ThunderStruck: NXT Analysis 02/29/12

This is the first I’ve seen of NXT since season one, but it’s a show based around the development of of future superstars and I figured I would give it a shot. Enjoy!

 


 

We open the show with Alex Riley and Percy Watson taking on Darren Young and Titus O’Neill. Riley and Titus start the match and Riley hits a flapjack slam. Titus tags in Young and they go back and forth. Riley gets the upper hand and knocks Titus off the apron. Riley goes up top and Young connects with a kick to the head and knocks Riley off the top rope. Young gets the upper hand and tags Titus back into the ring. Titus with a clothesline. He pulls him to the corner and tags in Young again who drops Riley off his shoulders onto the rope. He goes for the pin and gets a two count. He knocks Watson off the ropes and then pulls Riley to Titus who he tags in once again. Riley counters out of the corner and goes for a tag but Titus pulls him back to the corner and tags in Young again. Young with a backbreaker. Young with a ground sleeper hold with his body wrapped around Riley. Young holds Riley in the ground sleeper for about a minute as Riley tries to fight out. Riley works his way to his feet and hits Young with multiple blows. He finally tags in Watson who hits a flying double ax handle from the top and then goes with a fiery offense leading to an overhead suplex. He shows off and then hits a standing jumping splash for a two count. Watson knocks Titus off the apron and gets distracted. Young grabs Watson and puts him over his shoulders before dropping him on his knees as Young falls down for some weird GTS looking manuever(anyone want to help me out with the name?). Young gets the three count.

Titus gets on the microphone after the match and calls Watson and Riley’s loss a failure to communicate. He says Watson will get his rematch against him next week. He tells Watson he better be more aggressive next time, or he’ll be a loser just like everyone in the audience. William Regal asks how Titus knows he will get a rematch next week. Titus is shown saying this is his show.

^Now this might have been short, but why can’t we have a relevant tag team division with guys like this on Raw and Smackdown? I was thoroughly entertained during that match by guys that I’ve barely seen before. Young is still very talented and it’s nice to see Riley doing something to contribute to WWE where he isn’t on either featured show anymore.

We come back and Derrick Bateman is on his way to the ring. Justin Gabriel, Kaitlyn, and Alicia Fox are waiting for him in the ring. Gabriel tells Bateman he doesn’t have a match tonight. Fox calls this an intervention. They call his girlfriend, Maxine, a piranha. Gabriel says she’s crazy and beats up random crew members backstage. Bateman blames Kaitlyn for setting this whole thing up. They show the video package. The video shows her slapping him and acting like a psycho on multiple occasions. Looks like a friendly broad. Kaitlyn asks if he sees this. He says he’s in love. Kaitlyn says she is just using him until the next person comes along. He yells at Kaitlyn to tell him what love is. She jumps into his arms and kisses him until he falls down. Maxine comes down and attacks Kaitlyn. Maxing goes after Bateman and Gabriel pulls her off and holds her back. Maxine storms out.

^Acting classes for Bateman? He could surely use them. More diva drama in WWE here to set up our main event later.

Natalya is shown talking to Tyson Kidd and McGillicutty interrupts to insult Natalya and then Kidd. McGillicutty tells Kidd he’ll see him in the ring.

^A match between the last guy Bret Hart ever trained and the son of Curt Hennig? I’m sold.

It’s time for McGillicutty taking on Kidd. They exchange mat manuevers and end up on their feet. They lock up and Kidd gets the upperhand with an armbar submission as he brings McG to the ground. McG stands up and gets a from behind wristlock that Kidd counters. They break. They grapple again and Kidd goes for multiple aerial moves and gets several two count pin attempts. They go to the outside and McG dominates Kidd by throwing him into the side of the ring. McG goes for a pin back in the ring and gets another two count. He stomps Kidd in the corner and goes for another pin but gets only a one count. He applies a ground headlock and Kidd stands up to try and escape the hold. He elbows his way out but McG continues his offense of punches. He whips Kidd into the corner but gets kicked in the face. They charge and we get a double clothesline that takes them both off their feet. They stand up by the count of four from the ref and again exchange back and forth offense. Kidd with a kick to the head and a two count pin attempt. Kidd with more kicks and a rollup pin attempt for another two count. Kidd up top but McG hits him and goes for a suplex from the middle rope. Kidd knocks him down and hits a huge flying backflip landing onto McG for a two count pin attempt. Kidd goes for the sharpshooter but McG kicks and fights his way out of the attempt. McG stands up and hits a running neckbreaker for three count.

^Both of these guys showed a lot of talent and poise in this match. Kidd’s high flying ability would have made him a fan favorite in any of the old cruiserweight/light heavyweight divisions. I can only imagine the matches he could’ve had with the original luchadors of WCW. McGillicutty showed his in ring dominance. He looks a little bit bigger than his father was, but he executes his holds really well and is quick for a guy of his size. That running neckbreaker looked believeable to be the finisher of the match. I’m really impressed with what they did and hope this isn’t the last time we get to see these two face off.

Maxine is shown backstage slamming things and Aksana comes up to her asking what’s wrong. She says everyone on the show is plotting against her. Maxine tells Aksana to stay out of her way and then storms off. Matt Striker is shown coming to the ring for an announcement.

Striker announces that this is the one year anniversary of NXT Redemption. He says they’ve gone through six ring announcers and about a dozen different announcer pairings. He also says the show has introduced about thirty performers to the entire world. Striker says he has his job as host of NXT because he loves this stuff and he points out that he has been the only host of this show. He says the locker room of NXT will carry this show into the future. He says the show was supposed to be about the talent of the future and that lately the show hasn’t been like that. He says he’s let the inmates run the asylum and that he’s messed up. He gets interrupted by Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins. Hawkins says tonight they bring us change. Hawkins says he knows how he can make this better, and they head out back. Striker goes to announce something, but they bring out camper chairs and Hawkins says Striker is going to hand his job over to someone else. Striker tells them to shut up. He says he isn’t stepping down as host and if they want to try him to come on. Striker says the show needs some veteran leadership to make the matches and run the show. He says he found someone who has the respect of everybody including himself and the fans. He says this is something that has paved the way for all of them. He announces the new match maker on NXT as none other than Sir William Regal.

Regal gets up from the announce table and comes to the ring. Hawkins and Reks look pissed as they get up from their chairs. Regal says he looks forward to pushing everyone to their limits and putting Reks and Hawkins against opponents that they won’t expect. He says the last 52 weeks of NXT are over and the new NXT has just begun. He tells Hawkins and Reks he has a surprise for them next week. End of segment.

^I like the storylines already. Seems like whoever is running this show cares more about it than the guys writing the scripts for the other shows. It should be fun to watch William Regal with his personality book the matches every week.

Bateman and Johnny Curtis are on commentary with Regal and Matthews for the main event of Maxine taking on Kaitlyn. The girls go back and forth with Kaitlyn having the early upper hand. Regal says he is very open to bribes as the new guy in charge. Kaitlyn has Maxine in a ground submission with her legs around Maxine’s waist. Maxine fights out and kicks Kaitlyn to the face. Maxine goes for three pin attempts in a row and gets a two count on all of them. Kaitlyn with a backbreaker on Maxine for a two count. Curtis and Bateman exchange words throughout the match as Maxine gets the upper hand and hits a running ax handle on Kaitlyn and goes for three more pin attempts that all end up as two counts. Maxine squeezes Kaitlyn’s face in a submission attempt(shrieking while doing it). She tries to whip Kaitlyn off the ropes but Kaitlyn counters and slams Maxine and picks up the victory with a strange rollup pinfall. Maxine slaps Bateman and goes up to Curtis and shoves him. She walks up to Regal and congratulates him on his new position. She gets up in his face and tells him she looks forward to working closely with him. NXT goes off the air with Bateman looking annoyed and Maxine at the top of the ramp looking at everybody.

^I think that was the best quick divas matches I’ve seen in quite some time. Kaitlyn seems to really work well in the ring and you can see the potential with Maxine to work better matches.

Solid storyline development with well worked matches? I’m pleasantly surprised by this entire show. I’m intrigued to see what comes from William Regal being put in charge(hopefully he laces up his boots a few times so we can see some terrific technical matches) and see what direction the show takes with this new beginning. I’ll be back with Smackdown tomorrow night. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!

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