NXT - Here we go again...

Author - MrCraiggy

Okay, so, once again we're back to NXT. And after last week's disappointing show, I'm hoping to see something of a better lineup this week. It seems we're off to a bad start. First off, Matt Stryker demonstrates the assault course that the Rookies will have to complete as their challenge next week, the winner gaining immunity in next week's poll, so fair enough, this might be good for a chuckle, especially as some of them are vault obstacles that I think Eli could just step over... But then we're on to the proper opening segment, and MVP is in the ring hosting his own talk show slot, the V.I.P. Lounge. His guest? *shudder* "Showtime" Percy Watson... I hope upon hope each and every week that he'll just drop the act, or even downplay it a little, and maybe this will finally be my week?! Nope. Same moronic shuffle, same awkward clapping, same stupid glasses... Okay, let's get this over with...

So MVP's chewing him up about trying to start a Rookie revolution on last week's show and you'd expect Percy, if supposedly having any respect for his Pro to look sorry, but no, he just looks bored and fed up. Anyhoo, MVP then commends these actions, saying that he'd have done the same when he debuted, but has learnt blah blah blah, then asks if Percy has learnt anything from this. So Erkel gets his time to speak... Is there any way I can write this update post while having the show muted? No? Fine!

So Percy's sucking up by saying how much he's learnt and, is anyone else worried that he constantly calls MVP "baby"? Just me? Really? Ugh, fine... At least he's speaking at a tolerable speed this week, but that's because he's all sullen and sowwy, n'awwwww... Right. Professional! Enough Percy bashin unless desperately unavoidable! So Stryker comes out onto the stage and asks MVP why, with the poll next week, people should vote Percy as number one. Athelticism, appearance, verbal skills and charisma. These are the four things MVP says a superstar needs. Agreed. And Percy is athletic, I've never denied that. If he lost the glasses then yes, he'd looks the part too. If he slows his speach down, yes, verbal skills. Charisma? He captivates a crowd, but I don't know, this whole dancing thing, it just looks awkward to me... This would all be well and good if he had a nerdish gimmick, and even the glasses would work then too, but he doesn't, he's supposedly a partying playboy. I don't buy it for a second. Thankfully Stryker cuts Percy short before he speaks for too long. Have I mentioned how I love Matt Stryker?

So anyhoo, Cody and Husky come on to the stage and Cody does his whole "Dashing" mirror bit while Husky just looks menacing, speaking of charisma... Stryker asks Cody the same question about Husky who basically works in his current "How great am I?" heel routine whilst also making out Husky to be great, as a representative for the average American, pointing out his size, but also his remarkable speed and agility. So Cody gets the "You suck" chant, but hey, he's a heel, he's supposed to, s he's doing his job right. Husky then gets his own spot, saying how the WWE has been filled with bodybuilders, six-packs or gimmicks (His example is a miniature midget ninja), and he is none of those, claiming "All I am is real", thus making him fresh and exciting.

So we get our first match of the night, Husky and Cody tag teaming against MVP and Percy. This is where I hate Percy less, and almost like him, because he can actually work the ring really well, but I still can't enjoy his gimmick, and naturally with Husky as one of my picks to win, naturally you can tell how I want this match to go.

Oh, no, spoke to soon. WWE once again are delaying the wrestling, on a wrestling show... We get a video segment talking about Lucky Cannon... General consensus from the Pros is, he looks good, he moves well, but he's plain, nothing stands out about him, which I agree with sadly, as I do want Lucky to do well.

The match now please? Thank you! Also, after the camera panning over the pros, we see that of them, only Kofi is in ring gear, so he'll be in a match later, watch this space.
So Husky and Percy start the match and after some solid strikes, Husky immediately rips off those glasses and throws them out of the ring. I love this guy.
The match progresses, nice bit of back and forth action before Husky and Percy are outside of the ring and brawling amongst the obstacles but are broken up by their pros. Nice, bit of tension built, I like it. So after the commercials it's Cody in the ring with Percy, and Cody's working away, laying in the strikes (He's annoyed cause MVP punched him in the face, afraid his 'dashing' looks might be ruined.)and then Husky's back in and kills Percy with a huge NFL style rush in the corner (He's got a college football background, so this is a nice touch). Pro vs Pro had to happen at some point, so here we go. It's not bad, but we know these guys can wrestle, they're Pros, I wanna see the Rookies! But then, the audience want a show I guess. Rhodes nails his jumping kick he's been using a lot, sometimes billed as the "Beautiful disaster" and then tags in Husky for the big finish. So we get Husky's running senton (With a guy his size, you'll believe it hurts.) and Husky gets the pin over MVP.



This isn't a clip from the above match; it's from Husky's first match, coincidentally also a tag match between these two teams. It's his running senton on Percy. I could watch this all night.

So now we get another video segment, this time about my other pick to win, Michael McGillicutty. General Pro's opinion, he's good. He's passionate about wrestling, he's skilled, but does he have personality? Arguably not seen yet because he's not been given much chance to talk.

Next match: singles action between Lucky Cannon and Alex Riley, this promises to be decent. Before the match, the Rookiea are given a minute to say why they shouldn't be voted off next week and Lucky gives a nice talk about having the time of his life and how it's a dream come true to be in the WWE. Alex Riley just rants about about how he doesn't like the audience and they don't like him but that they care about the WWE doing well then they'll do the right thing and vote for him and The Miz throws in a bit about the reason you should vote for Riley is simple, because the future WWE champion told you to. So, wrestling now? Yes, thank you! Wait, the match is over already?! The hell was that?!

Okay, rewinding the video to the start of the match, from the moment the bell run to the moment the referee counts three, I make it 58 seconds... Less than a minute! Cannon was laying out some nice offense, goes for a flying cross body, misses it and then Riley hits the TKO that he's been using as his finisher. Talk about a throwaway match...



Again, not from the above match, but just to show you the finisher.

Disappointing match. But then, I guess there's still the assault course challenge, and whatever Kofi's in his ring gear for, so I guess they had to rush things. Anyhoo, Miz then pummels Cannon with his Money in the Bank briefcase, why? I dunno, because he's The Miz (and he's awesome). We then get a slot for Morrison and Laycool to talk about Eli and Kaval. Morrison tells a story about sitting in the airport and watching as the NXT Rookies walked past and a kid asked his mum who Eli was. Morrison explains that there's something about Eli that makes him stand out (No kidding, the guy's huge), then Eli takes the mic and asks Stryker who he's gonna vote for, intimidating him into saying Eli, which was nice, I actually liked this bit (And for those paying attention, Eli's grown a moustache as promised, hurray!)
So then Laycool get the mic, and I have to admit, I'm warming to Laycool, they amuse me, especially with Stryker pandering to them as he does. They do their usual 'flawless' routine and then the little man with the big voice gets a say. A lot of people were angry when Kaval came onto NXT and started talking as much as he is doing. Let me give you a brief history: Kaval wrestled a lot on the indie circuit under the name Low-Ki and never really spoke much, giving him that sorting of menacing, cold edge, but now he speaks, that illusion is taken away, and a lot of people didn't like that. I however love it. He's still the same guy, still the same gimmick, but now he talks, and talks well in my opinion. It's a whole new depth that the Low-Ki character never got. He says we should imagine matches with him against the likes of Evan Bourne, Randy Orton or Rey Mysterio, saying that he has the ability, but the audience has the power to make this happen. Clever.

So, challenge time. Not much to say here... It's an obstacle course. Fastest time wins. But, oh, wait, more talking. Kofi talking about MMG, saying how he now calls MMG's fans McGillibuddies... *facepalm* As much as I like McGillicutty, I will never refer to myself as that! MMG then talks about how he has the best pro, is the best rookie and is currently 4-0, a 'perfect' record ('cause his dad was Mr. Perfect). So, now the challenge. MMG set's a very quick time of 26.7 seconds, then Riley throws a tantrum at being made to do the balance beam twice, blaming a ref. Remember I said Eli could step over these hurdles? He did the first one and then just died on the next two... Ugh. And I had faith in the big guy for once too. He gets disqualified for refusing to go back and redo two obstacles, nearly 'attacking' the refs. Cannon comes close with a 28.2, just losing it on the box push. Kaval again stumbling on the box push for a 29.1 but practically flew over the hurdles! Percy's turn, and I love how there's a member of the crowd yelling at him on the balance beam "Slip and fall, oh yeah!" glad to see it's not just me. Husky finishes up with a fun display of tackling the last hurdle, literally ploughing it over and then walking the rest of the course with that cocky strut of his for a 50.3. The slowest, but boy was that fun to watch. So Michael McGillicutty wins immunity on next week's vote. Time's up, so why was Kofi in ring gear for crying out loud?!

Voting is open now at www.wwe.com so go and vote for Husky!

This is Mr Craiggy, signing out.

NXT and all characters and gimmicks are property of the WWE.