| rdfs:comment | - NXT Redemption, the fifth season of NXT, started on March 8, 2011. The season consists of six rookies chosen from all previous non-Diva seasons returning to compete for a spot in the sixth season of NXT alongside a WWE Superstar of their choice as their pro for that season. Immunity and the immunity points system have been replaced in this season with a "redemption point" system, where, in the result of a tie at the bottom place between the pros' poll and the fan vote, the person with the most redemption points avoids elimination. On June 25, 2011, Chavo Guerrero was granted a release from the WWE, leaving Darren Young without a pro, unlike Carlito of season one where he was released after his rookie, Michael Tarver, was already eliminated.
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| abstract | - NXT Redemption, the fifth season of NXT, started on March 8, 2011. The season consists of six rookies chosen from all previous non-Diva seasons returning to compete for a spot in the sixth season of NXT alongside a WWE Superstar of their choice as their pro for that season. Immunity and the immunity points system have been replaced in this season with a "redemption point" system, where, in the result of a tie at the bottom place between the pros' poll and the fan vote, the person with the most redemption points avoids elimination. On June 25, 2011, Chavo Guerrero was granted a release from the WWE, leaving Darren Young without a pro, unlike Carlito of season one where he was released after his rookie, Michael Tarver, was already eliminated. On June 28, after Conor O'Brian was eliminated, Derrick Bateman was brought back. Daniel Bryan also returned as Bateman's pro, but weeks after not appearing with Bateman after he turned heel, Bryan said he was disowning Bateman due to the rookie's actions. On August 5, Vladimir Kozlov was also released from the WWE but, similar to Carlito, his rookie was already eliminated. While no divas from season three were part of the competition, since the end of regular eliminations June 28 both AJ Lee & Maxine have returned as the girlfriends of Hornswoggle and Bateman respectively. In later episodes, NXT Redemption was devoid of the typical challenges and eliminations while pros have feuded with each other, Young (later joined by JTG) with host Matt Striker and announcer William Regal, Yoshi Tatsu with Tyson Kidd and Bateman/Maxine with O'Neil/Hornswoggle/AJ. On September 27, Hornswoggle delivered a letter to AJ and O'Neil claiming he was being anchored to the dead NXT ship and needing to set sail to Smackdown, leaving Titus (the last rookie being mentored) without a pro. On October 5, NXT moved to its new day and time, Wednesday at 4 p.m. EST. NXT Redemption also featured lower card superstars signed to the RAW or Smackdown brands, competing not as pros or rookies, like Yoshi Tatsu, Trent Baretta, The Usos, Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins, as well as former NXT contestants Percy Watson, season 3 winner Kaitlyn, and season 4 winner Johnny Curtis. It was announced on October 6 that Darren Young was suspended by WWE for 30 days for violating of the company's wellness policy. On the October 12 edition of NXT, O'Neil and Bateman were referred to as the final two rookies in the competition with no mention whatsoever of Young, implying that he was eliminated from the competition due to his suspension. Young's suspension ended on November 5, and Young returned on the November 16th edition of NXT. The following week, in his return match Young teamed with Tyler Reks to defeat the team of Titus O'Neil and Percy Watson. On January 11, 2012, NXT debuted a new intro which replaced the intro containing only the remaining finalists. The new intro features all the talent from NXT Redemption, including WWE Superstars from Raw and Smackdown currently on the show, confirming the end of the rookie competition format. In the weeks leading up to the show's 100th episode, stars from Raw and Smackdown who got their start on NXT, including Justin Gabriel, Michael McGillicutty, Alex Riley and Heath Slater, made special appearances. NXT celebrated its 100th episode special on January 18 in Las Vegas with O'Neil decisively defeating Young in a No Disqualification Match, before going on an anger-fueled tirade in which he insulted his former pro Hornswoggle and berated the fans in attendance, turning heel in the process. Derrick Bateman interrupted the wedding between Maxine and Johnny Curtis with footage of Curtis hacking Bateman's iPad to send an email to Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long. The email, sent through Bateman's address, contained disparaging remarks about Maxine and ultimately drove her into Curtis' arms. Upon this revelation Maxine slapped Curtis in the face and kissed Bateman. The following week O'Neil furthered his heel turn by assaulting his former friend and tag team partner, Percy Watson after O'Neil defeated Watson. On the February 1 edition of NXT, O'Neil even further solidified his transformation by aligning himself with his former rival Darren Young as they competed in a tag team match against Percy Watson and Alex Riley. On February 29, on the "one year anniversary" of season five (actually over a full week prior to its March 8 anniversary), Matt Striker announced that William Regal would take over as the authority figure and match coordinator, with Striker being retained as the show's host. On March 14, William Regal put together a special episode featuring "the lost art" of tag teaming, as the Usos defeated Young and O'Neil, Hawkins and Reks defeated Riley and Watson and Bateman and Kaitlyn defeated Curtis and Maxine in a mixed tag team match. On April 18, it was announced that Darren Young and Titus O'Neil would also compete on the SmackDown brand under orders of the show's General Manager, John Laurinaitis. On April 25, it was announced by Matt Striker that new wrestlers will appear on NXT due to Titus O'Neil and Darren Young leaving the show to go compete on SmackDown. This made Derrick Bateman the unofficial winner of NXT Redemption. Season five is by far the longest to date. The first season was a distant second at 15 episodes. This is due to the fact that all rookie competition was abandoned during late 2011 and it became a regular television season rather than a shorter competition. On May 17, NXT began taping episodes from its new home, Full Sail University in Florida. Four episodes of NXT were taped on this night. The new direction of NXT is intended to grant national exposure to stars from WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, as a way to refine their skills on a grander stage, while being provided the opportunity to compete against or alongside current WWE Superstars before being called up to the main roster. The episodes taped on May 17 are part of a new season with the air date or networks uncertain. Despite the May 17 tapings NXT Redemption continued to be taped on Tuesdays, along with Smackdown for another four weeks. The final episode of NXT Redemption streamed on June 13, where it was announced that the new season would begin airing the following week. NXT Redemption was by far the longest season in the show's history, exceeding the total number of episodes for all previous seasons, not just individually but combined.
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