NXT - 21/06/12

William (not Regal, I mean William) was being a dick and telling me everyone jobs to Jinder Mahal, which basically equates to "everything sucks" and it didn't SO HA!

The first thing I noticed, naturally, was the new theme song! Wild And Young, as I'm sure you know, was the bane of my life so Coheed and Cambria is a massive improvement. Dusty Rhodes is serving as General Manager of the show and we have the team of William Regal and Jim Ross on commentary, which automatically means anything this show produces will eclipse Raw.

I never noticed how charismatic Bo Dallas is until I saw this promo, which made him look like such a lovable babyface. It's a shame Ric Victor had to essentially job to him considering how talented the guy is. It also bugs me how Dungeon-trained wrestlers get put over so much by the commentary yet WWE never seem to capitalise on the advantages of their background. In any case, it looks like Bo's being built to be one of the top babyfaces, which I like.

Briley Pierce returns to his role as interviewer extraordinaire. Excuse me as I take a moment to cry over how cute he is and the potential (yet slim-to-non-existent possibility) for his, um, "relationship" with Brad Maddox to be recreated.

I feel like Antonio Cesaro's been cheated by being put on NXT. Was there much point in putting him on Smackdown aside from inducing sympathy for Teddy Long?

Damien Sandow cuts a magnificent promo and refuses to wrestle Jason Jordan. I feel like he's being cheated here too? This show isn't as accessible as Smackdown is even though it looks like they're trying to build it up as the new Smackdown since Smackdown is basically becoming Raw but... Sandow does this on TV anyway so why put him on here?

We got this awesome promo for The Ascension. I first saw these guys when O'Brien was injured and it was just Kenneth Cameron but since O'Brien has returned, their intensity has multiplied and I'm a fan. They quickly beat the team of CJ Parker and Mike Dalton.

This Bray Wyatt promo thingy is brilliant. He's such a creepy character, the way his personality contrasts with things like his attire, his theme music etc. it only amplifies just how fucking weird he is, which is amazing and I can't wait for his debut.

In a backstage segment, Derrick Bateman confronts Johnny Curtis in Curtis's office... AKA the toilets. They're in next week's main event. Yay for build up for the following week's card!

The main event is Tyson Kidd vs Michael McGillicutty, which makes sense because they appear to be the top babyface and top heel of the show for the past few months now. It still bugs me that McGillicutty isn't going by Hennig. It would make such more sense and attract so much more attention. JR even referred to him having a wrestling background with his family without specifying the name and if you don't know his father is Mr. Perfect; Curt Hennig, you're going to be confused.

The match was really good, as expected. They've wrestled a whole bunch of times so you could expect a good match and it was a nice way to end the first show. JR and Regal sound so enthusiastic about both guys, it really helps get the viewer become more invested in them compared to the constant bickering between Cole and Lawler on Raw. I liked it when McGillicutty put Kidd into the sharpshooter and Kidd struggled for a while. I also love that Kidd's no longer relying on that to finish his opponents off and is trying to get his own finisher, The Dungeon Lock, over instead.

I noticed the crowd were okay for most of the show but their interest definitely picked up during McGillicutty and Kidd's match, which was awesome.

There was a Seth Rollins promo thing at some point too, which is good. I'm assuming the FCW titles are just going to be used for live events now?

I've noticed all the FCW guys the show focused on this week have something gimmick-wise, which makes them standout, which is reassuring, in a way because it makes them more memorable etc.

So all in all, a good first show. If I was to complain about anything, it'd be that considering there were only 3 (4 if you include Sandow and Jordan) matches on the card and all but the main event were so short, it would have been nice to see them get another minute or so in. On the other hand, the other time was used well in introducing other talent so I guess I can overlook that!

However, there's so much talent to get on the show consistently enough, is 45~ minutes really enough?

I CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK THOUGH.

NXT - 07th March 2012

Since I’m going until Wrestlemania 28 without being negative about WWE, I’m not going to be rating shows out of 10 either. So here’s Madi’s 100% Positive NXT “Review”!

NXT opened with Matt Striker introducing William Regal. Maxine turns up and they get pretty, uh, cosy. Regal announces she has a match with Tamina Snuka. Maxine doesn't seem particularly phased by this.

Tamina beats Maxine. The match was an okay length and it was alright. Maxine got off to a reasonably good start but after missing Tamina from the top rope, she was given the Samoan Drop and pinned following the Superfly Splash.

Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks cut an in-ring promo, mocking William Regal and saying he's just like Matt Striker; he couldn't get it done in the ring so here he is now. Regal takes the mic and says if the pair want to be booked next week, they're going to work as toilet cleaners for the rest of the night. They reluctantly take the mops and leave, haha.

Just as they leave, Yoshi Tatsu makes his entrance and Hawkins does a great impression of him, haha. Yoshi takes on Johnny Curtis. I enjoyed this match. Curtis looked pretty good and did some nice work on destroying Yoshi's arm. I liked it when Yoshi backed Curtis into the corner and unleashed a series of kicks and chops. We don't really see that vicious a side of Yoshi usually. Curtis won the match after Yoshi missed a kick off the top rope, landing on his side. Curtis takes advantage and lands a sitout suplex slam to win the match.

We get a recap of the great match Tyson Kidd and Michael McGillicutty had last week. Backstage, McGillicutty is bragging about his win to Matt Striker before Tyson Kidd shows up, insisting he gets a rematch. When McGillicutty declines and shoves him, he receives a nice blow from Kidd, who leaves after a leaving a message that may leave McGillicutty wanting to reconsider.

Maxine approaches Curtis and decides to get intimate with him in an attempt to make Derrick Bateman, who appears quickly after, jealous. Or something. Apparently there's a mixed tag team match next week; Kaitlyn & Derrick Bateman vs Maxine & Johnny Curtis. Derrick Bateman's face turn has been perfect. It was done well rather than rushed and he's so much better in this role. I love his character. Curtis took advantage and started touching Maxine, much to her displeasure, which I found hilarious. He plays that lecherous character so well, it's a little worrying! Bateman is amused and it's news to him that Maxine has broken up with him... again. Reks and Hawkins make an appearance, decked out in their cleaning gear and Bateman and Percy Watson mock them, which was amusing.

Jey Usos lost to Darren Young. The match wasn't bad and that's all I have to say. Jimmy was on commentary with Regal and Josh Matthews, which was good because he actually had something to do then!

The main event is a match between Percy Watson and Titus O'Neil. The pair have been at each other for a few weeks now, ever since Titus turned heel so it makes sense to finally have them face off, I guess. There was this hilarious moment where Titus takes down Watson with a forearm and does that barking thing and you can hear a woman in the background shout, "Shut up, Titus!", hahahaha. I think Titus definitely fits this heel role much better, despite his lacking promo ability. Watson eats turnbuckle. Titus goes to take hold of him, elevating him but Watson quickly lands a double foot stomp to his chest before landing on his feet. He lands his "Percycution" and wins the match. It'll be interesting to see where this goes now that Watson has beaten Titus.

NXT - 29th February 2012 - 8/10

I was initially inclined to give this show a 9/10 but the opening is why it dropped down to an 8.

The opening match was Alex Riley & Percy Watson vs Titus O'Neil. I can't put myself through their matches purely because I have little to no interest in them. They're not bad, they can be pretty decent and I'm a fan of A-Ry and Darren Young is growing on me. They're just struggling to really get my attention and keep me interested. Darren Young pins Percy Watson after delivering the firemans carry into a double knee gutbuster.

Derrick Bateman is supposed to take on Heath Slater but there's an intervention in the ring in the form of Kaitlyn, Alicia Fox and Justin Gabriel. Good choice here; the best friend rallying the guy's other friend and the "evil girlfriend's" former mentor. They try to convince Derrick Maxine isn't good for him or anyone. Kaitlyn kisses him to show him "what love is". Maxine comes out and they start fighting until they're broken apart. I enjoyed this segment. Regal's snippets of commentary were amusing. Gabriel is adorable. And I think Bateman makes a great, lovable babyface. This was good at further pushing the rivalry between Kaitlyn and Maxine and adding more heat for their match later on as well as pushing Bateman and Maxine's relationship. Good.

Natalya is backstage with Tyson Kidd. First and foremost, there is no farting! McGillicutty interrupts their conversation and they have a match next.

This was a great match. Tyson Kidd was looking great as usual throughout and McGillicutty had some great moments. If he could use his real surname, Hennig, there would be a lot more fuel to add to this fire and this could be even more entertaining, storyline-wise because at the moment it's just McGillicutty saying the Harts feel sorry for Kidd. If we can acknowledge his family's wrestling history, it would be that much better. Anyway, there was a great kick to McGillicutty's jaw at one point and an awesome moonsault. Earlier on, there was some great, slower, technical wrestling and really clever use of the ropes from Kidd. McGillicutty managed to evade the sharpshooter, landed a kick to Kidd's head and a vicious neckbreaker for the win. This match really shows how much talent there is and I just wish we got matches like this on TV more. My only problem is, I'd have liked to see this match go on for another five minutes rather than watch that little Cena/Rock segment.

Maxine is backstage and we are subjected to some awful acting from Aksana, who is trying to tell Maxine to calm down.

Next we got a great promo segment from Matt Striker. He's trying to make an important announcement, only to be interrupted by... That's right. Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins. I thought this was really entertaining. They had the chairs, popcorn and all out, making snide comments... I loved it. Their expressions when Regal was announced as the General Manager were great, haha. Apparently, he has something special lined up for them next week! I thought Striker's delivery was good and Reks and Hawkins were hilarious. A successful segment this was.

I still want Curt Hawkins's "CHANGE" t-shirt.

The main event is Maxine vs Kaitlyn. You're probably wondering why we'd be given a match that is likely to be disastrous as the main event, right? Well, it was actually half decent. I kind of enjoyed it and the presence of Johnny Curtis and Derrick Bateman at the announce table made things that much more hilarious and entertaining. Any references to Johnny Curtis's van or "getting weird" are brilliant. I think Maxine and Kaitlyn have actually improved in the ring a lot in the past year or so... From what we were shown, of course, since half the time the camera was on the announce table. Their technique was a little repetitive was the ending sequence was decent. Kaitlyn pins Maxine. Naturally, Maxine is raging and shoves aside Bateman and Curtis before walking towards Regal and delivering a rather, uh, suggestive message. The crowd starts up with the hoeski chants and she leaves.

NXT was wonderful.

On a side note, praise to whoever had the "LETS GET WEIRD" sign. I love you.

Uhh... Why did Otunga and McGillicutty come out to J-Gabe's music on Superstars? O.o

IT'S A SHIT SONG ANYWAY. DESTROY IT. GET RID OF IT COMPLETELY.

RAW - 11/07/11

RAW. Where do I even begin?! At the beginning… Yes.

The show opens with a promo from none other than the Voice of the Voiceless, CM Punk. As soon as I saw the megaphone in his hand, I knew we’d be seeing some brilliance from him again. And that’s exactly what we got. He talked about how he brought back-up with him in case his mic got cut off again. My words won’t do it justice. You all know how brilliant it was. If not, well, go and watch it. Punk states how there will be an in-ring contract negotiation live, with VKM, for the main event. Of course, Creative couldn’t leave us to bask in the brilliance of Punk, they brought in Cena and Punk was brilliant, “Sir, sir, your music’s too loud”. Haha. The Anonymous RAW General Manager decided to interrupt and put Cena into a handicap match.

The handicap match was against David Otunga and Michael McGilicutty, The Tag Team Champions. Okay, fair enough. But why wasn’t CM Punk with them at ringside? It’s like he’s been cut off from the Nexus. They’re no longer like one unit. Mason Ryan’s out so it’s just them three right now and they’re technically still members so what the fuck is this? Hell, they even come out with Punk’s theme so why not?! How brilliant would it have been had Punk been ringside with that ridiculous megaphone, distracting the shit out of Cena? Also, the Super-Cena gimmick where he, not only beats 2 people, but he beats the Tag Team Champions. Come on, give them some credit if you’re gonna put the titles on them at least! Poor booking. Poor match.

We have a Big Show and Mark Henry promo. We should all already know my thoughts on this.

Then we had a segment I particularly enjoyed! Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero are talking backstage. I’d just like to point out that Dolph was looking very attractive on RAW this week. I wouldn’t have minded if that segment lasted the whole show. Vickie’s imitating Vincent Kennedy McMahon whilst Dolph tries to tell him why he’s the best. They start taking the piss out of him, only to be joined by... Wait for it… Drew McIntyre! Yes, that’s right. A Drew McIntyre sighting! He joins in with them. He and Dolph shut up and Vickie, who has no idea VKM is there, carries on. She shuts up. He says how Drew was once his chosen one and how they’re both rising stars, mocking them, obviously because he then throws them into a handicap match against Big Show. A pointless segment but entertaining!

A SCOTT STANFORD SIGHTING.

Melina jobs to Kelly Kelly. What the fuck? I realize K2 is the Divas Champion (for some unknown/ridiculous reason – I don’t care how much she’s “improved”, she’s shit.) but Melina of all people?! One of the few women in the company, who can fight?! Honestly, I’d prefer just being on Superstars than jobbing to K2. They’re supposed to make Kelly look strong, I get that but you can’t make someone with very limited talent look strong regardless of how you book her. It’s just no believable. You could see how slow and sloppy her technique was and how Melina had to set herself up for her. Kelly’s then attacked by both Bellas. Eve turns up, for some reason and helps Kelly, only to get squashed herself. Great match(!) And it did nothing to help the storyline.

The Miz entered the ring and sat on top of the ladder in the middle of the ring. The RAW briefcase was hanging in the middle. He sat there and talked about why he’s the best competitor and going to win because he’s actually won before and become a champion. He’s interrupted by Jack Swagger, who states he, too, has won and gone on to win a World Title from it. He’s followed by Evan Bourne, who is too cute. Then Kofi. Then R-Truth. All of them talking about how they’re going to win. Rey Mysterio makes no appearance but we do see Alberto del Rio turns up, complaining that Punk has his match back when technically, he’s the Number 1 contender. The RAW GM interrupts and schedules a Heel V Face 6-man tag team match next and that ADR’s problem will be addressed. Alex Riley wins the match. It was alright. He’s attacked by Miz, of course, and then everyone else attacks one by one. Evan Bourne is the last one standing, about to go Airbourne. Here’s me getting all excited because it’s such a beautiful move but then ADR turns up and attacks him. Ladder shots for all, courtesy of Alberto del Rio. It looked like Miz’s hand got seriously fucked up. I hope it’s nothing too bad… Now, the biggest problem with this was the same as with Smackdown’s last week. ADR was made to look too strong. They’ve made it look too obvious that he’ll win at MITB, though I’d much rather Truth won, cashed in and lost, hahaha.

This is followed by the handicap match of Drew & Dolph V Big Show. Dolph immediately tags in Drew, shitting it. Drew’s knocked out of the ring and receives a pummelling. Show throws him all over the place, destroying him. They’re at the top of the ramp and I believe Show’s about to chokeslam him when Mark Henry turns up yet AGAIN and dives into Show. Drew goes flying. I thought he’d been flattened and killed by those giants but luckily, we see from another angle, he was thrown aside. Poor Drew. We get nothing new in terms of storyline. I already didn’t care about this Show/Henry thing. Meanwhile, Dolph Ziggler is chilling at ringside. Like a boss.

Alas, it’s time for the main event! VKM enters, doing his walk and then retreats. He repeats this cycle until he feels he’s received an adequate response from the crowd. He stops at a Zack Ryder sign. We mark out. Cole’s on his feet, kissing ass. In short, it’s amusing. He talks about how this shouldn’t be done in public but he’ll go with it and he calls CM Punk out. Punk imitates VKM’s walk, being the legend he is. I’m going crazy, obviously. He does regular Punk things. You know, incredibly relaxed body language whilst Vince is really tense. I love it. Then Vince calls him Phil and I gasp. We all know what Punk is like about names so I was literally in shock, haha. Punk reads out what’s in the contract. He wants to be the face of the company. Literally. He wants his face everywhere. He wants to push Vince. It was too amusing the way he was shoving Vince with that smile on his face. He was just absolutely brilliant. Like the opening segment, there are no words to express just how amazing CM Punk is. He had everyone in that arena chanting “COLT CABANA”. Half of those kids won’t even know who he is! He had everyone chanting for “WWE ICE CREAM BARS”. He is the Voice of the Voiceless, as he put it. Cena interrupts, of course. Punk tears him down with his words. Just go find it on Youtube. Just awesome. It wasn't the best segment! Don't get me wrong, it could have been much better but considering the crap we've been fed recently... He says Cena is like the New York Yankees and Cena snaps and hits Punk, who rolls out of the ring, haha. Punk walks up the ramp and says he’s tired. He’s just tired and he’s leaving the company on July 17th with the title.

End of show.

I don’t know what’s going to happen on Sunday. I really don’t. Fuck school. I’m watching this. Don’t let us down, WWE. Do not fucking let us down.