By Rich Twilling

WWE NXT on the Syfy Network
Taped earlier tonight in Cleveland, Ohio

[Q1] Footage aired of Michael Tarver, Daniel Bryan, Skip Sheffield, and Darren Young being eliminated. Parting words from each man was shown too. The remaining four were shown to end the video package...

Matt Striker introduced each WWE Pro and they took their seat on the stage. Chris Jericho, The Miz, Matt Hardy, William Regal, Christian, C.M. Punk, and R-Truth. Striker said due to the events that took place at Over the Limit, Punk would not be joining us tonight. It's funny because they had a chair for him...

Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, David Otunga, and Heath Slater were individually introduced and made their way to the ring. Striker referred to this round as the semifinals. He said the season finale would take place next week...

Twill's Two Cents: Season finale or series finale?

Striker asked each rookie who should be eliminated and why? Barrett gave a good reason for all three others go go home, but settled on Slater because he was offended by his hair. Gabriel said Otunga because Otunga doesn't know what he is doing in the ring.

Otunga pointed out flaws in each guy, but said Gabriel should go home because he is a glorified gymnast and looks like a deer in the headlights when a mic is in front of him. Slater said Barrett because he had a nose as crooked as the road...

Twill's Two Cents: I like that every guy got a vote this time. I also like the honest reasoning. Gabriel and Otunga were correct about each other. Too bad they cannot morph into one guy. If it is anyone but Slater, I'm going to be surprised.

Striker said each rookie will team with their pro in tag team matches tonight. R-Truth exited his seat on the stage and made his entrance... [C]

Christian made his entrance. Michael Cole and Josh Mathews checked in on commentary...

1. R-Truth and David Otunga defeated Christian and Heath Slater in 5:25. Slater and Truth opened the match. Truth got the best of Slater, but that changed once Otunga tagged in. Christian tagged in and hit a dropkick for a nearfall.

[Q2] Truth tagged in and hit Christian with a big kick before Otunga tagged back in. Otunga held his own until Christian hit a second rope reverse elbow. Slater tagged in and hit a reverse neck breaker for a two count. He hit a high cross body but Otunga rolled through and got the win...

Twill's Two Cents: Oddly enough, Sheffield looked really good in the ring the week he was eliminated. Slater looked impressive tonight during the match, but his character is just hard to get into. Otunga scored the pinfall but didn't do much else during the match.

Daniel Bryan was shown backstage and Michael Cole will call him out after the break... [C]

Michael Cole stood in the ring with four security guards. He said what happened to him last week was the most dramatic and horrifying thing that had ever happened to him in his career. Footage was shown of last week...

Twill's Two Cents: This is the same Michael Cole that was raped by Heidenreich and beaten to a pulp by Steve Austin right? But this was the worse thing that has ever happened to him?

Cole said he didn't want to take up too much time, so he proceeded to yap on and on and on. He said his personal security was there with him...

Twill's Two Cents: Michael Cole has personal security? If he needs personal security, then actual celebrities should walk around in bullet proof glass.

Cole said his attorneys told him he could sue Bryan for everything he owns. Sure, he could, but he would lose. Bryan came out to the ring and said he would apologize, but Cole did not need the security guards. Cole had the guards exit the ring.

[Q3] Bryan said he was "truly sorry." Cole held out his hand. Bryan shook it and said he was sorry. He held on. "I'm sorry that you are the worst announcer in the history of WWE." The security guys jumped back into the ring.

Cole said he ripped Bryan because he did not deserve to be here. Bryan said he had the worst pro in The Miz. He said he was the best wrestler in the back. Cole agreed but said he did not belong. He said Bryan was a loser. He said Bryan tapped out of the competition because he was a loser.

Cole tried to slap Bryan and Bryan tried to go after Cole, but he was held back by the security guys and Cole high tailed it. Bryan broke free and beat on Cole on the floor. He was pulled away and up the ramp.

Bryan then walked up the ramp and was met by Miz, who said he didn't deserve to be there in the first place. Bryan then attacked Miz and was pulled off by four or five security guys. Bryan was removed from the scene as Miz and Cole screamed at him... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: I'll admit, Michael Cole held his own during that segment and contributed to how great it was. He sounded pretty tough when he berated Bryan after the handshake. However, he looked like a punk afterward. Bryan beating on The Miz received a huge pop from the crowd and for the second straight week, William Regal agreed with Bryan that Miz is terrible. Very good segment.

Striker took over for Cole. He said nobody can question Bryan's heart but he has no respect. Mathews disagreed and said that enough was enough. He said Cole and Miz deserved what they got regardless of them being an announcer and a pro, respectively...

2. Justin Gabriel (with Matt Hardy) defeated Wade Barrett (with Chris Jericho) in 3:31. I thought they were doing two tag team matches but I guess I heard it wrong. Jericho berating the announcers during Barrett's matches is still great to me. Barrett took control early and worked on the arm and shoulder.

Gabriel used his speed and his kicks to get back into the match. He hit a springboard high cross body for a two count. Wade hit a nice back suplex into a springboard off the top rope into a backbreaker. Gabriel countered a superplex with a sunset flip powerbomb and then hit the 450 for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: Good showing for Gabriel, who needed to show he was more than just the one finishing move. Barrett looked solid in defeat and that was a good three and a half minute match.

[Q4] A graphic for the Pro's Poll was shown and we would learn who is going home after the break... [C]

American Bang, who sings the NXT Theme song, was shown sitting at ringside...

The Raw Rebound aired for those fans who watch NXT but do not watch Raw. In case you fall into that category, Batista quit WWE last night after Bret Hart was named the new GM of Raw and put him in a match that he refused to wrestle in. They hyped the main event at Fatal Four Way...

Striker hyped the next elimination... [C]

Striker and the rookies stood in the middle of the ring. Wade Barrett remained number one. David Otunga remained number two. Justin Gabriel earned the number three spot, so Heath Slater was eliminated.

[Overrun] Slater said Christian was his pro. Striker asked Christian why Heath was eliminated. Christian said he thought Slater could do it and the deck was stacked from the start. He said he couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt he would have a bright future.

Miz said he felt Slater was voted off because he never showed the wow factor. He said sometimes he was on and sometimes he was off and you could never be off. R-Truth said it was survival of the fittest and he wished Slater luck in the future.

Jericho said it didn't matter when Slater was eliminated because they would all be eliminated eventually before Barrett wins the competition. He told Barrett to get his head out of his ass and act like the best on the show.

Heath Slater ran down his credentials and although they were impressive credentials, nobody gave a shit about what he was saying. He told everyone to get ready for an encore because he was going to blow our minds. Striker hyped the season finale next week...

Twill's Two Cents: This show just illustrates how important charisma, personality, and the "it" factor are in WWE. Slater can go in the ring but it doesn't matter really because his character brings next to nothing to the table. He has a very independent scene look and if they do hold onto him, they need to overhaul everything.

What did you think of the show? Feel free to let me know by shooting an email to dotnetrich@gmail.com.

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