NXT/Smackdown Weekend Review – Mar. 29th & Apr. 1

Pretty quick review this weekend as we head into Wrestlemania.

NXT

Titus O’Neil wins Arm Wrestling Challenge ( redemption points)

Titus O’Neil, Byron Saxton & Conor O’Brian def. Jacob Novak, Darren Young & Lucky Cannon

• A lot of cheating in the Arm Wrestling Challenge
• William Regal doesn’t seem to like JTG. It’s very entertaining.
• Titus O’Neil picked up the pinfall in the 6-Man Tag Match

Smackdown

Kofi Kingston def. (c) Wade Barrett by DQ

Cody Rhodes def. Chris Masters

• Corre interfered in the Intercontinental Championship rematch and ganged up on Kofi afterward
• Santino Marella, Vladimir Kozlov, Kane & The Big Show came down to make the save
• Matt Striker interviewed Cody Rhodes, who was channeling his inner Heath Ledger’s Joker
• Rey Mysterio came out after Rhodes’ victory with “an intentionally exposed knee braced” 619 in mind
• During Wrestlmania Axxess this weekend Corre attacked Kozlov injuring him
• Theodore Long announced that Kofi Kingston will be taking his place in the 8-Man Tag Match

And that’s it! Enjoy Wrestlemania. We here at The 1/8th Nelson will be.

Weekend NXT/Smackdown Review – Mar. 22nd & 25th

NXT

Darren Young wins Mic Battle Challenge (4 redemption points)

Titus O’Neil def. Darren Young

Vladimir Kozlov & Conor O’Brian def. JTG & Jacob Novak in Dance Off

Lucky Cannon def. Byron Saxton

• Maryse had no idea who was leading in redemption points at the top of the show confusing Jacob Novak (0 points) for Titus O’Neil (5 points)
• Mic Battle Challenges never go well and this one didn’t disappoint in that regard. Hornswoggle look embarrassed for them.
• Both Pros, Chavo Guerrero & Hornswoggle got involved in their Rookies match but it Titus O’Neil who benefited hitting  Darren Young with his Clash of the Titus. (Side Note To Masked Marvel: It’s a lifting sit-out spinebuster otherwise known as a Sky High)
• The Dance Off was entertaining but that’s about all  to say about it.
• Lucky Cannon & Yoshi Tatsu both received slaps to the face from Maryse early in the night and Cannon received a second from Tatsu afterward.
• Cannon came out the lucky one (see what I did there) by the end of the night defeating Byron Saxton with a Lucky Break then hitting Tatsu with one to close out the show.

Weekend NXT/Smackdown Review – Mar. 15th & 18th

NXT

Titus O’Neil wins Talk The Talk Challenge (2 redemption points)

Darren Young def. Conor O’Brian

Tyson Kidd & Lucky Cannon def. Yoshi Tatsu & Byron Saxton

Titus O’Neil wins St. Patrick’s Day Keg Carry Challenge (3 redemption points)

• O’Neil won with his dead on Hornswoggle impersonation but other highlights were Saxton’s jokes on Cannon and Novak’s awful, awful rap.
• Young ended his match with a Fireman’s Carry Gutbuster. It may not be as original as his Full Nelson Flapjack but it’s actually in Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 so that’s a plus.
• Cannon, AKA De-Lish, AKA Mr. Steal Your Girl has made it his mission to win Maryse over Yoshi Tatsu going so far as to recite poetry (in what seemed like recently learned French) instead of winning the Keg Carry Challenge again (he won his seasons Keg Carry).
• O’Neil was set up to win the Keg Carry from the start as Matt Striker and Maryse ribbed him about his season 2 fumble complete with video footage. The plan worked out as he pulled off a win in this very heated Challenge.
• I do suspect the keg was drained as the Rookies were putting down some seriously fast times this season.

Weekend* NXT/Smackdown Review – Mar 8th & 11th

* Cause I’m clearly never going to start posting this at a consistently scheduled time

NXT

New Rookies were not announced because this season is about redemption. The pairings are:

1. Byron Saxton & Yoshi Tatsu
2. Conor O’Brian & Vladimir Kozlov
3. Darren Young & Chavo Guerrero
4. Jacob Novak & JTG
5. Lucky Cannon & Tyson Kidd
6. Titus O’Neil & Hornswoggle

And the winner of NXT Redemption earns a spot on NXT Season 6. That’s not really much of a prize but it’s because they’re trying to make sure Tough Enough succeeds. It is being televised after all.

Other changes for this go around of NXT include:

• Maryse as co-host
• William Regal replacing Josh Matthews on commentary
• The contestants are competing for redemption points instead of immunity points which they can use when ever they wish to keep themselves from being eliminated
• Almost all the contestants have changed their personae based off their Pro’s thoughts on why they lost their original seasons

Darren Young def. Jacob Novak

Darren Young wins Boot Camp Obstacle Course (3 Redemption points)

Titus O’Neil def. Lucky Cannon

• The front-runners of this season look to be Young, O’Brian & Saxton.
• Cannon will probably stay a round for a while because he’s the clear heel of the show.
• O’Neil is your dark horse because let’s face it, people love Hornswoggle.
• And Novak will be the first eliminated unless he wins every challenge.

It’s looking to be an interesting new season despite the fact that it’s just treading water until season 6.

A Special* Sunday Night NXT/Smackdown – Mar 1st & 4th

*Delay due to partying like a rock star all weekend.

NXT

Brodus Clay def. Johnny Curtis

Derrick Bateman & Conor O’Brian def. Jacob Novak & Byron Saxton

Brodus Clay is eliminated making Johnny Curtis NXT Season 4 Winner!

 

And to that I say–

Johnny Curtis was the only Rookie this season I couldn’t have cared less about. Even Jacob Novak, who’s pretty unlikable, had some appeal to winning this season. Sure Curtis has a solid in-ring presence but so did Kaval and we see how that worked out. Besides, there’s a long list of current superstars who give us great matches that I would prefer to see over Curtis. His Pro, R-Truth, for one but now they’ll be moving forward with their tag team angle from here until the inevitable conclusion I mentioned last week.

So this segment is completely negative it was nice to see the eliminated Rookies return and actually have a match. Usually they’re just sitting ringside and getting interviewed. Aside from the winner this season has been full of great decisions.

Season 5 seems to still be a go but the Rookies have not been named. Rumor is that it’ll be 2nd generation superstars and their fathers. If so they’re probably trying to gather another team (as I’ve only counted 5 possible pairings so far) and get Carlos Colon, Sr. under contract. I wouldn’t mind seeing a tag team NXT, a second chance NXT or combination of the two for the next season.

Saturday Morning NXT/Smackdown – Feb. 22 & 25

NXT

Johnny Curtis wins Grace Under Pressure Challenge

Johnny Curtis def. Brodus Clay & Derrick Bateman

Brodus Clay wins Open Mic Challenge

Derrick Bateman is eliminated from NXT

Well, chalk up another failed season of NXT. I may seem a little bitter but with the elimination of Derrick Bateman I feel you’ve lost the last Rookie who would actually benefit from winning. Brodus Clay is big enough and has the background that monster bodyguard for [insert heel here] was inevitable for him win or lose. And Johnny Curtis will have to launch his career off teaming with R-Truth. I’m a fan of R-Truth but Curtis will never get over as his partner. He’ll just be that guy that’s with R-Truth even if they win the Tag Team Titles. Then when they eventually break apart (and they will), Truth will resume his upper mid-card/main event filler role and Curtis will fall back by the wayside. He’d have a better chance of breaking through losing and teaming with someone else later down the road.

Next week is the season finale so get your votes in now!

Saturday Morning NXT/Smackdown- Feb. 15th & 18th

NXT

Brodus Clay wins Smash & Grab Challenge

Brodus Clay def. R-Truth

Brodus Clay wins Save Yourself Trivia

Daniel Bryan def. Derrick Bateman

• The night opened with Derrick Bateman challenging his Pro Daniel Bryan to a submission exhibition with pinfalls legal. Confused, Bryan accepted but needed to change so that people could tell them apart. Cue shot of them in matching “DB” trunks.
• There must have been a sale on piñatas last weeks. That’s the only explanation I have for the Smash & Grab Challenge.
• Big Brodus Clay had a big night before next weeks elimination round.
• It seems the NXT writing staff were fans of Nickelodeon with their You Can’t Do That On TV homage trivia challenge.
• The Bryan/Bateman match started off a little slow but picked up about halfway through finishing with a series of LeBell Lock attempts and counters.
• Voting is going on now thru Tuesday so vote now.

Saturday Morning NXT/Smackdown – Feb. 8th & 11th

NXT

Another elimination night this week with a heated race for immunity between the final four.

 

Byron Saxton wins Rock Em Sock Em Rookies Challenge

Derrick Bateman def. Byron Saxton

Brodus Clay wins WWEShop.com Challenge

Brodus Clay def. Johnny Curtis

Byron Saxton eliminated from NXT

• Clay refused to compete in the Rock Em Sock Em Challenge giving Saxton a free ride to the finals.
• After a controversial victory Saxton picked up a decisive victory against Bateman in the video replay mandated rematch.
• Josh Matthews commented that he thought the loser of Bateman vs. Saxton would be eliminated this week.
• Dolph Ziggler was sporting the Zack Ryder t-shirt this week under his sports coat.
• The WWEShop.com Challenge brought back AJ & Naomi from season 3 as Striker’s Beauties in this Price Is Right style challenge.
• Saxton almost won the WWEShop.com Challenge and immunity but was over by a few cents giving Clay the victory.
• Tension between Curtis and his Pro R-Truth continue.
• Curtis & Clay were tied for immunity and because they left it up to the easily swayed Green Bay audience Curtis won by saying “Go Packers!”
• I really don’t like Johnny Curtis.
• Byron Saxton’s reaction to being eliminated came in 3 stages :

1. About 2 minutes of silence fighting back tears.
2. Angrily shout he doesn’t understand how the WWE Universe wouldn’t vote for him.
3. He forgave the WWE Universe for their mistake and left smiling knowing they’d embrace him on day.

His Pro Ziggler got into his face as he left , berating him in the process. The fans, and Chris Masters, started chanting for Saxton to punch him but he was the bigger man and walked away with a smirk.

Elimination Thoughts

I’m a little disappointed in Saxton’s elimination as he was one of my favorite Rookies to watch this season. He has the ability to get booed by playing to the crowd. I felt he needed to win this season to make it to the main roster in a relatively quick time span. As for the remaining 3, Derrick Bateman should win with Brodus Clay in 2nd. I don’t get the hype they’re putting over on Johnny Curtis. The other two are more entertaining in and out of the ring.

Saturday Morning NXT/Smackdown – Feb 1st & 4th

NXT

Johnny Curtis wins Arm Wrestling Contest

Chris Masters def. Byron Saxton

Brodus Clay def. Ted DiBiase

Derrick Bateman wins Talk The Talk Challenge

Daniel Bryan & Derrick Bateman def. R-Truth & Johnny Curtis

• I don’t get why Brodus Clay lost the arm wrestling challenge especially by DQ after head-butting Curtis. This makes me dislike Johnny Curtis even more.
• Saxton still didn’t look too bad getting beat by Masters again.
• Poor Ted DiBiase.  Now he’s got to deal with Maryse interfering in his matches against him.
• Lucky Todd Grisham who Maryse flirted with and a small kiss to for the distraction.
• No surprise with Bateman winning the talking challenge as it was up to the fans and he’s the only face who tried. Curtis just slapped Clay.
• Bateman did get a “Turd” chant started on Dolph Ziggler. Sadly I didn’t hear the chant later on Smackdown.
• Bateman also got knocked out by Gail Kim with a Guillotine.
• Bryan & Bateman are being pushed as the strongest tag team of the 4 pairings.

Smackdown after the jump…

Saturday Morning NXT/Smackdown – Jan 25th & 28th

NXT

Howard Finkel wins Out Think The Fink Challenge

Ted DiBiase def. Daniel Bryan

Brodus Clay def. Derrick Bateman, Johnny Curtis & Byron Saxton

• It seems Bateman wasn’t as smart as he thought in regards to last weeks challenge win and was punished losing immunity points and given less time during this weeks challenge
• The video footage catching him was hilarious
• After his Fatal 4Way win Brodus Clay took advantage of his opportunity to switch Pros choosing Alberto Del Rio
• It was very clever how he used DiBiase’s profile to refer to Del Rio
• Not a fan of Clay’s finisher though

Smackdown after the jump…