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.

Watching the Triple Threat Tag Team Match,

And this has just pissed me the fuck off.

So fucking dumb.

So The Usos have been a legitimate team since they turned up. Reks and Hawkins have been teaming up for a few months now.

Ziggler/Swagger are on. Then off. Then on again. Also, Swagger's the United States Champion and we never see him in that role. Sort this shit out, for fuck's sake. Kofi/Truth start teaming for a week and get booked to beat Epico/Primo. Whose genius idea was that?! Reks/Hawkins get absolutely no TV time. The Usos get little to no TV time despite how over they are.

What the fuck is this shit?

So now we get this triple threat tag team match.

Hey WWE, here are a few ideas to help your tag team division:

NXT sucked this week.

We got 2 matches.

TWO MATCHES.

What the fuck?!

Literally, half of the show was devoted to promoting Mania and recapping Raw. This is a fucking webshow in the US, right? So what the fuck are WWE playing at? Hardly anyone watches it and anyone who does will have already seen Raw! Fuck's sake.

I love Curt Hawkins's CHANGE tshirt. I want one. The referee banning him from ringside after threatening Tyson Kidd during his match with Tyler Reks was hilarious. I loved this match... But you already knew that, right? Tyson won the match. I think it would have been interesting to see Reks with an upset victory over NXT's "top guy" but if they draw this out long and well enough, Hawkins and Reks eventually winning could be that much better.

We had an entertaining backstage segment where Maxine and Bateman argue a bit. I love Derrick Bateman. He's great. Bateman then talks to Kaitlyn and that was pretty awkward but it was meant to be awkward so it's okay. Johnny Curtis pops up and Kaitlyn punches him. This is great.

We have another backstage segment where Matt Striker is in his office. Kaitlyn comes along and asks for a match against Maxine. Maxine barges in, the pair argue and she says she agrees with Hawkins and Reks about how much Striker sucks. After he sets a match between them for next week, she leaves and Kaitlyn reassures him he's doing a great job. Good segment. It set up a match for next week and added to Reks/Hawkins/Striker.

In the main event, Alex Riley took on Titus O'Neil. I believe Titus won but it wasn't clean. I didn't bother watching the match. I'm guessing it was mediocre.

Whatever.

NXT sucked this week.

Aside from the commentary with William Regal and Josh Matthews. As usual, that was wonderful.

They wasted half the show.

Justin Gabriel or Tyler Reks pictures please?

Would be lovely.

I was planning on drawing Gabe first because he was the popular choice on here but I'm struggling to find good pictures... And I'm having the same problem with Reks. :(

So the first awesome picture I am shown of either of them, I shall draw. ;)

Look on my "Art" page if you wanna get an idea of what kind of shots I usually work from.

Thank yoouu!

Superstars - 19th Jan / Smackdown - 20th Jan (7/10)

Superstars:

Natalya takes on Tamina in the opening match, which lasts a nice seven-minute. Tamina is, of course, triumphant but I'm glad Nattie was able to get in a decent amount of offence. The crowd actually responded to the match a bit! Nattie made great use of the ropes and turnbuckle. It was generally a pretty aggressive bout and the kind of thing I'd like to see more in divas matches, especially on TV! Less ass, more wrestling. Nattie locks in her Pinup Strong submission hold, which Tamina manages to work out of. She rolls up Nattie just as she attempts to lock in the Sharpshooter but Nattie kicks out. I was looking forward to a suplex from the middle rope but Tamina countered, knocking Nattie off and landing her Superfly Splash to pick up the third win in a row.

We get a tag team match of Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks facing off against the team of Santino Marella and Mason Ryan. God, can Hawkins and Reks please win this? We really need some legitimate tag teams on TV. STOP FOOLIN' AROUND REKS HAHAHA. 

Alex Riley beats Jinder Mahal in the main event in a match I don't care about. GREAT JOB WITH JINDER MAHAL, WWE(!) Real consistent(!) Losing to Seth Rollins on FCW... Losing to A-Ry on Superstars... Losing to Sheamus on Smackdown/Raw... Get real.

Smackdown:

Daniel Bryan cuts a promo, degrading Big Show about last week and says he should just quit. The usual stuff then.

Aksana is backstage, flaunting her costume, saying it was especially for Teddy. Something to do with pillow fights? It looks like they’re using the roulette wheel to determine match stipulations. Cody Rhodes turns up and with regards to Aksana’s costume, he says Goldust once was in a Vegas Showgirls match and that he himself is the last hope for the Rhodes family name. The roulette wheel lands on a “player’s choice match”. Does he pick Ezekiel Jackson? Nope. Santino? Nah. He picks Hornswoggle, who is visibly dreading it.

Rhodes shoves around Hornswoggle on the outside before the match can even start. Justin Gabriel comes in for the save and takes the mic. In that beautiful accent of his, he demands he replaces Hornswoggle and Cody accepts the match, insisting it’s “non-title”. The match is short but decent. Gabriel looked pretty good throughout most of the match, getting two nearfalls and landing a reasonable amount of offense. Rhodes managed to avoid his 450 splash the one time he was set up for him. Rhodes eventually won using his finisher, Cross Rhodes.

Mark Henry is backstage with the roulette wheel. He doesn’t seem at all impressed with the concept of “Sin City Smackdown”. He says it’s Teddy’s fault AJ got hurt and this week, it’ll be his fault when Bryan gets hurt. He makes Teddy spin the wheel. Basically, Henry is brilliant. The stipulation ends up being a lumberjack match. I love Mark Henry’s promos. He’s there being all serious and shit and yet he’s amusing.

We get a replay of Air Boom dropping the tag titles to Epico and Primo.

Primo and Epico defeat The Usos in a tornado tag team match! We don’t see many of those these days, do we? Despite it being a rather short match, I enjoyed it. If anything, it looked good. By that, I mean, there was a slight sense of nostalgia in that it was reminiscent of when we would have a legitimate tag team division. I couldn’t tell who was wrestling with whom because The Usos are twins and Primo and Epico look so alike! They have the matching ring gear, the multiple double team moves. I enjoyed it and I just wish it had gone on maybe five more minutes. Epico and Primo were victorious after one of them hit an Uso with the backstabber and pinned him.

Aksana informs Teddy Long she enjoys pulling and yanking until the all the money comes out. I guess it really is Teddy’s lucky night, huh? Sheamus turns up and he’s facing Wade Barrett in a tables match.

The following is a dance-off! Vickie Guerrero, in the words of Michael Cole, appears to be having a seizure. Brodus Clay, Naomi and Arianne show what they’ve got and are victorious. Then Mr. William Regal makes an appearance, coming to the aid of Vickie. He was pretty hilarious on the mic, calling Vickie a “wench” whilst comforting her, haha. Brodus goads him into dancing and it was brilliant. The crowd are cheering Regal on and then Brodus takes him out, much to everyone’s displeasure. That all changes when he says everyone’s favourite line, “Somebody call his momma” and the cheering takes over.

Wade Barrett takes on Sheamus in a tables match! I liked this match a lot! They were really close to the tables throughout the match and there were a number of moments where either men were close to winning. I’m not a fan of bigger guys in matches against each other but the combination of Barrett and Sheamus is one of the few that I genuinely find entertaining. They made good use of the tables and there were quite a few close calls, which maintained my interest. The ending was a little underwhelming with Jinder Mahal making an appearance to distract Sheamus, providing Barrett with the opportunity to throw him into the table. It would have been nice to place a little more emphasis on Barrett’s win by maybe having him put Sheamus through the table using a signature move? After Barrett leaves, Mahal starts to beat down Sheamus. Sheamus miraculously gets to his feet after that brutal brawl with Barrett, brogue kicks Mahal and sends him through a table. Just stop this Mahal/Sheamus thing. It’s fucking shit and stupid. This was pointless and made me feel like Sheamus was being molded into the next Cena. Yay(!)

Ted DiBiase beats Hunico in a flag match. This is another one of those gimmick matches I absolutely hate. It’s also really annoying how patriotic WWE are. You are a global company. Stop shoving this “USA” shit down our throats. A recorded promo from Ted pre-show is shown where he says Hunico and Camacho can have their own “pity party” after they lose. The match was awkward. They really had to oversell because honestly, it’s not hard to climb to the top rope. There was a great moment where Ted literally went flying out of the ring though.

Santino is still brilliant. After Teddy fires Drew, Santino insists he can have one more match to prove him beating “Drew Macintosh” wasn’t a fluke. Drew is all grateful and beautiful. Can you just turn him face already? We get a stupid blindfold match, which is another stupid gimmick match I can’t stand. Drew gets a jobber entrance, in other words, no entrance at all. However, Santino blindfolding his cobra was brilliant, haha. There’s next to no physical contact between the pair throughout the match. At one point, Drew’s arm meets steel post, which looked painful. Despite Drew peeking from the blindfold at one point, Santino uses the crowd reaction to target Drew and hits him with the cobra in order to pick up a win. A stupid match. The comedic value from Santino made it somewhat bearable but this bullshit with Drew had better go somewhere big, for fuck’s sake.

Why are they announcing Orton’s return in advance? Stupid.

It’s main event time! Mark Henry takes on Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Lumberjack match! Bryan tries to intimidate the lumberjacks, demanding they don’t touch him. Barrett is not impressed. Reks is not impressed either. That’s Tyler Reks in case you forgot who he is and I wouldn’t blame you really! Sort it out, WWE! Anyway, Henry dominates the match and Bryan tries to escape the ring but each time the lumberjacks send him back in there. At one point, he manages to get Henry onto his knees and land a nice kick to the head, covering him. Henry throws Bryan out onto the lumberjacks! Once Henry lands on the outside though, it’s like pandemonium. The lumberjacks go crazy, trying to beat up Bryan, Henry, each other… Bryan manages to escape the match, heading backstage, where Teddy Long closes the show, announcing Bryan will take on Show and Henry in a triple threat match at the Royal Rumble. I liked the ending with that announcement. Hopefully the Smackdown before the Rumble, there will be some elaboration on this to build-up a little bit. The lumberjacks invading the ring was very reminiscent of the Rumble itself, which was a great way of almost promoting the PPV.

All in all, Smackdown was decent. I’m not a fan of these ridiculous gimmick matches though. The matches were okay. Barrett/Sheamus was good and like the tag team match, they could have been better had they been a few minutes longer. We got some Rumble build-up. I give it a 7/10.

Outlined my Tyson Kidd drawing~

Struggling with his face though D:

Think I'll work on it more after school tomorrow and hopefully have it finished then~ ><

Should I do Tyler Reks or Justin Gabriel now?

NXT - 18th Jan 2012 / FCW - 15th Jan 2012

NXT:

The show opens with highlights of the love triangle between Derrick Bateman, Maxine and Johnny Curtis and rightfully so, considering Maxine and Curtis' wedding is supposed to be taking place this 100th episode of NXT.

Lilian Garcia is doing the announcing today. Yeah, you stay on the internet shows, Lilian! No way should Tony Chimel be second to you! Don't get me wrong, she's a great announcer but c'mon, putting her before Chimel? I don't think so. She introduces Michael Cole, who is making his mighty NXT return. Yay... That means our commentary team for the night is Josh Matthews with Michael Cole. I can't explain how upset I am that we're not getting William Regal or Matt Striker.

Titus O'Neil takes on Darren Young in a no-DQ match. This was set up following last week's main event by Matt Striker. Who even cares about this? Titus wins, which is ridiculous, considering Darren Young is a better competitior by a mile. The match was so fascinating Matthews and Cole were discussing Aksana and Goldust's wedding. Guys, you forgot about Stephanie and Triple H. Wow, people should really bring that up more during promos. Dumb match, dumb "feud", dumb outcome.

The torture doesn't end there though. Titus O'Neil has the mic and, yes, I'm going to quote Michael Cole, "You'd think after 46 weeks, he'd learn how to cut a promo". I couldn't agree more. He complains about Hornswoggle and attempts to bury the crowd. NEXT.

Johnny Curtis is backstage, looking hot, as he gets ready for his wedding.

Percy Watson defeats Heath Slater in another match no one could give a fuck about.

Maxine is looking gorgeous backstage. The Usos are serving as her maids... Or not... Because they're men and... Yeah. Johnny turns up shortly and tells her Bateman won't be there so everything will be fine. Following Maxine's departure, Johnny informs Kaitlyn he hasn't had a bachelor party yet and asks if she wants to "get weird". She blows him off again. I love the interaction between those two. It's just perfect, haha.

Yoshi Tatsu and Trent Barreta take on Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins in the only decent match of the night and the only match I could actually give a fuck about! Hawkins quickly takes control as he and Barreta lock up and he sends an elbow to his head. Throwing Barreta into his and Reks' corner, he tags Reks. The pair miss a clothesline and Yoshi delivers a strike to Reks' head from the rope. Reks kicks out of the cover. Yoshi makes nice use of numerous kicks but Reks returns the favour with a series of knees, covering Yoshi, who kicks out. Putting Yoshi into a leglock, he tags in Hawkins, who continues the assault with his knees. Yoshi retaliates with an elbow and a nice kick but Hawkins delivers a bodyslam, which Yoshi kicks out of. kicks to yoshi's back. Reks is tagged back in, who begins to mock Yoshi as Barreta is desperate to get tagged in. He applies a front facelock, followed by a bodyslam and yet another unsuccessful cover. Hawkins continues the beatdown on Yoshi before tagging Reks back in, who applies a chinlock this time. Yoshi punches his way out but receives a kick. Reks attempts a body slam, which Yoshi wriggles out of and counter with a kick. Yoshi struggles to tag in Barreta. Reks is unsuccessful in preventing him by grabbing his ankle and the tag is made. Barreta knocks both Hawkins and Reks down. He sends a kick to Reks' head twice, one roundhouse and one front kick to his jaw. Reks kicks out of the cover. Barreta lands a nice diving corkscrew senton and Hawkins manages to break the cover before the referee reaches 3. After the referee breaks up the small brawl between Hawkins and Yoshi, Hawkins punches Barreta in the midsection, giving Reks the opportunity to finish him off with the Burning Hammer, one of the best finishing moves in the WWE right now. Yes, that's right. A win for the team of Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins! I can't say I saw this coming! The match was a little bit short but the pace was nice and I thought it was good. There were quite a few tags made between Reks and Hawkins and I really think they make a great team. It'd be great to see them seriously contend for the titles, especially considering Air Boom are out for at least two months!

It's main event time! The ring is, uh, nicely decorated as Cole points out... Draped in white... Stuff. Then Elvis comes out. Oh wait, it's Striker. Dressed as Elvis. I kid you not. He's trying to talk like him and all and it hurts, hahaha. Johnny Curtis comes out with some hobo "best man", who they apparently met the previous night at, like, a bar or something. Maxine comes out in her white dress, looking hot. I think we all know how this wedding is going to turn out! There's some squabbling, as usual and it sounds like Maxine just wants the wedding to be done with already. Elvis and Striker both repeatedly ask whether anyone believes they shouldn't marry.

Cue Derrick Bateman.

Apparently there was some security footage showing Curtis using Bateman's iPad to email Teddy Long. Curtis tries to ensure Maxine he wants her to rise to the top of the ladder with him but she's not having any of that. Then a brawl ensues! About time, isn't it?! Curtis gets beat down by both Maxine and Bateman. Bateman says, "I always wanted you on top" before he's about to leave. That is not PG! Maxine stops him, slaps him aaaaaand makes out with him.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Or did they?

Anyway, the opening half of NXT was pretty atrocious. But the final two segments, being the tag team match and the main event were pretty entertaining, even if the wedding was your standard WWE, chaotic wedding. But we love those, don't we? I'm looking forward to see what happens next week!

FCW:

The show opens with a divas title match between Audrey Marie (c) and Caylee Turner. It's pretty awkward. They lock up and Audrey's backed up into the corner. She reverses their positions. They break up. They run the ropes for literally ten seconds... Only to have nothing come out of it. Okay then. Caylee kicks Audrey and receives a springboard crossbody, going into the cover. Caylee kicks out. Audrey bridges out of a pin attempt. Their technique is pretty broken. That's not even the right word! It's just not very smooth. They exchange punches and kicks. Caylee throws Audrey to the outside just as she's going to springboard back in the ring. There's another cover and kickout followed by an elbow to Audrey. Caylee lands a legdrop and fails to pin Audrey again. She uses the ropes to choke her and misses a leg drop. After sending two clotheslines Caylee's way and landing her finisher, Audrey retains her title.

Raquel Diaz cuts a promo. She does the usual trash talking, bigging herself up, demanding a banner of herself is put up and claiming Audrey Marie's Divas championship will be hers.

Xavier Woods gives a, uh, motivational speech. He makes a few jokes about Antonio Cesaro and goes on about positivity. Wow. Mr. Very European himself makes him entrance and the pair lock up. Cesaro starts off really aggressive. The match is at a nice pace with both men fighting for control and trying to lock in various holds. They exchange chops and Woods lands a hurricanrana. Cesaro starts to make a mockery of Woods, rubbing his face into the canvas. He lands a few punches and an elbow to Woods. The pair go back and forth quite a bit until Cesaro holds a headlock onto Woods. He lands a pretty vicious clothesline, which Woods kicks out of. Woods goes in for a crucifix pin, which Cesaro kicks out of.  Cesaro receives a dropkick. Woods gets to eat turnbuckle. They exchange kicks and fists. Cesaro gets a pair of knees to his face and kicks out of the cover. He delivers an uppercut Woods' way, resulting a very close nearfall. This match looks pretty stiff to me! Wow. Cesaro sizes up Woods, who lands a nice kick to the side of Cesaro's head. Cesaro kicks out of yet anothe cover. Woods misses a dropkick from the top rope and Cesaro takes advantage, hooking him into some kind of headlock submission hold, which Woods taps out to. All in all, a good match and a nice pace too. It kept me interested for the most and there were a few nearfalls, the one following the uppercut being particularly close!

Maxine backstage with a therapist. Did he try to take her make-up?! What?!

Jinder Mahal takes on Seth Rollins, who looks like he's loving life! Haha. I'm going to presume Mahal loses, which will be pretty awkward considering he's supposed to be "feuding" with Sheamus. The pair lock up and quickly break up. Jinder starts trash talking before they lock up again. He backs Rollins into a corner and they break up again. Rollins looks so unimpressed here, haha. He misses a kick to Mahal and is consequently taken down to the mat. His face meets the turnbuckle and Mahal receives chops to his chest. Rollins sends him some lovely thigh kicks and fists to the face. Their knees and legs collide as both men move to attack. Rollins recovers and sends Mahal to the outside. What comes next? SUICIDE DIVE. Aw, yeah! Back in the ring, Mahal lands a knee to Rollins' face three times, followed by a neckbreaker, cover and kickout. After a headlock, he strikes Rollins' neck and tries to throw him to the outside. Rollins reverses Mahal's first attempt at his Sands of Time finisher but receives a kick in his face. Mahal chokes him with the ropes twice and sends his face to the turnbuckle, covering him but Rollins kicks out. Rollins punches his way out of a chinlock and counters the Sands of Time once again. He lands numerous forearms and a kick, countering a suplex. He attempts his Avada Kedavra superkick but Mahal catches it just in time. Rollins slips out of the Sands of Time for the third time and rolls Mahal up, shoulders down but is unsuccessful in pinning him. Mahal's face meets the turnbuckle after a leg sweep. He elbows out of the Sands of Time and lands an enzuigiri, followed by a back kick. A boot to Mahal's head leads to Rollins finally hitting him with AVADA KEDAVRA and winning the match! This was surprisingly decent. Mahal wasn't half-bad and the match was interesting enough. It was nice to see Rollins pick up a win too!

The main is a match for the Tag Team titles! Epico and Hunico take on champions Briley Pierce and Brad Maddox. Before I say anything, I just really love the team of Pierce and Maddox. I think it's great. It takes that typical teacher/student angle but it's slightly different. Maddox is presented as more of a heel character whereas Briley's the cute babyface-esque character you want to see do well.

Briley and Epico start things off with some grappling. There are three quick pin attempts and the pace starts off pretty quick with plenty of counters and reversals to maintain control in various holds. Both men collide with dropkicks and Briley's doing some nice work by surprisingly keeping up with Epico. Both Hunico and Maddox are tagged in. Hunico targets Maddox's leg and takes him down, locking in his legs. Maddox flips him over and holds in a facelock, followed by a shoulder tackle once both men get to their feet. After a quick arm drag, there are a few quick tags between Briley and Maddox and they make good use of double-team offence. Briley slows down the pace a little but Epico manages to break out of his hold. Another arm drag from Briley, a quick cover and a kickout. Following a suplex, Maddox is tagged in. He delivers a row of forearms and elbows to Epico's head and he and Briley double team again. He tag in Briley again and shortly after, Epico manages to make a tag to Hunico. Briley throws Hunico out of the ring and drop kicks Epico out. Both men land a springboard plancha over to the outside after Briley tags in Maddox. after commercial, Hunico lands a neckbreaker to Maddox and tags in Epico. This time it's Hunico and Epico making good use of those quick tags and this is actually a pretty enjoyable tag team match to watch! It'd be nice if we saw more like these on Raw or Smackdown. 

Maddox's face receives the turnbuckle and Epico tags in Hunico. The pair keep Maddox grounded in their corner but he eventually makes the tag. Briley climbs to the top rope, landing a crossbody and pulling Hunico into a crucifix pin. Hunico kicks out, only to be on the receiving end of an elbow. Briley get to the middle rope but following a distraction from Epico, Hunico knocks him to the outside. Epico bodyslams him on the outside. Maddox wants a tag and Briley's pulled into a headlock, almost reflecting his slow technique from earlier to wear down his fast-paced opponents. Briley punches his way out but Hunico retaliates and continues to beat down little Briley Pierce. Hunico taunts Briley constantly as he tries to crawl over to Maddox to make a tag. Epico gets tagged in and lands several punches to Briley. He lands a german suplex and locks in an abdominal stretch. Briley elbows him. Epico continues taunting him and lands a dropkick. With the referee distracted by Maddox and Epico, Hunico sends a few blows to Briley. Briley kicks out and receives a number of kicks and Maddox breaks up the cover. After failing to tag in Maddox, Briley gets a few chops to his chest. He and Hunico collide as they attempt to crossbody. Briley finally makes the tag to Maddox just as Hunico does to Epico. Maddox sends forearms and takes out Epico's leg. He lands a dropkick and throws Hunico off the apron, rolling up Epico, who kicks out. Briley tags himself in but Epico fails to notice. Briley lands a nice DDT and covers but Hunico breaks it up. Maddox and Hunico start a brawl on the outside and Epico sends an elbow to Briley. Briley gets onto the second rope, catching epico into an arm drag and pulling him into a pin, outside leg hooked. 

Brad Maddox and Briley Pierce retain their tag team titles.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this match. I was already looking forward to seeing it and it turned out really good. The pace was great and I was surprised to see both teams keep up with each with the variations in pace throughout the match. There were just enough changes to keep my interest. I thought the outcome was great with Briley, who's perceived as an underdog, I guess, pinning Epico. There was some great storytelling going on and for guys that are labelled as "developmental talents" or "rookies" or whatever you want to call them, they did some really good work. I love the chemistry between Briley & Maddox. I think they make a great team and they definitely showed that in this match. So yeah, I really liked this and bar the opening divas match, FCW was pretty strong this week!

NXT - 11th Jan 2012 / FCW - 8th Jan 2012

NXT:

The first thing I noticed about NXT week is that it was a new introduction theme thingy! Now it feels like a real show!

Matt Striker talks about how next week is the 100th show. Well, it's been going on so long, it certainly feels like it! There's definitely been an improvement though. No more of those ridiculous challenges, more wrestling and more storylines to showcase the up and coming talent. I'm interested to see what we actually get to see next week. This week's returning "alumni" isn't an alumni. It's ex-pro Alicia Fox. Well, demotion much? Wasn't she in line for a divas title push a few weeks ago? Gutted. Maxine comes out, looking as hot as usual in her ring gear, and interrupts her old pro when the conversationg gets a bit dirty. Something to do with what she's doing, who she's doing, if she's on her back or on top... Wow. I'm sure Striker enjoyed it. They start fighting and Striker does the usual, making a match on the spot.

Striker and Regal's commentary was great. There's really not much to say about the match except that the deadly roll up has made its way to NXT. Alicia Fox manages to pin Maxine after reversing her roll up attempt.

Trent Barretta faces Tyler Reks (with Hawkins) as a continuation from last week's little dispute. Hawkins at ringside is pretty entertaining, haha. The guys go back and forth throughout the match but I think Reks appears to be a little bit more in control for the majority due to Barreta favouring his more aerial offense (Barreta misses a diving corkscrew senton). Reks goes for his Burning Hammer finisher but Barreta manages to counter, hooking his arms and pulling Reks into a backslide pin to win. Hawkins attacks Barreta with Big Glenn. Reks starts raging at Striker/Regal. Regal says to Reks, "If I was you, I'd look in the ring, sunshine." Hahahaha. Reks should have taken his advice as Yoshi Tatsu comes in for the save. Yoshi takes out Hawkins and Reks and he and Barreta leave.

Um, i have to have a slight~ fangirling moment here. How does Justin Gabriel get more and more attractive like this oh god what a beautiful man with a beautiful accent and dfghjkl so cute. Ahem. 

Justin Gabriel and Derrick Bateman are talking backstage when the topic gets to Maxine. Bateman is wondering why she thinks he did something with Aksana when Gabriel says the real reason is the text message to Teddy Long. Bateman is confused and denies sending it to which Gabriel replies with, "Maybe your password shouldn't be 1234 anymore man." I found it funny, okay. Oh dear. I guess we have another text message scandal on our hands! Who is the culprit? Was it really Bateman? Was it Dirty Curty? Did Maxine send the text as an excuse to leave Bateman? Or did Teddy Long text message himself?!

The Usos face off against JTG & Tyson Kidd. Did I miss something? What is the purpose of this match? "I think it's an absolute travesty [Tyson Kidd] has to be anywhere near JTG," says the Brilliant Willian Regal, worrying this might result in a loss of brain cells for Tyson Kidd. Jimmy Uso pins JTG whilst Tyson Kidd is on the floor at ringside after Jey sountered a suicide dive with a Samoan Drop. It wasn't a surprising finish but the match was surprisingly good.

Maxine and Aksana are talking backstage when Derrick Bateman interrupts them and Aksana leaves. Maxine barely lets him get a word in before leaving to see Johnny Curtis. They are so cute. Bateman and Maxine, that is. I don't know, Derrick Bateman's really grown on me as of late.

Alex Riley faces off against Johnny Curtis, who has Maxine with him at ringside. The match is short. Had it gone on a little longer it could have been good. Maxine is about to climb onto the apron, which distracts A-Ry, allowing Curtis to take advantage and win. Striker is such a perv, haha. Bateman comes out and says he knows what Curtis did and this~ ends next week.

Darren Young calls out Titus O'Neil. I don't even care about these two. Young lists the people he's beaten. Titus O'Neil comes out. It's boring. They end up fighting. Striker says they'll have a No DQ match next week. "It Will End". It seems everything's ending now.

FCW:

Kenneth Cameron faces Nick Rogers. The contrast in theme songs was pretty amusing. It's a very short match and very slow. It wasn't particularly interesting. Rogers essentially did a job as he didn't get any offense in and Cameron won via submission after literally two minutes. Cameron continues the beatdown for a moment or so before letting go and being all ominous. This really feels like a bad Undertaker rip-off, haha.

Sakamoto takes on Mike Dalton. It was a short match but it felt as though it dragged on a bit for me. It wasn't bad, the beginning was alright but I have no interest in it really. Dalton actually wins. That's 2 of 2 losses for Sakamoto now.

Briley Pierce and Brad Maddox, the Tag Team Champions, cut a promo or, well, rather Briley interviews himself and Maddox whilst Maddox is trying to get the message to Briley that he is no longer a reporter. Briley's cute. Anyway, they announce that they have a match against Hunico and Epico the following week! This should be interesting.

We then get the divas match of Aksana versus Cameron Lynn. Why do they insist on putting Aksana in matches week after week? She's absolutely awful. I mean, last week, her match with Audrey Marie and AJ Lee was the most comical thing I'd seen in ages. It was a dull match, which dragged on for far too long. It's really choppy, really sloppy... It just wasn't enjoyable to watch at all. By some miracle, Aksana wins. Why hadn't "boring" chants started?

Leakee and Dean Ambrose team up against Leo Kruger and Damien Sandow in a tag team match. Leakee and Ambrose are having what appears to be a slight dispute over who will start. Sandow tries to get the advantage by attempting to catch them off guard but they manage to take him out before he gets a hand on them. Kruger tries to do the same but Ambrose sends him over the top rope. The match starts off with Ambrose and Sandow. Leakee tags himself in whilst Sandow is getting beat down in their corner. Ambrose returns the favour and then Leakee again tags himself back in, showing some competitiveness. They tag in and out so many times I'm just losing track. Eventually, Leakee tries to pin Sandow twice, who kicks out both times. Kruger tries to interfere and is thrown off the ring apron. Sandow gains the advantage and unsuccessfully attempts to pin Leakee after Kruger pulls him out from the corner, causing Leakee to hit the turnbuckle. A few cheap shots from Kruger whilst Leakee is in their corner and the referee is looking away. Sandow decides to show off with a cartwheel for whatever reason. Kruger is tagged in again and they keep him in his corner, sending a few blow until Leakee retaliates. Kruger manages to get the upperhand again and tags in Sandow. Is there any point mentioning these considering how often they're tagging? Haha. Ambrose is obviously pissed off, pacing along the ropes impatiently, wanting to be tagged in. I love his mannerisms. Kruger goes in for the sleeperhold on Leakee, who's trying to stretch out to tag Ambrose. Sandow tries to knock Ambrose off the ring apron, who counters and throws Sandow to the outside. Kruger ends up throwing Leakee into his own corner, where Ambrose tags himself in. That made a lot of sense, Kruger..(!) The crowd starts chanting for Ambrose, who lands a series of blows on Kruger after all that pent up frustration at not being tagged in for so long. Ambrose lands a pretty vicious clothesline and tries to pin him. Kruger just about kicks out. Ambrose awkwardly skips around (you can't be surprised!) and pulls down his right knee pad but Sandow, who was still on the outside interferes. He holds Ambrose to the ropes, giving Kruger enough time to take advantage but Ambrose gets out of the way and Sandow is hit instead. Ambrose pulls him into a roll up. Kruger kicks out and Leakee tags himself in. Ambrose doesn't seem to notice and Leakee hits some finisher of his (helpful, I know) to pin Kruger. I liked the interaction between Leakee and Ambrose. Hopefully, this will spark something of a feud between the pair of them and involve Kruger. The constant tags in and out mostly seemed comical to me on Leakee and Ambrose's half. All in all, it was a decent match again.

The main events is Richie Steamboat versus Husky Harris in a Texas Bullrope match. The crowd starts the Husky chants before the bell even goes. The two lock up with Richie backing Husky into a corner. It's a slow start to the match and both guys lock up again with Husky gaining the upperhand. He uses the rope as a weapon to keep Richie down. Richie retaliates with a few kicks but Husky maintains the advantage. Both guys eventually end up on level ground, on opposite sides of the rope again, maintaining their distance. Husky sends several brutal blows to Richie's head, sending him down. He drags him up by his hair and Richie attempts to land some offense. Husky gains control again and Richie rolls out of the ring twice only to have Husky drag him back in on both occassions. Richie attempts to land some kicks whilst on his back, bringing Husky down. He gets to his feet and sends a few hooks Husky's way before unsuccessfully attempting to pin him. Richie uses the rope as a weapon and goes for another pin with a quick kickout from Husky. The match continues outside the ring. Richie links the rope through the steel post so he and Husky are on opposite sides of it before pulling the rope, send Husky into the post. Richie mocks Husky whose head is on the steel stairs before manouveuring back to his side and smashing his head into the stairs and then throws him into the side of the ring. Husky follows him into the ring, only to receive a blow from Richie who has the cowbell but doesn't manage to keep him down for the three count. Richie uses the rope around Husky's mouth and tries to cover him again. He lands the cowbell on him several more times along with the rope, striking him on his back and front. Husky gets to his feet slowly and the pair exchange shots, ending with Husky in the corner on the receiving end of an elbow. Richie continues with the kicks and strikes to the face to keep Husky down. Richie goes to the middle rope but Husky responds quickly, pulling on the rop, sending Richie crashing to the ring on his back. Husky has hold of the cowbell and sends a blow to Richie's face, pinning him to win the match. I liked the match. It would have been nice had they used the rope a little bit more innovatively rather than just landing strikes with it. I did like it when Richie used it to send Husky into the steel post though. I think having Husky gain the upper hand in the match a little bit more would have made the outcome slightly more believable but I think it was generally a good finish. It was a decent match.