The NXT Episode - 18th May 2010
18/05/2010
Hello and welcome the NXT Episode!
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On with the show!
Quick Links
Opening Segment: Striker’s Introduction
Match 1: Darren Young Vs. Wade Barrett
Segment 3: Controversial Eliminations
Main Event: Justin Gabriel Vs. Heath Slater
Segment 4: Skip Sheffield on Eliminations
Closing Segment: The Elimination
Segment 1
Striker’s Introduction
Striker kicks off the show tonight after a VERY long-winded promo video showing what happened last week.
Rather than welcoming the Rookies, he welcomes the Pros, of which six appear (no sign of R-Truth or Carlito, which is kinda strange given Otunga is still in the running) including Regal and Miz, who’s Rookies are already gone.
Striker asks them to explain what they are looking for from the NXT Superstars.
The Miz says he’s looking for someone who has the potential to draw a larger audience than the WWE already has, for example someone who would stop a viewer channel surfing to see what was going on.
Regal agrees with this, and says he also looks for adaptability, because you have to learn to change to cope with situations. He also outlines a need for in ring skills and personality.
Punk says that his moral compass dictates that he doesn’t have to speak to the people in the audience tonight, because he’s lost his will to appear infront of them, or something like that.
Christian says he’s looking for someone to capture the imagination of the WWE Universe, step up and take the NXT competition and show him ‘IT’, because he’s seen ‘IT’ from a few of the competitors, but others (one in particular) he’s seen none of ‘IT’.
Regal interjects at this point and asks Christian when he’s going to show them ‘IT’, because he hasn’t shown them ‘IT’ for the past 10 years.
Matt Hardy says that they all have a common viewpoint and that’s to look for someone that’s the ‘complete package’, but they also need someone who can survive in the locker room as well as in the ring.
Finally Jericho said that he was looking for someone who would make him want to pay money to see them.
He says there is only one person so far that has achieved this, and although he didn’t say who, I assume he meant Wade Barratt.
Match 1
Singles Match
Darren Young
Vs.
Wade Barrett (w/Chris Jericho)
C.M Punk stood up and looked like he was going to accompany Young to the ring for this match, but as soon as his Rookie turned around he headed back to his seat on the Pros Panel.
Barrett came out to Jericho’s music AGAIN, so it looks like we can forget about that ’special custom entrance music’ he won, that is unless he wins the competition all together.
This match stems from two weeks ago, when the two set about each other during the final segment of the show.
I won’t mince words on this one, Barratt controlled the majority of the match and picked up the win.
It’s not looking very promising for Young, with yet another loss in a very one sided bout, but then it was probably to be expected with Rookie #1 facing bottom of the list.
Still no mention about where R-Truth and Carlito are.
Wade Barratt wins by Pinfall.
Segment 2
David Otunga Promo
This segment weighed up what the Pros think of #2 Rookie David Otunga.
Most Pros had something positive to say about him, but Christian, C.M Punk and Matt Hardy didn’t seem to be too keen on him.
Segment 3
Controversial Eliminations
Following the promo Matt Striker and the two ‘controversially’ eliminated Rookies Michael Tarver and Daniel Bryan are in the ring.
After yet another airing of the surprise axing, Striker asks Tarver how he feels about it.
Tarver says that he was under the impression that the NXT Rookies fate lay entirely in the hands of the Pro’s and the Pro’s Poll, not some pencil pushers who are intimidated by him, under the guise of ‘WWE Management’.
He says they should be intimidated and that’s probably why they didn’t eliminate him in person.
Striker asked him about his constant refusal to participate in the challenges and Tarver said he was told that to make it in the WWE he had to stand out, and that’s exactly what he did.
Next Striker asked Daniel Bryan, or Brian Danielson pretty much the same question.
Bryan ranted about how he’d heard rumour that the WWE didn’t like smaller guys, and guys that had been ‘made’ elsewhere, regardless of whether they can come out and engage the audience.
He says that they should want a guy who makes them the most money and that they should pick the best person for the job, which is him.
Striker says that ‘the critics’ have claimed he eliminated himself.
Bryan said that he doesn’t have to blow his own horn, because everyone in the WWE Universe, and all the Pro’s Poll know how good he is, and although The Miz doesn’t like to admit it, he knows that he’s better than him.
Miz jumps up and says that Bryan has done nothing in the WWE other than get himself eliminated, while he is the first person to ever hold both the US and Tag titles at the same time.
Bryan challenges him to a match, then gets cut off by Striker who reminds him that he’s been eliminated.
After telling Striker that he doesn’t miss his constant interruptions, Bryan turns his attention to ‘the one person who wouldn’t admit’ how good he was; Michael Cole.
He calls Cole a parrot, repeating whatever Vince McMahon tells him to in his earpiece.
He backs Cole into a corner, calls him a poor man’s replacement for JR and eventually attacks him, before having to be dragged away by officials.
Absolutely brilliant promo by Danielson, I’m wondering if they told him to tone it down for the past couple of weeks, because this was the kind of think I expected to see from him from day one.
After the commercials Cole chastised Bryan for attacking him and Josh Mathews said that there’s little chance of him ever being a part of the WWE locker room after what he just did.
Main Event Match
Singles Match
Justin Gabriel (w/Matt Hardy)
Vs.
Heath Slater (w/Christian)
Now here are two guys who I couldn’t care less about.
Gabriel is good in the ring, but poor on the microphone, and Slater just doesn’t excite me in the slightest.
About 2 minutes into this match, after crying about pressing charges, Michael Cole jumped up from the announce table and said he was going to ’sort things out’, before hurriedly walking to the back.
Gabriel picked up the win with the 450 Splash in a fairly short match.
Justin Gabriel wins by Pinfall.
Segment 4
Skip Sheffield on Eliminations
Backstage Skip Sheffield talked about being the first NXT Rookie to be eliminated via the Pro’s Poll.
He said they voted him off because they saw him as a threat, because of his size, strength, desire to succeed etc.
A Darren Young promo followed this, but I didn’t really pay attention to it too much.
Strangely enough I did notice that no one mentioned the fact that he looks EXACTLY like Cena with a different skin tone and bigger hair.
Closing Segment
The Elimination
Michael Cole is back on the announce position, although I don’t know why he bothered as he won’t be saying much during this segment.
Striker goes over the importance of winning once again, then reveals the NEW Pros Poll, which is as follows:
- Wade Barrett
- David Otunga
- Heath Slater
- Justin Gabriel
- Darren Young
Interestingly Heath Slater moved up a spot, despite not actually doing anything of note tonight and losing to the guy he leap-frogged.
Afterwards Striker handed the microphone to Young and told him to go and tell the Pros exactly what he thinks of the result.
He thanks the fans in attendance and the fans at home, then says that he has respect for all the Pros in the panel, which is what sets him apart from all the other Rookies who don’t.
He thanks the Pros, then says that this isn’t the last time they will see Darren Young.
The crowd gave him the ‘goodbye’ chant treatment during this little piece.
Afterwards a clip of Bryan attacking Cole played once more as the show went off the air.
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