WWE NXT TV results
December 11, 2013
Taped at Full Sail University
Report by Justin James, PWTorch contributor

[Q1] NXT starts with Hunico and Camacho coming out for a Tag Team Championship match against The Ascension. This could be billed as "the battle of zero heat." This smacks of desperation to give The Ascension some credibility.

William Regal, Alex Riley, and Tom Philip are in the booth.

1 - THE ASCENSION (CONOR O'BRIAN & RICK VICTOR) vs. HUNICO & CAMACHO vs. NXT Tag Team Title match

Camacho comes out strong against Victor, who makes a comeback and rips Camacho's shirt off. Camacho eludes Victor in a number of ways and goes back to the attack. Hunico tags in and uses knees to keep victor on the defensing. Riley and Regal are doing too much arguing on commentary, of note. A knee to the face lets Victor get some breathing room into a break.

[ Commercial Break ]

O'Brian has Hunico grounded out of the break. Hunico stays isolated for a stretch. A double tag sets Camacho and O'Brian against each other. Camacho gets the advantage and looks hot. Victor breaks up a tag, but gets dumped, Camacho misses an elbow in the corner and O'Brian lands a full nelson slam. Victor takes out Hunico ringside, letting The Ascension double tag Camacho. Fall of Man and Victor picks up the win.

WINNERS: The Ascension in 8:00 to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship. There was a lady in the front row yawning and looking bored, and I was right there with her. The Ascension are fine in the ring, though, like Ryback, I enjoy their quick squashes much more. A heel vs. heel match with zero purpose or reason is impossible to have any interest in, unless it features top-tier talent.

[Q2] Lana is out to a constant "What?" chant to introduce Alexander Rusev. She's wearing the same outfit as last week, belying the taping schedule. Rusev has been making the house show rounds facing Zack Ryder lately, to middling reviews. I find that odd, since I have enjoyed his NXT work. Out comes Kassius Ohno. In a wrestling first, Ohno is wearing that kinesis tape like Olympic athletes to sell a back injury, as opposed to the cliched tape around the ribs.

2 - KASSIUS OHNO vs. ALEXANDER RUSEV

Rusev gets Ohno in the corner, but he escapes. Ohno is cornered again and Rusev takes control. Ohno is getting zero offense as Rusev tears him apart. Ohno with a rolling elbow, but Rusev blocks a school-boy. Ohno with a few more pin attempts, but a mid-air collision allows Rusev to put Ohno in The Accolade for the win.

WINNER: Alexander Rusev in 3:30. Send-off match to let them write Ohno off the air. Rusev looked strong.

Post-match, Rusev refuses to let Ohno free and the refs rush the ring.

Backstage, Natalya runs into Bayley, as they are partners for tonight's match. Natalya reassures Bayley, saying that she is Bayley's friend, which peps her up.

Tom Philips sends the show back to last week, where Antonio Cesaro tore apart Byron Saxton (who is notably "recovered" and taking on announcer duties this week). Regal sends a message to Cesaro: "If Antonio Cesaro has a problem with me, there's no need to take it out on Byron Saxton." Regal-Ohno was a stellar match. Cesaro-Zayn was a real contender to Match of the Year, Slammy nominations aside. What will Cesaro-Regal deliver?

3 - NATALYA & BAYLEY vs. THE BFF'S (SUMMER RAE & SASHA BANKS) - Tag Team match

Bayley and Banks kick it off. Bayley shows the appropriate level of rage for this feud, and double-teams Banks. Rae wants to run over Natalya, but Natalya trips her and Rae gets double-teamed, too. Rae runs to the corner and the action repeats. Banks gets Bayley into the corner for a reversal. Strong crowd support for Bayley as she gets cornered. Bayley is able to reach her corner and Natalya shows off her skill against Banks.

Natalya with her power, and looks for the Sharpshooter, but Rae breaks it up. Natalya hits her head on a turnbuckle and Bayley spends time taking Rae off the corner. This lets Banks recover enough to put a boot to the midsection. Neckbreaker, called "Bankrupt" by Philips is good for the win.

WINNERS: The BFF's in 3:45. Odd way to advance this feud, in a nice, though, too-short match.

Backstage, Leo Kruger delivers a promo about how he is going to hurt Sami Zayn.

[Q3] Sylvester Lefort introduces Scott Dawson, making his in-ring return after an injury. He's facing Mojo Rawley and gets some nice crowd support. Rawley has a good character and real charisma. Rawley doubles his crowd support with his entrance, amazing energy.

4 - MOJO RAWLEY vs. SCOTT DAWSON

Rawley easily overpowers Dawson at first, but then Dawson does the same. Dawson is using a slightly faster style than before, which really suits him well. Dawson sells a mouth injury to lure Rawley in, but Rawley is able to fire up. Rear View, then a running senton splash for the win.

WINNER: Mojo Rawley in 3:30. Dawson is a solid wrestler. Rawley has so much raw potential, but he needs to expand his moveset. Given time, Rawley can be a Sheamus-like player in the WWE.

Post-match, Dawson ambushes Rawley.

Scott Stanford announces that next week is NXT's 200th episode, and The Ascension has issued an open challenge. Also, Bo Dallas will face Adrian Neville in a lumberjack match in a title re-match. That's a shame, I was hoping to see Neville re-unite with the promising Oliver Grey to re-capture the NXT Tag Team Titles. At this point, the only way to improve the tag team division would be to see Paige and Natalya team up to beat The Ascension. Triple H is advertised for next week as well. That's a loaded show.

Alex Riley heels on Sami Zayn. Riley is really not fitting into the role he's been assigned for the last few weeks, as bickering with Regal is not his strong suit. It doesn't help that no one is going to beat Regal at the bickering game, but Riley is especially poor at it; unlike Tony Dawson or Tom Philips, he refuses to just roll over and lick his wounds, but keeps coming back for more.

5 - SAMI ZAYN vs. LEO KRUGER

Zayn immediately takes Kruger down and wails away at him. Kruger his a spinebuster to put the brakes on Zayn. They brawl on the outside. Kruger ducks outside to catch his breath, but Zayn takes the fight to him. Zayn with a huge cross-body from the top to mid-ring hits Kruger like a bomb. Kruger crotches Zayn on a tornado DDT attempt and follows with The Slice for the win.

WINNER: Leo Kruger in 6:00. This match had the right tone and status for this stage of the feud, though I have no clue where it is going or how Zayn reaches the title shot again like this.

Post-match, Kruger wants another Slice, but Zayn ducks, sends Kruger outside, and hits a big dive over the ropes. Zayn goes berserk and the refs pour out of the back. This feud is clearly just heating up, to provide some distraction for Zayn on his path to regain a title shot.

Final Reax: Aside from the forgettable tag team match, this was a decent enough episode to move storylines alone, build feuds, etc. Unlike Raw, WWE doesn't need to swing for the fences every week, they can take their time to build stories, and it shows in the overall quality of the product.

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