By Ryan Kester

NXT on WWE.com
Taped earlier in Fresno, California.

The announcers recapped the end of last week's NXT as Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks made their way to the ring. Each man took a seat on a turnbuckle. They talked about how last week was supposed to be their moment, and then Matt Striker came down to the ring and tried to ruin it. Hawkins said that they are two of the biggest underutilized superstars in the company.

They derided Striker's various roles in WWE and said him hosting the show is ridiculous. Hawkins said the roster is full of talented superstars and the show needed someone that was bold and ready to take charge. He said the show needed change and he opened up his jacket to reveal an Obama-esque campaign shirt with his face on it.

Striker's voice rang through the arena and he made his way onto the stage. Striker referred to Hawkins and Reks as ridiculous and he said he's given every superstars on the roster an opportunity to make something of themselves. Striker said that Hawkins looks stupid and doesn’t hit very hard. Way to get him, tiger.

Striker said he's brought in a substitute. Hawkins and Reks mocked Striker and ran through the various figures that could be running the show. Regal stood up on commentary and said that tonight he was in charge of NXT. Regal put Curt Hawkins in a match with Tyson Kidd and he banned Reks from ringside…

Ryan's Rant: Decent enough opening segment. The Obama shirt gag kind of fell flat, but I enjoyed the chemistry Reks and Hawkins displayed on the mic. Striker came off as a robot but that was quickly covered up by some excellent work from Regal.

1. Tyson Kidd defeated Curt Hawkins in 7:43. Hawkins kept the Obama shirt on and the match quickly spilled to the floor. Kidd hit a huracarana off of the apron. He went back to the apron, but Hawkins caught his foot and tripped him as the show went to break… [C]

Back from the break, Hawkins continued to control Kidd through a series of rets holds and counters. Kidd made a comeback, sent Hawkins to the floor, and he hit a running kick right to Hawkins' mug. Back in the ring, Kidd went for a fishermen's suplex but Hawkins countered into an Impaler DDT for a near fall.

Hawkins followed with a leg hook belly-to-back suplex, but Kidd got a leg on the bottom rope. Hawkins placed Kidd on the top turnbuckle and attempted a superplex, but Kidd managed to reverse it and hit a release suplex. Kidd followed with a victory roll that he transitioned into the Sharpshooter. Hawkins immediately tapped… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Good match between these two with a lot of fun reversal spots. It will be interesting to see what Hawkins and Reks could do with the hyped pairing of Tyson Kidd and Trent Barreta.

2. Titus O'Neill defeated Yoshi Tatsu in 3:25. Tatsu managed to avoid O'Neill early, but it wasn't long before O'Neill caught Tatsu and started working over his lower back.

Tatsu made a comeback and hit a combination of chops and kicks to wear the big man down. Tatsu hit a running chest kick for a near fall. Titus recovered quickly, and he hit Clash of the Titus to score the clan pin.

After the match, O'Neill asked for some actual competition. "I want Alex Riley," he exclaimed. Riley quickly came out, but he was wearing a suit. Riley said if he wants to fight, then drop the mic and fight. Titus did drop, but he dropped out of the ring and said he has a Valentine's date…

Backstage, Alicia Fox and Kaitlyn were talking; Kaitlyn said she wants Bateman to break up with Maxine. Johnny Curtis showed up and put an arm around each lady and asked if they wanted to see the new disco ball he put in his van. They both declined the offer and left his company.

A delivery man walked up with a box of candies and a bouquet of flowers. He asked of Curtis was Derrick Bateman, and Curtis said he was. He signed for the items and noticed they were addressed to Maxine. "Like stealing candy from a Bateman," Curtis said… [C]

Ryan's Rant: The Dirty Curty character is growing on me. He certainly takes creepiness to a new level. The O'Neill match was too short to really accomplish anything, and his exclamation that Alex Riley is competition elicited quite a chuckle from me, and that really isn't what should be happening in an otherwise serious promo.

3. Percy Watson defeated Michael McGillicutty in 4:02. The two worked a brief bit of chain wrestling before McGillicutty took control. McGillicutty kept Watson grounded with various rest holds.

Watson regained control when McGillicutty went for a back body drop and Watson countered with a float-over DDT. Watson hit a series of dropkicks and set up for the Showtime Splash. McGillicutty kicked Watson's leg, however, and he threw him into the corner.

McGillicutty charged, but Watson got out of his way. McGillicutty bounced off of the corner and Watson followed with Percycution for the victory…

Backstage, Maxine found the box of chocolates form earlier. The note that was left, however, was addressed to Kaitlyn, and was written as an apology for Maxine's actions last week and signed by Derrick Bateman. Maxine was not pleased… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Watson looked very good in his match, he's really stepping up his game lately.

The Raw Rebound focused on Cena's refusal to embrace the hate…

Kaitlyn joined Regal and Matthews on commentary for the following match.

4. Derrick Bateman and Justin Gabriel defeated Heath Slater and Johnny Curtis in 5:23. The match immediately spilled to the floor and the show went to break… [C]

Back from the break, Slater was in control of Gabriel. Slater targeted Gabriel's legs. Slater and Curtis worked quick tags to wear Gabriel down.

Gabriel eventually managed to get a hot tag to Bateman, who quickly took out both heels. Bateman hit inverted DDT on Slater to get the win for his team.

After the match, Maxine came out and attacked Kaitlyn with the box of chocolates. Bateman came to Kaitlyn's aid, and he ended up having to carry Maxine away from Kaitlyn. Curtis was shown lurking by the ring steps with a very pleased expression.

Ryan's Rant: That was decent tag match that was overshadowed by what was happening on commentary. I'm all for building up a story, but not when it makes what's going in the ring a secondary affair. Overall, this was a decent edition of NXT, but it was by no means as good as what we got last week. The pacing just wasn't there and the show struggled to maintain my attention.

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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