By Ryan Kester

NXT on WWE.com
Taped earlier in Richmond, Virginia.

Derrick Bateman came out and cut a quick promo about how much he loved Maxine and he vowed to get her back. Matt Striker stood up from commentary when Johnny Curtis came out, and he told the two that they had to get along tonight. Johnny Curtis set up a still shot of him making out with Maxine. Bateman was not pleased.

1. The Uso Brothers defeated Derrick Bateman and Johnny Curtis in 3:33. The Uso Brothers attacked early and had control of Bateman until Curtis blind-tagged into the match. Curtis managed to get the better of Jey Uso and when he went to tag Bateman back into the match, Bateman jumped off of the apron.

Curtis turned right into a spinning back kick from Jey and the Usos worked their tag offense on Curtis, complete with a Superfly Splash from Jimmy Uso for the win.

Backstage, Trent Barreta said hello to Yoshi Tatsu and asked him to watch his back tonight. Moments later, Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins jumped Tatsu and locked him in a closet… [C]

Ryan's Rant: The Usos looked impressive, but the match obviously wasn't about them. The Curtis/Bateman story is getting to the point that it feels like it is dragging.

2. Trent Barreta defeated Curt Hawkins (w/Tyler Reks) in 4:44. Hawkins dominated in the early going and Barreta bumped around for his offense.

Barreta managed to fight back and hit the Gobstopper for a near fall. Barreta then hit a Warrior's Way variant and set up for Whisper in the Wind. Reks distracted him, however, and Hawkins hit a swinging facebuster for the win… [C]

Ryan's Rant: The announcers did their bets to undercut the heels during the entire match and Striker even went so far as to point out how Reks' voice doesn't sound tough. These guys have enough holding them back by being the heroes of NXT; the last thing they need is to have an announcer talking about how much they suck.

3. Kaitlyn defeated Maxine in 2:57. Kaitlyn dominated the start of the match but Maxine pulled her into the turnbuckle and tried to pop her eardrums with a scream.

Maxine locked in a rest hold that Kaitlyn fought out of, only to end up in a guillotine choke from Maxine. Bateman came out and distracted Maxine and Kaitlyn rolled her up for the easy victory.

After the match, Maxine was livid and Bateman started to sing. Curtis clotheslined him from behind, much to the enjoyment of the crowd… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Ugh, my ears. First Maxine's best Melina impression and then Bateman's terrible singing. I will never forgive Melina for setting the screaming example for the women after her. As for the match, it was ok. Kaitlyn still plods around the ring but her offense at least looks a bit less clunky. My main complaint is that the match was almost entirely holds where no one was moving and then we had a Bateman song break. Just not very good.

4. Tyson Kidd beat Percy Watson in 3:11. Watson tore into Kidd in the early going. Kidd managed to gain control after a few well-placed kicks. Kidd locked in a rest hold.

Watson fought out and immediately went right back to his offense. Watson set up for a superplex but Kidd blocked the attempt and switched into a hotshot. Kidd followed with a springboard elbow for the pinfall.

Ryan's Rant: There was nothing egregious about that match, but it simply never got out of first gear.

The announcers sent us to the video covering Tribute to the troops.

For some reason, matt Striker left the announce desk and was backstage with Curtis, Maxine, and Bateman. Striker set up a match between Bateman and Curtis next week… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Striker is just obnoxious in his "show host" role. I can't put my finger on why, but it almost feels like the actual person playing the character thinks the role is a real position.

Darren Young joined the announcers on commentary.

5. Titus O'Neil defeated JTG (w/Tamina) in 3:48. O'Neil absolutely tore JTG apart while the attention of the camera was focused on Darren Young.

JTG caught O'Neill on the outside, but O'Neill never really lost control. He continued to work his offense on JTG and eventually finished him off with Clash of the Titus.

Young entered the ring and JTG held O'Neill's feet as Young stomped him repeatedly. Young hit a gutbuster on O'Neill and called him an NXT failure.

Ryan's Rant: The match was all about the feud between Young and O'Neill, so there was nothing really accomplished forma wrestling standpoint. Really, that was the story of the show as all five of these matches were too short to amount to anything worthwhile.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester.

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