WWE NXT TV Results
June 15, 2010 - Season 2, Episode 2
Taped in Raleigh, N.C.
By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

The second week of the second season of WWE NXT opened with a video package recap of how the Pros introduced the new crop of Rookies on last week's show. They followed with a video on the Pros "initiating" the new Rookies at the end of the show.

Arena: After the standard "Wild and Young" NXT intro, they went to the arena where Matt Striker was center ring to introduce the show. Striker said they have a lot of unanswered questions after last week's show. Striker then brought out the eight NXT Rookies starting with Alex Riley, who will be in the ring this week. Eli Cottonwood, Husky Harris, and Kaval came out next. Percy Watson, Michael McGillicutty, Lucky Cannon, and Titus O'Neil rounded out the field.

With everyone assembled in the ring, Striker brought out the WWE Pros. John Morrison, Cody Rhodes, Co-Women's champions LayCool, and MVP came out first. Out next was IC champ Kofi Kingston and Cole noted Kofi has a title defense at the PPV. He didn't name the opponent(s)s. Mark Henry and Zack Ryder (in a bright bright bright yellow shirt) rounded out the field. The Miz was missing here since he's at the E3 Convention in Los Angeles.

MVP took the mic first to tell the Rookies there will be no confrontation tonight. He said they're going to explain what happened last week. He said it was an initiation because it's an honor and a privilege to be a WWE star. He said there was an underlying message, though, because they paid the price for the transgressions of their Season One predecessors. MVP said they all need to work hard together, which means they're going to do this the right way. He asked if they're ready to move forward and let bygones be bygones. "Are we cool?" MVP asked. The crowd booed, wanting chaos. Everyone shook hands while LayCool snuggled up to cute little Kaval. With everyone cool, Striker recapped there will be a vote in two weeks. Based on the votes, in five weeks, there will be an elimination. Striker told Kaval and Alex Riley to step up. He said they're booked against each other one-on-one next. He said it's a huge opportunity. LayCool then danced around Kaval and squeezed his cheeks to continue treating him like a little teddy bear.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Back from break, Michelle McCool and Layla were rubbing "cute and cuddly" Kaval. They did a big intro, which fed into an NXT intro video on Kaval. Kaval talked about his military background living in New York. They focused on his international wrestling background, like Bryan Danielson in these same videos, specifically Kaval working in Japan. They included some rare independent show footage. The video includes clips of his martial arts background before wrapping up and sending it back to the ring.

[Q2]

1 -- KAVAL (Low-Ki) vs. ALEX RILEY

McCool and Layla joined commentary as Kaval and Riley started off with a basic exchange. LayCool said they hope their training will make Kaval "flawless" and turn that frown upside down. Kaval landed martial arts strikes for a one count before dragging him to the corner. The Pros were shown on the stage watching the match as Kaval continued the attack with a flying kick strike. Kaval slapped on a mat-based submission, then landed another kick strike. Riley made a comeback dropping Kaval throat-first across the top rope to cut off Kaval's momentum. Layla made noises like a parent consoling a small child and they cut to a break with Riley in control.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, the crowd was chanting "You suck" as Riley continued to work over Kaval. Good to hear there's heat on Riley early in his NXT run. Cole noted Miz's absence tonight, saying he has no idea where he is. It's a big city. Real big city. Riley continued to work over Kaval as the crowd came to life before Kaval busted out a double-foot stomp to the chest. Kaval mounted a comeback with martial arts kicks before rubbing his head. Cole questioned the rubbing of the head and LayCool defended their Rookie before Kaval applied a modified tarantula in the ropes. Kaval then came off the top with a leaping kick for a two count. The co-champs complained about the ref's cadence before putting him over as being highly impressive so far. Kaval landed another strike to the jaw before going up top. He measured Riley for the Warrior's Way double foot stomp, but Riley moved out of the way. Riley then followed with a facebuster out of fireman's carry position for the pin and the win, much to the chagrin of LayCool. Cole gloated about Riley winning even without his Pro, Miz, in the building.

WINNER: Riley in 10:00. That might have been the best Rookie vs. Rookie match they've had through 17 weeks of NXT. Kaval looked terrific in his debut WWE TV match. Meanwhile, Riley just looks like a total star in the ring. He has that "it" factor. LayCool's commentary was a nice addition the proceedings. The post-match evaluations that followed were a nice touch, as well. (**)

Post-match: Striker brought in Riley for post-match commentary. Riley talked up The Miz winning the U.S. Title last night on Raw and said Miz is partying it up in L.A. right now. Riley said he decided to take care of business himself. Striker brought in LayCool to get their thoughts on Kaval. McCool said they think Kaval did a great job in his first WWE match. She said he'll become "flawless" soon enough. Striker sent it to the stage where John Morrison was asked for commentary. Morrison said Miz really isn't partying in L.A. He said he thought Riley did a good job looking confident. He put over Kaval's kicks. Morrison, apparently put on the spot, stumbled through his evaluation. Zack Ryder was given the floor next. He said he's only concerned with his Rookie, but he wants the number of the new ring announcer. Nice heel promo by Ryder. Striker then put Cole and Mathews on the spot asking for their thoughts. Cole said he liked Ryder's comment. D'oh. Cole and Mathews then fed to a video on Eli Cottonwood.

NXT Intro video: Eli Cottonwood also has a military background. They showed clips of Cottonwood as a basketball player in the U.S. and Europe. It wasn't physical enough for him. He said his in-ring style is very dark because he likes to punish people. Eli said it's his time to show the world what he's really like inflicting pain and carnage. Eli said he's going to enjoy every moment of it.

Still to come: Lucky Cannon & Mark Henry vs. Kofi Kingston & Michael McGillicutty.

[Q3]

[Commercial Break]

Raw Rebound: They went back to last night's NXT Invasion angle follow-up with highlights from NXT's involvement in the beginning, middle, and end of the show. They focused on Wade Barrett demanding an answer from Bret Hart by Sunday on their contract status.

Announcers: Cole reported that Bret Hart was "shaken up" and experienced "emotional and physical damage." Cole said there's no word from the Raw GM's office on Hart's response to the Rookies's demands. All they need is a hostage situation now.

Fatal Four-Way preview: Cole and Mathews broke down the PPV line-up focusing on WWE champ John Cena and World Hvt. champ Jack Swagger's title defenses. Cole continued to throw out the 25 percent number.

Earlier tonight: They cut to a black and white "security camera" type video in the locker room where Zack Ryder talked to Titus O'Neil out of character about establishing respect last week. Ryder sat down with O'Neil to talk things over after exchanging Tweets.

NXT Intro video: Husky Harris. They focused on Harris's wrestling lineage following I.R.S. and trying to step out of his shadow. They focused on his amateur wrestling and college football background. He said his football coach told him he's built like a tank and has a Ferrari engine. Husky said he's tougher and stronger than the rest of the Rookies.

In-ring: Cue up Kofi Kingston's theme music to bring out Kofi and Joe Hennig for the main event tag match. Someone forget to bring up the new ring announcer's mic as she attempted an intro for the match. Main event up next.

[Commercial Break]

[Q4]

In-ring: Mark Henry and Lucky Cannon were on their way to the ring back from break. They cut to a shot of the Pros on the stage ready to evaluate the proceedings.

2 -- IC champion KOFI KINGSTON & MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY (JOE HENNIG) vs. MARK HENRY & LUCKY CANNON

Kingston and Henry playfully squared off against each other (since they're both babyfaces) and Kingston opted to tag in Hennig. Hennig locked up with Henry, who flung him across the ring. Hennig regrouped and ducked underneath Henry before applying a side headlock, only to have Henry run him over. Henry followed with a big press slam before tagging in Cannon to work over Hennig. Cannon attempted some offense, but Hennig knocked him to the outside. Hennig then knocked Henry to the floor and they cut to break with Hennig and Kofi in control.

[Commercial Break]

Cannon and Henry tagged in and out working over Hennig back from break. Hennig then ducked a cross-body attempt and hit a spinning neckbreaker for the pin and the win out of nowhere. Kofi celebrated with Hennig and they hugged it out to sell excitement for the victory.

WINNERS: Kofi & Hennig in 12:00. Lucky didn't show much of anything here. Hennig looked solid on the other hand. Lucky just doesn't have much of a personality in the ring and that's something they can work on as the season goes on. The post-match that followed was terrific... (*1/4)

[Q5 -- over-run] Post-match: Striker brought in Kingston for comments. Hennig shook hands with Henry as Kingston talked up Hennig taking a step in the right direction with something to prove. Striker asked Henry about Lucky. Henry said he sees potential and a long way to go, but he thinks he'll get there. To the stage where Cody Rhodes was asked for his assessment. After waiting out boos, Cody slowly raised the mic and said Lucky has a real dumb look on his face after losing. He said Lucky shook Hennig's hand, which is what losers do. He put over the fact that winners make the money in WWE. Cody told Lucky he's all style and no substance. Henry defended Lucky and told Cody to put his money where his mouth is. He told Cody to face Lucky one-on-one.

Striker then ran up the stage to ask Cody about the challenge. Cody thought it over before saying he thinks Lucky will be...lucky to last five minutes with him. He then said he needs a week to get ready, which drew good heel heat. Striker asked Cody what they can expect. "What can we expect?" Cody asked. He then clubbed Striker with a forearm, knocking Striker off the stage. MVP wanted to know what was up with that as Cody stomped off to the back not pleased with folks trying to show him up. The other Pros then checked on Striker as Henry hollered to the back for Cody to come on back. They replayed Cody taking out Striker, who was shown holding his head while Dr. MVP checked on him. McCool brought over a bottle of water for MVP to apply an ointment to Mr. Striker as the show ended. Nice, nice show-closing angle utilizing the post-match promo format.

CLOSING THOUGHT: One of the better episodes of NXT through 17 weeks. Kaval vs. Riley was an excellent TV match, the post-match promos were a nice touch, Cody Rhodes talking about winning being what matters was excellent, and they set up a match for next week with an incentive to tune in for the follow-up. They also experimented with some of the "out of character" TV presentation with Ryder and O'Neil, which was a fine attempt with room to grow. Well done.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for an "NXT TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. To contribute your thoughts on NXT, email to pwtorch@gmail.com using our Feedback form.

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