NXT Full Sail TV Tapings 2-12-15

Exuberant fans piled into the NXT arena at Full Sail University for another exciting round of TV tapings that would feature exciting developments, long awaited debuts, and a few surprises along the way. The following recap includes SPOILERS for the next four episodes.

The dark match saw former football player Mike Rawlis taking on the Olympian Chad Gable who entered the ring very over with the crowd. Gable proved exactly why he is so over from the opening bell out-grappling his much larger opponent. Rawlis would attempt to use that size advantage and take control out powering Gable. However Gable was able to roll up Rawlis from out of nowhere for the pin.

First Episode

We start with a video package from William Regal addressing Kevin Owens and the title situation. He tells us that tonight Adrian Neville will get a chance at retribution in a non-title match against Kevin Owens.

photo courtesy of @wgwphotos

Following that new champion Kevin Owens makes his way to the ring to the sounds of a very split crowd and lets us know that he never lied about his intentions and that they were clear from the very beginning. He also makes it known that Sami Zayn is the past, and the future is Finn Balor. He tells Balor to pick a date and he will be there to defend his NXT title.

Next up Elias Sampson hits the ring. Sampson has a ton of potential but he wouldn’t get to show any of it tonight because his opponent turned out to be ECW legend Rhyno, much to the delight of a shocked crowd. Rhyno made very quick work of Sampson and broke him half with a ferocious Gore.

Backstage, Balor is interviewed about his number one contender-ship but is distracted by Rhyno who walks right through, pausing just long enough to smile and walk off.

Next up is The Vaudevillians vs Cass and Enzo accompanied to the ring by Carmella. Gotch and English controlled much of the match punishing the underdog Enzo before he made a hot tag to Big Cass who cleared the ring and put down English with a big boot, then tossing Enzo off the turnbuckle for a splash onto English for the win. Afterwards Blake and Murphy address them via video letting us know that they proved at Takeover:Rival that they were no flukes, and then began to flirt with Carmella, who looked sickened in the ring.

Backstage, Neville addresses Owens, saying he hasn’t forgotten what happened to him the last time the two faced. He continues stating that Owens won’t soon forget what he does to him tonight.

An irate CJ Parker marches to the ring and lets us know he is sick and tired of the treatment he receives around here, particularly being left off of another live special. He announces that he is taking over and that this show is done. He begins cutting off the ring with caution tape before mysterious music hits along with video glitches. Solomon Crowe emerged from the crowd and hit the ring quickly laying out the hippy and finishing him with his Boing Splash. He grabs a mic and announces “…. Now back to your regularly scheduled broadcast.”

New Womens champ Sasha Banks is out next to face “Ol’ Bluepants” Leva Bates. It was a fast paced match that started off with plenty of back and forth action before Banks took over and proved why she is boss, finishing off Bates with her backstabber transitioned into a Boss lock, leaving Bluepants no choice but to tap. Afterwards, Banks took the mic to let us know that her title means that she is the baddest women in NXT.

Adrian Neville vs Kevin Owens in a non-title match is next and begins with an early burst of offense from Neville. Before long the champ took control and began to punish Neville with his brutal and ugly offense. Neville mounted a comeback that amounted to some incredible spots including a moonsault off the turnbuckle onto Owens standing outside of the ring, and a 450 off the ring apron onto a ground Owens. Victory seemed to be close for Neville who attempted a 450 splash only for Owens to roll out of the way. The two men make it to their feet and Neville walks right into Owens powerbomb, giving Kevin Owens the pin-fall victory in an incredible hard fought match.

Episode 2

The next episode begins with the wrecking ball of NXT Bull Dempsey taking on Hideo Itami. Dempsey dominated the early goings punishing his smaller opponent, but it wouldn’t be long before Itami managed to mount a flurry of offense and finish off Bull with a single leg running dropkick for the win. After the match atop the ramp Itami was ambushed by Tyler Breeze with a surprise superkick.

A smug Breeze attempted to find the perfect angle for a selfie with the downed Itami, who began to stir and made his way to his feet and chased off Breeze who ran for his life.

Next up The Lucha Dragons took on the team of Jason Jordan and Ty Dillinger. Jordan began the match dominating Sin Cara with a distinct strength advantage. Later in the Jordan kept itching to be tagged back in, but Dillinger refused saying “I got this”. When the Lucha Dragons began to mount a comeback and Dillinger was ready to tag, Jordan walked off leaving Ty to fend for himself. Dillinger then found himself on the receiving end of a Salida Del Sol from Kalisto followed by a senton from Sin Cara giving the Lucha Dragons the victory.
Afterwards Dillinger grabs a mic and says he is not leaving the ring until he receives an explanation. Baron Corbins music hits and he comes out to make very quick work of Ty Dillinger with an emphatic End Of Days.

Next up is a no nonsense back and forth battle between Becky Lynch and Bayley. Given the proper TV time Lynch shows the audience even more every match what she can do, as evidenced by her growing fanbase in the split crowd. The feisty Irish wrestler showed us further versatility making Bayley tap out with an impressive armbar submission. I could easily see these two battling for gold.

Kevin Owens comes out and joins the announce team, then a returning Brian Kendrick took on Finn Balor in an excellent match that showcased both men extremely well. Kendrick looked good back in a WWE ring but not good enough to combat the roll of Finn Balor who finished Kendrick off with his trademark double foot stomp off the top rope for the victory.

Owens (who apparently had left sometime during the match) made his way back out first staring down Balor. Then he made his way back to the announcers, attacking Alex Riley and tossing him over the announce table.

Episode 3

Party Guru Adam Rose returned to the NXT arena complete with a bevy of new rosebuds to take on Tyler Breeze. It was a short match that was surprisingly one sided that saw Rose display much of his trademark shenanigans before he was met with a Beauty Shot out of nowhere giving Breeze the victory. The highlight of the match was watching Tyler Breeze interact with the rosebuds entering and exiting the ring.

That was followed with another short match as Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton took on tag champs Blake and Murphy. Dawkins and Fulton of Shoot Nation have gelled well as a team and have been putting on some good matches at house shows, but this one would be a shorter match to showcase the new champs. Murphy landed a brainbuster on Dawkins followed by Blakes frogsplash for the win.

The trend continues with another short match as Baron Corbin squashed Tony Briggs without so much as breaking a sweat. Afterwards Kevin Owens makes his way over to the announce table to antagonize Alex Riley who is trying his best to ignore Owens and do his job. Owens the grabs Rileys water bottle, takes a big swig and dumps the rest on Rileys head. An irate Alex Riley jumps to his feet but Jason Alberts holds him back. Kevin Owens saunters off, meanwhile and incensed Alex Riley storms away.

Next Bull Dempsey takes on Solomon Crowe. Dempsey dominated much of the match while Crowe managed to get in short bursts of offense, at one point even body slamming the big man. In the final moments Bull sought to end it with a flying headbutt which Crowe avoided, laid out Dempsey and finished him with a boing splash. A nice official debut for Crowe, and more bad luck for Dempsey who can’t seem to catch a break these days.

Next, yet another awesome match between Charlotte and Sasha Banks for the title. These two have developed such a chemistry with each other and can produce top quality matches practically every time they meet. The action was fast and furious and back and forth, but as the match wore on it seemed to be swaying more and more in the favor of Charlotte. In the end she attempted a Natural Selection off the top turnbuckle but Banks held tight to the ropes sending Charlotte crashing to the mat. Banks then rolled her up for the pin with her feet on the ropes for added leverage.

Episode 4

This episode begins with tag team action as Big Cass and Enzo continue their quest for tag team gold by running through The Lucha Dragons. The Lucha Dragons controlled much of the match while Enzo played the part of the underdog. They probably would have won, had it not been for the rule bending from Big Cass who ran in to thwart the Luchas offense and carry Enzo back to their corner for a tag. Cass came from the tag fresh and on fire laying out Kalisto with a big sidewalk slam followed by an assisted splash from Enzo for the pin.

Next, Carmella takes on Alexa Bliss in a short but fun match. Both of these women have come so far in the last year and seemed to work well together. Carmella was in control for much of the match but ultimately her winning streak would be ended bu a Sparkle Splash off the top rope giving Alexa Bliss the victory.

Next is CJ Parker who had the unfortunate task of taking on a fired up, recently rejuvenated Alex Riley. I always felt that WWE missed an opportunity with Riley, but hopefully this is the beginning of the rectification of that. Poor CJ Parker ( who has become the whipping boy of the up and comers) managed to get in his fair share of offense, but in the end a trio of clotheslines followed by a neckbreaker off the top rope would give Alex Riley the win. Kevin Owens comes to the end of the ramp to tell Riley that he is possibly the most stupid man in NXT to come back into the ring, and that he would end him, and then end Finn Balor.

The feud between Hideo Itami and Tyler Breeze continued with another great match between the two. Possibly even better than their encounter at Takeover:Rival the two men took it to each other and are actually fairly evenly matched. In the final moments of another hard fought match Hideo went for a dropkick to Breeze in the corner, only for Tyler to dodge it. Hideo made it to his feet and walked into the Beauty Shot giving Breeze an upset victory, however I doubt the battle is over between these two.