By Rich Twilling

WWE NXT on the Syfy Network
Taped earlier tonight in Little Rock, Ark.

[Q1] Footage was shown of Matt Striker running the obstacle course in an empty arena earlier in the day. No, they are not making them drink ridiculous amounts of soda for over a minute, but there is a balance beam. Balance beams have the potential to be funny...

The opening video aired and fireworks lit up the stage. Michael Cole and Josh Mathews welcomed us to the show. They hyped this as the last show before next week's elimination. Well yes, if next week is an elimination show, this week would be the last show until then...

MVP was in the ring for the VIP Lounge. He called out his Rookie, "Hot Tub" Percy Watson. Percy pranced his way out to the ring. MVP said what Percy did last week didn't take guts or courage, but it did take initiative. He wanted to smash the glasses on his face, but he was impressed.

The MVP that debuted on Smackdown would have done the same thing but MVP said he has grown up a lot. Percy apologized, MVP accepted, and they talked about going to make it rain in a night club. Matt Striker apparently still has theme music and he came out to the stage.

Striker wanted to know why Percy should be ranked number one. Oh yeah! Percy explained why he should be the next breakout star. He said he was a heavy hitter, a go getter, and is never a quitter...

Twill's Two Cents: Hmm, shitter rhymes with that too.

Cody Rhodes and Husky Harris came out to the stage. Rhodes basically called Husky a fatass and a representative of the people, but then said he could do more as a fatass than anyone else can. The tag team match is next... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Ho hum opening segment. By the way, when Cody's music plays, is anyone else thinking, "Livin' On A Prayer"? Cody needed a new persona so badly and he has it now. This show has done more for him than anyone.

A Lucky Cannon video aired. Mark Henry is impressed thus far. Kofi likes him. LayCool said he has a good look. Zack Ryder said he was plain and The Miz said he was forgettable. Cody said he is not counting him out...

[Q2] 1. Cody Rhodes and Husky Harris defeated MVP and Percy Watson in 10:55. The obstacle course is around the ring. I know Kaval is not wrestling, but the Warrior's Way on the balance beam would be awesome. Up top. Watson and MVP worked over Husky.

Husky powered his way back into his corner and tagged in Cody. Husky came back in and took a nice dropkick from Percy. Oh yeah! By the way, my emails are taking forever to go out. Not sure what the holdup is, but they need to hurry their asses up... [C]

Did anyone else get the "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" trailer. No matter what, Michael Cera is always playing the same character. Pilgrim is a sweet surname though. My name is Pilgrim so what of it? ...

Cody was laying the boots to Percy coming back from the break. Cody was voted as the most handsome superstar in WWE by the divas. Are the divas blind? Anyway, Rhodes and Husky both scored nearfalls and Percy, who took the prolonged beatdown.

MVP tagged in and took out everyone. He hit the Ballin' elbow on Cody followed by a big boot to Husky. Rhodes knocked out MVP with a kick. Husky tagged in and hit a backsplash for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: Decent action and again, a longer match allowing the Rookies time to sell and work a WWE style match. Nothing wrong with that. Awkward moment at the end with MVP being pinned and Percy Watson slowing coming in to break up the fall, but it was like he wasn't supposed to.

Michael McGillicutty was up next in a video package. The Miz, John Morrison, and Cody Rhodes were not big fans. Miz said, "Daddy was good, you are mediocre." Ouch. Everyone else was pretty impressed with him, including LayCool...

A WWEShop.com, or the "You'll never wear these shirts in public" commercial aired...

Alex Riley vs. Lucky Cannon was hyped... [C]

[Q3] Did you know? John Cena designed his own coffee cup and all proceeds go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I never realized "coffee cup designer" was a job. Very nice sentiment though...

Footage was shown of Wade Barrett beating Mark Henry last night...

The Miz, Alex Riley, Lucky Cannon, and Matt Striker stood in the ring. Lucky cut his promo as to why he should win. He said he was not going to say he was the best or he deserved it more. He just said he was having fun and thanked the crowd...

Twill's Two Cents: Well, that was confident. Geez. "I'm not very good but dammit, I'm enjoying myself." Not exactly a self-ringing endorsement.

Alex Riley said he did not like the fans and the fans did not like him. That reminds me of The Simpsons when Moe Sizlack told Lisa Simpson, "I don't like you and you don't like me." Lisa replied, "I like you." Moe said, "Okay, you like me and I don't like you." Nice.

The Miz said the fans should vote for Alex Riley because the future WWE Champion told them to...

2. Alex Riley (with The Miz) defeated Lucky Cannon in 1:14. Well, I guess Lucky was right; he isn't that good. Thanks for coming...

Afterward, Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale on Lucky onto the briefcase. Miz and Riley walked triumphantly back up the ramp... [C]

[Q4] For those of you that watch NXT and not Raw (all three of you), the Raw Rebound focused on John Cena forming a dream team to face The Nexus at SummerSlam...

Michael Cole and Josh Mathews looked like tag team partners at the announce table with pink and grey/black in their shirts and suits. I guess they called each other this morning to coordinate...

On the stage, John Morrison put over Eli Cottonwood as the big guy a little kid asks about at the airport. Well yes, he's like eight feet tall. Eli forced Matt Striker to say he would vote for him...

LayCool put over Kaval. Kaval put himself over and said he would like to face Evan Bourne, Randy Orton, or Rey Mysterio. The crowd didn't respond. What in the hell would they want to see? Khali vs. Cottonwood? ...

The obstacle course will close out the show. Again, no sodas... [C]

Striker introduced the obstacle course challenge. The winner gets immunity next week from elimination...

Kofi said McGillicutty is not the biggest or strongest, but he is the hungriest (missed catering earlier I guess). Kofi deemed his fans the "McGillibuddies." That is horrible. Worse than Test's "Testicles."

McGillicutty set the pace with just under 27 seconds. You can cheat on this course by speeding up the pushups and jumping over the entire balance beam. Jumping. Percy Watson should be good at that. Riley fell off the beam and did not beat the original time.

If you tuned in to see a big guy fall down a lot, Cottonwood satisfied you with his "performance." He was disqualified. Lucky came close but missed out by about a second.

[Overrun] Kaval was impressive, but he missed out by about two seconds. Percy was next and ten seconds in, it was obvious he was taking too long. The fans laughed at Husky running the course. Instead of jumping over the third wall, he ran it over instead.

Cole said, "He ran through it! I wish he would run through you! (To Mathews) Um, good one Cole. Striker reminded us the voting opens tomorrow morning. Somebody is going home next week, but McGillicutty will not be that guy...

Twill's Two Cents: At least it was faster than the last debacle that was the obstacle course challenge. Cottonwood should be the guy that goes home, but I'm worried it will be Husky. Forgettable show this week, but the elimination weeks are always more intriguing.

Thank you for following along with me tonight and I'll see you back here next Tuesday.

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