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WWE NXT – August 3, 2010
Tonight would be a big night on NXT, as all 8 rookies would compete in one-on-one action throughout the night. After all was said and done – we’d have our first rookie challenge – the Talk the Talk challenge! Whoever wins it will get a match against the WWE Pro of their choice next week.
The undefeated Eli Cottonwood started us off against the winless Joe Hennig. Despite being outmatched size-wise, Hennig continued his trend of putting on a great performance and nearly scoring the upset. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as a Chokeslam sealed his fate, sending Cottonwood to 4-0 while Hennig went to 0-4.
Last week, Alex Riley sucker-punched Johnny Prime. Tonight was Prime’s chance for revenge as the two squared off. After a good athletic contest, Jack Swagger attempts to distract Prime. Finlay keeps him at bay while sliding a shillelagh into the ring. Prime connects with a shillelagh shot and grabs his first NXT win while heel Michael Cole bitches at ringside that A-Ri got screwed even though his pro started it. Prime and Riley both have 1-2 records.
Titus O’Neill continues to impress in his match against Donny Marlow. After a decent enough brawl, O’Neill grabs the victory with a unique spinebuster bomb. After the match, Sheamus connects with a Brogue Kick to Marlow. Sheamus is coaching his rookie straight to the top! O’Neill’s record is now 3-1 while Marlow falls to 0-4.
Much like the opening contest, our main event pits an undefeated guy (Kaval) against a guy looking for his first win (Drake Brewer). The two mismatched rookie/pro pairings come into play. Kaval appears to have Brewer finished off, but Ted DiBiase instructs him that rather than use his own moves, Kaval should learn from the best and use DiBiase’s moves. The two get into a shouting match as Goldust talks to his rookie on the other side of the ring. Brewer’s had enough of it and in a unique spot he throws Goldust over the ropes into the ring and uses him as a battering ram against Kaval, all while the ref was preoccupied with DiBiase. Brewer gets a quick roll-up on the stunned Kaval to get into the win column at 1-2. Kaval tastes defeat for the first time and goes to 3-1.
The Talk the Talk challenge is quite entertaining in a weird sort of way. The eight rookies discussed the most random topics, and in the end Kaval and Joe Hennig get the most fanfare. They hold a tiebreaker round. Kaval gets a decent response with his subject of masking tape, saying he’d like to tape DiBiase’s mouth shut. Hennig gets the topic of gum. Rather than say anything, Hennig heads to the top rope and executes his dad’s patented “gum spit and swat” move to perfection. That gets a huge ovation, enough to give him the win.
With the first Pro’s Poll coming at the end of next week’s show, Hennig says he needs to make an impression. So as for the WWE Pro he’s going to face next week, he wants a re-match with Jack Swagger! That’s gonna be awesome. Swagger laughs it off and shakes his head while Hennig sports a cool and collected grin to end the show.
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