Leighty’s Retro Review: WWE NXT Arrival

-Written: 12.31.25
-Source: Peacock
-Run Time: 1:55:01

-It was quite sad watching the WWE library get pulled off Peacock in pieces. There are still some shows up and you can catch most of the WrestleManias at the time of me writing this review (Now on Netflix). SmackDown and the NXT PPV/PLE are still all up and it seems the NXT stuff will be there until March. So, I figured let’s try to work through as many of those as possible.

-Announce Team: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and William Regal
-Feb. 27, 2014
-Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
-Attendance: 400+

-This is the first NXT Special and is the first ever live special on the WWE Network. I miss the WWE Network!

-We start with the lights low and HHH asking if we are ready while the theme for The Natural Disasters plays. Perhaps that is part of the reason they got into the Hall of Fame! This is NXT and the lights come up showing off the Full Sail Arena. Look at how happy HHH is here with his new baby getting this special event.

-Show opening set to Hard Rock with the main wrestlers listed by name in nice touch. Good way for new viewers to quickly get some names.

Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro

-Man, what is that music for Zayn? Cesaro was brought down from the Main Roster to give this show some star power and to go out there and have a BANGER with Sami. The crowd is already chanting “Match of the Year.” Man, if they only knew how many times that could be chanted in this run of NXT shows before the change over in 2020. Lockup and Cesaro throws Sami across the ring. We get a dueling chant of “Sami Zayn,” and “We The People.” Cesaro slaps Sami in the back of the head and smiles at him. We go again and Cesaro gets the best of the exchange and hits a dropkick. Sami kicks off, but Cesaro shoots in for a leg, but Sami stuffs him. Backdrop, but Zayn lands on his feet. He goes for a head scissors, but Cesaro catches him. Zayn flips out and lands on his feet. Cesaro to the floor and Zayn hits a dropkick and then flies over the top with a somersault dive to the floor. NXT chant followed by “This is awesome.” Sami off the top, but Zayn catches and hits a back breaker which gets two. Sami rolls to the floor and these two know they have the crowd hooked. They fight on the floor and Cesaro runs Sami into the apron. He rubs Sami’s face on the top of the railing and then into the ring, so he can throw him to the floor again. Sami fights back, but gets run into the railing. Back in the ring Cesaro gets a two count. He tosses Sami back to the floor as it as much a sign of disrespect as it is to hurt Sami at this point. He drops Sami chest first on the railing and runs him back first into the apron. Cesaro goes after the leg, but Sami pulls him into the ring post. Sami goes for the dive between the ropes in the corner, but Cesaro DESTROYS him with a European Uppercut. Ouch! We get a few replays because it’s so awesome. Back in the ring Cesaro goes to the work on the knee. Sami punches Cesaro away, so he just drops a knee on the bad leg for two. He stand and waits for Sami to move and then boots him in the face. Another “this is awesome” chant. Leg whip from Cesaro and he goes back to a knee-bar. He adds torque on the ankle as well. Sami kicks his way out, and catches Cesaro with a leg lariat. He can’t capitalize though as Cesaro is back on the knee. He gets a series of leg whips and ducks an enziguiri, which lets him get a Single Leg Boston Crab. Sami crawls and makes the bottom rope. Cesaro still has a smile on his face, but that changes as he runs into an elbow and then a backdrop sends him to the floor. Sami bounces off the top ropes into a moonsault to the floor, but Cesaro catches him and hits a slam on the ramp. Fantastic! Cesaro is more than happy to take the win by count-out. Sami is great at selling it and gets in the ring just as the ref hit a nine count. Cesaro goes in for the kill, but Sami catches him with the Exploder Suplex into the corner for two. Blue Thunder Bomb gets two! Flatliner into a Koji Clutch. Cesaro powers out and gets a Stretch Muffler, which I remember hearing for the first time when the word was that Brock Lesnar used it in OVW. Sami crawls and is able to get to the bottom rope to force a break. Cesaro catches Sami and goes for The Giant Swing, but Sami gets a roll-up for two. Another try and this time Cesaro gets The Giant Swing and makes 10 rotations before Sami goes flying into the corner. Running Euro Uppercut gets two, but Sami rolls into a backslide for two. Cesaro just SMASHES Sami with a double stomp to the face and that gets two. The crowd lets them know again, that “this is awesome.” They fight in the corner and Sami hits a boot as Cesaro is perched up top. Sami meets him up and throws some elbows. He goes for a top rope rana, but Cesaro is too strong and goes for a powerbomb, which Sami then counters that back into a rana. HELUVA KICK follows and it only gets two. Whew! The dueling chant is back as Cesaro hits another European Uppercut. Cesaro wants Sami to stay down, but we know he won’t. Another European Uppercut! The ref starts the count as Regal notes this is getting uncomfortable. Cesaro: “Stay down,” and he clocks Sami with another Euro Uppercut! The crowd chants for Sami as I guess they enjoy seeing him get up to get knocked back down. Another heavy one, but Sami responds and they start trading right hands. Crazy Fists from both men and Sami ends up with a suplex. HELUVA KICK, but Cesaro boots him down. Neutralizer countered into a backdrop into a pin for two. Standing sunset flip into a powerbomb gets two for Sami and the crowd is going crazy! Cesaro throws Sami into the air and hits a Euro Uppercut, but it only gets two. That has Cesaro puzzled. His solution is to hit Zayn even harder with with a Euro Uppercut and The Neutralizer gets the pin at 22:58.

Winner: Cesaro via pin at 22:58
-That was fantastic and a perfect match to introduce a new audience to NXT. Cesaro winning makes sense as he is the bigger star, but Sami looked great in defeat and anyone seeing Sami for the first time learned what he’s all about with this great underdog performance. I will say looking back at this match, I don’t think anyone in their wildest dreams would have ever figured El Generico would end up being in a Main Event at WrestleMania, but it shows what hard work and connecting with a crowd can do. ****1/4

-Cesaro comes back into the ring and the crowd chants “hug it out.” That’s what happens as Cesaro picks Sami up and gives him a hug. NXT chant! Cesaro leaves and Sami gets a standing ovation. That’s great!

-Mojo Rawley video package. GET HYPED! There was a app called Hyp Sports that did sports trivia and games for real money. It was great as I was getting over $100 a year playing it. That trend of real time trivia and games paying out money was great and sadly ended way too soon.

CJ Parker vs. Mojo Rawley

-Parker was a hippy here before reclaiming his Juice once he was released. Weird they would use the name CJ Parker as I wonder if they had someone check on the name and just shrug his shoulders when Pamela Anderson showed up in a google search. Mojo with a high backdrop for two and he goes to the arm. Parker gets a boot up in the corner and hits a clothesline for two. He stomps Mojo down in the corner and talks some trash. Chop in the corner as Regal talks about loving processed food and driving his gas guzzler. “I don’t care if there are only one thousand Panda Bears.” WWF still catching strays from the WWE. Mojo makes his comeback and hits Hyper Drive (Earthquake Splash) for the pin at 3:23.

Winner: Mojo Rawley via pin at 3:23
-Every match can’t be a BANGER as they had to get some faces out there to get the viewing crowd familiar with them. *

-Emma video package! The first Australian Diva. WWE did pretty well farming Australia I would say. Emma talks about Emmalution and how nobody can have her bubbles. RENEE YOUNG! I wonder if he was just trying to knock HHH down a peg there.

-Video package on The Ascension! They are the NXT Tag Team Champions at this point! Sadly, they were never booked seriously on the Main Roster and just kind of looked out of place there. Also didn’t help that Vince gave up on them after one week and started having commentary bury them on TV.

NXT Tag Team Championship: The Ascension (c) vs. Too Cool

-This was an open challenge and Too Cool accepted. Sexay starts with Viktor and it doesn’t go well for The Grandmaster. Konnor in and he runs Sexay down with a shoulder and another one. Konnor lands a big boot and Viktor in for a two count. Snap suplex gets two and we got to a reverse chinlock. The crowd chants for water as they seem distracted by something. I recently did a year of WCW Nitro and this is like when The Rock N Roll Express showed up during the early nWo run. Tag made to Scotty and he gets to run wild for a few seconds. He ducks a clothesline and hits a leaping forearm. Scotty raises the roof and lands a boot to the face. Viktor misses a splash and Scotty hits a face plant. The crowd pops as they want The Worm. Konnor in, but gets low bridged to the floor. The crowd gets to do the WORM deal, but it misses and Viktor hits a clothesline. Fall of Man finishes at 6:40.

Winners and Still NXT Tag Team Champions: The Ascension via pin at 6:40
Again, they just wanted eyes on The Ascension as they were the Tag Champions and they get a dominant win over an Attitude Era team that was over at one point. The Ascension still hold the record for longest NXT Tag Title reign of all time at 364 days. *

-Video package on Paige, who is the first NXT Women’s Champion. She was just a few months from making her famous RAW debut.

-Ric Flair is ringside with his daughter and NXT Star, Charlotte.

-Stephanie McMahon (looking good) out and the crowd lets her know “you still got it.” Steph: “I never lost it.” She introduces Emma and Paige for our next match.

NXT Women’s Championship: Paige (c) vs. Emma

-Paige has been Champion since June 20, 2013 when she beat Emma in the Finals of a Tournament. Paige gets right in Emma’s face and they shove each other. Pie-face from Paige so Emma gets a double leg. Lockup and they jockey around the ring and into the corner. Paige with a kick to the gut. Paige Turner is countered into a backslide for two. Double leg by Emma and she goes for a sling shot, but Paige counters into pin for two. She pulls Emma by the hair and gets a slam. We get a dueling chant as Paige hooks a chinlock. Regal notes that Emma was trained in Calgary by Lance Storm. He also feels old because he has known Paige since she was born because he knows her family. Perhaps they should make a movie about them one day. Emma takes Paige down in the corner, but The Emma Sandwich gets blocked. Now she gets the sling shot, but can’t get The Emma-Lock as Paige kicks her away. Paige throws knees from the apron, but Emma kicks her legs causing her to fall on the apron. That gets Emma a two count. Paige misses a charge in the corner and Emma hooks The Dil-Emma. So many puns! Emma-Sandwich gets two! Regal asks Byron if he is getting paid every time he throws Emma’s name into a move. Regal then wonders why he can’t find a woman like this after being married 17 times. “My problem is, I am addicted to wedding cake.” That’s funny! Emma pulls back on Paige’s arms as she has her boots in the kidney area. Regal tries to explain the one way Paige has to get out of the hold. Regal on commentary is great! Emma nearly pins heroes as she pulls back and moves her feet between Paiger’s shoulders. She releases to get a two count. Hair throw sends Paige across the ring and Emma chokes with her boot before stomping away. I like the mean streak from both women. Emma ends up on the apron and gets caught with a forearm to the face. She blocks being sent into the post and heads up top. They fight up there and Emma goes for a sunset flip bomb, but walks Paige out and gets a sit-out powerbomb for two. The crowd chants “better than Batista.” Oh, that’s right. This was not long after Batista returned and won The Royal Rumble that was hijacked by us fans in Pittsburgh. Still amazed the WWE thought Batista vs. Orton was going to satisfy people as the Main Event of Mania XXX. Paige hits The Paige Turner but it only gets two. Paige is shocked as Emma is the first woman to kick out of the move. She goes for a submission and hooks a Scorpion Cross-Lock (called by Regal) for the submission at 13:01.

Winner and Still NXT Women’s Champion: Paige via submission at 13:01
-Good match and these two set the table for what was to come when The 4 Horsewomen were given a chance to shine. It wasn’t the level of what would come, but you have to start somewhere and they let these women wrestle in a way that wasn’t happening on the Main Roster. Thankfully, that would all change, but it took some time. ***

-Adrian Neville video package. Seems like a Bastard to me.

Xavier Woods vs. Tyler Breeze

-It’s half of DA PARTY! Woods was hanging with The Funkadactyles and using music where he wanted someone to call his mama. The crowd lets Breeze know that he is gorgeous. 12 seconds into the match, RUSEV’S music hits and he comes out with Lana. Oh, he still had a first name here as he was Alexander Rusev. Match is over at 36 seconds as Rusev attacks and destroys both men.

No Contest at 0:36

-Rusev had debuted on the Main Roster at The Rumble the previous month. This was a way for him to destroy some people and let Lana use her fake accent to tell us this is the rise of the Super Athlete.

-Bo Dallas video package. He is the current, and at the time, longest reigning NXT Champion in history. Everyone loves Bo! You just have to Bo-Lieve! The crowd chants “No More Bo,” but in a brilliant move he takes it as “Know More Bo.” That’s funny!

-Larry Zbyszko and Steve Keirn are in the front row!

-Shawn Michaels is out with The NXT Title and gets to hang it above the ring. Makes sense as he has some familiarity with ladder matches. Kind of cool that he was brought out for this first show and a decade later he is running NXT. The crowd chants “One More Match,” and unfortunately, it did happen and man was it a disaster, but we just ignore it and pretend it wasn’t cannon. Shawn plugs his Mr. WrestleMania DVD as he notes he has kids to put through college. That explains the Saudi return match!

NXT Championship: Ladder Match: Bo Dallas (c) vs. Adrian Neville

-Loud “Bo” chant to start though some may be chanting “no.” Bo tries to go for the ladder, but Neville brings him back into the ring and fires off kicks in the corner. Neville flips around the drop and hits a missile dropkick from the middle ropes. He heads up top, but Bo rolls to the apron. He gets trip as Neville chases and goes to throwing right hands. Forearms from Bo rocks Neville into the corner. Bo gets wrist control and pulls Neville into an elbow and repeats. Short arm clothesline spins Neville around. Neville gets hung in the middle of the ropes, which lets Bo head up the ramp to get a ladder. We get a callback to Shawn/Razor as Neville escapes the ropes and baseball slides the ladder into Bo. Slingshot plancha by Nevill and he pounds away with right hands. Our first ladder is put in the ring, but Bo pulls Neville off the apron and runs him back first into the stairs. He traps Neville’s arm in the ring skirt and head back to get another ladder. He runs the ladder at Neville, but he avoids and the ladder goes sliding into the ring. Nevill with a backdrop on the floor and Neville is the first in the ring with the ladders. Neville climbs, but Bo is back in and throws the other ladder at Neville to knock him to the mat. Nice! Bo drives the ladder into Neville’s abdomen as the crowd chants for tables. Bo pins Neville under the ladder, but walks up the wrong side and Neville is able to use his feet to tip the leg back and Bo crashes to the mat. Neville goes to climb, but Dallas saves and Neville crashes to the mat. They fight over the ladder and Neville gets the ladder run into his abdomen into the corner. Bo wedges the ladder in the corner and catapults Bo into it. Sounded good in theory by didn’t look impressive. Neville flips to his feet and uses the wedged ladder to hit a Tornado DDT. He makes the climb and Bo stops it again. They collide into the ladder and in an accident the ladder ends up falling down and landing on Neville. The ref slides in to check in on Neville, but he’s good. Bo with a clothesline in the corner and another and another. Roman does that spot now. Bo tries a bulldog on the ladder, but Neville counters and runs Bo into the wedged ladder. Neville fights to get the ladder back up and makes the climb again. Bo meets him up there and they trade blows. Bo pulls Neville repeatedly into the ladder and yanks him down. He tries to throw Neville to the floor, but he lands on the apron and hits a head kick. He heads up top, but Bo knocks him to the floor. Bo goes to climb, but in a sweet visual, Neville springs into frame and lands on the ladder above Bo. The ladder gets knocked over as Bo powerbombs Neville into the wedged ladder. Neville with a World’ Strongest Slam on the ladder and hits The Red Arrow onto Bo on the ladder. Nasty! NXT chant from the crowd! Neville climbs as Bo is out on the floor. He gets near the top and retrieves the belt just as Bo was trying to tip the ladder over and that gets the win at 15:45.

Winner and New NXT Champion: Adrian Neville at 15:45
-Good and relatively safe ladder match. They didn’t reinvent the wheel and just had a very good match with a Title change the crowd wanted to see. Good way to end the first NXT special. ***1/2

-Neville celebrates with the NXT Championship on the ladder as smoke pours around the ring. We see John Cena, in a suit, clapping for Neville in the crowd.

-Thanks for reading!

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Amazing first impression for NXT and gave us a taste of what was to come. The scary part is once it became the Super Indie, it started blowing this show out of the water. The Main Event and Opener were both fantastic and credit to Emma and Paige for showing us what the women could do when given a chance. Go check this show out if you have never seen it, and hopefully all these shows end up on Netflix or YouTube once the peal with Peacock ends.