By Jason Powell

WWE NXT
Taped in Winter Park, Fla. at Full Sail University

The show opened with a video that concluded with the words the future is now... The new NXT opening montage aired... William Regal welcomed viewers to NXT in audio form... Jim Ross was introduced to the live crowd. Ross walked onto the stage with a mic and introduced Dusty Rhodes as the interim general manager of NXT.

Dusty hyped the Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty main event. He said that if you think the few years of NXT has been wild crazy, you haven't seen anything yet... Ross and Regal were the commentators for the show...

Ross introduced a video package on Bo Dallas, who noted that his father is Blackjack Mulligan, his father is Mike Rotunda, and his uncles are Barry and Kendall Windham. He said people may expect more of him as a result and he's okay with that... Regal plugged that the debut of Bo Dallas was coming up after the break... [C]

Powell's POV: Rotunda has the "It" factor in terms of having a unique look that jumps out at the viewer. He was a total babyface in the video and appears to be cast as a high energy babyface.

The Jerry Lawler video to hype the 1,000th episode of Raw aired...

1. Bo Dallas vs. Rick Victor. Regal said Victor was the last man to come through the Stu Hart Dungeon. Regal said Dallas actually split a kidney in the ring. Ross said Dallas started training right out of high school. Late in the match, Dallas hit a powerslam and followed up with a spear for the clean pin...

Bo Dallas defeated Rick Viktor.

After the match, Dallas was approached by Riley James on the stage for an interview. Dallas said he came to NXT with a game plan and he just executed it in the ring. He said it's just the beginning. "You will know Bo," he concluded...

A Seth Rollins video package aired. Ross noted that Rollins will debut next week... An ad for Smackdown touted Antonio Cesaro for next week...

Powell's POV: Dallas is a good prospect. His body type is a bit of a throwback in that he's a pretty boy babyface, yet he's not muscular. It will be interesting to see whether that's something they want him to work or whether WWE will be content with his physique. The thing that really stood out was the commentary. Ross and Regal did a good job of building up both wrestlers and giving their backgrounds in the course of calling the match.

Damien Sandow headed to the ring and did his schtick where he refused to wrestle his "inferior" scheduled opponent Jason Jordan...

A video package aired for The Ascension. They claim to be the gateway to the future and they will rise... [C]

Powell's POV: An excellent video package for the Kenneth Cameron and Connor O'Brian tag team.

An ad aired for WWE Money in the Bank... The Raw Rebound featuring the main event handicap match aired...

2. The Ascension vs. Mike Dalton and C.J. Parker. The Ascension has an elaborate entrance that fits the theme of the gothic-type characters they are playing. They dominated the match and won clean with a tag move called Down Cast in short order...

The Ascension squashed Mike Dalton and C.J. Parker.

Ross hyped the main event for after the break... A Bray Wyatt vignette was shown. It noted that he is "coming soon" to NXT...

Powell's POV: The Ascension came across in the video and entrance like a duo out of the Underworld movies. It was hard to get a feel for whether they carry the gimmick over to their matches, as this was just a brief squash. I liked what I saw from the duo and the entrance was very cool. Meanwhile, Wyatt (a/k/a Husky Harris) is a hell of a talker and he has this gimmick down. My only concern remains that they haven't found the right gear for him in the ring. That said, the gimmick has a ton of potential and those who haven't seen him outside Husky Harris will be blown away.

Derrick Bateman mocked Johnny Curtis in front of a bathroom. Curtis said he was getting sick. He said he was also sick of Bateman always trying to be funny. It was mentioned that they are wrestling next week. Bateman asked Curtis if he was going to wash his hands. Curtis returned and wiped his hands off on Bateman's shirt. Regal ripped Curtis and said he wouldn't have tolerated Curtis wiping his hands on him...

Powell's POV: I'm confused as to who is the babyface and the heel. Regal has been calling it straight, so I assume he was standing up for the babyface, but Bateman came across like an unlikable heel.

3. Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty. Ross noted that McGillicutty is a third generation wrestler. Kidd performed a big suicide dive on McGillicutty before the break. [C]

A Daniel Bryan "Don't Do This At Home" video aired. He was straight forward and the music they played made him look like a super nice guy. Ugh...
Later, Kidd went for a springboard move only to jump into a dropkick from McGillicutty for a good near fall. Kidd came back with a cool moonsault on a standing McGillicutty for another good near fall. McGillicutty came back with a big Saito suplex and followed up with a Sharpshooter. Kidd came back a short time later and won with the Dungeon Lock. Regal said that match made him proud to be a professional wrestler. Ross closed out the show...

Tyson Kidd defeated Michael McGillicutty via submission.

Powell's POV: It was nice to see Kidd treated like a star rather than as jobber fodder like he is most weeks on regular WWE television. They gave the wresters a lot of time and the crowd was eventually receptive once they settled in. This was just a good, competitive match. The same match would have been well received on Raw or anywhere else if the wrestlers had actual characters.

Overall, a strong first outing for the revamped NXT. The Full Sail University studio looks great with a nice screen on the stage and NXT banners all over. I'm not sure why they kept the NXT name rather than going with something new when it has such a negative stigma. Anyways, the important thing is that the new talent featured on the show and those who were given vignettes showed serious potential. I wish WWE would find room for a few of them on the active roster immediately because some of the younger talent could definitely up the cool factor and appeal to the teen demographic.

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