WWE NXT Report
August 15, 2012
Taped at Full Sail University
Report by Justin James, PWTorch contributor

1 - RICHIE STEAMBOAT vs. JINDER MAHAL - Gold Rush Tournament match

Mahal's height proves an early advantage, then Steamboat's speed counters Mahal's power. They go back and forth trading counters and reversals. Steamboat fights off a superplex but misses a missile dropkick, letting Mahal apply the Camel Clutch. Steamboat taps after a struggle.

WINNER: Jinder Mahal in 4:45. Decent match with lots of counters and reversals to keep it interesting. Steamboat's best match in NXT, and one of Mahal's better matches, overall. It's interesting to see how WWE is building toward Seth Rollins against Jinder Mahal for the NXT Championship.

Briley Pearce is backstage with Leo Kruger, who has trouble talking until he removes a tooth, then he says that something is brewing inside of him. He's talking like he has trouble with English.

Heath Slater comes out and he asks the crowd to take the time to look at him, the One Man Band. He says that those "ancient dinosaurs" on Raw are in the past. He makes one of his famous open challenges to anyone in the back. No one answers the challenge, and eventually Scotty 2 Hotty comes out. Slater looks less than happy.

2 - SCOTTY 2 HOTTY vs. HEATH SLATER

S2H does a lot of jumping around and gyrations until Slater gets a wristlock on. S2H reverses into a wristlock of his own and takes Slater down. He counters Slater's offense and shows off some agility. Slater gets a boot up in the corner and runs S2H down. There's some back and forth, and S2H does a dance and hits the worm for the finish.

WINNER: Scotty 2 Hotty in 4:00. Hotty showed a lot of speed and agility for someone who has been out of the spotlight for a while. Fun match with the expected ending. Heath Slater shines at getting a crowd to hate him.

3 - THE USOS vs. THE ASCENSION - Tag Team match

Super-hot opening and Cameron lands a big series of nasty headbutts, then Jey shrugs them off. Cameron sends Jimmy into the turnbuckle groin-first to turn it around. Neckbreaker from the second rope and Jimmy gets isolated.

Samoan Drop lets Jimmy tag out, and Cameron comes in, too. Jey runs Cameron down. O'Brien breaks up a tag and things fall apart. Cameron eats a superkick, but O'Brien knocks Jey off the top turnbuckle before he can land the Superfly Splash. The ref calls for the bell in a DQ finish.

WINNERS: The Usos in 4:45. Decent match until the bizarre end. Since when does a minor interference draw a DQ in WWE? The Ascension looked really good in their beat down, acting with high aggression instead of the methodical attacks that are the norm. It fits their gimmick well.

Post-match, The Ascension tear Jimmy Uso apart.

Backstage, Briley Pearce wants to interview Richie Steamboat, but Steamboat shrugs him away and says it is not a good time.

In another backstage segment, Matt Striker interviews Hunico and Camacho. He brings up their loss last week, and Hunico claims that he was sick and had a 117 degree fever. He says that there was something wrong with Camacho's donkey, too. Striker looks incredulous and leaves.

Raquel Diaz talks to herself in the mirror saying that he makeover is for the good of the other Divas.

4 - SETH ROLLINS vs. MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY - Gold Rush Tournament match

Rollins and McGillicutty struggle for position and McGillicutty needs a rope break. McGillicutty slaps Rollins and mouths off, so Rollins picks a foot and takes him down. Rollins refuses to be tricked by McGillicutty and sends him outside the ring, and follows with a suicide dive. The crowd goes nuts. Back in the ring, McGillicutty lands a Big Show-like right to put Rollins down. McGillicutty gets ruthlessly aggressive.

False commercial break and Rollins is back in charge. He seems to call for Sweet Chin Music, but he tries a corner splash instead. McGillicutty dodges, hits a blockbuster then a Saito suplex. Rollins looks like he's on the verge of passing out from pain, but he turns a running neckbreaker attempt into a backslide. McGillicutty blocks and lands another big right. Rollins headbutts out of a superplex attempt, but McGillicutty blocks a top rope sunset flip. Rollins tries to turn it into a powerbomb, but McGillicutty blocks that too. McGillicutty wants punches from above, but Rollins breaks him off the ropes and powerbombs him halfway across the ring into the turnbuckle. Rollins with the Blackout when McGillicutty bounces off the turnbuckle for the win.

WINNER: Seth Rollins in 5:45. I could have watched another ten minutes of this and not gotten bored. Seth Rollins is clearly in the same league as Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, or Daniel Bryan in terms of his in-ring skill, and has that Jeff Hardy ability to get a crowd behind him just with his natural enthusiasm, without having to say a word. No NXT Rookie has Rollins's crowd support.

Post-match, Jinder Mahal comes out to interrupt Rollins's interuption. His music hits and he walks down the ramp, but Rollins keeps him out of the ring. NXT commissioner Dusty Rhodes comes out and tells them to save it for next week. While rollins listens to Rhodes, Mahal jumps Rollins, but Rollins survives and clears Mahal from the ring.

Final Reax: The Rollins - McGillicutty match was a ton of fun, Heath Slater's segment was well done, and I hope that Bray Wyatt recovers from his injuries soon. What has happened to Dean Ambrose? I saw him in a dark match a while back against Seth Rollins and was impressed, but he seems to have slipped off the face of the earth. The Ascension is doing a very good job at developing a unique in-ring style that works well with their roles; let's see if they can make the tweaks to their roles to be less of a cartoon and more realistic.

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