WWE NXT Review - February 19, 2014

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT Tag Team Champions The Ascension def. Casey Marion and Mike Lebosca (Non-title)

Same match, different week. I would complain about The Ascension competing in what felt like their millionth squash match, but the Full Sail University crowd actually made the match for me. Their "YAH!" chants for Konnor were hilarious and they didn't appear to be completely bored during an Ascension match for once. That still doesn't mean that they constant squash matches from there don't annoy me, and I would like to see them move into something more substantial sooner rather than later.


Emma def. Summer Rae

Most of the Divas matches on NXT in recent weeks have been uninspiring in opinion, but this match managed to break that streak. Not only were they given great time, but they told a good story throughout with Emma battling back throughout and eventually overcoming the odds to pick up the big victory. It was a nice momentum booster going into her Women's Championship match with Paige, and while I was hoping they whould come face-to-face, at least they are doing that next week before their match.

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Renee Young Interviewed Sami Zayn and Cesaro

The talking segment between Zayn and Cesaro last week was stellar and I was hoping for more of the same here. While it was yet another strong exchange, I definitely think it could have gone on longer. Zayn and Young have nice chemistry together in a "cute couple" kind of way (call me Cupid), so I would have liked to see more of that shown here as well. Cesaro and Zayn did a great job of establishing their disdain for one another and producing one final hard sell before their highly anticipated encounter next week.


Adrian Neville def. Tyler Breeze

These two work so well together in the ring that I was surprised that their match didn't go any longer. Nonetheless, they made the most out of the time they were allotted. They worked a very fun match and Breeze looked good in defeat. Like much of their feud, the final face-off between Neville and Bo Dallas left something to be desired. Sure, it was intense, but I guess I was just hoping for a little bit more from them. Either way, it was nice to see the Ladder match receive some focus as the show went off the air.


Overall Show

Of course, there was an abundant amount of hype for NXT: Arrival as there should have been. It has been set up to be an astounding event over the last month and a half and I surely hope it lives up to the hype it has been given. All three highly anticipated matches (Zayn/Cesaro, Emma/Paige, Dallas/Neville) were properly built toward on this show and I look forward to each of them. All eyes will be on NXT next week, so here's hoping WWE takes full advantage of this opportunity by showing the world what they have been missing out on over the last two years.