By Chris Shore

WWE NXT on WWE.com
Taped earlier in Phoenix, AZ.

A video hyped the elimination for later. The opening video aired and Todd Grisham and William Regal checked in on commentary. Regal predicted Conor O'Brian would go home…Darren Young made his ring entrance and said he was alone because Chavo Guerrero quit on him. He said Chavo quit because he was jealous because Young had done more in his short career than Chavo in his 15 years.

O'Brian made his ring entrance while cutting a promo, but it looked like he forgot the words for a moment. And then he said a bunch of words that didn't make sense, so maybe he should have stayed silent…

1. Darren Young defeated Conor O'Brian at 8:42. They locked up for a long time and then spilled to the floor. O'Brian hit a clothesline when they got back in the ring to take control. You could hear a bug fart in the arena as the Arizona crowd no sold every move. Young hit a swinging neck breaker on the apron and both men recovered…[C]

Back from commercial, Young worked in control. Young hit all strikes and rest holds as the crowd chanted "You suck." O'Brian called for the fans to cheer for him. Like 12 people did. Fifteen tops. Young even did Three Amigos and pounded on his chest to almost no reaction. He hit the frog splash for the win…

The announce team hyped Yoshi Tatsu vs. Tyson Kidd. Backstage, Yoshi was sitting at his shrine with his action figure. Kidd walked up and grabbed the doll. He mocked Yoshi and then ripped the legs off. Yoshi tackled him and beat the hell out of him until security pulled him away…[C]

Shore’s Slant: I can't believe I cover this. There were virtually no moves outside of strikes and tackles. The crowd was beyond dead. Nobody cares about these guys at all. The Yoshi thing was good, if weird, but they're pros. NXT is supposed to be about getting the rookies over I thought.

Yoshi made his entrance and Kidd followed. Regal pointed out the little tuft of hair on Kidd's head was gone and said it was because Bret Hart grabbed it in a training session…

2. Yoshi Tatsu defeated Tyson Kidd at 9:20. Tatsu went right at Kidd and wailed on him. Kidd drove Yoshi into the corner and took control. He knocked Yoshi to the floor and hit a dropkick into the stairs…[C]

Back from commercial, Kidd worked several submission moves. Tatsu finally fought back and the crowd came alive for his moment of hope. He went to the top and Kid ran up. Yoshi shoved him down, but Kid hit a drop kick on the legs to rack Yoshi. Kidd hit a hurricanranna for a hot near fall. Kidd hooked for a fisherman lift, but Yoshi slid out and hit the roundhouse kick for the win…

The announce team hyped JTG vs. Titus O'Neil for next. Backstage JTG was talking to himself in the mirror. Hornswoggle snuck up in a trash can and tried to steal JTG's necklaces. JTG stopped him and acted like he might attack him. Titus ran up and stopped JTG. He said Horny liked gold because he was a leprechaun. JTG said it was platinum. Horny (through Titus) said it was white gold. JTG stormed off…[C]

Shore’s Slant: This crowd is killing me. It's hard enough to watch this shit week in and week out. Damn you Arizona you could at least fake it for one week. Kidd/Tatsu wasn't as good as it could have been. The Hornswoggle stuff makes me want to kill myself.

Maryse joined the announce team before ring introductions. Horny and Titus were out first. A video showed the exchange between Horny and Maryse last week. JTG was out next…

3. Titus O'Neill (w/Hornswoggle) defeated JTG at 3:23. The match was actually about Maryse and Horny. He gave her the "Check yes or no" letter and she played on it. JTG backed into Horny at one point and Maryse told Horny to get him. Horny went to the apron and posed and Maryse laughed. Titus hit his finisher for the victory. Maryse held up the letter and ripped it up. Horny left the ring dejected and shoving Titus away as he tried to cheer Horny up…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Normally I would bitch about this, but JTG is so bad I don't care they took attention off the match. Maryse is as unbelievable as a person could be in her role. She laughs at odd times and I'm just not buying her character.

The Raw Rebound aired, and it recapped C.M. Punk's promo. Shocker! Grisham addressed the camera and said Punk had been suspended and that rumors were swirling that Vince would be at Raw next week…

Maryse explained the current redemption point totals and Matt Striker called for the elimination. Conor O'Brian was eliminated. O'Brian cut his out the door promo, looked right at the camera and said, "Hunter, if you are listening, I was never good at [bard games]. All I'm asking for is a chance to play the game."

He left and Striker hyped the season coming to a close. He said they would not be going to the finals alone, and introduced new rookie…Derrick Bateman with pro Daniel Bryan. Young did not look pleased…

Shore’s Slant: The right guy went home, but wow with the Hunter promo. That kind of caught me off guard. And I'm not surprised Bateman is back. He got hurt in season 4 and this makes sense. It will be interesting to see what happens now…no it won't. I still won't care. Thanks for reading along tonight.

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

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