WWE NXT
April 27, 2010
Hershey, PA
Report by: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
“Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event…” The WWE video leads us into the show.
The NXT video plays and we’re brought into the arena with some pyro. Michael Cole and Josh Mathews welcome us to the show. We’re two weeks away from the next Pro’s Poll, where the person in last place will be eliminated.
Matt Striker is in the ring with the NXT rookies and he introduces them to the crowd. Striker reminds them that the Pro’s Poll is in two weeks and one will be eliminated. Striker also reminds them that the winner will not only get a contract but they’ll also get a World Title shot on a PPV. Striker reminds us that Skip Sheffield won the “Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em” Tournament last week and got a feature on WWE.com, where over 10 million people saw his face.
Tonight they’re going to test the rookies’ likability and salesmanship in the “Seal the Deal Challenge.” Each of the rookies will come out into the crowd. The concept is to sell the most merchandise possible in a sixty second time frame. Whoever does will earn a match next week against a WWE Pro of their choosing.
Skip Sheffield is the first salesman and he joins Matt Striker at ringside. He’s given programs and change. It’s $15 per program. What a rip-off. No one is giving up the dough for these programs. He sells four programs in one minute. This is so stupid that I can’t get over it. $60 is the amount to beat. Now we’ll see our first match and this will continue throughout the show.
Christian and Heath Slater come down for a tag team match. They’ll face Chris Jericho and Wade Barrett next.
-Commercial Break-
Christian & Heath Slater (5-2) vs. Chris Jericho & Wade Barrett (4-4)
Chris Jericho and Heath Slater start it out. Slater is such a tool. He punches Jericho down and Jericho tags in Barrett. Slater gets a side headlock on and tags in Christian. Slater wrenches the arm and Christian comes off the second rope with an axe handle. Christian wrenches the arm but Barrett knees him and pushes him to the corner. Christian hits a back elbow and a missile dropkick for a one count. Jericho comes in and Christian takes him out. Christian then turns into a big boot. Barrett punches and makes the tag to Jericho. Jericho pummels Christian with punches and gets in the referee’s face. Jericho hits a nice back suplex and looks angrily at the crowd.
Jericho punches Christian down in the corner and taunts the crowd. Jericho sends him to the corner and goes for a bulldog but Christian counters into a Reverse DDT. Slater is tagged in and he hits a flying forearm. Slater forearms him in the corner and sends Jericho to the ropes but lowers his head and eats a kick. Jericho goes for a clothesline but Slater counters into a bad neckbreaker. Wade Barrett breaks the count up. Christian then comes off the top rope with a cross-body on Barrett and takes him out with a plancha. Jericho goes for the Walls of Jericho but Slater counters into an inside cradle for a near fall. Jericho then hits the Codebreaker and gets his revenge with a pinfall victory over Slater.
Winners by Pinfall: Chris Jericho & Wade Barrett (5-4)
Match Rating: *
Matt Striker is in the crowd with Daniel Bryan. Bryan has to beat $60 in revenue. Bryan says he’s not a capitalist and throws a bunch of programs out into the crowd. He makes nothing because of his stance against capitalism. Michael Cole calls him a tool. I can’t take this guy any more.
We’re shown Darren Young winning a triple threat against Michael Tarver and Skip Sheffield, despite Luke Gallows attempting to cost him the match. We then see footage of Tarver with Carlito from earlier in the day in the parking lot. Carlito says he needs to take advantage of the opportunities given to him. Carlito then makes him carry his bags into the building.
-Commercial Break-
Did you know that NXT has been the number one show on SyFy since it debuted nine weeks ago?
Justin Gabriel is in the crowd to sell and everyone wants to buy from him. He sells a bunch and makes $330 after selling 22 programs.
Michael Tarver comes out with Carlito for a match. They show a video featuring the pros talking about what they think of him. The general consensus is he hasn’t shown them anything and he’ll probably be the first guy eliminated.
Michael Tarver (0-6) vs. Darren Young (6-2)
The bell rings and they circle the ring. They lock up and Young powers Tarver to the corner. Tarver turns him and punches. Tarver whips him hard to the opposite corner and is backed up by the referee. Tarver hits a reverse powerslam for a two count. Tarver stomps him and punches him in the corner. Tarver locks a submission on. Young fights up but Tarver knocks him down. Young eventually gains some momentum with a nasty forearm shiver to the face. Young hits a dropkick and hits a shoulder block for a near fall. Young sends Tarver to the corner but runs into a boot. Tarver jumps off the second rope gets punched. Tarver then bails from the ring.
Tarver attacks Young when he follows him and throws him into the ring. Tarver shoulders the midsection and yanks his arm into the ring post. All of a sudden Serena distracts The Goose and Luke Gallows attacks Michael Tarver. Young then hits his Swinging Full Nelson Face Buster for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Darren Young (7-2)
Match Rating: *
Darren Young looks for high fives from the S.E.S. but gets none. Luke pulls Serena near him, apparently out of jealousy.
David Otunga is with Matt Striker for the “Seal the Deal Challenge.” Justin Gabriel’s total was recalculated and it was $210. David Otunga says that celebrities don’t do manual labor so he hires someone to do it. Otunga sells a bunch and we’ll have the total after the break.
Our Main Event will be Skip Sheffield vs. The Miz.
-Commercial Break-
The Raw Recap is show. I don’t want to talk about how Smackdown got royally screwed.
A video hyping up Justin Gabriel plays. The pros talk about how they love his 450 Splash. Jericho calls him a one trick pony.
We see footage of last week when R-Truth refused to help Otunga cheat to win. We then see footage of them from earlier in the day. R-Truth told him that he doesn’t play like that. If he can’t run with the big dogs then he should stay on the porch.
We’ll see more of the painfully stupid and boring “Seal the Deal Challenge” next.
-Commercial Break-
Heath Slater is up. Otunga sold $315 worth of merchandise so he has to beat that. The “one man rock band” is incredibly uncharismatic during this. This is such garbage, as is Heath Slater. He didn’t win.
Darren Young is up now. Darren Young asks if they want to see him face CM Punk next week. This is just such crap. He didn’t beat $315 either.
Michael Tarver is up. He says he shouldn’t be selling stuff. WWE should be selling him. He drops the bag and leaves. I can’t wait for this guy to be eliminated. This is the worst challenge yet. Even Michael Cole and Josh Mathews are at a loss for words.
Wade Barrett is up now. Barrett says he’s already proven tonight that he’s the top rookie on the show. He was on the team that beat Christian. Barrett says he likes money so he’s keeping the change and leaving. Barrett does just that.
Skip Sheffield will take on The Miz next.
-Commercial Break-
A video hyping up Daniel Bryan is shown. The pros say that they basically love him. CM Punk says he’s dead on and Jericho calls him a superstar. Matt Hardy says he doesn’t have a personality. The pot called the kettle black, my friend.
David Otunga won the “Seal the Deal Challenge.” Otunga says that one person who has irritated him is R-Truth and he’ll face him next week. Otunga says it’s time the student beats the teacher.
The Miz comes out with some bad make-up on, selling Big Show’s punch last night. Skip Sheffield comes out and Miz grabs a microphone. He talks like Marlon Brando in the Godfather and says it’s difficult to talk due to the trauma from Big Show’s sucker punch. Miz won’t be able to compete tonight. Taking his place will be Daniel Bryan.
Daniel Bryan (0-8) vs. Skip Sheffield (0-5)
The match begins and Sheffield lifts him up but Bryan gets off. Bryan viciously kicks him and Sheffield pushes him. Bryan comes back with a dropkick and does the ground and pound. Bryan locks on a heel hook. Sheffield is in pain but gets to the ropes. Bryan kicks him in the face a few times but Sheffield catches one and clotheslines him inside out. Sheffield then hits a Sit-out Jawbreaker for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Skip Sheffield (1-5)
Match Rating: *
Quick Match Results
Chris Jericho & Wade Barrett (5-4) def. Christian & Heath Slater (5-3)
Darren Young (7-2) def. Michael Tarver (0-7)
Skip Sheffield (1-5) def. Daniel Bryan (0-9)
Bump of the Night: Christian’s plancha
Match of the Night: The Tag Match * ½
Mike’s Thoughts
There’s really not much to say about this show other than it was painfully boring. These challenges have been so bad its mind boggling. No one really wins in them because they all come out looking like asses. These guys are signing on for a wrestling contract and the winner gets a world title opportunity on PPV. How can they be ranked if you never see them wrestle for more than three minutes? It’s just bogus. Maybe next week (the final week of challenges, hopefully) will yield something remotely interesting.
Final Rating: *
E-Mail – MikeyT817@hotmail.com
Be sure to check out Friday’s Smackdown recap: click here.
Thanks for reading!