WWE NXT gets Punk’d
If you are among the many who skipped WWE NXT Tuesday night, you missed a highly entertaining hour of television.
No, the show wasn’t that good. It was that bad. Actually, it was so bad that it was good, as WWE has decided to turn the lame duck show into an intentional weekly train wreck.
The commentary was hilarious. Not only did we get the witty CM Punk joining Josh Matthews at the announce table, but Michael Cole made his return halfway through the broadcast after saying that he was quitting at the end of last week’s episode.
I actually believed that Cole was done with NXT, and I was expecting someone such as Byron Saxton to take his place. I marked out when Punk’s music hit at the beginning of the show and the Straight Edge superstar made his way down the entrance ramp clad in his wrestling gear and a hideous brown corduroy jacket. I was laughing already, and Punk hadn’t even said one sarcastic word yet.
At the end of the show, Punk said that he will be back next week. I can’t wait.
Other thoughts on Tuesday’s show:
NXT got off to an inauspicious start, as Lay-Cool came out during the opening segment and the crowd responded with a heavy dose of go-away heat. I have no problem with Layla, but I really don’t need to see Michelle McCool on a pay-per-view, Raw, NXT and Smackdown all in the same week. Kelly Kelly got what was probably the biggest pop of her career for interrupting the Lay-Cool promo, which was dying a slow, painful death. …
In the train wreck to end all train wrecks, we had another installment of the “talk the talk challenge.” Jamie and Naomi were both disqualified because they refused to stay on topic (Jamie’s was “teeth,” and Naomi’s was “toupee"). “I give the little boy robot an F,” Punk said about the muscular Jamie. After Naomi couldn’t think of one thing to say about toupees, she said, “Aren’t we here to wrestle? I’m here to show you all how good I am, and I don’t think doing this is going to prove that.” The crowd popped for that one. Then we had Aksana, who was given the word “llama.” She had no clue what a llama was, so after she stalled for a bit, Matt Striker took pity on her and gave her “camel” instead. “What is camel?” she asked. You can’t make this stuff up. Her 60 seconds seemed more like 60 minutes before the buzzer mercifully sounded. “I thought she had it,” Punk said. A.J., who cut a promo about caffeine, ended up winning. She wasn’t very good, but she was like The Rock compared to the rest of them. …
The other challenge was a game of musical chairs. It came down to A.J. and Naomi. A.J. prevailed in a photo finish, as she sat down on the last chair a split-second before Naomi. “The controversy is through the roof on NXT Season 3,” Punk said. …
The finish to A.J.’s win over Maxine was odd, as Maxine hit a suplex, but A.J. didn’t sell it and then rolled on top of Maxine and pinned her. …
During that match, Punk said that “A.J. can be lethal.” Wink, wink. …
Naomi looked decent in the ring during the six-woman tag team match in which she, Kelly Kelly and Jamie defeat Lay-Cool and Kaitlyn. Lay-Cool attacked Kaitlyn after the match and McCool appeared to legitimately kick her hard in the face. …
Aksana confided in Goldust during a backstage segment that she was having immigration problems. He said they would fix it. Do I hear wedding bells?
Comments
i feel so sorry for the rookies.
i hope they dont take anything personally.
they are all treated like idiots.
Posted by: Mike L | September 23, 2010 7:36 AM
Is it sad that after this week NXT is my new favorite comedy on TV?
Kev: Can you explain the AJ can be lethal line for me?
RESPONSE FROM KE: A.J. either is or was dating TNA star Jay Lethal.
Posted by: HiMyNameIsMike | September 23, 2010 8:15 AM
don't forget cm punk's comment about watching NXT without pants is very funny!!!!
RESPONSE FROM KE: Yes!
Posted by: wilmer | September 23, 2010 8:56 AM
Yes, that was a tran wreck. Yes Punk's blazer was hideous. I found it very unusual that the person who delivered the brain buster was the person who was pinned...lol...smh I had ro rewind my dvr to make sure that I saw what I saw. Yes, I love watching Naomi and I think she has great athleticism and she is my pick to win, but I'll be glad when NXT Season 3 is OVER!!
RESPONSE FROM KE: I did the same thing -- rewind to make sure I saw it correctly.
Posted by: Michael | September 23, 2010 9:18 AM
I think Cole came back to NXT just to take notes from Punk on how to be a heel announcer and not suck.
Posted by: James C | September 23, 2010 9:25 AM
What a joke.
Thank god for ROH. PLEASE START COVERING ROH, KEV!!
Posted by: Pure_Gristle | September 23, 2010 10:08 AM
I'm probably giving her too much credit, but I actually thought Aksana knew exactly what a Llama was, but was just trying to get creative and play off of some commentary with Striker. The crowd was kinda getting into it at first. Had Striker played along a little bit and actually tried to mimic a Llama I think it would have been hilarious and would have gotten a huge pop.
It just shows how little "reality" this show has and how scripted it really is. I don't know if anyone mentioned this about last week's show, but the clock for the obstacle course was SO rigged to make Kaitlyn win. One of the other rookies easily beat her time, but the clock kept rolling until her time was just over Kaitlyn's.
Posted by: The Hurricane | September 23, 2010 10:27 AM
I stopped watching NXT after the first week of Season 3. I'm not sure why WWE chose to focus on Divas; since they don't take women's wrestling (er, sports entertainment) seriously, there was never any chance that they'd take a women's NXT seriously. It's been far more of a joke than Seasons 1 and 2, and that's saying something.
I realize the WWE needed a short series to fill Tuesdays at 10 for a few weeks... but Season 3 can't possibly be helping them find a new home for NXT. If I ran a cable net and they showed up with that weak sh*t, I'd laugh them out of my office.
Posted by: jvwalt | September 23, 2010 10:38 AM
All of NXT Season 3 belongs on Wrestlecrap. Without Punk and Cole (he needs to become a full time heel) the show would be unwatchable. Serioulsy the ratings would be near 0 if those two weren't on. I don't know how anyone could watch this show and take it seriously, it's a complete a joke.
Posted by: Kevin | September 23, 2010 1:35 PM
I came away from the episode with many questions over what the heck was going on. 3 out of the 6 couldn't deliver 60 seconds about a word? Jamie couldn't have come up with, "I am going to sink my teeth into the competition, do whatever it takes if I have to scratch, fight, and bite my way to the top?" I mean something.
The poor Lithuanian cut a promo about being smart, then didn't know what a camel or llama was? I mean, I don't think that makes her stupid, just not having a great understanding of English...which would be kind of useful.
Naomi though she didn't stay on topic, and acted like she didn't know what a toupee was for about half of her time should have said what she said a bit sooner. I liked her answer even though it didn't count.
My main two questions:
Was CM Punk making fun of J.R. when he said, "That was the [d-word]-est spear I've ever seen!" with a noticeable lisp and accent?
Did you catch the comment made by I believe Josh when Maxine grabbed Aksana's hair, "Get that [s-word] out of here!"
I don't know if he was talking about what happened in the ring, or maybe something Punk was doing to him, or maybe a fan had done to him?
One thing for sure, this collection of Divas is not making Diva wrestling break any of the stereotypes. A bunch of gals that might look good, can't wrestle at all, and are relatively dim witted. It is a shame. There is no next break out star out of this group. Naomi is athletic in the ring, that doesn't make her a good wrestler.
Posted by: The Mythical One | September 23, 2010 2:02 PM
Kevin, I see the Jenna Haze advertisement with your blog saying "2 BIG SHOWS".
Isn't 1 Big Show enough?
Posted by: Ruzious | September 23, 2010 2:27 PM
Considering how AJ no-selled that suplex/brainbuster, maybe her pro should have been the Undertaker, the king of no-selling?
Posted by: loco | September 23, 2010 3:01 PM
Did you really refer to CM Punk as the "Straight Edge superstar?" What are you, writing for WWE.com now? You suck.
RESPONSE FROM KE: What's wrong with calling him the Straight Edge superstar?
Posted by: Cliff | September 23, 2010 5:28 PM
Wedding bells between Golddust and Aksana could be an interesting storyline, considering how well the real life green card marriage between Tiffany and Drew McIntyre worked out.
Posted by: Mike | September 24, 2010 1:24 AM
I think that Cliff finds the term "superstar" offensive.
Posted by: John Wilding | September 24, 2010 2:17 PM
AJ coming to the ring with 1 arm pinned to her side reminds me of Jeffrey Leonard, an ex-MLB player. he used to round the bases with 1-flap down, and was called HacMan (after PacMan) for it. I think name would be great for AJ as well, because she has "hacked" up 2 finishes already. Do they deliberatly have Josh propping her up so much or do you think he is just doing it?
If Naomi doesn't win this "competition"...wow.
Finally, I'd hate to ask, but have you heard if there are plans yet for a NXT 4?
Posted by: Dan | September 24, 2010 6:13 PM
Aksana is really playing on the inherent, albeit subtle racism from the audience (and her fellow workers) and she's doing it beautifully.
As sad as it is, the best way to be booed by an American wrestling crowd is to speak in a foreign language.
Posted by: John | September 24, 2010 6:19 PM
Yes, I do find "superstar". He's a wrestler. I do apologize for writing that you suck, though. I'm a big fan of the blog and I was in a bad mood. Sorry, Kevin.
Posted by: Cliff | September 24, 2010 8:17 PM