10/10 Gutteridge's WWE NXT Review: Rob Van Dam vs. Aiden English, Antonio Cesaro vs. Leo Kruger, Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. Alexander Rusev and Scott Dawson, and Mojo Rawley debuts

By Darren Gutteridge

WWE NXT on Sky Sports 3

Taped September 12 in Winter Park, Florida
 
[Q1] After titles, the Full Sail arena was shown in darkness, until Leo Kruger’s face appeared on the titantron. He was shown crouching on the entrance ramp, and led the crowd in a "Kru" chant as he made his way to the ring. He was followed out by Antonio Cesaro...
 
1. Antonio Cesaro vs. Leo Kruger. Tom Phillips and Alex Riley are on commentary tonight. Cesaro flew at Kruger with a mean looking dropkick right after the bell rang. The two men traded control several times in the opening minutes, until Cesaro took the upper hand with a running European uppercut to a cornered Kruger. Cesaro went top rope shortly after, only to be cut off by Kruger, who took Cesaro back to the mat with a superplex... [C]
 
[Q2] Cesaro had regained control when we returned, and quickly motioned for the Neutraliser. Kruger escaped with a backdrop, but Cesaro was soon on top again following a flapjack European uppercut. He applied a sleeper hold with a body scissors, and even after he escaped Kruger was put back on the mat with a clothesline. Cesaro followed up with the Neutraliser and got the pin...
 
Antonio Cesaro defeated Leo Kruger in 8:21.
 
After the match, Cesaro went top rope and hit Kruger with a flying knee drop. Kruger sold the impact by clutching his throat as Cesaro said the "We the People" line...
 
Rob Van Dam vs. Aiden English was advertised for later in the show...
 
Gutt Reaction: Believe it or not, that was essentially a Cesaro enhancement match. I presume a fair amount of the match was cut, as Cesaro had more than the lion’s share of offence on both sides of the commercial. Odd. The post match attack seemed to mark Kruger’s babyface turn, which will be interesting to see play out, since it was seemingly born out of crowd reactions rather than occur because its part of a long term booking programme.
 
Charlotte and Bayley made their way to the ring for Charlotte’s match. Renee Young joined commentary as the match got underway before Charlotte’s opponent was introduced...
 
2. Charlotte vs. Santana Garrett. Both ladies resorted to showing off their gymnastic skills early on. As Garrett locked in a strange looking arm bar following a Russian leg sweep, Summer Rae and Sasha Banks walked down to ringside. They mockingly clapped Charlotte as she escaped the arm bar. Although she temporarily got distracted by Rae and Banks, Charlotte regained her focus and put Garrett down with a flapjack spun out of a fireman’s carry. She kip-flipped up and put Garrett away with a poor looking somersault cutter...
 
Charlotte defeated Santana Garrett in 3:06.
 
After the match, once Charlotte and Bayley were half way up the ramp, Summer Rae got on the mic in the ring. Summer said she had a message for every Divas in the locker room – she was the first lady of NXT, and she and Banks were going to rule the show. Summer thanked Banks for taking out Paige a few weeks ago, and said now there was nothing anybody could do to stop them.
 
As Rae and Banks turned their back to the ramp, Paige ran down and attacked both women. The numbers caught up with Paige, and the heels began to stomp on her before Emma ran down to make the save... [C]
 
Gutt Reaction: Seriously, that somersault cutter looked pathetic. Garrett was quiet close to the mat when Charlotte executed the move, so she maybe got dropped 3 inches to the mat. I’m pretty sure Charlotte shouldn’t be being showcased yet, but I fear we’re already too far down the rabbit hole to stop now. The Divas roster seems to be splintering into teams. It’s at least the start of a new, all inclusive storyline, even if it is one that offers little payoff as there is no tag titles to be won.
 
[Q3] Mojo Rawley ran around the stage to perk the crowd up before running to the ring. He slapped hands at ringside as Phillips explained that he had played for the Green Bay Packers. His opponent Danny Burch was already in the ring...
 
3. Mojo Rawley vs. Danny Burch. Rawley has "Stay hyped" on the back of his trunks. I’m allergic to the word "hype", as it’s the "in" word with moronic clubber types at the moment. You know the type – shaved head, sleeve tattoos that represent nothing, baseball caps that don’t fit on their heads, glasses with no glass in them, etc.  Burch looked to ground Rawley early on, until Rawley escaped a headlock and hit him with a few shoulder blocks. Following two splashes in the corner, Rawley hit Burch with a Colt Cabana flying asshole, and followed it up with a sit down splash for the 1-2-3...
 
Mojo Rawley defeated Danny Burch in 2:25.
 
Rawley ran up the ramp after the match and said to the camera he was "here to stay"...
 
Gutt Reaction: A lot of energy from Rawley. He certainly piqued the Cult of Full Sail’s interest levels, but the mad energy act only tends to work in small doses. Rawley hasn’t been wrestling long, so maybe the hyperactive mannerisms are being used to mask his green nature in the same way Charlotte’s gymnastics are used to cover her shortcomings. I will say he looked a lot more assured of himself in this short match than Charlotte looked in hers.
 
Sylvester Lefort introduced his Legionnaires, Scott Dawson and Alexander Rusev. Rusev had "ENZO" written on his plank of wood. Enzo Amore walked onto the stage with Colin Cassady in tow. They proceeded to call Dawson and Rusev "Sawft"...
 
4. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. Alexander Rusev and Scott Dawson. Riley said he thought Amore had the potential to make a lot of money, and said he was fantastic in the ring. Has he been watching a different Amore? Enzo was the one who got isolated early on, with Rusev hitting him with knees to the ribs before Dawson tagged in and ground him for a while. The finish came when Rusev knocked Cassady off of the apron, and then hit Amore with a running hip attack in the corner before applying the Camel Clutch...
 
Alexander Rusev and Scott Dawson defeated Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady in 2:47.
 
Rusev dragged Cassady into the ring after the match and applied the Camel Clutch again...
 
Backstage, Renee Young introduced her guest Sami Zayn. She asked how he was, and Zayn said he was great following his win last week. He said the hard part was getting the opportunity for the NXT Title, and now he has it, the plan for next week was simple – he was going to beat Bo Dallas and win the title. Dallas walked into shot and said what Zayn did wasn’t cool. He said they were meant to be friends, and Zayn had hurt his feelings.
 
Zayn apologized for it, and said it wasn’t personal; he just wanted the NXT title. Dallas suggested instead of having their title match next week, they should team up and challenge for the NXT Tag Titles, as friends. Zayn played up the possibility, and even shuck on it, but said they would have that match straight after he wins the NXT Title next week. Zayn walked off, and Dallas said "Un-Bo-Lievable"... [C]
 
Gutt Reaction: A fairly pointless squash match. Rusev has been shown to be dominant, and Amore has been anything but, so what was new here? I think Cassady vs. Rusev could have served a similar purpose, but would have been a little more interesting, as Cassady has been shown to hold his own against opponents, unlike Enzo. The backstage stuff was a little tame considering how long this feud has been going (by NXT standards), and as it was the final push for next weeks title match.
 
[Q4] The NXT Title match was advertised for next week...
 
Aiden English came out first, singing a song about being a sports entertainer in the 21st century. When he was finished, "Numero Uno Amigo" Ricardo Rodriguez was introduced, and he in turn introduced Rob Van Dam...
 
5. Rob Van Dam vs. Aiden English. English kept retreating to the corner when RVD looked to be building momentum. RVD eventually managed to hit his enziguri and monkey flip from the corner before sending English to the outside. RVD followed him out with the Asai moonsault. Back in the ring, Van Dam went for rolling thunder, but English rolled to the outside. After a little run-around, English kicked the second rope into RVD as he got back in the ring, and managed to get a foothold in the match with a suplex.
 
After RVD escaped a headlock, English went for another suplex, only for Van Dam to roll him for a two count. Van Dam regained his stranglehold on the match with some running clotheslines and a roundhouse kick, and hit rolling thunder at the second attempt. Ricardo called for the Five Star Frogsplash, and RVD delivered it, picking up the win...
 
Rob Van Dam defeated Aiden English in 5:30.
 
RVD and Ricardo Rodriguez celebrated in the ring as NXT came to a close...
 
Gutt Reaction: Following the theme of the night, that was nothing more than an RVD showcase, with a few scraps thrown to English. It’s always cool when a big name comes to NXT, but they usually use their time on the show to elevate those permanently on NXT week after week, instead of steamrolling them.
 
A flat end to a fairly flat show. It was essentially five separate squash matches, and thats never going to make for a riveting wrestling programme. It wasn’t bad – it just didn’t really accomplish much or move anything forward. Next week’s title match should turn things around, so I’d hold off until then instead of giving this week’s episode a watch. 
 
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