TweetYour announcers for this, well, not week...this part are JR & Byron Saxton. And we're starting off hot with Divas action.
SOFIA CORTEZ vs. PAIGE
It's a bit of a shame that Paige didn't get an entrance there, but she is already, for someone so very young, better than many on the roster, for sure. Kind of a shame they broke them up right before NXT started taping, as they had an "Anti Diva" team going on. But certainly Cortez is just about ready to go to the main roster, in my opinion. And when it came to Sofia, it seems like Twitter were pretty impressed with her skills.
Ah ha! I see what you did there sir! Kudos to you. (If you aren't aware, Sofia was Ivelisse form the last Tough Enough). However, when it came to the British woman, Paige, the Twitterverse's instincts got rather more...ahem, baser...
Paige is funny looking. I don't care how many erections she gives you. #NXT
Indeed... Anyway, after the break, we went right to our next match with a familiar act, but unfamiliar worker.
SETH ROLLINS vs. CAMACHO
And with that, we have our first real angle of the new NXT. Funnily enough, this wouldn't be the last we'd see of the four men involved as later in the show, it was announced that Dusty Rhodes (remember that he's the "Interim GM") had booked those four as well as Tyson Kidd & Michael McGillicutty in the main event. Indeed, this was announced going into the ad break before it started... This was main event of the fourth show that was taped, but hey, we're getting it this week! Anyway, you'll notice that JR dared to compare Seth to CM Punk, and funnily enough, Twitter suddenly picked up on that too.
If Seth Rollins didn't have that blonde stripe in his hair, he would look a lot like CM Punk did when he first debuted. #NXT
— Camille the Punker (@sXe_CMPunkFan) July 6, 2012
See, even hotties that are CM Punk fans are pashing on Rollin-Rollin-Rollins! #LameLimpBizkitJoke
Back from break and it was right into the introductions for the featured team in the next match. Sadly, it was not The Ascension...
JAKE CARTER & COREY GRAVES vs. CJ PARKER & NICK ROGERS
Graves & Carter were, until very recently, the FCW Tag Team Champions. And indeed, they were AW's Tag Team down in Florida, although I doubt they will have AW while he's been positioned with the Prime Time Players. But, has the worm turned on new faces in NXT? Asked because the reaction to Corey Graves (who used to be known as Sterling James Keenan) and Jake Carter (who JR noted is the son of Vader) was, shall we say, mixed...
I think Corey Graves and Jake Carter make a cool 'odd-couple' tag team. They got a good finish too, perhaps missing some chemistry #NXT
We actually join JR & Saxton at the announce desk, but we do so SIDE ON rather than in front of, which looked very original for wrestling. Although it did, possibly rightfully, visually suggest that JR is THE MAN, while Saxton had to peer into camera from behind him. Anyway, they were there to set up a vignette for the debuting man who would appear in the next match.
KASSIUS OHNO vs. MIKE DALTON
An impressive opening salvo for Ohno, hitting the KO for the three count. But you'd best enjoy that, because as I noted last week, this match is his only appearance at either of the tapings so far, and I believe he's out injured, so it could be some time. So with that said, how did the former Chris Hero do in front of the viewing public's eyes? Was he a knockout himself, or is he taking a standing 10 count? Oh, come on. it's Chris Hero. Like there could be any other answer.
And from one apparently injured man, we came back from break to see a definitely injured man, as we came back to another Bray Wyatt promo.
Wyatt is out with a torn pectoral muscle for around 6 months, which is the shittiest of shitty luck for the guy. The saving grace of it however is that in these promos, they've used Brodie Lee, formerly of DragonGateUSA (who is named Luke Harper in FCW). And if you recall back to the start of the gimmick, they had the now-released Eli Cottonwood backing him up. Given that Wyatt can sure cut a promo, it's possible they can keep him going as a manager for the interim and have Luke Harper wrestle. But it is a pisser for Wyatt. As the video says, he will debut next week. Which does pose a mildly interesting question that I'll come to later. However, out next match is up...
JINDER MAHAL vs. DERRICK BATEMAN
Gotta give credit where it's due, as someone who is decidedly not a fan of Mahal, he hasn't looked bad in his 2 matches on NXT, and indeed, they've done more to make him look like a potential star than he has at any point on Smackdown. But that said, he did end Derrick's winning streak on this new version of NXT at one. I'm gonna guess that this development didn't go over well...
@DerrickWWE lost to Jinder Mahal on the 4th of July. They may as well have just punched the Statue of Liberty in the face. #unamerican#NXT
After that, it was time for our main event six man tag, and indeed, it was something akin to a "What have we learned so far" line up.. Also, Byron Saxton had suddenly said bye-bye and JR was joined by William Regal & Chris Russo for this match.
SETH ROLLINS, BO DALLAS & TYSON KIDD vs. MICHAEL McGILLICUTTY, HUNICO & CAMACHO
So, the Money in The Bank-er Tyson Kidd found himself pinned, by Michael McGillicutty no less with the McGillicutter. Indeed, that deeply puzzled some folks on Twitter, wondering what the hell was up that. That said, they clearly weren't in the know that this set of tapings was back in MAY. So it's just happenstance that he's now MITB despite being the one pinned here. But beyond that notion, let's see what others thought of those involved.
So there you have, what I can only assume was a mashup of an episode, sacking off what is left of episode 4. Now, one of those matches leftover was Bray Wyatt's debut match. However, that may still go by the wayside as he appears in the first episode of the second set of tapings, so if they moved right to that episode, he would still debut next week. And indeed, it was against the same guy.
And it's for the best they go to the next set of tapings, because as was blindingly obvious here, the crowd was dwindling by that point, with a mass of empty space in an already small room. Also, is it just me, or was the in-arena sound production pretty much dreadful this week. It just sounded so wrong. Weird. That said, still a fun show. Not as overly-packed as it was last week. That was just a little too much. But we had some new and interesting faces and a fun six-man main event, so what more could you ask for in a hour-long show (inc. commercials)?
