Welcome to another fun-filled week of NXT action. We had some pretty interesting advances made to the ongoing love saga that pits couple against couple, as this week we saw Derrick Bateman & his seductive soulmate, Maxine, team up in mixed tag team action, battling the team of AJ, and her boyfriend’s rookie, Titus O’Neil. Without any further ado…let’s get started!
Skip to 08:13
As we head back from a commercial promoting another sure fire blockbuster film of Triple H’s, the commentary team plugs the article that started World War III over the weekend, and informs us that we can now read responses from the culprits involved. From there, we head to the arena, as AJ (yellow plaid included) and Titus make their way to the ring, Hornswoggle following closely behind. The trio enter the ring and pose for the fans.
After a recap of the match AJ & Maxine had two weeks prior, both the sneaky she-devil and her curly haired temptation strut down the entrance ramp together. Once the duo make their way inside, the bell sounds and this match is underway. The male counterparts get things underway with a lock up, as Derrick strikes O’Neil from behind. Bateman cowers in the corner to get Titus off of him, as Maxine applauds in support.
The males lock up again, as Titus takes control with a big bodyslam. An elbow drop follows, with a kick up next, as he then sends Derrick flying into the corner. O’Neil simply beats on Derrick, before tossing him to the other turnbuckle and…
…taking DB down with a huge powerslam, garnering not even a one count. Derrick charges over to his corner and makes the tag out to Maxine, as the ladies now enter the mix to a pop! Maxine goes for a strike, but AJ blocks it and begins punching her until she falls back into the ropes. She Irish Whips Maxine into the ropes, but Maxine stops herself on the way back and kicks AJ in the face. She runs off the ropes again, only AJ manages to connect with a sick roundhouse kick.
A running elbow sends Maxine down, but as AJ goes to pick her back up, Maxine counters with a jawbreaker. Maxine goes for a bodyslam attempt, but AJ escapes out the back and kicks Maxine in the back of the leg. She falls to her knees, allowing AJ to run off the ropes with a dropkick to the face for a near fall. She tries to send Maxine into the corner, but Maxine reverses it and AJ finds herself there instead. Maxine charges forward, but she is met with a few boots to the chest. AJ ascends to the second rope and goes to leap off with a Thesz Press, but Maxine manages to lift her boot up and kick her square in the stomach to send her down.
Maxine drags AJ into the center of the ring and gets a two count, seeming to infuriate her. She applies a chin lock to a downed AJ, adding a knee to the back for extra pain. The crowd wills AJ on to a vertical base, but as she runs off the ropes, Maxine hits an atomic drop and throws AJ down by the hair for another close call. She snapmares AJ over and plants another knee to the back. The two then get up and fall towards the ropes, as Maxine goes for a kick…only AJ moves out of the way and she trips herself up and falls backwards.
The two Divas now crawl towards their respected corner for a tag, as Maxine is the first to do so. This peps AJ up enough to tag in Titus O’Neil as well, and he cleans house with a variety of takedowns on Bateman. Titus picks Bateman up and hits a sick shoulderbreaker for a two count, but Maxine breaks the pin up. AJ then runs in and takes her down with a clothesline, as Derrick proceeds to roll Titus up from behind. Titus escapes though, and drills Bateman with a lifting sitout spinebuster for the victory!
Skip to 07:16
Maxine and Derrick are seen walking backstage, not pleased with how things went down. Maxine says that Derrick should have listened to her, but his blood is boiling and he begins blaming her. The two continue to argue, as Bateman proclaims they should have watched Roadhouse last night instead of Dirty Dancing so that he would have been more prepared to fight. This sparks Maxine to scream that Bateman should have been preparing instead of perming his hair this morning!
He proclaims that it is au natural, but Maxine says that the natural thing around here is her! She sees what is happening after this comment, and tries to calm the situation down by saying that they are letting Hornswoggle get to them. She derives a plan to separate Hornswoggle and AJ since they don’t stand a chance together. Derrick then proclaims that scheming against leprechauns makes Maxine look hot, as the two then make out hardcore backstage.
Thoughts: Haha, I continue to love NXT. The mixed tag match was pretty much what could be expected. I figured AJ & Titus would take the win to even the score after Maxine won the singles bout, but I enjoyed it overall because it wasn’t limited to 2 minutes. I thought all four worked well together and overall produced a pretty fun match. The backstage segment is where I loved tonight’s episode. I went in spoiler free so I wasn’t expecting to see anything more, but from the perm, to the roadhouse, to the au natural, all the way to the make out session at the end, it was insanely entertaining.
I’m glad they found new way to keep this story going by having Maxine and Derrick now plot to separate Hornswoggle and AJ, because I was worried this was going to be Katie Lea/Paul Burchill vs. Alicia Fox/DJ Gabriel all over again, in the sense that we get a singles match with both genders, a mixed tag, and then that’s it. I, personally, can not wait to see where else this goes.
