The SmarK Rant for WWE NXT – 11.21.12
Taped from Orlando, FL
Your hosts are Tony Dawson & Jim Ross
Earlier Today, new geek interviewer Tom Philips bugs Kassius Ohno backstage and offends him by mispronouncing his name. So Ohno is gonna take out his problems with Richie Steamboat on Trent Barreta tonight in the main event. And maybe he’s even gonna “give him the Steamboat treatment” and end his career. He was more right than he knew about that one.
Paige v. Alicia Fox
Well speak of the devil. Paige takes Fox down with armdrags, but Alicia gets a monkey flip and then gets a god-awful slam, nearly dropping Paige on her head in the process. How do you mess THAT up? Fox with the northern lights suplex for two, which is the one move she can do well. Fox with a surfboard and she rams Paige into the mat for two, but Paige cradles for two. Paige fights back and counters a slam for two and makes the comeback. Snap suplex, but Fox gets an O’Connor roll for two. Paige with the Page Turner for the pin at 4:53. I’ve never really understood what that move is supposed to be accomplishing. And this was slow and BAD. 1/2*.
Big E Langston v. Camacho
So last week Camacho accepted Vickie’s $5000 bounty offer, and good luck on him collecting it. Jim Ross talks about how the last guy to use a five count gimmick was King Kong Bundy, who was “generations and generations ago”. For reference, Bundy was last in the WWF 17 years before this and it felt like a lifetime ago. Meanwhile Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar have been around for 21 years and counting. Just saying. Camacho slugs away on Big E to keep him off his feet, but he slaps E and gets destroyed as a result, and the Big Ending finishes at 2:08. But Big E only got three and he needs FIVE, so he’s left unsatisfied by the victory and he does it again and counts FIVE this time. Unfortunately the match only gets ONE. *
Meanwhile, Trent has been felled by a mysterious antagonist who turns out to be Leo Kruger, leaving Trentilocks unable to compete in the main event tonight. Well that’s certainly good news for Kassius Ohno, who will certainly get a forfeit victory.
Bronson v. Nick Rogers
Apparently Nick Rogers is from Vancouver, although I know everyone in Canada and I’ve never met him. People are like “Do you know Nick? He’s from Canada!” but I don’t know this guy. Bronson beats him down in the corner and then takes him down with an STO and awkwardly slaps on a heel hook for the submission at 2:00. I don’t think this Bronson guy went anywhere in the sport and it looks like he switched to MMA shortly after this.
Luke Harper v. Mike Dalton
Young Dalton seems like he could get over with a gimmick. Perhaps something that capitalizes on his really, really, ridiculously good looks. Harper quickly beats him down while the snarky crowd chants “Let’s go Ziggler”. Yeah…fair. Harper puts him down with a back elbow and chokes him out on the ropes. I find it kind of sad knowing all the stuff that Brodie Lee could do and what he was limited to doing by contrast for most of his WWE career while playing the Luke Harper character. Dalton makes a comeback attempt and Luke quickly splats him with the Bossman slam at 2:45. A very breezy squash. And then Bray gives us another wacky promo after the match, working out the kinks before the big callup.
Meanwhile, Jinder Mahal attacks Seth Rollins during his interview time and the brawl is on. I bet they’re both gonna find two partners and settle things later on! So this is immediately weird, because Rollins is still wacky heavy metal loving babyface Seth Rollins, but….
RAW Rebound: CM Punk hits a milestone as WWE champion on the night after Survivor Series, and The Shield attacks Ryback to make sure he stays champion. As in Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, who are now playing completely different characters from what’s been taped on NXT for the next few weeks of TV. For reference, the show we’re watching now was taped on October 10, so they’ve got a while to go before it catches up to the sudden callup to the main roster.
Kassius Ohno v. Trent Barreta
Ohno wants to know “Where’s Trent?” in a cute bit of inside baseball and demands to be named the winner, but Dusty Rhodes interrupts his premature celebration and accuses him of being behind Trent’s attack. They literally showed Leo Kruger standing there backstage! What kind of bullshit accusations are we dealing with here?
Kassius Ohno v. Richie Steamboat
So yeah, Dusty forces Ohno to face arch-rival Steamboat, and Richie attacks him and chops away in the corner. He tosses Ohno to the floor and follows with a dive as we take a break. Back with Steamboat working on a neck vice, but Ohno gives him a low dropkick on the neck for two. Ohno puts the boots to him for two and works on the neck, and then runs Steamboat’s neck into the turnbuckle for two. Ohno with the CRAVAT and sadly we don’t even have William Regal to call it, although JR does so in his honor. Ohno with more chops, but Steamboat gets a sunset flip for two. Ohno with a nasty cravat suplex for two, and Richie bails to the corner to escape, but fights back with the double chops to make the comeback. Richie with the hooking clothesline, but they collide on a headbutt for the double down. Steamboat recovers first and gets a rollup for one, and then finishes with the sling blade at 10:08. So Steamboat wins the battle, but sadly loses the war, because this was the end of his career. So I guess Ohno “gave him the Steamboat treatment” after all. Well at least he went out with a pretty decent match. **3/4. Honestly though, Steamboat was a good worker, but he never had what his father had and he would have just spent his career in that shadow anyway. Kind of like how Cody Rhodes spent his AEW career trying to be Dusty and then just kind of disappeared from the business completely after he left the company.
The weird era between the Shield debuting on the main roster and the last few weeks of them appearing on NXT at the same time continues for a while yet, so buckle up for more awkwardness. This remains a light and breezy show so far.