By Jason Powell

WWE NXT on WWE.com
Taped earlier tonight in Tulsa, Okla.

The show opened with a lengthy recap that focussed on all of the NXT related storylines... The opening montage aired to the tune of the horrible "Wild and Young" theme song...

Powell's POV: They covered all sorts of things in the video package except for the one thing that really interested me about last week's show - Johnny Curtis upsetting Ted DiBiase. Strange.

Todd Grisham and Josh Mathews checked in from ringside and turned it over to Matt Striker, who stood in the ring and introduced the rookies and pros. The rookies headed to the ring, while the pros took their seats on the stage.

It was contest time. Striker stressed that one of the rookies would be eliminated tonight. He said the only way to avoid elimination was to win immunity. Striker pointed out that Derrick Bateman leads everyone 4-0. Striker said tonight's contest is worth four points. The contest is "How well do you know your pro?"

Campy ass game show music played while the rookies and pros essentially played The Newlywed Game. The first question was what the pros first thought when they saw their rookies. Bateman's answer was to name drop Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bryan actually wrote down the same thing. They were the only rookie/pro combo to get the first question right.

Powell's POV: O'Brian's entire gimmick was that he looked like a rat. His pro Alberto Del Rio remembered that, but O'Brian did not. Duh!

Next up was what the pros think would be the rookie's future outside of sports entertainment. Bateman answered the next Steve Blackman. Bryan had the same thing written down. This is about as rigged as the NBA draft lottery. Brodus and DiBiase also meshed with a "bodyguard" answer.

Up next was what the biggest area of improvement for the rookies. Bateman answered "chicks and America." Shockingly, Bryan had the same thing written down. Oh, they're so damn whacky!!! Ugh. Bateman cheated, yet was given the win... The announcers spoke at ringside and hyped the elimination... [C]

Powell's POV: If I have to die anytime soon, I can only hope it's minutes before an NXT show so that I can be spared of this crap. Then again, I have a horrible feeling that NXT plays in a loop on every channel in hell. If that thought isn't enough to make you repent, nothing is.

1. Chris Masters beat Byron Saxton (w/Dolph Ziggler) in 4:50. Masters was a pro for Saxton at one point. They showed a pre-tape of Saxton claiming Masters taught him everything he knows in the two weeks they were together. Masters took offense and said he had something special for his former protege.

Masters jumped out to the early advantage. He tossed Saxton to ringside. Masters tried to follow and was distracted by Ziggler, which allowed Saxton to catch him with a shot. In the end, Masters

Powell's POV: A good match by NXT standards. Masters got the crowd involved with some of his offense, and the fans genuinely seem annoyed by Saxton. I can't tell whether it's good heat or the "go away" style at times, but he has some good heel qualities.

Backstage, Brodus Clay entered Ted DiBiase all fired up. DiBiase got in his face and told him he has to work on listening. After Clay left the room, DiBiase and Maryse bickered... [C]

2. Derrick Bateman and Daniel Bryan beat Ted DiBiase and Brodus Clay (w/Maryse) in 4:35. Grisham noted that Maryse was too busy texting to care what DiBiase was doing. Mathews said he would bet a billion dollars that DiBiase would not win the Royal Rumble match.

Dolph Ziggler started taunting Bryan over a mic that the live crowd could hear, but didn't come through on the feed well. One of the announcers noted that he told Bryan to tap out when Brodus had him in a hold. DiBiase ordered Brodus to tag him into the match. Brodus wasn't happy, but he complied.

Bateman tagged in and hit a flurry of offense on DiBiase, who came back with a boot to the head. Ted walked to the corner and jawed at Clay for no apparent reason. Clay dropped off the apron. Bateman rolled up DiBiase and got the 1-2-3. Maryse was laughing. The announcers again questioned why DiBiase would think he had any chance of winning the Rumble match...

Powell's POV: If you only watched tonight's NXT, you'd probably question whether DiBiase was going to win the Rumble match given how strongly the announcers are stating he won't win it. Last week's upset of Curtis pinning DiBiase was nicely done. However, it was obviously all about DiBiase losing and not about the rookie given tonight's developments. Too bad. I was actually looking forward to seeing a program between Curtis and DiBiase on NXT.

The announcers pimped the elimination for later in the show...

Backstage, O'Brian followed a trail of cheese. Remember, he said earlier in the season that he looks like a rat. The trail led to Ricardo Rodriguez, who sprayed him in the eyes with what was apparently supposed to be rodent killer. O'Brian tossed Rodriguez around. Alberto Del Rio showed up and scolded them...

A video recapped Raw for that one person who doesn't watch Raw, yet can't live without his NXT...

Backstage, Johnny Curtis was nervous about it being elimination night. R-Truth entered the room and told him to loosen up. Curtis danced like Truth would. Truth told him it didn't look good... [C]

Powell's POV: If the goal of the show to make every rookie and pro look ridiculous, then mission accomplished.

3. Ricardo Rodriguez defeated Conor O'Brian in 1:50. Rodriguez came out wearing a white bathrobe and some comically bad ring gear. He tripped over the bottom rope. He got up and told the fans to shut up, which was totally unnecessary because they weren't making any noise.

R-Rod's outfit consisted of what can best be described as granny panty trunks because they looked so big. Del Rio was shown watching the match intently on a backstage monitor. O'Brian removed a turnbuckle pad and threw Rodriguez into the corner. He eventually charged at him, missed, and slammed his own head onto the exposed turnbuckle. R-Rod got the pin...

The pros gathered to discuss the elimination... [C]

Powell's POV: I'm not sure which announcer was laughing obnoxiously, but he really needs to work on his phony laugh. Ricardo was comical, but the live crowd just doesn't give a damn. I think I would have enjoyed Ricardo's comedy performance more if it hadn't aired on a show that features so much campy comedy.

The announcers actually hyped the various ways to catch past episodes of WWE NXT...

It's elimination time. Striker had the rookies gathered on the floor. Striker reminded everyone that Derrick Bateman is immune from elimination. Bateman said Saxton should be eliminated.

Conor O'Brian was eliminated. He started to cut an exit promo when Ricardo walked onto the stage and mocked him. O'Brian chased him backstage. Striker said there were four rookies left and one of them would join their pro in challenging for the WWE Tag Titles.

O'Brian came back and was given a chance to deliver an address. He said all of the people such, and the rat has left the building. He rolled under the ring, presumably to have his way with Hornswoggle...

Powell's POV: Another dreadful hour of NXT. WWE should be ashamed that they produce something this awful. As for O'Brian, did anyone really think a guy whose gimmick is that he looks like a rat was going to take WWE by storm? I'm still baffled that there was no followup to DiBiase losing to Curtis last week. I guess that was deemed too intriguing for NXT. I'll be back with the NXT Misslist on Wednesday.

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