[OFFICIAL] NXT Aftermath, Review, and Ratings Thread

[MizFit Brocko]

Cole was fantastic again this week. He and Mathews during the Q&A thing with the pro's was hillarious, where they were writing things on those pieces of card. And cole's line at the end of it where they started talking about elimination, he held up a card that said 'Eliminate Me' and told the WWE universe to eliminate him. Was pretty funny.

Also later in the show, Cole was talking to someone in the crowd and Josh said something about Cole talking to the only Cole Miner. Was an entertaining show just for the commentary, the matches themselves were pretty weak, and you just knew Aksana was getting eliminated.

 

[RandyOrtonOwl]

Review for NXT 11-23-2010​

Commentary:
The commentary made the show. As we see the fireworks end, Cole Simply starts the show with this funny little comment, "This thing is still continuing.."
He later goes on to say the competition is "Silly" and that "Thank god" One of the Competitors will be eliminated. Also, While Striker is going on, he keeps on jibbering, and Striker finally says, "Cole quit talking, " In which Cole Replies, "Your the one that needs to let me finish"

Another note, He was texting and playing games the ENTIRE show. It was very hillarious, which ended in him closing out talking about hair.

Grade: A-

Competition Number 1
In this competition, we had the competitors answering questions about certain WWE Trivia Topics. The questions were relatively easy, such as, "Which superstar has the nickname, 'The game'."

Comp. # 1 Grade: D

Matches
Bella Twins D. Kaitlyn
Grade: B-

AJ D. Naomi

Grade: C

Comp Number 2, Last sumo Standing, Grade: F

Elimination: AJ

 

[klunderbunker]

NXT
Date: November 23, 2010
Location: Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews

We’re down to three now and the next week is the final one. The final three are Naomi, Kaitlyn and AJ and I’m not sure if anyone goes home tonight or not. Yeah that’s about all I’ve got here as we’re just killing time until the final show. A final thing: that song is freaking CATCHY. It plays on a loop while the show is about to start and I can’t get it out of my head. Let’s get to it.

Some female voiceover girl does the intro to the show and recaps Aksana being eliminated. That was a bit odd. And there’s that song again.

Cole’s opening line: Well folks two weeks before we end this thing. I’m Cole, he’s Josh, welcome to the resistance.

Striker brings out the rookies and we cue the song up one more time. Was there any reason to stop it for like 3 seconds? It’s like an old NES game. I want to curl up with AJ and exchange cheat codes.

We open with WWE Trivia. Ok this should be fun. 100 points in round one and 200 in round two. No immunity but someone goes home tonight. Round 1’s category is All Things NXT. Cole puts his feet up and is texting someone about pudding. Striker asks if he’s done talking yet. AJ has 200 and Naomi 100. I’m not going to bother listing the questions.

Josh is reading a book. Miz is mentioned and gets heat off just being mentioned. Oh yeah. We end the first round with AJ at 300 and Naomi at 100 with Kaitlyn in third at zero. All Things WWE for the second category. AJ isn’t sure where the first Mania was but gets it right after a delay from all three of them.

Cole and Josh are messing around on a DS. AJ is running away with this. Striker says the same words and hits on Kaitlyn. I can’t blame him as she’s in those shorts, a trucker hat and a cut off white shirt. In short, she looks amazing. The final question is who is The Game. AJ gets it right and wins 1300-100-0.

Kaitlyn vs. Nikki Bella next.

Nikki Bella vs. Kaitlyn

The Bellas are in their white shorts again so they look gorgeous. The fans get on Nikki as this is about as bad as you would expect it to be. Nikki gets a leg lock on Kaitlyn to waste some time. Kaitlyn’s shirt mostly comes off to reveal a very nice black bra. Nikki gets an X-Factor for the pin at about 3:40.

Rating: D. Nothing special at all here other than the girls looking very good. Kaitlyn is just awful in the ring but she has the character down for the most part. I can’t imagine she doesn’t go home tonight though which is kind of a shame. As stupid as it sounds, they all would have a place there. Match was as decent of a filler between these two as it was going to be.

Recap of the Cena speech from last night which might rival Shawn’s farewell for promo of the year.

Naomi vs. AJ

This is going to be dominance isn’t it? Does Kelly actually do anything? Bah I knew I had seen that hold that AJ used before last week. It’s a modified Octopus. A producer tells Cole he talks too much. AJ gets a headscissors for two. The announcers talk about the producer line which is kind of funny.

This isn’t much of a match but AJ isn’t getting destroyed like I expected which is a good sign. They shake hands after awhile which is always cool for some reason. Big power move leg drop gets two for Naomi. Thanksgiving is Josh’s 30th birthday apparently. Enziguri gets two for Naomi. They hit the mat and AJ really loudly calls a spot as she goes for an armbar.

AJ gets a spinout DDT out of nowhere in a counter for two. That was pretty sweet. This is FAR better than I was expecting as AJ is getting to have her longest and definitely best match to date. Naomi kicks her head off for two. AJ gets the Octopus out of nowhere and Josh shouts the name about 15 times and Naomi actually taps to give AJ the clean win. I’m shocked after about 7:00 as I forgot to check the time again but it was around there.

Rating: B. This was a MIRACLE. AJ had a horrible match a few weeks ago but this was damn good and by far and away the best Divas match I’ve seen in a very long time, rookies or not. I was big time surprised by AJ kicking out of all the stuff she got out of. This was solid stuff and I really liked it.

There’s a sumo challenge up next. Oh dear.

Christmas is coming up and I wear a 2X if you want to hook me up with one of those Survivor Series shirts.

Here are the Rookies again, clad in sumo gear. Shame I can’t look at AJ’s 4 pack anymore. Kaitlyn falls down coming in. They’re in the fat suits if you were curious what I meant by sumo gear. There’s a small circle in the ring and it’s a mini tournament thing as AJ has a bye into the finals due to winning the trivia thing.

Kaitlyn actually beats Naomi and then has one of the dumbest looking things I’ve ever seen. They’re laying on the ground and can’t move anywhere because of the suits. FINALLY the officials stand them up. Striker references Abdullah, One Man Gang and Bundy which is accurate. AJ is out of the circle and they finally call it for Kaitlyn. This was abysmal. Well of course it was as we just got a very good match.

Ad for the WWE Championship book. That could be ok.

We do the Raw Rebound and my mind is still blown by it. The Chick Magnet is the WWE Champion. Let that sink in again. Something very important here: Orton had Miz at the end of the match and Miz countered to win. It wasn’t like Orton was never in this which makes Miz look much stronger.

AJ wants to go one on one with Kaitlyn next week. Kaitlyn wants the same. Naomi flat out says Kaitlyn can’t wrestle and it should be her vs. AJ. Be blunt next time hon.

Time for the elimination and to the shock of everyone AJ is gone. WHAT THE HELL??? She has DOMINATED in the past few weeks and won two straight matches but let’s get rid of her for the model or the chick that no one cares about in Naomi.

Overall Rating: C-. The trivia was fun, the AJ match was GREAT, the other match was pretty bad and the other challenge sucked. The ending is completely wrong and we have yet another model with no ability whose only talent is looking great in a pair of shorts as opposed to a girl that can wrestle fairly well, is cute as hell and has a different look. But who wants those things right? Terrible decision and it really sowered me on this show. At least next week it ends.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

I thought tonight was a Good Episode of NXT. The opeining trivia contest was fun and AJ destroyed Katlyin and Naomi. Katlyin vs Bella was your typical. The AJ vs Naomi was a pretty good Diva's match and easily the best Diva's match I remember for a long time, Commentary was really funny like always. The Sumo was Bad and Funny at the same time. AJ getting eliminated is Really Dumb as is easily the Best Girl on NXT. Good Episode.

Overall Rating:C

 

[WWEIsLife2]

I liked NXT tonight,very surprised AJ got eliminated as I had picked her to win. Commentary was funny as usual and the Sumo contest was kinda funny. Damn Katlyn looked HOT tonight with those shorts and cut off shirt.

 

[LSN80]

Im surprised that I care about the AJ elimination, but I do. She's easily been the most impressive rookie week in and week out, be it in competitions or in matches. The only match where she looked bad in was with Aksana, who brought absolutely nothing in the ring or elsewhere.

I guess they decided if they were going to make the show a joke, why not go all the way with it? Naomi's right: Kaitlyn can't wrestle. If only she could have couldnt that out without stumbling over her words 18 times. AJ could both talk and wrestle and she's the one eliminated? What little investment one could have in the show is pretty much gone, as neither Kaitlyn or Naomi makes for an appealing winner. At least Naomi can go in the ring, but she's completely devoid of personality and presence. A decent episode with a terrible ending.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

"You're right, there would be n-n-n-n-n-no match with K-Kaitlyn because she c-c-c-can't uh c-c-c-an't wr-w-wres-wrestle."

Seriously? How the hell was AJ eliminated? It should have been Naomi. AJ can talk, and she can wrestle. Whereas Naomi is just a powerful diva. Needless to say, there is no reason for me to watch NXT next week, because now the show is nothing but a big joke. I know the WWE is high on Naomi for some reason, but does that mean that she has to go so far on NXT? If I am to watch NXT next week, it would only be to see the Season 4 pros and rookies.

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

Here I go being the buzzkill I am. Blame it on the ovaries.


Last night show, like every week, was what it f'n was.


The trivia challenge almost made me want to turn off the show. But then I remembered that I saw the Bellas in ring gear and bit the bullet.

I personally thought that Nikki vs Kaitlyn was prolly the best diva match I've seen in a while. Nikki tried to bully Kaitlyn, but Kaitlyn wasn't having any of that. They go back and forth until Nikki hits a droplock on Kaitlyn's knee. The rest of the match was Nikki working the knee. She also laughed at Vickie for having Kaitlyn I was really surprised when I hear the "NIKKI SUCKS" chant. Not once, but twice the crowd started chanting for her. Kaitlyn tried to fight back with a suplex, but her knee gave out and Nikki just grabbed her for an x-factor for the win.

I still don't get the buzz about Kaitlyn, but I thought she looked really good in the match. And this was my first time watching her on the show. She didn't just blow off the knee work to make her comeback. She tried to run, but she had a limp and eventually just lunged at Nikki with her clotheslines. I would have loved to see what in the world Nikki did to make them chant "NIKKI SUCKS" the second time.

It was only about 4 minutes, but it was a really good 4 minutes. The crowd got into it, which is something that hasn't happened with Nattie vs LayCool at all. On a side note, Nikki Bella's voice does things to me..

The Sumo thing was silly.

Now the Noami vs AJ match.. Oy. As someone who doesn't just brush off the divas for various reasons, I understand that most of the divas do a bunch of Jersey All-Pro stuff in hopes of getting a reaction. However, that match was just too forced. Too many "hey! I can wrestle, I swear!" spots. It was so "indy" to me. Nikki got a chant for her within 2 minutes by using K.I.S.S. and yet, the crowd didn't catch on to this match until AJ hit that DDT thing (which should have ended the match). Eh towards this match.


I really like that AJ go eliminated. Everything about the way she presented herself was too f'n contrived. She prattled on every chance she got about being a nerd and being easy to relate to and blah blah blah.

 

[Arkham Noir]

It sucks major balls that AJ got eliminated. But, the bright side is that she got to show that she can wrestle before she was eliminated. At least now everyone nows that the talent is there. Of course, people backstage will probably think that Noami is to be given full credit.

Honestly, I've given up on women's wrestling now. If a girl who stands out from the crowd, wasn't made in a factory, and has dreamed her whole life of making it ( not a random model pulled off the streets), than why the fuck should I care about the girls who are there now.

This greatly upsets me. I'm done with this show. The girl actually cried when she was eliminated. All of the other fucking girls treated it as some sort of joke but she actually cared. I didn't think I would be this fucking pissed but I am. If she doesn't end up on the roster soon I might actually stop watching wrestling. I know that might sound stupid as hell but it's part of a much bigger problem. People only care about the stupid artificial shit and putting a model in the ring. Why the fuck should any girl want to become a wrestler if they are pushed aside for being unique. Now I understand why people got so upset over Mickie James being fired.

On a side note, this week has had the most amount of feedback in this thread the whole season. Another example that AJ stood out.

 

[MrHashasheen]

Well, I am fucking furious. My Post-Raw buzz just got completly wrecked by NXT, who just got rid of AJ. Really? Her? Not Naomi? Not fucking Kaitlyn? I mean, I liked Kaitlyn early on, but goddamn it if she didn't grate on me as the season went on. In comparison, AJ just got better. I am so fucking pissed right now, and I'm practically never this invested in WWE or TNA programming.

@WWE decision makers:

 

[MizFit Brocko]

Pretty random to send AJ packing imo. That match she had with Naomi wasn't bad at all, and was easily the best match on NXT S3 so far imo. This was highlighted by the fact that i think this was the first time i think i have heard Cole give positive comments about the divas.

I'm happy Kaitlyn is still there, because... well just look at her.

I definitely don't think this is the last of AJ though. She will be back. Im thinking this is going to be an NXT S2 type thing where the wrestlers that finish runners up end up getting better shots anyways. I fully expect Naomi to win next week *Shudders* but all 3 of them will show up somewhere on the diva's roster.

They should have just had AJ win though, she was the only one of the 3 that was interesting and could put on a decent match..

Good show though, Bella twins looked amazing as usual, the triva was just silly, and not that it matters, but i swear in a few of those questions AJ definitely wasn't the first to 'Buzz In' but Striker gave it to her anyways. The 2 matches were ok for NXT Diva's standard, which lets be honest isn't very high anyways, and then i just laughed throughout the Sumo thing. So so stupid...hahaha

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Man people, calm down about AJ being eliminated. You know why it happened? Because she's liked enough by the fans and over enough that she doesn't need to win NXT to get on the WWE roster. That's the reason I fully expect Naomi to win season 3. People like AJ and Kaitlyn. Naomi is the best wrestler, but she's not that good otherwise. It's the same thing they did with Kaval and it seems to me like it's gonna happen here too.

 

[WWE.IS.AWESOME]

I actually liked this show.

The trivia was pretty fun to watch. The questions were EXTREMELY simple but I still liked it. It was no suprise to me that AJ dominated this. She's won almost every trivia challenge since the season started. Kaitlyn flat out sucked suring this, as well as Naomi.

The Kaitlyn vs Nikki Bella match was terrible IMO. It was a good way to waste time I suppose. Kaitlyn really can't wrestle. I do like her character and I wouldn't be suprised to see her win next week. Either way, this match was just another typical Diva match and I wasn't interested in it at all.

Well the Sumo challenge was flat out ridiculous. It proves nothing. Kaitlyn beat Naomi and I was very suprised about that. The fact that AJ actually almost beat Kaitlyn was shocking. They had to restart it beacuse they were taking a long time, but I believe that AJ couldv'e won. Sadly, after it was restarted, Kaitlyn got the victory. Major props to AJ for standing her ground and fighting back hard. Either way, I couldv'e went my whole life without watching this Sumo thing.

Naomi vs AJ = WOW. I was so into this match and my eyes were literally glued to my computer screen. This is possible the best Divas match we've seen in a year and not just in NXT. Again, AJ suprised me by really hanging on and showing that even though she's small, she's tough as nails. Naomi showed some good athletic ability in this match. That octpus subbmission of AJ's was really good. Happy to see AJ win.

REALLY? You eliminated AJ???? Are you kidding me? She is by far the best wrestler out of the 3 and she has good mic skills. I understand the logic behind this, since she can easily debut on her own and be successful since she's so over with the fans, but AJ was the main reason that I watched NXT. I really thought Naomi was going to be eliminated here. I wouldv'e loved to see AJ vs Kaitlyn next week. Anyways, now I have nothing to look foward to because Naomi bores me to death and Kaitlyn's in-ring ability is horrible.

Normally I would rate this show a C, but the Naomi/AJ was so good, that I'm bumping it up to a B-.

 

[klunderbunker]

NXT
Date: November 30, 2010
Location: The Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Michael Cole

It’s the third season finale tonight and for some reason that no one but I’d assume Vince alone gets, AJ isn’t one of the finalists. It’s Kaitlyn vs. Naomi tonight for the next Diva spot. Also tonight allegedly we hear about the fourth season cast, meaning I don’t get that night off I was promised. You put in this many hours and you can’t even get a single night off a week. Good grief. Let’s get to it.

We open on Cole and Matthews with Cole talking about what he did on Raw. He says he isn’t sure why he did what he did last night but he’s going to talk to Lawler about it next week on Raw.

Striker brings out Vickie who says Kaitlyn is there because of her. “Here she is, she’s horrible, Kaitlyn!” Kaitlyn looks great and after I think 12 weeks, I still do not care about Naomi whatsoever. Kelly isn’t here tonight but she sends a message saying how proud she is. Naomi thinks Kelly is swell too.

Kaitlyn tries to talk but Vickie says she’ll speak for Kaitlyn. They yell at each other a lot and Vickie says she’s leaving so Kaitlyn trips her. Vickie of course screams while shaking on the ground. Striker mentions the obvious showdown between the finalists. If it’s 10% as good as the AJ/Naomi match last week I’ll be shocked.

We begin the Season 4 rookies/pros with R-Truth and his rookie Johnny Curtis. A quick shot of the cast shows only six rookies which is probably a good thing.

AJ/Bellas vs. Aksana/Maxine/Alicia later.

AJ/Bella Twins vs. Aksana/Maxine/Alicia Fox

Apparently Goldust and Aksana are divorced already? Wow that didn’t take long at all. A Bella and Aksana start us off. The other Bella won’t tag in. AJ says thank you when she’s tagged in. That’s awesome. AJ gets beaten down for a good while. Well a good while by six Diva tag match standards. Cole gives us a timeline of what he did this season.

Hot tag to a Bella isn’t hot at all and Maxine is still more or less worthless. X-Factor gets one as Aksana makes the save. Everyone comes in and I kind of get distracted by the Bellas in leopard print. AJ gets a cross body off the top to Maxine to get the pin at about 4:15. Cole: IT MEANS NOTHING BECAUSE YOU’RE ALREADY OFF THE SHOW SO GO HOME AND PLAY VIDEO GAMES! Cole saves this show again.

Rating: D+. This was what it was. There was no real thought to it and it was just six chicks out there doing moves on each other. It was formula if there has ever been a formula match but it wasn’t really that bad. I am glad AJ is back though as she was definitely the best rookie this season. Not bad but really just there.

Primo comes in and kisses AJ post match. And she continues to be too adorable for words.

Chris Masters is a pro.

…..

…..

…..

Ok I’m conscious again. I thought for a minute there they said Chris Masters was going to mentor someone. And apparently he is.

…..

…..

…..

These momentary blackouts are really a nice break from the day you know? His rookie is Byron Saxton, who I think was a commentator in the dying days of ECW.

Ted DiBiase and Maryse introduce another pro. I think just Ted is a pro though. His rookie is Brodus Clay who is a big old boy at 6’8 and over 300lbs. He’s the biggest suplex machine in the world apparently. The first thing I think of when I saw him was a white Viscera. Cole says he knows someone that won’t be happy about the name, implying Taz I think.

The two remaining Divas get to trash talk each other. Kaitlyn reads one of the most scripted promos ever and says she has limited experience but she’ll get better. You can’t teach personality. Her words, not mine. Naomi says the time is now. Cole sings the opening to Cena’s theme song after she says that. I can’t say this enough: Naomi cannot talk. Like at all. She goes on past the time limit and no one cares.

Naomi vs. Kaitlyn

Let’s get this over with. I’m having some connection issues so the times might be off a bit. Kaitlyn busts out a giant swing as Matthews says DOZENS are tuning into WWE.Com for this. Gah my stream keeps freezing. Kaitlyn is in control because that’s the most illogical thing we could have. Cole apologizes to Harley Race for forgetting him last night in former kings.

The pros don’t seem interested. Kaitlyn throws her over the top and we get like a 7. My screen is frozen so I’m doing what I can to keep up with this. Cole isn’t really helping but he’s making me laugh at least. Cole gets in a great line on a cover by shouting: “if you shout faster it’ll be over!” So true good sir, so true. Kaitlyn blocks a suplex into a rollup and gets the pin. Well of course she did. No clue on the time due to the freezing.

Rating: N/A. With all the choppiness and the freezing I can’t really give a fair grade of it but it didn’t seem all that good from what I could tell and the crowd definitely wasn’t into it. Seemed to be about a D. Oh and of course Kaitlyn wins because she has no experience and isn’t the wrestler of the final two so Naomi has lost at least two in a row.

Vickie comes out and introduces Dolph as another pro for next season. His rookie is Jacob Novak who is a good businessman apparently.

Edge vs. Kane on Friday to determine the stips for the PPV.

Raw Rebound shows that last night’s show was somewhat underwhelming while still good.

Bryan is a pro and his rookie is Derek Bateman. He’s manly apparently.

The former Divas are back. Jamie picks Naomi. AJ says Kaitlyn. Maxine says Naomi. Aksana hits on Striker and Goldust tells her to shut up. Aksana picks herself as the winner. This was a waste of time. Matthews says we have a winner next and Cole shouts NEXT NEXT NEXT NEXT NEXT!!!!!

Alberto is the final pro and has Conor O’Brian. WOW what a name. He looks semi-bad ass though.

Katilyn wins. Yeah I don’t care either. Naomi says nothing of note. Kaitlyn says nothing of note either. She thanks Vickie and AJ hugs her which is the highlight of the season.

Overall Rating: D. And it’s over. Kaitlyn wins season three after being in wrestling 12 weeks while not having a decent match to her name. Let this be a lesson female fans: don’t worry about training or anything like that. Go tan, get a boob job and be willing to kiss random guys on camera and you’ll be a WWE Diva. Bad show and I really did not care at all.

So that’s Season 3 of NXT. In short, this season was a comedy for the most part. At the end of the day, I don’t think anyone really cared about who won or anything like that as the Divas are completely interchangeable anymore. Kaitlyn is hot and that’s the extent of her value.

The wrestling was horrible other than AJ vs. Naomi and the whole Vickie and the wedding ordeals went nowhere for the most part. This show was fun when it stopped trying to be serious so overall it was ok at best but if you missed it you’re not going to be out anything. See you next week.

 

[klunderbunker]

NXT
Date: December 7, 2010
Location: Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio
Commentators: Todd Grisham, Josh Matthews

Season Four of NXT debuts tonight with only six rookies this time. That might be a good thing indeed as having the full monty of eight is too many due to there being dead weight amongst them that takes too long to get rid of. This almost has to be better from a quality perspective than last season doesn’t it? Anyway, let’s get to it.

Wild and Young is back. Awesomeness all over again.

Striker brings out the Pros who bring out their rookies. There’s no Cole this season???

R-Truth – Johnny Curtis
Ted DiBiase – Brodus Clay (He is a BIG old boy. Think a white Viscera)
Chris Masters – Byron Saxton
Dolph Ziggler – Jacob Novak
Daniel Bryan – Derrick Bateman
Alberto Del Rio – Conor O’Brian

Striker says the winner gets a championship match but says nothing about PPVs. Everyone is going to get to introduce themselves.

Curtis says he isn’t going to ask people to cheer him. Instead he wants to give some shoutouts, one of which is to his gym teacher. A vote for Curtis is a vote for freedom apparently.

Clay says he’s coming to this with lemon juice and razorblades. This was almost like a rap thing.

Saxton sounds like Token from the News Reporters episode of South Park. This is rather cheesy indeed.

Novak talks about board games, saying his favorite is Monopoly because you get to own your competition, which he’s going to do this season. Not bad.

Bateman says he’s from Ohio and that today will live in infamy (it’s December 7 if you didn’t get the reference) and he’s mantastic.

Conor does a weird voice to get our attention and says he looks like a rat. Apparently he’s going to take the cheese or something like that. Wow indeed.

Alberto yells at him and says he’s boring, just like Daniel Bryan. The obvious tag match is made.

We get a profile on Byron Saxton who is from a privileged background and has never had to really do anything. He’s a good person apparently and we get a clip of him as a kid wrestling. He mentions being a conglomerate type of man, which I think was the stable he led in FCW.

Johnny Curtis vs. Jacob Novak

Fairly nice back and forth match so far. Both guys look decent out there which is why this show works so much better than something like Tough Enough did. Curtis gets a discus lariat for no cover. I’m sorry for the lack of play by play here but I’m trying to check out both guys instead. Novak misses a charge in the corner and Curtis goes up top. After misstepping a bit he hits a decent looking guillotine legdrop for the pin at about 3:05.

Rating: C-. Nothing that great here but it was fast paced and the finish was clean. This doesn’t really tell us anything about either guy though as neither played to the crowd or showed anything unique at all. This was really just a match and nothing else. Nothing bad though.

Profile on Brodus Clay who comes from Pasadena and a broken home. He liked to be with his brother apparently. We hear about him being a bodyguard for Snoop Dog which is interesting I suppose. He’s in business for himself now though.

It’s already time for our first challenge, in this case capture the flag. You have to run down, get a ladder that is set up at ringside, put it in the ring, climb up and get a flag then run back to the stage to win. Curtis goes first with a time of 28.6 seconds.

Conor (that’s how the on screen graphic spells it) is second and gets a time of 28.2 to take over. This is just for an immunity point I think.

Clay is third and as expected he’s strong but not quick. The time is past the mark to beat by the time he hits the floor to come back.

Saxton is fourth and says he’ll just be himself. He has his own way of climbing a ladder? And he loses too due to intentionally taking his time. He tries to jump down which is illegal apparently. He gets a time of nearly a minute.

Novak is fifth and gets a good start at least. It pays off too as he gets 26.9 to take the lead.

Bateman is last and gets cheered by Bryan. He has a chance at it but just barely misses it.

Back with the Raw Rebound to what I thought was an excellent show.

Ted and Maryse talk to Clay. Maryse won’t shut up and Ted yells a bit.

Saxton is getting ready and Masters comes up and they have a bromance moment. Masters wants to give him some workout tips and Saxton says he has it covered.

Daniel Bryan/Derrick Bateman vs. Alberto Del Rio/Conor O’Brian

No intro for the heels. The rookies start us off with O’Brian being rather aggressive. Off to Alberto who beats on Bateman a bit also. No Bryan yet other than trying to get in once Alberto hits him but to no avail. Bateman gets an airplane spin of all things to make the hot tag to Bryan.

Bryan adds an airplane spin of his own as we all channel our inner Gorilla Monsoons. We actually take a break on an NXT match to see Gene Okerlund pitch us old school apparel. Back with Bryan working on the arm of O’Brian. I guess he doesn’t like the O’ part. The pros are in now.

The announcers try to make small talk by saying Alberto’s last name means the River. It actually means of or from the river but who cares about being correct? Ziggler of all people says something on a mic but I’m not sure what it was. According to a guy that was at the show he was yelling that he doesn’t suck to the crowd and didn’t realize his mic was partially on or something. Works as well as anything I guess.

Bateman gets a running neckbreaker for two on Del Rio as Bryan hits a huge dive to the floor to take out O’Brian. Being alone with Del Rio isn’t a good thing as the cross armbreaker ends this a few seconds later at approximately 10:00 (assuming the commercials were in real time for this).

Rating: C+. Not bad at all here with a decent tag match. Bryan is someone that I wasn’t huge on when he got to the company but he’s been nothing but impressive since. This was another decent match for him but the focus was more on the rookies here which is a good thing. Nothing great or anything but for what it was supposed to be, this was perfectly acceptable.

Overall Rating: B-. Nothing great or anything here overall but like the last match it did exactly what it was supposed to do. We saw a little bit from everyone and got four of them in the ring with vignettes from the other two. The rookies look kind of weak this season but the show at least looks ok. Pretty good start.

 

[klunderbunker]

NXT
Date: December 14, 2010
Location: Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Masters/Saxton vs. DiBiase/Clay up next.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Raw Rebounds wastes some time.

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

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

Alberto Del Rio vs. Derrick Bateman

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

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

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

 

[mister_b1LL]

So although I did watch Season 4's premiere, My week was too busy to make a rating post so this week officially begins my Season 4 rankings.

With this second week in the bag, I'm getting more of a picture of how their character is supposed to be and how they're gonna hold up in the long run with that saidm, here are the first season 4 of NXT rankings:

1. Johnny Curtis

You can blame it on the sob story he said in his profile vid. You can blame it on the fact he won a competition due to a restart he probably didn't deserve. But either way I felt he's deserving of the top spot this week. The story he told on his profile vid reminded me somewhat of Jesse Neal's story (I do understand having your friend die in a motorcycle accident and on the USS Cole are two completely different things, but a death is a death and for both to become inspired to do great things is always a good story). I think he's a pretty funny dude and he comes off as really natural on the mic. I think that when he talks it's all him and I like that. I would like to see more of him in the ring, but for now his charisma his keeping him in the top spot.

2. Derrick Bateman

If your catchphrase is Man-Tastic, you gotta get some love. The Andy Samberg lookalike Derrick Bateman also seems pretty natural on the mic. His in-ring work needs some...well, work. Making Alberto Del Rio's cross armbreaker look like crap is a big turn off for me. But he makes me laugh and his pro is Daniel Bryan so i'm hoping for some good development between the two to possibly make a great competitor in Derrick Bateman.

3. Brodus Clay

His presence is awesome. Seeing him execute a pretty darn good T-Bone Suplex is even better. His ring work based on his performance this week and everybpdy else's in the past couple of weeks is very good, though like most big bodyguard type guys, he is exceptionally horrible on the mic. I also don't think Dibiase won't be much of a help for him in that area either as he himself isn't that amazing and doesn't look like he wants to help Clay. Still though if NXT is more wrestling based than 3 was, I'm hoping for better and better performances from Clay in the ring.

4. Byron Saxton

This guy's a natural on the mic, though I don't like how he half-asses competitions, especially last week's. He's okay in the ring, but what I'm more Looking forward to is the interaction he and Chris Masters will have. Obviously it seems like they're trying to make Saxton act like he doesn't need his pro and so I'd like to see where Masters takes this.

5. Jacob Novak

Add him to the list of Washington wrestlers (from Kent). Also add him to the list of unsuccessful wrestlers. Unless he steps his game up I don't see much coming from Novak. His profile vid just seemed so...scripted and I have yet to see something impressive form him in the ring. What he does have is an angle that I'm kind of interested in seeing. With Kaitlyn, Dolph, and Vickie in a love triangle during NXT season 3, does this mean that Novak might make it a love square by trying to win Vickie's attention? Seems like an angle filled with intrigue, and that's the thing Novak needs.

6. Connor O'Brian

This guy really annoys the crap out of me. In all truth I never noticed he looked like a rat until he said something about it. He brings pretty much nothing to the table. Hell I don't even think Alberto Del Rio is happy with having him as his rookie. If he was, I would assume he'd let O'Brian ride in the car with him to the ring. I'm gonna give him one more week to impress me. He's got a match, two competitions, and a profile vid to do it. If he doesn't then I will officially say Connor O'Brian is the first to go.

 

[MisterRob]

Thoughts:

People seem to keep giving Johnny Curtis praise, and yet the guys not even good. He's not good on the mic, I haven't seen anything impressive from him in the ring last week, and this week the whole second competition was clearly rigged because the guy got disqualified (and rightly so) and then got to do it again, yet on his second time doing push ups he didn't even do ten and got up and ran off after nine and they didn't even disqualify him! Clearly they wanted him to win that competition, but yet he still gets no good reaction from the crowd. He's very bland and lacks presence.

I haven't been impressed with Novak, either. His personal video segment didn't come across well, and he certainly hasn't done anything else in terms of mic work or ring work to really make him standout. I'd predict the rat guy is eliminted first, and then Novak's next. They have to easily be the first two choices to be eliminted as of right now.

Brodus Clay's uniqueness works in his favor. I can't see him winning NXT as the breakout star, and I don't see him really becoming a singles star based on what he's offered so far... but I wouldn't mind seeing him go on after this season as Ted Dibiase's hired bodyguard. It would work with Clay's history as a bodyguard, and it would also give Dibiase a boost and make things a bit more interesting with him, as well as giving Clay something to do on the main brands. Everyone wins!

Derrick Bateman should've won the 2nd competition lastnight, and I think he clearly has to be near the top of the standings. He's been one of the most impressive of all the six rookies so far, based on his ring work, mic time, and interaction with the crowds. I'd predict he'll be number one on the first rankings, unless this season's rigged.

I've really been enjoying Byron Saxton the most, though, from these first two episodes of NXT. He's obviously great on the mic, has a ton of charisma and personality, and I didn't think he was bad at all in his match this week. He might not be great, but he's definitely good enough and with his mic skills he's ahead of the bunch. I also really liked how he SOLD what happened to him in the previous match during the 2nd competition, and blatantly lost the competition while selling Dibiase's finisher. Byron for the win!

 

[The People's Peep]

So I finished watching the first two episodes and I must say, its not too bad. When I heard that Cole wasnt on the show anymore, I was a bit worried because I felt they were at least half of what made the first two seasons so enjoyable. But this year, the rookies are very well rounded. In each of the last seasons, there has been one or two rookies that are just bad. This season, maybe because there are only six rookies, there really isnt one weak rookie.

My favorites so far are Bateman and Curtis. Bateman was a bit cheesy with his promo and in both episodes, he used a cheap pop. But I still like his goofball character. It kind of reminds me of Kaitlyn and we know how that worked out. Also, I feel that teaming with DB will help him out a lot. Curtis wasnt too good with the delivery of his promos, but it was fun nonetheless. The other guys were good as well. I like Saxton as well, but I feel that he is overdoing it at times.

So far, so good. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks.