This week on WWE NXT, Tyson Kidd takes on Michael McGillicutty in a third match after they've traded wins in recent weeks. Who will go "one up" tonight? And for those of you who tune in for the more dramatic elements, Maxine and Johnny Curtis have to deal with the latest from Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks. Read on for my thoughts on all of this and the rest of the show after the break!
I thought Watson had a live mic there for a second to start the show.
I'm also a fan of Watson. Just keep in mind that it's possible that Regal's being told to put him over.
Watson vs. Curtis is the kind of thing I want to see in WWE. Fresh performers who fit their roles well.
Percy is very impressive. He's athletic, he can talk, and it seems like he's "doing his homework" as far as ring work goes.
Striker's been on commentary on Superstars, so it's not like he disappeared completely. They didn't do a good job looking at that loophole (other than Curtis claiming that Striker's a body double). They tape Superstars before NXT so
Curtis is also very impressive for similar reasons. Smart competitor.
Unfortunately what's going on at ringside is taking precedent over what's been a damn good match.
If Curtis and Watson were part of the non-existent "competition" this show used to have, Titus and Darren would be in pretty serious trouble.
Reks just hanging out drinking milk from a jug amuses me for some reason.
At least this isn't Al Wilson or Tim White's "deaths".
I guess that segment worked for me. I'm disappointed that Bateman and Kaitlyn don't have matches tonight, though.
I wonder how much of a breakout star Rock would have been if he was on NXT for over a year as Flex Kavana or Rocky Maivia first.
I thought it was a pot made from a coconut tree, but either way that's great for Titus to be solidified as a heel.
Good job setting up Titus as a heel and Darren as eventually a face. Silly from Titus, though. Wasn't that Sonjay Dutt's old nickname in TNA?
Striker's noisy.
I kind of want Striker to come back to the ring fairly regularly if he's able. He's good from a standpoint of getting fans behind him against a heel.
Good enough plan from Hawkins and Reks, other than the "Striker's already been saved" thing.
Curtis just quoted Alanis Morissette. Well played, though it did take away from a somewhat serious moment.
I'm very surprised they didn't announce anything about Legends' House on that Smackdown. No, there's not a new episode on Friday (but they will be re-showing last night's episode).
The most bizarre episode of Season 5? Maybe. The Goldust/Aksana wedding's got to take the cake overall, though.
Solid video package for the main event.
I'm begging for Natalya being further involved in this angle. I definitely think using her would add to things given her connection to Kidd.
I think it might be time to drop the "Pro" and "Rookie" graphics, since that aspect of the show's gone by the wayside.
I'd be a little surprised if this is the end of the feud, given how long Kidd vs. Tatsu, Titus vs. Darren, and Curtis vs. Bateman went.
Pretty good start. They're making it more of a fight than a match, and I like that.
McGillicutty got the "heel taunting" thing right there.
It's hard to tell whether Regal's joking when he talks about his family. I have no idea if he has kids or not.
Kidd's got some good fire on the comeback.
Jericho knocked some ring rust off with Storm before coming back to WWE.
Kidd and McGillicutty reminded me of Finlay (and, yes, Darren Young) there using the apron.
BLOCKBUSTER! How many people remember that neckbreaker being called that?
Beautiful dropkick/crossbody spot.
I love the Sharpshooter being used here. Really brings the feud to a personal level.
Awesome submission move to finish things off.
And that's a wrap. Evaluation time. Note that this week didn't have much from any of the rookies. 5 is must-see, 4 is more hit than miss, 3 is in the middle, 2 is more miss than hit, and 1 is must-miss:
Derrick Bateman- 4 (Last week: 4). Bateman continues to be a natural talker and actor in backstage segments. He plays off of others well there. If he can bring his wrestling ability up to that level, he'll be someone who should get a good future in the business. He's definitely not bad in that aspect, but I don't think he's quite good enough for me to list him as a 5. Other than that, things are going well for him and I'd like to see him continue to grow as a performer. (Grade: the higher end of the B scale).
Titus O'Neil - 4 (Last week: 4). Other than being weird in backstage segments, I don't really have any big complaints with Titus. Is he on his way to being a 5-star match wrestler or selling out arenas? I wouldn't say so. But I think he's at least on his way to being someone the company can use on the roster. I don't see myself recommending him for Raw or Smackdown anytime soon, but he's definitely going in the right direction. He just needs to get better at "working" in the ring and get more experience overall. Critics (other than those he works with/for), technical wrestling, etc. shouldn't be his concern. (Grade: in the B range).
Darren Young - 3 (Last week: 3). He's getting better with backstage segments recently, finally showing a personality that isn't "turned up to 11". The further he gets from the over-the-top heel he was months ago, the better his chances get of getting back to being a 4. He was only on the show a little bit this week, so he would have had to pull out an absolutely phenomenal performance to make a wave in his ranking. What he does from here inside and outside of the ring will be very important. (Grade: in the B range).
If I had to eliminate someone, it would be: Darren Young. I think he's earned the right to stick around, but if I had to cut someone I'd go with the one who I'm still coming around on. An elimination this week would have been unfortunate timing.
That's all for this week's NXT. I'll be back for Superstars and Impact Wrestling tomorrow, and a news post will be up later. Thanks for reading!
Now, does it seem like Titus is a bit over-the-top to you? Let me know your thoughts on my theory here: I think Titus, being a laid back person by personality, knows a "heel" is categorized as a villian, so he tries to over-do it to fit that definition. That is how I kind of look at it.
ReplyDeleteGiven, he is conveying some of the factors I discounted him for in terms of effort, but it just seems like he's not natural in his role. You get what I mean there?
It is really shaping up to have a third Young/Titus rivalry here. I don't know what to make of it yet. One thing is for sure, and that's that NXT throws curveballs often. Right when we think those two and gonna be a fairly sustainable tag team, they pit them against eachother.
I also liked Young's lack of being too aggressive in the back. I think it was kind of set up just as you mentioned, and that's solidifying Titus as a bad guy and Young as a good guy. Where do you expect the Tamina card to play into this "fued", and who do you think will come out on top this time?
Now that Young is conceivably a good guy and the roles are switched, what are you looking for him to be more "roster ready"? I remember when he was a good guy before, it was what led him back to NXT because of him taking it too easy, so how can he break that mold in your mind? You've mentioned ways to move up in your book, but now he's a good guy, so some of them probably have changed.
I'd see it as a different kind of over-the-top from Young. His actions have been more out in left field or odd whereas Young just seemed to be trying too hard. Titus' character just seems more like he's "lost it" a la R-Truth as opposed to trying to be a heel. When he wasn't dancing around and that kind of thing, he did well. The walkout on Young was over-the-top in the same way as what I criticized Young for, though.
ReplyDeleteI think the weird dancing and sayings are natural as in coming form his actual personality and not him playing something very different from who he is (like the turning on the crowd felt), but I know what you're saying.
I wish they would have kept them as a team longer, but WWE's not known to get behind tag teams long-term when they think the people in them will work better on their own.
Hopefully, Tamina will be an important part of it as far as why Young turns fully face and Titus gets more heelish. I wouldn't be surprised if Titus comes out on top again based on how they've used both of them in the past. Since Young's the better technician, they could be using him to help Titus develop and work longer matches. Though if the fans really get behind the relationship between Young and Tamina, they might think they have something better with them than with Titus. It's all a matter of who they want to use going forward after the feud.
I'll caution you in that I think it could take a little while longer before things are completely to where Darren's a face. Right now, he's still kind of "thinking over his relationship with Titus", so I'd consider him a heel who's in the middle of a face turn.
That said, a lot of what he should be as a face depends on his character motivation, which at this point we don't know too much about (I'm trying to resist lumping it with who he was as a face the previous two times). It'd be a little odd if he was as aggressive and out to hurt people as he was as a heel. He can "defend Tamina's honor" and such, but I wouldn't want to see him go out of his way to win matches by brutality. Generally the only time I'm ok with someone being about the same in both roles is when "the fans turned them face" (they're cheering for someone so much that they might as well roll with it and have them do the same stuff as a face - Punk and Orton are like this).
I don't think he should show off and talk about how it's his show anymore. Not just because I'm personally worn out with it, it just seems kind of out-of-character for a good guy. He can definitely still involve the crowd (in fact, I generally like when people do that in smaller doses like Christian) but it should be in a way that gets them behind him. His goal should be to get them to cheer when he's going for his finisher.
I guess him changing his look a bit could work in his favor, too, to show that he's not the same guy. I'd like to see more personality from him now. I don't necessarily think he should have the look he had in Season 1, but I would like him to pull some of that personality into who he is now. Having a less standard look would help him in my eyes.
I'm sure there are other things, but some of it's going to be based on what he does in the ring going forward.
Chuck, what's been up with the lack of posts? Lol. Been busy?
ReplyDeleteI'm SO SO sorry. If I had a way of letting you know sooner, I would have. I had a panic attack and had to be in the hospital for a while with no way to get to a computer. Things are going to slowly but surely get back on track. Just know that I also have schoolwork to catch up on (and finals are coming up). After that's done, though, I'll put a lot of effort into getting this caught up.
ReplyDeleteAny ideas for what I can do as a backup for next time something like this (theoretically) happens? The best I can think of is giving someone else the password.
Ahh, I see. Unfortunate. That happens, but it definitely is at an odd time with finals. I'm in finals week, as well, so I can empathize. There's not too much you could do if something like that happens again (unless if somehow it was predictable if and when it happens lol). I surely wouldn't feel bad if I was in your shoes if something like that happened and you had to postpone your blog a week or two, though.
ReplyDeleteI'll keep tracking back on here every so often. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on a lot of the angles and changes that have occurred in the last few weeks. Unfortunately for you, there has been a heck of a lot going on in the WWE lol. Most of us certainly wouldn't blame you if you focused on finals as a first priority, however. Get to it when you can.
I appreciate your understanding and willingness to come back, and look forward to seeing what's been going on in the wrestling world lately (and will in the weeks and months to come).
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming finals are over this week? Were you looking to continue your posts sometime over the weekend? I'm interested to hear your thoughts on some of these angles going on right now. A TON of new roster additions, as well!
ReplyDeleteI have a week left before finals (last final is 5/8). I'll try to fit in some posts before then, but no guarantees. Of course, I'd rather do wrestling stuff than catch up and study, but right now things are still kind of hectic.
DeleteI've seen a name or two that's debuted and am pretty psyched, but don't want to spoil myself. I think the posts work better if they're done like a running commentary of something I don't know about beforehand.
I'll throw you some bones though: Damien Sandow has a lot of experience, and I like what I've seen of him in promos so far. I don't think he's wrestled on Smackdown yet (as Sandow- he used to be Idol Stevens years back), but his act is kind of out there when he wrestles if they keep what he did in FCW.
Antonio Cesaro also has a lot of experience, all around the world. He hasn't been in FCW long at all, so him already being on TV is a good sign. I was impressed with the match I saw him in a couple months back in ROH. If you want to spoil yourself with what he can do, look up Claudio Castagnoli (he wrestled under that name pre-WWE). Talented guy all-around.
A.W.'s mainly been a talker in his career, so the jury's still out on him.
I don't know when we'll get to see them, but Seth Rollins (Tyler Black pre-WWE), Kassius Ohno (Chris Hero pre-WWE), and Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley pre-WWE) also have a lot of buzz. There are probably a few others I'm blanking on waiting in the wings.
Fair points. I don't know much of those guys you mentioned, but I'll stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if you've known this (this is as of last week) and I'm sure you're watching SmackDown now, but Young and Titus are off of NXT and are on SmackDown permanently right now. I really like what I see from that team in terms of the aggression, teamwork, mocking and actual "teamwork-based" moves that many tag teams don't have.
They have actually had a lot of good backstage bits as well, and are really impressing me right now. I agree that Titus is better with a partner, and this sounds hypocritical with how I've been critical of him before, but I'm liking what I'm seeing from this team.
If you haven't seen any of their backstage bits or their two matches since being called up, I'd definitely check it out. I'm very curious to see where you view Young and Titus as a team as well as individually. They are really doing something different every week and standing out, which is something teams like The Usos have failed to do.
I'll definitely stay tuned to your posts on the changes since you've been on hiatus.
I'm looking forward to seeing all of that. I have a feeling I'll cave in and do some posts next week so I can catch up on it quicker.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen any of the Titus/Young backstage bits and the two matches they've had on SmackDown? Any sort of feedback in terms of the last comment I made in terms of their progression after watching this week's episode? I really feel like all it took was just a push for them to not only gel as a tag team, but to show some charisma and stand out.
ReplyDeleteI'm watching things in order from where I left off, which means starting at the 4/16 Raw. I'll do a post on it and the 4/16 and 4/17 news posts today, but it might be a bit before I get to their matches, as I've still got school stuff to catch up on. I'll do my best to catch up on both school and wrestling sooner rather than later, but I've got to put schoolwork first since finals count for such a big percentage of my grade and two of them are essay tests covering weeks worth of material. I trust that they're improving as a team, though.
ReplyDeleteI hear you there. I was lucky enough to have my last week of class this week.
ReplyDeleteWithout giving away too much, here is a sample of one of the segments (a small one, so it won't give away too much) of Young and Titus on SmackDown. I'm sure after over a year on NXT, it may seem like a mirrage lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73_vc99k36Y
I caved in and watched the link. I like Darren getting to have some personality outside of his angry character from a lot of NXT. If there's more like that coming, I'll probably think more highly of him. The 4/18 NXT will be up shortly.
ReplyDelete