1/17 Gutteridge’s WWE NXT Review: Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel vs. Damien Sandow and Antonio Cesaro, Adrian Neville debuts against Sakamoto, Leo Kruger vs. Trent Barreta, Big E Langston’s first NXT Title defense

By Darren Gutteridge


WWE NXT on Sky Sports 3

Taped on 12/6 in Winter Park, Florida
 
[Q1] Before titles, we got a video package highlighting the end of last week’s show, with Big E Langston defeating Seth Rollins to win the NXT title...
 
After titles, Adrian Neville (the man formerly known as PAC) made his entrance. William Regal said he was very excited to see the ‘Jumping Geordie’ in action, and put him over huge. His opponent is Sakamoto. Yes, Tensai’s bitch LIVES! . .
 
1. Adrian Neville vs. Sakamoto. Tony Dawson said a lot of people where excited to see Neville debut, and Regal said Rey Mysterio thought Neville was amazing. Sakamoto looked to stop an early flurry from Neville by wearing him down with a chin lock. Neville escaped and used some beautiful flips to manoeuvre around Sakamoto and land an Enziguri. Neville went to the top rope, and landed a corkscrew Shooting Star Press for the 1-2-3...
 
Adrian Neville defeated Sakamoto in 3:25.
 
Dawson said ‘We saw a man fly tonight’ as Neville left up the ramp. Dawson plugged the main event of Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd vs. Damien Sandow and Antonio Cesaro, and said Leo Kruger vs. Trent Barreta is up next...
 
Gutt Check: Holy freaking wow. The Shooting Star Press is the move I am in awe of the most, and that was even more impressive. It was amazing just how fluid Neville was too. I just don’t understand why they chose to cut his debut promo last week from the UK edition of the show.
 
A Royal Rumble advert aired, showing people talking about the Rumble in a bar, before showing Cena sat at the bar, eating wings, smiling. Odd...
 
Leo Kruger was shown crouched at the top of the ramp, with a big picture of his face on the tron. Kassius Ohno joined the commentary team, and said Regal was his ‘best mate’, before adding that they go ‘way back’, as Barreta made his entrance for what I guess is his swansong match...
 
2. Trent Barreta vs. Leo Kruger. As the match started, they showed a video of Kruger injuring Barreta’s ribs from a few weeks ago. Kruger targeted the ribs early on after catching Barreta with a knee to the stomach. We cut to the ‘catchphrase’ video from Raw...[C]
 
[Q2] Kruger locked in a single leg Boston crab when we returned, while Regal and Ohno started to bicker on commentary. Regal told Ohno not to agitate him or he would turn him into a vegetable. Barreta got back in the match with a two footed stomp out of the corner. He picked the pace up with a corner forearm smash and a missile dropkick, building up to a Tornado DDT attempt. Kruger stopped Barreta and locked him back in the Boston crab. Barreta got to the ropes to break the hold, and managed to send Kruger to the outside with an Enziguri. Barreta hit a dive over the ropes to take Kruger down, causing Ohno to abandon the commentary post. He snuck up on Barreta and hit him with the discus elbow while the ref was busy with Kruger. Barreta was thrown back in the ring, and got hit with the Kruger’s End, leading to the pin...
 
Leo Kruger defeated Trent Barreta in 9:59.
 
Regal left commentary as well and dragged Trent out of the ring. A second ref came down the ramp and explained to the other ref what Ohno had done. The ref reversed the decision, and Trent was declared the winner...
 
Trent Barreta defeated Leo Kruger
 
Ohno starred at Regal as he rejoined commentary...
 
Gutt Check: A nice, simple story that lead to a fine match. Ohno didn’t really play up the hostility towards Regal on commentary, and it was almost as though Regal was the aggressor at times, but I am still intrigued by the storyline. I guess the outcome will be Regal facing Ohno, or Regal ‘championing’ a NXT rookie to take Ohno out. I’m sad that Trent had to leave, as he is clearly talented, but his style isn’t the ‘in’ thing at the moment on the main roster, unless your Sin Cara or Mysterio.
 
Big E Langston entered the arena, and Regal said he could retire as the NXT champion, as he can’t think of anybody that can take the title from him. Big E grabbed a mic, and said the WWE universe was about to see a reign like never before. He said this is the start of the era of ‘Five’. He lead the crowd into a ‘five’ count, before being interrupted by Camacho.
 
Camacho said they still had a beef. Originally, it was about money, but now he wants the title too. He challenged Big E for the title, and a ref just kind of appeared and took the title from Langston. I guess we have a title match...
 
3. Big E Langston vs. Camacho for the NXT Title. Camacho cornered Big E, and landed a lot of stomps and punches. Big E started to absorb them, and took Camacho down with a clothesline. Following some knee strikes and a running body check, Big E put Camacho away with the Big End...
 
Big E Langston defeated Camacho in 1:15 to retain the NXT Title.
 
Big E began to celebrate, before responding to the ‘one more time’ chant with another Big End and a five count. He repeated this a second time before leaving... [C]
 
Gutt Check: I’d rather of had Big E face Camacho next week with more build up and a longer match, but a quick squash also serves a purpose. My guess is Corey Graves will be Big E’s first real title feud, as he didn’t lose his first title match against Seth Rollins two weeks ago.
 
[Q3] They replayed the video from Raw featuring all the vehicles. I still laugh every time I see Edge’s Ric Flair impression...
 
Damien Sandow entered the arena with a mic. He said he didn’t need people’s admiration, as ‘those who seek the admiration of idiots are themselves an idiot’. Antonio Cesaro entered next as JR joined Regal on commentary. Kidd and Gabriel followed, and the main event started...
 
4. Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd vs. Damien Sandow and Antonio Cesaro. Cesaro ended up on the outside early following a kick from Gabriel, and Kidd hit him with a running kick from the apron to send him retreating to Sandow before we cut to commercial...[C]
 
[Q4] Sandow was in control when we returned, and he and Cesaro isolated Gabriel. Cesaro worked a variety of holds to keep Gabriel grounded, and eventually hit a gutwrench slam for a two count after Kidd broke it up. Sandow shouted ‘We have rules!’ at Kidd, which brought a laugh out of the crowd. Regal called Cesaro a ‘great tosser’. I hope that isn’t a veiled insult. Gabriel escaped another hold with a jawbreaker, and managed to get a tag to Kidd as Sandow tagged in too.
 
Kidd hit the ring with a springboard dropkick, followed by a low drop kick to Sandow’s head. Kidd tried for the Dungeon Lock, but Cesaro distracted him. Sandow looked to capitalise with a roll up, but Kidd reversed with his own pin. Sandow kicked out, and Kidd tagged Gabriel before taking out Cesaro with a dive over the ropes. Gabriel hit an STO, and tagged Kidd back in. Gabriel landed a Lionsault and Kidd followed up with a springboard elbow drop. Gabriel prevented Cesaro breaking up the pin...
 
Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd defeated Antonio Cesaro and Damien Sandow in 8:36.
 
Regal predicted big things for Kidd and Gabriel after an ‘upset’ victory. JR thanked us for watching...
 
Gutt Check: Good work from all involved, and it was hard to call who was going to win, which always adds to the match. Given time, Gabriel and Kidd are fantastic to watch. It’s such a shame Kidd’s now out for 6 months, as this win may have been an indicator that a push was in the pipeline. Maybe. And am I the only one who thinks Cesaro makes a better partner, gimmick wise, for Sandow than Cody Rhodes? Rhodes was never portrayed as a huge intellectual, but it’s been part of Cesaro’s gimmick since the start. Having said that, why does Sandow have to be in a team?
 
A tight, efficient show, both in terms of match quality and storyline progression. Adrian Neville looked fantastic in his debut, and we got treated to two solid matches given plenty of time. The Big E match came out of nowhere, but it’s always fun to see the chemistry between Langston and the Full Sail faithful after the match. The hard reset from face to heel that I presume is coming in the coming weeks will be interesting to see.
 
Thanks for reading. If you had any comments or thoughts on the show or this review, add me on Twitter via @Dazatheg