NXT
Date: April 11, 2012
Location: Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia
Commentators: William Regal, Josh Matthews

It’s that time of the week again. After last week’s disappointing ending to the Who Stole Striker story, it’s time for more Regal vs. Hawkins/Reks, because that hasn’t been done to death yet around here. We’ll also see Maxine trying to get her hooks into Regal, which is probably an idea they came up with in FCW and are using here. Let’s get to it.

Percy Watson vs. Johnny Curtis

Maxine comes out with Curtis and Watson isn’t pleased. He thought they weren’t together anymore but Regal cuts off his complaints and tells Maxine to stay away from the ring. Maxine sits next to Regal and he can’t speak as well all of a sudden. Watson speeds things up after a slow start with a one footed dropkick where he lands on his feet. That was pretty cool. They fight over a top wristlock and Watson takes over with an atomic drop and a legdrop for two.

Maxine is whispering into Regal’s ear as Curtis takes over with right hands. He sends Percy’s shoulder into the corner and out to the floor as we take a break. Regal is now off commentary and talking to Maxine. Curtis controls with a wristlock but Watson comes back and rams some shoulders into Curtis’ ribs. Regal is frustrated that he isn’t focused on his job as Curtis hits a cool move by dropping a leg on the arm of a standing Watson for two.

Back to the arm hold and Watson can’t break out of it. Elbow to the arm gets two. Josh doesn’t seem to get what’s wrong with Regal. Regal tries to focus and talks about Curtis a bit but still isn’t all there. I’d assume this is connected to whatever the list of stuff Regal is into that Maxine and Curtis were supposed to get their hands on last week or the week before. Watson starts his comeback with his usual strikes and the dropkicks as Regal leaves with Maxine. Belly to belly puts Curtis down and Watson is distracted by Regal leaving, allowing Curtis to roll him up for the pin at 8:13.

Rating: C-. This was ok but Curtis is just such an uninteresting character, as is Watson. Watson’s character basically is that he’s an athlete while Curtis is weird. The weird part is fine when he’s talking, but in the ring it doesn’t really do anything at all. The match was more about Regal and Maxine, which is ok because it gives us some intrigue. He looked distracted when they left so something is up.

Hawkins and Reks talk to Maxine in the back who is minus Regal now. She talks to them and asks if they did that thing. Reks isn’t sure what they she means but apparently Regal is going to be talking to them soon. She doesn’t get Striker back until they know she didn’t screw them over. Why does she want Striker back? They leave and Maxine pretends to cry when Bateman and Kaitlyn pop up. Maxine cries on Bateman’s shoulder and asks for help with Reks/Hawkins. He says he’ll do it because she’s the worst thing that ever happened to him. He and Kaitlyn leave and Maxine smiles. This is a confusing story.

Tamina comes out of a dressing room and runs into Titus. She yells at him for leaving Young last week but Titus has a peace offering: a coconut tree. She seems legitimately pleased and kisses him on the cheek. Tamina walks off and runs into Young who doesn’t seem happy with Titus giving her a gift. Young walks up to Titus and Titus says he was just proving he was better than Young again. Titus leaves and Young is mad.

Back to Kaitlyn and Bateman with the one with better legs saying that she misses the old days of NXT. Bateman disagrees but they hear screams from a closet. They open it up to find Striker bound and gagged holding Hawkins’ cane. Bateman wants to get him to the doctor but Striker says he’ll handle this. He leaves while Bateman and Kaitlyn shrug.

Raw ReBound is about Cena and Lesnar.

Regal comes up to Reks and Hawkins, saying he’s underestimated them. He squeezes their necks and wants to know where Striker is. They don’t know and Regal says if anything is wrong with Striker, there will be serious consequences. Regal leaves and they go to find Striker. They open the closet and find that he’s gone. Are we supposed to believe that a guy that was kidnapped in whatever city has been in the same closet for a month now? Anyway Maxine comes with Curtis to laugh at them.

Michael McGillicutty vs. Tyson Kidd

Regal is back on commentary and is all messed up still. We get a quick recap which is based around Kidd not being a Hart and this is the rubber match in the feud. Regal seems back into it once the bell rings. Kidd works on the arm to start and arm drags him to a stalemate. He keeps making McGillicutty miss by using his speed, including sliding between his legs to clothesline him to the floor. Kidd dives over the top but crotches himself on the ring skirt. McGillicutty sends him onto the announce table as we take a break.

Back with McGillicutty holding a chinlock as Regal talks about leopards. Kidd gets up quickly but a shot to the back of the head puts him right back down. As he did earlier, Kidd speeds things up and has better success. An armdrag puts McGillicutty down and then fires off the strikes. A dropkick to the side of the head gets two. A Sharpshooter is countered but Kidd comes back with a Blockbuster for two. I could go for seeing that move becoming someone’s finisher again. Kidd kicks him in the head and tries his springboard cross body but Michael dropkicks him out of the air for two.

McGillicutter is countered into a backslide for two. Saito Suplex puts Kidd down and McGillicutty hooks a Sharpshooter on Kidd. Tyson makes the rope so McGillicutty tries the PerfectPlex, which should have been his finisher since the day he debuted. Kidd reverses it though and sets for the Sharpshooter. Instead of that though, he puts his foot above McGillicutty’s shoulder and leans forward, wrapping his feet around Michael’s head and pulling back on his arm as he leans back. It’s like a triangle choke but with their legs intertwined and it gets the tap out at 9:24.

Rating: B. This was an entertaining match with a cool finish as Kidd goes up a level to beat McGillicutty. Regal talks about Kidd doing submission training with Bret every day off he has which plays into this as well. This was a very solid ending to this feud and hopefully Kidd can get actual TV time soon instead of being the best wrestler on NXT.

Overall Rating: C+. I certainly got my wish about this show: Tonight’s episode was certainly not boring. I’m not completely sure it made sense, but it definitely was not boring. However, we got a very good main event (by NXT standards) and some plot twists that have me wondering what’s coming next. That alone is good enough to make this a good show and I’m curious as to where this is going.

Results
Johnny Curtis b. Percy Watson – Rollup
Tyson Kidd b. Michael McGillicutty – Leg Trap Triangle Choke

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NXT
Date: March 28, 2012
Location: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Josh Matthews, William Regal

Who would have thought that when we started this season that it would run through Wrestlemania 28? That’s the point we’re going to reach unless there’s some divine intervention and this season ends after today. Now the good thing is they have an angle that has a mystery to it after last week with Striker disappearing. Let’s get to it.

Hunico vs. Derrick Bateman

Bateman controls to start but gets backdropped into the corner as Hunico takes over. Elbow drop gets two. Oh make that one. Regal explains why Camacho hangs out with Hunico, which is apparently due to a gang attack that Hunico bailed him out of, resulting in a stab wound which is why Hunico wears a shirt in the ring. See how easy a story that was to explain?

Bateman gets beaten down for awhile until he comes back with a cross body. Hunico hits one at the same time though and both guys are down as we take a break. Back with Hunico chopping and pounding on Bateman. His shirt is torn now too. Hunico goes up but jumps into a dropkick as Bateman gets a breather. He launches Hunico over his head and into the buckle chest first.

Hunico pounds down on him again as Regal is talking about WCW. He seems to think it was funny and I can’t say I argue. Bateman tries to suplex Hunico in from the apron but Hunico falls on top. Bateman rolls through for two but stops to go after Camacho. The distraction allows Hunico to hit his modified Angle Slam (it’s the Angle Slam but he hooks the other guy’s head, almost like a torture rack) for the pin at 7:00.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t really all that into this. I’ve been liking Hunico more lately but this was a miss for him. Granted that could be because Bateman is a waste of time and space but maybe that’s just me. Nothing that great here as they went back and forth, but there wasn’t much selling in between.

Video on Rock vs. Cena from Once In A Lifetime, which wasn’t bad.

Video on HHH vs. Taker, which I think is the same one from Raw.

Video on Punk vs. Jericho, which I don’t think has aired before. It’s about Punk’s rise to the top of WWE over the years and then shows Jericho exposing Punk’s family history.

Maxine is on a phone and wants a list next week. Curtis comes up and apparently the list is about Regal, who is into some freaky stuff. This is news? Maxine gets off the phone and Curtis says that the company has been trying to keep Striker’s whereabouts on the DL. It happened on NXT. How much more DL can you get?

Maxine yells at him because Curtis hasn’t found out anything about Striker. Watson and Riley pop up and Watson yells at her for taking the spotlight during his match by rubbing Regal’s feet. Maxine asks how mad Watson is at her in a strange bit. They go down the hall and run into Natalya and Kidd. They’re talking about the economy. Ok then. The walk continues and they run into Gabriel. I think they’re looking for who stole Striker.

Now they run into Titus and leave, but the camera stays on Titus. Young comes in with a flower pot which Young says is for Tamina. O’Neil says take her to McDonalds. Young says he lies, cheats and steals in the ring but he can’t do that with Tamina. I’m not the biggest Eddie fan ever, but NO WAY does Young deserve to be able to say that.

Curtis and Maxine pop up again and accuse Titus of the kidnapping (they haven’t actually said those words yet, but rather “it was you” every time). Titus tries to kiss her for some reason but Curtis pulls her away. Young and O’Neil leave and Maxine gets a text. The kidnappers say that after Mania, she’ll give them what they want and they’ll get Striker back. LONG backstage segment here but it covered a few things which is good.

Video on the Divas tag, I think from Extra. I have no issue looking at Maria Menunos.

Titus O’Neil vs. Jey Uso

Young and Jimmy Uso are on commentary. So I’m assuming we’re not going to talk about the Striker stuff on commentary are we? Josh points out that the Usos aren’t that successful when they’re in singles action. Jimmy says that’s true, because they’re a team. Simple yet true. This is your usual power vs. speed match with Titus controlling early but Jey taking him down. He goes up but Titus rolls to the floor before the jump and we go to a break.

Back with Titus hammering on him, using the clubbing forearms. Jey gets in a shot and comes off the top with a cross body for two. Titus runs him over with another clothesline for two. Off to a chinlock to eat up some time as Jey comes up with exactly the same kind of offense you would expect from him. The Umaga attack hits in the corner as does the Samoan Drop. The Superfly Splash hits knees though and the Clash of the Titus ends this at 6:22.

Rating: C-. I wish I could care about this feud, but it’s just not happening. The problem in modern WWE for guys like the Usos is that the tag titles are never defended and the champions are basically jobbers when you need to get bigger names over as singles guys. Titus is a heel now but he’s the same guy he’s always been, just with a sneer now. Nothing match but technically it was fine.

Tamina comes out to check on Jey and glares at Young for some reason.

Overall Rating: D. The problem here is that this show was a commercial for Mania with a backstage segment and about 15 minutes of wrestling to fill in some gaps. That’s totally understandable as well as no one is going to care about anything with four days before the biggest show of the year. Not a good show or anything, but this had zero expectations coming in so it’s fine.

Results
Hunico b. Derrick Bateman – Spinning Torture Rack Slam
Titus O’Neil b. Jey Uso – Clash of the Titus

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NXT
Date: March 21, 2012
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: William Regal, Josh Matthews

Back to NXT Land with another episode. I barely remember anything about last week’s show and that can’t be a good sign. I believe Kaitlyn and Bateman finally hooked up, much to Maxine’s dismay. I’ve basically given up on the idea of Regal doing anything to change the show around, putting the GM change into the column that most of this show would fall under: totally pointless. Let’s get to it.

The opening video that they’ve added the last few weeks is actually pretty good.

Striker is in the ring to open the show and talks about how Regal has made four matches with McGillicutty vs. Kidd capping it off.

Curt Hawkins vs. Justin Gabriel

Justin chops him into the corner to start but misses what looked to be a springboard clothesline. Hawkins takes over after the crash, getting two off a slam. Off to a chinlock which implies this is going to be a very short match. Justin comes back with a jumping back kick off the middle rope, setting up a quick 450 for the pin at 2:23. Not a bad match and not quite a squash, but if Hawkins is going to be one of the top heels on this show he really needs to be fixed up a lot.

Bateman and Kaitlyn hold hands are in the back and are all happy. Tamina comes up to talk about how termites mate for life. She wants to find her termite. Bateman and Kaitlyn leave so Young and Titus come up to hit on her. They make fun of the Usos and Darren starts to ask her out. The Usos come up and Tamina isn’t happy with them I don’t think. So JTG is just gone I’m guessing? I can’t complain about that. There’s a singles match later and the Usos leave her with the two of them.

Darren Young vs. Jimmy Uso

Jey sits in on commentary. Jimmy starts off with chops in the corner and knocks Young to the floor. Back inside and they slug it out and Jimmy is sent to the floor. Jey really isn’t that great on commentary. We take a break with Jimmy on the floor and come back with Young pounding away from a mounted position. Jimmy manages to send him into the corner but he charges into two boots. Regal talks about his brother being in the biology department at Oxford University. Apparently he’s in a jar and has two heads.

Off to a chinlock by Young as the fans are behind the Usos. The fans always seem to react to them, unlike the tag champions where no one seems to care. That being said, I’d be stunned if the Usos get a title run in the next four months. Jimmy makes his comeback and takes Young down out of the corner. Jey gets off commentary to lead cheers. Jimmy comes back with a Samoan drop and some dancing, followed by the Umaga hip attack in the corner for two. He goes up but Darren gets in some forearms and rams Jimmy shoulder first into the post. The double knee gutbuster gets the pin at 6:25.

Rating: C. This was ok, but as usual the problem with Young is how boring he is. The No Days Off sounds like something a face would call himself. Wouldn’t a heel be about finding a shortcut to winning instead of working hard? Either way, nothing significant to see here other than the Usos losing again to people far less interesting than them.

Titus brags to Tamina in the back.

Josh Matthews gets a message on his phone that his car has been stolen and goes to look into it.

We cut to the back where Curtis and Maxine talk about how they faked the message in an effort to get Matthews off commentary, so that Maxine can get on commentary with Regal and talk her way off this show. Insert your THIS IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF A CAMERA line here. Curtis pulls out a chloroform soaked rag (Maxine: WHY DO YOU HAVE CHLOROFORM??? Curtis: Why don’t I have chloroform?) and knocks out…..Striker. They throw him in a crate and Maxine seems ok with it. Fox comes up after Maxine leaves and is disgusted by Curtis in a totally pointless scene.

Here’s Maxine coming out for commentary. She comes out with a box of gifts: oils and lotions etc.

Percy Watson vs. Tyler Reks

Maxine is flirting with Regal and probably will be for the rest of the show. Watson tries to get the crowd clapping and it works for about three seconds. Maxine is massaging Regal’s feet as Watson takes over and sends Reks to the floor. Reks yells at Watson as Watson dives over the top to take out Reks. We take a break to tell you to check out WWE’s new website which you have to be on if you’re watching this show in America, and come back with Reks in control.

Regal talks about I think his brother being a professional doughnut stealer. Reks works over the arm and Regal compliments Maxine on her foot massaging abilities. Watson comes back by ramming Reks into the corner. Maxine is rubbing Regal’s scalp as Watson hits a dropkick. Heisman gets two. A top rope cross body is rolled through for two for Reks. Persecution ends this at 6:24.

Rating: D+. I wasn’t into this one and again it’s the lack of any reason to care about Watson or Reks. Reks is a boring heel and Watson is a face that we have no real reason to care about. Both guys are ok in the ring but there’s nothing that makes me want to care about them. I wonder if they’re hoping that it’s just because they’re on NXT and the fans (all 15 of them) would be familiar with them and care about them. I’ve never missed an episode and it isn’t working for me.

Matthews is back on commentary.

Raw ReBound thankfully doesn’t recap the whole closing segment of Raw. I couldn’t sit through that again.

Curtis opens the crate in the back but Striker is gone. Maxine comes up and says let him out but Curtis won’t let her open it. Maxine: “You killed him didn’t you?” He opens the crate and there’s a note saying “we know what you did, we have Striker, we’ll come to you with demands.” Bateman and Kaitlyn pop up and Maxine accuses them of having something to do with it. They leave and Maxine knocks him into the crate. So we have someone using chloroform and an apparent kidnapping. Do the words CALL THE COPS mean anything around here?

We recap McGillicutty vs. Kidd which is being treated like a huge match. It wasn’t that great of a match in the first place but for NXT, this is a well built feud. McGillicutty beat him, Kidd wanted a rematch, McGillicutty said no, they yelled at each other and McGillicutty said yes.

Michael McGillicutty vs. Tyson Kidd

Kidd starts off with two dropkicks and headscissors McGillicutty to the floor. He hits a slow motion rana to send McGillicutty into the barricade and we take a break. Back in the ring with McGillicutty ducking his head so Kidd can break the momentum with a kick. Kidd misses a charge though and crashes into the ropes and out to the floor. McGillicutty rams him into the table which gets two in the ring.

Off to a chinlock as Regal says these two will be huge stars over the next twenty years. Kidd grabs a quick rollup for two but a clothesline takes him right back down. McGillicutty shouts that Kidd isn’t a Hart and it’s off to a chinlock again. Kidd comes back with some kicks and a dropkick to the side of the head for two. A dropkick to the ribs puts McGillicutty into 619 position but on the bottom rope.

Kidd hits a slingshot legdrop to the back of McGillicutty’s head for two. Michael comes back with a Saito Suplex for two and Kidd is in trouble. Kidd tries an O’Connor Roll but it gets reversed for two. McGillicutty reverses the reversal into a rollup for two. Kidd takes Snake Eyes into the corner but avoids the McGillicutter. Sharpshooter is countered as Kidd is kicked to the apron but he comes back in with a slingshot reverse victory roll (best way I can describe it) for the pin at 8:17.

Rating: B-. Good match and I get that they’re going for a big showdown here, but at the same time it wasn’t able to reach the level they were going for. A big part of that is due to McGillicutty not being all that great, and the build to the rematch being pretty rushed. Also, the first match wasn’t anything incredible so I don’t think people were really begging for a rematch.

McGillicutty says Kidd is going to regret that and he’ll go after Kidd where it hurts the most: his heart.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a more interesting show than usual and I think a lot of that is due to the focus being off Bateman. He had more or less been the star of the show for awhile and that wasn’t doing anything for anyone. An actual story with Striker being kidnapped is interesting at least, although it’ll probably wind up being disappointed. That and some pretty good matches made this a good show.

Results
Justin Gabriel b. Curt Hawkins – 450 Splash
Darren Young b. Jimmy Uso – Double Knee Gutbuster
Percy Watson b. Tyler Reks – Persecution
Tyson Kidd b. Michael McGillicutty – Slingshot Rollup

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NXT
Date: February 29, 2012
Location: Key Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Josh Matthews, William Regal

It’s the one year anniversary show, despite the season not being on the air for a year yet but again, counting is probably too complicated for WWE. Striker has promised us a major announcement tonight which probably won’t wind up meaning much of anything because this is NXT, the land of crushed and broken dreams. Let’s get to it.

Alex Riley/Percy Watson vs. Darren Young/Titus O’Neil

Titus starts with Riley and the beating begins. Riley gets in a dropkick and it’s off to Young. Alex takes him down but goes up and is kicked down to give Young the advantage. Things slow down a lot with Titus taking over and saying that he has five. Riley tries to dive for a tag but Titus carries him back to the corner to bring in Young again.

Atomic drop gets two and it’s off to a chinlock with a body scissors. Riley manages to get a kick into the face of a bent over Young and tags in Watson. Watson speeds things up and hits the Heisman Splash for two. Watson goes after Titus though and walks into the double knee gutbuster from Young for the pin at 5:46.

Rating: D+. Technically this was fine but this feud has been going on forever. While they’ve done a good job of having it evolve over the months with logical step after logical step, it’s still not an interesting feud. Again, this would be so much better if they had something to fight for other than just pride.

Titus says Percy gets his rematch next week.

Back from a break and we have Alicia, Kaitlyn and Justin Gabriel in the ring in chairs. It’s supposed to be Bateman vs. Slater at this point. Apparently this is an intervention. Oh dear. They’re intervening about 5’5 of pure evil. Bateman: “You mean Trent Barretta?” They talk about how crazy Maxine is and how she beats up random rew members and makes everyone miserable. Kaitlyn set this up. This is being booed out of the building.

We get a highlight package of Maxine and Bateman’s relationship, including the whole engagement and the Johnny Curtis stuff. Bateman says she’s a lot better at home and he doesn’t want to die alone. Kaitlyn says that constantly getting slapped in the face is weird, not love. He asks Kaitlyn what love is then, so she bends him back and kisses him. Maxine runs out and gets in a fight with Kaitlyn which is quickly broken up. Maxine beats on Bateman and the girls are in the main event tonight.

Tyson and Natalya run into each other in the back. McGillicutty comes up and says something smells around here but it’s not Natalya. They’re up next.

Michael McGillicutty vs. Tyson Kidd

They go tot he mat and Michael controls with a quick headlock. Regal talks about Tiger Mask as Tyson hooks a hammerlock. Michael works on the wrist but Kidd reverses into a cradle for two. McGillicutty sends him into the corner and out to the floor for the first big advantage. Off to a chinlock with McGillicutty having a way too excited look on his face. Back up and Kidd gets up a boot in the corner and they clothesline each other.

Kidd starts firing off some hard strikes and a jumping spin kick gets two. Rolling cradle gets two. Kidd goes up but gets crotched. He knocks McGillicutty off and hits a moonsault press for two. Kidd loads up the Sharpshooter but McGillicutty kicks him away and the McGillicutter gets the pin at 6:22. McGillicutty’s face looks like it belongs in a Will Ferrell movie.

Rating: C. Why did that just happen? They’ve been pushing Kidd very strong the last few weeks and now he loses clean to Michael McGillicutty? For what? Was Kidd getting too over or something? I really don’t get this, especially after the last few weeks where they’ve had Kidd being Bret-esque with the Sharpshooter combinations. Then again it’s NXT so it’s not like anyone is paying attention.

Raw ReBound is about Rock and Cena of course.

Maxine is freaking out in the back and runs into Aksana. Maxine says everyone is plotting against her and she thinks even Aksana is in on it. Anyone that crosses Maxine will regret it.

Striker is in the ring for his major announcement, drawing a Regal chant. He talks about all the ring announcers and commentators and the thirty new superstars they’ve added. He does know that NXT has been around two years and that this season has been a year right? However there’s only been one host. He’s got this job because he loves this stuff. NXT was supposed to be about exposing the unseen because the guys in that locker room are carrying the business into the future. Yep the business is dead.

Anyway, lately NXT has been missing its point and that’s because of Striker. Tonight that changes….and here are Hawkins and Reks to interrupt. They have a surprise for Striker and they pull out chairs and drinks because they want to see this. Striker finally yells at Curt to shut up. He tells Hawkins to come try him if he wants to. Someone with veteran experience needs to take over. Someone that has worked his entire career so that Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks can be called wrestlers. Striker will still be host but the matchmaker is now Sir William Regal.

Regal gets in the ring and says that there are going to be some new people coming to NXT to face Hawkins and Reks. As for them, why are they wearing sunglasses inside? This is the beginning of the new NXT and their first surprise is next week.

Kaitlyn vs. Maxine

Bateman and Curtis are on commentary for this. Curtis rubs lotion on his chest. He says that Maxine is in his back pocket for whenever he wants to pull her out. Brawl to start and Regal says he’s very open to bribes. Kaitlyn books a body scissors for a bit but Maxine takes over with basic stuff. A running double ax gets two. Maxine beats on her a little more until Kaitlyn hits a Bubba Bomb and a rollup for the pin at 3:21.

Rating: D. As usual this was boring. These girls hate each other but always have coherent wrestling matches instead of wild brawls. That’s one of those wrestling things I’ve never quite gotten. Anyway, dull match and the ending came out of nowhere. It is nice to see something other than a mat slam of some sort for a new finisher though.

Maxine gets in Regal’s face and says she looks forward to working closely with him.

Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t all that thrilled with this show but it wasn’t terrible. Regal taking over could be a good thing but if he just does the same things Striker did, this isn’t going anywhere. I’ve been saying it for months but this show is desperately in need of some fresh blood or at least some fresh faces. Also, end the whole Bateman/Curtis/Maxine stuff. It’s been going on for months now and it’s still going around in circles. Not a bad show tonight but this glimmer of hope needs to go somewhere.

Results
Darren Young/Titus O’Neil b. Alex Riley/Percy Watson – Double Knee Gutbuster To Watson
Michael McGillicutty b. Tyson Kidd – McGillicutter
Kaitlyn b. Maxine – Bubba Bomb

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NXT
Date: February 8, 2012
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: William Regal, Josh Matthews

Here we are again. I really don’t know what to talk about here other than Young and Titus seem to have formed a new alliance after hating each other for so long. I don’t know how well Titus’ heel turn is going yet because he doesn’t have anything to gain. I’m sure nothing will change here because that’s how this show works. We’re at a month away from this being running for a year. Let’s get to it.

We are Wild And Young and feel the need to sing about it.

Striker opens the show and tells us that there are four matches tonight, including the Usos vs. Hawkins/Reks. You know, to freshen things up a bit.

Derrick Bateman vs. Heath Slater

Bateman takes over to start but misses a corner charge. Regal talks about punching a homeless man as Slater punches him down. A leg lariat puts Bateman down and it’s off to a chinlock. Bateman fights up and hits something like a modified STO for two. A flip neckbreaker like the one John Morrison used to use gets the same. Slater pops up and hits his running spinning sleeper drop for the pin at 3:27. That needs a bad name.

Rating: D. This didn’t click at all for me as there was a severe lack of selling. Granted at the same time it’s Heath Slater vs. Derrick Bateman in a match that runs three and a half minutes so how good was it possibly going to be? Bateman’s stock somehow manages to fall even further, which I didn’t think was possible.

Percy Watson vs. Darren Young

Titus is on commentary. Percy starts out fast and takes him down where he stomps away on the ribs. They go to the floor and Percy gets caught in the ring skirt. Back in a swinging neckbreaker gets two for Darren and it’s off to a body scissors. Titus goes on a rant about how no one has done anything for him so he’s controlling his own destiny. Young charges at Watson in the corner but Percy moves, sending Young chest first into the buckle. The Heisman (spinning splash) gets two and the Persecution gets the pin at 4:24.

Rating: D+. Better match but it still wasn’t anything great. This was more about furthering Percy vs. Titus post match which is a much more interesting feud. Titus turning is fine, but like I’ve said many times, it doesn’t mean anything without there being something for him to win. At least it wasn’t Slater though.

Titus gets in the ring and tells Percy that when Titus attacks him, Percy will know it.

Johnny Curtis hits on Kaitlyn and implies that Bateman has a crush on her.

Trent Barretta vs. Tyson Kidd

Yes please. They run the ropes a bit with Kidd hitting an elbow to the face to take over. Trent knocks him off the apron and they head to the floor. Whisper in the Wind off the barricade takes Kidd down but he goes down as well. Back in the ring Kidd comes off the top but jumps into a dropkick which gets two for Trent. Kidd charges in the corner but Trent gets up two knees to take him down.

He tries what looks like a one legged Codebreaker but Kidd counters into a Sharpshooter attempt. That’s countered as well but Kidd kicks his head off and a release German gets two. These kickouts and counters are getting good. Trent gets in a shot to take Kidd down and heads up. A missile dropkick gets two and Barretta is getting frustrated. They go into a pinfall reversal sequence and Kidd hooks him into a sunset flip for the pin at 5:22.

Rating: C+. These guys are very fun at what they do but they’re stuck here on NXT so that we can see guys like Jinder Mahal on Smackdown. Kidd used to be my favorite guy on this show and I wish he’d get more time to showcase his stuff because he really is fun to watch when he gets more than a few minutes.

Kidd helps Trent up post match which is a different style for him.

Kaitlyn goes up to Bateman in the back and Maxine comes in to yell about the loss earlier. There’s a match set up. Curtis can be seen watching in the back as the girls argue.

Kaitlyn vs. Maxine

Regal goes into a LONG rant which almost has to be a song lyric or a poem. He literally talks for 34 seconds and says that’s what Maxine said. It ended with what sounded like “shoplifters of the world unite.” From what I can find that’s a song by The Smiths. Kaitlyn drops a leg and Regal says her legs could crack walnuts for him at Christmas. Maxine hooks a dragon sleeper to slow things down. Kaitlyn comes back with some knees and the worst cross body ever, due to a lack of jumping. Maxine wins with a crucifix at 2:59. This was your usual NXT Divas match.

Video on the Chamber which I think is the same one from Raw.

Trent is getting out of his gear in the back when Kidd comes up and says Trent has earned his respect. Kidd proposes a tag team and asks Trent to think about it. Can we please get an NXT Tag Title already? In this case there actually is a division for it.

Usos vs. Tyler Reks/Curt Hawkins

Curt and let’s say Jey start us off. Hawkins takes him down a few times but walks into a northern lights for two. Off to Jimmy vs. Reks as the Usos do their “I say Us, you say O” thing which gets a reaction as it always does. Hawkins is sent to the floor and the Usos double team to dive onto Hawkins. Reks and Hawkins use a nice misdirection move to get a boot to Jey’s head and we take a break.

Back with Reks hooking Jey in a chinlock and then hitting a boot for two. Back to Hawkins and things slow way down. Reks and Hawkins are very uninteresting in the ring and they slow matches down so much when they’re in there. Reks and Hawkins double team even more but Jey blocks a charge in the corner with a boot.

Hawkins gets Reks back in again though and Jey gets pounded on even more. The heels tag again and it’s back to Curt for a chinlock. Jey takes him down and brings in Jimmy. Everything breaks down and Jimmy escapes the spinning Rack neckbreaker. He gets shoved into a cane shot by Hawkins and Reks gets a rollup pin at 7:29.

Rating: C. The problem with this is the same as the problem with most of the feuds on this show: we’ve seen it so many times that there’s no point in watching them anymore. This might have been the first time that Reks and Hawkins have beaten them, but does it really matter after they’ve lost about four or five times in a row?

Striker runs out to report the cane shot (why doesn’t this happen more often?) and Hawkins drops him with a right hand.

Overall Rating: B-. This show flew by and in a good way. A lot of new stories were started tonight and it was like there was a brand new writer for it, which shakes thing up a lot which is what this show has needed for a very long time. I’m actually looking forward to this show now because there’s something new to see, which is the best thing that could have happened on NXT.

Results
Heath Slater b. Derrick Bateman – Spinning Sleeper Mat Slam
Percy Watson b. Darren Young – Persecution
Tyson Kidd b. Trent Barretta – Sunset flip
Maxine b. Kaitlyn – Crucifix
Tyler Reks/Curt Hawkins b. The Usos – Rollup to Jimmy after a cane shot from Hawkins

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NXT
Date: September 13, 2011
Location: Air Canada Center, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: William Regal, Jack Korpela

With this episode, we’re officially as long as seasons one and two combined and longer than three and four combined. I mean dude, really? Do we really need 28 weeks of this show? I know I say this a lot but I’m still waiting on any reason for this thing to keep going on. The stories aren’t bad but they’re pretty low level issues. I’d bet on Striker/Regal vs. JTG/Young either tonight or next week. Let’s get to it.

Regal and Striker open the show talking about hockey in Canada and here are Young and JTG to break it up. “Hockey isn’t even a real sport.” Striker: “I will cross check you in the head.” The audio is a bit messed up and it sounds like they’re in a tunnel. Striker says Regal is better than both of them and Regal wants a translation of what JTG just said. They talk about respect and just get to the tag match already. After about four minutes, there it is. Regal says he is STRAIGHT UP GANGSTA TRIPPIN! He puts on JTG’s hat and we have our price of admission right there.

Bateman and Kidd vs. O’Neil and a mystery partner up next. Gee, could it be the guy Kidd has been feuding with for two months?

Derrick Bateman/Tyson Kidd vs. Titus O’Neil/Percy Watson

….oh joy. They’re bringing back SOMEONE ELSE now. Also Titus has his own music now. I don’t get the Watson idea though. I mean….why? He has no connection to this match or this feud but here he is on NXT. I’m trying to come up with people they haven’t brought back yet and no one is coming to me. Korpela says Watson used to play in the NFL. He hits an enziguri to Kidd for two. Bateman distracts Percy and the heels take over.

Bateman, called a big man, hits a dropkick off the apron to put Watson down again. They work him over in the ring with Kidd working a front facelock. Jack wants to know where Horny is. He’d be the last Pro to leave so it would fit perfectly. Off to Bateman with a one armed camel clutch. I guess that’s the one hump version. Tag to Kidd who hits a dropkick to Percy while he’s in the double hump version.

Percy snaps off a really high dropkick to put Kidd down. Regal forgets his name but the hot tag to Titus makes it a moot point anyway. He cleans house and runs over Bateman a few times. A slam gets two as Tyson comes off the top with an elbow to the back of the head. Bateman gets two off that but walks into the Clash of the Titus for the pin at 7:06. I’ve said it time after time but just put Titus on the main roster already, because remember that if/when he wins this, he has to go through Season 6 and compete against guys like Tyler Black which puts him at an unfair disadvantage.

Rating: C-. Pretty basic match here but it’s getting hard to keep coming up with reasons for these matches to take place. Again, what is Watson’s connection to this? Why would Titus pick him as a partner? I know he’s been on Superstars a bit but if he can just call up anyone, why not someone like Tatsu who has been against Kidd and has experience with him? I don’t get this show most of the time. The match was just ok.

AJ can’t get ahold of Horny and is tired of talking to his voicemail. She’s worried about him. Maxine comes up and she asks where is he. Maxine suggests he went to Palm Springs with the Bellas. If that winds up being true, I might die of happiness. She has a picture on her phone and AJ doesn’t believe it. This is kind of awesome actually. AJ leaves and Maxine says Photoshop is great.

AJ vs. Maxine

Maxine does look better as a blonde. Regal tells us that Maxine’s father is a master cobbler and an amateur ventriloquist. That’s either a completely true story or Regal is a genius. Now he’s telling a story about a pair of conjoined twins he dated that drove to England on vacation from America. I’m cracking up at his delivery. Maxine works on a chinlock/choke and Regal wants her to be ex-wife #17 but she’s too good looking for him.

All Maxine so far as Regal asks if the beautiful Divas worry about getting kicked in the face. It doesn’t matter to him because he looked pretty with a broken nose. AJ is very flexible and I can’t say I’m complaining. A spinning middle rope cross body gets two. She catches a kick from Maxine and hits a spinewheel kick for two. Maxine puts her in a fireman’s carry and drops her across the top rope before hitting a jawbreaker kind of move for the pin at 5:45.

Rating: D+. The match sucked but the commentary makes up for some of it here. Regal is absolutely priceless on a show like this where he isn’t being listened to or yelled at and can say whatever he wants and get away with it. The commentators are a lot funnier than they’re given credit for. Listen to shows like this or the old PPVs from England and you’ll hear totally different people than you’re used to.

William Regal/Matt Striker vs. Darren Young/JTG

It’s about 10:35 when this starts so they have a lot of time. Oh my goodness Michael Cole is coming out for commentary. Regal vs. JTG to start. The fans are behind Regal and we get an old school criss-cross. Like any good face, Regal stops and cheers JTG on then throws him over the top. Young is put in Shattered Dreams position and Regal/Striker pick JTG up and battering ram him into the balls of Young. That takes us to a break.

Back with Cole calling Korpela Jim instead of Jack. He bashes the main event and Regal gets an awesome bridge to get out of a top wristlock. Cole is blasting both teams other than Regal so at least he’s not playing complete favorites. He has literally not shut up since we came back from the break. You have to give him this: the guy has energy and doesn’t phone it in.

Striker gets beaten down by JTG as Cole runs down WWE for paying for Striker and Korpela to fly from show to show. He does however slip up and mention that McMahon is still in charge. Cole has still not shut up and is now talking about breakfast expenses run up by Korpela and Striker. I’m dying listening to this. Korpela tries to talk about the match and the story behind it but Cole is on a roll.

Cole says people on the street are talking about Darren Young. If they’re on the street how do they get internet access to watch the show? It’s been all JTG/Young beating on Striker since the break if you care about the match. If you do I’d recommend a head examination but have it your way. Cole is going on about hockey and how much the Maple Leafs suck now and it’s hot tag to Regal. Everything breaks down as Regal and JTG head to the floor. This isn’t good for Striker as he can’t beat Young. Now Cole is going off about Striker’s tan and Young rolls up Striker into that fireman’s carry gutbuster for the pin at 11:05.

Rating: C. Again, the match was totally unimportant but I was dying of laughter listening to Cole. He had such passion out there and went on so many rants that he won me over. The match itself was just there like any other NXT main event. If you have the chance and are bored, check this out for Cole’s commentary. I really found it funny and it’s not like this is a title match on Raw where it actually matters, so I don’t have as much of an issue with it.

Post match the Usos of all people come out to beat down JTG and Young. No reason, no explanation, they’re just there. That ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. I don’t know if it’s because I’m tired and a bit sore, but I had a great time with this show. If you forget the NXT competition and the fact that this has been going on for about six and a half months now, this is one of the most enjoyable shows you can find.

It’s a combination of people not caring because they know no one is watching and basic stories that are working (to as much of a degree as they can on this show) and it’s starting to work. It’s kind of like a lower level territorial indy company like an old OVW that is working week to week with whatever talent they can get their hands on and it’s actually starting to work. God help me it’s starting to work.

Results
Titus O’Neil/Percy Watson b. Tyson Kidd/Derrick Bateman – Clash of the Titus to Bateman
Maxine b. AJ – Jawbreaker
JTG/Darren Young b. William Regal/Matt Striker – Fireman’s carry into a gutbuster to Striker