Short's WWE NXT Review: Leo Kruger vs. Tyson Kidd, Antonio Cesaro vs. Michael McGillicutty, Roman Reigns vs. Gavin Reid, Corey Graves vs. Yoshi Tatsu

By Josh Short
 
12/6 WWE NXT on Dailymotion
Taped in Winter Park, Fla. At Full Sail University
 
After the opening credits, Tony Dawson and William Regal checked in on commentary as Michael McGillicutty made his entrance to a decent reaction. He was in full babyface mode; did the “Sha!” chants force a babyface turn? Antonio Cesaro made his entrance to little reaction...
 
1. Antonio Cesaro vs. Michael McGillicutty. Nice chain wrestling to start. Both mean exchanged strikes before McGillicutty took control with a dropkick. A short time later Cesaro regained control when he managed to counter a running attack from McGillicutty in the corner by flipping him onto the top turnbuckle. Once McGillicutty was there Cesaro hit him with a running knee to the ribs. The “Sha!” chants continued.
 
Cesaro locked in a waist lock however McGillicutty fought out of it and hit a sunset flip. Cesaro took McGillicutty down with a gutwrench suplex. McGillicutty came back with various strikes followed by a clothesline and a saito suplex. He then hit a clothesline to a seated Cesaro for a close two count. McGillicutty tried to Irish whip Cesaro when they got back to their feet however Cesaro hit a thumb to the eye and followed it up with the Very European Uppercut and finally the Neutraliser for the win...
 
Antonio Cesaro defeated Michael McGillicutty in 5:59.
 
After the match Cesaro posed with the US Title in the ring after the match as Dawson announced that Tyson Kidd vs. Leo Kruger will be our main event tonight...
 
Short’s Synopsis: Decent match to open the show. I like McGillicutty’s offense and would prefer him to be a heel but I guess the “Sha!” chants have caused creative to turn him babyface. I’m fine with it as I enjoy McGillicutty in the ring and I’m interested to see how he does as a babyface.
 
Back in the arena Axl Keegan was stood in the ring, appearing for the first time on NXT. He looks like he could be a member of the Wyatt Family. Bo Dallas made his entrance to a good reaction...
 
2. Bo Dallas vs. Axl Keegan. Keegan was in control to start with several strikes and power moves. Dallas came back by taking punches and asking for another one. Dallas took a few more punches before knocking Keegan down with a punch of his own. Dallas hit a clothesline and a belly to belly suplex, before going to the corner to set up and hit the spear for the win...
 
Bo Dallas defeated Axl Keegan in 2:35.
 
After the match, Dallas grabbed a mic and said he likes to fight He said he respects pain, and wants to fight someone from the WWE whether it be from the top or the bottom. He offered an open challenge, and said he didn't want a match, he wanted a fight...[C]
 
Short’s Synopsis: Bo Dallas continues to un-impress me each and every week. He looks more like a wrestler than his brother but he clearly lacks the promo skills of his brother. He can be entertaining in the ring however I just don’t see much charisma in him.
 
[C] Back in the arena, Corey Graves was already in the ring Yoshi Tatsu made his entrance to little reaction. Graves threw his jacket at him as Yoshi made his was down the ramp. As Tatsu turned to throw the jacket into the crowd, Graves attacked him from behind. They rolled back inside the ring, and after the ref got the OK from Tatsu, the match started...
 
3. Yoshi Tatsu vs. Corey Graves. Tatsu came straight at Graves with chops, and eventually ended up on the top rope. Graves dodged a diving attack, and hit a low chop block on Tatsu's left knee. Tatsu sold it by yelling and rolling around the ring. This allowed Graves to focus his attack on Yoshi’s leg.

Graves continued to target and dominate Yoshi’s leg. Yoshi tried to make a comeback with chops and a Japanese arm drag. Tatsu hit a backdrop and began to kick Graves however Graves grabbed one of Yoshi’s legs and hit caught him with a shin breaker. Graves then locked in his modified Figure Four Leg Lock, which Regal dubbed the 13th Step. Tatsu tapped quickly...
 
Corey Graves defeated Yoshi Tatsu in 2:54.
 
After the match the commentators hyped the main event...[C]
 
Short’s Synopsis: I continue to be impressed by Graves each and every week, it’s refreshing to see a submission specialist that doesn’t have the stereotypical look of a wrestler. Graves looks and wrestles like a bad ass and I see great potential in him.
 
[C] Back in the ring Gavin Reid; from Swansea in Wales, was introduced in the ring. Roman Reigns made his entrance to a decent reaction without any mention of The Shield, as the commentators played up his “Thoroughbred” gimmick...
 
4. Roman Reigns vs. Gavin Reid. Reigns attacked Reid in opposite corners before locking in a very long cravat. He yelled at the crowd. Reigns hit a big jumping clothesline. Reigns punched the mat and hit Reid with his finisher; a back suplex into a clothesline for the win...
 
Roman Reigns defeated Gavin Reid in 2:11.
 
After the match Reigns threw Reid out of the ring. He motioned for Saxton to get in the ring. Reigns took Saxton's mic while he was announcing him as the winner, and said Saxton was jealous of him. He told Saxton that he was doing him a favour by letting him step in his ring and say his name. He then told Saxton to get out of the ring, and went to the corner to celebrate...
 
Short’s Synopsis: This was Reigns’ best week so far. His promo wasn’t as bad as some of the promos he’s previously given and he looked a lot more solid in the ring.
 
Backstage, Todd Phillips interviewed Tyson Kidd. Phillips asked Tyson if he was worried after Leo Kruger injured Trent Barrett last week. Kidd said he wasn't worried, and that if he had to go through Kruger to get to the NXT title, then he would.
 
Kassius Ohno walked in. He said he wanted the NXT title, and that he was the most dangerous man in the universe. He reminded Kidd that he injured Richie Steamboat after Steamboat ran his mouth. Kidd quoted Einstein, saying “Great spirits always encounter violent opposition from mediocre minds”, before leaving...
 
Short’s Synopsis: Poor backstage segment from Kidd and Ohno, while Ohno finally appears to finding his grieve with his dangerous intellectual gimmick Kidd’s words seemed really forced. No offence to Kidd but I didn’t expect him to quoting Einstein in this week’s NXT.
 
 
Back in the arena Leo Kruger made his entrance to little reaction. Tyson Kidd made his entrance to a good reaction as JR checked in on commentary...
 
5. Tyson Kidd vs. Leo Kruger. JR said there were rumours backstage that Kruger and Ohno have a working agreement. Kruger sat and stalled in the corner for around half a minute before he and Kidd exchanged mat wrestling. Kruger continued to sit in the corner. Kruger had Kidd on the mat with a body scissors around Kidd's neck. We then suddenly cut to commercial without warning... [C]
 
[C] Back from the break Kruger had Kidd locked in a full nelson. Kidd escaped the hold and hit Kruger with a kick to the face before ending up on the outside after Kruger dodged a running cross body attempt. A short time later Kruger caught Kidd with a back suplex, and dropkicked him to the outside. Kidd crawled back into the ring, only to get locked in another full nelson. Eventually Kidd escaped again, he then hit a dropkick to give himself some time.
 
Kidd began to make his comeback with his usual kicks. He attempted the springboard elbow drop however Kruger to get his knees up to counter. A short time later Kruger went top rope, but Kidd cut him off and took him down with an arm drag. Kruger rolled out of the ring, however he got caught with Kidd’s running kick from the apron. Eventually Kruger rolled back in, and Kidd attempted the springboard elbow drop again. Kruger managed to counter again however Kidd countered and locked in the Dungeon Lock for the win...
 
Tyson Kidd defeated Leo Kruger in 11:51.
 
After the match Kassius Ohno attacked Kidd from behind. Ohno and Kruger double teamed Kidd which lead to JR to once again questioning if Kruger and Ohno had been working together. Ohno and Kruger then hit their finishers. This provoked William Regal, who left the commentary table and walked to ringside. Regal pulled Kidd out of the ring, and helped him to the back as JR thanked us for watching and brought NXT to a close...
 
Short’s Synopsis: A good match to end this week’s NXT. Their contrasting styles worked well together and I’d like to see more from these two either in a rematch or in a tag match with Ohno and Steamboat. (I presume we’ll get the latter) .
 
Overall this was an average NXT. McGillicutty and Cesaro had a decent match despite McGillicutty’s random babyface turn. Bo Dallas was given time to prove himself of the mic, we got more character development from Roman Reigns. Corey Graves continues to shine and we had a good main event.

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.