WWE NXT Recap 03.16.10

WWE NXT recap from Los Angeles, CA:

CM Punk and his Straightedge Society came out onto the ramp with WWE NXT rookie Darren Young. Young who's usually all smiles gave a look to Punk as they walked down the ramp. Cole and Matthews were on hand to commentate. Matt Striker was backstage with an announcement that in two weeks the first vote for the pros on the WWE NXT rookies will take place.

Justin Gabriel & Matt Hardy vs. Darren Young & CM Punk

Young gained control in the early part of the match, then tagged in Hardy. They hit an impressive doubleteam move with Hardy acting as a jumping off point for Gabriel to splash clothesline Young in the corner. Young regained control and brought Gabriel to the corner where Punk slapped Young to tag in. Gabriel and Young went back and forth early on, with Gabriel going for a springboard move off the side ropes, and Young ducking it.

Gabriel took control later in the match and had Young down near the corner. He went for the 450 splash but took a moment to smile to the crowd before climing the corner. Gabriel missed on the splash and Young tagged Punk in to punish Gabriel quite a bit with submission holds. Young and Punk worked well on the tagging in and out to keep wearing Gabriel down while keeping him away from a tag to Hardy.

Gabriel managed to hit a dropkick to take Punk out on a springboard move. Gabriel finally made the tag to Hardy who came in to clothesline Punk around the ring. Hardy hit a bulldog for a near fall, then Side Effect for another. Punk backed away when he saw Hardy get on the corner for his elbow drop. Young made the tag, but Hardy rushed over and threw Young in over the ropes. At one point, Hardy clotheslined Young out of the ring, then fell out over the top rope with him.

On the outside, Luke Gallows went over and hammered Justin Gabriel with a shot. He went after Hardy, but Hardy countered and hit the Side Effect on Gallows crashing both men to the hard floor. Hardy threw Young back into the ring and went for the Twist of Fate. Luke Gallows got up on the side apron to distract the ref, allowing CM Punk to get in the ring, hoist Hardy up and hit GTS. Hardy fell to the mat and Young fell back on top of him to take the pin.

After the win, Luke Gallows got in the ring and hit a big boot kick on Hardy. Darren Young put both hands up for a double high five from Punk. As Young turned around, Gallows kicked him in the gut, then hit the Gallows Pole to plant him on the mat. Punk, Serena and Gallows raised their arms together while the other 3 wrestlers were layed out in the ring.

Winners: CM Punk and Darren Young win via pinfall over Matt Hardy & Justin Gabriel.

Josh Matthews noted that The Miz has arranged a special match for his WWE NXT rookie Daniel Bryan against The Great Khali, next.

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Matthews and Cole thanked Audioslave for providing one of the theme songs for Wrestlemania 26 "Be Yourself", currently available for download.

Daniel vs. Bryan

Matthews asked Cole why he's got such disdain for Daniel Bryan, then said it's because Cole doesn't know about the independent wrestling circuit Bryan came from. Matthews noted that Bryan has over 11,000 followers on Twitter. Cole said Bryan is 0-3 and about to be in last place amongst the WWE NXT rookies.

Early on, Bryan was able to bring Great Khali to his knees using a guillotine submission. From there he started to kick away at Khali's chest several times. Khali grabbed Bryan by the throat. Bryan backed up and kicked Khali in the head, then did a dropkick off the corner to drop him. Bryan went for another move off the corner, but this time Khali chopped him down from the air. Next up was the Punjabi Plunge followed by Khali stepping on Bryan's chest for the 3 count. Daniel Bryan is now 0-4.

As Khali was celebrating, The Big Show's music hit. Show came walking down the ramp and got in the ring, walked over and picked up Bryan for a huge chokeslam to the mat. Show then exited the ring all smiles as he walked back up the ramp. Matthews and Cole speculated that this was probably set up by the Miz.

Winner: The Great Khali wins via pinfall over Daniel Bryan.

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Michael Cole reminded fans that Wrestlemania is just under two weeks away. Next up was the Raw Rebound, with the official WM26 contract signing between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the mediator. Stone Cold announced that Bret's dad, Stu Hart will be inducted into the Hall of Fame after all. Bret Hart then asked for the match between him and Vince to be a No Holds Barred match, which Vince agreed to. After both men signed their names on the contract, Austin left the ring to go up the ramp. Stone Cold said there's one more thing Bret has to tell Vince. Bret tossed away his crutch and had removed his leg cast. He told Vince he tricked him into thinking he got hurt. Bret said tonight "Vince screwed Vince" as he beat him with the cast before leaving the ring.

Cole and Matthews discussed the Wrestlemania 26 matches including Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker - Career vs. Streak, Bret vs. Vince, Cena vs. Batista for the WWE Title and Edge vs. Jericho for the World Title.

Matthews introduced a promo video about David Otunga, who discussed being from Hollywood and having Jennifer Hudson as his fiance. Otunga talked about going to the White House twice this past year, about having a great body and look. Otunga also said he's studied 3 years at Harvard Law School. Otunga said he won't get caught up on the jealous haters and all he thinks about is becoming a WWE Superstar.

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They showed a Wrestlemania moment from 1998 in Boston, MA when Kane came to the ring to hit Pete Rose with the Tombstone Piledriver. Next Monday night, Pete Rose will be the guest host of the Raw before Wrestlemania. He's already arranged HHH & Orton vs. Sheamus, Rhodes & Dibiase.

Michael Tarver vs. Heath Slater

Last week, Slater became the first NXT rookie to defeat a WWE pro, Carlito.

Early on, Slater had some impressive takedowns and eventually tossed Tarver out through the ropes to the outside. Tarver got up to his feet quick, and Slater did a spinning bodypress over the ropes onto Tarver. Back in the ring he missed on a corner move, and Tarver came back with a running knee to Tarver's head. Christian and Carlito were shown together backstage watching the match on a flatscreen.

Slater hit a facefirst flapjack for a near fall on Tarver in the latter stages of the match. Both men were on their feet and Tarver whipped Slater to the corner. Slater jumped up as Tarver charged at him. He came back down to grab a rollup pinfall for the surprise win. Backstage, Christian applauded his rookie's victory.

After the bell, Tarver attacked Slater from behind to take him down. The ref warned Tarver to back off, and he finally did.

Winner: Heath Slater wins via pinfall over Michael Tarver.

William Regal was shown backstage talking with his WWE NXT rookie Skip Sheffield. Regal kept trying to talk to Sheffield, but Sheffield kept interrupting. Regal asked how he was going to learn from him if he kept interrupting. Sheffield kept doing it so Regal turned and walked off.

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Skip Sheffield vs. Wade Barrett

Early on, Barrett kneed Sheffield in the midsection. Sheffield recovered though and hit a double axe handle on Barrett from off the corner. Barrett escaped out of the ring to recover with Sheffield chasing after him. That resulted in Barrett gaining control over Skip.

Back in the ring, Barrett continued to punish Sheffield, eventually applying a submission hold to work his back. Jericho screamed out instructions from ringside. Sheffield was able to get to his feet and used elbows to get out of the hold. Wade went for a suplex with Sheffield blocking then suplexing him instead. After a series of moves including a scoop slam, Sheffield jumps off the ropes onto Barrett for a near fall.

In the closing moments, Barrett whipped Sheffield into the ropes, with Skip elbowing him in the face. Sheffield climbed up on the corner for a high risk move, but Barrett came over to counter it. From there he hoisted Sheffield up then dropped him to the mat for the winning pinfall. Jericho seemed proud of Barrett's NXT main event win.

Winner: Wade Barrett wins via pinfall against Skip Sheffield.

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