Today on WWE NXT, the competition continues. Derrick Bateman, Titus O'Neil, (and Darren Young?) face off to become WWE's next breakout star. One of these two (three?) men will eventually win this and move on to bigger and better things. In the meantime, the other guests of the show show us what they can do. The main event is JTG vs. Jimmy Uso. Jimmy will be accompanied by his brother Jey, and JTG will be joined by the Usos' cousin Tamina. It's a family reunion ahead of the future wedding. Read on for my thoughts on the show as it happens.
Ok, seriously, if Young's not on NXT tonight despite being in the intro all this time, this is officially the most confusing show in wrestling.
I wonder how many people watching know what Betamax was. And how many from firsthand experience?
Bate-a-Max 3:16 sign? I spell it Batemax, but that's still cool.
You know, that does bring up a point. Who are the Pros still here to vote? Chavo quit the company. Kozlov was released. Hornswoggle said he left for Smackdown. Bryan just kind of abandoned the show and his rookie. So we're left with... JTG, Kidd, and Tatsu?
The heck kind of music is that?
Not many people watch anyway it feels like.
I think Curtis and Bateman used to be a team in FCW.
Revisionist history time! Pretty sure they were bros on Season 4.
Uh-oh...
The tag team experimentation continues.
I wonder where Korpela is this week.
Kind of weird that they refer to someone's pre-WWE name since "the show's supposed to be real". They don't say that Rambo used to be Rocky, for instance.
For those wondering about Regal, he faces Daniel Bryan on Superstars in a mentor vs. protege match.
You can DVR NXT in one of the countries where it's still on TV.
Not a bad little match-up here.
Is the crowd dead for this or what?
At least Striker's giving us an explanation for the mess NXT is becoming.
So, there you have it, I think. They're not official WWE superstars, but they're fighting to become a breakout star.
That was cool by Barreta.
Nice counter to end the match.
That was a good enough match, but felt like it was missing energy. I'm guessing it's because the crowd wasn't familiar with them.
Drawing on the screen would indeed be cool.
Nice little Survivor Series ad.
Was... that a new WWE logo!? Looks ok I guess. I like the current one though.
Clever by JTG. He's good at his somewhat goofy heel role.
Whatever happened to Tamina being with Santino? I guess her getting sent to Smackdown had something to do with that one not coming up.
You know, Jey is a little smaller now that I see them side by side.
It's like a sitcom alright.
JTG has Twitter, too. Didn't they show it on Raw?
I don't really consider Rikishi a legend. Sorry, 'Kish. I liked him and all, though.
I love how he was saying Uso was in control when JTG was.
Ha, JTG.
I have no clue who Striker just name-dropped.
And cool dance from Uso to counter-mock.
How soon until the Usos feud? It's kind of an unwritten rule of tag teams.
Striker's a pretty good straightforward pitchman.
That's what color commentators do, Josh.
Didn't Kaitlyn do that move the other week?
You know, I think we need some more "sizzle" right now instead of steak because these matches don't really mean all that much. Maybe if Tamina had been more involved?
Percy's just got a nice little swagger about him.
Curtis' TitanTron and music could not be much less intimidating.
Nice interplay between Curtis and Bateman. Good potential with these two.
Percy's got that special something in the ring, pep in his step, and all those other cliches.
I know the name La Parka at least. He's a luchador who currently works in AAA.
Nice counter and setup for the High-Low.
Fine ending. Bateman's a good step above Titus right now.
Curtis' music is kind of growing on me actually.
Looks like it's ranking time again. Since Darren Young is MIA, I'm assuming it's just Titus and Derrick at this point. It's still technically a competition despite the lack of focus on that aspect of the show. We didn't see much ring or promo time for either man this week compared to previous weeks, and the crowd seemed kind of flat, so that factored in tonight. 1 is so bad they should be gone, 2 isn't very good at all, 3 is halfway between the two extremes, 4 is on the way to being ready for the main roster, and 5 should be promoted from NXT soon.
Derrick Bateman - 4 (Last week: 4). I don't see Titus catching Derrick given the roll he's been on lately. He still has room to grow, but he's looking pretty nicely in the "upper B" range. Nice energy in his role and I'd like to see more of him in the weeks to come. That's his job. With Darren possibly dropped from the show, either we're in for another swerve addition or this one's winding down. If it is, Bateman's earned a sizable lead with his work this season.
Titus O'Neil - 4 (Last week: 4). On the plus side, Titus doesn't have to compete with Darren Young. On the minus side, he's being compared to Bateman, Watson, and anyone else who WWE decides should be on the show. Titus is "getting it" better than he was months back, but is still quite rough around the edges. I think he might still be on the way to a spot on the roster, but he's getting passed by by Bateman and his partner. He needs to really show what he can do and stand out from the pack as a distinct competitor if he wants to get the win here. Lowish B range.
If I had to eliminate someone, it would be: Titus O'Neil. No shock here. There's a big enough gap between these two that no deliberation was needed. Titus is ok and sometimes he's even good, but when it's down to 2 and your opponent's consistently entertaining, that doesn't cut it. He's lucky this one doesn't look to be over in the coming weeks.
That's all for this week's NXT. I'll be back for Superstars and Impact Wrestling tomorrow. A news post will be up later. Thanks for reading!
At this point, I'm probably even more confused than you about Young's situation. You're right in that he is still in the entrance and Wikipedia mentions him still being on the show. However, you would think if that held to be true, he'd be on the show this week, seeing's how his suspension is over. To say I'm perplexed would be an understatement for sure. I basically expect NXT to be vague and confusing at this point. No offense to the show, but this is one of the many reasons why the show gets such a bad rep now and why it isn't offered on national television anymore.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to get a read on his status. The links I've seen tell me next to nothing, and Young's Twitter mentions nothing about his return or exit from NXT. On the plus side, he's not out of the WWE, but I have no idea what the deal is. I have no idea what the company plans to do with him.
As far as the other two, it just seems like Bateman is just trying so much harder than Titus. Bateman has his own manager, cuts more promos and even got added attention by proposing to Maxine. That leads me to me previous statement about Titus in that his effort just isn't there. His jokes about Maxine having a "fish face" gets old after one week, and I honestly don't see him breaking the mold. In my mind, Bateman is leaps ahead of him. I definitely agree on that front.
I would say that WWE might even be confused about Young's status, but it's likely that they just have other plans for other people. I think they're just like "who do we want to put on the show this week" and go from there, though Titus and Bateman are kind of "guaranteed" spots.
ReplyDeleteIt's POSSIBLE that they're saving a "surprise return" for down the line but really this seems to be a week-to-week type of thing.
I'd agree on the confusing part hurting it. I'm guessing that they figure not many people are watching and those that are don't care, so they just throw stuff together. The whole goal is to see who they like after having them get mic and ring time and such, and what role they think would work best with them (hence Bateman teaming with Kidd, then JTG, and now Curtis).
I haven't seen anything on Young. Just that his suspension has expired. I really get the feeling that "Creative will have nothing for him". Out of sight, out of mind so to speak like Maryse. That's a disappointment if true. He's got a strong work ethic and I think he could really be someone in time.
I'm not 100% sure how much control the rookies have over what they get to do (and who they get to be with) on the show, but I definitely agree that Bateman is doing much better with it. He plays well off of/with Maxine, JTG, Bryan, and Curtis (I wasn't as sold on his work with Kidd), which are 4 very different personalities. Given that he worked a match before Raw was taped, WWE might be looking at him winning the show soon. BUT, they did something similar with Titus being paired with Percy in the same situation and on Superstars a number of weeks back, so it might not mean much.
I'm pretty much conceding that Titus won't break any molds or do much special in his current incarnation. There have been weeks where he's looked like he's on the right path, and then there are times when he looks more clueless (especially in the ring). Bateman's character and ringwork seem like a natural extension of himself (like he's not really "trying to be someone"), whereas Titus at times seems like someone trying to be a wrestler as opposed to a wrestler if that makes sense.
He does work well off of Percy, but looking at him on his own he isn't close to being ready to "move up".
In relation to your "possible return down the line", it makes sense. I think if WWE really wanted to, they'd just release him. With how die-hard and committed to wrestling Young is, I think if they gave him the indication that he may be released, he would have let the fans know. That being said, it makes your point make decent sense.
ReplyDeleteEspecially with NXT being so unpredictable, he very well could return in the upcoming weeks as somewhat of a "surprise." The longer he's not on television, the more likely it will be surprising. But, my question is what would the WWE have to gain by doing that? If they see something in Darren (which they would have to by not releasing him by now), then what benefit would it have by waiting down the line to bring him back.
Only one thing is for sure, and that is that NXT is about as surprising as if Jonathan Coachman was to return and become the next WWE Champion lol.
I'm not 100% sure if he could talk about that kind of thing without getting into trouble.
ReplyDeleteI'm really guessing on a lot of this since there's not much info on it. It could be that they just haven't decided what to do with him. As often as people get featured then disappear and lose/win titles and such in the company, it's often hard to get a read on what they might do with someone. ESPECIALLY when someone's fairly new.
I mean, they've had Young be the party boy character in Season 1, a member of Nexus, someone against Nexus, someone back competing on NXT even after making it to the main roster, with Chavo, without Chavo, with JTG... you get the idea. Some of that was out of their control but some of it is different people in the back wanting to do different things to see what works best. And then changing their minds and wanting to do something different. And since NXT's gone on so long they've wanted to "have new material" I guess so they change things up.
An ESPN talent winning a WWE Title would indeed be pretty crazy! "Anything can happen in WWE" though.