LAW
WWE NXT Report for Feb. 21
Brian Campbell / February 22, 2013 - 4:42pm
A recap of last week’s NXT Tag Team Title Tournament final opens the show.
[Match #1]: Bray Wyatt vs. Yoshi Tatsu
Wyatt no sells a bunch of chops and leg kicks from Tatsu before dropping him with a stiff ura-nage. Palm thrusts and punches push Tatsu back into the corner and Wyatt sends him into the far corner and follows him in with a clothesline. He pulls him out the corner and hits his modified Novocain finish for the quick win.
Winner [via pinfall]: Bray Wyatt (1:37)
Wyatt grabs a mic after tossing Tatsu to the floor and tells Luke Harper and Erick Rowan to get into the ring. He queues up a video from last week’s tag title loss and then tells Rowan that Harper cost him the match. He tells Rowan to slap him. Wyatt then tells Harper to slap Rowan, which he does, as the two come to blows before Wyatt finally separates them.
Renee Young is in the back talking to Sasha Banks, who is presented with another letter from her secret admirer, which reads ‘the surprise is about to come’ as she is attacked from behind by Audrey Marie, who tells her to get out of NXT.
[Match #2]: El Local vs. Xavier Woods
El Local, aka Ricardo Rodriguez, opens with a side headlock as chants of ‘Power Ranger’ break out through the NXT Arena. The two work a quick pace with Local catching Woods coming into the corner with a double stomp, then a scoop slam and snap legdrop for 2. He hits a snapmare and a running enzuigiri for another 2. Announcer Tom Phillips spends some time ragging on Local saying, ‘does he really look like a guy who is going to come off the top rope?’ Woods fights out of a headlock and sends Local into the corner but, in a cool spot, Local slides and stops himself on the bottom turnbuckle and rolls back into a head kick for 2. The two run through a series of rest spots before Woods eventually gains the advantage with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors, flying forearm and running dropkick for 2. Local puts Woods on the top rope but is fought off as Woods hits a tornado DDT out of the corner for the win.
Winner [via pinfall]: Xavier Woods (4:33)
In the back, Young is talking to Dr. Michael Sampson, who talks about Paige’s shoulder injury.
[Match #3]: Sasha Banks vs. Audrey Marie
Banks attacks at the bell, but eats a knee to the gut and is thrown down by her hair. Banks counters with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors, followed by a pair of flying clotheslines and a dropkick. Banks goes for a victory roll, but is caught as Marie plants her with an inverted sit out powerbomb for the win.
Winner [via pinfall]: Audrey Marie (2:06)
We throw to, who else but, Renee Young with another backstage interview, this time with Summer Rae. Rae says her only regret was ‘breaking a nail’ against Paige last week and that ‘Paige got exactly what she deserved in the ring.’ She then says she wants to be referred to as the First Lady of NXT. Meanwhile, in Ring of Honor, Maria is asking for her gimmick back.
A video regarding Wrestlemania 30 in New Orleans is shown.
Tony Dawson welcomes Tyson Kidd to the ring. The crowd chants ‘Welcome Back’ and ‘Tyson’ as he comes to the ring on crutches. He says he ‘lives to compete’ as he explains he tore his knee up pretty badly attempting a dive at a recent WWE live event. He then says he was flattered when CM Punk called him an ‘underrated workhorse’ on Raw a few weeks back.
Leo Kruger, who has perhaps the greatest Titantron entrance video in the fed, comes out and says he is going to end Kidd’s career because is a ‘wounded animal.’ He gets in the ring and goes to attack Kidd before Justin Gabriel comes out for the save.
[Main Event]: Non Title Match: NXT Champion Big E. Langston vs. ‘The Ascension’ Conor O’Brian
The crowd chants ‘Five’ as Phillips says ‘this match is going to be a car crash.’ Collar and elbow tie-up to begin as Langston hits the tops and is caught with a back elbow and a series of punches. Langston fights back and clotheslines O’Brian to the floor as we head to commercial. Back from break, Langston misses a shoulder tackle in the corner and eats the ringpost as O’Brian goes to work with punches and kicks. O’Brian hits a full nelson slam for 2. Back on his feet, Langston reverses an Irish whip and floors O’Brian with a pair of clotheslines followed up by a series of knees, but gets caught charging into the corner. The two lock horns and trade punches and knock down the ref as he goes to break them up.
Winner: Double disqualification (7:01)
The two continue to brawl as Langston sends O’Brian to the floor, but as he celebrates with the NXT title, he is jumped from behind by Corey Graves, who grabs the title and leaves.
My Thoughts
This was an average show at best that featured some middling in-ring work and useless filler with Renee Young doing her best Gene Okerlund impression by conducting 196 backstage interviews. Langston-O’Brian was good for what it was and I was nervous for this match because I didn’t want to see Langston sell, nor did I think these two would gel. The DQ finish was lackluster but the Graves run-in made up for it and it’s nice to see NXT establish main event stars.
