WWE NXT January 1, Rundown

Courtesy of WWE Facebook Page

Alexander Rusev Defeats Kofi Kingston: It was a nice touch throwing in Kofi who can make anyone look good. Alexander Rusev is still very green but has a dominating presence about him. He looks like a jacked up version of Jimmy “Super Fly” Snuka. The manger speaking a different language does not impress me or give me any more reason to care. I like his gimmick and if booked properly he has a good chance of making it far. The thought with the manger is in the right place, but change it up. Decent match, this match gets two stars out of five.

No. 1 Contender’s Match for the Women’s Title: Emma Defeats Natalya: Both women worked hard, it was a technical style and flowed well. Emma has the gimmick of the dancing blonde which drives me crazy. She is decent in the ring and gets over well with the audience. Natalya was the ring general in this match, but it also makes sense to put Emma and Page to go at it for the title. This was better than what you would expect on Raw or Smackdown. This match gets a 2.5 stars out of five.

Sing off between Colon Cassidy and Aiden English: Really, a sing off in WWE?. Well this was actually done very well. You have one guy who is mega over with the fans in Cassidy, and then you have someone who the fans hate in English. English is the heel; he does something heelish and in a few weeks will have a match. Once again, simple booking pays off.

Tyler Breeze Defeats Mason Ryan: Earlier in the show, Mason Ryan and Sylvester Lefort had a interaction just to give you a background. This match was shaky at first but with the short amount of time, I believe we were saved. For those who can remember, Mason Ryan is the guy who looked like Batista back in 2011 when he was a part of the new nexus storyline. We did not see a lot of Tyler Breeze offensive wise in this one, but I have heard good things about him. This match gets a one stare out of five.

2 out of 3 falls match: Sami Zayn Defeats Leo Kruger: This was an excellent worked match by both guys. They were allowed ten minutes and delivered perfectly. Both men have different styles but meshed well together. As a fan of Sami Zayn AKA El Generico, it is awesome to see him get a chance in WWE. Good match, this match gets four out of five stars.

This was my first time watching NXT in a couple of months and I will continue to watch it. It’s easy to watch it in less than an hour and it does not feel like a drag.  It is totally different than the regular WWE programming that is produced. This episode gets a rating of eight out of ten.