The NXT Episode – 4th May 2010
04/05/2010
Hello and welcome the NXT Episode!
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On with the show!
Quick Links
Opening Segment: Rookie Challenge: The Obstacle Course
Match 1: Daniel Bryan Vs. Michael Tarver
Segment 2: Straight Edge Dressing Down
Segment 3: Rookie Challenge: Heath Slater
Segment 4: Rookie Challenge : Darren Young
Segment 5: Rookie Challenge : Justin Gabriel
Segment 6: Rookie Challenge : David Otunga
Main Event: David Otunga Vs. R-Truth
Segment 7: Rookie Challenge : Wade Barratt
Segment 8: Rookie Challenge : Skip Sheffield
Segment 9: R00kie Challenge : Michael Tarver
Closing Segment: Who Should Go
Segment 1
Rookie Challenge : The Obstacle Course
We’re just 1 week away from the Pro’s Poll and the very first elimination, so according to Matt Striker tonight is the Rookie’s final shot to impress.
Tonight’s challenge is an obstacle course, which is quite frankly ridiculous.
The Superstars have to….
- Traverse monkey bars
- Climb a suspended ladder and ring a bell
- Run around ringside, over the barricade and up the stairs through the crowd
- Drink a soda backstage
- Head back to the ring
- Juggle for 5 seconds
- Spin around a baseball bat
- Push a crate over the finish line
The fastest Rookie gets ‘the biggest prize since the inception of NXT’; an immunity pass in next week’s Pros Poll.
Bryan’s up first and seems to be showing some ill effects after his altercation with Batista on Raw.
Bryan’s ribs caused him a few setbacks but the obstacle that set him back the most was the soda.
He said that he didn’t like soda, prompting yet another barrage from Michael Cole about how he was a weirdo.
Daniel finally crossed the finish line with a time of 2:45.5, which is highly unlikely to win.
After his rather poor performance Bryan’s Pro, The Miz made his way out from the back.
Miz says that anyone in the arena could have done better and warned his Rookie not to use injuries as an excuse, because as a representative of The Miz there’s no such thing as an excuse.
Miz wrapped up by saying that Bryan would face Michael Tarver next and if he didn’t win then he can’t see any way for him to avoid the chop next week.
Match 1
Singles Match
Daniel Bryan (w/ The Miz)
Vs.
Michael Tarver (w/ Carlito)
Bryan’s record currently stands at 0-9, while Tarver’s is at a slightly better but no more impressive 0-7.
Fact of the matter is, barring a double DQ or double Count-Out we’re finally going to see one of these guys win tonight.
Bryan looked to lock on the Bow and Arrow early, but when Tarver began to battle back he stomped the knees instead.
Tarver continually went to the ribs in order to gain the upper hand, but Bryan furthered his character as a plucky underdog, fighting back time and again.
However, Michael Tarver finally picked up his first victory in the WWE, after a pretty basic Slam.
Bryan’s 0-10, but I’d lay everything that WWEBlog has on the line that he won’t be eliminated next week.
After the bell Tarver picked Bryan up and Carlito hit him with a Backstabber, all while The Miz looked on and did nothing.
Michael Tarver wins by Pinfall.
Segment 2
Straight Edge Dressing Down
After clips played of Young using the promise of a match against Punk as a way to sell programs last week, cameras cut backstage to The Straight Edge Society.
Punk questioned Young’s motives and told him that he’d better win the obstacle course challenge tonight, because if he doesn’t he’ll make sure he’s the one to go next week.
Segment 3
Rookie Challenge : Heath Slater
Slater’s turn on the obstacle course saw him destroy the time set by Daniel Bryan, although he too took longer drinking the soda than I’d expected him to.
Slater set a time of 1:36.9, not bad but I think it’s beatable.
Segment 4
Rookie Challenge : Darren Young
Young fell from the monkey bars almost instantly, then struggled on the suspended ladder which drew rather unnecessary booing from the crowd.
Young failed to make up any time on the soda and didn’t even make it back to the ring before his time ran out.
As he jumped the rails to get back into the ringside area one of the protective pads gave way, causing him to fall spectacularly onto his back.
Young finished with a time of 2:07.8, not good enough to win but good enough to secure him a place above dead last.
Segment 5
Rookie Challenge : Justin Gabriel
Gabriel made light work of the obstacle course, drinking the soda in record quick time and setting a new fastest time of 1:29 flat.
The barrier covering also gave way for him, but he dodged an embarrassing fall, that’s certainly an area to watch.
Segment 6
Seal the Deal David Otunga
Otunga lost this on the very first obstacle, taking an age to cross the monkey bars.
He made up a lot of ground from then on but dropping one of the juggling balls cost him dearly as he crossed the line 6 seconds slower at a time of 1:35 flat.
Main Event Match
Singles Match
David Otunga
Vs.
R-Truth
Someone in the sound department couldn’t decide what music Otunga should enter to, and so he got a rather stuttery mix of the NXT Theme and R-Truths entrance music.
While we’re on the subject, didn’t Wade Barratt win a Rookie Challenge where the prize was the opportunity to have his own entrance music made?
Has anyone even heard that?
Anyway, linking in nicely this match was as a result of Otunga winning the Rookie Challenge last week and I’d love nothing more than to see him beat Truth.
I didnt’ care for Otunga that much at the start of NXT, but the improvement in his ring work has impressed me as much as anything else on this show, and although he’s still not at the standard of Bryan or Gabriel, he’s getting there at an incredible pace.
That said, I’d probably cheer for one-legged Zach Gowen over R-Truth right now.
Sadly R-Truth hit the Lie Detector and picked up a pinfall after being dominated for the majority of the bout.
R-Truth wins by Pinfall.
Segment 7
Rookie Challenge : Wade Barratt
Barratt’s run didn’t last long, as after he fell from the monkey bars twice he shrugged the challenge off and walked to the back, getting disqualified in the process.
Segment 8
Rookie Challenge : Skip Sheffield
Sheffield was slow out of the blocks but made up a huge amount of time drinking the soda.
Sadly he just couldn’t beat Gabriel’s time, finishing on 1:31.2.
Striker rather bizarrely congratulated Sheffield, leading the Rookie to believe he’d taken the lead and ultimately disappointing him when he realised the truth.
Segment 9
Rookie Challenge : Michael Tarver
Tarver fell off the monkey bars twice, then failed to finish his soda, sealing his fate.
Tarver has a new t-shirt which is in the style of the classic nWo shirt and I have to admit I quite like it.
Closing Segment
Who Should Go?
Striker announced Gabriel as the winner (which if these contests are scripted I think is an absolute waste as there was no way he’d be down at the bottom anyway) and asked him how he felt.
Gabriel said he was just happy that Otunga hadn’t won, as he was beginning to get on his nerves. He then told Otunga that his ego far outweighs his talent.
Striker gave Otunga the chance to reply, and the A-Lister said he was a ratings draw, before complaining about how he had to compete directly after the ‘ridiculous’ obstacle course.
Next Striker asked Tarver who he thought should be eliminated, and rather shockingly he said himself.
He then went on some garbled rant about how he was the most dangerous man on NXT and was sick and tired of waiting for his chance to prove it.
Sheffield flip-flopped again, playing upto the crowd and saying he thinks Tarver should be the one to go.
Heath Slater and Wade Barratt both agreed with Sheffield, much to Tarver’s dismay.
Bryan said that he thought he should be the one to go as he hadn’t won a match yet, while Gabriel and Otunga continued to argue in the background.
Finally Darren Young said he deserved to stay because he wanted it more than everyone else, going down the line and telling all the other Rookies this to their face.
However, before he could deliver this message to Wade Barratt the Bare-Knuckle Brit pie-faced him and a brawl ensued as the show went off air.
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