NXT Recap: 31st July 2014By Callum Wiggins| August 1, 2014 WWE NXT The future continues to look bright for fans of NXT, as following the eagerly anticipating signing of KENTA to their ranks, the roster expanded once again with the acquisition of the exciting Fergal Devitt. These two signings that excel in the ring and have rabid followings in Japan, and should make for mouth-watering bouts with the likes of Sami Zayn, Tyson Kidd and Adrian Neville. Florida is fast becoming the place to witness the most exciting wrestling anywhere, and with the imminent arrival of Kevin Steen, the future of WWE is looking brighter day-by-day. With regards to this evening’s matches, hopefully the action would be a step up from the previous week. Disappointing bouts and brief squash matches made for a lacklustre edition, but with the talent that this roster possesses there can always be a hope for better. The line-up for this evening would see appearances by the No.1 contender for the NXT Championship Tyler Breeze, NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte and the Tag Team Champions The Ascension. Additionally, the main event would see Tyson Kidd take on Adam Rose. Quick Results Tyler Breeze defeats Angelo Dawkins Charlotte defeats Becky Lynch The Ascension defeat Steve Cutler and Matt Miles Mojo Rawley and Bull Dempsey defeat The Mechanics Adam Rose defeats Tyson Kidd Tyler Breeze vs. Angelo Dawkins Tyler Breeze made his return to in-ring action last week, dispatching of Mojo Rawley with consummate ease, the short match likely due to a still bandaged finger injury. However, his biggest impact of the previous week was his interference in the main event between Rusev and the NXT Champion Adrian Neville, the latter Breeze will soon battle with for the championship. Tonight though, he is opening the show against Angelo Dawkins, currently not in the greatest run of results. Nevertheless, a victory over the No.1 contender would certainly be a shot in the arm for his future prospects. The match commences after Breeze’s habitual pre-match preening, with Dawkins initially getting the upper-hand with a gutwrench takedown. Dawkins mocking of Breeze earns him an aggressive response from The King of Cuteville, kicking his opponent repeatedly in the corner before tossing him to the outside. This onslaught continues at ringside, a blow to the back of Dawkins followed by being rammed into the surrounding steel fencing, before being rolled back into the ring. More blows to the head are swiftly followed by the Beauty Shot, and another straightforward victory for Breeze on his road to his bout with Neville. Dawkins got one offensive move on his opponent, a disappointing evening for him. Hopefully this isn’t the foreshadowing of another night of uninspiring squash matches and lustreless performances. Following the match, Breeze takes a microphone, and proceeds to direct the audience to the titantron, where a replay of the match between Neville and Rusev from last week was shown, including Breeze’s interference and Neville being contorted in the Accolade. After having a laugh at the champion’s expense, Breeze then makes his astonishing announcement that he had submitted his music video, “#MMMGorgeous”, to the Oscar Committee in the documentary section. The crowd chants “Thank You Tyler”, but this outstanding event is interrupted by Adrian Neville, who demands to know when he will get the opportunity to beat Breeze with the title on the line. Breeze responds by calling Neville a hobbit, but Neville trumps that slight by suggesting Breeze’s mom is also a fan of sending out selfies. Breeze takes a swing which is avoided by Neville, who lands a few kicks to his rival before Prince Pretty escapes to ringside, leaving the champion standing tall on this exchange. This upcoming championship clash continues to steadily become personal. Rating – 2/5 (Match and Post-Match) Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch The NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte makes her way to the ring, still wearing the belt following her victory over Summer Rae last week. Though the match failed to impress, another victory helps to assure the company’s faith in the daughter of Ric Flair. Tonight she is in non-title action against the Irish Becky Lynch, who has had her stereotypical Riverdance music replaced with some high-tempo metal. Lynch won her debut match against the aforementioned Summer Rae, and a victory over the champion would certainly put her in contention for a shot at the belt. The match begins with some chain wrestling, Lynch showing impressive flexibility to escape a pinfall with a limbo move, with Charlotte rushing through a few spots. The Champion regains control with a kick to the gut, and whips Lynch into the corner, but the redhead avoids the onrushing Charlotte and springs of the bottom rope to land a kick on her opponent. The strength of Charlotte keeps the pressure on, and she turns her attention to the left leg of Lynch. A few knees slamming down onto her opponent’s leg is followed by a leg lace by Charlotte, applying pressure in the submission hold. Lynch kicks her way out of the predicament, but any chance of a recovery is halted by another chop to the leg. Charlotte places Lynch’s left leg on the bottom rope and jumps down upon it, but when she tries this a second time, it is countered into a roll-up for a near-fall. Lynch regains momentum, with clotheslines, a heel kick and a leg drop followed by another pin attempt. Charlotte kicks out, maintaining grip of Lynch’s damaged leg, and another elbow down onto it brings her to her knees, in prime position to suffer Bow Down to the Queen. The Champion gets another victory, with a better showing than last week despite being a shorter match. Lynch looked impressive, and Charlotte controlled the pace, but still appeared a little sloppy and inexperienced. Later in the night, however, an interview with Bayley was interrupted by Charlotte, and the manner in which she insulted the bubbly rookie shows that she has certainly inherited the charisma of her father. The wrestling skills will be sure to follow. Rating – 2.5/5 The Ascension vs. Steve Cutler and Matt Miles Last week was a demonstration of what has become a regular sight in NXT, as the organisation’s tag team champions The Ascension crushed a pair of local competitors. Tonight looks to be of little difference, as the intimidating combination, approaching one year with the belts, were faced with another pair of victims, Steve Cutler and Matt Miles. I won’t waste time building the suspense over what a victory could do for Cutler and Miles, because such an action would be left to the world of fantasy. Cutler begins with a headlock, but is quickly taken down by an elbow by Viktor. A tag to Konnor leads to a couple of shoulder tackles, before Viktor is brought back for a double shoulder barge. Cutler is worked on in the corner with chops and kicks, and he is only brought up to be whipped into Konnor flying from the middle rope with a clothesline. Cutler tries to crawl to tag in Miles, but the methodical beating by The Ascension shifts up a gear, as Viktor knocks Miles off the apron, and then the champions connect with the Fall of Man for a comprehensive victory. Once again there is another squash match, but you cannot deny how over The Ascension has gotten off these results. After the match, they recognise that there is to be a tournament to determine the next contenders for their belts, but they warn whoever they may be that they will without question be annihilated. Realistically, when these two are moved to main roster, the only way they can realistically lose the belts is from a team composed of NXT main event talent, or if they lose it in a multi-team match without being pinned. Despite a number of talented teams being developed at Full Sail University, none at this point look a competitive match for the dominant champions. Rating – 1.5/5 Mojo Rawley and Bull Dempsey vs. The Mechanics Prior to the first round of the NXT Tag Team Championship No.1 Contenders’ tournament, which will officially commence next week, this match was to determine which of these two teams would qualify for the tournament itself. One team consists of a pair of seeming opposites; the energetic, hyperactive Mojo Rawley, would link up with the brooding, aggressive brawler Bull Dempsey, who has made quite the impression early in his NXT tenure. They would compete against the Mechanics, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson for a chance to compete in the tournament. Dempsey starts the aggressor against Dawson, putting his size and power to good use. Forcing Dawson into the corner, Rawley makes a blind tag, clearly unbeknownst to Dempsey. Rawley asserts control with shoulder barges into Dawson, but he breaks away and is able to make the tag to Wilder, making his TV debut. The Mechanics make frequent tags to keep Rawley down and apply pressure to his left arm. However, Rawley is soon able to assert some of his unrelenting energy on Wilder, forcing him into the corner with authority, before hitting two splashes into his opponent resting against the turnbuckle. During this offence, Dempsey had tagged himself back into the match, and he connects with the Bulldozer slam to get the victory for the odd couple team. A decent short match, but expect this pairing of Rawley and Dempsey to only last long enough to kickstart a feud between the pair. Rating – 2.5/5 Adam Rose vs. Tyson Kidd The main event of the evening would see a return to Full Sail University for Adam Rose, who has undeniably been experiencing a less than memorable run on the main roster, where he has been mainly featured in forgettable short matches opposite Fandango and Damien Sandow. The driver of the Exotic Express brings his party entourage back to Florida once again to take on Tyson Kidd. Kidd, once again accompanied by his lovely wife Natalya, was last seen being defeated by Sami Zayn in singles action without his wife by his side. Inadvertently, Natalya has both cost her husband matches and earned him victories during his NXT renaissance, so it will be interesting to see what involvement she has in this bout. The bell rings with the crowd chanting “Nattie’s Husband”, all to the chagrin of Kidd. They start locking up, Rose taking control of Kidd’s arm, who breaks out of the hold by moving outside the ropes and back inside in a unique manner. Rose responds with a few slaps on Kidd’s posterior, and he then heads to the outside towards Natalya. Rose offers the Total Diva a lollipop, which Nattie happily accepts, which ruffles Kidd’s feathers, as he rips the candy away from his wife. Looks like Rose has another “lemon” on his hands in this match. Kidd unleashes a new aggression onto Rose, but the Party Animal responds in kind, beating Kidd in the corner with punches and heel kicks. A snap suplex is followed up with elbows and a knee drop. Kidd rolls to the outside for some respite, but Rose hoists him onto his shoulders and drops him on the ring apron, followed by a baseball slide. After the break, Kidd has regained control, slamming Rose into the ring post twice with anger. A leg drop brings a two-count, and as Rose crawls to the rope, Kidd springs over the top rope and connects with a guillotine leg drop across the back of his neck. Kidd places Rose in a headlock, and as the South African tries to escape, Kidd hits a jawbreaker, sending his opponent back to ringside. He hangs Rose in a tree of woe, and drops to the outside, pulling on his neck. Kidd then whips Rose off the ropes and connects with a reverse elbow, and when Rose kicks out he goes back to the headlock. Rose breaks this with a back suplex. He fights back with clotheslines and jabs, followed by a running right hand. Rose then runs the Exotic Express into Kidd in the corner, and when he claps in preparation for the Party Foul, Kidd responds with a spin kick to the gut, but when he runs toward Rose he is hit with a spinebuster for a long two-count. Going for his finisher again, Rose is rolled-up by Kidd, who tries to transition into the Sharpshooter. Rose scurries to the ropes, but is guillotined on the middle rope by Kidd. Rose falls to ringside, and is kicked in the head by Kidd on the apron. He tosses Rose back in the ring, but before Kidd returns he again admonishes Natalya for the lollipop incident. When Kidd approaches the prone Rose, the Party Animal used a small package to steal the victory in a solid, hard-hitting match which seemed longer than all his WWE matches combined. Kidd suffers a second consecutive loss, and when Natalya tried to talk to him after the defeat, he didn’t seem in the mood to discuss it. Rating – 4/5
