WWE NXT on WWE.com
April 18, 2012
London, England
Report by: Grash of Wrestleview.com
NXT starts with a package narrated by Derrick Bateman. Derrick goes through the events and twists that have taken place in Matt Striker Saga.
“We Are Wild And Young”
Percy Watson vs. Johnny Curtis
Maxine is on commentary for the match. In the ring we get back and forth action with Curtis in control of most of the time. Maxine puts over Curtis as the Mastermind. Regal plays coy with her as Josh is left to dig for information. Regal and Maxine also claim there is nothing between the two of them. We get a replay of one of Curtis’s moves before we head to commercials.
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Back to the action, Curtis is still in control. Maxine says she has nothing to do with Striker’s Kidnapping. Regal says he has several professional criminal friends who can’t lie better than her. Curtis is still in control of the match. Regal provides a wild tale for Maxine before he flat out tells her she’s full of it. Curtis is yelling at Percy to quit. The crowd is getting into the match as Josh and Maxine argue on commentary. Regal steps in and separates the two as Percy gets a reversal and takes over in the match. Regal then refocuses our attention to the match. Percy goes for a pin attempt, but takes too much time and Curtis kicks out. Percy continues the offense and then hits a slam for the pin and the win.
Winner: Percy Watson
After the match we get a replay of the two big moves from Percy Watson for the win. After the match, Regal calls to Curtis. Tells “John” that he has had a good outing and is a future superstar. He tells Curtis to come to the commentary desk. He switches Maxine for Curtis. Percy takes delight in the switch and his win. Josh puts over Kaitlyn vs. Maxine Next.
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Kaitlyn vs. Maxine
Curtis is yelling about he’s sweaty. Josh brings up accusations, and Curtis is like what he’s talking about. Curtis confirms to Maxine is a horrible woman and cannot be trusted. Bateman joins commentary. Kaitlyn goes for an early bridge. Bateman says that he and Kaitlyn are a couple now. Maxine takes over in the match as Curtis say it’s all Maxine’s fault. Josh asks who did it then. Regal begs for it to be Bateman. He could fire him. Bateman retorts that Regal loves him. Maxine goes for a pin after being told to watch the hair. Curtis says he’s “Single, ready to mingle”. Regal then plays coy with Curtis. There is a three-way agreement that Maxine is a horrible person. Kaityln turns the table and is bouncing Maxine’s head of the ring post. He blows the next move and Maxine takes over and gets a Dragon Sleeper with a Body Scissors. Kaityln fades and has to tap out.
Winner: Maxine
After the match, Bateman goes to check Kaityln. Curtis says Regal is a great man, but is held back as he leaves. He holds his hand and calls Maxine to come over. Regal says he needs to address the situation. He says it’s only fair for those who watch NXT that the two need to be together as long they are on the show. Maxine will become the manager of Curtis. He has contracts. If they don’t sign they don’t have to work here. No Pressure from Regal. The crowd chants for them to sign it. Regal then pull out handcuffs and slaps them on them. Regal says he doesn’t know where the key is. The NXT theme plays as Regal tells them good-bye.
We cut to the locker room where we see Darren Young looking blue. Titus approaches him. Darren starts to address the issue with Titus about Tamina. Titus stops it and pulls out documents from Johnny Ace that the two are going to SmackDown. Titus ask about Tamina again to which Darren goes.. “Tamina Who!” the two laugh and dance. We then cut to another location. Striker is dressed in a track outfit and looking into a mirror stern. He turns around and smiles as he holds Hawkins’s cane. Josh ask what will happen when Striker confronts Hawkins and Reks.
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Raw Rebound
Jericho\Punk Package. Regal and Josh put over the Chicago Street Fight. We then cut to Reks and Hawkins. Hawkins is looking very HHH-ish. Reks is freaking out. Hawkins says all they have to do is put it on Maxine and Curtis. The new Handcuffed Couple appears. They Blame the Mid-Card Mafia. Mid-Card Mafia blames the Handcuffed Couple. They devolve into shouting at each other and Percy Watson shows up. He mocks them as he walks through. Bateman comes through and tells the Cuffed Couple “Till Death Do thee apart”. Kaitlyn is next and tells Maxine, “Aren’t you used to these?” Maxine goes ballistic and goes for Kaitlyn. Curtis pulls her back in time to miss Kaitlyn. Maxine goes to the floor as the Mid-card mafia calls her “coordinated”. Reks says they’re done. Hawkins says “I’ve got this.”
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Hawkins and Reks enter the arena. Regal says he can hold a grudge for a very long time. Josh points out that Hawkins doesn’t have his cane. The Mid-card Mafia starts to make the case for their innocence. They don’t know where he is, and they don’t care. Striker makes his appearance in the Arena. He’s got Hawkins’s cane. He says the WWE has clothed him, fed him, and made it possible for him to take care of his family. That was until a month ago when someone kidnapped him. He was chloroformed, blind folded, and beaten. He points out that Hawkins left his walking stick behind. So Hawkins says “So what If I did it” It prompts Striker to start swinging the cane around at the Mid-Card Mafia. Regal steps from commentary to stop him. Regal makes the makes the next match Tyler Reks vs. Curt Hawkins… The loser gets fired. Reks starts to say no way. Hawkins turns on him. Regal stops them. Tells them they can’t start without a Ref. Regal turns to Striker. Matt smiles and takes off his track jacket to reveal a Ref’s shirt on under it. There is a huge pop for it.
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Tyler Reks vs. Curt Hawkins
Loser Gets Fired
Matt Striker is Guest Ref
He uses a Ferret vs. Rat story to explain how Regal thinks of the Mid-card Mafia. Hawkins gets the early offense. Regal doesn’t care who wins. He’s been crafty. Hawkins yells that he’s been carrying Hawkins. Josh gives them credit for taking the match. Regal says They were out of options. Hawkins gets a lock on Reks as Josh and Regal talk about Darren and Titus’s opportunity on SmackDown. The match has slowen down a bit as Hawkins continues the offense. Regal plays coy about why Striker had a ref outfit on. Josh says it’s a part of Regal’s master plan. Regal coos at that and says it’s like a Hitchcock film playing out. Meanwhile Hawkins has thrown Reks out for the ring and continues the offense on the outside. He gets the tables turned on him. It sets up Reks flying over the top rope onto Hawkins. He rolls Hawkins in and goes on the offensive. Regal likes seeing the competition. He calls it the Ultimate Grudge Match. Hawkins takes over on offense as Regal mentions that Striker could continue in the WWE as a Ref. And shortly after that Reks gets a roll up on Hawkins to win the match.
Winner: Tyler Reks
After the Match, Reks rolls out of the ring to celebrate his wins. The crowd starts singing the good-bye song. In the ring Hawkins is giving Striker beef about his loss. Striker cold clocks him and tells him he’s fired. Regal gets on the mic and confirmed that Hawkins is indeed fired. Regal then turns to Reks and tells him he’s changed his mind. Reks has been fired as well. The mid-card Mafia have to be escorted out as Regal and Striker look on with glee.
CURT HAWKINS HAS BEEN ELIMINATED FROM NXT
TYLER REKS HAS BEEN ELIMINATED FROM NXT
Grash Says
And one year later, we get not one, but two eliminations from NXT: Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins.
Yes, the NXT Recapper just made an NXT Joke. If you’re not laughing with me then you’re taking the show too seriously, or you’ve not watched in a while, or we’re not watching the same show all together.
If you have friends whom might be interested in NXT, this is the episode to show them to get hooked. The narration by Bateman of what’s happened in Striker Saga of NXT is key to bring everything together. It’s highly effective and rarely seen in the WWE in this form. All of the major players on NXT going forward got some screen time and\or were in action. Minus Titus, Darren, Reks (maybe), Hawkins (maybe). Everyone else is our core of NXT going forward.
Daren and Titus would face off with the Uso on SD! later in the week. The Usos are a team up and down the card. So leaving NXT isn’t much of an issue. Darren and Titus is a big change As they are the remaining two competitors from the start of the season. I wish them luck going forward. And with that last vestige of Redemption points, Challenges, and other reality show trappings have been finally been washed away.
The one problem that people are going to have with today’s show is the lack of focus on the wrestling. I will disagree with them highly. The focus this week on storylines and the wrestling was good. If you want just matches go watch Superstars or the Olympic Trials.