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The following report was originally published on PWTorch.com five years ago this week…
WWE NXT Results
February 19, 2014
Taped at Full Sail University
Report by Justin James, PWTorch contributor
It seems to be a bit fuzzy if NXT will be on Hulu as of next week, but I plan on reporting on the “NXT Arrival” in real-time starting at 8:00 p.m. EST.
[Q1] No pre-match credits. The Ascension come out for a tag team match. There seems to be a bit more noise for them this week. Tensai, Byron Saxton, and Tom Phillips have the call. The Ascension are, once again, booked against an unknown pair.
They seem to announce that Kevin Nash, Bret Hart, and Paul Heyman will be on the pre-show to the NXT Arrival show next week.
1 – NXT tag champions THE ASCENSION (CONOR O’BRIAN & RICK VICTOR) vs. CASEY MARION & MIKE LABOSCA – non-title tag match
Marion is facing O’Brian to a “let’s go jobbers!” chant. Tensai tries to act as if the crowd appreciates The Ascension. Marion wants a tag, so Victor uses him to plow his partner off the apron. The Fall of Man ends the match as the crowd mocks The Ascension with ironic chants.
WINNERS: The Ascension in 2:00. More lame squash matches from The Ascension. NXT protects Paige and Bo Dallas by not having them in matches without a good reason, while they put The Ascension in squash matches.
Eden tells us that Tyler Breeze has entered the building, and Summer Rae’s music hits to introduce the BFFs. Charlotte seems to have a new haircut – it is very Jennifer Anniston. Tensai goes crazy for Emma and her bubbles.
2 – EMMA (w/Bayley) vs. SUMMER RAE (w/Sasha Banks and Charlotte)
Rae starts by tossing one of Emma’s signs out of the ring, letting Emma try a pair of quick covers. Arm drag into a cover for Emma. Emma continues to frustrate Rae until Rae pushes her off the apron Banks and Charlotte start jawing at her. Saxton’s inanely faux-heelish commentary is irritating Tensai and me, as well. Bayley looks concerned as Rae grinds Emma down with her heels.
[ Commercial Break ]
Saxton’s horrible commentary is now actively detracting from the match. Emma dodges a corner charge and locks in the Dil-emma in the corner to a four count, then the Emma Sandwich low crossbody. Emma looks for the Emma Lock, but Rae kicks her away and Banks slaps Emma behind the ref’s back, leading to a nearfall.
[Q2] Rae accidentally clears Banks off the apron who lands on Charlotte, which lets Emma sink into the Emma Lock for the win.
WINNER: Emma in 7:15. Emma needed to look credible going into her title match with Paige next week, but she looked weak for getting in so little offense against Summer Rae, who has not won a match in a long time. Bayley was useless as a corner woman, she did not do a thing to keep the BFFs from interfering. And whoever is producing Byron Saxton sounds like the same person who was producing Alex Riley, he went from being a perfectly fine commentator to being completely insufferable.
Backstage, Devin Taylor interviews Tyler Breeze. Breeze is infuriated at the idea that an “uggo” like Adrian Neville may become the “face of NXT” and represent him.
[ J.J.’s Reax: At least when Breeze talks about people being the “face of NXT” it makes sense, given his male beauty gimmick. ]
Up next is an interview with Sami Zayn and Cesaro, conducted by Renee Young. In an exceedingly rare event for an interviewer/announcer, Young is prominently featured in the graphic.
– The promised Zayn-Cesaro sit-down interview airs. They are closely positioned to each other and Young. Zayn congratulates Cesaro on being in the Elimination Chamber match. Cesaro takes it in stride. Young lets us know that the interview has two stipulations. First, if Zayn touches Cesaro he loses all possibilities of a match, for the indefinite future. If Cesaro touches Zayn, he will lose his spot in the Elimination Chamber. But he wouldn’t do that in front of a beautiful woman anyways.
Young wants to know if Zayn will be medically cleared. Before Zayn can respond, Cesaro cuts him off and says that Zayn has an Achilles Heel… well, Achilles Knee… and will never be fine. Zayn says that the knee is fine. Cesaro starts fiddling with a phone.
Young wants to know if Cesaro being in the Chamber will impact his match with Zayn. Cesaro cuts off Zayn again.
Zayn gets annoyed and stands up, though Young puts a reassuring hand on his back to calm him down. Young clears out. Zayn says he knows Cesaro is trying to get under his skin, but he says that this is past professional, and it is only “personal” because Zayn takes wrestling personally. Zayn gets the last word in and Cesaro storms off.
[ J.J.’s Reax: Very unique presentation for this interview. From the deliberately close positioning to the backstage setting, this simply felt fresh. Cesaro seems to be reinventing his persona and genuinely felt heelish as a character instead of a caricature. ]
Backstage, the roaming cameraman asks Emma about how hard it was to win with the BFFs ringside. Emma focusing on her match next week, and says that she has some things to say face-to-face with Paige next week. That means that there will indeed be a Wednesday NXT followed by NXT Arrival on the 27.
3 – ADRIAN NEVILLE vs. TYLER BREEZE
[Q3] Neville wins the lock-up, but a cheap-shot after a reset lets Breeze go on offense. Neville backflips across the ring but Breeze drops him with a kick. Breeze with more offense then customary for him. Tensai heavily talks up Jeff Hardy when discussing ladder matches. Neville sends Breeze six feet up in the air to take control. Neville showing more anger than normal, to play up the seriousness of this two-plus month feud. Neville’s speed embarrasses Breeze and then he drop kicks Breeze off the apron, then lands a huge dive over the top to the outside.
[ Commercial Break ]
Neville continues to control out of the break. Breze wants a huracanrana, but Neville catches him, and manages to jerk him up in the air and hit a stout powerbomb for a close count. Neville wants a springboard move, Breeze tries to counter with a dropkick, Neville stops himself and lets Breeze whiff, but eats a superkick after hitting the ropes. Both men are down and the ref starts a ten count. Breeze drags himself into a cover for two. Dueling “let’s go Neville”/”let’s go Breeze” chants. Neville ducks the Beauty Shot, and comes back with a pair of enziguris. Neville wants the Red Arrow, and hits it for the win.
WINNER: Adrian Neville in 8:45. I really liked the more focused, aggressive attitude from both Neville and Breeze. The highlight of the match was the blocked huracanrana into the powerbomb. If you were going to buy a non-finishing move as the finish of a match, that was it.
Post-match, Neville gets a mic, but as soon as he reminds us that NXT Arrival is a week away, Bo Dallas interrupts in a suit and with a deluded smile and a mic of his own. He says he is impressed at how far Neville has come since debuting at NXT. He says that Neville has been “climbing the ladder of success” and then laughs at his lame joke, then says that Neville has come as far as he can.
Neville says he couldn’t figure out what Dallas’s problem with him is. He realized that Dallas doesn’t hate him, but is scared of him, and vows to beat up Dallas and take the title. Neville says that Dallas is smiling but his eyes aren’t, and says he knows Dallas wants to hit him, and offers Dallas a free hit. Dallas slowly loses his smile and takes off his jacket, then his championship belt. Dallas rolls up his sleeves with an increasingly ugly look on his face. He then leaves the ring with some reluctance, and puts the smile back on his face.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This episode is what I wish the last few were. A handful of longer matches and talking segments that mattered. The presentation of the Zayn-Cesaro segment was fantastic, right down to Renee Young being treated like a big deal in her own right, as opposed to an interchangeable prop like the others in that slot. Kudos to Young for having such a big impact and being recognized for it by WWE. It was great to see Breeze fight a serious match, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The Diva’s match had some slow spots, and The Ascension squash was really unnecessary. They either need to dump the tag title or put some more tag teams together immediately. The hype for NXT Arrival has been well done overall.
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