By Darren Gutteridge
 
NXT on Sky Sports 3
Taped Earlier in Winter Park, Florida
 
[Q1] JR signed in on commentary, once again teaming with Byron Saxton. He said tonight, we are kicking off with Divas action, as Sofia Cortez, from Puerto Rico, made her entrance, shimming all the way. Her opponent is Paige, from over here in England, but I couldn't quite catch the city as the ring announcer wasn't very clear...
 
Gutt Check: I forgot to mention last week how weak the ring announcer was. She sounds a little uninterested.
 
1. Sofia Cortez vs. Paige. Paige showed a very aggressive style early on, shoving Sofia around and headbutting her at one point. Sofia fired back by stomping Paige in the corner. Sofia hit an enziguri, which Paige sold by cradling her nose before Sofia applied a cross arm hold.
 
Paige broke out and hit back with some weak looking chops. Sofia countered an Irish whip and hit some kicks, which Paige essentially no sold. This lead Sofia to hit her finisher, where she runs into a wheelbarrow position before turning it into a DDT. Paige sold it quite goofily by looking dumbstruck before falling over...
 
Sofia Cortez defeated Paige at 2:21.
 
JR said that tonight would see the debut of Kassius Ohno, and Saxton questioned what would happen in the following match between the 'unforgiving bruiser' Camacho and the 'innovative high-flyer' Seth Rollins...
 
Gutt Check: Can't say I saw much from these girls that lead me to believe that the Divas division's future is looking rosy. Paige especially disappointed, despite catching the eye with a rarely seen 'brawler' moveset, because her selling was comically bad.
 
After a Daniel Bryan 'Don't try this at home', we got shown a shot of the outside of Full Sail University, with the WWE logo projected on the side of the building. JR promised a big week here on WWE as they cut back inside to Hunico and Camacho making their entrance, to no heat. Seth Rollins came out, again headbanging away. I saw a drunk guy headbanging like that in the rock bar I went to last week. I didn't see that and think 'That would be a MONEY gimmick in wrestling'...
 
2. Seth Rollins vs. Camacho. Rollins started off with a lot of strikes, but Camacho gained the upper hand with a running clothesline. He looked to attack Rollins in the corner, but Seth reversed it into a roll up pin. Rollins went back to the striking game, until Camacho booted him in the face.
 
JR made a CM Punk comparison to Rollins as Camacho took over, eventually hitting a back suplex for a 2. Seth flailed wildly, but Camacho easily dodged and worked him over on the ground. In a nice spot, Camacho tried to haul Rollins up, but Rollins grabbed the ropes and flipped onto his feet, landing a roundhouse to Camacho's head.
 
Rollins fired up with quick offence, including a nice faceplant onto the second turnbuckle. Hunico tried to interfere, but Rollins sent Camacho into him, knocking him from the apron, setting up Rollins for the Blackout and the 1-2-3...
 
Seth Rollins defeated Camacho in 4:30.
 
After the match, Hunico attacked Seth from behind, only for Bo Dallas to run down and make the save. As Hunico and Camacho retreated, Saxton said they 'did what they had to do and got out of dodge'. I guess he's the heel commentator then. Joy. [C]
 
Gutt Check: A good showing from both guys here. Rollins didn't have it all his own way like last week, and was shown to work for his win. He showed off some nice spots along the way, but relied heavily on a strike game. The real surprise was Camacho, who looked sharp and quick, and sold the Blackout a lot better than Jiro last week, mainly as Rollins stomped him in the head as opposed to the back.
 
[Q2] As we came back, Corey Graves and Jake Carter were making their entrance for a tag team match. They are facing CJ Parker and Nick Rodgers, who were already in the ring. Jake Carter is Vader's son. But he's thin?!
 
3. Corey Graves and Jake Carter vs. CJ Parker and Nick Rodgers. Graves looks like a short haired Jeff Hardy (minus the face paint). He and Parker started, and Parker got the quicker start with a monkey flip. Graves managed to take the fight to the corner, tagging in Carter. They doubled teamed CJ, utilising quick tags.
 
The dominance continued when Rodgers tagged in. Carter quickly took him down with a spinebuster and took Parker out. The match finished after Carter and Graves hit a double team move, wherein Carter bodyslammed Rodgers while Graves skidded in underneath with a neckbreaker...
 
Corey Graves and Jake Carter defeated CJ Parker and Nick Rodgers in 2:22
 
Gutt Check: Saxton put Graves and Carter over as 'Ladies men', and they came off as heels. Can't say I saw much in the way of tag team chemistry, as they look like two guys thrown together ala Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. Graves had a lot of tattoos and shared some mannerisms with Hardy, whereas Carter was more of a generic smug, good looking heel. The match didn't really offer enough time to access either one.
 
JR asked Saxton if he liked 'knockout artists', saying Kassius Ohno is one. JR said he will be debuting next, and threw it over to an intro video for Ohno. It wasn't like the usual style of NXT intro videos, but instead featured a black and white video of Kassius standing in a ring talking about 'pain', and claiming he will 'hurt people', intercut with footage of him wrestling...
 
Back in the arena, Kassius made his way to the ring, as Mike Dalton waited for him...
 
4. Kassius Ohno vs. Mike Dalton. The two engaged in some chain wrestling to begin with, which Dalton got the better off after a ropes assisted slip and an arm wrench. JR said that Dalton was trained by Lance Storm. Kassius came back by sending Dalton into the ropes and dropkicking him.
 
Kassius shouted 'Oh No!' and landed a running clothesline to a cornered Dalton, followed by a spinning forearm. Ohno wore down Dalton with an arm lock, only for Dalton to escape and land a wheel kick for 2. Both men got to their feet, and Ohno whipped Dalton into the ropes, hitting him on the rebound with a spinning elbow JR dubbed the 'KO' for the sudden pinfall...
 
Kassius Ohno defeated Mike Dalton in 2:33.
 
After the match, Ohno got on the mic and said he would speak slowly so everyone could hear. He said he knocks people out 'and when people hear Kassius coming, they say 'Oh no!''... [C]
 
Gutt Check: The pre-match vignette set up Kassius as a serious character, almost sadistic in nature, but the big cartoon 'Ohno!' on his arm wrap, and the end line of the post-match promo made him seem a little silly. He delivered it with conviction right up until the 'Oh no!', which made him sound stupid. Blame creative for the crappy name, but Kassius could at least choose a consistent tone. The match was nothing out of the ordinary, but both guys looked solid...
 
[Q3] A Bray Wyatt video aired, again showing images of Louisiana intercut with Wyatt talking to a small group of followers, telling them that he can't be hurt, and that 'they' will run when they realise they can't hurt him. The video ended by saying that Wyatt will debut next week.
 
Gutt Check: Doesn't seem like that potential injury derailed any plans for Wyatt. Another cool and stylish video. The company seems invested in the character, but the dark tone the videos are setting, combined with the presumed 'cult leader' aspects, makes me wonder who intense and edgy the character will be when moved to PG TV.
 
Derrick Bateman was mid entrance when we rejoined the programme. He was followed by Jinder Mahal...
 
5. Derrick Bateman vs. Jinder Mahal. Jinder seemed to have taken control first, but Bateman landed a nice northern lights suplex for the first pinfall. He clotheslined Mahal out of the ring after a crossbody, and dived through the ropes at him. Bateman favoured the left knee after the dive, giving Mahal an opening to regain control, bouncing Bateman's head off the top rope once Bateman had got back in the ring.
 
Back inside the ring, Mahal worked Bateman on the ground. Bateman reversed a few moves into pinfalls, all getting close 2 counts, before hitting a series of clotheslines and a spinning neckbreaker for another 2. He went for the DBD, but Mahal wriggled out and grabbed the bottom rope to cause the break. Bateman tried for it again, but Mahal escaped and landed a running knee to Bateman's back, setting him up for the Camel Clutch. Bateman tapped...
 
Jinder Mahal defeated Derrick Bateman in 4:06.
 
Gutt Check: Just your run of the mill filler match. I guess Jinder is going to be pushed here on NXT, maybe to feed to someone later. You would have thought Bateman would have been protected on this show too, considering he hasn't really been given a chance on one of the two big shows yet, but after last weeks victory in the main event he is back to losing ways. Odd.
 
After the match, Mahal reapplied the Camel Clutch as the ref tried to get him off. Saxton announced that after the events of earlier, GM Dusty Rhodes has booked Seth Rollins, Bo Dallas and Tyson Kidd vs Hunico, Camacho and Michael McGuillicutty. The wrestlers came out as Saxton got replaced by William Regal and Chris Russo...
 
6. Seth Rollins, Bo Dallas and Tyson Kidd vs. Hunico, Camacho and Michael McGuillicutty. Hunico and Tyson got things rolling. They showed off some cool moves, including hurricanramas and a Gory special until Tyson tagged in Dallas, who quickly tagged in Rollins. Rollins once again went to the striking well, before being blindsided by Hunico who tagged in Camacho. We went to the break as Camacho powerslammed Rollins. [C]
 
[Q4] After Alberto Del Rio talked about DX's invasion of WCW for the Raw 1000 memories segment, we rejoined the match with Camacho holding Rollins in a headlock. Hunico tagged in, but Rollins managed to tag in Bo Dallas as Camacho came back in. Bo hit the ring quick, and tried to take out all three heels, but Camacho threw him into the turnbuckle and tagged in McGuillicutty.
 
McGuillicutty kept things grounded, wearing Dallas down until tagging in Hunico. Hunico hit a nice double arm backbreaker for a close 2 count. The heels isolated Dallas in their corner, until McGuillicutty tried to take out all the faces, taking his eye off of Dallas and allowing him to tag in Tyson.
 
Tyson cleared house and took McGuillicutty down with a dropkick to the head. After Hunico broke up the pin, Dallas took him and Camacho to the outside. Rollins dived of the top rope into the three men. Tyson looked on, and seemed to be thinking about diving himself, only to be cut off mid run by McGuillicutty, who delivered his twisting neckbreaker for the pinfall as Dallas and Rollins were held back by Hunico and Camacho...
 
Hunico, Camacho and Michael McGuillicutty defeated Seth Rollins, Bo Dallas and Tyson Kidd in 8:07.
 
The heels celebrated on the outside as JR signed off for the night...
 
Gutt Check: A perfectly fine tag match to end the night. Seth was made to look like the punching bag of his team, taking a lot of damage without really dishing much out (this was similar to his early match). Dallas showed a lot of fire in his brief hot tag, as did Tyson. The commentators played on the fact that Rollins took out Dallas as well as the heels when he dived on them, so they may take that further next week.
 
Overall, this was another NXT that felt more like a step towards building a roster then it did an actual fully formed wrestling show. We got a quite a few new faces, and the first spark of a feud between Hunico/Camacho and Rollins/Dallas. These are baby steps, but after the initial feeling out process it will be very interesting to see what they do with what is clearly a talented pool of wrestlers.
 
Thanks for reading. If you had any comments or thoughts on tonight’s show or this article, then add me on Twitter at @Dazatheg

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: