WWE NXT
June 15, 2010
Raleigh, NC
Report by: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
“Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event…” The WWE video leads us into the show.
A video recaps the beginning of NXT Season Two. They show the guys who wrestled and then the beat down the pros gave the rookies at the end of the show. All in all it wasn’t a bad start to the season.
The NXT video plays and Matt Striker, standing in the ring, welcomes us to the show. Striker welcomes us to the show. Striker says there are a lot of unanswered questions about last week so he brings everyone out to get answers. The NXT rookies are introduced and they’re followed by the WWE Pros. How are Lay-Cool and Zack Ryder considered pros? They’re half a step ahead of the rookies.
Striker says he knows the rookies have a lot of questions but instead of him explaining why the pros did what they did, let’s here from the pros. MVP says he wants the rookies to relax and take it easy. MVP says they aren’t going to browbeat them or scold them. What they did last week was an initiation. To wear the title of WWE Superstar is a privilege and honor. No one standing on the pro’s side of the ring is going to give it to them. He’d be lying if he said there wasn’t an underlying message from last week. Whether it’s fair or not, they paid for the transgressions of their season one predecessors. It’s up to them to give them the knowledge but they have to work hard to receive it. This season is going to be done the right way. What he wants to know is if they are prepared to take that step and move forward. Can they move forward and let bygones be bygones? MVP wants to know, on behalf of the WWE Pros, are they cool? Everyone shakes hands and hug.
Striker says the pressure is going to increase. In two weeks the pros will evaluate and vote on them. That’s 50% of the vote. The other 50% is the WWE Universe voting. In five weeks there will be an elimination. Striker asks Kaval and Alex Riley to step forward. It’s all about opportunity in WWE. Tonight they’ll face each other one on one next on NXT. Lay-Cool rubs Kaval’s bald head.
-Commercial Break-
Lay-Cool says before it starts we have to look at a video of the “cute and cuddly” Kaval. The video for Kaval plays. They talk about him growing up at a fort and briefly go over his success in wrestling since starting in 1998. Hopefully they don’t screw it up with him.
Kaval vs. Alex Riley
The Goose has this match. They lock up and Riley powers him to the corner. Lay-Cool is on commentary. The mute button is on. Riley gives a clean break and kicks Kaval. Riley gets a side headlock on but Kaval whips him off. Riley runs him over with a shoulder block and taunts the crowd. Kaval hits a few stiff kicks in the corner. Riley reverses a whip but Kaval ducks the clothesline and takes him down with some nasty kicks. Kaval gets a front face lock on and Riley puts him in the corner to break it.
Riley punches and sends him to the corner. Riley runs into a slingshot attempt and Kaval donkey kicks him back. Kaval charges out of the corner with a beautiful wheel kick for a near fall. Kaval hits a snapmare and grapevines the neck. Riley gets to the ropes. Kaval chops the chest. Riley reverses another whip but lowers his head and eats a kick. Kaval charges but Riley flap jacks him onto the top rope.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Kaval trapped in a chicken wing. Kaval fights up and gets out. Kaval goes into the ropes and Riley hits a back suplex/slam combo for a near fall. Riley locks the chicken wing back on but Kaval elbows out. Kaval hits a sunset flip/double stomp combo! I love it!
Kaval comes back with some big kicks but Riley fights right back. Riley sends him to the ropes and eats a few clotheslines. Kaval takes him out with some nasty kicks. Kaval charges in him the corner but gets put on the apron. Kaval chokes him with a can opener type move on the ropes. Kaval breaks before being disqualified. Kaval springboards with a nice kick and gets a near fall. Kaval kicks him to the corner and catches him with a rolling wheel kick coming out of the corner. Kaval goes up top for a double stomp but Riley moves. Riley capitalizes with a fireman’s carry neckbreaker for the win!
Winner by Pinfall: Alex Riley (1-0)
Match Rating: * 1/2
Matt Striker congratulates Riley on the win and says it’s more impressive that he picked this win up without his pro The Miz. Riley says The Miz is partying in LA after winning the United States Championship once again. Riley declined to join him, saying he can take care of this all by himself.
Lay-Cool is asked for their thoughts on Kaval’s match. They say he did a great job even though he lost. With their guidance Kaval will be simply flawless.
The WWE Pros, taking notes on the stage, are asked for their thoughts. John Morrison says Miz isn’t here but he’s not partying in LA. He’s at a liposuction consult. Morrison says Riley did a good job of looking confident. Morrison comments on Kaval having impressive kicks and he thought they did a good job of making an impression. Morrison still isn’t a good promo. Zack Ryder says he only cares about his rookie Titus O’Neil however the new ring announcer is hot. He tells her to call him.
The video for Eli Cottonwood plays. I don’t think they should let him talk. He should just go out there and kill people.
Kofi Kingston will team up with his pro Michael McGillicutty to take on Mark Henry and Lucky Cannon.
-Commercial Break-
The Raw Rebound played. I wasn’t a fan of the follow up to the tremendous angle last week. I also wasn’t a fan of how they wrote off Daniel Bryan. I also hate car wrecks in wrestling as well. The announcers then run down the card.
They talk about how Titus O’Neil threatened Zack Ryder last week. The cameras caught them backstage trying to get on the same page. Ryder told him to forget about last week. Ryder says he needs to learn to control his temper and respect him because he’ll respect him back. Ryder says he’s relatively new as well, being here only three years. Ryder seemed really genuine there.
They air a promo for Husky Harris. His lineage is Blackjack Mulligan and IRS Mike Rotunda. They hype him up as a physical sort of guy who excelled in all contact sports. I really liked his in ring debut last week. He looked great.
Kofi Kingston and Michael McGillicutty make their way to the ring. They’ll be in action against Mark Henry and Lucky Cannon next.
-Commercial Break-
Kofi Kingston & Michael McGillicutty vs. Mark Henry & Lucky Cannon
Mark Henry and Kofi Kingston will start the match. McGillicutty wants in and he’s tagged in before anything happens. They lock up and Henry powers him down. McGillicutty circles the ring and gets a side headlock on Henry. Henry whips him off and runs over him with a shoulder block. Henry hits a gorilla press front slam and tags in Lucky Cannon. Cannon hits a body slam for a one count. Cannon gets a side headlock on before getting whipped off. McGillicutty hits a hip toss and then an arm drag. McGillicutty hits another one and keeps the arm bar applied.
Kingston is tagged in and he comes off the top rope with an axe handle to the arm. Kingston wrenches the arm and Cannon wrenches right back. Kingston flips out and hits a big splash for a one count. McGillicutty is tagged back in and he sends him to the ropes for a back elbow. That gets a one count. McGillicutty gets sent to the ropes and kicks Cannon in the face. McGillicutty hits a beautiful dropkick and Cannon rolls out of the ring. Kingston and McGillicutty hit stereo dropkicks on Henry, taking him off the apron as well.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Cannon trapped in an arm bar by McGillicutty. Cannon fights up but McGillicutty slams him down. Cannon whips him off, misses two clotheslines, and connects with a big boot for a near fall. Cannon covers again for a near fall. Cannon hits a headlock takeover. Henry is tagged in and he punches McGillicutty in the ribs. Henry takes him down with a head-butt before sending him to the corner. McGillicutty sidesteps him when he charges. McGillicutty punches but Henry clubs him down easily. Cannon tags in and punches away.
Cannon hits another headlock takeover and looks for a pin but doesn’t get it. McGillicutty fights up and whips him off but gets run over by a shoulder block. Cannon hits another shoulder block for a one count. McGillicutty again gets hit with a shoulder block and Cannon applies another headlock. Cannon powers him into the corner and shoulder blocks him. McGillicutty sends him to the corner and ducks a springboard cross-body block. McGillicutty then hits a beautiful spinning neckbreaker for the win!
Winners by Pinfall: Kofi Kingston & Michael McGillicutty (1-0)
Match Rating: * 1/2
Matt Striker asks what Kofi Kingston thought of his rookie. Kingston says he did all right for himself. Kingston says he’s gotten a chance to know him after a few days and he’s a man on a mission. Tonight was a step in the right direction.
Mark Henry says Lucky Cannon has a lot of potential and he’s lucky to be his pro. Henry says he has a long way to go but he thinks he’ll get there. This coming from a guy who had one good run from 1997-2000 and hasn’t been interesting since…
Matt Striker asks the Pros for their thoughts. Cody Rhodes says Lucky Cannon has a dumb look on his face. Lucky Cannon is a loser. Rhodes says he played Arena Football and was in the CFL. Rhodes wonders if someone said he looks like he could be a wrestler. Rhodes says he’s all style and no substance. Henry angrily says he should put his money where his mouth is. If he thinks he can get lucky and get a win then he should face Lucky Cannon one on one.
Matt Striker runs up to Cody Rhodes to get the answer. Rhodes says he’d be lucky to last five minutes with him. Rhodes accepts and asks for a week to get ready. Striker tells him to hang on and asks what we can expect from Cody Rhodes. Rhodes clubs Matt Striker and he falls off the stage. The pros and rookies check on Matt Striker as Cody Rhodes walks off the stage.
Quick Match Results
Alex Riley (1-0) def. Kaval (0-1)
Kofi Kingston & Michael McGillicutty (1-0) def. Mark Henry & Lucky Cannon (0-1)
Bump of the Night: Matt Striker’s fall from the stage
Match of the Night: Both matches * 1/2
Mike’s Thoughts
This wasn’t a bad show tonight. We’re still in the beginning of the season so it’s all about meeting the rookies. I enjoyed the opening segment and thought MVP delivered a good promo about why they did what they did. That seemed really genuine.
The matches weren’t bad tonight. I liked the look of Alex Riley. He looks like a star. On the same token Michael McGillicutty does as well. Too bad his name doesn’t scream star. We all know what Kaval can do and he didn’t disappoint tonight. No one impressed me as much as Husky Harris did last week though.
I’m not sure why Cody Rhodes felt the need to attack Matt Striker to make his point against Lucky Cannon but I’m glad he did. Striker has been obnoxiously bad these past few months. He used to be money on commentary. Now he’s too much.
Final Rating: ** 1/4
E-Mail – MikeyT817@hotmail.com
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Thanks for reading!