After a week, the six girls were rehearsed and ready to go. The Maxine and Alicia vs Eve and Kelly match had been practiced three times and both girls were ready to go. It was slightly easy because Eve and Maxine had wrestled before in FCW for fun so they knew each other's styles. The Aksana and Goldust vs AJ and Primo match was also rehearsed but unlike the other match, it was only rehearsed once on the night before the taping of NXT because Aksana refused to wrestle before that. Apparently, she wanted to win the competition based on her looks.
"Ahhh I'm sooo excited!" AJ cheered as they walked to the gorilla position to meet up with their pros at the beginning of the show.
"I know right! This is going to be so much fun!" Eve giggled.
"Speak for yourself Eve! You look amazing in your dark blue dress while I look like an idiot who got dressed in the dark!" Maxine cried as she stared down at her black and white ensemble.
"Aww Karls… I think you look cute! I, on the other hand, cannot breathe in this dress! It's like seven sizes too small!" Kaitlyn pouted looking at her sparkly purple-pink dress.
"You all look fine! Let's focus on going out there and entertaining!" AJ grinned. Maxine smirked.
"You know April, I would have thought you would have been a little more upset about having to grind on Tony Chimmel and try to choke him with his tie!" Maxine teased. AJ blushed.
"Um okay… that is going to be a little uncomfortable but… I get to beat Aksana later on tonight!" AJ answered. Kaitlyn wrung her hands.
"I nervous about meeting Vickie… What if she's like her on-screen character?" Kaitlyn asked nervously. Eve wrapped an arm around Kaitlyn.
"Don't worry! I've heard she's pretty nice!" Eve comforted. They finally made it to the gorilla position and saw Matt Striker and a member of the creative team.
"DO NOT SCREW THIS UP!" the creative member warned before leaving.
"Well that was a confidence-booster…" Eve chuckled.
"Sorry about him ladies. I'm sure you'll all do great!" Matt said. He turned towards the girls before doing a double-take when he saw Kaitlyn.
"Oooh Celeste! Check out Striker checking you out!" Eve teased in a whisper. Kaitlyn blushed.
"Excuse me! Celeste? I am your pro, Vickie" a woman spoke up from behind Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn turned to see Vickie Guerreo.
"Oh! Hi! It's nice to finally meet you!" Kaitlyn replied. Vickie nodded.
"Yeah, sorry about being late but I am the GM of Smackdown and was managing Nick so I could not show up earlier but I read over the script and should be good to go" Vickie answered. Before Kaitlyn could say anything, Matt interrupted.
"Alright everyone, I'm going out there. The NXT music will play and I will start with announcing Barbie" Matt explained before heading out to the ring. They could hear the cheers from backstage.
"Are you nervous?" Kelly asked Eve. Eve nodded.
"Yes! We've never been out there with such a large audience! What if I forget a line?" Eve moaned. Kelly wrapped an arm around Eve.
"Don't worry girl! I've got your back!" Kelly told her. They hear their cue and Kelly's music starts to play. Kelly winks at Eve and walks out. She announces Eve as her rookie and calls her rookie hot, fun, and feisty!
"Well… Eve is definitely feisty!" Maxine states and AJ laughs. The Bella twins come out next to their music and although, the relationship between the Bellas and Jamie had not changed, they followed the script when Brianna says that last season the WWE Universe watched their rookie do her thing on the mic. Nicole takes over and says that this season, their rookie is going to do her thing in the ring.
"Wow… could they sound any less excited?" Primo chuckles. AJ smiles.
"Well with Jamie as their rookie… it's kind of hard too" AJ grins. Primo winks at her.
"Don't worry, when I go out there, I'll make sure to sound REALLY excited!" Primo teases and AJ blushes.
"I'm sure you will" AJ winks. Jamie finally walks out after Nicole talks about how tight Jamie's body is.
Primo walks out next and he says that his rookie is like a firecracker; she's small but she will light you up. He brings out AJ who bounces out in her excitement. Alicia Fox struts out to the stage after AJ and Primo, and she introduces her rookie as the meanest of the mean. Maxine walks out with a smirk. Goldust follows them and says he is going to premiere the next breakout star and he breathes Aksana's name out.
"That was kind of creepy" Eve murmurs to Kelly who nods in agreement in the ring. Aksana walks out in a gold dress.
"Ready Celeste?" Vickie murmurs backstage before putting on her bitch face and walking out screaming "Excuse Me" into the microphone. Vickie introduces her new rookie, Kaitlyn before describing her as almost as pretty as herself. Josh decides to use that time to tell the WWE universe that earlier today he was hanging out with Matt and that Striker saw Kaitlyn and was absolutely smitten with her. Although that was not a part of the script, Josh snuck that taunt in to tease Matt who blushed alongside Kaitlyn.
Matt welcomes the girls and says they have a long, arduous three-month journey ahead of them. He talks about how being a Diva is a great achievement in the entertainment word and he says all the rookies will be tested on how smart, sexy, and powerful they are. He reveals that like last season, the votes will be split fifty/fifty between the pros and the fans. He tells Kaitlyn that she is up first to explain who she is and why she wants to win NXT.
Kaitlyn, deciding to embrace the teasing, begins by telling Matt how handsome he is. Matt blushes and Eve raises an eyebrow at Kaitlyn. That was not a part of the script… Kaitlyn begins her speech about being the girl who gave you your first kiss and then giving you a wedgie two seconds later. She talks about being the girl-next-door and how she's excited to be here. The crowd cheers but when she's done, Vickie's not impressed and she makes Kaitlyn go back and do it again. Kaitlyn puts on a fake front and says that she is SO EXCITED to have Vickie as her pro. The crowd begins to boo.
Aksana is up second. She talks in broken English and in third person no less about being a billion dollar baby from Lithuania. She rambles on and eventually switches to her native tongue, and then back to English. Aksana loves her dog, going to the gym, and the colors black and gold like her pro, Goldust. They exchange air kisses and Aksana flirts with the crowd and asks them to let her entertainment them. The girls stifle their laughter as Aksana forgets her lines yet sounds even better.
Maxine goes third and she immediately calls Aksana out on her promo because that's just who Maxine is, once again not in the script. Maxine says that she has three senses: business, street, and common sense. She says the average person is lucky to have those qualities. She says that she isn't average. She's a triple threat and not only that, she's a triple threat in a skirt. She says that the only position for her in the WWE is a position at the top. The crowd lets out an oooooh.
AJ goes next. She turns to Maxine and tells her that, first of all, someone seriously needs to hug you (not in the script). Maxine winks back at her but pretends to fume. AJ talks about how she's been dreaming about being a Diva for the past thirteen years and that she can't wait to have her own action figure with exaggerated body measurements. She says that she is going to win NXT and that there's not a girl or a damn thing that can stop her before giggling again outside of the script. The crowd cheers.
Jamie goes fifth and she starts to read from her imaginary teleprompter. She then recites something that sounds like part of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech. She does say she is going to win and being the next breakout Diva. Wow she sounds so forced and fake Eve thinks. Maxine rolls her eyes. You might as well have brought the script out here with you Maxine snarks. The crowd is silent for her speech.
Eve goes last. Eve begins by talking about how the eyes are the windows to a person's soul and if anyone looks into her eyes, they will see the passion and drive she has. Eve continues by saying that the WWE Universe has been missing something for a long time and that something is her. Eve says that she's a fighter and that she will not back down or be intimidated by anyone of any size. She talks about how she is the girl that everyone wants and that she will show the WWE Universe why that is. The crowd cheers again but is louder than before.
Matt thanks the girls and says that the girls all seem smart, sexy, and powerful but they are going to test it. The first rookie challenge of the season is going to take place right after a commercial break. While the crowd is watching videos on the monitor, Matt turns to the girls.
"Great job ladies. You all did great and I like how some of you deviated slightly from your scripts to make it more natural. Jamie, please relax a little and act like you're talking to a friend because you're a little tense" Matt told them. Eve nudged Kaitlyn.
"Way to flirt with Matt. I thought you weren't into him?" Eve asked teasingly. Kaitlyn shrugged.
"I don't know. He's super-hot and since everyone else is teasing us, why not embrace it? Nick is not here yet" Kaitlyn winks and Eve giggles.
"You're sooo bad!" Eve hoots quietly and Kaitlyn smirks.
"Okay we're back from the break" Matt states before he welcomes everyone back to NXT and announces the first rookie challenge. It's a Diva Dance Challenge and he tells the crowd that the first elimination will take place in four weeks time. He also says that the girl who has the most wins in challenges will be immune from elimination. Eve is told that she is first but before she begins Matt says she needs a dance partner. Low and behold, Cole stands up and he is wearing bright red leg warmers before putting on a funny little hat and Matt makes jokes about him being that girl from Dirty Dancing and Fred Astaire.
Music starts to play and Eve grabs Cole and starts to salsa. Well she's doing the salsa and Cole is trying to keep up. Eve finishes when Cole spins her and she does a split and the crowd screams before Eve blows them a kiss. Eve grinned. She was so glad the creative team let her change the dance to a salsa because Eve loves to dance and it was much better than what they had wanted her to do.
After Eve, Jamie goes and she gets to dance with Cole as well. Jamie is not a dancer, needless to stay. She sort shakes her hips and whatnot, but it's just real painful to watch. Jamie doesn't get a very good crowd reaction either. The girls once again try to stifle their laughter.
AJ is up third and instead of dancing with Michael Cole, she gets Tony Chimmel. Tony puts on the funny little hat and stares at AJ like she's a tiny piece of meat. Anyway, the dancing gets underway and AJ tries to get aggressive and grabs Chimmel by the tie. She dances around him and it looks like she's choking him but he damn sure doesn't care, that's for sure. Well that was as awkward as I thought it'd be AJ thinks when she's done.
Maxine has to follow that up and she tries to be sexy and starts to peel off her suspenders. Chimmel and Maxine dance and Maxine dances around him while Chimmel sort of hops up and down awkwardly.
Matt sends Chimmel to his seat and calls for Aksana to come on next. Matt gets her a special dance partner and it's Josh Mathews. He grabs Aksana and they share a sweet slow dance. Aksana really likes it and she looks happy. Matt calls it a bad bar mitzvah!
Kaitlyn is up next. She is also supposed to dance with Josh and she hands off her shoes to Matt before whispering, "I wish I could dance with you" and Matt grins. The music starts playing again and Kaitlyn busts out into the robot and then the Carlton. Josh tries to keep up but he is failing. Kaitlyn thought the dance contest was definitely the best part.
At that, it's over and Matt turns to the crowd for their reactions. Eve takes the first ever rookie challenge of the season and as she celebrates in the ring and the first match of the night is promoted. When NXT returns it's going to be Kelly and Eve taking on Alicia and Maxine.
The girls head backstage so that Maxine, Alicia, Eve and Kelly can change.
"Well that was fun!" AJ grins and the three other girls nod.
"Kaitlyn, way to flirt!" Maxine teases and Kaitlyn shrugs.
"Well he's cute so it's not too hard" she giggles. Eve smiles but sighs inwardly. She misses Punk.
"I didn't know you could dance like that!" Kelly exclaims when the girls return to the locker room and Eve walks over to her locker to change.
"Thank you! I took dance classes when I was younger and I've always loved salsa!" Eve answered.
"Well good job out there! You kicked butt in the dance competition and now it's time to kick butt in the ring!" Kelly laughed.
"Thanks Barbie" Eve replies before reaching into her locker and pulling out a gold and black top and shorts. (A/N Picture Eve's outfit with Cryme Tyme back on Word Up when the WoD was EVE)
"Ooh cute!" Kelly grinned. Eve smiled.
"Yeah, after seeing your ring gear and how sparkly it was, I decided to spice up my ring gear a little…" she replied. They return to gorilla position and Eve grins when she sees Maxine.
"Nice outfit!" she says when she sees the white wrestling dress that Maxine is wearing.
Maxine and Alicia enter the ring and once the commercial is over, Kelly's music hits and she walks out with Eve to the sound of cheers. The match goes by as rehearsed with all four girls getting in some action. At the end of the match, Maxine begins nailing Eve with a host of shoulder blocks and then flips her down into a sitting position. Things get really confusing because Eve reverses it into a small package and Alicia runs in and just stands there. Kelly comes in and attacks Alicia, and Eve picks up the win. The bell rings and Maxine looks confused as to what just happened. Eve was not supposed to win but Maxine forgot to kick out because she got slightly nervous. Cole and Mathews blame the weird ending on Chimmel.
Kelly and Eve celebrate anyway, while Alicia stares down Kelly and walks off with Maxine. Another rookie challenge is announced and NXT goes to commercial break.
"Oh god! I can't believe I did that! Shit!" Maxine curses when she and Alicia get backstage.
"It's okay girl. This happens to all of us. Shake it off! You'll do better next time" Alicia states calmly but Maxine is still upset. When they return backstage, Maxine quickly finds Eve who is talking to Kelly.
"I'm soooo sorry Eve! I am SUCH an idiot! How could I do something that stupid?! I ruined our match!" Maxine cries. Eve hugs Maxine.
"It's okay Karls! We all make mistakes! You just got a little nervous!" Eve comforted. Maxine shrugged Eve off.
"It's not okay guys. No matter how much you say it, I'm the moron who forgot to kick out…. God I'm probably going to be the first eliminated because of this!" Maxine moaned. Eve wanted to comfort Maxine a little more but the capture the flag challenge was up.
When the show returned from commercial, all the rookie girls were lined up on the stage in their ring gear to wait for the show to resume. Once Matt gets the signal, he points out that Eve is one step closer to immunity and tells the girls that positioned around the arena are five stations, all with flags. The object is to grab a flag to move to the next station. At each station, the girl without a flag will be eliminated from the challenge. Matt tells them to get ready and actually, they false start. Matt coyly tells them that he didn't give the signal for them to start so they all retreat back to the top of the stage. He gives them the command and they take off running. Several girls get a flag prettily easily but there's a nice little fight between Kaitlyn and Jaimie for the last one. Kaitlyn finally gets her hands on it and Jaimie becomes the first rookie eliminated from Capture the Flag. Jaimie gives Kaitlyn a very dirty look before walking to the stage.
The girls line up again and Matt tells them to go. They take off and this time they have to scale the barricade. Eve grabs a flag and she's followed by Maxine, Aksana, and Kaitlyn. AJ fails in her quest to move on and Matt sends her back to the stage. For the third round, the girls remain in the crowd and this time, Aksana is the last one to make. She gets eliminated so Maxine, Eve, and Kaitlyn move to the second to last round of the challenge. Round four starts and Maxine takes a spill on accident. She hits the steel like a ton of bricks and goes down but determined to make up for her earlier mistake, she gets right back up and jumps off the barricade, grabbing a flag in the process. She moves forward and Eve does as well.
The final round is Eve against Maxine. Matt asks Maxine is she's okay, and she shrugs off what just happened to her. Eve glances at Maxine in worry but does not have time to ask her if she's okay because the final phase begins. Eve edges out Maxine and grabs the last flag with an impressive leap. The crowd totally erupts and Eve is excited inside the ring. The NXT music starts to play and the main event for the evening, a mixed tag match featuring the male pros and their rookie Divas is revealed. NXT goes to commercial.
"Are you okay Karlee?! That was a sick spill you took!" Kaitlyn cried when she saw Maxine walk backstage.
"I'm fine. That really hurt but I needed to redeem myself for my earlier mistake!" Maxine states. Eve shakes her head.
"Alicia and I both told you that you were fine but if that made you feel better about it, that's fine" Eve told her and Maxine smirked.
After all that, the first rookie Diva video package of the season plays and it belongs to Jamie. Jamie credits her mom with getting her into fitness and she tells the viewers that she did dance, cheerleading, and track. Jamie goes on to say that she first got into weight lifting when she was a cheerleader and that she fell in love with it. She says weight lifting is a big part of her life and then shows her biceps. Jamie explains that before she decided to become a Diva, she was in nursing school and that she never had a passion for that. What she does have passion for is the WWE and she's completely addicted to everything about it. Jamie says that ring announcing has given her an advantage because the crowd already knows her. She strives to be greater, though. She wants to get in the ring and she wants to start winning. She says that her diverse athletic background, as well as her drive and determination will set her apart from the other girls. Jamie says that Trish Stratus is someone she wants to emulate, and she ends by saying that she is sexy, strong, and she wants to be a role model.
"A role model?" Maxine snorts from the locker room where she and the other girls were watching.
"Please. She is NOT sexy or strong" Nikki exclaims glaring at Jaimie from her seat.
"Yeah, like you two are?!" Jaimie retorts.
"Ladies, please don't argue! Let's just watch the end of the show!" Kelly states as she tries to smooth things over.
"Whatever" all three girls mutter.
Once the video ends, Aksana and Goldust make their way to the ring for their match against AJ and Primo. They pose in the ring while they wait for AJ and Primo. Primo's music starts to play and the two walk out. AJ and Primo get in the ring and a few minutes later, the bell rings to start the final match of the night. All four get to show themselves off. Towards the end, Aksana hits a bad forearm that doesn't connect with AJ's face and they both end up screwing up AJ's finisher. Instead of freaking out like Eve/Maxine, however, Aksana and AJ simply set things up again and Aksana ends up planted with a bulldog. AJ goes for the cover and she gets the three count, winning the match for her team. AJ and Primo celebrate in the ring while Goldust starts to check on Aksana.
Vickie suddenly comes out and interrupts their celebration, dragging Kaitlyn along with her. Kaitlyn looks petrified and Vickie starts screaming into the microphone. She forces Kaitlyn into the ring and tells everyone that she wants to take this opportunity to have Kaitlyn say her introductions one more time. Kaitlyn doesn't want anything to do with this. Primo is furious and he gets on to Vickie for sucking the fun out of AJ's celebration. He tells her that she has no right to ruin the moment and Vickie fires back that she basically doesn't give a damn about AJ's moment. Vickie tells Primo that he may be okay with living with failure, but she lives with and demands success. Vickie turns to Kaitlyn and yells at her to say it.
Before Kaitlyn can speak, AJ jumps in and tells Vickie that she needs to go away. Vickie screams at AJ that she needs to learn who she's talking to and then screams at Kaitlyn to sic AJ. Everyone looks confused but Vickie is adamant, and Kaitlyn has no choice but to attempt to attack AJ. Kaitlyn goes for a body slam, but AJ wiggles out of it and sends Kaitlyn flying into Vickie. Vickie goes down with Kaitlyn on top of her and Vickie is not a happy camper. Primo and AJ are beside themselves with laughter and Kaitlyn is freaking out and trying to apologize. Vickie is screaming and breaking down, and she eventually rolls out of the ring. She quickly regains her self-control, sticks her nose in the air, and walks off. Kaitlyn timidly follows behind her, still apologizing. AJ and Primo start celebrating in the ring again and episode one of season three comes to a close.
"Wow Celeste! You are a great actress! You really looked scared of me!" Vickie exclaims once she and Kaitlyn return backstage.
"Thanks Vickie! And you were amazing too! I couldn't believe the amount of boos you got!" Kaitlyn answers. Vickie smiles.
"That is due to tons and tons of practice!" Vickie replies as they walk into the locker room.
"Hey! Great match out there!" Eve calls out when AJ walks in.
"Thanks! Aksana sort of messed up the ending but it seemed like we fixed it okay!" AJ states.
"At least neither of you forgot to kick out!" Maxine scowls and the others ignore her.
"Knock knock ladies! You better all be dressed!" a voice called. It was a member of the creative team.
"Alright so that was an okay first episode. Maxine, Eve, AJ, Aksana: those were disappointing matches and we think you should do better next time. Kaitlyn, no more flirting with Striker. We're going to pair you up with Dolph Ziggler not Matt Striker! Jaimie, you need to work on your promos because you sounded too monotone! Aksana, we loved your broken English thing so… keep doing that! Other than that, great job! We'll see you tomorrow at 9 AM sharp for next week's script and rehearsal" the man tells them before leaving.
"Sure thing. We'll make sure the next episode is much better!" AJ states.
Meanwhile back in FCW, Punk and Alberto just finished watching NXT together.
"Wow. That was….something" Alberto says.
"Yeah, that was something alright" Punk snorts. Alberto shrugs.
"Well at least the girls are getting a chance to be on TV…" Alberto states optimistically.
"True… but seriously? Eve talked about her eyes?" Punk asked annoyed. Alberto shrugged.
"Ehh the writers told us something about that… besides she won two challenges today and her match. That's a plus for me!" Alberto said adding his two cents. Punk shrugs.
"Well yeah! I knew Eve would be amazing…" Punk retorts before pausing and staring longingly at the screen, "Do you think she'll win?"
"In a fair fight, I'm pretty sure. Scripted however, I hope so" Alberto answers as he shrugs. Punk sighs. God I miss you already he thinks to himself.
"I'm just going to go…" he says quietly before walking out the door. I need to wallow alone.
"Hmm so the fire is on both sides…" Alberto murmurs as he watches Punk leave despondently. He hadn't thought that both Punk and Eve would have been so depressed without the company of the other... it was worse than he had originally thought. At this point, there were two paths to take: either tell Eve about having a talk with Punk or leave it be and hope that both would feel better.
WWE Roster:
Phil – CM Punk
April – AJ Lee
Celeste – Kaitlyn
Karlee – Maxine
Nick – Dolph Ziggler
Nicole and Brianna – Nikki and Brie Bella
Barbie – Kelly Kelly
Hey so what do you guys think of the summary of NXT and then backstage like this? Do you like it or should I just skip over the NXT episodes? Also who would you guys rather see Kaitlyn with: Matt or Dolph? Review and let me know your thoughts!