Johnny Curtis takes on Percy Watson in the opening match. Maxine is with Curtis. The match goes just over eight minutes and Watson picks up the win with the flapjack slam followed by the three count. Regal compliments Watson’s athleticism.
^Regal summed it up fairly well for this one. Watson is just an impressive talent with a bright future ahead of him. It’s almost sad to think about the fact that Percy will probably rarely be seen in matches of this length once he’s on the main roster. Curtis has a strange gimmick, but he’s also pretty impressive to watch in the ring. I love the fact that we almost always get a solid opening match with a decent length from NXT.
Maxine has a match with Kaitlyn immediately following Curtis’ and Regal asks Curtis to join them for commentary during her match. Derrick Bateman comes to the ring with Kaitlyn and also does commentary. The match goes about three and a half minutes and Kaitlyn taps out to a reverse choke submission that Maxine applies.
^Even at three and a half minutes, this match outshined any divas match that you would see on the main shows. Kaitlyn and Maxine are so good to watch in the ring together; I just don’t understand why WWE doesn’t take advantage of their female talent and let it shine.
Regal tells Maxine and Curtis after the match that they belong together and that Maxine will remain his manager as long as they are still on NXT. He makes them sign a contract, and then handcuffs them together.
^I love Regal being in charge. He should be running Raw instead of Laurinaitis.
Backstage segment with Titus O’Neill and Darren Young. Young goes off on O’Neill about Tamina but O’Neill interrupts and shows him that they are both being brought to Smackdown. Young says Tamina who and then they start dancing.
^I can’t say enough for how happy I am for these two. They’ve worked hard on NXT and are well deserving of a roster spot. I still feel that one lacks more in Charisma and that the other lacks more in agility and speed, but together as a team they’ll complement each other well.
Matt Striker is shown looking angry in a mirror while holding Hawkin’s cane. Josh Mathews says Striker is back and looking for payback.
^I like the angry side of Matt Striker. This guy has always been overlooked and underrated, but you can see his passion for the business every time he speaks.
Another backstage segment is shown. Reks and Hawkins are talking about the Striker situation. Curtis and Maxine come up to them, angry. Maxine freaks out over and over and Percy Watson, Derrick Bateman, and Kaitlyn all come through and taunt them. Curtis and her storm away and Reks tells Hawkins they are toast. Hawkins says he’s got this.
^This has been a solid cast for this show. I hate to think of it changing too much, but there has to come a time when talent gets bumped around and fresh faces are brought in.
Hawkins and Reks come in the ring and try to deny involvement with the Striker kidnapping. Striker interrupts them and cuts a promo. Striker says Hawkins was stupid enough to leave the walking stick behind. Striker tries to attack them with the stick but Regal stops him. He says he is going to put an end to this. It’s Curt Hawkins vs Tyler Reks in the next match and the loser is fired. Striker is the referee. Hawkins and Reks go one on one. They wrestle for about six minutes and counter one another multiple times before Reks gets the school boy rollup on Hawkins for the three count win. Striker punches Hawkins after the match when he gets in his face. Regal fires Hawkins and shakes Reks hand. Reks says Regal isn’t a bad guy after all. Regal says he’s changed his mind, and Reks is fired too. Striker and Regal shake hands as the show goes off the air.
^I’m hoping this is just for storyline and that this isn’t really the farewell of both these individuals. That aside, we got three solid wrestling matches and a show loaded with entertainment. This was definitely an enjoyable show. I’ll be back with Smackdown and part two of my top 25 tag teams this weekend. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
facebook.com/thunderstruck11 – add me!
