WWE NXT Recap 04.27.10

WWE NXT recap from Hershey, PA:

Michael Cole said we're just two weeks away from the first official NXT elimination. Striker was in the ring to introduce the NXT rookie class one-by-one. The crowd booed and cheered various guys. Striker mentioned that Skip Sheffield won last week's challenge "Rock Em Sock Em", and got a feature on WWE.com which over 10 million visitors saw.

Tonight's challenge was called "Seal the Deal Challenge" and would test each guy's likability. Each rookie would have to go out into the arena amongst the WWE Universe and sell as much merchandise as possible in 60 seconds time frame. The guy with the largest cash amount at the end would win the competition and a match next week against a WWE Pro of their choice.

Skip Sheffield went first and sold four programs for $60 setting the first mark to beat.

---

Christian & Heath Slater vs. Chris Jericho & Wade Barrett

Cole noted that Christian was drafted to Smackdown last night. They showed highlights of the huge upset on last week's NXT when Slater surprised Jericho with a rollup pin. Jericho went bonkers after losing.

Slater had a cover late in the match. Wade Barrett rushed in to break it up. Christian jumped off the corner onto Barrett, then jumped out onto Barrett outside the ring. Both guys were down. Slater went for another surprise rollup pinfall on Jericho. This time Jericho kicked out and then caught Slater with the Codebreaker for the pin.

Winners: Chris Jericho and Wade Barrett win via pinfall over Christian and Heath Slater.

They had their next competitor for "Seal the Deal", Daniel Bryan. Bryan got to go into the audience and just started throwing out programs to the audience free of charge saying he wasn't a capitalist. Bryan said "we don't need your money" and kept tossing them to the crowd. Striker announced Daniel Bryan's total was $0. Cole called Daniel a "complete tool" and Matthews asked Cole if he's ever looked in the mirror.

They showed Darren Young winning last week's Triple Threat match by pinning Michael Tarver. Luke Gallows got involved and messed things up when he tried to cost Young the win.

Earlier in the day, they showed Carlito coaching his rookie Michael Tarver. Carlito told him he needs to take advantage of opportunities. He said he needs practice and he can get started now. Carlito suggested that Tarver bring his suitcases in for him. Tarver was upset by it, but did it anyways.

---

Justin Gabriel was up in the audience next to sell a batch of programs. They seemed to have a ton of people ready to buy them from Gabriel. He kept selling programs all around him, and ended up selling 22 programs. A random kid stuck his face in the camera. It appeared that Natt Striker shoved someone away from him too. Cole said Justin Gabriel sold $210 worth of programs to take the lead.

Darren Young vs. Michael Tarver

Carlito came out with Michael Tarver. They had a segment where they showcased Michael Tarver and had various pros give their thoughts on him so far. Regal said Tarver is a sleeper and people aren't taking him seriously. Matt Hardy said he could be the first rookie voted off.

In tonight's match, Darren Young arrived down to the ring along with Serena and Luke Gallows. CM Punk was not with them. Young and Tarver ended up outside the ring early for a battle. Young got back in and Tarver got on the apron where he rammed Young in the gut, then yanked him by the arm against the ringpost. Serena came over to distract the referee, and Gallows swiped Tarver's leg out on the apron. With Tarver stumbling, Young finished him off for the pinfall victory. Michael Tarver is now 0-7, while Young is 7-2.

Gallows and Serena got in the ring and looked at Young as he celebrated, but refused to congratulate him.

Winner: Darren Young wins via pinfall over Michael Tarver.

Next up was David Otunga for "Seal the Deal Challenge". He got on the mic and said celebs don't do manual labor, so he asked a few kids to be his assistants. It was mass confusion as they all were handing out programs all over the place and Otunga collected the money. Striker said they'd tabulate Otunga's total during the break. He held up a wad of cash for the camera.

---

WWE NXT returned with a recap of last night's WWE Draft on the 3-hour Raw. Kelly Kelly, Big Show, Christian and Kofi Kingston went to Smackdown. Edge, R-Truth, John Morrison and Chris Jericho were all drafted to Raw. Edge made an immediate impact when he interfered in a Triple Threat match to determine the #1 contender for WWE Title. He delivered a spear to take down Orton allowing Batista to win by pinfall.

They showcased Justin Gabriel next with highlights and thoughts from the pro's. CM Punk said that Gabriel's biggest detriment is his pro, Matt Hardy. Jericho said he's a "one trick pony." R-Truth said he's got the right image, and Regal said he's got the talent. Hardy said Gabriel's got all the tools as an athlete but needs some more work.

They showed how R-Truth and David Otunga were having issues before Otunga's match last week. It cost Otunga the win as he looked to R-Truth for some help, but Gabriel ended up pulling Otunga down for a pinfall.

Earlier in the day, they showed Truth and Otunga back in the locker room. Truth was telling Otunga what he had to do to counter was the Sunset Flip and make his own pin. Otunga told him all he had to do was grab his hands. Truth asked if he wanted a handout. Otunga shook his head. Truth said "Truth don't play that" and "if you can't run with the big dogs stay on the porch."

---

WWE NXT had the next competitor in "Seal the Deal", Heath Slater. Matt Striker announced that Slater has to beat $315 for the challenge. Slater started yelling out to the crowd and selling them, but was fumbling with the bag, programs and change. Striker said Slater didn't beat $315. Cole said that David "A-List" Otunga was officially in the lead.

They returned to the crowd with Darren Young for the challenge. Josh Matthews said that Darren Young might be scaring people. Striker announced that Darren Young didn't beat Otunga's total. Cole and Matthews said that Michael Tarver is up next and he's had some interesting challenges so far.

Tarver was out in the audience with Striker. He ripped the mic out of Striker's hand and said "in case you didn't notice I just had a match." Tarver said he doesn't have to sell anything. Striker had them start the countdown clock, but Tarver dropped the bag and walked backstage. Cole and Matthews were dumbfounded over Tarver not competing in another challenge.

Next they had Wade Barrett in the audience to sell programs. Barrett got on the mic saying he already proved tonight he's the top rookie by helping to win the tag match with Chris Jericho against Christian and Heath Slater. Barrett said he was going to take all the change money, put it in his back pocket and walk off. He said Striker or anyone else can't do a thing to stop him, then walked off. Later on Twitter, Barrett announced that he made off with over $100 of Mr. McMahon's money, calling himself the real winner in the contest. Cole and Matthews said they'd have the winner announced when NXT returns.

---

Cole and Matthews introduced a segment to showcase Daniel Bryan. The NXT pros gave their feedback and opinions about Daniel Bryan as well. CM Punk said ranking Daniel Bryan #1 is dead on. William Regal, Chris Jericho and Christian all were positive about Bryan, but not surprisingly The Miz was not. Miz said "I bring the best out of people." Hardy said Bryan will need a personality to survive in the WWE and if he gets that he has a bright future.

Striker brought in the winner of tonight's "Seal the Deal" challenge, David Otunga. Striker asked Otunga who he chooses to face for his pro match next week. Otunga said it's a tough choice but someone has been bothering him a lot lately, R-Truth. Otunga said it's time for the rookie to school the teacher.

Skip Sheffield vs. The Miz

The Miz came out with a shiner on his left cheek area. Last night he got punched hard by Big Show following ShowMiz' loss to Hart Dynasty on Raw. Miz lost the tag titles after tapping out to Tyson Kidd's sharpshooter.

Miz got on the mic saying it hurt for him to even talk after last night's sucker punch from Big Show. He said he's in no condition to compete tonight so Daniel Bryan will take his place.

Skip Sheffield went for the finish early after the bell, but Daniel Bryan countered and started using striking attacks with kicks. Bryan was able to trap Sheffield in a leg submission hold, but Skip managed to grab the ropes and break it. Bryan used more hard kicks on Sheffield. Sheffield managed to grab Bryan's leg and shove him away, then nailed him with a clothesline. Skip then finished off his rookie opponent with a seated jawbreaker style move. Daniel Bryan is still winless on NXT. William Regal gave advice to Sheffield after the victory. Daniel Bryan looked visibly frustrated in the ring over the loss.

Winner: Skip Sheffield wins via pinfall over Daniel Bryan.

---

Next week on WWE NXT on SyFy, David "A-List" Otunga will get his match against his pro mentor, R-Truth.