SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report originally published 20 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
WWE NXT Results
November 13, 2013
Taped at Full Sail University
Report by Justin James, PWTorch contributor
Sadly, the “thumbnail” image for this episode looks like it may be a bit of a spoiler on tonight’s episode. If you haven’t heard, Kassius Ohno (Chris Hero) was released from WWE, so it will be interesting to see how/if this plays out on NXT (depending on their taping schedule). After doing some digging into “Where’s Scott Dawson?” he has an ACL tear according to his Twitter page. I didn’t see an estimated time for him to return, but I may have overlooked it amongst the “firehose” of posts. Oh, and there is now an Emma-themed “Bubbles” shirt over on Barbershop Window.
[Q1] No pre-match video, despite there being a two-out-of-three falls match between Corey Graves and Adrian Neville scheduled. The announcers are William Regal, Sweet T/Lord Tensai, and Byron Saxton.
Bayley and Charlotte hit the ramp for their match against Sasha Banks and Summer Rae. Good gracious, Sweet T is in a suit and tie and wearing glasses, this alone is worth the price of admission. Sweet T to Regal: “I’m with a guy who I was watching in second grade.” Regal: “And you’re the only person I know with a beer belly on the back of his head.” I would pay money to see a William Regal stand-up routine. Banks and Rae are now the “BFFs,” which stands for “Beautiful Fierce Females.” Regal complains that Renee Young isn’t around.
1 – CHARLOTTE & BAYLEY vs. THE BFFS (SUMMER RAE & SASHA BANKS) – Tag Team match
Bayley has made headbands for Summer Rae and Sasha Banks, but Rae throws them on the ground in disgust. Charlotte runs the ropes, but Banks tells her to hold up so she can trash-talk. Charlotte easily tosses Banks to the corner, then grounds her. Charlotte with some Dolph Ziggler-like mat work. She is a true talent. Charlotte with multiple bridges while holding on a hammerlock. Bayley in to the crowd’s delight, but Banks immediately turns it around and brings her to the corner. Bayley unloads on Rae all the same, but Rae creams her when she celebrates to Charlotte.
[Commercial Break]
Banks is controlling Bayley with a chinlock. Bayley is isolated and hungry for a tag. Rae with her unique leg-based offense. Charlotte almost seems to be giving up on this match. Bayley finally breaks free and hits a belly-to-belly on Banks. As she inches to the corner, Charlotte slowly pulls away and hauls off with a massive slap to knock Bayley senseless.
Charlotte hits Bayley with a blockbuster, then goes back to her corner, letting Banks pick up the scraps.
WINNERS: The BFFs in 6:45. Decent match. The turn from Charlotte makes sense in retrospect, forewarned by her constantly being annoyed by Bayley, yet I didn’t see it coming other than the Hulu thumbnail showing the three standing tall in the ring. This definitely feels like an Ultimate Betrayal, thanks to Bayley’s child-like character and Charlotte’s imposing physical size (she has to be right around 6-foot even).
Post-match, Banks and Rae are almost as stunned as Bayley as Charlotte makes her way into the ring. Charlotte comes between them, and puts herself at the center of a three-way hand raise.
Backstage, Aiden English warms up his voice. He has a director’s chair labeled “‘The Artiste’ Aiden English.”
Camacho is out for his first match in forever. The last we saw him, he was taking up Vickie Guerrero on her $5,000 bounty to take out Big E. Langston so he could get the money to get Hunico back from Mexico. He is facing Aiden English. Is English supposed to be a heel or a face? I can’t tell. His song is different yet again. “Can you bow out when they are begging you to sing in the WWE?”
2 – AIDEN ENGLISH vs. CAMACHO
Camacho easily overpowers the rather dainty English. Bodyslam with a bodyslam for a one count and Byron Saxton name drops Hunico. English begs for mercy and Camacho laughs and picks him apart.
[Q2] Camacho with a bow to mock English, and English walks into a suplex followed by a leaping leg drop. Aiden slips out of a Samoan Drop and hits the Director’s Cut for the win. He looks as surprised as anyone else.
WINNER: Aiden English in 2:15. That was fun while it lasted.
Regal is chocked up with emotion after the ring. English demands a spotlight which draws some boos, but he promises and encore to cheers. He reprises his song. The crowd pelts him with roses as they did a few weeks ago. Regal blows his nose in Sweet T’s pocketchief.
Backstage, Alexander Rusev is breathing heavy as the Mysterious Blonde Woman talks to him. Her dress looks like a nightgown and she is being rather hands-on with Rusev, no wonder he is breather heavy. The gist of it seems to be that he is a brute who will rule NXT.
In the ring is Danny Burch, as the announcers tell us that Bo Dallas has returned from his world tour. He’s facing Mason Ryan. I think we know how this is going down.
3 – MASON RYAN vs. DANNY BURCH
Burch gets behind Ryan and lands a forearm to the back of the head, angering Ryan. Burch holds his own against Ryan, trading speed and cunning for size. Burch sends Ryan reeling with rights and knees. Ryan bounces out of the corner and this is turning into a real brawl. Ryan Hulks Up and no sells to start a comeback. Ryan with his odd finisher for the win.
WINNER: Mason Ryan in 3:45. Letting Burch get in some heelish offense made sense here, letting Ryan seem vulnerable and the crowd consider investing in Ryan. There was a moment in this match where I really bought into the fight. Was it Brock Lesnar making a mess of John Cena’s nose a week after WrestleMania? No. But it was effective.
Vignette for Emma, presenting her as a politician leading the “Emmalution” with lots of puns. Nice to see Emma being raised to the same level as Paige in terms of NXT being willing to invest production effort in her.
The spot announcing Bo Dallas’s return hilariously has fireworks in it to make it especially over the top along with his cheesy fake grin.
It’s main event time, with 17 minutes left on the clock. I think Neville has new music, but his music has always been so bland I can’t remember it. I just had the sudden vision of seeing Tyson Kidd facing Adrian Neville, that would be an insane match.
4 – ADRIAN NEVILLE vs. COREY GRAVES – Two-out-of-three falls match
Neville immediately uses his speed to stymie Graves, but a back elbow stops him cold. Graves risks a DQ early on in the corner. Neville with quick offense. Roundhouse from the apron sets up the Red Arrow for the first fall.
First Fall: Adrian Neville in 2:00.
Graves rolls out of the ring after the bell to get his wind. Neville takes advantage of Graves’s condition. Neville rolls Graves into the ring and wants a second Red Arrow, but Graves rolls out the ring, then surprises Neville. Graves starts pulling Neville apart by the knee ringside. Graves continues to work the knee in the ring.
[ Commercial Break ]
Graves is merciless in his assault. Graves with a vicious looking single-leg Boston crab, and he pulls he knee pad down on Neville. Graves is drawing some heat here. Neville rolls through after well over a minute, and is finally able to escape the hold. Neville with rights from the floor as Graves struggles to regain control. Chop Block sets up Lucky 13 and Neville has no choice but to tap after a lengthy struggle.
Second Fall: Corey Graves in 6:00. I really liked the end to this fall, it felt like Neville was really making a comeback until Graves hit the chop block.
Neville can barely put weight on the leg and Graves takes advantage. Graves tries a front suplex, but Neville lands on his feet and puts his boots to Graves’s face. Neville is down in a corner and Graves is barely able to get into the ring. Neville fights out of the corner, barely able to stand and throw wild punches and elbows. Graves with a cheap shot to the leg again and the ref isn’t sure if the match should continue. Graves wants another chop block, but Neville counters with a low dropkick to the head. The fans in the front are making praying hands begging for the win as Neville gets a believable nearfall.
Neville desperately rolls Graves to the corner and he struggles to get to the top despite his bad leg. He slips and crotches himself, and is totally stunned. Graves springs to life, and it is Lucky 13 mid-ring. Neville is desperate for the opes. Neville is begging to not tap, and he manages to drag himself to the ropes for the break. Graves can’t believe it and demolishes the knee. Graves with Lucky 13 again, but Neville reverses with an inside cradle for the win!
Third Fall: Adrian Neville in 4:00. What a fantastic ending to this match.
WINNER: Neville 2-1. This match did a nice job with the format. Instead of the heel grabbing the first pinfall to put the babyface in jeopardy, the face cemented himself as not being a push-over with a solid, fast victory. The second fall upped the intensity, showing up Graves’ intention to destroy the knee – and the livelihood – of Neville. After Neville’s promo about the knee being his meal ticket, it was hard to not hate Corey Graves for working it over so hard. The third fall looked and felt like Apollo and Rocky desperately trying to pull a victory out of a vicious fight for survival. Was the match perfect? There were a couple of places where it did not quite feel like the blood feud that it should have been. The wrong person went over in my opinion, but only because the feud is too new for the feel to get his comeuppance (let alone for it to come to a 2-out-of-3 falls match). But if this is a sign that one (or both) is about to be sent to the main roster, it makes perfect sense.
The only NXT matches that have surpassed this are Ohno-Regal (which had the best build of any match in 2013 without a doubt) and Zayn-Cesaro.
Post-match, Neville stumbles to the ring and the ref needs to head to the ramp to raise his hand. Graves is besides himself.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Sweet T was a delight on commentary tonight. He showed true respect to Regal, and came off both as a veteran and a fan of the product. I like the video on Emma, it had the feel of some of C.M. Punk’s videos, while being playful and fun. Aiden English is still fun, and the Mason Ryan match surprised me for a few moments. The main event is must-watch.
RECOMMENDED NEXT: 10 YRS AGO – WWE Live Event Results (11-7-2013): Cody Rhodes & Goldust & Big E vs. The Shield, plus Kofi, Miz, Barrett, Natalya, Swagger, Sandow, Cena, Alberto
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLNG.NET: WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (11/10): Barnett’s review of Bobby Lashley vs. Carlito, LA Knight vs. Grayson Waller, and Bayley addresses the future of Damage CTRL
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