Short's WWE NXT Review: Roman Reigns in action, Bo Dallas vs. Jinder Mahal for Jinder's No. 1 contender status, Corey Graves re-debut, Layla vs. Aksana

By Josh Short
 
11/15 WWE NXT on Dailymotion
Taped in Winter Park, Fla. At Full Sail University

Before the opening credits, Tony Luftman was standing backstage and introduced Jinder Mahal. Mahal said he is the next NXT Champion. He said he embarrassed "a nobody." Bo Dallas interrupted and asked for a rematch seeing he is "a nobody." Bo asked Jinder to put his number 1 contender’s match on the line. Jinder questioned how stupid that was and asked Bo why he would do that. Bo repeated that he is "a nobody." He implied that Jinder was scared. Jinder said he was on...

The opening credits aired. Back in the arena, The Ascension were making their way into the ring. Yoshi Tatsu and Percy Watson made their entrance to a decent reaction.

1. The Ascension vs. Yoshi Tatsu and Percy Watson. Cameron went straight after Watson but he countered with a dropkick. Cameron made a tag to O’Brian who is now sporting a Mohawk similar to The Undertaker. O’Brian hit a leg drop and The Ascension performed their stomping and quick tags routine. The Ascension roared.

O’Brian locked in a rest hold and rolled around the ring. Percy eventually escaped and made the hot tag to Yoshi. Yoshi hit a dropkick before O’Brian got the blind tag. Yoshi hit a backdrop on Cameron but O’Brian entered and attacked Yoshi. Percy tried to make the save but O’Brian threw him over the top rope. Cameron tagged in and O’Brian hit a flapjack on Yoshi. The roared some more and hit the Fall of Man (double spinning wheel kick) for the win...

The Ascension defeated Yoshi Tatsu and Percy Watson in 2:55.

After the match, the commentators hyped the main event and also hyped Luftman’s interview with Big E Langston...

Backstage Layla was putting make-up on. Aksana walked up and said she liked Layla’s hair because it made her look so good. Aksana said none of the other girls like her hair either. Layla called her eastern euro-trash and said she’s going to give Aksana a make-over tonight...[C]

Short’s Synopsis: The same old squash match plagued by The Ascension’s over-the-top theatrics. This match was just a complete waste of time. Layla and Aksana’s backstage segment was horrible; bad acting a really forced way to get to a match.

[C] Back in the arena, Corey Graves made his entrance to a decent reaction. JR was introduced on commentary. Oliver Grey was introduced in the ring.

2. Corey Graves vs. Oliver Grey. Both men locked up and exchanged some chain wrestling. Graves took a cheap shot in the corner to take advantage. He started to work on Grey’s legs with various strikes. A "let’s go Corey" chant started. Graves tried to stamp on Grey’s legs off the ropes but Grey countered into a pin for a cool spot. Graves kicked out straight away and snapped. He hit various vicious looking clubbing strikes. Graves locked in a Fuller Leg Lock however Grey escaped. He went for a suplex but his leg gave out. Graves rolled Grey into what looked like a modified Fuller Leg Lock for the submission win...

Corey Graves defeated Oliver grey in 4:13

After the match, the commentators hyped Tony Luftman’s interview with Big E Langston. This led into a video package on Langston and his 5-count...

Tony Luftman was stood at the top of the stage on a podium. He introduced "the unstoppable force, the master of the 5-count, your favourite; Big E Langston." Big E made his entrance and immediately started a "5" chant. Luftman asked if Big E was worried about the bounty placed on him. Big E says he’s worried for anyone that’s dumb enough to try and claim the bounty. He says the "E" in Big E stands for "End", an end for anyone that stands across the ring from him. He said if you don’t believe him he’ll give you 5 reasons. Big E started a "5" chant and Camacho attacked him from behind before running away...

Short’s Synopsis: Really good introduction of Graves here. He’s got a great look and his ground and pound ring style works well for him. I’m also pleasantly surprised by Graves use of submissions. I didn’t think it would suit him but it’s a nice addition to his act. Big E was decent here, I didn’t like the way he channelled Ryback with his "5" chant and big Neanderthal look on his face but he was solid on the mic. Camacho’s attack was also solid and I like the fact that Big has an opponent a week in advance rather than a random opponent on the night.

[C] Back in the arena, Layla made her entrance to a good pop. Aksana made her entrance to a decent reaction from the male fans.

3. Layla vs. Aksana Layla tried for a quick pin. Aksana roughed up Layla. She crawled along the apron and Layla kicked her to the floor. Layla attempted a top rope move however Aksana pulled her down and tried for a pin. Aksana locked in a triangle hold and used it to smash Layla’s face to the mat. She taunted Layla but Layla came back with a slap and springboard splash out of the corner. She followed it up with a roundhouse kick for the win...

Layla defeated Aksana in 5:23

After the match, the commentators hyped footage from Bray Wyatt that was filmed earlier...

Bray Wyatt was shown in a field with Luke Harper, he appeared to be looking to several unseen people. He said people have denounced his name. He said let’s pretend that everything that he’s said is true and he’s every bit of a monster that they think he is. He questioned how people will stop him. He said he is the king of the jungle...[C]

Short’s Synopsis: Absolutely horrible match by the divas. Aksana’s offence was basically just slamming Layla’s head into the mat; she really needs to improve. The Bray Wyatt segment wasn’t as good as we’ve seen from Wyatt as he just seemed to scream and shout.

[C] Roman Reigns made his entrance to little reaction. His opponent; Chase Donovan was introduced in the ring...

4. Roman Reigns vs. Chase Donovan. Reigns roughed up Donovan in the corner and hit two slams. Reigns locked in a nerve hold. Donovan managed to escape and tried to make a comeback however Reigns hit a jumping clothesline. He followed it up with a back suplex into a clothesline for the win...

Roman Reigns defeated Chase Donovan in 3:38.

After the match Roman Reigns demanded Saxton call him the "Thorough-bred" twice. The announcers also hyped the main event... [C]

Back in the arena, Jinder Mahal was already in the ring. Bo Dallas made his entrance to little reaction.

5. Jinder Mahal vs. Bo Dallas Jinder stalled to start the match. Both men eventually locked up and roughed each other up in the corner. They exchanged rest holds for a couple of minutes. Jinder went back to stalling as JR hyped Paige would be in action next week along with Bray Wyatt. Bo tried to increase the tempo with several clotheslines and a backdrop. Jinder rolled to the outside as we headed to a break... [C]

Back from the break Bo was still in control of Jinder in the corner. Jinder came back with two kicks to the head and a running knee. He then hit several knees on a grounded Bo before locking in a rest hold. Bo managed to escape and tried for the win with several pin attempts. Mahal hit two stiff kicks, Bo went for a running strike however Jinder hit him with a knee to the gut. Bo made another comeback with various running strikes followed by a powerslam. Bo went for the spear however Jinder threw him into the turnbuckle and locked in the Camel Clutch for the win...

Jinder Mahal defeated Bo Dallas in 8:38

After the match, Jinder continued to attack Dallas. He went for the Camel Clutch but Seth Rollins made the save and Jinder Mahal bailed to close the show...

Short’s Synopsis: A really poor main event. There was far too much stalling a rest holds and it made the match drag. Jinder continues to bore me with his repetitive offense and Bo, while he’s sound in the ring, isn’t very exciting. As for Roman Reigns, it’s been three weeks since his debut and still he only just does enough to make me think he’s a heel-that’s poor.

Overall, this was a disappointing edition of NXT with Corey Graves stealing the show and making look forward to where he goes from here.

Cheers for checking out my edition of NXT. If you have any questions or comments, send me a message in the Dot Net Forum if you’re a member @ josh.short or send me a message on Twitter @JoshTubeShort.