NXT – May 16, 2012: Best NXT Match In Months
NXT
Date: May 16, 2012
Location: Giant Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Commentators: William Regal, Josh Matthews
This is the final regular taping for NXT as after this the show is going to move to Florida permanently which is probably a good thing. We can now get the FCW guys on the show and give them some time. Also we don’t need to sit through this show on Smackdown tapings because about 80% of the fans don’t have a clue who these guys are. Let’s get to it.
Johnny Curtis vs. Percy Watson
Apparently Curtis has stolen tape (as in Scotch) tape from the announcers at some point. As they talk about Josh’s shoes, Watson takes over with an armbar to start. Leg lariat sends Curtis to the apron but he guillotines Watson on the top for two. Quick chinlock goes nowhere and Curtis chokes him a bit. This time the hold of choice is a surfboard with a knee in the back. Watson gets out of that pretty easily and hits a few dropkicks. Heisman gets two. Persecution is escaped and Curtis hits a spinning Falcon’s Arrow for the pin at 4:40.
Rating: D+. This was ok enough I guess, but Curtis’ weird gimmick doesn’t do much for him. It’s good for promos but in matches he’s just kind of standing around and looking at the fans instead of really being strange. Watson is a guy that the fans seem to like but there’s nothing to him as far as a personality goes. It’s the completely opposite of how he was in Season 2.
Great Khali/Ezekiel Jackson vs. Curt Hawkins/Tyler Reks
See, THIS is what NXT needs: appearances from bigger names that are regulars on the main shows. It gives us some fresh faces but we don’t need to spend a month to figure out who they are. Weren’t Hawkins and Reks security guards or something recently? I vaguely remember something about Ace rehiring them but they don’t seem to care enough to let us know and neither do the announcers.
Khali and Hawkins start things off. The taller one chops him a lot and tags in Jackson, who seems to scare Hawkins a lot more than Khali did. Off to Reks who gets knocked into the corner with ease. Reks takes him down and Hawkins adds a top rope clothesline before tagging right back out. Jackson plays Ricky Morton, which is one of the most curious casting choices I’ve ever seen.
Reks is the legal evil one at the moment, kicking away at Jackson followed by a chinlock. A slam gets two. Off to Hawkins who again is only in for a few moments. Back to Reks who has more luck, hitting a big boot for two. Another chinlock goes on but Big Zeke comes back with a backdrop and makes the tag to Khali. He cleans house and the Plunge ends Reks at 6:04.
Rating: D+. Another so-so match here which was fine for filling in a few minutes. Still though the problem here is why Hawkins and Reks are back in the ring. I checked and last week it was said that they were security and not wrestlers. Therefore, we should get an explanation as to why they’re wrestling here. That’s basic storytelling and for some reason it’s just not happening at all.
Maxine vs. Kaitlyn
This is billed as a big showdown, which would make sense if this wasn’t what, the third time they’ve fought in a month or two? Maxine is in more traditional attire here and it’s working for me. Kaitlyn immediately takes her down with a rollup for two, followed by a slam for the same. Maxine hooks her guillotine choke but Kaitlyn eventually breaks it up by draping her over the top rope.
Maxine comes back with forearms and a chinlock. She’s very fired up this week. There’s another chinlock with a knee in the back which is shifted into a kind of camel clutch. Kaitlyn fights up but gets ax handled down for two. Kaitlyn comes back with a dropkick and a bad crossbody for two. Maxine grabs a rollup for two and hooks a Last Chancery. That’s easily broken and Kaitlyn grabs a Bubba Bomb. She drops onto her back and puts on a full nelson with her legs for the pin at 6:00.
Rating: C-. You know when these matches go longer than 90 seconds they’re a lot more enjoyable. At the end of the day, having some decent matches by girls in small outfits is something that’s hard to mess up. Having a match get six minutes makes it more enjoyable instead of having them go like a minute. Matches like those are pointless whereas something like this wasn’t bad.
Raw ReBound is about Big Show getting fired.
Cena Make-A-Wish video.
Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty vs. Derrick Bateman
They have almost fifteen minutes for this. McGillicutty lets them fight while he chills on the floor. The good guys take turns with armdrags until it’s a stalemate. After another stand off the pair goes outside and chases McGillicutty back into the ring. There’s a double hiptoss and a LONG delayed double vertical suplex to put Michael down. Bateman has a smart idea and rolls up Kidd for two.
Bateman gets knocked to the floor but McGillicutty breaks up a suicide dive attempt. He hammers on Kidd for awhile until Bateman finally revives from his coma. The pair sends McGillicutty to the floor and Bateman hits a GREAT suicide dive. He may have hurt his knee on that though. Kidd goes up top and tries a moonsault press onto them but mostly lands between them as we take a break. Back with Kidd stomping down on McGillicutty in the corner.
Here’s a Sharpshooter attempt but Michael kicks him into Bateman who is on the apron. Saito Suplex gets two for McGillicutty. McGillicutty sends Bateman into the post as Regal talks about having a step ladder because his real ladder left him. Everyone is back in now and Kidd kicks out of a dropkick. McGillicutty and Kidd collide on stereo cross body attempts.
Bateman comes up and hits a few clotheslines on Michael for two. Tornado DDT is broken up but here’s Kidd with the kicks to Michael. Bateman hits a flip neckbreaker to Kidd but McGillicutty hits a backbreaker on him for two. Kidd hits a high kick to McGillicutty to send him into a northern lights bridging suplex by Bateman. Kidd breaks that up with a springboard elbow for two. McGillicutty breaks up a rollup and hits a Perfecplex for two on Kidd. Bateman breaks it up and sets for a superplex on McGillicutty but Kidd breaks it up and sends Michael to the floor. Sharpshooter followed by the Dungeon Lock gets the tap at 13:40.
Rating: B. Best NXT match in months, hands down. This was really entertaining and I legitimately didn’t know who was going to win the whole way through. Also, I LOVED the knee injury coming back to cost Bateman the match later. That’s a great little bit of storytelling in there and it made the match that much better. This was Bateman’s best match ever by about a thousand miles.
Overall Rating: B-. Pretty good show here with a great main event and some other ok wrestling on here too. It does have problems like the attacks in the back not being mentioned at all and Reks/Hawkins all of a sudden being back as active wrestlers, but if you throw out a nearly 15 minute main event like that every week I can more than over look it. Good show this week and check out that triple threat.
Results
Johnny Curtis b. Percy Watson – Spinning Falcon’s Arrow
Ezekiel Jackson/Great Khali b. Curt Hawkins/Tyler Reks – Punjabi Plunge to Reks
Kaitlyn b. Maxine – Leg full nelson
Tyson Kidd b. Michael McGillicutty and Derrick Bateman – Dungeon Lock to Bateman
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