Short's NXT Review: Seth Rollins vs. Rick Victor, Trent Barreta returns, Jimmy Uso vs. Connor O’Brian, Kassius Ohno’s Sparring Session, Paige vs. Alicia Fox

By Josh Short
 


9/20 WWE NXT on Youtube

Taped in Winter Park, Fla. At Full Sail University.

The opening titles aired and Byron Saxton checked in on commentary declaring “the champion is in the building!”. Trent Barreta made his entrance to a good pop. “Welcome back!” chants started immediately as Regal said that he told Trent that he didn’t realize he’d been gone. As Johnny Curtis made his entrance to little reaction Regal stated that Trent says he will use comments like Regal’s to make a mark.

1. Trent Barreta vs. Johnny Curtis. Both men stalled for a few seconds and exchanged takedowns. They continued to exchange, with both men hitting flashy offense. Curtis whipped Barreta into the corner, Barreta tried to counter and set up a whisper in the wind attempt but Curtis tripped Trent. Trent fell to the ground and Curtis hit several knees to a grounded Barreta. He pulled off Trent’s left elbow pad and went to work on his left arm by locking in a rest hold.

Curtis hit a fireman’s carry slam but held onto Trent’s arm. Nice move. Curtis placed Trent on the top turnbuckle; Trent fought back and hit a rolling power bomb for a near fall. Both men traded chops and Trent hit a nice step-up enziguri. Trent hit an elbow in the corner and hit the whisper in the wind for another near fall. Trent went for a tornado DDT but Curtis countered with a suplex into the bottom turnbuckle. Cool spot. Curtis went for a big legdrop from the top rope but missed. Trent then hit the Gobstopper (running knee) for the win...

Trent Barreta defeated Johnny Curtis in 5:37.

After the match Barreta celebrated and Saxton hyped Paige vs. Alicia Fox as well as the main event... [C]

Short’s Synopsis: Good return match for Trent. He’s a fantastic high flyer who is very crisp at hitting his moves safely and effectively. I also like his persona, he reminds me of RVD with his laid back attitude but cool move set. As for Curtis, I know some people aren’t high on him but I really like the way he shows his persona. He’s very believable and he’s technically sound.

[C] Back from the commercial Alicia Fox was already in the ring; Paige made her entrance to a big pop.

2. Paige vs. Alicia Fox. Both divas exchanged takedowns to start. Paige went for several pin attempts. Alicia mouthed off to Paige and Paige scared her to the ground. Alicia slapped Paige; Paige returned the favour and hit several strikes only for Fox to hit a stiff looking tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a near fall. Fox roughed Paige up and Paige once again tried to make a comeback however this time Fox hit her northern lights suplex for another near fall.

Fox continued to rough up Paige; driving her face to the ground several times. Paige managed to escape a rest hold performed by Alicia and hit a monkey flip. She hit several strikes. Fox tried to come back and they rolled on the mat only for Paige to lift Fox up and hit her Cradle DDT for the win...

Paige defeated Alicia Fox in 4:45.

After the match, Saxton hyped the Kassius Ohno sparring session as well as Jimmy Uso vs. Connor O’Brian... [C]

The Raw Rebound aired...

Short’s Synopsis: A somewhat sloppy match. Paige is no doubt over and I can only imagine how more over she’ll get when, not if, she’s called up to the main roster. However, Paige’s popularity does not change the fact that this was a sloppy match with lots of weak strikes and some dangerous looking spots by Alicia.

[C] Back from the break The Ascension made their entrance to no reaction. The Uso’s were already in the ring.

3. Jimmy Uso vs. Conor O’Brian. Both men locked up and Jimmy hit several chops in the corner. He hit a headbutt to a grounded O’Brian and clotheslined him out of the ring. Jimmy went for a baseball slide however O’Brian pulled him out of the ring and rammed Jimmy into the apron repeatedly. He rolled him back into the ring and hit several punches on a grounded Jimmy; he then locked in a rest hold. Jimmy managed to get to his feat however Conor slammed him back down and went to the rest hold. Jimmy started to make his comeback with a couple of clotheslines, a Samoan drop and a hip attack. He went to the top rope however Kenneth Cameron distracted him. After a bit of scuffling with Jey the referee intervened and talked to Jey. Cameron used the distraction to trip Jimmy on the top rope. This then set up a big boot by Conor O’Brian for the win...

Conor O’Brian defeated Jimmy Uso in 3:46.

After the match The Ascension roughed up Jey Uso. They roared and hit their High/Low double spinning wheel kick finisher...

Saxton then hyped Kassius Ohno’s sparring session as being next and the main event before we went backstage to Briley Pierce, who was interviewing Bo Dallas. Briley asked Bo how hungry he was for the title, before he could speak Michael McGillicutty showed up and told Bo to shut up. McGillicutty started talking about his win over Tyson Kidd last week which made him the number one contender for the NXT Championship. Bo then hit him and they started brawling, the referee’s pulled them apart... [C]

Short’s Synopsis: Dull match. Both men are solid in the ring but they didn’t do much in the time they were given. Granted it was a short time but I feel they could have done a lot more. The Ascension did some of their usual theatrics this week but it wasn’t over done. The McGillicutty/Dallas segment was ok, McGillicutty sounded like a jerk and I wanted to see Rollins kick his head off so I guess that makes the segment a productive one.

[C] Back in the arena Kassius Ohno made his entrance to little reaction. The commentators narrated over a replay over Ohno’s attack on Richie Steamboat. His opponent, Oliver Grey, wasn’t even introduced.

4. Kassius Ohno vs. Oliver Grey. Both en locked up and Kassius slammed Grey to the mat. He stomped on Grey and hit several elbows in the corner. Grey hit two European uppercuts before Kassius hit him with a big boot. He then locked in a cravate for the submission victory...

Kassius Ohno defeated Oliver Grey in 0:59.

After the match Ohno asked for a mic. He said that was a lot easier than he anticipated, he asked the referee if Oliver was ok and that he would give him a second chance. Ohno immediately hit his rolling elbow and locked in the cravate for another submission victory...

Kassius Ohno defeated Oliver Grey in 0:25.

After the match Richie Steamboat hit the ring and Kassius escaped up the ramp. Saxton then hyped the main event of Rick Victor vs. Seth Rollins being next... [C]

A Leo Kruger video aired, it showed him up close and in shadows. He said that everything is about to change, that he can’t wait to meet his new friends and that he has much to share with them. He concluded by saying “this is going to be special” before giggling in a weird way and saying “ta ta”.

Short’s Synopsis: The Ohno didn’t work for me as I don’t think it added anything to Ohno’s character. In fact given that he’s been presented as a knockout artist why did he the cravate rather than the rolling elbow? I would’ve preferred Kassius to compete in a gauntlet style match with him knocking out several opponents in quick succession. Hopefully Kassius and creative can find a way to make this gimmick work. Then again, NXT is the place to do that. As for the Kruger video, while I did enjoy it I question the placement of it, surely it would’ve been more effective to show this video last week and have Kruger re-debut this week.

[C] Back in the arena Rick Victor made his entrance to little reaction. They showed footage of Victor’s weak slap to Rollins as Saxton said that Victor has been flying under the radar. Regal said that anyone with brains or that analyses anything would know how skilled and talented Victor is. Seth Rollins made his moshing entrance to a big pop as JR checked in on commentary. Rollins swung the championship around his head in the ring.

5. Seth Rollins vs. Rick Victor. Victor backed into the corner as Regal said that he is the last graduate of the Hart Dungeon. So I guess we’re supposed to forget about Kidd’s past? JR said Victor must be a bit weird after coming out of the Hart Dungeon. Victor continued to stall until he hit a kick to Rollins’ gut and locked in a rest hold. Rollins tried to fight out but Victor continued to hold the lock in. Rollins eventually escaped and went for a roundhouse kick as Victor came back off the ropes however Victor rolled out of the ring. Seth went for a suicide dive however Victor struck Rollins as he came through the ropes. Victor got back in the ring and hit a belly-to-belly for a pin attempt. Victor preceded to bite himself on his wrists as we headed for a break... [C]

[C] Back from the break Victor had Seth in a rest hold. Seth managed to escape via a jawbreaker. Seth tried to make a comeback but Victor hit a big knee for a near fall. He stomped on Rollins and continued to bite himself. Victor charged at Rollins in the corner however Rollins managed to get his knees up. Victor roughed up Rollins in the corner and slapped him. Rollins snapped and took Victor down and landed a several strikes. When both men got back to their feet Rollins hit some more strikes followed by and enziguri. Rollins went to a corner, flicked his tongue a bit and did some head banging/stomping before landing a forearm on Victor in the opposite corner. Rollins then hit a running dropkick; he played to the crowd and hit the Blackout for the win...

Seth Rollins defeated Rick Victor in 10:48.

After the match Saxton said that Rollins has passed his first test as NXT Champion. JR said that Victor is a strange man to be reckoned with. Rollins swung the title around his head in the ring and celebrated with a guy with a chicken head in the audience to close the show...

Short’s Synopsis: Decent match. I think this definitely confirms that Seth will be positioned as an underdog for the foreseeable future. They constantly talk about him being an outsider and he has played the underdog in most, if not all, of his matches on NXT so far. I guess this is being done as a way to get fans to rally behind him. Rick Victor was dominant here although he was nowhere near as good as has been in FCW. I have no idea where creative are going with this whole biting gimmick but for those that haven’t seen much of him I assure you he excellent in the ring.

Overall this was a step back from last week’s good episode of NXT. There were several short matches and none really seemed to have an impact other than Trent’s return. I do, however, have high hopes for NXT in the future. It can be very entertaining, and I really look forward to where several of the superstars/divas go.

Thanks for taking time out to read my review of this week’s NXT. If you have any questions or just fancy a chat about anything; especially NXT and wrestling in general follow me on twitter @JoshTubeShort. Cheers.