Lets go through NXT Redemption

[van_Fair]

As I currently have some free time on my hands I have thought about starting a little watching project of my own. One of the things that has been on my mind for a while is the time when I really started to get into wrestling and I started to branch of more and from the standard WWE stuff. One of the first things besides Raw and Smackdown that I was aware off was Impact Wrestling, but I think there are already enough people covering that. The other product that I started watching then was a little internet exclusive show called NXT Redemption. This was the weird in between period of NXT after it stopped being a game show that offered a roster spot and before it became what it is today. While I didn't watch much of it I was just fascinated by the weirdness on display and I got heavily invested into the whole Derrick Bateman/Maxine/Johnny Curtis storyline. While I have branched out much much further since then it still holds a special place in my heart.

 

So seeing as the whole show is available on the WWE YouTube channel I have decided to watch all 67 episodes of NXT redemption and give my thoughts on it here. I will embed a video of every episode here so you can watch along if you so desire.

 

 

Episode 1 - 2011/03/08

 

 

 

We open with Mr. Charisma himself Todd Grisham and William Regal on commentary. I don't know if Regal was already doing commentary on FCW at the time, but it is was surely early in his commentary career. While he is already better than Todd he is still a bit rough around the edges in this episode. Then we are introduced to our hosts Matt Striker and Maryse. For both of them this was pretty much the last thing they were doing before they left the company.

 

Striker introduces us to the "rookies" of this season: Darren Young, Jakob Novak, Konnor, Byron Saxton, Titus O'Neil and Lucky Cannon. Unfortunately none of my NXT Redemption favorites like Bateman or Curtis are on this starting roster and if Titus O'Neil is the best worker of your group you know your in for a rough time wrestling wise.

 

Striker then continues to explain the rules of this season where you can earn redemption points, which if you make it to the next season of NXT, which at the time was still supposed to be a game show you can use these redemption points to add them to your point total to avoid elimination. At least I guess that is what it means since Striker did a very poor job explaining it and it also matters fuck all anyway.

 

This was still trying to stick to the format of the earlier seasons so we are introduced to this seasons pros and which rookie they are assigned to: Chavo and Young, Kozlov and Konnor, Tyson Kidd and Lucky Cannon,JTG and Jakob Novak, Yoshi Tatsu and Byron Saxton this team actually fits since they are both terrific announcers now, oh sorry English isn't my first language I meant terrible. Titus O'Neil gets Hornswoggle as his pro because of course he does. With these pairings this truly is the Island of misfit toys. Noteworthy in this whole introduction is Chavo cutting the worst promo I have ever seen. It is absolutely abysmal and he comes across as a truly desperate man trying not to get fired. Even if you don't want to watch the whole episode watch the Chavo promo. https://youtu.be/edUr1N_C8O0?t=246

 

We then go into our first match Darren Young vs Jakob Novak. Oh boy I am already regretting this but time to commit. I have no memory whatsoever of Jakob Novaks existence before I watched this episode and neither does Regal apparently judging by his commentary. He kind of looks like a tall Josh Mathews and that is about all I can say about him. He immediately left my mind after the episode was over and I actually forgot to include him in the lists above at first and only when I went through my notes did I remember him. We get an absolutely standard WWE style match with no heat and Darren Young goes over, which if I remember NXT Redemption correctly is something he will do a lot.

 

This is followed by a backstage segment where Yoshitatsu attempts to flirt with Maryce only to get cockblocked by Byron. I know the heights of backstage segments this show will eventually reach but we are long way away from that. Next we get a Konnor promo where he wears a shirt and tie which just looks bizarre and they attempt to humanize him. While in general this is a good idea and is something WWE should do a lot more this just did not work at all for me. Basically Konnor grew up poor and is really sad about it. But he is just so bad at conveying emotions and devoid of charisma that even when he is crying it just doesn't move you at all.

 

Up Next Boot Camp Obstacle Course, but first a commercial for The Chaperone with Triple H. I can barely contain my excitement for either of those. We come back to an obstacle course consisting of a wall to climb over, a net to climb under, a balance beam, some flags to run around and finally a bag of undetermined weight they have to carry across the finish line. I should mention at this point that I am a big fan of shows like The Challenge, American Ninja Warrior or Redneck Island and the Challenge this is not. Everyone goes through the course without much excitement being created until we get to Lucky Cannon. He refuses to participate in this bore fest and instantly becomes my favorite on the show. Anyway Darren Young wins so I guess he really did used to be great. Ha who knew.

 

We move on to our Main Event Titus O'Neil vs Lucky Cannon. This match is really bad. While having a limited move set doesn't have to be a bad thing, it is though if you do not even know how use the moves that you have well. So if you are like Lucky Cannon and your entire move set consists of shitty punches, shitty kicks and a headlock you are unlikely to be able to produce a good match. With this Lucky Cannon immediately leaves my favorite status again. Finish has 4 Foot 4 or 132 cm Hornswoggle shoving 6'6" / 198 cm Lucky Cannon off the top rope into a Clash of the Titus because of course it does.

 

So yeah this is not off to a great start, but I know it is going get better and I hope some of you will enjoy this journey with me together.

[NotJayTabb]

Yes! I bloody loved NXT Redemption. Johnny Curtis being the most entertaining guy in the company, action figure on a pole matches, the excellent Kidd/McGillicutty feud, gangsta Jacob Novak. Just a great series

[ButchReedMark]

I loved it too, it was just so weird and amazing. Yoshi Tatsu and Tyson Kidd feuding over an action figure. Five stars!