12/28 Shore's WWE NXT Live Coverage: "Power Punch" rookie challenge, Byron Saxton vs. Ted DiBiase, and the rookie talent show

By Chris Shore

WWE NXT on WWE.com
Taped earlier in Rochester, N.Y.

The opening video aired and Josh Matthews and Todd Grisham welcomed us to NXT. R-Truth did his long ass entrance. His lungs unfortunately seem to have recovered from pneumonia…

Shore's Slant: I kid, I kid. Good to see Truth is recovering from his scary collapse. And good to see you all of you as I sit in for Twillings tonight. Thanks for watching along.

1. Dolph Ziggler (w/Jakob Novak and Vickie Guerrero) defeated Johnny Curtis (w/R-Truth) at 4:43. Ziggler slammed Curtis down near the ropes and Novak protected Vickie from getting hit. Ziggler yelled at him to keep his hands of his girl. Ziggler controlled the majority of the match. Curtis missed a big leg drop from the top rope and Ziggler hit the Zig Zag for the win…The announce team hyped Byron Saxton vs. Ted DiBiase…[C]

Shore's Slant: Solid match that either showed that Curtis is somewhat seasoned, or Ziggler really can carry anyone to a good match.

1. Connor O'Brian (w/Alberto Del Rio) defeated Derrick Bateman (w/Kofi Kingston) at 3:08. Kofi is sitting in for Daniel Bryan this week. Bateman hit a quick leg lock and Matthews "Coled" him for learning a move from Bryan. Bateman controlled most of the match, but O'Brian hit a full nelson slam for the win. Post-match, Del Rio told Ricardo Rodriguez to announce O'Brian as the winner. Rich Rod did so half-heartedly…

Backstage, Maryse and DiBiase were arguing over her spending money. Brodus Clay walked up and thanked Ted for all his help. He said Ted had all the things he wanted, like the women. Ted said Brodus was patronizing him and said Clay should take notes tonight since he lost last week. He stormed off and Ted and Maryse went back to arguing…[C]

Shore's Slant: This was an OK match. This is the first chance I have had to really watch any of this season and these guys look a lot more seasoned than the last one with men. But maybe I'm still a little blind from last season.

The "Power Punch" Rookie Challenge played out as follows:

Derrick Bateman – 750
Johnny Curtis – 814
Byron Saxton – 625
Connor O'Brian – 531
Jakob Novak – 721
Brodus Clay – 636

Johnny Curtis won two elimination points and now leads.

Shore's Slant: Voting starts tomorrow at noon. How was Clay 4th in that contest?

3. Byron Saxton (w/Chris Masters) defeated Ted DiBiase (w/Brodus Clay and Maryse) by disqualification at 5:54. DiBiase picked Saxton apart the whole time. He tossed Saxton to the floor and Clay hit a clothesline for no apparent reason, causing the DQ. Post-match, Ted and Maryse berated Clay and Maryse slapped him on Ted's command. Clay looked like he might do something, but Ted and Maryse left the ring with no problems…[C]

Shore's Slant: I'm digging it. I mean, this is like Miz and Daniel Bryan except a totally different storyline. I really could get behind this.

The Raw Rebound video aired…Backstage, R-Truth and Curtis argued over Truth not being there or something. I can't understand Truth when he's not miced well…[C]

For the talent show, Bateman did a haiku named "Cheap pop," where he said the name of the city. Johnny Curtis did dancing with the rhythmic gymnastics ribbon. Saxton sold the beating from Ted and Brodus. He read a fairy tale that punked Clay. Time ran out in the middle of it.

O'Brian did a fifties stand-up comic. He closed with a cheese joke. Striker asked if Clay's talent could be to kill everyone in the ring. Novak acted like a male model. Clay asked for anyone to come from the back so he could make them "hood cool." The Raw theme played and Cole came out, cutting a promo where he shit on everything.

He put on a toboggan and talked about all kinds of ignorant stuff—including taking a shot at Kaval—as Clay said, "church" and "preach." What the hell? The crowd picked Curtis and he danced with the ribbon in Clay's face. Clay broke the ribbon and Curtis slapped him. A melee broke out and Clay destroyed everybody and then posed in the ring…[C]

Shore's Slant: That was the oddest 15 minutes of my life. The end was very good with Clay destroying everything that moved. But the talent show was unbearable. I have no idea how this is supposed to get anybody over. Overall I thought the non NXT stuff was good, but the challenges suck as always. I'll have more to say tomorrow on the hitlist. Thanks for reading and I'll see you then.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com with whatever is on your mind.