WWE NXT Results
March 28, 2012
Taped 3/26 in Atlanta, Ga.
Report by Justin James, PWTorch Contributor

Opening Thoughts: Apparently, this episode of NXT was taped before Raw, so I am curious to see how that affects the crowd or the format of the show. Last week, Maxine tried to pull an Aksana with William Regal, but he knows what the real story is, Matt Striker was kidnapped by Johnny Curtis and Maxine, but someone else kidnapped him from them, and Tyson Kidd evened the score with Michael McGillicutty. Tonight, I hope to see the tie-breaker between those two. I have a dream that the stipulation of the match will be that if McG wins, he earns the right to change his name to "Hennig" and make life easy for journalists for years to come. I am also hoping to see Kaitlyn confront A.J. on her relationship with Daniel Bryan, and perhaps even involve former Bryan-protege Derrick Bateman, but that may be a Smackdown angle.

[Q1] Hunico and Camacho hit the ring on their low-rider bike to start the show. Hunico cuts a promo saying they are taking over NXT. Josh Mathews questions William Regal on this, and Regal says that he coordinated with Teddy Long to bring the best from Smackdown. Derrick Bateman and Kaitlyn come out, and she rides his back like a kid, then spanks his rear. It's like watching an adult version of Jenny and Forrest (there's my dated reference of the night).

1 - DERRICK BATEMAN (w/Kaitlyn) vs. HUNICO (w/Camacho)

Hunico with early control. Bateman uses his size to get an offensive flurry, then Hunico arm drags Bateman right into the turnbuckle back-first - that may be the bump of the night, but it is only good for a one count. Hunico back on the attack; he even manages a suplex on the much-larger Bateman. Regal talks about how Hunico was stabbed to save Camacho's life, biting a man's eyeball out in the process. Regal must be attending the Scott Stanford school of character enhancement. Double cross-body block sends to a break.

[ c - New WWE.com ad ]

Hunico has Bateman in the corner out of the break, but Bateman tries to fight back. Hunico's shirt is ripped up. Hunico lands a bodyslam and looks for a top-rope move, but Bateman counters with a dropkick, then dumps Hunico face-first onto the turnbuckle. Bateman with a running neckbreaker, which is good for two. Hunico gets frustrated, unable to put Bateman away. Bateman delivers some big punches to Hunico on the apron, and tries to suplex him into the ring, but Hunico counters the suplex with a lateral press with a handful of tights. Bateman lands a suicide dive on Camacho to pre-emptively take him out of the equation, but when he gets back in, Hunico lands a move for the win. It looked kind of like an Angle Slam.

WINNER: Hunico at 7:15. I enjoyed this match, as Hunico and Bateman meshed well. There was one slightly missed spot (the suplex counter to roll-through sequence), but it was a lot of fun. I'd like to see Hunico get more character development on NXT since his in-ring work is fun.

WrestleMania video package, mostly focused on John Cena vs. The Rock.

[Q2] The video package from Raw reviewing Triple H-Undertaker plays.

A WrestleMania 28 ad.

Video package on Punk-Jericho. Excellent package that refers back to Jericho's history and even the "End of the world" video packages. Between this package and Punk's beating on Christian on Monday, this feud grew legs out of nowhere.

Backstage, Maxine is on the phone talking about Regal, and Johnny Curtis sneaks up from behind. He still hasn't found a shirt. He wants to know if she got "the goods on Regal" and she says, "He's kind of into some freaky stuff." Curtis says that's weird. He tells her that he heard that WWE is trying to keep Striker's whereabouts unknown, and that they even had a stunt double calling Superstars last week. Maxine gives Curtis the same look Brandi gives Jerrod right before he bids up a big locker (there's my relevant reference for the week). She calls him an idiot and asks why Curtis isn't being helpful. They then run into Percy Watson and Alex Riley. Watson calls out Maxine because he was having a good match with Tyler Reks but Maxine, hogged the attention with her antics with Regal. She tells him that she wouldn't steal his spotlight if anyone cared about his match.

Maxine starts to walk off, then goes back to tell Watson that he's not happy with her, and demands to know just how unhappy he is with her. Meanwhile, Curtis tries to look like he's putting his arms around Maxine without actually touching her. She insinuates that he has Striker, without actually saying it. She looks at Riley and he says, "I'm not making out with you," and then asks Curtis where his shirt it.

Maxine and Curtis run into Tyson Kidd and Natalya, and Maxine demands to know what they are talking about. Natalya says, "The economy, and your ugly hair color," and they walk off. Curtis tells Maxine that he loves her hair color. They see Justin Gabriel, but Curtis says that he is way too soft and they move on. They hear Titus O'Neil and Darren Young talking and they hide to eavesdrop. Young says that he got a coconut tree for Tamina. O'Neil says that you "gotta wine and dine 'em, take 'em out to McDonald's" and that you have to learn to lie to women. Young isn't happy with that idea, as he can do it in the ring, but he won't do it to Tamina. Curtis and Maxine interrupt to accuse O'Neil. O'Neil admits that they've clashed in the past, but he's "always wanted to slop you up with a biscuit," then grabs her head like he's going to kiss her. She fights out and tees off on him. Curtis has to hold her back.

She gets a message from the real kidnappers and says that after WrestleMania, they'll get what they want and Maxine will get Striker back.

Reax: That may have been one of the longest backstage segments WWE's had in a very long time. I loved it. No Diva owns her character quite like Maxine does. She got more and more agitated and the paranoia kept cranking up as the segment went on. Johnny Curtis was picture-perfect with his body language. I liked that Percy Watson brought up exactly what a viewer would have brought up - that Maxine distracted from his match last week. There is intrigue about what they might hold over Regal now, but if I had a guess, Regal set her up and fed a list of bizarre things to them to humiliate them next week. Darren Young got more depth of character in 60 seconds than he's had in two years put together, and he is set up for a face turn. At the same time, O'Neil's heel character was reinforced. What is most startling here, for WWE, is the consistency of story. This is all a natural evolution of the story. Not having a monthly PPV to worry about allows NXT take these kinds of risks.

[Q3] A video package captures why Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos are teaming up against Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres at WrestleMania.

2 - JEY USO (w/Jimmy Uso) vs. TITUS O'NEIL (w/Darren Young)

Young talks about running NXT, so Regal says, "Do I need to verbally castrate you?" and then does so with ease. He talks about taking control and keeping Hawkins and Reks off as punishment for their attitudes, and then tells Young that he needs to toe the line too.

Jey with hard offense and Jimmy talks about how it's tough to transition from being a team to singles competition. Young mouths off, so Regal hints at a match next week. Jey looks for the Superfly Splash, but O'Neil rolls out of the ring.

[ c - WrestleMania 28 ad, focus on Cena - Rock ]

Out of the break, O'Neil is beating on Jey in the corner. Jey can't get traction as Regal mentions that The Usos train with Booker T to keep improving. Regal jumps on Young for wearing a "balance bracelet" and for not talking up O'Neil. Regal reminds Young that he got "who are you" chants last week. Young's headset isn't on right, so it's hard to hear him. Regal jumps on Young for not sounding upset about the "who are you" chants. O'Neil gets creative with a running back elbow on a seated Jey Uso. Jey then manages a massive back body drop on the big man O'Neil, and Regal rightfully praises it.

Jey fires up and puts O'Neil down with a spinning elbow, then puts him down with a stinkface for two. Disgusting quote of the night from Regal: "I've had my head buried up your father's crevice so many times you wouldn't believe it." Thanks for the visual, Regal. Jey gets a Samoan Drop and goes for the Superfly Splash, but O'Neil gets knees up. That looks like it hurt. O'Neil catches the stumbling Jey Uso with the Clash of the Titus for the win.

WINNER: Titus O'Neil at 6:15. Jey Uso did a good job making O'Neil look good, and Jimmy did a fine job in the booth to talk up their tandem. Darren Young was totally blindsided on commentary - Regal and Mathews gave him every opportunity to develop as a character or expand upon his teaming with O'Neil, and he completely dropped the ball. Regal egged him on about the "who are you" chants and Young sounded like he was talking about a gallon of milk gone bad instead of having the anger that he needed to show.

Post-match, Tamina Snuka came out to check on Jey Uso. She glared at O'Neil and Young, and Young looked crestfallen.

Final Reax: The big surprise this week was the outstanding backstage segment. I know that I tend to praise NXT for the way these are handled to begin with, but this one was simply perfect for what the show is. Johnny Curtis and Maxine take the idea of "maximizing your minutes" to a new level, and there is a reason why they are central characters on the show.

The wrestling was so-so, and I'm glad that they didn't try to shoehorn a Kidd-McGillicutty match into a video-heavy episode. It looks like The Usos vs. O'Neil & Young next week, or perhaps Jimmy Uso vs. Young. It was good to see Derrick Bateman in action, and even though he took a loss, he lost no quicker than Hunico's recent Superstars victims. And, I see NXT as a bit of a promotion from Superstars for Hunico and Camacho, since it can get them more mic time.

Finally, the character development around Darren Young was welcome; he was shown to have a tender spot for Tamina and actually care about her, and now he may be reconsidering his partnership with O'Neil because of it. NXT simply hits all the base hits on a consistent basis, week after week, gives their stories room to breathe, and allows characters to be painted with nuance and subtlety.

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