Short’s WWE NXT Review: Kassius Ohno vs. Trent Barreta, Big E Langston vs. Camacho, Luke Harper vs. Mike Dalton, Paige vs. Alicia Fox 

By Josh Short

11/22 WWE NXT on Dailymotion
Taped in Winter Park, Fla. At Full Sail University.
 
The show opened with an interviewer walking up to Kassius Ohno backstage. He pronounced his name wrong and Kassius cut him off and corrected him. The interviewer asked Kassius how he felt about his match tonight with Trent Baretta given that it was the "rubber" match between the two. Kassius said he has already avenged his loss to Trent whilst explaining that Trent won because of Richie Steamboat’s interference. He suggested to himself that he end Trent’s career tonight; just like he did to Richie Steamboat. He had a "premonition" in which he said that "Trenty" will find out how dangerous, cruel and unusual he is. He said "Trenty" is going to experience more pain than he has felt in his life and that he won’t be the same...
 
After the opening credits aired Tony Dawson welcomed us to the show alongside JR on commentary. I’m losing track of how many new announcers they’re using; the fact that their first names all begin with "T" is also baffling me. They should just stick with Saxton, Regal and JR. Alicia Fox made her entrance to a decent reaction. Paige made her entrance to a good reaction; "Paige" chants started immediately...
 
1. Paige vs. Alicia Fox. JR acknowledged Paige’s popularity; especially with fans from the U.K. I think we all know I’m one of them. Both divas locked up and Alicia took control. The commentators talked about Paige’s heritage. Paige gained control with a Japanese arm drag followed by a dropkick. Paige attempted a monkey flip but Alicia just managed to land on her feet. Alicia botched a scoop slam but regained control by slamming Paige head first into several turnbuckles. She followed it up with a Northern Light suplex. Alicia then locked in a double arm stretch in a cool spot.

Paige eventually made a comeback with great looking kick. She then countered a tilt-a-whirl slam into a cross body for another cool spot. After Alicia got a two count from a split legged sunset flip from the top rope. Impressive. Paige countered an Irish whip with a swinging leg hook fireman’s carry slam which Dawson called the "Paige Turner" for the win...
 
Paige defeated Alicia Fox in 5:12.
 
After the match Paige celebrated as Dawson hyped Barreta vs. Ohno as the main event, and Big E Langston vs. Camacho is up next... [C]
 
An Alicia Fox vignette aired; it was very heelish...

Short’s Synopsis: A decent match with some really cool spots. I didn’t expect to see those types of moves but they were really impressive and worth checking out. I’m not a fan of Paige using the Paige Turner instead of the RamPaige. It’s a cool move but I’d prefer to see her using it as a secondary finisher in the same way that Kofi Kingston uses the SOS...
 
[C] Back from the break Camacho made his entrance without Hunico. Big E Langston made his entrance to a decent reaction. He led the crowd into a "5" chant...
 
2. Big E Langston vs. Camacho. Langston dominated Camacho with headbutts and big strikes to the gut. He then picked Camacho up and drove him into the turnbuckle; tackling him several times. He went for a running strike in the corner but Camacho booted him in the face and hit a double axe handle of the top rope. Camacho put his hand in the "5" position and slapped Big E. Big E snapped and he immediately hit two body checks. This set up the Big Ending. He hit it and the ref counted 3...
 
Big E Langston defeated Camacho in 2:03.
 
After the match Big E got angry that the ref only counted 3. Cue the "one more time" chants. Big E obliged; hitting the Big Ending again and counted his own 5 count. He teased leaving before repeating the spot...
 
Short’s Synopsis: I have to agree with Gutteridge in that the only reason that Big E wasn’t called up instead of Roman Reigns is because he would overshadow Rollins and Ambrose as he is essentially Ryback 2.0. As for the match it was the same Big E match and routine we’ve had for weeks; although, just like Ryback when he first made his debut, for now it’s still entertaining.
 
Backstage Trent Barreta was shown in pain on the floor. Refs ran to him and checked on him. They asked him who did it. Trent appeared to point towards the camera. The refs told the camera man to go away, and as they moved out, they showed Leo Kruger sat crouched out of view behind a wall smiling...
 
A "Don't Try This" video aired...
Backstage, the interviewer from the start of the show was speaking to camera. He explained that Trent had not been cleared to compete tonight and that as a result the main event was looking unlikely...
 
Back in the arena; Bronson made his entrance to no reaction. His opponent; Nick Rodgers was introduced in the ring...
 
3. Bronson vs. Nick Rodgers.  Bronson charged at Rodgers in the corner and hit several strikes. He then targeted Rodgers left leg locking in various holds and mixing in several various strikes. He hit him with a brutal looking STO. He finished Rodgers off with a modified Figure Four leglock and Rodgers tapped quickly...
 
Bronson defeated Nick Rodgers in 2:00.
 
After the match Bronson kept the lock in for a few more seconds...[C]
 
Short’s Synopsis: I guess Nick Rodgers is no longer "Totally Jacked" like he was in FCW. I’ve always been a fan of MMA style guys in wrestling such as Taz, Ken Shamrock and Brock Lesnar but Bronson just annoys me. His name and aggressive yelling during his matches are obviously both clear acknowledgements to Britain’s most dangerous prisoner; Charles Bronson. With that in mind Bronson should probably watch the film "Bronson" starring Tom Hardy aka Bane seeing as he’s trying to perform that character. The film is also fantastic and I think everyone should see it. Anyway, back to the Bronson from NXT; I also don’t like the fact he has brass knuckles everywhere when he’s using the figure-four as a finisher and not a knock-out punch or some kind of arm strike. Granted we’ve already got Wade Barrett, Kassius Ohno and the Big Show but he should either get rid of the brass knuckles or start using an arm strike.
 
[C] Back in the arena Bray Wyatt made his entrance shouting "where are you little lamb?". He said that he wants people to fear him and that tonight he was going to make the little lamb famous and give him the first bit of meaning he had ever had in his life. He then sat on a rocking chair as Luke Harper made his entrance...
 
4. Luke Harper vs. Mike Dalton. Dalton ran the ropes and slid under Harper; he tried to a hit a flashy move however Harper came back with several clubbing strikes. The crowd chanted "let’s go Ziggler" at Dalton. This got a chuckle out of me. Harper continued to wear down Dalton. JR pointed out that Harper likes to maintain contact with Wyatt during the match as if he’s looking for approval. He threw Dalton into the corner a few times in the corner before taking him out with a sick discuss clothesline. Harper looked at Wyatt on the stage again which allowed Dalton to recover and attempt a Tornado DDT. Harper however threw Dalton across the ring and hit him with a Boss man slam for the win...
 
Luke Harper defeated Mike Dalton in 2:43.
 
After the match Harper walked up to the top of the ramp, and fell to his knees as Wyatt started talking. Wyatt said he warned us all 2000 years ago that he was the "Era of Worlds" or something that sounded like that. Wyatt was hard to understand then however he finished by saying "When I decided to start hurting people, there will be none of you left"...
 
Backstage, the backstage interviewer was named Tom Phillips, and was shown interviewing Seth Rollins. He said he was going to ask him about the NXT Championship however Jinder Mahal attacked him from behind. They brawled for a little bit before refs tried to pull them apart...
The Raw Rebound aired; featuring the CM Punk celebration and Rollins, Reigns and Ambrose’s attack on Ryback...
 
Short’s Synopsis: Weird to see the Raw Rebound placed there; they could’ve placed it anywhere but they chose to air it straight after the babyface champion was attacked? Interesting. As for Wyatt, while I didn’t understand some of his second promo I liked what we saw from him this week. Granted, it was the same kind of stuff he’s been saying but the stuff he’s been saying is good. Luke Harper is playing his role extremely well both in and outside the ring. The fact that he keeps looking for approval from Wyatt is a nice touch and the commentators played it up well.
 
Back in the arena Kassius Ohno made his entrance to little reaction. Once in the ring he asked for a mic. He said he has never been more ready to "tear someone to pieces". He mocked Trent by asking "where’s Trent?" sarcastically. Ohno asked the ref to ring the bell and count Barreta.
 
Dusty Rhodes' music interrupted him. Dusty said he knew Ohno manipulated the situation with Barreta backstage. He said Ohno will have to answer to him for that and that he has managed to find a replacement. Richie Steamboat's music played, and he made his entrance to little reaction to face Ohno...
 
5. Richie Steamboat vs. Kassius Ohno. Richie immediately went after Ohno. Steamboat maintained control during the early part of the match. Steamboat hit a nice running cross body. A short time later Steamboat clotheslined Ohno out of the ring after Ohno skinned the cat. Steamboat went top rope, and dived onto Ohno at ringside... [C]
 
[C] Back from the break Steamboat locked Ohno in a chin lock. Ohno rolled to the apron, and Steamboat followed. Ohno booted Steamboat into the ring post, and hit a low dropkick back in the ring to take control. Ohno slowed the pace down with strikes, rest holds (including the cravate) as well as slams into the turnbuckles. Steamboat managed to get a few cool looking counter pins before managing to hit the hope spot in the form of chop to Ohno as Ohno charged at him in the corner. Steamboat picked up the pace with strikes and a back body drop. He hit a clothesline and charged at Ohno. Ohno flipped Steamboat onto the top rope before Ohno countered a flying axe handle with a headbutt to Steamboat's stomach.
 
Ohno hit the forearm in the corner. Ohno attempted to throw Richie into the ropes like he does just before hitting the Discus Elbow however Richie managed to turn it into a pin. Ohno kicked out, and went for the Discus Elbow however Steamboat ducked it and hit the Slingblade for the win...
 
Richie Steamboat defeated Kassius Ohno in 13:47.
 
After the match JR praised Steamboat's instincts in regards to the ending of the match and then announced that Team Hell No will be appearing next week on the show. This brought NXT to a close...

Short’s Synopsis: Good match to end the show. It wasn’t amazing but it was solid, enjoyable and had a few cool spots. It’s also good to see Richie Steamboat back; he’s very fun to watch in the ring when he isn’t performing a family member’s move set. Overall this was a decent edition of NXT. There was nothing newsworthy but it had a fun feel to it and it kept me entertained throughout.

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.