NXT
Date: May 15, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Brad Maddox

The main event tonight is Langston defending the title against Damien Sandow which is a good match for him. Sandow is a main show guy and a match against him wouldn’t do any harm at all to Langston’s status in NXT. Other than that we’ll get to see where the Wyatt Family goes with their new titles. Let’s get to it.

After a quick video on the title match tonight and the theme song we’re ready to go.

Summer Rae vs. Natalya

Summer is now doing the Maryse hair toss. A quick headlock takes Natalya down but Summer uses those long legs of hers to counter into a headscissors. They stay on the mat with Natalya grabbing an armbar until we hit a standoff. After hitting the ropes a few times, Natalya tries the Sharpshooter to no avail. Instead it’s a discus lariat for two on Summer but she manages to send Natalya to the apron. An enziguri gets two on Natayla and we take a break.

Back with Summer getting two off something we didn’t see and firing off kicks in the corner. Apparently this is happening because Summer said Natalya hung out with freaks in Horny and Khali. A back elbow to the face gets two for Summer and she cranks on Natalya’s arm on the mat. Cue Paige as Natalya counters into the Sharpshooter, only to have Summer kick off and send Natayla into Paige. With Paige on the floor, Summer rolls Natalya up for the pin at 5:46 shown of 9:16.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what it needed to be. Summer looked great out there (both in the ring and in those shorts of hers) and didn’t at all look to be in over her head. While she isn’t lighting the ring on fire or anywhere close to it, she looks more than competent out there and worked a decent enough match here. Also she won as close to clean as you can get as she didn’t even see Paige behind Natalya.

Paige chases Summer off post match.

Sami Zayn (El Generico) is debuting against Curt Hawkins next week and says this isn’t his first rodeo.

Here’s Bray Wyatt with a gray mask on his face (due to a broken nose) and what looks like a leather apron. He says this is the new face of fear and no matter who looks into his face, they can’t hurt him because he is already dead.

Danny Burch vs. Bray Wyatt

Burch is from London and has his own music. Wyatt starts with a slap to the face and takes Burch down with ease. A chinlock allows Bray to drill him in the face with a forearm before hitting that cross body of his. The splash in the corner sets up Sister Abigail for the pin at 2:07. Total squash.

Bo Dallas comes up to Adrian Neville but doesn’t seem to care about Neville’s update on Oliver Grey’s injury. Instead he’d rather talk about John Cena winning the Rumble, which Dallas happened to be in. Neville might just make it after all. Adrian has no idea what Dallas is talking about, but Dallas would rather talk about a #1 contenders battle royal in two weeks. Neville is in as well….and that’s that. This was pretty awkward but Dallas was acting rather heelish.

Conor O’Brian vs. Sakamoto/Briley Pierce

O’Brian beat up both guys last week so tonight it’s a handicap match. Sakamoto starts and is easily thrown down off a double chicken wing lift. Off to Pierce who is caught in a series of headlock takeovers. A suplex puts Briley down and it’s back to Sakamoto who has no effect with some chops. O’Brian pounds them both down with ease before hitting a splash to both guys at once in the corner. A very impressive double flapjack sets up a double pin for O’Brian at 2:36. Another total squash.

Post match Rick Victor comes out to the stage for a staredown with O’Brian.

Corey Graves says that his entire life has been ups and downs. You have to fail before you can succeed, but if you keep fighting you can win. He’ll be in the battle royal in two weeks and get the title shot he wants. Bray Wyatt of all people comes in and wants to know why Graves is here while the greatest war in human history is going on outside his door. Kassius Ohno knows what Bray talking about but Bray doesn’t go into any more depth than that. He says he owns NXT and that he’s the eater of worlds. Corey says he doesn’t have his own family but if the Wyatt Family keeps messing with him, they’re going down.

NXT Title: Damien Sandow vs. Big E. Langston

Apparently it’s Graves vs. Wyatt next week. Langston powers Sandow into the corner to start before running him over with a shoulder. Damien escapes the Big Ending so Langston shouts FIVE. A slam puts Sandow down again and Big E. pounds away on the ribs. Maddox says that wrestling Langston is like wrestling a frozen bison. Sandow is dropped on his back out of the corner but fights out of another Big Ending attempt.

We take a break and come back with Langston suplexing Sandow down. Big E. misses a charge into the corner though, allowing Sandow to clothesline him in the back of the head to take over. We hit the chinlock but Langston powers up, only to be hit with a dropkick. Off to a headscissors by Damien for a bit before he gets two off a top rope ax handle. Some knee drops to the chest get the same and it’s back to the chinlock.

Langston fights up and hits a quick belly to belly suplex and a series of hard clotheslines. Big E. fires off five knees to the ribs but Damien counters the Big Ending into an Edge-O-Matic for two. The Wind-Up elbow misses but Damien hits a swinging neckbreaker. A second attempt at the elbow connects but the Terminus is countered into the Big Ending to retain Langston’s title at 11:28 shown of 14:58.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what it was supposed to be. I don’t think Sandow was ever a real threat to win the title here, but at the same time it gave Langston a good looking win over a main show regular. It wasn’t a bad match at all and there were some nice false finishes at the end with Sandow countering the Big Ending a few times.

Post match another Big Ending gets Langston the five count to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Another good episode here as we have something set up for next week as well as two weeks from now. Sandow did a fine job here of giving Langston something to do until we have a new #1 contender for him to fight. The Graves vs. Wyatt Family story is interesting, as is Dallas’ teased heel turn. Good show tonight, as is the norm in NXT.

Results

Summer Rae b. Natayla – Rollup

Bray Wyatt b. Danny Burch – Sister Abigail

Conor O’Brian b. Briley Pierce/Sakamoto – Double Flapjack

Big E. Langston b. Damien Sandow – Big Ending

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: March 6, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

We’re back in Florida for more NXT where the Shield made their presence known again last week, breaking up a #1 contender’s match between Conor O’Brian and Corey Graves after presumably attacking Bo Dallas. Other than that we had the Wyatt Family get even stronger than usual by having Bray himself get in the ring for some destruction. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Commissioner Dusty Rhodes to open things up. He announces the main event for tonight as Graves vs. O’Brian vs. Dallas for the next shot at the title with extra security to keep the Shield from interfering.

Welcome Home.

Adrian Neville/Oliver Grey vs. Judas Devlin/Scott Dawson

Neville and Grey are tag champions but this is non-title. There’s no Grey though and Neville doesn’t know where he is. He was here earlier but somewhere in between there he disappeared. Neville agrees to fight them on his own and starts against Dawson. A quick arm wringer puts Dawson down and it’s off to an armbar. It’s off to Judas who is a big tattooed man with long hair. Judas doesn’t do much of note before it’s back to Dawson.

Devlin comes back in for a chinlock as the numbers game is starting to catch up with Neville. As the hold is on, the Wyatt Family drags Grey out to the stage. Grey is barely conscious and is reaching towards the ring. Neville fights out of the hold but is distracted by Grey, allowing the team to take over again. Dawson puts Adrian on the top but gets knocked down, allowing Neville to hit the corkscrew shooting star press for the pin at 3:21.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but it’s about the story rather than the match. The Wyatt Family wanting revenge for losing in the title match is the right idea and it sets up a good dynamic of the much smaller champions having to fight the monsters with an even bigger disadvantage. That shooting star is absolutely stunning too.

Neville checks on his partner post match.

Leo Kruger vs. Yoshi Tatsu

The fans cheer for Yoshi as I’m guessing they meant to go to the Nintendo convention instead of this show. Kruger grabs a headlock to start but gets caught in an atomic drop followed by a second one for good measure. Kruger comes back by sending Yoshi’s shoulder into the buckle before cranking on the arm on the mat. Yoshi finally makes a rope and fights up but a shot to the arm stops him cold. Kruger hits a big clothesline and finishes Tatsu with a seated armbar at 2:59. Total squash.

Sasha Banks/Cameron/Naomi vs. Audrey Marie/Alicia Fox/Aksana

Cameron and Naomi dance a lot before the match. Fox and Banks start things off with Sasha taking over with a headscissors. Off to Aksana who has just as much luck as her partner before it’s off to Cameron. Oh wait we need a dance break. Back to the wrestling now with Audrey getting in a kick to Cameron’s back from the apron to take over. Aksana puts her in the corner and does that crawl of hers, only to get caught by a cross body for two by Cameron.

Back to Fox who gets a quick one count off a northern lights suplex. Off to Audrey now who hooks a body scissors which only lasts for a few seconds before Cameron can tag off to Naomi. Things speed up as Naomi hits a flying clothesline to Audrey and an enziguri for two on Aksana. A leg lariat is enough to pin Audrey at 4:25.

Rating: C-. As usual, the Divas of NXT are far more interesting and talented than those of Raw and Smackdown. Cameron isn’t much in the ring but Naomi has good athleticism and energy. Unfortunately here the focus was on the main show girls instead of the more talented NXT girls because they’re the “stars”.

Bo Dallas talks about how his career is skyrocketing right now due to winning the NXT Tournament and beating Wade Barrett on Raw. Bray Wyatt comes up and talks about laying out Dallas a few weeks ago. If Dallas had accepted Wyatt’s offer to join the Family, he would have been protected against the Shield last week. Bo says stay away from him because he isn’t interested. Wyatt calls him a foolish young man.

Alberto Del Rio will be here next week.

Summer Rae insists on being called the First Lady of NXT and insists on the interviewer introducing her again. Rae talks about putting Paige on the shelf for good and taking away her popularity. If Rebecca, the interviewer, ever introduces her improperly again, she’ll be taken out like trash.

Shield reassures us that they’re still here to shield us from injustice. The injustice from last week was O’Brian, Dallas and Graves believing they deserved a title shot. Ambrose talks about putting a crack in the foundation of WWE. They’ve done it on Raw and Smackdown so it’s time to do it here on NXT. It should be Rollins getting the title shot, not any of those three.

Corey Graves vs. Conor O’Brian vs. Bo Dallas

The winner gets the title shot at Langston at some point in the future. O’Brian runs over Dallas to start and Graves stomps away. Conor doesn’t seem interested in helping him so instead he beats up Corey for a bit. Graves manages to send him to the floor and puts Bo in a chinlock as we take a break. Back with Dallas sending Graves to the floor but as he follows, Conor pops up to clothesline Dallas down. With Conor on the apron, Corey fires some shoulder to his ribs. That gets him nowhere though as O’Brian knocks him away and gets two off a top rope clothesline.

Dallas is back in now but O’Brian keeps full control of the match. Conor wraps his legs around Graves’ head for a neck crank, getting two as a result. The attention shifts to Dallas now with O’Brian throwing him into Graves in the corner which gets another two count. Graves gets a boot up in the corner to stagger O’Brian, allowing Dallas and Corey to double team Conor with a double suplex.

The alliance is short lived though as they start fighting each other again, resulting in a belly to back suplex by Bo. Dallas pounds away in the corner but stops when he sees Bray Wyatt on the apron. We take another break and come back with Graves pounding away on both guys. A gordbuster gets two on Bo and there’s a half crab for good measure. Conor breaks it up but Graves beats him down as a result. Dallas is sent to the apron but goes up and gets crotched right back down. Corey loads up a superplex but O’Brian pulls him off the ropes and slams him face first into the mat.

Bo hits a quick missile dropkick on Conor for two as Bray is coming closer to the ring. O’Brian is sent face first into the buckle and has Dallas use his body as a springboard for a tornado bulldog on Graves, getting two. A DDT gets two on O’Brian but Graves kicks out Dallas’ leg. There’s the 13^th Step leg lock on Bo but O’Brian comes in and puts Corey in a Koji Clutch to break the hold.

Bo breaks up that hold and is all fired up now. O’Brian is dropkicked to the floor and the belly to belly puts Graves down, but Wyatt pulls Corey to the floor. Bo breaks his concentration and yells at Wyatt, allowing O’Brian to hit him with a full nelson slam for the pin at 12:11 shown of 19:11.

Rating: B. Good stuff here as they had a lot of time to work with. Wyatt and Dallas building their story was a good idea and it makes the most sense to have O’Brian win, as he and Langston have unfinished business to get to. This was a solid main event and it sets up more for future shows, so what else can you ask of it?

Overall Rating: B. There was a lot of angle advancement here with a good match to top it off. The Wyatt Family getting a renewed push is a good thing to see and hopefully we’ll get some more of the awesome promos to back it up. NXT continues to be an entertaining week to week show as they make you want to come back for more. So few shows get that concept anymore and it’s nice to see for a change.

Results

Adrian Neville b. Scott Dawson/Judas Devlin – Corkscrew Shooting Star Press to Dawson

Leo Kruger b. Yoshi Tatsu – Seated Armbar

Sasha Banks/Cameron/Naomi b. Audrey Marie/Alicia Fox/Aksana – Leg lariat to Marie

Conor O’Brian b. Bo Dallas and Corey Graves – Full Nelson Slam to Dallas

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: February 27, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Tony Dawson

Back for another week here and we now have a new challenger for Langston in the form of Corey Graves. This is a good idea as Graves never got to have his title match due to the Shield interfering the first time. Other than that the main focus has actually been on the Divas division which works far better here than it does in WWE. Let’s get to it.

We open with Bo Dallas in the back with Dusty Rhodes, the NXT GM. Corey Graves comes in, carrying the NXT Title belt that he stole last week. Dusty talks about earning things, like Bo earned his spot in the Royal Rumble by winning a tournament. Tonight it’s Graves vs. Dallas vs. Conor O’Brian for the #1 contender’s spot.

Opening sequence.

Justin Gabriel vs. Leo Kruger

Justin has Tyson Kidd with him and this is fallout from last week where Kruger tried to attack the injured Kidd, only to have Gabriel make the save. We hear a brief history of the two guys as they were both trained in South Africa. Gabriel avoids a shot in the corner and chops away at Kruger’s chest before they circle each other some more. Another chop staggers Leo and we head to the mat with Justin holding a headlock.

This hold stays on for a good while as two minutes later it’s finally broken up. Gabriel comes right back with an arm trap headscissors for a bit before it’s right back to the headlock. Now it’s Kruger with his own headlock but Justin comes back with a headscissors to send Leo to the outside. We take a break and come back with Leo running over Justin with a shoulder block. A spinebuster puts Justin down for two before Kruger sends him shoulder first into the post for two.

Leo cranks on the arm for a bit before Justin fights back via kicks to the chest. A DDT on the arm puts Justin right back down for two and it’s back to the arm. Back to the armbar for a few minutes until Gabriel escapes via a snapmare. A nice series of kicks takes Kruger down as does a discus forearm. Gabriel hits a splash in the corner followed by a springboard cross body for two.

Justin goes up again, only to have Kruger knock him off the top and snap the bad arm down over the top rope. A BIG running clothesline takes Justin’s head off but somehow only gets two. Leo tries a superplex, only to be countered into a sunset bomb off the top. The 450 finally hits (with Gabriel selling the arm even while covering) for the pin on Kruger at 11:03 shown of 13:33.

Rating: B-. This was a very entertaining match that came out of almost nowhere. They were going back and forth the entire time and the arm stuff was a nice touch. It loses some significant points because of how long they spent in that headlock, but other than that I have very few complaints here. This was one of the better matches I’ve seen in a long time on NXT.

Post match Kruger hits Gabriel with Kidd’s crutch.

Aksana vs. Emma

Emma dances (badly) to the ring and tries to skin the cat to get into the ring but can’t quite get over the ropes. Aksana whips her into the corner to start and crawls over to Emma, only to have the Aussie (Emma) head to the apron. She kicks the ropes and seems to trip down to the floor. So is she a klutz?

Back in and a hair drag puts Aksana down so Emma can mock the crawling thing that Aksana does. Aksana comes back with a slam and drops an elbow for two. Emma pulls her down by the hair again and puts on a cravate for good measure. Aksana counters what appears to be a dancing suplex and hits a spinebuster for the pin at 4:39.

Rating: D+. What does it say for your career when you’re jobbing to Aksana? This was a step up for Aksana but she’s still not very good. Emma has only been around a few times on NXT and the dancing bit is only going to carry her so far, especially given how many other dancing characters there are in WWE at this time.

We cut to the back where Bo Dallas is unconscious.

Corey Graves vs. Conor O’Brian

There’s no Dallas in sight at the moment so I guess this is one on one now. The winner gets a shot at Langston. Graves goes for a leg to start and is easily shoved away. Another attempt gets the same result before O’Brian runs him over a few times with some hard shoulders. Off to a headlock on the mat by Conor which shifts into a nerve hold. We take a break and come back with Graves being backdropped over the top and out to the floor.

Back in and O’Brian keeps up the punishment as he stops a comeback attempt cold. Graves is sent to the floor and gets a breather, allowing him to wrap Conor’s leg around the post a few times. Back inside and Corey cranks on the leg with a leg lock before cannonballing down onto it. Off to another leg lock which transitions into a kind of modified Texas Cloverleaf, only with Graves laying on his side and cranking back on the legs instead of sitting on the back.

We take another break and come back with both guys on the floor again. Graves punches away at the limping O’Brian before getting two back inside. Back to another leg lock but O’Brian rips at his face to break the hold. They slug it out with O’Brian taking over and hitting a flapjack….and there go the lights. The lights come back on and the Shield is here for a no contest at approximately 9:30 shown of 14:30.

Rating: C+. While still good, this wasn’t as good as the first match. Graves going for the knee was the right move as his finish is a leg lock. Why is that such a complicated idea for so many people to grasp anymore? The finish probably ties into the Dallas attack which is fine, and it’s nice to see Shield still around here. If nothing else they have unfinished business around the NXT Title.

Graves takes the TripleBomb as the fans chant for Shield. Ambrose says Shield isn’t done with NXT. Rollins promises that things will get better, but first they have to get worse.

Overall Rating: B. This show is the most continuously entertaining hour of wrestling every single week. We had two solid matches here, a not terrible Divas match, and a run-in by the top heel group of the main roster. Oh and Dallas was attacked, which may or may not be because of the Shield. This was a solid show and very entertaining for an hour of wrestling. Good stuff.

Results

Justin Gabriel b. Leo Kruger – 450 Splash

Aksana b. Emma – Spinebuster

Corey Graves vs. Conor O’Brian went to a no contest when Shield interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: February 20, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, William Regal

We’re back in Florida and we finally have some tag team champions in the form of Neville and Grey. The main story for tonight is the title match between Conor O’Brian and Big E. Langston which has been built up for weeks. Also I believe we find out who Sasha Banks’ secret admirer is, which would have been better suited for last week around Valentine’s Day but it’s not too far off. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the title win last week.

Opening sequence.

Yoshi Tatsu vs. Bray Wyatt

This is a good idea as the Wyatt Family lost last week, so having Wyatt himself get in the ring, I believe for the second time on NXT, is a way to redeem the Family. Wyatt no sells everything and throws Tatsu down with a wicked release Rock Bottom. A BIG running splash crushes Tatsu in the corner and a fast spinning Downward Spiral gets the pin at 1:37. Total squash.

Wyatt tells his family to get in the ring. He shows them a clip of the ending of the title match last week and blames Harper for the loss. He tells Rowan to hit Harper for it so Rowan smacks him in the face. Wyatt tells Harper to hit Rowan for having to carry Rowan. He says fight it out then tells them to stop because he’s proud of them. These three are still very creepy and it’s rather awesome.

Here’s Sasha Banks in the back and she’s excited about meeting the admirer. Another note is delivered and some brunette chick jumps Sasha. She (no name given but it might be Audrey Marie) beats Sasha down and says get out of NXT.

I’m Coming Home Wrestlemania video.

El Local vs. Xavier Woods

Local is Ricardo Rodriguez under a mask. They’ve taken away the Angel Grove part of Woods’ character, making him far less interesting already. Phillips says that Woods looks like Steve Urkel if he spent five days at the gym. Phillips wasn’t a fan of that show was he? The fans chant Power Rangers at Woods as he hits a leg sweep for two. Local hits a kick to the back of the head for two and stomps away in the corner.

A running low enziguri gets two more as Phillips declares Local to be portly. Local hooks a chinlock to no avail but he sends Woods into the corner for two. Back to el chinlock followed by another hard kick to the back of Woods’ head for two. There’s chinlock #3 as the fans are still staying with Xavier. Woods fights up and hits a flying headscissors to take over. A missile dropkick gets two so Woods takes him to the corner and a tornado DDT gets the pin at 4:40.

Rating: D. Remember how much fun Woods was before? Forget all that. Now he’s just a guy with an afro that dances a lot and has nothing interesting about him at all. The Power Rangers thing at least appealed to the nerds in the audience and had some nostalgia for people in their mid-20s, but this version of him is as dull as his name sounds.

The doctor says Paige’s shoulder is messed up but she’s improving.

Apparently O’Brian vs. Langston is NOT for the title. We’ve spent this much time hearing O’Brian talking about the title and building up the match and it’s NOT for the belt? Why in the world not?

Audrey Marie vs. Sasha Banks

Banks turns it into a brawl to start but Audrey pulls her by the hair to take over. Off to a half nelson on Banks which transfers into a chinlock and then a bow and arrow. Sasha comes back with a headscissors and a dropkick to the……uh…….Regal: “Sternum.” Phillips: “Yeah sternum.” Marie shrugs it off and hits a wheelbarrow facebuster (apparently called the Photo Finish) for the pin at 2:05. Short and ok.

Summer Rae isn’t concerned about Paige. She is however concerned with the nail she broke during the fight. Rae declares herself the first lady of NXT. It’s amazing how much more interesting the Divas are here when they’re treated even somewhat seriously.

New Orleans is hosting Wrestlemania XXX. I can’t wait.

Here’s the injured Tyson Kidd to update us on his condition. Kidd says he doesn’t know when he’ll be back but guarantees that he will be someday. Phillips asks Kidd about Punk calling Kidd an unappreciated workhorse. Kidd says he’s flattered and says that being a workhorse is a way of life, not something you learn. This brings out Leo Kruger who says Kidd looks like a wounded animal: weak and vulnerable. Leo kicks the crutch away but Justin Gabriel runs in for the save before anything bad can happen.

Conor O’Brian vs. Big E. Langston

Non-title for no apparent reason. The fans fire up Langston to start and they lock up. That goes to a standoff so they head to opposite corners and charge into another lockup. Langston charges into an elbow to stagger him and Conor pounds away in the corner. Langston punches back and clotheslines O’Brian to the floor as we take a break. Back with the champion going shoulder first into a post and O’Brian yelling a lot.

Off to an arm trap chinlock by O’Brian but a FIVE chant brings Langston back to life. Conor takes him back down with a full nelson slam for two and it’s the return of the chinlock. Langston fights up again and hits some knee lifts to the ribs before a slugout ensues. They brawl in the corner until the referee tries to break it up. That doesn’t work either so he throws it out at 6:34 shown of 10:04.

Rating: C+. The match wasn’t that exciting but it did a great job at setting up a rematch down the line. O’Brian looked like he could easily hang with someone like Langston which was the biggest concern about him getting this show. This was a good old fashioned power brawl which is one of the hard to screw up formulas. Good stuff here.

Post match Corey Graves jumps Langston from behind to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. As is the case week in and week out with NXT, they can bring in a different batch of people every week and the stories stay consistently strong. Here we had some of the same names that we saw last week but there were also different names brought in to keep things fresh. That’s really impressive booking and it keeps the show from getting stale. Another good effort here as NXT stays strong.

Results

Bray Wyatt b. Yoshi Tatsu – Spinning Downward Spiral

Xavier Woods b. El Local – Tornado DDT

Audrey Marie b. Sasha Banks – Photo Finish

Big E. Langston vs. Conor O’Brian went to a double DQ when they wouldn’t stop brawling

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: June 28, 2011
Location: US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: William Regal, Todd Grisham

It’s another elimination week to get us down to the final two which will hopefully end soon after that.  The final three are Darren Young, Conor O’Brian and Titus O’Neil.  It seems like the competition is Titus’ to lose here but you never know with this show.  That being said, I’d probably bet on O’Brian to win it because we all want to see him for another four months down the road right?  Let’s get to it.

Here’s Darren Young who now has no pro as Chavo has left.  Young says that Chavo quit because he couldn’t handle the fact that his rookie was better.  Young points out how he’s faced Cena and main evented Summerslam this year which is something Chavo has never done.  True actually.

O’Brian comes out to say that after tonight, Young is done.  He promises utter destruction.

Darren Young vs. Conor O’Brian

They fight over a tieup to start and head to the floor.  Hot crowd tonight too.  Back inside and Conor takes over with a clothesline.  A shoulder by O’Brian gets two.  Young hits a neckbreaker on the apron and both guys are down as we take a break.  Back with O’Brian escaping a cravate but getting thrown down for two.  Off to a neck crank by Young which doesn’t last long.

Kozlov isn’t here tonight either apparently as he’s in Australia with the Raw roster.  Chinlock doesn’t work long and O’Brian hits a slingshot to send Young into the corner.  Young hits the ropes and gets his head kicked off by a big boot.  That looked good.  Regal brings up the point that these guys know each other way too well.  Young hits Three Amigos to the biggest heat he’s gotten since he had a big yellow N on his chest.  A Frog Splash ends this a few seconds later at 8:45.

Rating: C+. Not bad here and that big kick was the biggest part of the whole thing.  The lack of pros actually helped a lot here as it was just a competition rather than about the pros, which is the point of the show.  O’Brian is still dull but if he can get even a single move going for him it’s an improvement.

Tatsu is at his shrine with his action figure again and Kidd comes up and breaks it.  They have a match later but Yoshi jumps him and attacks him until he’s pulled off.

Tyson Kidd vs. Yoshi Tatsu

TYSON’S HAIR IS GONE!  He cut that little thing off his head and it’s due to Bret pulling on it apparently.  Yoshi is all ticked off and hammers away to start, sending Kidd to the floor.  HARD chops in the corner and Kidd is in trouble.  Kidd comes back, hitting what looked like a forearm off the middle rope.  On the floor he hits a dropkick to send Yoshi into the steps as we take a break.

Back and we’re in a chinlock by Kidd.  He works the arm and gets two off a hammerlock suplex.  Big kick into the arm has Yoshi in agony.  Fujiwara Armbar goes on which is becoming a very popular move anymore.  Yoshi starts his comeback with his variety of kicks.  Big kick gets a close two as the fans are into this again.  They go up and Kidd is shoved off.  He manages a dropkick to crotch Yoshi though and a top rope rana gets two.  I would have bet on that being the ending.  Rollup gets two for Yoshi.  Another big kick finally ends Kidd at 9:20.  Abrupt ending but rather good.

Rating: B. For NXT, this was AWESOME.  They were allowed to go out there and beat the heck out of each other.  Those kicks and 2 counts were great and I really didn’t know who was going to win there at the end.  Sick high kick to put Kidd down at the end also made this a very good match and one of the best NXT matches I’ve seen in a long time.

JTG is getting ready and here’s Horny in a trashcan which he’s able to walk in somehow.  O’Neil comes up to stop an attack because he’s only trying to steal the gold jewelry because he’s a leprechaun.  They get in an argument over what it’s made of.  I give up.

Titus O’Neil vs. JTG

Maryse is on commentary here for no reason other than “she feels like it”.  O’Neil throws him around as Regal and Maryse argue a bit.  Horny has a note for Maryse and it’s in English apparently.  It’s an old school style of do you love me?  Circle one.  We hear about the required height to date Maryse as JTG takes over a bit.  Maryse is taking pictures as O’Neil fights back.  JTG is sent to the floor and almost runs into Horny.  He gets on the apron and poses at JTG.  Back in the ring the Clash of the Titus ends this at 3:20.

Rating: C. Just a quick match here as Titus continues to be so far and away better than everyone else in this season it’s unreal.  Nothing of note here as JTG is still a jobber, no matter which way he’s leaning on the face/heel spectrum.  Maryse was far more of the focus here than the match and I can’t say I blame them here.

Maryse rips up the letter post match.

Raw Rebound eats up some time.  They only talk about the main event and the Punk promo though.  That’s still awesome stuff, but it makes me think Cena wins clean at the PPV.  Just parts of it here though instead of whole thing due to time.  Most of the controversial stuff here is gone.

Grisham says that Punk has been suspended indefinitely and Vince might be on Raw.

Time for the elimination and thankfully O’Brian is gone.  He asks Hunter (HHH I presume) for a chance to play the game.

But wait we’re not done yet because someone else is going to the finals.  Derrick Bateman is back and Bryan is his pro again.  What in the world?  Why are they adding someone else NOW?  Do they really want to extend this even further?  I’m going to be at the show on August 2.  There better be a new season by then.

Overall Rating: B. All things considered, this was the best episode of NXT in months.  There were good matches and the crowd was red hot all night.  O’Brian finally being gone is the right choice because you could make a case for Young or O’Neil winning the whole thing.  Bateman being added is uh….puzzling.  At least he was funny during his time here so it’s not too bad.  Good show this week that flew by in a good way.

Results

Darren Young b. Conor O’Brian – Frog Splash

Yoshi Tatsu b. Tyson Kidd – High Kick

Titus O’Neil b. JTG – Clash of the Titus

Conor O’Brian was eliminated in 3^rd place.

NXT
Date: June 14, 2011
Location: Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Todd Grisham, William Regal

Tonight is week fifteen, matching the longest season (season 1) of this show so far.  With the recent arrest of Lucky Cannon, there’s a chance he’s gone tonight.  That was definitely shocking news.  Not that he got arrested.  It was shocking that someone actually knew who he was.  My money is on someone not named O’Brian going home tonight because someone hates me.  Anyway let’s get to it.

The opening video is about Lucky Cannon and his interaction with Maryse over the course of the season.  Also last week the $3,500 purse Cannon got her was destroyed thanks to that pesky leprechaun.  If that was read out of context, it might make you think wrestling fans are really stupid for watching this product.  By reading it in context, we know for fact that they’re stupid for watching this.

Maryse brings out the rookies.  Oh and Striker is there with her.  Cannon is here with a different coat.  O’Brian is here with no apparent reason.  Young is here with the hair that will not die.  O’Neil is here with no Pro due to the attack by Truth last night.  Wait Striker just said eliminations, as in PLURAL!!!  Oh I’m all aflutter now.  The Redemption standings are as follows: O’Neil has nearly double what the other three combined have.  Maryse dashes my hopes by saying it’s just one elimination tonight.

The challenge is Talk the Talk and you get thirty seconds to say who should be eliminated.  Cannon says O’Neil for riding the coattails of his pro.  He has no charisma and won’t draw money.  The show is all about him apparently.  O’Neil makes fun of Cannon’s robe and says he’s smart.  Cannon has won nothing apparently and is just running behind Maryse.  Can you blame him though?  Still a bad promo, but far better than anything O’Neil has ever said.

O’Brian says Young should be gone because he’s had his opportunity already.  Young blew his chance and has already main evented Summerslam.  That’s a very good point and proof why Young either should be on the main roster or should be fired, depending on where you stand.  Young says he’s the best and that they should just give him the crowd now.  YES!  LISTEN TO THIS MAN!  Young jumps O’Brian and leaves.  Think that’s our main event?  We do the judging and Young gets the loudest pop actually but they call it a tie with O’Neil.  O’Neil does clearly get the biggest pop on the second try so I can live with that.

Darren Young vs. Yoshi Tatsu

This has the potential to not suck.  Tatsu works on the arm a lot and that’s about it for the start of this.  Remember when Tatsu was this hot thing on ECW?  How in the world has he fallen that far that fast?  We’re three and a half minutes into this now and there’s been nothing but the arm work so far.  Tatsu fires off some chops in the corner so Young punches him in the face.

Dropkick sends Young to the floor but he catches a DDT on the apron to Tatsu to take over.  Here comes JTG as we take a break.  Back with Young holding a front facelock and JTG is on commentary now.  Regal gets on JTG about various things and it stuns me that people actually liked JTG at some point.  Chinlock goes on by Young as this isn’t incredibly interesting.

Regal and JTG do their usual schtick and it’s kind of funny as always.  Young hits the chinlock some more to waste even more time.  How is it possible that this show is already halfway over?  Tatsu breaks the hold and takes Young down to start his comeback.  Some kicks abound and up he goes.  And speaking of go, there goes my feed.  By the time it’s back Yoshi is hammering away with nothing but strikes.  What a shock.  Double knees in the corner and a spinwheel kick get two.  Shining Wizard gets two.  Yoshi goes up but Chavo distracts him, allowing Young to pull him off the top for the pin at approximately 13:50.

Rating: D+. Based on just what I saw, this was pretty weak.  There’s no real point to having these guys fight and that’s what makes this show not work.  They can have these pointless matches all they want but the matches get really dull after awhile.  Tatsu and Young have no reason to fight and that becomes apparent after 12 minutes of them fighting.  Weak match and boring to boot.

Maryse tells Lucky that her purse can be repaired.  Lucky says he’ll take care of it and she says she gave the purse fixers Lucky’s credit card.  Ok then.

Titus O’Neil vs. Lucky Cannon

Pre-match, Cannon promises to beat up Horny when he gets back.  Power vs. speed for lack of a better term here.  Titus throws him around so Cannon runs.  In old school heel fashion, Cannon gets a shot in to Titus as he comes back in and takes over.  Apparently O’Neil is distracted due to the lack of small green clothed men.  I give up.  Legdrop gets two for Cannon.  Chinlock goes on and the fans aren’t all that thrilled.  Lucky does the dog bark as this needs to end.  Titus starts his comeback and hits a clothesline and there’s the dog bark.  Clash of the Titus ends this at 6:46.

Rating: D+. Well this match happened.  That’s about all there is to say here.  O’Neil is a good power guy and probably has done the best this season, which means he probably won’t win.  Weak match here which has been a theme tonight so far.  I’m not thrilled with this show at all as you can probably tell.  The problem is the same as earlier: how many times can we see these people have matches?  It gets really annoying really fast and it did about three months ago.

In one of the only funny lines of the night, Todd says elimination is next.  “One of these four superstars’ dreams are crushed tonight and it’s all your fault WWE Universe!”

Elimination time and Lucky is gone in 4^th place.  The reactions are great here, with Striker looking STUNNED.  No real shock due to what happened this weekend (he was arrested for impersonating a police office of all things) but rather annoying because O’Brian is STILL around.  Hopefully this ends soon though.  Lucky says he should be on Smackdown instead of on here and Titus leads us in the goodbye song.  Maryse says she appreciates the stuff but the purse was a fake and slaps Lucky to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. I really didn’t like this week as the in ring stuff is right back to where it was a few weeks ago.  Somehow they fit about twenty minutes into this show which is rather impressive for a 50 minute show, and will likely approach Impact in terms of overall ring time.  Not much here at all this week and another boring show.

Results

Titus O’Neil won the Talk the Talk Challenge

Darren Young b. Yoshi Tatsu – Slam off the top rope

Titus O’Neil b. Lucky Cannon – Clash of the Titus

Lucky Cannon was eliminated in 4^th place

NXT
Date: June 7, 2011
Location: Roanoke Civic Center, Roanoke, Virginia
Commentators: Todd Grisham, William Regal

I think we’re in week fourteen here, which means we’re a week shy of this being as long as any other season of this show.  We have four people left so at least this is getting close to being done.  I’m not sure what else they can do with these four left because we’ve watched them fight time after time now.  They had a new idea last week so maybe they’ll surprise me.  Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about Maryse and how the guys on this season have been obsessed with her and fighting over her.  The idea here is that Cannon has Maryse in his corner so he has an advantage.  Good to see someone other than O’Neil looking like they have a chance here.

JTG is in the ring here for a talk show segment apparently.  Oh joy.  It’s called Straight Outta Brooklyn apparently.  The guest is Yoshi Tatsu, because they’re the two pros whose rookies are gone.  Apparently people blame Yoshi for Saxton being gone.  They do the thing where Yoshi is asked questions and the mic is pulled away before he can answer.  We talk about Maryse and how she dumped Yoshi because he has no game (JTG: “I got more game than THQ.”)  Yoshi makes a Yo Mama joke because this is apparently the mid 90s.  JTG jumps him as he’s leaving, likely setting up a match later.  Striker makes said match.

Yoshi Tatsu vs. JTG

The match is joined in progress.  JTG hits a knee to the ribs for two and actually works on the ribs.  Yoshi misses some chops and gets taken down again.  JTG hits Jay Lethal’s Lethal Injection neckbreaker for two.  Regal mentions that next week is an elimination.  That’s a good sign at least.  Yoshi fights up and strikes away, including a spinwheel kick to take JTG down.  A big high kick misses though and JTG takes him down again.  Yoshi fights back up and hits the aforementioned high kick to end this at 5:31 shown.

Rating: C. Match was ok, but at the end of the day it’s Yoshi Tatsu vs. JTG.  This match redefines low stakes.  It wasn’t too bad or anything, but JTG is supposed to be a heel here and I tend to be more intimidated by a riled up cocker spaniel than him.  Also great to see that a show about the rookies has gone over ¼ of it already with zero mention of them other than in a video which is mainly about Maryse.

Capitol Punishment ad wastes even more time.  The only good part here is that when Regal is “woken up” the first thing he says is I didn’t know you were married.  This guy saves this show week in and week out.  When I say saves I mean he keeps it on the TV in the 5^th circle of torment rather than the 9^th.

HOKEY SMOKE IT’S ONE OF THE ROOKIES!!!  O’Brian tries to break a board with his head….and he’s talking to Horny who hurts his head trying to break a board.  Titus and Vlad come up so O’Neil picks up Horny and rams his head through the board.  I hate my life.  I truly do.

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

I have a very bad feeling that they’re going to have O’Brian sneak in the back and win this somehow.  He’s the least interesting and the worst wrestler out of all these guys which means he’s probably the favorite.  First match between the rookies starts up over halfway into the show.  I guess that’s required though.  Have to hit the JTG fanbase.  Young and Vlad start us off with Kozlov taking him down to the mat almost immediately.

Off to the cure with insomnia with sideburns who gets two on Young.  Chavo comes in and hammers away but that’s too interesting so let’s bring Young back in again.  Chavo hits a slingshot hilo ala Eddie for two.  Conor hits an elbow and we head to the floor, only for Chavo to beat Conor back in and hit a slingshot axe handle to take him down again.  We take a quick break and come back with Young getting two on Conor.

Vlad finally gets the hot tag and gets double teamed because Conor thinks there’s nothing wrong with letting him fight off two guys at once and losing any momentum they had.  Some lunkhead fan tries to get a Vlad chant going and it completely fails.  The pros come in so it’s at least borderline interesting.  Off to Young again as they work on the back of Kozlov for awhile.

Neckbreaker takes Kozlov down for two.  We hit the chinlock because someone thought giving these guys over ten minutes was a good idea.  Front facelock wastes some more time.  Double tags bring in both rookies as I think we’re finally getting close to the ending here.  Flapjack takes Young down for two.  Young gets up and hits his fireman’s carry into a backbreaker for the pin on O’Brian at 12:10.

Rating: D+. Well they were trying I guess but Young and O’Brian just aren’t interesting.  That’s all there is to it: I have no desire to see them have any match at all.  Young was dull in Nexus and he’s dull here.  O’Brian is supposed to be this guy that has worked his way here but it’s just not working.  Chavo and Vlad are ok but that’s about it, and that’s not enough to support a 12 minute match.

Titus O’Neil vs. Lucky Cannon

Maryse is with Cannon as are both pros.  Maryse has a big purse with her which apparently cost $3,500.  It’s a bag.  You put stuff in it.  HOW CAN THAT COST THIRTY FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS???  The stupid thing is there are bags that cost that much so it’s not even a wrestling overstatement.  Lucky takes over to start and pounds away.  Off to a chinlock as we’re running out of time here.

Lucky actually covers him after some stomps.  When do you ever see that?  Back to the chinlock again which eats up some clock.  Titus hammers back but gets sent to the floor.  It’s shenanigan time as Horny proposes to Maryse, giving her a candy bracelet.  He tries to take her purse which is ripped in half.  Not buying quality I guess.  Cannon is distracted and turns into the Clash of the Titus to end this at 5:18.

Rating: D. This was a five minute match and about three of those were spent in rest holds.  That being said, I’d rather watch this again with ease over the previous tag match as at least these two are the talented and somewhat interesting rookies.  Titus has a look and Cannon is a somewhat interesting heel so I can actually stay interested in one of their matches.  Other than that, this was nothing though.

Overall Rating: D. And NXT botches it again.  The problem here is the same as it’s been the entire time: these guys aren’t all that interesting.  Also, it’s taking FAR too long to get through this.  It helps that we’re finally getting rapid eliminations but it took us three months to get here.  There are three guys on this show that are bearable but O’Brian just isn’t there.  Sadly, that probably means he’ll be pushed to the finals at least.  Anyway, another weak show here but we get rid of someone next week so there’s that to look forward to.

Results

Yoshi Tatsu b. JTG – Round kick to the head

Darren Young/Chavo Guerrero b. Vladimir Kozlov/Conor O’Brian – Backbreaker to O’Brian

Titus O’Neil b. Lucky Cannon – Clash of the Titus

NXT
Date: May 31, 2011
Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa
Commentators: Todd Grisham, Michael Cole

Another elimination tonight and I have a feeling it’ll be Saxton because that’s the guy that doesn’t need to be gone.  O’Brian will continue to be around and waste all of our time because he has no character and nothing of interest in the slightest overall.  Cannon and O’Neil are definitely the strongest out there and I’d be ok with either winning….I think.  Anyway let’s get to it.

Todd calls this trimming the fat tonight.  At least they admit some of these guys are worthless.

Striker and Maryse are with the rookies in the ring.  They bring out Cole for one night only.  Oh dear.  For some reason he’s doing commentary tonight instead of Regal.  Blast it all.  Cole says this is where he got his start.

We go over the Redemption Points aspect which are there in the event of a tie.  O’Neil is miles ahead of everyone so there’s no point in even listing them off.  Tonight you can earn 3 points (Titus is up by 12) in Tag Team Turmoil.  It’s rookies and pros as teams here.  First though, let’s hear why you shouldn’t get eliminated tonight.  Conor sucks up to the crowd and says he’s not done sacrificing for the business yet.  Cannon says if you’re not a fan of his yet you’re deaf, dumb and blind.  He doesn’t need the fans and has an ace up his sleeve.  He looks at Maryse and says make that a queen.  Todd: “Is he looking at Striker?”

Young says he’s been at the top the entire time.  He shouldn’t be on NXT because he was in the main event of Summerslam.  It’s about time someone brought that up.  Young says he should be challenging Cena and that the entire NXT show is a joke.  Saxton says he doesn’t need to explain why he should be voted for.  He got rid of Tatsu last week and the real question is why wouldn’t you vote for him.  Titus says he is bigger, badder and better than anyone else in the competition.  Horny comes out and Young goes after him as Titus saves.  Tag team turmoil is next.

Tag Team Turmoil

If you’re unfamiliar, the idea is two tag teams start us off and they have a match.  The losers are eliminated and the winners advance to face another team.  Last team standing wins and there are five total teams.  We start with O’Neil/Horny vs. Cannon/Kidd and the rookies go first.  And yeah, this is rather boring indeed.  Horny can’t get in due to reasons of HE’S A FREAKING LEPRECHAUN and my signal cuts out.

Back and it’s Saxton and Tatsu in there now instead of O’Neil and Horny.  Apparently there was a commercial in there so at least I didn’t miss much.  Yoshi takes over on Kidd and it’s off to Saxton.  Cannon grabs a chinlock on him as Maryse is in Cannon and Kidd’s corner.  Yoshi wants in but Saxton wants to do this by himself.  Cannon and Kidd keep tagging in and out like an actual team while Saxton is being a big meanie.  I’d prefer a blue one but you take what you can get I guess.

Cannon channels his inner Flair to use the ropes for two.  This is another fine example of the really boring matches these guys have.  None of them are particularly good in the ring and none of them are interesting at all.  Saxton fights back against Kidd but takes FOREVER on the ropes and jumps into a big boot for the elimination.  Kozlov/O’Brian are in next.  Why do I have a bad feeling they’re going to win here?  There’s a break before this next part begins.

It would be nice if the commercials on this show were longer than 45 seconds.  You can’t do anything in that amount of time.  During the break Kozlov send Kidd flying to the floor with a fallaway slam.  And because he’s like a fungus, here’s JTG.  Seriously dude, go away.  No one likes you and your pets are being sacrificed to Satan.  Your friends hate you, your family hates you and you’re going to eternal torment.  Go away.  Did I mention I don’t like JTG.

The distraction shifts the momentum again as JTG is on commentary.  If it seems like I’m not watching the match, it’s because I’m trying to stay awake here.  JTG doesn’t care who wins this and it takes ten seconds to get through that joke.  Cannon stomps away on O’Brian as this has been going on nearly 15 minutes now.  JTG gets his rookie’s name wrong because he’s an annoying person.

Since we’re not bored enough, here’s a headlock by Cannon to O’Brian.  Hot tag to Kozlov and much destruction is seen.  Iron Curtain ends Cannon and we’re down to Chavo/Darren Young vs. Kozlov/O’Brian.  Here’s another break because we haven’t had to sit through enough yet.  Back with Kozlov beating on Young as the crowd is SILENT.  Off to O’Brian who hammers on Young a bit.

Off to an armbar as even the camera guys are bored with this match so they keep the camera on JTG.  Chavo comes in to take over and hammers away.  Young gets a shot off the top and a two count so let’s go BACK to the resthold.  They hit heads off a whip into the corner because they hadn’t reached a level of boring high enough yet.  Double tag brings in the pros and Chavo jumps into a headbutt to the chest.

A spinwheel kick puts Vlad on the floor where Young gets in a shot.  O’Brian apparently went off to get a hot pretzel because he’s not helping here.  Back in the ring now for even more slow paced stuff.  I can live with a long match like this if it’s interesting.  By that I mean if ANY part of it is interesting but this has been five straight boring NXT matches.

The heels tag in and out a lot as Vlad reverses a double suplex at the twenty five minute mark.  And remember, it’s for a total of three points.  O’Brian comes in but can’t get a pin.  Three Amigos take him down but the third is blocked.  Vlad is sent to the floor and O’Brian hits something like a Saito Suplex for the pin on Young at 26:00, which might be longer than Cody vs. MVP for longest match in NXT history.

Rating: D. Here’s a great example of where long doesn’t mean good.  This was painfully boring the entire time because in short, none of these ten guys are interesting for the most part.  They’re definitely not interesting enough for five straight tag team matches of about the same length.  Boring match the entire time and WAY too long.  But at least it’s the only match of the night.  Now someone kidnap JTG and feed him to something with sharp teeth.

Obama ad.  I can’t stand this anymore.

The Bellas, the chicks that made fat jokes at the expense of a pregnant woman last night, want you to stop bullying.  The irony of this campaign never ceases to amaze me.

Saxton is gone.  Well of course he is.  I mean, he can talk and has a decent look so he has no business being here over a guy as universally talented as Rat Boy right?  They make it way too easy to predict who’s going home on this show.

Overall Rating: D. Well I’ll give them this: they had wrestling.  The amusing thing is that on a 45 minute long show, there was more wrestling than on Impact, a two hour show.  I know I blast that a lot, but dude that’s embarrassing, especially when they preach that it’s about wrestling over on Thursdays.

Anyway, while it was boring, they at least did have something in the ring for over half of the show, so definite points for that.  This is something close to giving them credit for trying, as they had a show focused on wrestling and the rookie/pro relationship, but it was boring in execution.  I’ll take this over the stupid challenges any day though.

Results

Conor O’Brian/Vladimir Kozlov won tag team turmoil, last eliminating Chavo Guerrero/Darren Young

Byron Saxton was eliminated in 5^th place

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: April 19, 2011
Location: O2 Arena, London, England
Commentators: William Regal, Josh Matthews

Week I think seven here as I’m starting to think no one is ever going home.  I don’t mean that as hyperbole either.  I’m thinking that it might be just one winner declared at the end rather than having eliminations.  We don’t have much going on here probably as it’s another show in England which rarely get anything other than a token title change.  Let’s get to it.

It’s interesting to me that all of the major shows in a major city like London are in the same city.  Not saying it’s a bad thing but when you have shows in multiple major arenas in multiple cities in the same state in the same week at times normally, it’s kind of interesting to see.

One other note: I’ve been having very bad connection issues all night so I’m not sure if my internet is going to hold up 100% through the show.  I’ll do the best I can though.

First up we have the joust challenge and there’s no Striker this week.  The joust this time is a tug of war on the pedestals.  There are three random matches and whoever Maryse says does best goes to the finals.  O’Brian beats Saxton, Novak beats Young (WITH CONTROVERSY!!!!!  They went off at the same time and had to go to the replay) and Cannon beats Titus by DQ because Titus tried to pick up too much rope or something.

This is flying by as they’ve done the first three in maybe 2 minutes.  Cannon goes to the finals for being the most obnoxious.  Ok then.  Novak beats O’Brian and then Cannon (who gave up) in the finals to win.  This took less than five minutes combined.  Novak gets two points.  Novak steals Cannon’s robe.

That’s What I Am ad.

JTG introduces Novak who is apparently a street guy now.  He’s privileged to be an American apparently.  It’s time to talk to Regal whose name gets a solid pop.  Saxton and Kozlov cut them off and it’s time for O’Brian vs. Novak.  Oh joy.  What is this, their 5^th match?

Jacob Novak vs. Conor O’Brian

Novak takes over early and gets a clothesline to put O’Brian down.  We’re in the chinlock less than two minutes in.  The lack of charisma here is so high it’s unreal.  Novak puts him down with a big boot as the fans chant for Regal.  O’Brian gets a rollup for a quick three abut the referee says shoulder was up, despite him slapping the mat three times.  O’Brian grabs a rollup which Novak yells at Regal to end this at 3:03.  Man I have to grade it.

Rating: D-. Jacob Novak has managed to reach a level of boring that I didn’t think existed.  I mean good grief this guy is just not interesting at all.  They’ve tried to give him the character of being made a street guy by JTG and it doesn’t fit him but that character doesn’t fit him (I hope that made sense to you because it only kind of did to me).  O’Brian isn’t any better.  The problem is they have no characters and are just people with names that wrestle.  There were names for those kind of people back in the 80s: they were called jobbers.

Post match Novak shoves Regal who charges at him until JTG gets between them.

We recap (thankfully not re-air) the Morrison/Truth segment from last night which was a pretty good heel turn I thought.  The recap is actually rather good, making the whole beating seem epic and making Truth look like he’s completely evil.

Saxton and Yoshi talk about Maryse in the back.  Saxton says slow it down a bit.  Yoshi says it’s cool.  Maryse comes up and asks Yoshi to come shopping with her.  Yoshi gets a kiss on the cheek and pays no attention to what Saxton suggests about their tag match later on.

Hornswoggle vs. Darren Young

Young is blindfolded and has an arm tied behind his back.  Apparently Young shot his mouth off backstage and Chavo “just happens to have a rope right here.”  What kind of freaky stuff is Chavo up to when he’s waiting on his matches?  Also whose side is Chavo on here?  He just happens to have a blindfold in his pocket too.  I know you can make the argument that Chavo had time to get this stuff, but where do you find rope and a blindfold in a foreign city on such short notice?  Odd indeed.

Regal randomly talks about how he used to manage the five Spice Girls but now at his age he can only manage two.  It was as random as it sounds.  This is exactly what you would expect it to be.  Horny moves around and when the referee is distracted Young cheats by moving the blindfold with his right arm.  Young gets shoved off the ropes and Horny hits the Tadpole Splash to end it at 1:28.  This was one of those comedy matches where they left out the comedy.

Yoshi Tatsu/Byron Saxton vs. Lucky Cannon/Tyson Kidd

WOW I completely forgot Kidd was on this show.  There’s a lot of time for this match too.  Maryse is at ringside here.  The rookies start us off but Cannon wants Yoshi.  I know this because he shouts I WANT YOSHI.  Off to Tatsu whose music sounds like constantly saying the word chimichanga.  Listen to it over and over again and you’ll hear it too.  This isn’t just me being random.  Regal is talking about ground beef for some reason.

The pros are in there rather quickly and Kidd can’t get a backslide.  Tatsu gets an appropriately Japanese armdrag and works the arm a bit as it’s off to Saxton.  Bryon has the armbar on with his back to Yoshi yet Yoshi has his arm out for a tag anyway.  Jumping back elbow gets two for Byron.  Off to Yoshi again as Regal talks about how he would never be able to make it in this kind of environment.  I’m not sure what you can really draw out of that but there’s something there.

Kidd gets kicked in the face and clotheslined to the floor as we take a break.  Back with Cannon holding Saxton in a modified triangle choke.  That lasts a few seconds as we have to see a replay of what happened during the break.  Kidd jumped Cannon apparently to give his team the advantage.  Off to Kidd again who gets the dreaded “aggression” tag put on him.

Sunset flip by Saxton gets two but he can’t keep the arms down.  Regal actually has a name for getting the legs over the arms, which is apparently called the double legged nelson.  That’s a new one on me.  Saxton tries to fight back but gets kicked in the head by Cannon to take him back down.  Cannon gets him down and hammers away while yelling at him.  “It’s all” *WHACK* “about” *WHACK* “ME!” *WHACK* Not quite Magnum and Tully but it’s something I guess.

Saxton fights back and it’s a double tag to bring in the pros.  Tatsu takes over and a big kick gets a long two.  The crowd is starting to get into this now.  That says something about the rookies I think.  Shining Wizard gets two.  Yoshi sets for something but Cannon hits on Maryse.  Yoshi gets distracted and a Moss Covered Three Handled Family Credenza from Kidd ends him at 11:26.  And yes that’s the real name of the move.

Rating: C-. Pretty boring match here but it might be the longest match of the entire season so far.  The rookies weren’t that interesting and Saxton was in there for too much of the match to keep it interesting.  He’s not the worst of the rookies by far but his in ring work leaves a lot to be desired as far as being past the basics goes.  Not a terrible match but nothing great at all.

Overall Rating: D. Well the main event wasn’t terrible but the rest of the show isn’t interesting other than the Maryse thing if you really stretch it.  The problem at the end of the day is simply that the rookies aren’t very good with the main two here being Novak and O’Brian.  O’Neil has a look, Saxton has charisma, Cannon is a decent heel and Young is the best in the ring and has some experience.

Then you get to O’Brian and Novak.  What in the world do these two have to offer?  Whatever WWE thinks it is, I’m not seeing it.  They’re not charismatic, they have no characters, they’re not anything past average at best in the ring, they get zero reactions, and yet they’re here again.  If you cut those two off, this show goes WAY up in value, yet there wasn’t a single word about eliminations again tonight.  Not a horrible show as they cut down on the Raw stuff, which makes sense as there wasn’t as much on last night’s show.  Anyway, not terrible but Novak and O’Brian are killing this thing.

Results

Jacob Novak won the Pull Through Challenge

Conor O’Brian b. Jacob Novak – Rollup

Hornswoggle b. Darren Young – Tadpole Splash

Tyson Kidd/Lucky Cannon b. Yoshi Tatsu/Byron Saxton – Fisherman’s Suplex into a spinning neckbreaker to Tatsu