WWE NxT Episode 207
February 6 2014
Your hosts are Byron Saxton, Tensai (aka Matt Bloom), Tom Phillips and Renee Young (for Divas Matches)
- We begin with a quick recap of Sin Cara coming out to rescue Xavier Woods from Alexander Rusev who had Woods locked in The Accolade (Camel Clutch). Cara scissored Rusev out of the ring and this leads to tonight’s opening match. Lana (looking way hotter two years ago) cuts her usual Russian intro as Rusev comes out. The announcers hype Rusev having made his big roster debut two weeks ago at The Royal Rumble.
- Match 1: Sin Cara vs Alexander Rusev / with Lana
Cara makes the mistake of locking up with Rusev, which allows the bigger man to shove him off and showcase his strength. Cara finds success early on with quick strikes but once more makes the mistake of grabbing a headlock, which allows Rusev to shove him into the ropes and tackle him down. Cara comes back with the quick strikes. Rusev misses a blind charge into the corner and then backdrops a charging Sin Cara into the apron. Cara connects with an elbow and then barely nails a standing moonsault. That gets a one count. More strikes by Cara, he goes for a springboard…well, something as Rusev just catches him on the rebound with a Thrust Kick. That gets a one count? Rusev with the hoss offense as he pounds Cara with kicks and then adds some Muay Thai for good measure. Big kick to the face gets two. Cara tries to come back but Rusev cuts it short with a knee to the gut. Rusev starts dropping headbutts just because he can and then grabs a rest hold to the arm. This match has gone way downhill since Rusev took over. Cara manages to make a spirited come back and gets a Tornado DDT off the corner, followed by a springboard crossbody for two. Cara ducks under a clothesline and gets headscissors. He basically frontflips and then rebounds on thpe ropes to hit Rusev in the face with an elbow. That looked nice. I guess somebody called for the finish because in one of those things that make no sense Cara decides to get on Rusev’s shoulders (I guess looking for some sort of roll-up?) only for Rusev to slam him face first to the mat and lock The Accolade for the submission at 4:45. Post-match Rusev locks The Accolade again just to be an asshole as referees hit the ring to break it up. Nothing match as Cara got some of his flippy offense in followed by a very methodical heat segment. The fact that the finish came out of nowhere does not help matters. *1/2
Winner by Submission: Alexander Rusev
- Match 2: Emma vs Alicia Fox
Emma is still the bubble-popping babyface and had made her main roster debut as well by this point. Much like Sin Cara, Alicia Fox is in “main roster name sent down to make NxT talents look good” mode. Emma is the #1 contender at the NxT’s Women’s Championship and she is very over with the NxT crowd. Can’t believe her act failed to get over on the main roster, but it’s not like she was given much to do. I mean, a weird partnership with Satino? Is that the best they had for her? Emma is coming over from her biggest win thus far when she tapped out Natalya to become the #1 contender. Anyway, they jaw off to start as Emma wants to keep dancing. They end up fighting over an arm wringer that Fox breaks by pulling hair. Emma gets a tackle off the ropes. They criss cross and Fox gets a nice dropkick. Alicia mocks the dancing and goes after Emma in the corner, but Emma counters and tries to lock the Dill-Emma (Tarantula). She can’t seem to get it and they awkwardly break it off with Alicia getting two of a Nothern Lights Suplex. Fox gets a chinlock (because this match wasn’t exciting enough) and Emma fights out of it. Fox whips Emma into the corner and Emma is able to leapfrog her and get two of a very sloppy roll-up. Fox charges at Emma but Emma trips her as Alicia goes face first into the second buckle. Emma gets the Emma Sandwich (crossbody into a seated opponent), followed by a Monkey Flip that drops Alicia face first into the canvas. Emma locks the Emmalock (Reverse STF) for the win at 3:19. Very sloppy match similar to every other main roster Divas match in history. A far cry from the high-impact style that would help NxT kick-start a Divas revolution. ½*
Winner by Submission: Emma
- Post-match Emma gets on the mic and wishes Paige a speedy recovery so she can get her title shot. She dances for the fans but the BFF’s (Summer Rae, Sasha Banks and Charlotte) run out to attack Emma. Alicia Fox joins in until Natalya and Bayley hit the ring to make the save. The three babyface Divas dance for the fans as we go to commercial.
- Match 3: Mason Ryan vs Sylvester LeFort
Wow, here we have two guys that don’t mean a thing two years later. I had completely forgotten they were on NxT. Mason Ryan is also known as Batista’s doppelganger, although he has long hair here. LeFort looks like a young Fidel Sierra/Cuban Assasin. It seems this is his in-ring debut. They trade strikes to start until LeFort makes the mistake of running at Mason, who drops him with Snake Eyes and then a huge running big boot. Ryan then nails LeFort with a Cobra Clutch Slam and gets the win at 0:52! SQUASH CITY! Mason Ryan had a great look and his offense was pretty crisp for a big guy. Problem is he looked too much like Batista which will always create higher expectations and he never learned to cut a promo. Still, different place, different time, he might have been a big star.
Winner by pinfall: Mason Ryan
- Backstage promo with “The Artiste” Aiden English. He takes some shots at an injured Enzo Amore for running him over with a wheelchair and it seems this will lead to a one on one match with “Big Cass” Colin Cassidy in the near future. English casually mentions he will face Tyson Kidd tonight and mocks Canada’s national anthem.
- Backstage Sylvester LeFort swears revenge on Mason Ryan.
- Match 4: Tyson Kidd vs “The Artiste” Aiden English
English sings his way down and I have to admit he had that gimmick down pat and I think he should go back to it all things considered. He had way more character here than in anything he has done recently with The Vaudevillians. They lock up and Kidd gets a monkey flip early but misses a crossobdy attempt and crashes against the ropes. English savagely drops some elbows and covers for a one count. English with a backdrop for two. He locks a rest hold and Kidd works his way out of it. English goes for another backdrop but Kidd flips out. English charges the corner like an idiot and gets an elbow for his troubles. Kidd headscissors English into the corner and starts landing stiff kicks to the legs. The sequence ends with a running dropkick for two. English charges at Kidd who gets a nice kick as he flips to the apron, but English catches him with a knee coming in. English gets two off a vertical suplex. Colin Cassidy walks out to distract English by wearing his beret and scarf. Of course it doesn’t end well as English turns around as Kidd is perched on the top rope and nails the Blockbuster (flip into neckbreaker) for the win at 2:42. Too short but it was decent enough and both guys where capable of much more given enough time. *
Winner by pinfall: Tyson Kidd
Match 5: Adrian Neville vs Corey Graves
Graves is better known as the current color commentator for NxT, having being forced to retire due to multiple concussions. As a matter of fact, this is his second match back after missing 10 weeks due to a concussion. He looks like the bastard child of Randy Orton and CM Punk. Neville is currently on the main WWE roster where he lost his first name for some reason. Really, why take away his first name? (see also: Rusev, Alexander). It’s like the WWE brass thinks we are too stupid to remember two words. Neville and Graves have some history as they are former Tag Team Champions but Graves turned on Neviille when they lost the belts to The Ascension. They lock up to start but Neville quickly takes over with a tackle and a hip toss that sends Graves scurrying outside. Neville chases him back in the ring like an idiot and that allows Graves to take over as he stomps Neville on the way in. Graves just pounds on Neville all over the ring until Neville tries to come back and they trade chops. Graves wins the exchange with a double punch to the gut. That was cool and different. Graves is literally pounding Neville with strikes all over the ring. It might seem like basic offense but it fits his character well. Things slow down when Graves misses an elbowdrop off a snap mare takedown and Neville gets a headlock takedown and holds on. You can clearly see Neville talking. I hate that spot, why not move your face AWAY from the camera so that it’s not obvious? Or is it really the production’s fault? I mean, if I am Mr. Cameraman and I see someone talking when they are not supposed to, can’t they switch to a different angle? Anyway, Graves fights out of it and Neville does the exact same flip spot as Sin Cara (minus the elbow but with an added flip) and takes control by hip tossing Graves down. Graves goes back outside, Neville goes for a dive but Graves runs away and Neville holds on. Graves runs to the opposite side and doesn’t pay attention, which is why Neville nails him with a suicide plancha to the outside! Graves goes back inside and kicks Neville off the apron with a dropkick to the shin as we go to commercial. When we come back Graves has Neville’s leg locked. Things slow down as Graves methodically works the leg on Neville for over a minute. Graves gets a near fall after more knee punishment. Back to the knee goes Graves until Neville counters a second knee smash attempt into a roll-up for two. Graves with a dropkick to the knee for two. More legwork by Graves and he gets another near fall out of a Dragon Screw Legwhip. Even more strikes to the knee of Neville and Graves gets another near fall. This extended heat segment has drawn out all interest from the fans as they are deathly quiet. Neville kicks his way out of another kneebar but Graves drills Neville with a cool backbreaker for two. Basically he put up Neville in F-5 position and then flipped him forward into a backbreaker. They need to come up with a name for that ASAP. A frustrated Graves tosses Neville outside and tries to give him a piledriver, but Neville backdrops Graves into the floor. Back inside Graves eats a boot as he charges the corner and Neville gets a few strikes for good measure before he suddenly remembers the knee. Graves eats another boot on yet another charge to the corner and Neville gets a missile dropkick from the second rope. That gets a near fall. Graves goes back to the leg with a chop block and Neville rolls to the apron. Graves goes after him but eats a big kick to the face. The Red Arrow (Corkscrew Somersault Plancha) wins it for Neville at 11:15. The best match of the night but not by much. This was basically Graves grounding Neville for 9-10 minutes until Neville won it with his one big move. This is what makes no sense to me: Why all the legwork if it went nowhere? This the formula the WWE uses know in which the heel dominates the match and then the face wins in one big move like nothing happened. Shouldn’t Graves have been fresher and thus able to shake off more punishment? **
Winner by pinfall: Adrian Neville
- The NxT Champion Bo Dallas walks out dressed to the gills like a retarded Ric Flair. Seriously, I like Bo and I think he is talented but I can’t never, ever take that face seriously. At 238 days he is the longest reigning champion in history and he means business, taking off his jacket with bad intentions as Neville is barely able to get up. “Bow Down to the King” blares over the speakers as Triple H cuts them off. The H’s announces that at the first ever NxT Takeover live special Adrian Neville and Bo Dallas will compete in the first ever Ladder Match in NxT history for the NXT Championship in the main event.
The Final Word: 4.5/10
If this was your first introduction to NxT you will be disappointed. The main event dragged on too long, we had Mason Ryan in a fun squash and almost the entire card followed the “WWE match blueprint” to the letter, so this felt more like an episode of WWE Superstars than anything revolutionary. Thankfully things changed not that long after and NxT would go on to become the best show on TV once they started doing more of their own thing. If you want to jump over this episode and episode 208 and go straight to the first NxT Takeover I won’t blame you. Thumbs down.
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