WWE NXT on WWE.com
February 29, 2012
Seattle, Washington
Report by: Gregory “Grash” Walek of Wrestleview.com
“We Are Wild and Young!”
Josh welcomes us to NXT. A guy in the stand has a sign that says “I only came for NXT.”
Alex Riley & Percy Watson vs. Titus O’Neil & Darren Young
A-Ry’s music hit and he comes out with Watson. Regal says hopefully they will learn from their mistakes from last week. Titus music hits and he comes out with D-Young. A-Ry and Titus start the match. A-Ry gets the jump on Titus. He calls out Titus and Darren gets tagged in. Darren takes over on offense till A-Ry gets a clothes line on him. Titus gets in the middle of the ring apron and A-Ry punches him. A-Ry then goes to the top ropes, but is pulled down by Darren young. Titus and Darren tag in and out as they continue the offense on A-Ry. The crowd is booing the heels as A-Ry takes damage. There’s a moment of hope for A-Ry as he tries to make it to tag Percy. It’s stopped by Titus and a hidden tag from Darren young. Darren young then wraps up A-Ry in the middle of the ring to the crowd’s dismay. They fight to their feet and A-Ry manages to get in position for Percy to make a tag. A-Ry goes out of the ring, but Percy goes to the ropes and does a drop on Darren to start his offense. He eventually gets a pin attempt. After the kick out Percy turns his attention to Titus and knocks him off the ring apron. Percy continues to look at Titus as Darren sleeks up behind him. It’s all that Darren needs to hit his Heatwave finisher and pick up the pin for the win.
Winners: Titus O’Neil & Darren Young
After the match, Titus gets the mic. He calls the finish some good work. He then says what we have here, “Is a failure to communicate”. Titus complains about Percy saying he should get a rematch. He tells him he’ll get it next week, and if he doesn’t bring the aggression, he’ll end up like the crowd. LOSERS. Regal asks how he knows if he’s going to get a rematch. As Titus walks up the ramp to the back, he says that “This is My Show”.
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Derrick Bateman vs. Heath Slater… Or So we think
When we get back, Alicia Fox, Kaityln and Justin Gabriel are in the ring. The three tell Bateman that this is an intervention. The three are trying to tell that Maxine is Evil. The Crowd is chanting boring. Kaityln points Bateman to the tron and we get a package of the best of BetaMax. Kaityln asks that if those are signs of a health relationship. Bateman asks Kaityln, “What is love?” She grabs him and lusciously kisses him. And then she drops him on the matt. And this is where Maxine enters the arena and runs into the ring. Maxine goes after Kaitlyn. Regal says “Let them go. Let them fight.” Regal then talks about having his own intervention. Maxine is pulled back by Gabriel before she goes on to beat on Bateman. This is moments before she leaves the ring molten angry at the faces.
Winners: All of us watching…
Backstage
Nattie walks up to Tyson and tells him that he’s one of them, and don’t listen to anyone else. Gilly walks up and does a whiff. He says something smells rotten, and it’s not Nattie. He then says the only reason a Hart talks to him because they’re sorry for him. Gilly walks off while slapping Tyson’s chest. Nattie says to Tyson that he’ll do good tonight.
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Michael McGillicutty vs. Tyson Kidd
Gilly’s enters the arena first. Josh muses how when someone comes to NXT they’re angry. Tyson is out next and Regal says the Drama and shengagians are over. It’s time for wrestling. Regal says again that Gilly doesn’t know how good he is. He’s going to get better. The match starts with a Tyson chant. The two exchange take downs. Regal mentions how Tyson kidd studies Tiger Mask. And then He goes into Tiger Mask History. The crowd then chants for Tyson as Gilly locks him up. Tyson gets out of it and uses the ropes on Gilly. They break and when they lock up again Gilly gets a Grecian lock, but Tyson uses his speed and to get out of it. He goes on offense till Gilly drops Tyson on the ropes. The Cheetos Munchers by ring side chant “No more Children”. Gilly goes out and pulls Tyson into the ring and starts yelling and emoting a crazy man at him. They fight to their feet and Tyson manages to get a move before the two men clothes lines each other. Tyson gets up first and gets the upper hand on Gilly. He uses his speed and Kicks to set up a pin attempt. The crowd is into the false fall. He goes for another pin attempt, but Gilly kicks out again. Tyson goes to the top ropes, but Gilly drops him on his butt. Gilly goes up, but Tyson manages to push him off the ropes and it sets up for a huge flying drop on Gilly. Tyson is shocked at the fact that Gilly kicks out. Regal talks about Gilly’s conditioning. Tyson tries for a sharpshooter, but Gilly is able to wiggle his way to the ring apron. He gets pulled back by Tyson, but Tyson loses his hold as Gilly pulled the ring apron up to hold him back. After kicking out, Gilly gets a neck breaker on Tyson for the pin and the win.
Winner: Michael McGillicutty
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*Raw Rebound*
Rock vs. Cena… Fruit Pebbles, Missing Balls, and Beating at WrestleMania… OH MY! We’re five weeks out now.
Backstage
Maxine is on a tear backstage. Aksana asks her what is wrong. Maxine says everyone is plotting against her. Maxine points the finger at Aksana and tells her to say out of her way.
Matt Striker is shown next, and he has an announcement about NXT.
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When we get back, Striker is in the ring. He goes over the changes of changes on NXT. NXT was supposed to be about the future and change. Striker apologizes for it not being so. Before Striker can give his announcement, Reks and Hawkins come out. Hawkins shows his Obama-eque Change Shirt as the two make fun of Striker. They tell him to hold on. Striker is about to make the announcement when the two come back with chairs, popcorn, and red solo cups. Reks is going to take a video of it. Hawkins is waiting for Striker to step down. Striker has to tell him to shut up. He’s not stepping down, and he’s “got a few bullets left in his gun”. The one thing that Striker says they were right on needing veteran leadership. Striker was told by the board to find someone. So he found someone smarter than him. Someone that “paved the way for trash like you to call yourself a wrestler. Which you are not.” Striker is Angry and showing passion as he talks to the two goofs on the outside of the ring. The Matches on NXT will now be made by William Regal. The crowd is going nuts for this as Regal gets in the ring. Regal address the crowd. He’s looking to push everyone and put them in matches they don’t expect. He then turns to the goofs and asks Reks why he wears sunglasses inside. Regal calls them “Flippy Gibbits” and tells them he’s got something special for them. The last 52 weeks of NXT is done, and the NEW NXT is beginning.
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Kaitlyn vs. Maxine
Kaitlyn is out first. Derrick Bateman and Johnny Curtis have joined commentary. Josh asks about the intervention and the kiss with Kaitlyn. Bateman says he’s not sure about the relationship, we’ll find out after the match. He then predicts that Curtis is going to get weird. And he does. Responds to Josh asking about Maxine that she’s in his back pocket at his disposal. Bateman calls him white trash. Curtis keeps his cool. The match begins and Maxine gets a take down on Kaitlyn. Curtis immediately points this out and say that’s what he came to see. Josh calls him Creepy. In the ring, Kaityln turns the table on Maxine to go on offense. Regal says that he’s open to bribes. Kaitlyn slam Maxine. Josh asks about Curtis’s van. He says it’s a 1976 Astro Van with Grapes on the side. They focus on the match as Maxine breaks out and starts beating on Kaityln. As accusations of stealing go back and forth. Kaitlyn gets back on offense till she gets kicked by Maxine in the corner. Bateman now points out that these two girls are beating the crap out of each other. Curtis quiets Josh as Maxine now has a hold on Kaitlyn. Curtis is still quieting Josh as Kaitlyn breaks out and gets a drop on Maxine. She rolls into a bridge for the pin and the win.
Winner: Kaitlyn
After the match, Maxine rolls out of the ring. She pushes Bateman. She then pushes Curtis out of the way. She walks over to the commentary table and takes a mic. She congratulates him and looks forward to working with him “Closely”. She got a seductive look in her face as she goes nearly nose to nose with Regal. After saying that, she walks to the back as her music plays.
And that closes out week 52 of NXT.
NEXT WEEK: The Regal Era Begins!
Grash Says…
For those who have complained about when NXT was going to end. Well tonight you got it. It wasn’t a grand bang of a winner, but a whimper of Striker handing over the reins of the matches to William Regal. You have to consider a few things that have happened on NXT when realizing the magnitude of this change. Not only do we have the legendary talent of Regal in charge… We have a William Regal has built himself up as the as “The Expert” in all things. Not limited to just wrestling… EVERYTHING. The other important factor to consider is that Regal has built his character into the reformed super villain. This has the direct consequence of that one of the most brilliantly evil men of the WWE is now in control of the rookies which will be its future. This is the equivalent of having Lex Luthor taking control and guiding the future of the Teen Titans. This is an injection of character which will define the show going forward.
Given this change there are two things I have to demand. (Yes, I demand them.) First, Drop the “Redemption” from the logo and go back to the plain NXT logo Branding. If this doesn’t happen right away, then at least make it a storyline where William Regal wills it as he flexes his new found power on the show. 2) Make moment the cut between Season 5 and just start with the next episode as the beginning of Season 6.
On top of this change, we have the breakdown of BetaMax once more. This was bound to happen as Bateman remained a face, and Maxine remained a Heel on the show. I had thought earlier that she had turned… only so in relation to Curtis. But now she’s back a womanly force of nature on NXT, it makes sense for the BetaMax house to show that it’s flame emerging from inside the house. With things on the rocks again, and paranoia coming over Maxine, she goes to the one man who can give her what she really wants. William Regal. I have no predictions here… other that I know this has been set up extremely well.
What was once a Love triangle is now a crowded room of players now. Normally this doesn’t work, but here on NXT we’ve added new wrinkles and layers on a reasonable and consistent basis. This is why the main event this week was as good (MOTY nomination good) as it was. We have Maxine and Kaityln all out brawling in the ring. We have Bateman and Curtis sniping at each other while Regal is feeling good about his new role. Josh trying to get information while Curtis is hushing him up and being creepy. This inadvertently points out the action in the ring. It’s a very much a layered match with a lot of wheels in wheels going on.
We got a continuation of the Titus vs. Percy feud this week. How this will fare, and if we’ll get a rematch between the two is something that will be resolved next week. One thing about the tag match this week, is that the crowd was on board and into the match. One of the possibilities for this is that A-Ry is fueling this as he’s a known commodity. We have yet to see if this can be grown with A-Ry, expanded to Percy, or produces heat on Darren Young and Titus.
Finally, we have McGillicutty vs. Tyson in a match that on its wrestling merits earned a MOTY nomination. Tyson’s style is what the modern cruiser weight worker (read: X-Division) should look like. Today he brought it against the more traditional powerhouse style of McGillicutty. Style difference make for good matches.
As you can see this week’s Recap, I’m back again with my batteries charged. A big thanks to Mr. V for being my substitute teacher on last week’s recap.