CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
Pro Wrestling Torch
Pro Wrestling Torch Reaches The Most Wrestling Fans Every Week: #1 in iTunes • #1 on iPhone and iPad • #1 on Android • #1 on Kindle
GOT THE PWTORCH APP YET?
iPhone & iPad
Android
Amazon Kindle
Windows Phone
PWTorch Phone App
WWE NXT Report
JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 8/16: NXT Week 24 review, Which happens first - Season 5 ends or Season 5 Pro Chavo turns up in TNA?

Aug 17, 2011 - 11:51:51 AM
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BOOKMARK US & VISIT US DAILY


WWE NXT alt. perspective review
August 16, 2011
Taped in Bakersfield, Calif.
Report by Justin James, PWTorch contributor


Coming into Week 24 of "NXT: Redemption" and still having Summerslam in my mind, I am shocked that no one has asked the obvious: why is William Regal still on NXT and Booker T is calling PPVs and Zackdown? And why hasn't Michael Cole gonged Booker T yet? I'm calling it here folks, Chavo is going to show up on TNA before "NXT: Redemption" wraps up. And, how about that Johnny Curtis debut? After weeks of build up, he gets fed to the Mark Henry machine. Why? Did Trent Barreta have the night off? Or, maybe WWE management is sending Curtis down the Kizarny route, which would be just find with me (yes, this is the second time I've referenced Kizarny with regards to Johnny Curtis).

This season is still just meandering along, with no sign of an elimination in sight, and they are so devoid of wrestlers on the roster they're dragging Matt Striker into the ring again. Titus O'Neil looks like he should eventually win. Maybe the Tatsu-Kidd feud will pick up again? Or Striker - Young?

NXT Rookies (and Pros):
Titus O'Neil (Hornswoggle)
Darren Young (Chavo Guerrero)
Derrick Bateman (Daniel Bryan, currently on strike until Bateman shapes up)
Conor O'Brian (Vladimir Kozlov)
Lucky Cannon (Tyson Kidd)
Byron Saxton (Yoshi Tatsu)
Jacob Novak (JTG)
Hornswoggle_NO_150_11.jpg

[Q1] The show opens with Titus O'Neil, Hornswoggle, and A.J. Lee coming into the ring. Good gracious, all three have mics. Titus says he's been on a journey to win NXT, and Hornswoggle has been on a journey for love. Hornswoggle cuts a promo and Titus translates. Hownswoggle has a ring pop for her, and she seems impressed. It's being used as a not-quite-wedding-ring. A.J. says it's never been "about size" and Regal declines the obvious joke.

Derrick Bateman comes out to interrupt. Bateman is dressed in jeans and baby oil. Bateman rips on Hornswoggle and Titus. Titus takes Booker T's "awkward moment" title with a yeast infection reference. Eventually Titus asks he to come to the ring and Derrick says to make him. Derrick runs to the back. A.J. is alone in the ring, but she gets ambushed by Maxine from NXT 3. Hah! My prediction from a few weeks ago came partially true, Maxine is back, just not as a love interest for Hornswoggle...or maybe that's what this was about?

[c - "The Greatest Superstars of the 21st Century" DVD, Night of Champions ]

Great, here's JTG. He's out for a match, against Tyson Kidd. Who's the heel here?

1 -- JTG vs. TYSON KIDD

I guess JTG's playing the face as Kidd slaps him a little. JTG with a quick rollup for two. JTG gets in some offense. Some back-and-forth between the two. Again, Regal says that Kidd is the standout star of NXT: Redemption, and it's true. Kidd pulls out a wicked counter by doing a rolling roll-up into a single leg Boston Crab. JTG quickly taps out. Post-match, a sound strikes and the 'Tron shows a Japanese character. Kidd looks for the ambush, but it never happens. It looks like a reboot of Yoshi Tatsu's character.

WINNER: Tyson Kidd in 4:00. JTG tapping out to a single leg Boston Crab is about one step up from tapping to an abdominal stretch. It's a bad sign for his future endeavors.

[Q2] Backstage, Striker is ready to wrestle, and explains that he's challenged Young to a re-match. He's not making excuses for his loss last week, and he's ready to win.

[c - Be a S.T.A.R.]

2 - MATT STRIKER vs. DARREN YOUNG

Striker taunts Young, outsmarts him, and uses his agility. Hot opening. Young comes back, but Striker puts Young back into the corner. Young rolls outside and Striker kicks his hands into the steps. Young back int he ring, Striker continues to work on the arm, including one nasty-looking armbar. Young escapes by getting Striker's shoulders down. Young is bleeding from the mouth. He tries the neckbreaker on the apron, but Striker escapes. Instead, he suplexes Striker onto the apron and lands on the outside. Young moves into a few different holds to take the pace down a few notches. Striker on hard offense in the corner. Young tries a springboard shoulder block, but Striker reverses it into a neckbreaker and almost gets the win but Young gets his foot on the ropes. I guess this ref should have called the Summerslam main event instead of Triple H.

Young tries for his finisher, but Striker slips out and reverses into a Backstabber for two. Striker tries a clever move that was like a cross arm breaker transitioned into a crucifix pin, but Young stands up with Striker on his shoulders and hits his finisher for the win.

WINNER: Darren Young in 5:00. Very, very good match. Striker wrestles with a passion and fire that is rarely seen outside of PPV main events, which put Young over strongly.

[c - WWEShop.com, WWE All-Stars ads]

Derrick Bateman comes out for a match, holding hands with Maxine. She needs the black hair back, to go with her "Ice Queen" persona. With brown hair, she looks like the main character on that "Necessary Roughness" show. Bateman takes the mic and introduces "the love of my life, my soulmate, my girlfriend, Maxine." She says that Hornswoggle can't handle a real woman like her. Never mind the fact that she was making out with him on NXT: 3.

[c - "Rey Mysterio: The Life of a Masked Man" DVD ad]

3 - DERRICK BATEMAN (w/Maxine) vs. TITUS O'NEIL

[Q3] Titus starts off strong and the ref needs to warn him about the corner. O'Neil on strong offense and Maxine looks worried. Bateman with a sweet running dropkick for two to turn the match around. O'Neil gets a small comeback but Bateman gets his knees up when O'Neil charges, and regains control. Bacteman with a sloppy hold, and Regal tries to excuse it. Bateman continues to slow it down. Titus with a big takedown. Then, he goes with a leaping shoulder tackle then a shoulder breaker. Fallaway slam and Bateman rolls out of the ring. Titus would rather bark than follow up.

Maxine distracts Titus, allowing Bateman to catch him coming back into the ring. Maxine grabs Titus' legs when the ref is distracted, allowing Bateman to surprise O'Neil with a roll-up for the win.

WINNER: Derrick Bateman in 8:00. Not a great match, but it put over the basic story that Bateman is a heel, Maxine is a heel, and she will cheat to help him win.

[c - Smackdown hype ]

Replay of Mysterio-Del Rio from Monday night's Raw, then end show.

Final Reax: Matt Striker looks better than at least half the main roster right now. I like his fire and use of innovative moves. Once again, he made Darren Young look good. Tyson Kidd beating JTG with a single leg Boston Crab was just pathetic; I can't remember the last time anyone tapped out to that hold. It really looked like one of those "one final, embarrassing squash match before we release you" moments. The rest of the episode was decent, and it is interesting how they are now using NXT: Redemption as a backdoor vehicle to get some mic and ring time for the NXT: 3 Divas. Maxine's return was semi-predictable (albeit, not in this role) and quite welcome; in her final few weeks on NXT: 3, I thought she really stood out from the crowd with some unique promos and charisma. Speaking of which, where has Maryse been? I miss her.

[Torch art credit Neal Obermeyer (c) PWTorch.com]


We suggest these recent related articles...
JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 9/30 - Week 182: Balor & Joe in Dusty tournament, Ciampa and Gargano in singles matches, final "Takeover" card, more; Overall Reax
JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 9/23 - Week 181: Vaudevillians defend NXT Tag Titles, Kana introduded, lots of promos, Takeover build, more; Overall Reax
WWE NXT RESULTS 9/23: Vaudevillains defend NXT Tag Titles, Kana/Asuka formally introduced, Breeze, Eva Marie, more
prowrestling.net
CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE PW.NET HEADLINES


CLICK TO EMAIL THIS ARTICLE
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING

NEW! SIGN UP FOR FREE PWTORCH BREAKING NEWS EMAIL ALERTS
BECOME A PWTORCH VIP MEMBER
-FORMER MEMBERS LOGIN HERE TO RENEW
-NEW MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
SELECT BY ARTICLES CATEGORY
SEARCH PWTORCH.COM



CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF UPCOMING PRO WRESTLING EVENTS
MORE HEADLINES AT AFFILIATE SITES
MMATorch
LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR MORE MMATORCH HEADLINES


PWTORCH POLL - VOTE NOW!
RAW POLL 10/12: Vote on Monday's show
 
pollcode.com free polls


RAW POLL 10/12: What was the Best Match on Raw?
 
pollcode.com free polls
MCNEILL LIVECAST POLL: TNA will have a 32-person tournament to determine a new Hvt. champion - your thoughts?
 
pollcode.com free polls
CENA POLL: If John Cena takes a year-end break, who should win the U.S. Title from Cena?
 
pollcode.com free polls
VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS



LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE INC HEADLINES

_
LATEST FREE AUDIO SHOWS - CLICK TO LISTEN VIEW MORE PWTORCH LIVECAST EPISODES
DOWNLOAD PWTORCH LIVECAST APP
SUBSCRIBE TO PWTORCH LIVECAST IN ITUNES


ABOUT US

THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.

He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.

He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).

He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)


REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD
PWTORCH STAFF

EDITORS:
Wade Keller, editor
(kellerwade@gmail.com)

James Caldwell, assistant editor
(pwtorch@gmail.com)

STAFF COLUMNISTS:
Bruce Mitchell (since 1990)
Pat McNeill (since 2001)
Greg Parks (since 2007)
Sean Radican (since 2003)

We also have a great team of
TV Reporters
and Specialists and Artists.

PWTORCH VIP MEMBERSHIP

PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.

Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.

The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...

-New Digital PWTorch Newsletter every week
-3 New Digital PDF Back Issues from 5, 10, 20 years ago
-Over 60 new VIP Audio Shows each week
-Ad-free access to all PWTorch.com free articles
-VIP Forum access with daily interaction with PWTorch staff and well-informed fellow wrestling fans
-Tons of archived audio and text articles
-Decades of Torch Talk insider interviews in transcript and audio formats with big name stars.


**SIGN UP FOR VIP ACCESS HERE**

CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCASTIPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
VIP SIGN-UP
VIP LOGIN
THE TORCH: #1 IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE | © 1999-2013 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY