5/9 Gutteridge's WWE NXT Review: Adrian Neville and Bo Dallas vs. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan for the NXT Tag Titles, Kassius Ohno vs. Camacho, Paige vs. Bayley, Damien Sandow vs. Baron Corbin

By Darren Gutteridge

WWE NXT on Sky Sports 3
Taped on May 2 in Winter Park, Florida
 
[Q1] A video explaining the NXT Tag Team title switch from Oliver Grey to Bo Dallas aired, which also hyped Dallas and Adrian Neville vs. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan for later on tonight...
 
After titles, Damien Sandow’s music played, and as he entered, Tony Dawson and William Regal checked in on commentary. His opponent is NXT debutant Baron Corbin...
 
1. Damien Sandow vs. Baron Corbin. Corbin wears grey tights with a belt. Its odd looking. He played offensive line for the Colts and Cardinals, according to Dawson, who also mentioned WWE’s new performance centre in Florida. After early Sandow dominance, where he offered to let Corbin leave, Corbin hit a few shoulder tackles to pop the crowd. Sandow regained control with a quick kick to the gut, and followed it up with the Russian leg sweep / Elbow of Disdain combo. Instead of using the Terminus, Sandow used a Side Effect type move, which looked a little awkward. The new move, which Dawson called the Silencer, got Sandow the 1-2-3...
 
Damien Sandow defeated Baron Corbin in 3:07.
 
Sandow got on the mic after the match and challenged Big E Langston for the NXT Title... [C]
 
Gutt Reaction: Not much to say about the match, as it was essentially a squash match. Sandow challenging for the title is a smart move, as Sandow can easily get under people’s skin, and Big E beating him will look good for Langston, but won’t affect Sandow’s credibility.
 
[Q2] Paige came out to a nice pop, as Bayley waited in the ring...
 
2. Paige vs. Bayley. A slow paced start eventually picked up when Bayley hit a flying forearm from the top rope. After a few pin attempts, Bayley tried for a suplex, which Paige countered with a fisherman suplex. Paige fired up and started throwing Bayley around the ring, and following a big kick to the stomach, she put Bayley away with the Paige Turner...
 
Paige defeated Bayley in 5:00.
 
After the match, Summer Rae ran down and attacked Paige from behind before leaving. Dawson acknowledged that Summer Rae was Fandango’s dance partner...
 
Backstage, Tom Phillips introduced Big E Langston. Phillips said Big E has had an impressive title reign, and Big E said it wasn’t as impressive as his Yo-Yo collection. WHAT?! Sandow walked in and formally challenged Big E for the title. Big E said he would accept if Sandow could do a math problem. The answer was five, which lead to Big E getting a “five” chant going before Sandow left without his answer...
 
Gutt Reaction: The Divas match was rather dull, but the post match attack means the strongest rivalry in NXT can keep going, which is a plus. I seriously don’t know why Big E felt the need to brag about Yo-Yo’s. It came out of the blue, and seemed an ill fit for either his face or heel character.
 
Sakamoto, who I honestly thought had been let go, made his entrance, with Briley Pierce already in the ring...
 
3. Sakamoto vs. Briley Pierce. Pierce looks a lot like Ziggler when he had short brown hair. Dawson acknowledged that Pierce was Dolph’s brother when he did a headstand during a hammerlock. Following a Pierce armdrag, the lights dimmed and Conor O’Brian ran out. He took Pierce down to cause the DQ...
 
Sakamoto vs. Briley Pierce ended in a No Contest in about 2:00.
 
O’Brian hit both men with a splash in the corner, before throwing Sakamoto on top of Pierce and doing his guttural roar... [C]
 
Gutt Reaction: I was looking forward to seeing that match, and I can think of few worse ways to end it than having Conor O’Brian run down to end it. This obviously means he’s still going to be a featured guy here on NXT, but all I can see for him to do is kill the midcard again before Big E pins him. Again.
 
[Q3] Renee Young was shown backstage with Briley Pierce and Sakamoto, and she asked Briley what response he might have for O’Brian. Briley said O’Brian just made a massive mistake, and Sakamoto said, in broken English, that they wanted O’Brian in a handicap match next week. Sakamoto shouted something in Japanese, and Briley closed by saying ‘What he said’...
 
Back in the arena, Kassius Ohno came out and stared at Regal a little before walking to the ring. Camacho was already in the ring...
 
4. Kassius Ohno vs. Camacho. Ohno came at Camacho with a lot of aggression out of the gate, until Camacho put him down with a clothesline. Camacho kept Ohno on the mat, eventually locking in a headlock to wear Ohno down. The crowd started clapping for the heel Ohno to get back up, but when he did, he got dropped back down with a back suplex. Camacho switched to a nerve hold, and the crowd again got behind Ohno to escape. This time he succeeded, and hit a dropkick.
 
After a few quick elbows, Ohno hit a running elbow to a cornered Camacho, and followed it up with the Discus Elbow. Instead of pinning Camacho, he applied an arm trapped cravat, which the commentators called the Kassius Klutch. Camacho tapped...
 
Kassius Ohno defeated Camacho in 6:12.
 
After the match, Ohno got the mic and walked up the stage. He said he didn’t know who he was anymore, and he wanted to apologise to Regal. The Wyatt Family’s music played, and Harper and Rowan walked past Ohno. As Ohno turned around, he came face to face with Bray Wyatt.
 
Wyatt laughed, and looked to be letting Ohno past, but Harper and Rowan attacked from behind. Wyatt shouted for them to get off him, only for him to hit Ohno with the Sister Abigail...
 
Gutt Reaction: That match was solid, as both men were given a chance to look dominant. The Kassius Klutch may not sound like much, but that particular one looked vicious. The after match attack, combined with the apology and crowd reaction to Ohno, may seem to be pointing to a face turn. I don’t see it personally, but it’s interesting.
 
As Wyatt was shown to be standing at ringside, Neville and Dallas made their entrance...
 
5. Adrian Neville and Bo Dallas vs. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan for the NXT Tag Team Titles. Wyatt retreated to his rocking chair on the ramp. When Dallas tagged in, a few small boos could be heard, but nothing like last week. There was a “No More Bo” chant that got a little more traction though. The faces dominated before the commercial, with Neville keeping up a rapid pace before hitting a standing Shooting Star press for a two count on Harper...[C]
 
[Q4] Immediately after the break, Neville dived on Rowan on the outside, before hitting a roundhouse kick from the apron on Harper in the ring to set up the corkscrew Shooting Star Press. Neville nailed it, but Rowan broke the pin up and then tagged himself in. Rowan looked to ground Neville, and Harper kept the pressure up when he tagged in. Harper kept Neville away from Bo until he missed a big boot in the corner.
 
Bo and Rowan tagged in, and Bo hit the ring hot. He looked to win with a reverse DDT, but Rowan kicked out at two. Rowan managed to avoid a forearm, and capitalised with an awkward looking pumphandle slam for a two count of his own. When both men got back up, Dallas hit a spear, but Rowan again kicked out. Dallas tried for a bulldog, but Rowan threw him into Neville, taking him off the apron, and followed up with a big boot. Harper tagged in, hit the discus clothesline, and pinned Dallas...
 
Luke Harper and Erick Rowan defeated Bo Dallas and Adrian Neville in 10:39 to win the NXT Tag Team Titles.
 
The Wyatt Family posed with the belts as NXT went off the air...
 
Gutt Reaction: A solid main event, but it felt like it was stuck in third gear throughout. I think the title change is a good call, as Dallas and Neville showed no chemistry together, and breaking them up allows both to go back to singles competition. I have no idea who Harper and Rowan have to face, but I feel the NXT Tag Titles will become just a small facet of the Family’s dominance of NXT, which surely will involve a Wyatt title reign at some point, unless he gets bumped to main roster before he gets the chance to face Big E.
 
A crowded show that had a lot going on, but none of the matches will live long in the memory. This was a show with all the hallmarks of a first episode from a taping – new feuds beginning, old ones being reaffirmed, a few debuts, and a prominent main roster guy coming in for a small feud. It’s a promising start for the month ahead, but it came at the cost of match quality.
 
Thanks for reading. If you had any comments or thoughts on the show or this review, add me on Twitter via @Dazatheg