Zim’s 4/10 NXT Review: The Shield in six-man action, Kassius Ohno vs. William Regal - a real wrestling feud, The Bella Twins vs. The Funkadactyls, Corey Graves issues a challenge

By Zack Zimmerman
 
April 10, 2013 NXT on Hulu Plus
Taped March 21 at Full Sail University
 
The best video package NXT has produced recapped the William Regal and Kassius Ohno feud up to this point…
 
The Shield made their entrance through the crowd to an overwhelmingly positive response. Tom Phillips and “Assistant Managing Supervisor” Brad Maddox checked in on commentary. Percy Watson, Axl Keegan, and Scott Dawson were already in the ring for the opening match.
                                                                                                              
1. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) vs. Percy Watson, Axl Keegan, and Scott Dawson. The Shield rushed their opponents before the bell rang and cleared them from the ring. Reigns singled out Dawson back in the ring and the ref called for the match to start. He quickly tagged in Rollins, who hit a double dropkick in the corner with Ambrose before tagging him in.
 
Ambrose worked some basic offense, but Dawson was able to crawl back to his corner and tag in Keegan. Keegan hit a few punches, but Ambrose caught him with a knee and tagged in Rollins before locking a Bow and Arrow lock on Keegan. Rollins went up top and came down with a big knee drop across the exposed opponent. Rollins amped the crowd up and hit the Skywalker Shiranui for the win.
 
The Shield beat Keegan, Dawson, and Watson in 4:30.
 
Post match, the Shield beat down Dawson while the crowd chanted “Pow-er-bomb!” They delivered the move and the crowd chanted “One more time!” Instead, The Shield took a mic and Ambrose spoke: “Once again, justice has been served at NXT.” Rollins said they were the most dominant and efficient group in WWE, and that they run Raw, Smackdown, and NXT. “Believe… IN THE SHIELD!” Reigns closed.
 
Just then, Corey Graves appeared on the big screen. He said that he doesn’t believe in the Shield. He said that NXT was his wasteland, not theirs. He rightfully blamed them for costing him the NXT Championship twice. “I don’t care which one of you shows up next week; I’m going to put you down, and you’re gonna Stay Down.” Rollins took a mic and said he started it and he’s going to finish it. He told Ambrose and Reigns to take next week off so he could face Graves one-on-one. He closed by promising that Graves would believe like everyone else…
 
Backstage, Tony Dawson introduced “The First Lady of NXT” Summer Rae. Rae denied running away from Paige last week. She said that she remembered that she had left her curling iron on, so every should thank her for not burning the building down. Rae said that if it weren’t for the curling iron, she would’ve dropped Paige in the middle of the ring and “beaten her so bad.” She insisted on being called The First Lady of NXT; “Damn right I am.” She said before walking away…
 
Scott Stamford hyped the main event of Kassius Ohno vs. William Regal, and The Funkadactyls vs. The Bellas up next… [C]
 
Zim’s Zag: Standard, basic-but-good stuff from The Shield here. I’m confused though, aren’t they heels? Shouldn’t their objective be to turn the crowd cheers into boos once they realize they’re getting a babyface reaction? Instead, they played to the crowd and even included the reaction into the match finish. Graves is a certified tweener, and that just doesn’t work. Fans need someone to cheer, someone to boo, and reasons to do so; simple as that.
 
Backstage, Renee Young introduced Emma. Emma awkwardly cut Young off by telling her “I’m ready” and fixing her hair in the camera. Young asked what Emma’s experience has been like so far, and Emma answered “Well this far at NXT, my path is kind of like Lady Gaga’s.” This caught Young off guard, and Emma corrected “You’re right, probably more like Madonna’s.” Young tried to change subject, and said the fans think Emma is a klutz. Emma laughed and called kids crazy “with their Electric Slide and the Macarena. But they all pale in comparison to the Emmalution.” Emma did her dance and invited Renee to join. “Nope.” Renee answered dryly. “Your loss.” Emma said, before tripping on her way off set…
 
The Funkadactyl’s danced their way to the ring. Funny unedited moment when Tom Phillips said this was a Wrestlemania re-match…Oops. The Bella Twins were out next, and Maddox took credit for negotiating and re-signing them. Funny.
 
2. The Funkadactyls (Cameron and Naomi) vs. The Bella Twins (Brie and Nikki). Early on, Naomi used a severely non-PG modified stink-face on Nikki. Maddox said he was jealous, real nice. Naomi hit the Rear View and followed up with a flipping clothesline for a two-count. She tagged in Cameron and they hit a double split-legdrop, but Brie made a distraction allowing Nikki to get the upper hand. They made rapid tags and worked Cameron over in the corner. Nikki locked in a grounded stretch, which Cameron eventually reversed into a neckbreaker, but couldn’t quite make the hot tag. The Bellas hit a rolling double leglock slam and scored the pinfall on Cameron…  
 
The Bella Twins beat The Funkadactyls in 3:30.
 
Backstage, Tony Dawson introduced Kassius Ohno who was wearing a “Real Man’s Man” shirt. Awesome. Ohno said he couldn’t hear out of one ear because of what Regal did last week. He admitted that he’s obsessed with Regal; that he has watched every match, heard every soundbyte, watched every tournament, and seen Regal put his lips on Mr. McMahon’s backside. He said that Regal is in his head 24/7, but after tonight, “no one is going to see him again, and no one is going to hear him, again.” Ohno closed.
 
Scott Stamford hyped that in two weeks, the NXT, US, IC, and Diva’s Championships would be defended on the show.  AJ vs. Kaitlyn, Adrian Neville vs. Antonio Cesaro, Brad Maddox vs. Big E, and Bo Dallas vs. Wade Barrett… [C]
 
Zim’s Zag: Kassius Ohno was absolutely awesome here. He put over the effects of Regal attacking him, put Regal over as a legitimate tough-guy, made himself sound like a threat, and came across completely motivated while completely unstable. This is my favorite program on all of WWE programming right now. P.S. Decent match from the Divas, and Emma could be a fun guilty pleasure once she reins in her character a bit more.
 
A video package recapped the happenings of WrestleMania week and weekend in New York… Another video package recapped the Be A Star Campaign, with Daniel Bryan and Brodus Clay. I actually think those may be two of the best WWE characters to visit schools for that program… Another video package recapped the WrestleMania Reading challenge, WrestleMania Axxess, and the Make A Wish foundation…
 
Backstage, Renee Young approached William Regal, who was deep in thought. She said that initially Regal was remorseful, but now they’ve reached his point. Regal calmly said it’s never been a nice place to be, in his head. But he’s been quite happy in his role as an announcer. He flipped a switch and his eyes lit up. He said that the doors in his mind have been opened. “So to my opponent tonight, Kassius Ohno, for what you are about to receive, may my children forgive me.” He flashed an intense stare and walked away…[C]
 
Zim’s Zag: Three video packages and one promo in that segment? That said, the promo was good enough to look past it. Regal was perfect; calmly collected, yet threateningly focused.
 
Scott Stamford hyped Seth Rollins vs. Corey Graves in a Lumberjack Match next week… Kassius Ohno made an intense entrance, followed by William Regal. He was met with “Regal” chants and appeared to be in good enough shape where he looked comfortable…[C]
 
A vignette aired for Corey Graves. He said that he’s spent more than 100 hours having ink drilled into his flesh. He said that they’re not just tattoos, they’re a suit of armor. “They call me Graves. I’m not here to make a mark, I’m here to leave a scar.” Awesome line.
 
3. Kassius Ohno vs. William Regal. Both men locked up to no avail. Regal took the arm and worked Ohno to the mat before eventually separating. Regal got the arm back right away, and continued the technical mat-work. “This is what experts like me call ‘chain wrestling.” Maddox said. Battling chants broke out, until Regal had Ohno seated in the corner and hit repeated dirty kicks while distracting the ref. He wore Ohno down with stiff uppercuts and forearms. Ohno got Regal to the outside and took advantage with a diving dropkick between the ropes to take the show into the final break…[C]
 
Back from break, Ohno nailed Regal with three STIFF boots to the face in the corner before settling into a full nelson. Wow, throwback. Regal used an old World of Sport technique to escape and then dropped Ohno with a forearm. Regal wrapped Ohno’s arm around the ropes and began to manipulate the fingers, as Ohno screamed in pain. Regal continued to work the left arm and wreaked havoc on the digits of Ohno.
 
A short time later, Ohno caught Regal with a jumping knee to the head, and then retreated into the corner where he looked like he was popping his fingers back into place. He worked over Regal in the corner and kicked his head into the ringpost. Ohno went for his Clutch, but couldn’t lock it in because of his left hand. Regal flailed on the mat and appeared to be completely out of it, but Ohno still couldn’t lock in the Clutch. Regal fought back with an exploder suplex and tried to synch in the Regal Stretch, but Ohno caught him with an elbow and a backdrop driver for two.
 
Regal went classic and raised his fists, “Come on!” he yelled, still struggling to keep balance. Ohno ran in and hit a big boot to the face for a convincing near-fall. Ohno set up for the Ohno Blade, but Regal struck with a quick, stiff elbow and then landed the Knee Trembler for the clean win.
 
William Regal beat Kassius Ohno in 13:00.
 
The commentators put the match over the match as one of the most amazing matches we’ve seen on NXT. Both competitors sold the effects of the match brilliantly, and the commentators told viewers to tune in next week before signing off…
 
Zim’s Zag: Very good, believable match. It was an old-school, hard hitting, technical match that was built up brilliantly and superbly executed. Regal looked as vicious as ever, and Ohno was legitimized by having Regal so out of it, close to defeat, and clearly shaken afterwards. I could’ve watched this match go on much longer, here’s hoping this was only round one of this program.
 
Overall, this was a show especially worth watching for Regal and Ohno. Those two have the best pure wrestling feud in the company right now and its just so enjoyable to watch. The Shield were good, but they need to find their role in NXT. Big E plays the babyface on NXT while he plays the heel on WWE, but I’m still not high on that and its straight up unacceptable for The Shield. They are the biggest heel threat in WWE and should be consistently portrayed as such. Graves needs to settle into a role too, because he could be great if he were consistent and determinably good or bad. More good than bad on this week’s show, with a major thumbs up to the second half.
 
Throw any comments, questions, criticisms, or corrections @InVasionZim; always happy to discuss.