Previously on NXT…
Life without Maxine for NXT as the final tried to impress the pros and WWE Universe in order to secure the votes they needed to stay in the competition. Aksana was given the chance to explain why she left Goldust at the alter, only to be interrupted by Naomi and challenged to a match later on in the evening. Tensions continued to rise between Brie Bella and Nikki Bella as Nikki squared off against AJ in a singles match. Brie’s good twin ways would eventually cost Nikki the match, something the bad twin probably wasn’t to thrilled about. As far as our love triangle goes, well Vickie Guerrero and Kaitlyn ended up in a brawl backstage and boy, was it ever rough! With an elimination hanging over the girls’ heads tonight, what will happen? Lets take a look…
We’re back to normal this week as Matt Striker successfully kicks off the show by introducing the girls. Naomi, Kaitlyn, Aksana, and AJ make their way to the ring and interestingly enough there are no pros on stage tonight. Striker says that there are only two weeks left of the competition and there will be an elimination tonight. He says that immunity is still up for grabs though and the first challenge tonight is called “How Well Do You Know Your Pro.” Basically how this works is Striker will ask a series of questions and the pros and rookies will answer. The rookies are to guess how they feel their pro will answer. The rookie who gets the most points will win the challenge. At this point, AJ and Kaitlyn are tied for immunity with one win apiece. So, Striker brings out the pros. Kelly Kelly, Vickie, Goldust, and Primo Colon enter and the contest gets underway!
The first question is, “When I first saw my rookie, I thought she was …”
The rookies fill in the blanks. AJ says “underage” and her answer matches with Primo who guesses “sixteen years old.” Aksana says “hot” which basically matches with Goldust’s answer of “sexy.” Kaitlyn said Vickie thought that she (Kaitlyn) was “so much prettier than me” and believe it or not that did not match with Vickie’s answer. She said “a man.” Naomi went last and picked the word “athletic” and that’s what Kelly thought. All rookies earned a point but Kaitlyn.
Next question: On a scale from one to five, how would you rate your rookie’s in-ring ability?
Naomi goes first and matches her pro’s answer with a five. Kaitlyn says that her answer isn’t what she thinks about herself and gives herself a one. Vickie actually gave her a three. Aksana said that Goldust better give her a five but he didn’t. He gave her a three. AJ goes last and says that since there is always room for improvement she is going to give herself a four. Primo did as well. AJ and Naomi have two points now, while Aksana has one, and Kaitlyn has zero.
The final question is who do the pros think their rookie wants eliminated tonight?
AJ believes that Primo thinks she thinks that Aksana should go home and sure enough, Primo picks Aksana. Aksana selects Kaitlyn but Goldust has picked AJ. Kaitlyn and Vickie finally earn a point because of them pick Naomi. As far as Naomi goes, she says Aksana but Kelly has picked Kaitlyn.
With three points, AJ wins the challenge and gets one step closer to immunity.
Naomi versus Kaitlyn is up after the break.
When we return, Naomi is already in the ring and Kelly is standing beside her on the apron. Vickie comes out on the stage with a microphone in her hand and we see that the rest of the pros, including Alicia Fox, are now seated on the stage. Vickie says that everyone should feel her pain and then she proceeds to rant about Kaitlyn’s lack of everything. She says that Kaitlyn is ungrateful and can’t do anything right. She unenthusiastically introduces her rookie and they bicker while on their way to the ring.
Once everyone is settled, the bell rings and the girls lock up. Kaitlyn is quick to take charge in what ends up being a pretty back and forth match. Whenever Naomi manages to get Kaitlyn down, the powerful blond is able to get right back up. Naomi finally reverses Kaitlyn’s offense and hits a drop kick. Kaitlyn is grounded on the mat but she uses the chance to lock her legs around Naomi’s mid-section. Naomi attempts to fight out of the submission move with some elbows to Kaitlyn’s face but Kaitlyn hangs tough. Naomi turns Kaitlyn around and into a pinning position which forces the Texan to break the hold so she doesn’t lose the match. Kaitlyn clubs Naomi in the back and tosses her into the corner. She charges but Naomi is able to get her foot up. That doesn’t really bother Kaitlyn who comes back with a brutal clothesline and she goes for the cover. Naomi kicks out. Kaitlyn goes for a headlock and hangs on to it for awhile. Naomi tries to get some offense in but Kaitlyn is just to strong. Naomi finally breaks Kaitlyn’s momentum when she sunset flips over her opponent and goes for a cover. Kaitlyn manages to escape. She’s pretty out of it though because Naomi begins to show us what she can do. Naomi starts to fly around the ring and makes her way to the top rope. She hits a perfect crossbody on Kaitlyn amd covers her, but Kaitlyn refuses to be put away. She even hits a backbreaker on Naomi. Naomi kicks out of the pinning attempt and Vickie is just berating the crap out of Kaitlyn on the outside. Naomi comes bouncing back into the match and tosses Kaitlyn into the corner. She strikes her squarely in the jaw with a gorgeous dropkick and Naomi picks up another NXT victory.
Needless to say, Vickie is not impressed.
The show returns again from one of it’s pointless “commercial breaks” and they recap what happened with Aksana and Goldust last week. It cuts to the backstage area and Aksana is carrying black and gold flowers (sunflowers) and she wants to apologize to her husband. In doing so she makes a Lord of the Rings reference where she actually calls one of the characters “Gumbo.” Goldust replies that things can’t just be okay and as nice as the flowers are, they’re just not going to cut it. Aksana begs him for his help tonight and finally, he reluctantly agrees. Aksana is very happy.
AJ and Primo make their way to the ring first. There’s nothing special about their entrance. Aksana and Goldust come out and of course, Aksana leads the way. She looks supremely confident that she has her pro with her and speaking of that pro, Goldust is carrying the flowers. He walks about half-way down the ramp with Aksana and stops. Goldust tosses the flowers down in disgust and walks back to the stage. The other pros clap and Aksana is just so clueless. She’s all smiles until she gets in the ring and realizes that Goldust is not with her. Once again, she has to go into a match alone.
AJ and Aksana lock up with Aksana using the strength advantage she has over the smaller woman. She locks her arms around her waist and takes her down to the mat. She quickly tries for a cover but AJ kicks out. Pocket Rocket wrenches Aksana’s arm behind her back, flips her down, and they exchange some nice chain wrestling holds. AJ holds onto Aksana via side headlock for awhile but eventually the Lithuanian beauty is able to wiggle free from it. Both women end up down but once they make their way back to their feet, Aksana tosses AJ right out of the ring. AJ isn’t too happy and Aksana tries to make it up to her by sitting down on the ropes and inviting AJ back inside. AJ hesitated but eventually she accepted Aksana’s invitation. Bad idea because Aksana knocked her out of the ring again. Great heat for that sequence. Aksana goes for the cover but AJ is able to kick out. Aksana begins to throw some forearm shots and AJ finds herself thrown into the corner. Aksana knocks her down and begins to stomp away on the inside of AJ’s knee. She goes for a camel clutch but modifies and wow. That’s pretty amazing. Good thing AJ is so flexible. While holding AJ in the move, Aksana picks her up and slams her down. How AJ is able to fight out of this is beyond me. She rolls Aksana up in an inside cradle but Aksana kicks out. AJ follows her offensive burst up with a crossbody and after one last attempt from Aksana, AJ goes for the big finish. She locks her legs around Aksana’s neck and begins to slowly wear her down. Eventually AJ takes Aksana down and Mrs. Goldust has no other choice but to tap out. AJ picks up an amazing win and celebrates with Primo.
The last competition of the night is the always popular “Diss The Diva.” We know how it works.
AJ is up for immunity unless Kaitlyn ties her during this. And speaking of AJ, she goes first and says that since the season is winding down she is going to show a little spice. She tells Aksana that she tapped out and then looks at Kaitlyn and says if not for Vickie, no one would even know her name. Then she goes to Naomi and says that despite the fact she’s a hell of an athlete her personality is like a drippy faucet. AJ says that she deserves to win because unlike the other girls who have only wanted this for the past few months, she has wanted this her whole life.
Aksana takes the microphone and says “let me entertainment you.” Oh boy. She looks at Kaitlyn and says that she once saw her on a show. It was one of those shows where she was fighting for her babies. Wow. Going down to Naomi, Aksana randomly warns her to stay away from her husband. Then she looks at AJ and says that she looks like “child.”
“All people wanna be just like Aksana.”
Amazing.
Kaitlyn has the unfortunate task of following that up and she says that if NXT were like highschool then Naomi would be the jock, AJ would be the nerd, and Aksana would be the creepy foreign exchange student. She turns to Aksana and asks her if she truly knows what “U-S-A” stands for. She says it stands for “U Suck Aksana” and she gets a chant going. A catfight breaks out between the two and Kaitlyn never really gets to finish what she’s saying.
Up last is Naomi and she singles Kaitlyn out first. She tells Kaitlyn that she has great legs. They’re basically perfect. And then she tells Kaitlyn that it’s a shame her wrestling skills aren’t as great as her legs. Naomi shouts to Primo and begins to mimick AJ’s personality which is just hilarious. Her impersonation is spot on. And last she turns to Aksana and asks her if she knows what she has in common with Jamie Keyes and Maxine.
The answer?
Aksana is about to be eliminated. BAM!
Striker turns to the crowd and asks them to select a winner. It’s not even close. Naomi wins thanks to thunderous applause but AJ has won immunity from tonight’s elimination.
He tells the pros to cast their vote and soon we will know which girl is cut from the competition.
When NXT returns, Striker is standing with the pros. He wants to hear their opinion on what they are casting their votes on. He goes to the Bella twins and Brie gives this spiel on how they are looking for someone who is sexy, smart, and powerful. Someone who will represent the WWE inside and outside of the ring. Nikki doesn’t agree and cuts off her sister. She says she is looking for someone with class and respect. Nikki rips into all the rookie girls and basically says that none of them have any business being on television.
Striker puts Alicia on the spot next. Foxy says she feels like she’s employed at Diva daycare and that none of the girls can hold a candle to her. She then says something about being a hungry piranha and lets face it. That’s the only line anyone will remember from this segment.
The show concludes tonight with the elimination. Aksana gets the boot and when she sees her picture come up on the screen she dramatically faints. When she finally comes too she begins to babble on about how the vote is not right, and how she is going to go to Vince’s office and write some kind of letter. She’s either gunna write it about re-voting or write it to her dog. Either way, Aksana vows that she will be back and she takes off up the ramp. Goldust stops her and says he has a present for her. Divorce papers! Haha, poor Aksana.
The final three rookies are Kaitlyn, AJ, and Naomi. Voting opens today at noon. Two weeks left of the competition. Can’t believe it’s almost over.
Awww tonight’s show was excellent from a wrestling standpoint and I couldn’t be more pleased. It sucks that Aksana got eliminated but at this point all of the eliminations are going to suck. Each woman brings something uniquely theirs to the table and personally, I want them all to stay and get main roster spots. But nonetheless, we bid Aksana farewell. It truly was an honor having her entertainment us week after week.
With that said, lets talk about the top five things from tonight’s NXT offering. Coming in fifth place tonight is the “How well do you know your pro” challenge. It was much fun and completely different from anything they’ve done on each season. It was nice to see the ‘E step up and create something fun and interesting for the girls to do tonight. I loved it when Vickie said her first impression of Kaitlyn was that she was a man. I seriously laughed despite the fact I shouldn’t have. The only thing that irked me about this was Blue Eyes being a total douche during the segment towards Kelly. Someone needs to punish him for that later, and sure. I’ll take the job.
Aksana’s “Diss The Diva” promo is in at number four tonight. How great was she? Aksana truly is an entertainer. She claimed to have seen Kaitlyn on a talk show fighting for her kids which had me rolling. Then she called AJ a child and randomly told Naomi to stay away from her husband as if Naomi even cared. I can’t stress how funny Aksana is and if NXT isn’t enough evidence, then please go YouTube the “Aksana Show” from FCW. I know I’ve probably told you guys to do that before, but I’m telling you again. So go do it!
In the middle tonight is the first match of the evening; Kaitlyn versus Naomi. For the past two weeks Naomi has proven that she can get a great match out of anyone and tonight was no exception. She made Kaitlyn look experienced instead of green and those two had fantastic chemistry. Naomi can bump. She can sell. And her offense is second to none. This girl is special and I hope the WWE doesn’t overlook her. She is a wrestler and that’s something of an endangered species in the WWE Universe. We’ve all felt like Naomi hasn’t really been given a chance this season and I’m actually glad the fans stepped up for her tonight and cheered her during “Diss The Diva.” Great night for Naomi.
In the runner-up spot for highlight of the night is Aksana’s elimination. As sad as it is, her dramatic faint was just beautiful. I loved the fact that she said the elimination results were wrong. I enjoyed her reaction and her statement that she was going to Vince’s office and writing a letter so she could get a re-vote. Her storming up the ramp was cut short when Goldust stopped her and served her with divorce papers. Poor Aksana. It just wasn’t her night but she went out on one heck of a note!
As far as the highlight of the night goes… it’s basically a no-brainer. AJ versus Aksana is hands down the most entertaining match of season three. Talk about complimenting one another. The stand out submission holds both girls used were more than enough to give this match first place on our esteemed list. Diva submission finishers are beautiful and AJ looked so good tonight in the ring. I loved it.
Well guys, that wraps up NXT this week. We have two episodes left and an elimination coming next week. Voting opens at noon so cast your vote to keep your favorite girl in the competition. Until next week… Cryssi out!
