two natural personas shining through to have a realistic and genuine face-off. The two click and they click in a way where you get lost in the moment. Its wrestling at its most immersive and hence most enjoyable. It's just a shame there's not more of it about as it would add so much credibility to the 'sport' aspect of wrestling. Two athletes came together and had a heated discussion to eventually work up to a match to see which is the better competitor. That's all it had to be and without the whistles and bells of wrassling (in the South Park sense) this match is now one of the hottest on the big NXT "Arrival" card. It was also exciting to see Triple H interact with former independent talent, although the star performer here was undoubtedly Zayn. Give this man a call-up.

- Coming off the crescendo of the show was Tye Dillinger vs. C.J. Parker. I haven’t seen Tye before, but he had very solid support including a "purple power" chant in reference to his rather regal trunks. I think this was more a response to C.J. Parker being very over as a heel than Tye having a lot of support. It was a short squash with C.J. picking up the win with his "Third Eye," a palm strike right to the face. It's a nice finisher, I'll give him that.

After the match, he turned eco warrior for a promo saying everyone was evil for destroying the planet and they should be booing themselves. Hilariously, the cheeky chaps of Full Sail broke into an ironic "USA" chant. You gotta love it. C.J. came across as quite petulant in a good way. He's still rusty around the edges and his promo delivery is poor, but he's heating up and ticking a lot more boxes than I remember him doing since his debut.

- The conclusion of the night was a Wyatt Family homecoming. There were massive cheers for the Wyatts, who are arguably the best product of the Full Sail NXT so far. Their "match" was against Jason Jordan and Marcus Louis (who never got a name tag). It was a very short squash match where I'm not sure Jason actually got in the ring.

After the Wyatts won, Bray cut a face promo about NXT being theirs, and it always will be. It was a feel-good moment and a nice send-off to the Wyatts on their way to being established WWE Superstars. Having said that, it was equally a bit inconsequential, although nothing else on the show could have worked anything superior with the additional time. Zayn-Cesaro was the perfect length and the rest of the matches were a bit dull. So I'll give the segment a pass.

***

February 19 NXT Evaluation

- The Ascension were out first, Tag Titles in hand, to face off against two jobbers. An early "Let’s go jobbers" chant broke out while Tom Phillips talked up the 140-day reign of The Ascension. I must say, putting the titles on the Ascension and letting them breathe as a tag team has allowed them to get over a lot more than when I last saw them. Although there are still major issues, the team is heading in the right way. No time later, "The Fall of Man" was good for the win.

PWTorch NXT TV recapper Justin James made a great point in his article that facing two non-roster jobbers hurts the star appeal of the champs. There needs to be more tag teams in NXT.

- Up next was Emma vs. Summer Rae in a warm-up for both their appearance on Raw this passing Monday and Emma’s title match on Thursday. Before the match, we were notified Tyler Breeze had entered the building before the BFFs (Sasha Banks, Charlotte, and Summer) came down to the ring. Emma's music hit and Tensai went nuts for the bubbles again. That never won't be funny to me. Bayley came down with Emma to the ring, anti-Summer signs in-hand.

Summer got the signs at the start of the match and threw them out the ring, which drew a quick roll-up attempt from Emma, settingt the tone for the early stages of the match. Summer took control by sending Emma to the outside with a knee. Summer played heel for a lot longer than was appreciated which rather bored the usually generous Full Sail audience.

Eventually, Emma got Summer into a tarantula, which brought the crowd back. Her comeback was momentarily cut off by the BFFs outside the ring, but eventually Emma turned the tables on all three by sending Summer into Sasha, who had hopped up on the apron. Emma took advantage with the Emma Lock for the win. There was nothing wrong with the match, but nothing at all to be excited about.

- Devin Taylor was backstage with Tyler Breeze. Tyler was obnoxious in a good way, getting upset that Adrian Neville could be the Face of NXT. It was a fun enough little promo and Tyler is good in his role, even if I’m not a big fan of the character.

- Renee Young was somewhere a bit quieter with "Antonio" Cesaro and Sami Zayn. Sami congratulated Cesaro before the interview started on being in the Elimination Chamber. Cesaro interrupted before Zayn could finish and noted he could be WWE World Heavyweight Champion by their match on the 27. Both men noted they were under strict instruction not to get physical as this would cost them their important matches: this one for Zayn and the Elimination Chamber for Cesaro.

Cesaro slyly put down Zayn here and this sort of subtlety is what I love about this feud. Zayn looked frustrated and as he began talking about being medically cleared when Cesaro interrupted once again. Cesaro said he "clearly has an Achilles heel, or should I say an Achilles knee" before laughing to himself in a really slimy way. Zayn went back to his point saying he’s ready to go while Cesaro got out his phone selling disinterest in the interview. Renee asked Sami does he think the Elimination Chamber gives him an advantage. Cesaro one again cut right across conversation and Sami had had enough.

Zayn stood up and got in Cesaro's face saying that Cesaro was trying to make this personal. ‘We’re past personal. Okay. We did personal. With the attacks last time, the matches and the hatred and the name calling. That is behind us. We are past personal. The only thing that’s personal about this situation right now is that it's professional and I take this profession very personally. And right now you and this match is the only thing standing in the way of me advancing my career, so that’s where we’re at," Zayn said. You wont see better delivery than that. Such great work from Zayn. I feel bad for being upset that he lost the El Generico gimmick now.

Cesaro, a little forced by comparison, stood up and started saying what Sami doesn’t understand is -- before Zayn cut him off. "What YOU don’t seem to understand is you've got nothing I want to hear. And after February 27, you’re going to have nothing to say at all," Zayn replied. Great, great, great work from Zayn. He’s got so many emotional levels that he can operate on and this match has me more excited than anything at Mania has yet.

- Backstage, Emma was being kooky for 30 seconds before it was main event time, with Tyler Breeze taking on Adrian Neville eight days before Adrian challenges for the NXT Title. Tyler made his entrance, which was pretty pouty and funny. I may be warming to him. They showed footage of Breeze costing Neville the Lumberjack match for the NXT Title a month or so ago.

The lock-ups were slow from Breeze before he switched up to strikes to take control. Neville flipped out of the way of a corner attack and tumbled across the ring, but Tyler met him in the other corner with a big dropkick. After a phone check, Breeze continued his control before Neville got the better of the brawling. He hit a huge press slam mid ring showing off his power, uncharacteristic for a high-flyer. He hit a huge uppercut in the corner, but paused too long, which allowed Breeze to take control once again. Breeze went for a triangle dropkick in the corner, but missed which allowed Neville to transition into a big flipping senton to the outside.

Back from break, Neville was in control once again. Tyler went for a huracanrana, but Neville powered him back up and sat out for the powerbomb. Again, some impressive power shown by Neville. It was only good for two, but Neville had time to get out of the ring to ready himself for a springboard. He sprung up to the top rope but dropped to the mat, while Tyler dived out of the way, buying the fake. Neville laughed and ran the rope, but Breeze smashed him with a reverse heel kick for a close two.

Breeze went for his spinning heel kick finisher, but Neville ducked and got off a big couple of step up enzuguiris. Neville went to the top and slammed down the Red Arrow for the win. A good win for Neville and Breeze hung in for long enough to look credible.

- After the match, Neville got on the microphone but Bo Dallas came out to interrupt his promo. "A no more Bo" chant broke up while Bo started his patronizing spiel with a dash of laughing at his own jokes. There were enough people who were annoyed to start a "C-M-Punk" chant followed by a Daniel Bryan chant. Adrian said he couldn't work out what Bo didn’t like about him and that he thought Bo may hate him. Bo, smile on face said, "Oh no, Neville. I don’t hate you. I think you’re a good kid,’ and gave Neville a patronizing tap on the arm.

Adrian, annoyed, carried on: "I realized you don’t hate me; you’re scared of me." He then detailed how he’d win the title before pointing out that Bo may smile but his eyes don’t lie. Adrian said Bo wanted to hit him and offered him one shot for free. Bo slowly removed his jacket. Adrian fired up in his face, microphones being discarded. Bo looked furious and was about to punch before he slowly left the ring.

OVERALL: The tension was good, but these two have nothing at all on the acting of Zayn and Cesaro. There’s no doubt which match has the audience’s interest. I think Adrian is actually to blame for this as he really isn't great at delivering promos. Compared to Zayn who always seems to be talking naturally and in a way which doesn’t play up to wrestling stereotypes, Adrian feels very scripted. Still, we have a heel and we have a face and we have a match people want to see. That’s more than some big title matches at the moment.

FINAL THOUGHTS: NXT seems set to make a big start on the WWE Network and I am serious in saying if they sort out the roster depth, WWE's Developmental show could take a chunk out of TNA’s ratings. Add in that WWE has some wrestlers (e.g. Samuray Del Sol and Sammi Callihan) who could become really good on the Network, and it will be interesting to see if NXT reaches a bigger audience and what the effect of that’ll be on both NXT and WWE, in general. "Arrival" looks to be a great event on Thursday night and I am super-excited for Zayn vs. Cesaro. 2014's match of the year? We'll see.

That's all from me folks. Any comments or thoughts check in with me @PWChiverton and we'll have a natter in 140 characters. Otherwise thanks for reading and see you next week.


We suggest these recent related articles...
10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods
COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling
9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt
prowrestling.net
CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE PW.NET HEADLINES


CLICK TO EMAIL THIS ARTICLE
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING

NEW! SIGN UP FOR FREE PWTORCH BREAKING NEWS EMAIL ALERTS
BECOME A PWTORCH VIP MEMBER
-FORMER MEMBERS LOGIN HERE TO RENEW
-NEW MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
SELECT BY ARTICLES CATEGORY
SEARCH PWTORCH.COM



CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF UPCOMING PRO WRESTLING EVENTS
MORE HEADLINES AT AFFILIATE SITES
MMATorch
LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR MORE MMATORCH HEADLINES


PWTORCH POLL - VOTE NOW!
RAW POLL 10/12: Vote on Monday's show
 
pollcode.com free polls


RAW POLL 10/12: What was the Best Match on Raw?
 
pollcode.com free polls
MCNEILL LIVECAST POLL: TNA will have a 32-person tournament to determine a new Hvt. champion - your thoughts?
 
pollcode.com free polls
CENA POLL: If John Cena takes a year-end break, who should win the U.S. Title from Cena?
 
pollcode.com free polls
VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS



LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE INC HEADLINES

_
LATEST FREE AUDIO SHOWS - CLICK TO LISTEN VIEW MORE PWTORCH LIVECAST EPISODES
DOWNLOAD PWTORCH LIVECAST APP
SUBSCRIBE TO PWTORCH LIVECAST IN ITUNES


ABOUT US

THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.

He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.

He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).

He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)


REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD
PWTORCH STAFF

EDITORS:
Wade Keller, editor
(kellerwade@gmail.com)

James Caldwell, assistant editor
(pwtorch@gmail.com)

STAFF COLUMNISTS:
Bruce Mitchell (since 1990)
Pat McNeill (since 2001)
Greg Parks (since 2007)
Sean Radican (since 2003)

We also have a great team of
TV Reporters
and Specialists and Artists.

PWTORCH VIP MEMBERSHIP

PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.

Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.

The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...

-New Digital PWTorch Newsletter every week
-3 New Digital PDF Back Issues from 5, 10, 20 years ago
-Over 60 new VIP Audio Shows each week
-Ad-free access to all PWTorch.com free articles
-VIP Forum access with daily interaction with PWTorch staff and well-informed fellow wrestling fans
-Tons of archived audio and text articles
-Decades of Torch Talk insider interviews in transcript and audio formats with big name stars.


**SIGN UP FOR VIP ACCESS HERE**

CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCASTIPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
VIP SIGN-UP
VIP LOGIN
THE TORCH: #1 IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE | © 1999-2013 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY