WWE NXT report
November 2, 2011
Taped 11/1 in Greenville, S.C.
Report by Justin James, PWTorch contributor

My only hope for "NXT: Redemption" at this point is that Derrick Bateman can make it to the main roster with his personality intact and with Maxine as a valet, that Kaitlyn and A.J. have a chance to make an impact on Smackdown after their abandoned introduction a few months ago, and that someone finally takes Tyson Kidd and Yoshi Tatsu seriously. Even Maryse has been hit by the NXT future endeavor curse. Also, NXT (and Superstars) have this new habit of interjecting periodically with non-announced ads; it's quite annoying.

NXT Rookies:
Derrick Bateman
Titus O'Neil

Other Superstars and Divas
Matt Striker (NXT Host)
Maxine
A.J.
JTG
Tyson Kidd
The Usos
Yoshi Tatsu
Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks
Percy Watson

[Q1] NXT opens with a video package summarizing the relationship between Maxine and Derrick Bateman. They are painted as babyfaces, almost. This reminds me, isn't Goldust due to return soon?

After the credits, JTG is in the ring with a mic. He has to called it "Haterville, South Carolina" twice to get even a tepid boo. He then introduces Maxine and Derrick Bateman, and references the Kardashian/Humphries mess. Wow, an up-to-date pop culture reference on WWE? Bateman comes out carrying Maxine, who seems to be dressed in a spandex and leather negligee. Maxine says that their name is "BetaMax" and Bateman reiterates it. Bateman proposes JTG as a best man, but Maxine gets angry and says he forgot something. After some guesses, JTG produces a ring, and says it's the end result of 38 weeks of NXT salary combined. Huh, I've got 35 weeks by my count. He gets on his knee and puts the ring on her finger, then they kiss.

As expected, Percy Watson and Titus O'Neil interrupt, with A.J. in tow. I swear, those two need to be in GQ, they look so sharp. They make the usual comments about Maxine's looks. Titus says they could have a show on the WWE Network called "The Young and the Fishlips" and then Percy Watson makes more fish comments. Seriously, is that the best they can do? It's not even a third grade insult. In any event, Derrick Bateman says that they are just upset because he beat Titus last week and is winning the competition and says they should leave. A.J. says it is rare for a woman like Maxine to get a guy like Bateman, and then says that Maxine and the ring are both cheap and plastic. Maxine insists that she is 100 percent natural. Titus says that Bateman should have asked Maxine's father, but no one can find him. So, he says that "Mr. Maxine" is in the building, and Watson has something in a bag. It's probably fish related. And, of course, it's a dead fish. How utterly tasteless and classless. Bateman gets mad and charges, but the "faces" (can I call them that after they produced a dead fish from a pillowcase?) dump him to the outside. JTG and Maxine bail and Titus and Percy make more fish cracks. Matt Striker comes out to end this debacle. He books JTG, Bateman, and Maxine against Watson, O'Neil, and A.J.

[ c - Raw Hype ]

Pre-match, Kidd complains that Striker suspended Hawkins and Reks for another week. He then intros as his partner a man who never got a fair shake, Johnny Curtis. Regal says that Tyson Kidd is his favorite part of this season, and I concur. Curtis has his hair grown out and looks like a smaller Wade Barrett. Jack Korpela digs up some ancient history and says that Curtis never got his Tag Team Title match as he deserved.

1 - THE USOS vs. TYSON KIDD & JOHNNY CURTIS - Tag match

[Q2] Jimmy Uso starts the match by taking down Tyson Kidd. Regal says that when he was GM, stuff like Curtis not getting a shot would not have happened. Some back-and-forth between Kidd and Jimmy, and Jey tags in. Double-team gets a two count. This is a dead audience. Jimmy and Jey tag back and forth. Curtis finally tags in and goes to work on Jimmy. Both announcers have now made "chip-on-the-shoulder" comments regarding Curtis, recalling his lame vignettes on Smackdown. Kidd tags in but gets tossed onto the turnbuckle. Jey tags in and goes to work, but Curtis distracts him letting Kidd knock him off the turnbuckle to the floor.

[ c - "The Ladder Match 2: Crash and Burn" DVD ad ]

Curtis has Jimmy in a leg bar and is screaming "I won this show!" which is funny. Kidd tags in and applies a leg lock of sorts that looks vicious. Curtis tags in and hits an over-the-rope leg drop, then goes back to working the leg. Regal with a neat insight, "you never get used to the pain but you get used to the situation" regarding escaping holds. Regal begs Korpela to talk about the people in the ring, not to talk up his credentials. Regal is so refreshingly humble on announcing duties. Kidd tags in, but Jimmy kicks him away when he tries the Sharpshooter.

Kidd and Jimmy both tag out. Jey knocks Curtis silly and clears Kidd from the apron. He fires up and hits the stinkface, but Kidd break sup the pin. Kidd keeps Jey outside the ring, but when he tries to jump on both of them from the apron, they catch him and toss him onto the barricade. With Kidd out of the picture, Jey tries to reenter but Curtis catches him. Curtis tries a suplex, but Jey counters and puts Curtis into a fireman's carry. He backs into his corner and Jimmy tags in, Jey does a Samoan Drop and Jimmy nails the Superfly Splash from across the ring for the win. Beautiful ending sequence.

WINNERS: The Usos in 10:00. Good match, with no weak spots. The crowd even got involved, despite having no clue what NXT was about.

[ c - Survivor Series ads, focus on The Rock ]

Backstage, A.J. is getting reading for her match and Kaitlyn shows up, dressed a lot like Kelly Kelly. Kaitlyn says she isn't worried about her match with Tamina, and A.J. says she isn't rusty since it's been a few weeks since she had a match.

[ c - "WWE Greatest Rivalries: Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart" ]

2 - KAITLYN vs. TAMINA

Tamina with a quick headlock and takedown, but Kaitlyn reverses into a scissor hold. Tamina fights out and they go back and forth with blocks. Kaitlyn back to a scissor hold and uses it to get a one count a number of times. They reset and Kaitlyn hits a big suplex, but Tamina catches her charge with a boot and does a series of knee and elbow drops. Tamina with some more strong offense and two counts. Tamina slows it down with a rear chinlock and the crowd rallies behind Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn eventually ends up on offense, with some elbows to the seated Tamina, but Tamina chops her to the ground. Tamina with a generic looking hold and Kaitlyn arm drags out. Tamina fights the hold and gets out. Kaitlyn whiffs a dropkick, but when Tamina charges, Kaitlyn catches her arm, and does some sort of move which I supposed is a finisher, but it gets the win. It was like an RKO grasping the arm near the shoulder instead of the head.

WINNER: Kaitlyn in 7:00. Interesting to see so much chain wrestling in a women's match. Kaitlyn and Tamina both looked good to go, and even the dead audience got a bit involved near the end. Kaitlyn's come a long way in the ring, and Tamina seems to be improving, too.

[ c - "The Runion" DVD ad, Raw hype ]

Regal with another off-the-wall story about Maxine's family during the ring intros.

3 - PERCY WATSON & TITUS O'NEIL & A.J. vs. JTG & DERRICK BATEMAN & MAXINE - Mixed Tag match

Maxine and A.J. start and Maxine dominates quickly with her power. Maxine's ring style is like a cross between Sheamus and Batista, which makes her quite unique for a Diva. A.J. turns it around with a boot to Maxine when she charges, a top rope arm drag, and a dropkick. Maxine tries to get back up but A.J. drops her with a spinning heel kick. Maxine tags in JTG, and Percy Watson comes in. JTG runs the ropes and Watson throws him over his head which gets one. Titus tags in and they double team. Percy tags back in, but JTG slides under and tags in Bateman. Watson with a big arm drag and a dropkick but the cover doesn't even get one. Regal continues to criticize Watson for showing off instead of making covers.

Watson stays in control, but Maxine distracts him, letting Bateman get a dropkick for two. Bateman puts boots to Percy in the corner. Bateman tags Watson to the heel corner and they do the heel teaming routine. O'Neil gets the hot tag and does his typical routine on the tag. Bateman counters the shoulder tackles with a sweet dropkick, but Percy breaks up the pin. JTG comes in and Percy clears them both out. A.J. then clears Maxine, which makes Bateman get distracted, and he walks right into the "Clash of the Titus" sit out slam.

WINNER: Titus O'Neil, Percy Watson, and A.J. in 8:00. This is probably the best match I've seen with the combination of Titus, Watson, JTG, and Bateman. No one had too much ring time, and no one dominated long enough for it to get stale.

Final Reax: This was about as good as NXT gets, take that as you will, but it would be nice to see the season end. What happened to Yoshi Tatsu after making the save last week? I really enjoyed the Divas match. I have this idea of Kaitlyn and A.J. in a ladder match against Beth Phoenix and Natalya, but I know it will never happen.

[Torch photo (c) PWTorch.com]

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