WWE NXT
March 23, 2010
San Jose, CA
Report by: Mike Tedesco of WrestleView.com
?Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event?? The WWE video leads us into the show.
We?re wild and young as the NXT video plays. The pyro goes off in the arena as Michael Cole and Josh Mathews welcome us to the show. They throw it to Matt Striker who says WrestleMania is in the air. After WrestleMania we?ll have the biggest NXT episode yet. Next week the WWE Pros will reveal their standings and we?ll find out who is one step closer to becoming WWE’s next breakout superstar.
Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel vs. Skip Sheffield & Wade Barrett
William Regal is the only pro at ringside.
Sheffield and Slater start as they lock up. Sheffield powers him to the corner and Slater pushes back with a side headlock. Slater gets whipped off and shoulder blocked down hard. Christian, Heath Slater’s pro, makes his way to ringside. Sheffield hits a snapmare and slaps the upper back hard. Barrett gets a blind tag and Justin Gabriel is tagged in. They lock up and Barrett gets a knee in the midsection. Gabriel is sent to the ropes but he flips and starts kicking. Barrett comes back with a nice flapjack. Barrett shoulders him in the corner until he’s backed up. Gabriel is whipped sternum first into the corner and rolled up for a two count.
Barrett applies an abdominal stretch, working on Gabriel’s ribs. Gabriel gets out with some kicks but Barrett gets momentum in his favor. Barrett kicks him in the ribs and hits a gut buster for a near fall. Sheffield is tagged in and he hits a delayed front suplex for a near fall. Sheffield hits a body slam and a nice big splash for a near fall. Barrett tags back in and he head-butts Gabriel. Barrett punches Gabriel in the ribs and tags Sheffield in. Sheffield works him over with shoulders in the corner. Gabriel goes sternum first into the corner but is able to avoid a charging Sheffield. Gabriel ducks a clothesline and tags in Slater.
Slater hits a slingshot cross-body on Sheffield and a pair of forearm shivers. Slater ducks a clothesline and hits a neckbreaker for a near fall. Slater backs up and hits a big forearm in the corner. Sheffield reverses a whip to the corner but runs into some boots. Slater dives off the second rope but Sheffield catches him. Slater slides off and rolls him up for a one count when Barrett runs in. Slater ducks a big boot and Barrett hits Sheffield instead. Gabriel gets Barrett out and Slater covers Sheffield for the win.
Winners by Pinfall: Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel
Match Rating: * ?
Heath Slater is still undefeated. William Regal looks disgusted at ringside. His faces are hilarious.
Our Main Event will be David Otunga and Darren Young take on Daniel Bryan and Michael Tarver. We then see the Daniel Bryan NXT video again. He’s the man. They actually spliced in some footage from NXT over the past few weeks of his moves.
-Commercial Break-
WrestleMania is five days away. Wow! I?m so excited. What a helluva job WWE did this year on the card. It’s the best card in years.
We take a look at Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels ? Career vs. Streak. That’s the match I simply can?t wait to watch.
-Commercial Break-
WrestleMania week is shown. We then see a hype video for Bret Hart vs. Mr. McMahon. I never thought I?d see the day.
Still to come tonight is David Otunga and Darren Young taking on Daniel Bryan and Michael Tarver. We then look at Darren Young’s NXT video.
-Commercial Break-
The WrestleMania Recall is WrestleMania 21. That was the last really awesome WrestleMania card. Everything was awesome.
Michael Cole thanks Audioslave for ?Be Yourself,? one of WrestleMania’s official theme songs.
We take a look at John Cena taking on Batista at WrestleMania.
Darren Young makes his way to the ring with the Straight Edge Society. David Otunga is in tow. Young looks wary of CM Punk and the S.E.S. who attacked him unprovoked last week.
David Otunga and The Miz were on the red carpet last week at some SyFy convention in NYC. The Miz picked Otunga to go with him just to diss Daniel Bryan.
-Commercial Break-
Darren Young & David Otunga vs. Michael Tarver & Daniel Bryan
Bryan and Otunga start out. Otunga gets a headlock, gets whipped off, and shoulder blocks Bryan down. Otunga locks a side headlock on and he gets out with an overhead wrist lock. Bryan hits an arm drag takeover and Otunga gets a head-scissors. Bryan quickly gets out and locks on a death lock. Otunga wrenches the arm but Bryan rolls through and hits a dropkick. Michael Tarver is tagged in and he wrenches Otunga’s arm. Otunga forearms him but can?t get out. Otunga kicks and gets out.
Young is tagged in and he kicks at Tarver. Young wrenches the arm and gets whipped to the corner but he’s able to slingshot over Otunga. Young rolls him up for a one count. Tarver gets a side headlock and gets whipped off. Tarver responds with a shoulder block. Tarver goes into the ropes and Luke Gallows grabs the foot. Tarver gets in his face as Carlito and CM Punk come over. The Goose tries to regain order and is able to. Young tries to surprise him with a baseball slide but Tarver avoids it and clotheslines him on the outside!
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Bryan take Young down with a hammerlock. Young stretches him out in a good looking submission. Bryan gets a one count for his efforts. Young fights up and elbows out. Young goes into the ropes and eats a dropkick for a one count. Tarver is tagged back in and he hits a takeover. Tarver works on the arm but Young is soon up and he knees out. Young is a horrible seller. Young, using the arm that’s been being worked on, slams him down and tags in Otunga.
Otunga hits a body slam and wrenches the neck. Otunga taunts and goes back to the neck. Tarver eventually fights up and tags in Bryan. Bryan hits some uppercuts, a snapmare, and some stiff kicks to the back. Young tags in and punches away on Bryan. Bryan quickly slides under him and applies a guillotine choke. Young goes down and locks on a beautiful version of the crossface chickenwing. Young frantically gets to the ropes. Young reverses a whip, misses a clothesline, and takes a cross-body.
Michael Tarver and Luke Gallows are arguing at ringside as Bryan looks for a tag. Otunga is tagged in and he runs into Tarver. Otunga swats Bryan out of the air while attempting a missile dropkick. Otunga hits his Ron Simmons Spinebuster for the win.
Winners by Pinfall: Darren Young & David Otunga
Match Rating: * ?
During the match Michael Cole announced that the criteria the pros would use to grade the NXT rookies are wins and losses, type of opponent, work ethic, and the ?it? factor. The voting begins next week.
Quick Match Results
Heath Slater* & Justin Gabriel def. Skip Sheffield* & Wade Barrett
Darren Young & David Otunga* def. Michael Tarver & Daniel Bryan*
Bump of the Night: Young getting clotheslined on the outside
Match of the Night: Slater & Gabriel vs. Sheffield & Barrett * ?
Mike’s Thoughts
The focus of this show was WrestleMania first and getting all the NXT rookies on second, which isn?t a bad thing since it is the biggest PPV of the year. I definitely got even more amped up for the matches after watching the videos (as if it was possible). My only problem was why wasn?t there any love for Edge and Jericho?
The big news for NXT is that next week the pros will cast their votes so we see where they all stand. The matches were nothing to write home about. Some guys impressed me, like Daniel Bryan, and some guys didn?t, like Darren Young. We?ll see what happens next week. Here are the current standings:
Heath Slater: 4-0
Justin Gabriel: 3-1
Darren Young: 3-1
David Otunga: 3-1
Wade Barrett: 2-2
Daniel Bryan: 0-5
Skip Sheffield: 0-3
Michael Tarver: 0-3
Based on the criteria Daniel Bryan should be fine.
Final Rating: **
E-Mail ? MikeyT817@hotmail.com
Be sure to check out Friday’s Smackdown recap.
Thanks for reading!