NXT Arrival (February 2014)

Original Airdate: February 27, 2014

From Winter Park, Florida; Your Hosts are Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and William Regal

Opening Match: Sami Zayn v Cesaro: Cesaro looks much better with the fully shaved head like he wears it now. He throws Sami around to start, in rather arrogant fashion, but Zayn manages to win a reversal sequence, and dumps him to the floor for a somersault suicida. Sami with a flying bodypress on the way back in, but Cesaro catches him in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, then tosses him to the outside with disdain a few times, delivering beatings out there each time. Zayn manages to fight him off long enough to try his DDT between the turnbuckles, but Cesaro counters with an uppercut, then wraps Sami's leg around the post for good measure. Inside, Cesaro goes to work on the leg. Sami takes a pounding, but manages to backdrop him over the top to the floor. He follows with a slingshot moonsault press, but Cesaro catches him again - this time with a tilt-a-whirl slam onto the ramp! He leaves Zayn out there to take the count, but Sami beats it in - selling the hell out of the leg all the while! Cesaro responds by charging him, but gets caught with an exploder suplex into the buckles for two. Blue thunder bomb gets two, and a reverse STO sets up a koji clutch, but Cesaro counters by stretching the knee. Sami makes the ropes, so Cesaro tries punishing him with the giant swing, but Zayn counters with a victory cradle for two. That only serves to piss Cesaro off more, however, and Zayn eats the giant swing. European uppercut hits, but Zayn counters the cover with a crucifix cradle for two. He can't follow-up, however, and Cesaro blasts him with a double-stomp TO THE FACE for two! Wild! Powerbomb off the top rope, but Sami counters with a rana, and hits the Helluva Kick for two! Cesaro is still in control, but the Kick knocked him silly, and he's having trouble regaining his bearings. He holds a recovering Sami off with a few uppercuts, but Zayn starts slugging back, and manages a German suplex! Helluva Kick, but Cesaro counters with a big boot. Neutralizer, but Zayn counters with a backdrop into a cradle for two. Sunsetbomb gets two, so Cesaro tries his flapjack uppercut, but it only gets one! Cesaro can't believe it, so he throws a discus uppercut, and finishes this uppity kid off with the Neutralizer at 22:57. Very good stuff for the most part, but it was a bit slow at some points, aimless at others, and all the leg work went absolutely nowhere in the long run. *** ¼

Mojo Rawley v CJ Parker: Criss cross to start, with Rawley controlling via a backdrop, then grounding Parker in an armbar. CJ quickly escapes with a knee in the corner, and adds a hangman's clothesline for two. He keeps hammering, but Mojo catches him with a pair of stinger splashes in the corner, and a butt-bump sets up a sit-down splash at 3:23. Junk. ½*

NXT Tag Team Title Match: The Ascension v Too Cool: Hey, remember when everyone thought the Ascension were the next Road Warriors, ready to take the main roster by storm? Viktor starts off with Grandmaster Sexay, and destroys him. Wow, Sexay really grew into looking like his dad as he got older. Over to Konnor with a legdrop for two, followed by a series of shoulderblocks. That leaves Sexay loopy, and a big boot gets two. Back to Viktor with a vertical suplex for two, and he grounds Sexay in a chinlock. Man, getting right to the heat segment here, aren't we? Sexay manages to escape the chinlock with a stunner for the tag, finally bringing Scotty 2 Hotty into the match for the first time. He comes in hot, and tries the Worm on Viktor (to a subdued reaction), but gets blocked. Fall of Man finishes him at 6:40. Pretty much just a squash, back in the glory days for the team, before they got bumped up to the main roster, and became a pair of jobbers. *

NXT Women's Title Match: Paige v Emma: Shovefest ends in an ECW-style catfight on the mat, with Paige getting the better of it. Paige-turner, but Emma counters with a backslide for two. Emma-lock, but Paige counters with a cradle for two, then dropkicks her for two. Bodyslam gets two, and Paige grounds her with a chinlock. Nicely done too, with Emma passionately fighting for an escape the whole time, not just two people relaxing on the mat. That's the textbook application of the way a resthold should work. Emma gets to a vertical base, so Paige punishes her with elbows in the corner. Emma tries the Lock again, but Paige blocks, then invites her over for some bagels and lox. Emma keeps fighting with a dropkick for two, and a tarantula weakens Paige for the Emma-sandwich for two. I really hate the trend of naming signature move as 'NAME-lock,' 'NAME-bomb,' etc. Emma with a bow-and-arrow (thankfully not named the Em-and-arrow, or something), then shifts it into a surfboard, but Paige won't give. Emma abruptly releases and covers for two, then delivers a hairtoss slam to leave the champion in the corner for a bootchoke for two. Sitout powerbomb gets two, and a dropkick is worth two - Emma getting frustrated. Slugfest goes Paige's way, but the Paige-turner only gets two - the first time anyone has ever kicked out of it. Shocked, Paige regroups - applying what would later become known as the PTO for the submission at 13:02. This one was a pretty big deal at the time, as the main roster women's division was still five minute time filler 'Divas' matches, and this was an actual wrestling match. It's amazing how far they've brought the main roster division since, where we're seeing a three-and-three-quarter-star Charlotte/Sasha Banks match at SummerSlam and labeling it as 'disappointing,' when only a few short years ago cracking two-stars in a women's match would have been astounding. Certainly better than anything Emma ever got a chance to do on the main roster, and while it has been surpassed since, this is still one hell of a match - regardless of gender. *** ½

Tyler Breeze v Xavier Woods: In theory. Instead, Rusev comes out and kills both guys for a no contest at 0:35. Point made. DUD

Main Event: NXT Title Ladder Match: Bo Dallas v Adrian Neville: Ladder Match expert Shawn Michaels makes a cameo to hang the title belt up. Unfortunately, he must have misread his invitation, because he makes a camo. Oh, that damned hat. I like how the announcers actually bother to explain the rules of a Ladder Match, and don't assume everyone automatically knows like the main roster tends to. Neville blitzes him to start, but gets suckered into follows Dallas onto the apron, and pounded down. Bo leaves him hanging on the ropes and goes to retrieve a ladder, but Neville baseball slides it into him, then dives out with a plancha! He slides the ladder in, but Dallas shoves him into the steps before he can use it to his advantage, then goes into the aisle to retrieve a second ladder. He charges Adrian with it, but Neville ducks, so Bo tries a double-underhook suplex on the outside, but ends up getting backdropped onto the ramp. Neville heads in to climb, but you know things aren't in danger of finishing, because they still haven't brought any of the supersized ladders into play yet. That's one of my biggest pet peeves with this match type. Either hang the belt lower, or ONLY have supersized ladders out there. It insults the audiences intelligence when they're making 'dramatic' climb attempts with ladders that are clearly way too short to reach anything. Anyway, Neville climbs, but Dallas throws the second ladder at him to knock him off. Why bother, Bo? Just let him get to the top, and then point and laugh. Dallas climbs, but Neville tips the ladder. Neville climbs, but Dallas tips the ladder. He tries to send Adrian into a ladder with a slingshot, but Neville counters with a tornado DDT. He climbs, but Dallas starts to shake the ladder, so Adrian comes down on his own volition - only for the ladder to tip over and fall on him. Bo tries a bulldog onto the ladder, but Neville blocks by shoving him into the other ladder in the corner. He climbs, but Dallas follows him up, and they slug each other down. Neville manages to put the champion down with a kick, but a trip to the top rope ends in Dallas shoving him down to the floor! Bo slowly climbs, but Neville recovers, and springboards over him to get to the top of the ladder - Dallas able to stop the effort with a powerbomb into a turnbuckle wedged ladder. He charges with another ladder to follow-up, but Neville blocks, and slams him onto a ladder - setting up a Red Arrow! That kills Bo good and dead, and Adrian climbs - snagging the belt at 15:45. Hmm, no supersized ladder after all. Don't I sound like an asshole now? I wasn't really feeling this one. Like, it was fine and certainly watchable, but it felt a little lackluster, and disappointing. ** ½

BUExperience: Though I created a section for it ages ago, I purposely waited to dig in to NXT for a bit so that I could have the benefit of hindsight when going through these shows. It’s interesting to see how some of these stars were able to successfully crossover to the main roster (Zayn, Rusev, Woods), while others totally bombed or were grossly misused (Dallas, Neville, Ascension).

Overall, it’s not a great show, but unlike WWE pay per views (which average three to four hour running times these days), it takes a lot less to carry a two hour show. Like the old In Your House cards in the 90s, a couple of good matches are enough to make it worthwhile, and that’s certainly the case here. Add smart booking and historical significance to the mix, and you’ve got an easy recommendation

***