Leo Kruger vs. Richie Steamboat

[6.0] "Pretty solid match. Kruger working as a heel here following his previous turn is cool, and he and Richie did some solid stuff. Particularly liked the slingblade for the finish."

[5.0] "It's okay, after the cheating of Kruger 2 weeks (in show time) previous to this he won cheating on Steamboat, this was mostly Richie carrying it, for 7 minutes, good for first match of this tournament. 5/10 [***1/4]"

[6.0] "This was part of the tournament to crown the first NXT Champion and was a rematch after Kruger had previously cheated to defeat Steamboat. Kruger controls a large portion of this match and it's fine? Just very middling work on top from the heel. I did really like that after Kruger was able to cheat using the ropes in their first match, Steamboat used those same ropes to escape Kruger's hold. This serves to frustrate Kruger and when he loses focus Steamboat picks up the win. Really good finish, solid match, 3 stars"

[4.0] "There was nothing wrong with this match but is a developmental match and it shows. Kruger was still trying to find his character in the ring and Richie was fine as a white meat babyface, not a patch on his father but there is something likeable there. At the time, NXT was carrying over the bones of FCW and these guys are a perfect example of that. It's a fine match but neither guy were ever going to carry into the main roster, let alone NXT."

[3.0] "My rating for the opening match for the Gold Tournament is 3/10, a boring match that didnt excite me for the tournament. The match stars Richie Steamboat who is nothing like his father and a young Adam rose called Leo Kruger. Kruger had some okay heel momments such as running around the ring he makes an okay heel, they should have stook with this instead of the Rose Bud. Steamboat is nothing like his father and is only similar in name"

[5.0] "This was a fine match. I'm starting NXT from the start and this being the first match is something of an inauspicious debut. I like the title tournament format, and hopefully this can yield better results over time than the first match I didn't realise Ricky had wrestling kids and it sucks to see he was injury-plagued"

[5.0] "It's an okay enough opener for the tournament. Neither guy has been the least bit impressive however I think they got the winner right. Slingblade finish? Ok"

[5.0] "It was a decent eight minute match, the Steamboat vs Kruger has potential, Steamboat won it by hitting Leo Kruger with a slingblade to advance to the semi finals of the nxt title tournament, Both wrestlers looked good."