Percy Watson Nicholas " Nick " McNeil ( August 19 , 1981 ) is an American colored commentator , professional wrestler and former professional football player signed to WWE in their developmental territory NXT under the ring name Percy Watson as a commentator . McNeil has also wrestled independently as Cordell Porter . Football career . College . Nick McNeil graduated from Western Carolina University with a bachelor ' s degree in computer information systems . He was a 3 time All - Southern Conference selection at linebacker for the Catamounts . As a sophomore , he led the Southern Conference in sacks with 10 . As a junior , he led the conference in fumble recoveries . He finished his career tied for 4th all time on the WCU tackles - for - loss list with 45 . He finished 6th on the WCU all - time sack list with 18 . 5 . Professional football . After college , McNeil signed a free agent contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers and bounced around the NFL spending time with the Washington Redskins , Green Bay Packers , and the New York Giants . He never played in a regular season game , but did play briefly in the divisonal round of the 2005 - 06 NFL playoffs ( January 14 , 2006 : Washington Redskins vs . Seattle Seahawks ) . Professional wrestling career . World Wrestling Entertainment . Florida Championship Wrestling ( 2009 – 2010 ) . McNeil signed a developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) in 2009 and began training with their development territory , Florida Championship Wrestling ( FCW ) . He made his FCW debut in September 2009 under his real name Nick McNeil , however shortly after that he tweaked his name to Chris McNeil . On October 1 , 2009 , he re - introduced himself as Percy Watson along with his tag team partner Darren Young and they called themselves the South Beach Boys . NXT ( 2010 - 2013 , 2016 - present ) . McNeil participated in the second season of " NXT " under the name of Percy Watson , with MVP as his mentor . Watson made his debut on the June 8 , 2010 episode of " NXT " with the nickname " Showtime " Percy Watson , teaming with MVP and defeating Husky Harris and Cody Rhodes . Watson was noted for being fun , energetic and similar to Eddie Murphy . As part of his gimmick , Watson wore red glasses and even wrestled with his glasses on . In the " NXT " poll on the June 29 episode , Watson was ranked in second place , just behind Kaval . On July 6 , Watson won the Talk - the - Talk challenge and is rewarded with the chance to host a talk show the following week . In his talk show segment , Watson had his Pro MVP as his talk show guest . However , in order to make a statement , Watson tried to set up MVP to receive an attack from the other Rookies , but the other Pros came to MVP ' s aid . On the July 20 episode of " NXT " , Watson was a guest on MVP ' s VIP Lounge , where he was confronted by MVP about his actions the previous week . The two made amends after a heartfelt apology from Watson . On the July 27 episode of " NXT " , Watson became the first Rookie to defeat a Pro in a singles match by defeating Zack Ryder . On the August 17 episode of " NXT " , Watson was eliminated from the show , finishing fifth overall . After Season 2 of " NXT " , Watson then competed in various dark matches but never appeared on WWE programming . Watson returned on WWE programming on the September 8 episode of " WWE Superstars " without glasses and with a more toned - down gimmick , teaming with Titus O ' Neil in a losing effort against Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks . He then redebuted on the fifth season of " NXT " not as a Rookie , but as Titus O ' Neil ' s friend and tag team partner . Watson and O ' Neil would enjoy success against Derrick Bateman and Tyson Kidd , as well as Bateman and JTG . However , Watson and O ' Neil would find themselves unable to beat Darren Young and JTG . Watson would also compete as a singles competitor on NXT , earning wins against the likes of Tyler Reks and Heath Slater . After O ' Neil turned his back on the fans , he urged Watson to do the same on the January 25 , 2012 episode of " NXT " . When Watson refused , O ' Neil shoved him and a match between the two was booked , leading to O ' Neil defeating Watson . O ' Neil continued to attack Watson after the match , leading to Alex Riley saving Watson . On the February 1 and February 29 episodes of " NXT " , Watson and Riley teamed up to face O ' Neil and Young , but were defeated both times . On the March 7 episode of " NXT " , Watson received his rematch against O ' Neil and defeated O ' Neil . From late April , Watson was involved in a storyline in which he was blamed for various backstage attacks on other wrestlers , but the storyline was abruptly dropped as NXT Redemption drew to a close . On the final episode of the fifth season of " NXT " on June 13 , Watson teamed with Derrick Bateman in a loss to Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks . After the conclusion of " NXT Redemption " , NXT transitioned into the renamed Florida Championship Wrestling developmental territory . Watson continued on appearing on the rebooted " WWE NXT " show in a loss to Jinder Mahal on the July 18 episode . It would be the start of a losing streak for Watson , who went on to lose to the likes of Kassius Ohno and Leo Kruger in 2012 . Watson then formed an occasional team with Yoshi Tatsu , but they could find no success either ; losing to the Ascension ( Conor O ' Brian and Kenneth Cameron ) on the November 14 , 2012 episode of " NXT " . On the January 23 , 2013 episode of " NXT " , Watson and Tatsu entered the NXT Tag Team Championship Tournament to crown the inaugural champions but were defeated by the Wyatt Family ( Luke Harper and Erick Rowan ) in the first round . On May 17 , 2013 , Watson was released ; his final televised match was a loss in a six man tag match against The Shield . The reason behind his release from WWE is because he showed an attitude change since he is taken off the road as a " RAW " member , by missing practices . Independent circuit ( 2014 ) . After being released , Watson made his independent debut on June 14 , 2014 at Universal Championship Wrestling event called UCW Hometown Throwdown , in Georgia where he lost to Lance Hoyt . Return to WWE . NXT color commentator ( 2016 – present ) . On November 30 , 2016 , at the " WWE NXT " taping , Watson returned as the third man in the broadcast booth , joining Tom Phillips and Corey Graves .