WWE NXT Report
December 14, 2011
Taped 12/13 in Raleigh, N.C.
Report by Justin James, PWTorch contributor

In the darkest recesses of my twisted mind, my hopes for this week's episode of NXT are, in no particular order:

-- Daniel Bryan showing up to help Derrick Bateman with his love life. (Speaking of which, what happened to A.J.'s crush on him?)

-- Hornswoggle crashing the Dirty Curty/Maxine/Bateman lovefest. Consider that on NXT3, he was caught making out with Maxine even though she purported to hate him. (Am I the only one who remembers this?)

-- Brodus Clay eating Josh Mathews to make an example out of him, and the rest of the season being called by Striker and Regal.

-- Mrs. Bateman squaring off against Mrs. Perez in a "mom vs. mom" match.

Sadly, these are so outlandish that if any one actually came true, someone would think I've been reading spoilers (I haven't). Also of note, Jack Korpela is gone from WWE, so it looks like my hopes of him returning are dashed, and the Curse of NXT Redemption strikes once more. This is a shame, because regular NXT and Superstars viewers know that he was doing a decent job calling the action, and playing straight man to Matt Striker. Maybe Scott Stanford can join the NXT booth? Stanford plus Regal (or Striker) would be great.

Rookies

Darren Young
Derrick Bateman
Titus O'Neil

Regular Cast Members

William Regal
Matt Striker
Josh Matthews
JTG
Yoshi Tatsu
Tyson Kidd
Johnny Curtis
The Usos
Curt Hawkins
Tyler Reks
Percy Watson
A.J.
Maxine
Kaitlyn
Tamina

[Q1] Josh Mathews and Matt Striker are on announcing duties. Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins hit the ring with mics. Reks runs down NXT Rookies and North Carolinians. Here come Trent Barreta and Yoshi Tatsu to challenge them. Trent calls them "grumpy pantses" and says sarcastically that they have no reason to be upset. Hawkins no-sells Trent and says Yoshi can't talk well. Tatsu grabs the mic and tells them that they stink and to wash their hair. (I think?) Hawkins is right, sadly.

1 -- TRENT BARRETA & YOSHI TATSU vs. TYLER REKS & CURT HAWKINS

This has the makings of a good match. Barreta and Reks start off, with Reks immediately kicking Barreta in the gut and going to work with clubbing blows. Trent makes a quick comeback with a dropkick, and tags in Tatsu. Tag team double armdrag, Barreta with a running flip dive, and Tatsu makes the cover for one. Tatsu with chops in the corner, but Reks reverses a whip. Tatsu catches his head in a scissor hold in the corner and kicks him off. Tatsu to the top, but Hawkins tries to interfere, letting Reks arm drag Tatsu off the turnbuckle and across the ring. Reks overpowers Tatsu and tags in Hawkins. Hawkins with a suplex for two. Striker, rather out of character for himself, says that Hawkins and Reks have been given chances in the past and are overinflating their complains.

Reks come back in, does some work and gets Hawkins back in. Tatsu with a jawbreaker, but he can't make the tag. He breaks free again and this time he slaps Barreta's hand. Barreta flies across the ring to clear out Reks from the apron, then takes down Hawkins. Barreta with a running neckbreaker, then up top for a high crossbody (as in, "Kofi Kingston high,") but Reks breaks up the tag. Tatsu comes in, but Reks clotheslines him right out again. Barreta knocks Reks out, but Hawkins surprises him with a clothesline. Hawkins tries his weird powerslam, but Barreta slips out and rolls up Hawkins for the win. Barreta wisely runs out of the ring before Reks can catch him.

WINNERS: Trent Barreta and Yoshi Tatsu in 4:00. I would have liked to have seen this as a 10-15-minute match, but the ending and the pre-match promos definitely set up a longer program between the two teams, which has nothing but upside. Anything that puts more of these four wrestlers on-screen is good.

Up next is the "The Showtime! Percy Watson Show" with guests Derrick Bateman, Johnny Curtis, and Maxine. I smell a "Pier Six Brawl" in the near future.

[ c - "Tribute to the Troops" ad, WWEShop.com ]

Percy Watson intros his show, then throws to a video summarizing the Bateman/Curtis/Maxine love triangle. Why does "Mrs. Bateman" look almost identical to "Mrs. Perez?" Good video, Bateman is very sympathetic and Curtis comes off as downright evil. Watson asks for Bateman, who comes out dressed a little bit better than usual. Bateman offers to shake Watson's hand, but Watson ignores it. Watson says he needs to know what happened with Bateman and Maxine's mother. Bateman says that he can speak for all men in the building by saying that all women are insane. Watson objects, but Bateman says that nothing happened even though she's flirty.

Johnny Curtis comes out dressed to wrestle, saying that "insane" doesn't explain it, then shows a single embarrassing frame from the video package, and calls him "Dirty Derrick." He says that Bateman was so incensed that he thought Curtis was with Maxine that he went chasing after her mother.

[Q2] Curtis says that Bateman is paranoid. Curtis brings up JTG, who Watson intros. JTG challenges Percy Watson, and Percy asks why JTG made up the story about Curtis and Maxine leaving together. JTG says he said it because Curtis paid him to do it. JTG leaves and Watson howls with delight.

Maxine comes out and tells them all to shut up. Watson tries to talk, but she tells him to shut up again, and she's tired of Titus O'Neil's barking, too. She is tired of Derrick Bateman and Johnny Curtis, and she's tired being told to tone it down or that she's too strong. She tells them all to "shove it up where the sun doesn't shine." She storms off and Bateman looks starstruck. He says, "That woman's so crazy, I don't know how you wouldn't want to spend the rest of your life with her."

Curtis emphasized that she doesn't want Derrick, but Derrick vows to win her back and clocks Curtis in the head, then leaves the ring. Bateman runs to the back, and Watson is happy that curtis has been put inhis place. Curtis goes to town on Watson, but Watson punches him out of the ring. Watson seems to be wearing his trunks under his dress pants. Striker gets on the mic and books Watson vs. Curtis.

James's Reax: Good segment to put over Bateman as a babyface character with a quirky personality. I feel like he's very close to his original NXT character now, which was very successful. Maxine also has firmly cemented herself as the only WWE Diva with any kind of well defined character and confidence on the mic. She's very much like Maryse in that she totally owns her character. Johnny Curtis did his part perfectly, and the story arc progresses nicely. The only problem? Percy Watson came off very heelish, acting like a juvenile hoping to stir up trouble.

[ c - Triple H vs. Kevin Nash hype ]

Jey Uso comes out - no war dance and no Jimmy - to face JTG.

2 - JEY USO vs. JTG (w/Tamina)

Jey with a quick takedown and headlock, but JTG escapes. Jey with a shoulder tackle. JTG with a gutbuster to gain control. JTG looks like he stole Chavo's old trunks and turned them into baggy jeans. JTG mocks Uso's attempts to get the crowd involved by saying "Us... No" while locking Jey in a leg scissors. JTG goes on his typical offensive routine. Jey with a spinning elbow to get some breathing room, and after some back-and-forth, Jey lands a superkick for the win. Post-match, Tamina kisses JTG to revive him, and Jey hams up that he's sick.

WINNER: Jey Uso in 3:00. Quick, boring match, and the end came out of nowhere. What was the point of this?

"Earlier today" finds Matt Striker behind the scenes sitting on the Showtime/MVP Lounge/Abraham Washington Show set, playing an acoustic guitar with a picture of Ronald Reagan on the end table. (I could not make that up folks!) Titus O'Neil comes in to talk. Titus apologizes for his outburst last week, but Striker says it is okay. He's had problems with Young in the past; Young is a great athlete, but he can be irritating. O'Neil says he also needs to apologize to the troubled teens out there, because every week he goes to schools and tells them that when he was young, he got himself into trouble by letting his emotions get the better of him, and he feels like he let them down and wants to set things right. Striker gives Titus an out on the "challenge," but Titus says he needs to do "it." (Whatever "it" is.) They advertise a "face off" between Young and O'Neil, but not a "match."

[ c - "King of the Ring" DVD ad ]

[Q3] Raw Rebound reminding viewers of the worst moments from the Slammies. They managed to omit the Ross-Cole debacle, thankfully. I did like seeing Mark Henry giving the WSS to Cena followed by the Kane chokeslam. Kane looks like he could be in "House of 1,000 Corpses," which is good.

Backstage, Bateman catches up to Maxine (it took him 15 minutes to find her?) and says that he understands that love is a battlefield. He says he is willing to go to war and vows to marry her before the show is over. He walks off as she shouts that she doesn't have time for it (what else is she so busy with?) and out of the background comes Johnny Curtis. He says it's time to stop playing games and he forces a kiss on her, but she shoves him away and tries to slap him, but he catches her hand, says that they can get physical after he wins his match, and kisses her wrist. He walks off and she squeals in anger. Well, since Bateman says he'll marry her before the season is over, I guess he has all the time in the world.

[ c - The WWE Network ad ]

3 - PERCY WATSON vs. JOHNNY CURTIS

Watson immediately takes over. Curtis gets frustrated and heads to the corner for a break, but Watson meets him there for more punishment. Watson continues to take out his anger on Curtis. Watson charges Curtis in the corner, but Curtis lifts him up and over the ropes sending Watson to the floor. Curtis goes outside to beat on Watson a bit. Curtis rolls Watson into the ring and cuts off Watson's comeback with a suplex. Curtis with an armbar while Striker mentions his Ronald Reagan picture.

Curtis to the second rope, but Watson counters with a jumping knee to the face in one of those non-moves. Watson with dropkicks and a superman punch, then an overhead throw. Watson dances and lands the standing crossbody press for two. Curtis fights out of the corner, kicking Watson's hand, then working it a bit more. Curtis with his brainbuster finisher (which looked more like a suplex; it was a touch sloppy) for the win out of nowhere. Mathews didn't even realize it was the end and treated it like any other move.

WINNER: Johnny Curtis in 4:00. Decent match without enough time to really get out of first gear. Both Watson and Curtis have done better when given more than a few minutes.

[ c - TLC ad, C.M. Punk vs. The Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship, "Tribute to the Troops" ad ]

Titus comes out in street clothes for his "face off" with Darren Young. I really hope that this leads to one of them leaving NXT to get the show back on track to end the season. Titus apologizes to the crowd and to his sons for losing his cool. Darren Young interrupts his apology, also wearing street clothes. Young says that he doesn't need to apologize because O'Neil isn't a role model because the crowd doesn't know who he is. O'Neil admits that he hasn't been as exposed as Young.

[Q4] But, he says that it won't stop him from earning a shot. He wants to work hard to be a role model and that the company can depend on. Young says it won't happen and mentions his football past. O'Neil says that his football past isn't relevant, and mentions Ted DiBiase, The Rock, and Ron Simmons as people with a past in football. O'Neil says he is just there to be a man and he won't let Young rile him up. Young says that the points don't matter and O'Neil does not "have it." O'Neil says that he isn't a chump and Young needs to keep his hands off of him, and says he is going to leave the ring and leave it alone.

Young grabs him and says he was a loser on NXT 2 and is still a loser, and calls him a failure. Titus tries to leave, but Young grabs him again and says he can't leave. Titus spears him, mounts and punches him, then throws Young out the the ring. Titus goes outside and snaps. After throwing Young into the barricade, Titus leaves while looking a bit conflicted.

End show.

Final Reax: The segments with Maxine were excellent; she is the key to bringing out the best in both Johnny Curtis and Derrick Bateman. The lack of wrestling hurt the show, but at this point, I've seen every combination that the cast can have, and I am not exactly begging for more, either. I'd like to see A.J. and Kaitlyn brought back somehow, and more of Tyson Kidd and William Regal, of course. The worst part was, once again, Josh Mathews. He acts like he doesn't do his homework on the wrestlers, he laughs at inappropriate times, and acts like he is too good to be here. Then again, he seems to do the same on Smackdown, too.

[Torch photo (c) PWTorch.com]

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