WWE NXT on WWE.com
December 28, 2011
Indianapolis, Indiana
Report by: Gregory “Grash” Walek of Wrestleview.com
“We Are Wild And Young”
Striker is in the ring as the show starts. In 3 weeks NXT will be celebrating its 100th episode. He refers to Daniel Bryan, the World Heavyweight Champion. Striker pulls out Justin Gabriel. He’s in his ring gear. Striker asks him about his experiences since NXT. Before he can talk, Heath Slater interrupts him. Slater says he hasn’t done jack. Slayer jaw jacks with the crowd, before he goes in at how he’s carried Gabriel. The promo devolves into the two yelling at each other and it turns into a match between Gabriel and Slater.
Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater
Slater plays chicken shit with Gabriel before the two lock up. Gabriel does some little critter moves before Slater punches him the face. The do it again, and it turns into lock by Gabriel. Gabriel taunts Slater. The match moves on with Gabriel in control of the match. Striker is talking about people whom have left the company. The crowd is very respectful Japanese (that is, quiet and unresponsive) till Slater gets thrown out of the ring and Gabriel does a flip over the top rope on to him.
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When we get back to the action, Slater is now in control of the match. Gabriel turns the table and goes to the top ropes. Slater Gets up and knocks him down. It gets a response from the crowd. Slater goes on offense and gets a moment to pose for the crowd’s displeasure. Slater manages to jaw jack Mathews and Striker before he gets Gabriel back into the ring. Slater is getting more damage on Gabriel, and is getting the crowd back into the match. There is a “Let’s Go Gabriel” chant in response. Slater loses control of the match when going for squash in the corner and hits his head on the post. Gabriel goes on a run that ends with a pin attempt. This sets up the opportunity for Gabriel to go to the top rope. Slater again, stops hi and gets some offense in. Gabriel turns it around and does a spring board moonsault from the center of the ring ropes. Slater takes over and gets some offense. They end up on the ropes and Gabriel drops Slater. Gabriel recovers from the fall and does the 450 splash from the ring ropes for the win.
Winner: Justin Gabriel
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Raw Rebound
We get a recap of Johnny Ace and Punk’s interchange leading to the Gauntlet Match. Shenanigans ensue and Dolph Ziggler wins. He will get a Chance at the WWE Title on the first Raw of 2012.
Backstage
Bateman calls both of them crazy. She complains about how he doesn’t listen and how he should be preparing for Curtis. Bateman stops her and tells her that she keeps his eye on the prize. He also says he’s going to beat Curtis and regain Maxine’s love to make the power couple that the WWE needs. Maxine is like “whatever”, but before she can walk away, Bateman pulls Maxine to her. He kisses her passionately across her lips. Maxine doesn’t struggle, but grabs on to the back of Bateman’s head as she returns the luscious kiss. Crowd noise is pumped into the scene. When the kiss is finally broken, Maxine turns and slaps Bateman across the face. He smiles at the familiar rough touch of love from Maxine. After they part, the camera pans down the hallway to reveal Johnny Curtis lurking around the corner.
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Percy Watson is out first for his match. Darren Young is on commentary for this match. He claims that NXT is his show. A package from last week runs as Striker asks him about faking an arm injury last week before beating on Titus. Tyson Kidd is out next. While he enters the ring, Darren comments Percy is Ex-Football and thus is no better than Titus.
Tyson Kidd vs. Percy Watson
Match starts with Percy on offense. Percy backs Kidd into the corner and the ref has to step in to break them. Darren gets up yelling at the ref to back him up. He then accosts Percy if he’s trying to cheat. Percy looks over to Darren, and Tyson kid knocks him over. Darren retorts that Percy is a rookie and he’s a pro. Tyson takes control of the match. Darren tells Striker that on Season 1 of NXT, he had CM Punk as his pro. Darren says he’s a parry guy and Punk wanted him to go strait edge. Striker brings up Daniel Bryan and if Darren is jealous. Darren responds that his time will come. Striker respects him in the ring, and reminds him that he busted up his mouth. Meanwhile in the ring, Percy manages to drop himself and Tyson to the matt. The ref starts to count. Percy gets control of the match and goes on offense. It leads to a missile drop kick on Tyson. Percy goes for the pin, but Tyson kicks out. Darren Young jumps off commentary and distracts Percy. When Percy turns around, he’s kicked in the gut by Tyson. He drops him for the pin and the win.
Winner: Tyson Kidd
After the match, Darren Young gets in the ring and goes to work on Percy. He gets his finisher the Heatwave on Percy. Darren tells Percy “to tell his boy, “What’s up?!?”. Darren poses for the crowd and yells out that he’s “Mr. No Days Off”. He leaves with Tyson as his music plays.
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Backstage
Maxine is walking down and encounters Aksana. Aksana had been going through Teddy Long’s emails and found one from Bateman. Maxine reads it out loud. Bateman is looking forward to moving to SmackDown… but without Maxine. The email suggests that Maxine is holding him down and she should stay on NXT. It’s topped off that this should be kept between the two of them (Bateman and Long) because “You know how Maxine gets.” Maxine grills Aksana about the origin of the email. Aksana says it’s Teddy Long’s Phone. Maxine asks if Curtis puts her up to it. Aksana says she’s trying to help. We cut to the arena and Curtis and Bateman are entering the ring. Before the match, the Ref has to hold back Bateman as he’s charged up with hate.
Derrick Bateman vs. Johnny Curtis
Before the match, Curtis is able to capitalize on Bateman’s uncontrolled hate to start off the match. The tables get turned as Bateman takes control of the match and starts to dish damage to Curtis. Bateman eventually throws Curtis out of the ring and gets a missile drop kick on him outside the ring. Bateman rolls Curtis in and Curtis in responds by rolling the distance of the ring. When Bateman reaches the ropes on the other side, Curtis is ready for him and takes control of the match. After a pin attempt, Maxine enters the Arena. As we head to ads, Curtis can be seen saying “What is she doing out here?!?”
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We return to a strike match between Curtis and Bateman. Curtis wins out and takes control of the match. Mathews explains that Maxine is the reason for the feud between these two. He tries to get her to commentary, but she waves him off. Curtis is still in control as Maxine keeps a fixed look on the match. Bateman manages to drop Curtis and the ref counts. When they both get up, Bateman takes control of the match and goes on the offensive. He sees Maxine and it distracts him long enough for Curtis to take over on the match. In the end though, Bateman rolls up Curtis for the pin and the win.
Winner: Derrick Bateman
When the match ends, Striker asks if Bateman has impressed Maxine. Curtis as rolled right out of the ring and he leaves. Bateman gets in the middle of the ring and smiles to Maxine. He gets to one knee. And Maxine enters the ring. She walks up to him. She stops in front of him. And she then walks off. Curtis comes back to the set. And Maxine stops in front of him and slaps him across the face. Striker calls it “Foreplay”. He’s right as it leads right into a wild passionate kiss in front of the crowd. Maxine then takes Curtis by the hand and leads him away. Curtis, as he disappears to gorilla, lets his other hand trail behind him waving a bewildered Bateman good-by. Striker asks why the jerks always get the girls.
Grash Says…
This week only two storylines got advanced. Before we got into storylines, we had a match of NXT-Alums of Gabriel and The One Man Southern Rock-Band, Heath Slater. This match had one interesting point that I want to highlight. When Gabriel was on the offense at the start of the match, the crowd was dead. When Slater took over, and Gabriel was the face in peril, the crowd finally got into the match. This happened because Slater did his job to rile the crowd up against him. This is why Slater has a job in the WWE. He’s a good jobby heel worker. Of course, you would have known that before if you listen to Greg McNeish on the Wrestleview Radio Network at vip.wrestleview.com. (Yes, it’s a shameless plug for the Wrestleview VIP-ness.. but he’s right, isn’t that more of a reason to listen?)
I’m mixed if Percy’s Entrance with the addition of “I’ve gotta know, I’ve gotta know, Can I get some” before his music is horrid or an excellent idea. I’m right now leaning towards the horrid, but I’m also interested if it grows on me over time.
While Titus wasn’t in action this week, Darren Young got another one over him by helping Tyson Kidd win his match against Percy and by hitting his finisher “The Heatwave” on Percy. We will see if there’s a reaction from Titus next week.
Our focus this week was on the BetaMax Love Triangle. Please keep your arms and hands inside the cart, as we’re about to go on a wild roller coaster ride. First, Bateman woos Maxine. Maxine and Bateman look like they’re on the road to getting back together.
Second. Aksana arrives and shows Maxine “Teddy Long’s” phone. Aksana, who hasn’t been on NXT since she was eliminated, shows up this week and gives Maxine the smoking gun against Bateman. We’re given every indication right now that this is legit. Are you thinking shenanigans? You’re not the only one!
Finally, Bateman faces off with Curtis fired up and ready to go. He beats him for nothing in the end, Maxine walks off on Bateman only to kiss Curtis in front of Bateman. And to boot, Curtis gives the Wave of victory to Bateman. You can’t help feel bad for Bateman.
Now I have to make an admission. Well, it’s not really that much of a secret if you’ve been reading my recaps regularly. I am have been loving this Love Triangle Angle on NXT. It shows in that special extra detail I put in describing these segments.
Still, with the last NXT of the year ending, you can’t help feeling bad for Bateman. But in the end, he should have realized… Nothing lasts forever. Not even cold cold November Rain.