By Ryan Kester

WWE NXT on WWE.com
Taped earlier in Lexington, Ky.

Ryan's Rant: Chris is sick tonight, so the boss is making me pay for correcting him last night. That's right, loves, you all get the joy of a special Kester edition of NXT live coverage. All kidding aside, I hope you get to feeling better, Chris. I really, really hope you get to feeling better.

A brief video package played showing Titus O'Neill's recent run of success, and his problems with Derrick Bateman. Todd Grisham welcomed us to the show and sent it to Matt Striker, who introduced O'Neill. Striker asked Titus how he felt about the alliance between Derrick Bateman and Darren Young., and Titus said he found their little alliance to be cute.

Titus claimed that they needed to team up to take him out. He said he was only worrying about himself. He started to do his seal bark thing when Bateman and Young came out to the ring.

Young too the mic and told Titus he was only winning the competition because he pandered to the crowd. Young said he was going to win the season on his own, no pro, no fans. Bateman took the mic and told Titus he reached the top of his "suck ceiling."

Titus challenged the two heels to a tag match and the crowd cheered. Young told Striker that they would only face Titus if they were able to pick his partner. Bateman said their choice was simple. They would destroy Titus and Matt Striker.

Young said Striker had been targeting him since season one of NXT, and tonight they were taking Titus and Striker to school. Titus said he and Striker would make it a win and then did his seal bark thing.

Ryan's Rant: Wow, Titus, you haven't grown a bit as a character. That whole segment really fell flat for this viewer, and now I have JTG vs. Kozlov to look forward to. Oh, goodie.

1. Vladimir Kozlov defeated JTG in 7:36. Vladimir came out in JTG-like attire and coped his entire entrance. The pair did a mirror routine to start and JTG jumped on Kozlov.

It didn't take Kozlov long to battle back, however, and he quickly took control with a series of stiff punches…[C]

Back from the break, JTG floored Kozlov with a dropkick and got a two-count. JTG locked in a rest hold on the bigger man. JTG hit an arm-snare neckbreaker for another near fall.

Kozlov again battled back with a flurry of punches but ran right into a boot from JTG, quickly followed by a Mug Shot that earned yet another near fall. Kozlov hit a powerslam out of nowhere and hit the Iron Curtain for the win. Kozlov celebrated to JTG's music. Kozlov "planked" on JTG and took a picture with JTG's phone… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Regal is absolutely brilliant, as he made JTG's botches sound like solid strategy. That was the best JTG match I have ever seen, but that isn't really saying a hell of a lot. Kozlov managed to get some chuckles out of me.

The Raw Rebound played, focusing on the controversy surrounding the WWE Championship… [C]

Tyson Kidd came out to the stage with a stick. He introduced some video footage of him attacking Yoshi Tatsu's leg last week. Tyson demanded the WWE Universe stand on their feed and applaud because he rid the WWE of Tatsu.

Tyson talked about hart Dungeon graduates and how he was a part of their line. He said there was no place for Tatsu's in WWE, there was only place for those like Tyson Kidd… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Short and effective promo. Tyson needs to do this every time he's on the mic. Also, holy commercial break, batman.

The Dynamic Duo, Derrick Bateman and Darren Young, made their way to the ring. Hornswoggle is on commentary. Jason, I will never forgive you for this.

2. Matt Striker and Titus O'Neill defeated Derrick Bateman and Darren Young in 11:16. Titus and Bateman started the match. Titus took the early advantage. Titus worked Bateman over with a series of sloppy shoulder blocks.

Striker tagged in and worked some chain wrestling with Bateman. Titus tagged back in and he floored Bateman. Titus hit a huge suplex and continued to work over Bateman.

Bateman got dumped to the floor as the show went to break... [C]

Back from the break, Young and Striker were in the ring with Young getting the better of the exchange. Young hit a mic check onto the second turnbuckle before hitting a back suplex. Bateman tagged in shortly thereafter, and the heels continued to work over Striker.

Eventually, Bateman went for a flying double knee in the corner and miss, allowing Striker to get the hot tag to Titus. Titus tore Young apart and did his seal bark. Young swept O'Neill's legs and tried to use the ropes in leverage for the pin, but Striker knocked his feet off of the ropes. Titus took advantage of the ensuing distraction and hit a sitout spinebuster for the win.

Titus and Striker celebrated to close the show.

Ryan's Rant: A.J. had a great line towards the end about how every time Titus barks, he gets 10% stronger. There were lots of sloppy spots in that match, but I was pleasantly surprised by the showing from Matt Striker. He's treated as a joke by everyone, but he can work some good old-fashioned chain wrestling. Overall, this was an unimpressive show with far too many breaks to ever get enthralled with what was going on. Then again, this is NXT, so that was almost a glowing review. I'll have more to say tomorrow in the NXT hitlist. See you then.

Thanks for following along with me tonight. Any questions are comments can be directed to my email at ryan.kester@gmail.com or you can find me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester. Have a great week.

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