NXT
Date: June 21, 2011
Location: Giant Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Todd Grisham, William Regal

It’s week whatever here (It’s week whatever here) and there are no signs of us getting done with this show yet.  We have three people left in the forms of O’Brian, O’Neil and Young.  Other than that there isn’t much else going on here, which to be fair can be said nearly every week around here.  Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Lucky Cannon’s stuff over the course of the season.  I think this is the same video we opened last week with.  Cannon kind of reminds me of Kelso from That 70’s Show.  At least they’re not airing the wrong episode because there’s the elimination from last week.

They’re still wild, but after being on this season for this long can you still classify them as young?

There’s another elimination next week.

Here’s Horny with Titus to open the show.  Apparently the small one has some business with Maryse.  And here she is to at least make the show more fun to look at.  Horny mumbles a lot and Titus translates.  Apparently Horny has a surprise for her and has her hold her hand out.  He puts a box in her hand and it’s a ring pop.  I haven’t had one of those in years.  She insults him for it because she’s not nice anymore.  The ring is thrown in his face and she leaves him all upset.

And of all people here’s Zack Ryder.  He was the pro for Titus on NXT Season 2.  Decent reaction but not exactly the explosion that you would expect from what you read about him online.  The tall people compared Ryder and Horny’s merits as Pros and Ryder threatens to fist pump Titus’ face.  Striker makes the obvious main event.

Vladimir Kozlov/Yoshi Tatsu/Conor O’Brian vs. Chavo Guerrero/JTG/Darren Young

 

Regal goes into another rant about JTG, saying he’s been waking up half an hour earlier so he can hate him that much longer every day.  Young and O’Brian start us off.  This is about as riveting as you would expect them to be if you’ve watched their matches all season.  Conor runs him off after awhile and here’s Chavo.  Regal apparently had Chavo’s first match in WCW.

Conor is holding his arm kind of funny after a bit so here’s Yoshi to fight JTG.  Regal talks about losing a bet about Cannon last week but not having any money due to the women he has to pay for.  Koz comes in and cleans some house.  Powerslam gets two for Kozlov as Regal praises him.  Vlad cleans house and Conor helps out a bit as we take a break.  Back with Vlad getting two on Chavo off a powerslam.

The rookies beat on each other for a bit with the main work being on the knee of O’Brian.  Off to JTG and this goes on way too long.  They’ve been working on his knee for five minutes now.  Everyone gets in a lot of time on it with JTG on it at the moment.  Conor gets some shots in but Chavo gets a drop toehold to take him right back down.

After about eight minutes of O’Brian getting beaten on (seriously) it’s close enough to a tag to bring in Yoshi.  He cleans house and hits a spin kick to take JTG down.  Shining Wizard gets one as everything breaks down.  Koz gets a pretty nice double suplex on Chavo and Young to send them to the floor.  And never mind as Tatsu kicks JTG’s head off for the pin at 15:20.

Rating: C-. They’re trying so hard to make us care about O’Brian and it’s almost a guarantee he’s making the finals if not winning the whole thing, just so we can see him next season again.  I never once wanted to see him make the tag, which at times I often do in these matches.  He flat out isn’t interesting and that’s all there is to it.  Way too long here.

We’re told that the votes messed up last night and Sin Cara actually should have faced Bourne.  That explains a few things.  They’ll have a match on Raw to make up for it.

Raw Rebound is about the Punk segment last night.

Tyson Kidd is talking to Lucky Cannon on the phone and says there won’t be a recount.  He says he has to go because he comes up on I guess you would call it a shrine in a locker with candles and all that jazz.  There’s a Yoshi Tatsu action figure in the middle and Yoshi comes up, saying not to touch it.  Kidd leaves and Yoshi puts a Hershey bar in front of it (huge pop.  Remember the town they’re in) and bows to it.  I have no idea what to say to that.

Titus O’Neil vs. Zack Ryder

 

Regal has a quick thing about Ryder also: his old partner Dave Taylor had a hand in training Ryder.  Ryder charges straight at him which gets him beaten up.  Grisham actually mentions the Youtube show and the Internet Championship.  Titus gets a headlock on for awhile and then runs Ryder over.  Horny bites Ryder on the license plate on his tights, allowing O’Neil to get a school boy for two as we take a break.

Back with Ryder taking over after a knee lift.  He chokes away a lot as I guess he’s still a heel on TV.  They need to pick one or the other, because he’s constantly changing back and forth.  Off to the chinlock as Regal points out that Horny is the only person that keeps Titus going.  Ryder gets a running facewash in the corner which has a proper name that I can’t think of.  It only gets two and it’s back to the chinlock.  They get back up and here’s the comeback for Titus.  Ryder hits the floor and goes after Horny, prompting a brief bit on the floor.  Back in, O’Neil walks into the Rough Ryder for the pin at 8:30.

Rating: C. Not bad but kind of long here.  The reaction for Ryder was ok at best which isn’t really that surprising.  He’s ok in the ring but not particularly good.  Also interesting to hear them actually acknowledge his Youtube show and a nice little change of pace.  The match itself was just kind of there and not that interesting.

Overall Rating: C-. Not a horrible show here and thankfully we get it down to the final two next week.  If the matches were a bit better this could work overall.  The same old issues come up again here: everyone has faced each other time after time and there’s no one caring about anything.  The season almost has to be winding down soon though so at least we can get a fresh batch next season.  Not horrible overall tonight though.

Results

Yoshi Tatsu/Vladimir Kozlov/Conor O’Brian b. Darren Young/JTG/Chavo Guerrer – High Kick to JTG

Zack Ryder b. Titus O’Neil – Rough Ryder

NXT
Date: May 17, 2011
Location: American Bank Center Arena Corpus Christi, Texas
Commentators: Todd Grisham, William Regal

FINALLY, it’s the 11^th week of the show and it’s time for the first elimination in this series.  This isn’t an interesting show in the slightest and it’s not helping at all that the guys out there are rather boring indeed.  Hopefully O’Brian goes home tonight, which likely means it’ll be him vs. Novak in the final two because they’re the most bland out of all these guys.  If you don’t believe that that’s what it takes to win here, just ask Johnny Curtis.  Let’s get to it.

Naturally we open with a recap of the season and a voiceover saying it ends here for someone.  They’re still wild and young apparently.

Darren Young vs. Titus O’Neil

 

No Horny still so Titus shouts WHERE IS HE.  Young knows apparently but he’s being a meanie and won’t tell.  No Chavo either.  Did anyone check under the ring?  Young takes him down as he takes advantage of the big man’s emotions.  Titus takes over with power but takes a boot to the face after a two count.  Titus takes over again and we cut to the back with Chavo pounding on a box with chains on it, saying Horny is inside and needs help getting out.  He goes to get tools and Titus runs to the back to help and it’s a count out at 3:15.  Barely a match so no rating as about 30 seconds was footage from the back.

Titus gets Horny out, apparently knowing the back of the arena that well.  Chavo jumps him with a weapon of some kind and pulls Horny off by the beard.  Chavo shouts about remembering what Horny did to him and we go back to the arena where Young is still in the ring.  Young holds him down and Horny takes a Frog Splash.  Titus runs out for the save.

That’s What I Am ad.  You know, before the anti-bullying organization they started I kind of wanted to see it.  Now I want to hang a kid from a flag pole and berate him until he loses all conscious thought while taking his lunch money.

Horny has been taken to the hospital and Titus went with him.  That’s devotion to a leprechaun if I’ve ever seen it.

Package on Cena vs. Miz at the PPV.  This, as usual, takes far too much time.

Yoshi Tatsu vs. Byron Saxton

 

I love how Yoshi is just listed as being from Japan.  Not a city, not a part of it, just Japan.  They go to the corner to start as Regal won’t say who he thinks is going home but there’s an implication that it’s Novak.  They chop it out and Tatsu is all ticked off.  Arm drags commence and there’s the armbar by Yoshi.  Shining Wizard misses and here comes Saxton as the crowd goes silent.  Tatsu fights back with ease and fires off some kicks for two.  Yoshi goes up top and a spinwheel kick ends this clean at 3:30.  It’s as abrupt as it sounds.

Rating: D. About 10 months ago I saw Tatsu vs. Jericho in a match taped for Superstars.  It was an awesome ten minute plus match where Tatsu had me almost believing he could pull off the upset.  This was absolutely nothing like that.  Tatsu is more or less worthless here as are all Pros not named Chavo.  Terribly dull match that solved or helped nothing in the slightest.

Striker brings out Maryse who looks great in a blue dress.  She brings out Kozlov and O’Brian to talk about their bet with JTG and Novak.  Here are Novak and JTG appropriately enough.  Regal blasts both guys the entire time which is kind of amusing.  This is the finale of the bet which is which pro can make their rookie the most like their pro.  The audience is the judge as always.  Novak declares the crowd haters and bashes Regal a bit.  Novak raps a bit while JTG runs his mouth a lot.  For this bet it’s 6:30 because they’ve won hands down.  Regal’s reaction to this is priceless.

Vlad and O’Brian do some mostly synchronized dancing and some sambo/martial arts stuff.  Boards are broken.  Now what did those boards ever do to them?  Someone get the arbor foundation or whatever tree lovers are called!  Usually I would say this is as dumb as it sounds, but it’s actually dumber.  Naturally the dancing men that make Bruce Lee turn over and cover his eyes in his grave win.  JTG tries to jump Vlad and dang it we’re getting a match.

JTG vs. Vladimir Kozlov

 

This is joined in progress with JTG slapping Vlad, only to get suplexed as Vlad gets his Magnum TA on.  Well at least it’s not a tag match so we don’t have to watch the rookies fight.  JTG gets sent to the floor and yells at Regal, only to get taken back to the ring by Vlad.  Now Kozlov is sent to the floor as Regal talks about being in charge of the Ruthless (formerly Regal) Roundtable.  JTG takes over and sits on the arm as he hammers away.  That’s rather smart actually and not something you often see a guy do.

Modified X-Factor out of the corner by JTG which is called a Mug Shot.  Why is it that a majority of black wrestlers all have the character of thugs, jocks or savages?  Not saying they’ve done anything wrong mind you, but rather that they’re stereotyped so badly it’s unreal.  Vlad makes his comeback but gets caught in a neckbreaker to take him down.  A headbutt to the chest as JTG comes off the middle rope takes him down and a modified spinebuster ends JTG at 5:20.

Rating: D+. Just a match here which meant nothing for the most part.  Hopefully this is going to end the whole bet story and we can get rid of one of these guys.  Also, was there a point to this being on a show about the rookies?  It’s like parents fighting at a Little League game.  On the other hand it kept Novak and O’Brian out of the ring so how much can I complain?

Yoshi comes up to Maryse in the back and she talks about the stuff Cannon got her.  Yoshi breaks up with her and Maryse is like whatever.  Cannon pops up and promises her a shopping spree in this rather pointless segment.

Jacob Novak is gone first.  THANK GOODNESS!  Now get O’Brian out and this show is downright watchable.  He says the usual “I’ll be back” thing.  JTG rants to the fans as well.

Results

Darren Young b. Titus O’Neil via countout

Yoshi Tatsu b. Byron Saxton – Spinwheel kick from the top rope

Vladimir Kozlov b. JTG – Spinebuster

Jacob Novak was eliminated in 6th place

NXT
Date: May 3, 2011
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Todd Grisham, William Regal

We’re here for week 9 I think of this season and tonight we get the blowoff (I guess) to one of the season’s biggest angles (kind of) as Regal faces Novak.  I’d bet on seeing a lot about last night’s Raw and in particular the birthday party for Rock.  Something tells me this is going to be more of the same stuff we’ve seen all season long, which means this show will just kind of be there.  Let’s get to it.

Theme song talks about the theme of the show in a musical format.

Darren Young vs. Chavo Guerrero

 

Horny is guest referee for no apparent reason.  Titus is on commentary for no apparent reason.  I’m having some connection issues here so there’s a chance this is going to be spotty at times.  I’ll do my best though.  Horny checks every bit of Young’s attire including his hair.  Apparently he has an illegal boot so Darren has to fight in one boot.  Horny stomps on his foot and we’re ready to go.

Titus and Regal debate the merits of wrestling barefoot which is just weird to hear from Titus.  He has a VERY deep voice that almost makes him hard to understand but once you get used to that he’s well spoken and makes some decent points.  Chavo dominates to start with basic stuff and throws on an armbar.  And there goes my feed.  Back with Chavo “hitting” a dive to the floor and by that I mean he mostly crashed and his leg hit Young.  We take an actual break after that.

Back after maybe 10 seconds with another armbar by Chavo.  We hit the floor again as my feed continues to be choppy.  I’m sorry about this guys but we’re having some weather issues here tonight.  Young takes over and fires Chavo into the ring, only to get caught by right hands.  Young gets a cover and Horny won’t count at a regular speed for him.  Regal is in wrestling gear at ringside.

Darren gets in the face of Titus for a bit as Horny still won’t count.  Young keeps pounding away and we hit the chinlock.  Chavo gets a sweet dropkick and a headscissors to take over a bit.  Horny counts for him but gets knocked down on a reversed suplex so he can’t count a Northern Lights Suplex for Young.  And Horny bites Young on what’s about eye level for him, setting up Three Amigos and the Frog Splash to end this at 9:15.  I missed roughly a minute and a half of that if you’re curious.

Rating: C-. What I saw of this was pretty dull as it was Young using his very basic offense on Chavo while Horny wouldn’t count at all.  Not much of a match but it was a god idea of course to have a guy like Chavo out there to help him as he’s going to be fine out there with his basic stuff as always.  That’s what he did here and the majority of what this had is attributed to Chavo as Young is just dull overall.

We see O’Brian and Kozlov talking earlier today about Kozlov saying O’Brian needs special skills.  Kozlov demonstrates his special skills by breaking a board over his head.  O’Brian does the same but might need a doctor.

Conor O’Brian vs. Lucky Cannon

 

O’Brian grabs a headlock to start as it’s a feeling out process.  Let the boringness begin here as there’s nothing of note going on.  Cannon puts on a headscissor choke as we’re just waiting to get to the end of the match.  O’Brian is a guy that would do FAR better in an old school system as he could develop a character in indy companies and then come back to WWE a few years later.  The problem is he has nothing at all that distinguishes him from any generic wrestler.  Anyway, O’Brian makes a small comeback but Kidd interferes and the reverse FU/Death Valley Driver ends it at 4:11.

Rating: F+. Conor manages to bring down another decent guy on this show.  I don’t know what they see in him other than he’s managing to be the dullest character of all time.  Actually that would imply he has a character.  The thing with him is his in ring stuff isn’t terrible.  It’s not good but it’s passable I guess.  He has zero character or charisma though and I don’t want to watch him in the slightest which is the worst thing you can say about a wrestler.

We recap the Kharma thing last night to explain why Maryse isn’t here.  Anything that lets me see Kelly in those shorts is a good thing.

 

Saxton comes up to Yoshi and apologizes for attacking him last week.  He wants to fix their relationship but Yoshi cuts him off, saying he needs to check on Maryse.  Saxton says that’s enough and he’s on his own now.

 

William Regal vs. Jacob Novak

 

It’s 10:30 and this is your main event, meaning we’re getting a LONG Rock video to end it.  Striker is on commentary for this.  Novak tries to talk like JTG and my head hurts.  He says that Regal is just an announcer so he means nothing.  Novak is going to make him famous.  Just….no.  Regal calls JTG a Muppet so the match is switched.

William Regal vs. JTG

 

Oh joy.  Basic match to start as Regal does what he can with the jobber heel (I guess?).  Regal sends him to the floor and JTG stalls.  Back in Novak cheats and it does nothing.  About three minutes have passed already and there’s just nothing to say about this match because there’s almost no point to these two fighting.  Regal gets the knee trembler and Novak runs in for the DQ at 6:00.

Rating: D-. I know I shortchanged this match but at the same time I just did not care.  There’s no reason for these two to fight and yet they did it anyway.  The match was boring beyond belief the entire time and the ending just keeps this going even longer.  Novak NEEDS a match with a guy like Regal because it’s kind of interesting actually.  Instead a jobber lost to Regal by DQ.  Terrible main event to a terrible show.

We get a long recap video of last night’s Raw set to a combination of I’m Coming Home by Diddy Dirty Money and Pitbull’s song.  We also see Cole getting beat up.

 

Overall Rating: F. This was the worst show this season and possibly this entire series has had ever.  The matches were weak, the main event which has had a decent build didn’t happen and nothing interesting happened in the slightest.  This season just needs to end as nothing of note is going on here anymore at all.  There’s no sense of competition and there’s no sense of this ending anytime soon.  It’s like we’re on a treadmill with this show and that’s really getting annoying.  I had zero desire to watch this after about five minutes in and that really does not happen to me when I’m watching wrestling.  Terrible, terrible show.

 

Results

Chavo Guerrero b. Darren Young – Frog Splash

Lucky Cannon b. Conor O’Brian – Fireman’s carry into a mat slam

William Regal b. JTG via disqualification when Jacob Novak interfered