By Zack Zimmerman
 
June 19, 2013 WWE NXT on Hulu Plus
Taped May 23 at Full Sail University
 
A video package recapped Bo Dallas beating Big E Langston to win the NXT Championship last week… The opening video played… The camera panned the crowd before Adrian Neville made his entrance. Kassius Ohno and Corey Graves were not with him, despite vowing to have Neville’s back this week. Tom Phillips and Brad Maddox checked in on commentary as Bray Wyatt’s music hit and The Wyatt Family made their entrance.
 
1. Adrian Neville vs. Bray Wyatt (w/ Luke Harper and Erik Rowan). Neville hit a few leg kicks early but Wyatt quickly overpowered him. Neville tried to fire back a couple of times, but Wyatt methodically stayed in control. At about the two minute mark, Neville hit a high kick from the apron and went up to the top rope, but Luke Harper interfered and shoved him down across the ropes.
 
Adrian Neville beat Bray Wyatt by DQ in about 2:00
 
After the bell rang, The Family entered the ring and put the boots to Neville. Kassius Ohno and Corey Graves ran down to make the save and whipped Harper into the ring steps and Rowan into the ring post. They entered the ring, but Wyatt slithered away and gathered Harper and Rowan. Just then, Dusty Rhodes’ music hit and he came onto the stage. He announced that it would be "you three guys" against The Wyatt Family in a six-man tag main event…
 
Scott Stamford hyped the next match in the NXT Women’s Championship Tournament, Sasha Banks vs. Summer Rae. He also hyped the just-announced six-man tag match for later in the show…[C]
 
Zim’s Zag: A bit strange in that last week, Neville asked Ohno and Graves to have his back, but it took The Family attacking for the babyfaces to come down. That said it’s a nice and simple set up for a stacked main event.
 
Back from break, Angelo Dawkins was introduced and was already in the ring. Sami Zayn made his entrance to a nice crowd response.
 
2. Sami Zayn vs. Angelo Dawkins. Both guys jockeyed for position early-on. Dawkins got the first takedown, but Zayn came right back with as series of armdrags. Dawkins got a back-elbow up in the corner and bodyslammed Zayn before settling into a long chinlock. Zayn eventually worked his way back up, but Dawkins whipped him in the corner. Zayn went up-and-over Dawkins and caught him with a jumping heel kick. Zayn ducked a clothesline, caught Dawkins’ arm, hit a chop, and ran up the turnbuckle into a big Tornado DDT for the win.
 
Sami Zayn beat Angelo Dawkins in about 3:00
 
Sami Zayn celebrated his victory and Maddox said that he was going to DM Vickie Guerrero about how impressive he was… The Leo Kruger vignette aired…[C]
 
Zim’s Zag: Slightly disappointing, but not too bad. Sami got some of his stuff in but spent the majority of the match selling to the very green Dawkins. Sami is good at selling, but a little more offense on his comeback would’ve been good to see. I like the Kruger vignette, but it’s been the same one for weeks - if not months. I want more!
 
Sasha Banks made her entrance, followed by "The First Lady of NXT" Summer Rae.
 
3. Sasha Banks vs. Summer Rae in an NXT Women’s Championship Tournament first round match. Summer got the upper hand and was in control as the crowd tried to rally behind Sasha. Summer kept momentum and hit a forward leg sweep for a near-fall. Summer choked Sasha in the corner and stretched her arms in the middle of the ring, eventually working it into a unique pin combination for another two-count.
 
They broke into a catfight and Sasha came back firing away with slaps to the chest. Sasha took Summer’s arm and ran up the turnbuckle, much like Sami Zayn, except she went into a rolling arm-drag that scored her a one-count. Summer got up and hit a kick to the gut before hitting a leg drop reverse DDT and scoring the pinfall.
 
Summer Raw beat Sasha Banks in about 3:30 to advance in the NXT Women’s Championship Tournament.
 
The bracket displayed and showed that the semi-finals would be Paige vs. Alicia Fox and Summer Rae facing the winner of Emma vs. Aksana next week…
 
Xavier Woods was standing by backstage and said you may remember him from such NXT episodes as episode 141, episode 145, and episodes 155 and 157 when he beat El Local both times. He said that he was making his return to NXT and the roof is not his son, but he would raise it. His Power Rangers communicator went off and he had to go. "It’s morphin’ time." He closed… Scott Stamford hyped the main event six-man tag team match…[C]
 
Zim’s Zag: The ladies match opened slow but got pretty good about halfway through. There is a whole generation of solid working Divas in the works right now, credit to Sara Del Rey. I sort of lambasted Xavier Woods’ first promo before he beat El Local a few months ago, but this a bit better. I like his charisma with the more subtle inclusion of the "90s kid" gimmick as opposed to hitting viewers over the head with it. Looking forward to seeing what’s coming from him.
 
Back from break, Jake Carter was introduced and was already in the ring. Xavier Woods’ music hit and he boogied his way to the ring. Maddox called him a nerd, saying all he does is play video games, and Phillips put over that he was about to earn his PhD. When he got into the ring, the lights dimmed and a spotlight hit him as he whipped his afro back and sent water flying (almost Triple H-esque).
 
4. Xavier Woods vs. Jake Carter. Woods was in control earl. He hit a big hurricanrana before landing an armdrag and settling into an armbar. Jake Carter eventually got the upper hand and wore out Woods with shots in the corner and got a one-count off a running neck snap. Carter climbed the turnbuckle, but Woods caught him with a shot to the mid-section. Woods fired up and hit his punching combination. He followed up with a dropkick and then a front-handspring lariat. Woods lifted Carter and hit Lost In the Woods (Eat Defeat) for the win.
 
Xavier Woods beat Jake Carter in about 3:00
 
Post match, Woods danced and did the worm before lying down and posing for pictures…
 
Backstage, Renee Young welcomed Sami Zayn. Renee called Zayn’s win over Angelo Dawkins impressive. Zayn said he likes impressing people, but tonight wasn’t about impressing, it was about sending Antonio Cesaro a message. He admitted that Cesaro beat him last week and said he can’t take exception to that, but he can take exception to Cesaro slapping him around after the match. He put Cesaro over, but clarified that each man had scored one win over the other. "Round three Antonio, your move…"
 
Elswhere backstage, Sylvester Lefort was telling Scott Dawson and Garrett Dylan that they should be number one contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championships. Dusty Rhodes entered the room and had some fun with Sylvester’s name. Dusty said he knows about money, championships, and tag team championships, as Garrett Dylan took a swig of J.R.’s BBQ Sauce. Dusty put Dawson and Dylan in a match against Kassius Ohno and Corey Graves next week to determine the number one contenders. The rednecks and Sylvester gave phony laughs and exchanged "oui oui"s…
 
Scott Stamford hyped the main event six-man tag team match coming up next… Bo Dallas was in his car with a handheld camera. He yelled excitedly about being the new NXT Champion and said he was just leaving the gym, but wanted to thank all of his fans for the support. He said its been amazing, but he can’t make it to NXT this week because he’s so busy doing WWE live events and radio interviews. He said he wasn’t a liar when he said he was going to Disney, and a picture popped up of him with the NXT Championship in Mickey Mouse ears in front of the Magic Kingdom. He promised his "Bo-lievers" that he would be at NXT next week, and said he never breaks promises."Just remember, ‘don’t stop Bo-leavin’’" he sang, before giving a huge sappy smile to close…[C]
 
Zim’s Zag: What the hell was that? I mean, I get that Bo’s not going to show up next week and that’ll be part of his turn, but that was awkward and hard to watch. Ew. Anyways, Woods’ match got as much time as Sami Zayn’s match earlier, but he had more time on offense. He was pretty good and had a fun charisma. Awesome promo backstage from Zayn, but the "message" for Cesaro would’ve felt more believable if Zayn had more time on offense in his match with Dawkins. He continues to be very likable with a calm intensity that should makes you want to root for him as a viewer.
 
The RVD return vignette aired… Scott Stamford announced that next week, Big E Langston would make his first appearance since losing the NXT Championship and questioned what he would have in store…
 
Adrian Neville made his entrance first, followed by Corey Graves, and then Kassius Ohno. Out next was The Wyatt Family, with Harper and Rowan carrying their tag team gold.
 
5. Adrian Neville, Corey Graves, and Kassius Ohno vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and NXT Tag Team Champions Luke Harper and Erik Rowan) in a six-man tag team match. Corey Graves started out against Luke Harper and used his quickness to take control briefly before tagging in Kassius Ohno. Harper dropped Ohno with a punch and got back to his corner to tag in Erik Rowan.
 
Rowan had the upper hand until Ohno used a cool flip over the ropes and then nailed Rowan with a big boot from the apron. Back in the ring, Ohno hit a sliding dropkick for a one-count before making the tag to Adrian Neville. Bray Wyatt tagged in and went right after Neville. Cool spot when Wyatt went to catapult Neville into the turnbuckle, but Neville grabbed the ropes and used the momentum to come down on Wyatt with a double stomp.
 
Neville wore Wyatt down with kicks to the chest, but Wyatt came right back and dropped Neville with a right hand before tagging in Luke Harper. Neville showed off his quickness hitting a running hurricanrana and made the tag to Graves. Graves got a knee up in the corner and locked Harper in an illegal hanging triangle choke. Graves was briefly distracted trying to take a shot at Wyatt and got caught with a Harper big boot for a near-fall. Bray Wyatt tagged in and stomped away at Graves as the show went into its final break…[C]
 
Back from break, Graves was down as Wyatt was casually laid back against the ropes. A replay showed that Wyatt had flattened Graves with his running crossbody during the break, and when the replay ended, Erik Rowan was in the ring working over Graves. Harper eventually tagged in and he pulled off Graves’ suspenders and locked in a cravat. Graves tried to fight back, but Harper used a back elbow and tagged in Wyatt. He stayed on offense with repeated headbutts and a seated senton. Graves eventually evaded another seated senton attempt and tagged in Ohno as Wyatt tagged Rowan.
 
Ohno came in a house on fire, but was sent over the top to the outside, where Harper, now the legal man, drove Ohno into the ring apron. Back in the ring, The Wyatt Family made frequent tags isolating Ohno. Rowan used a great pumphandle backbreaker for a near-fall. Ohno was able to make the tag to Adrian Neville, who came in hot on Wyatt.
 
Neville hit a springboard dropkick and then went after Rowan on the apron. Neville hit a jumping kick on Wyatt and followed up with a standing SSP for a near-fall. Ohno knocked Rowan out of the ring and Neville hit a Space Flying Tiger onto The Wyatt Family and Ohno at ringside. Rowan took the move hard. Back in the ring, Neville went for the Red Arrow on Wyatt, but Harper pulled him out of the ring and Neville crashed. Wyatt scrambled into the cover and scored the pinfall.
 
The Wyatt Family beat Adrian Neville, Corey Graves, and Kassius Ohno in about 11:15.
 
Zim’s Zag: Very good six-man tag. It was a bit slow at points but the action got really fun down the stretch. The Wyatt Family looked good working as a trio and the babyfaces had time to shine. Neville showed a charisma that he hasn’t really shown yet and it stood out towards the end. All of that said, I think these six are capable of doing better than this, but the match was very entertaining nonetheless.
 
Not every show can be a great show, but this show was a solid enough hour of wrestling. The undercard matches were all pretty decent with minor complaints but nothing major. On the flip side, Sami Zayn’s promo may be more worth watching than his match, as he continues to really endear with his personality. The main event was built up nicely over the past few weeks and it’s a glimpse at the top-tier talent in NXT right now and is worth seeking out.
 
Throw comments, questions, criticisms, or corrections @InVasionZim; always happy to discuss.

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