NXT from Full Sail University DISCUSSION

[DashX]

I saw the first episode and I thought it was a good show. The main event was great and I think the Acension (don't know if I spelled that right) look like a great tag team. I'm looking foward to next week's show.

 

[Irish Mark]

Cant wait for them to bring out Kassius Ohno!

 

[Troy]

Wonder why WWE are putting zero promotional effort behind this season of NXT??? It's the best thing they've come up with since the draft IMO and it's HHH's baby so I'm shocked it isn't being shoved down our throats on RAW & SD

I think that WWE are still trying to sort out a TV deal for the show in the US. At the moment it doesn't air anywhere in the US so until they get that sorted they won't be promoting it much. It is poor on their behalf that they didn't have plans in place before the show debuted because as you said this is a huge revamp and a huge improvement on NXT. They should be promoting it every RAW and Smackdown to get as many people as possible to watch it.

 

[Irish Mark]

I think that WWE are still trying to sort out a TV deal for the show in the US. At the moment it doesn't air anywhere in the US so until they get that sorted they won't be promoting it much. It is poor on their behalf that they didn't have plans in place before the show debuted because as you said this is a huge revamp and a huge improvement on NXT. They should be promoting it every RAW and Smackdown to get as many people as possible to watch it.

Well I only watch WWE online has I haven't owned a TV in 5 years. YouTube is a god-send, especially for my NXT viewing. The Full Sail idea was great, love the new NXT set-up but yeah, what a botch by WWE not having a TV deal in place. I'm sure one of the smaller networks in the US like FX would be happy to have a deal with WWE, same goeas for a British channel like Channel 4 (or one of it's mant, many break-away channels).

 

[Troy]

They seem to want to saw it for the Network but they could easily place it elsewhere on a short term deal until the Network actually starts. It may get them a few more subscribers as well if people really get into the show and want to see it continued on the Network. It is strange that they removed all links regarding NXT on the website, you would think that they would still promote the show even if it doesn't air on the website.

 

[SAIYANS]

Wwe can't just get them a tv deal short of MyTV, CW (broadcast) or WGN America (superstation) ... Any cable channel they are on has to be owned by NBC. That means USA, SyFy, G4, Cloo, Chiller, or Versus (the others beside USA and SyFy are premiere digital cable and satellite channels that come in variety or choice tier packaging like wwe network will be). Universal HD is also out the question as they only shows replays of what happened on the other 6 stations in full hd, 0 original programming.

 

[Aniking]

I also caught the first episode of the new NXT a couple of days ago and thought that it was decent. Just a few matches and video packages was the entire show, but either way it was a good start.

I like the team of JR and Regal. I didn't take much notice of them throughout the matches, so I'm not sure how they did overall. Dusty Rhodes as the INTERIM General Manager is a unique pick, but one that is only a temporary fix. Doubt he'll have any impact.

I'm thinking big things are expected from Bo Dallas seeing how he is very young and is one of the top guys in FCW. Had a quick win, nothing really that special. He sounds so much like his brother (Husky Harris/Bray Wyatt). Rick Victor was his opponent and I can't remember how much offence he got in, so can't comment on him.

Didn't get to see any of Jason Jordan as Damien Sandow refused to compete. I'm loving Sandow.

I thought The Ascension were awesome. I really love the whole gimmick, it's just the in-ring thing I wasn't sure about. I just didn't like the constant tags, even though it shows their unity as a team. They didn't get to showcase what they can do in the ring as it was just a squash match, but I did like how they ended the match with Kenneth Cameron hitting his finisher, followed by Conor O'Brian hitting a sweet Flapjack. Mike Dalton did nothing, whereas CJ Parker got squashed, so saw nothing of them either.

Bit of a strange backstage segment between Johnny Curtis and Derrick Bateman, but I just wanna say I fucking love Curtis' character. There is huge potential for something very unique as the guy just plays the role so well, so hopefully I can see more of it with the new NXT. I rarely watched the old NXT, so I may have missed out on seeing what he can do with the character.

I'm not a guy who relies on matches, so I'm just gonna go with what everybody has said regarding the Tyson Kidd/Michael McGillicutty match. I do know that both are very good in the ring, but I didn't pay close attention to what they did in their match, but it's good to read that everybody enjoyed it. I've been a fan of McGillicutty since watching NXT 2 and I want him to have more mic time, not so much Kidd as he's not very good on the mic.

Very keen to see what Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins can do next week, as well as Antonio Cesaro.

 

[Andrew]

Only watched Bo Dallas' match so far, will watch the rest but I must say Bo Dallas has potential. Even though his match was short, I reckon he will improve and possibly be right up there. Need to see more but so far so good.

 

[SAIYANS]

Wasn't feeling that spear. It may have been the angle he hit it or lack of speed/power but it just didn't look good to me

 

[Kiffy Lube]

Yeah, it was an ordinary spear.

 

[SAIYANS]

Yah I liked what all I saw frm him and the build up, but that spear just lacked umph.

 

[Andrew]

Yeah I felt the same way, I didn't like the spear he did. I'm sure he'll end up using another finisher.

 

[Sam]

I don't know how many times I say this about the spear, but I really think it should be a move for bigger guys, or guys that can make it believable at least like Edge did.

Bo Dallas or whatever he's called these days is just to small to be spearing people, I mean if it is his finisher, how's it going to look if he's using it against a bigger guy?. Ridiculous.

Show was fantastic though I must admit. I've been watching FCW for a couple of years now and I was looking forward to the change, and it delivered. Even if it isn't strictly FCW guys, but fringe guys, the main event was a more than solid match and showed off both Kidd and McGillicuty who I hope are in line for a run on Smackdown at least in the near future.

Next week should be good, Claudio on the show uppercutting people is always a good thing, and more Bray Wyatt who is quite possibly the most interesting thing in the whole WWE atm.

 

[Heisenberg]

I agree with others here, I wasn't a fan of the spear either and I didn't expect him to win with it. Wasn't devastating and it lacked a lot. Very ordinary.

 

[Aniking]

I managed to catch NXT again this week, so here is my report with details on the show. Hopefully I'll be able to do this each week.

I skipped anything that highlighted Raw as I just wanted to focus on anything NXT related. The Raw higlights really matter very little anyway.

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We start the show with Jim Ross and Byron Saxton on commentary.

Match #1 - Seth Rollins def. Jiro. Didn't catch a lot of the match as I'd just gotten home, so I can't really comment on it. Ended pretty abruptly too as I didn't realise Rollins had hit his finisher. Rollins wore an Asking Alexandria singlet to the ring, which is a big up in my books. He looked like a pretty intense guy, keen to see more of him in the future.

After the match Rollins was interviewed by Briley Pierce. Didn't catch what was said, but it was very brief. He may or may not have been interrupted by Jinder Mahal's music, can't remember, but nonetheless Mahal and Rollins shared a bit of a stare down. Mahal's match is next.

Match #2 - Jinder Mahal def. Jason Jordan. Mahal cut a promo before and after the match, most of which was spoken in Punjab. He controlled most of the match and won comfortably. At least Jason Jordan's opponent didn't walk out on him this week.

Video package hyping Leo Kruger. Detailed his South African roots and he basically spoke about how he deserves to be at the top.

Match #3 - Leo Kruger def. Aiden English. It was a squash match. Kruger won with a "Sleeper Body Scissors" as JR put it. The match showcased how cocky and confident Kruger is in his abilities, and I like what I saw. Hopefully see more of him in the near future. It said in the Spoilers that he cut a heel promo, but no promo was shown.

Video package hyping Richie Steamboat. Richie spoke about how aware he is of the enormity of the Steamboat name, but that he wants to become his own Steamboat and take it all much further. Seems he really wants to make a name for himself, but that was expected and understandable.

Jim Ross, William Regal and somebody else on commentary. Not sure who the other was, may have still been Saxton. Didn't sound like him.

Match #4 - Conor O'Brian & Kenneth Cameron (The Ascension) def. The Usos. A fairly even tag team match, with the crowd really into The Usos, but obviously it didn't help. Nice to see The Ascension work for the win this week, doing so in the same fashion as last week by hitting "The Downcast" as JR put it. Nothing overly exciting, just a relatively even match. The Ascension are now two from two.

Jim Ross and Byron Saxton are on commentary now.

Match #5 - Richie Steamboat def. Rick Victor. A lot of offence in from Steamboat, very little from Victor. Steamboat really worked over Victor from the start and eventually picked up the win. His father was watching at ringside and it cut to a shot of him every now and then and he enjoyed what he saw.

Video package hyping Antonio Cesaro. It was the same one as last week, saying he's dangerous but a ladies man.

Match #6 - Antonio Cesaro def. Dante Dash. Another squash match. Dash got like a punch in, but Cesaro really dominated. If you've watched him on Smackdown then you'll get the jist of what happened in this one. Pretty comfortable win for Cesaro, who shared a quick kiss with Aksana after the match. It said in the Spoilers that Aksana cut a promo, but no promo was shown.

Video package hyping Bray Wyatt. Different one from last week. He spoke about how powerful he is, but it wasn't to the camera. He was speaking to a couple of guys, which put him across as a man with beliefs they should all invest in. Very unique character, so hopefully he debuts soon. The video said "Coming Soon" so we shouldn't have to wait much longer.

Main Event - Derrick Bateman def. Johnny Curtis. Curtis hurt Bateman's left knee early in the match and Curtis worked on it for a little bit, but then Bateman took over and ended the match not long later with the "DDE", which is a DDT of sorts. I was expecting a lot more from the match seeing how it was the main event, but it didn't come through like Kidd/McGillicutty last week. JR mentioned during the match that Kassius Ohno will debut next week.


A much bigger show this week due to the addition of a couple more matches. Maybe next time I'd cut out one match and make some of them a little longer as they all seemed to end really quickly. A lot of one-sided matches, but a decent show nonetheless. It's just really good to finally see these FCW guys in action.

I also thought I'd compile the total records of everybody that appears on NXT, just for kicks. So yeah, here we go:

Spoiler: NXT Records

Conor O’Brian: 2-0
Kenneth Cameron: 2-0

Antonio Cesaro: 1-0
Bo Dallas: 1-0
Derrick Bateman: 1-0
Jinder Mahal: 1-0
Leo Kruger: 1-0
Richie Steamboat: 1-0
Seth Rollins: 1-0
Tyson Kidd: 1-0

Aiden English: 0-1
CJ Parker: 0-1
Dante Dash: 0-1
Jason Jordan: 0-1
Jey Uso: 0-1
Jimmy Uso: 0-1
Jiro: 0-1
Johnny Curtis: 0-1
Michael McGillicutty: 0-1
Mike Dalton: 0-1

Rick Victor: 0-2