We're two episodes in...

[Back to being Cenanuff]

...and so far, I'm riveted. They're really putting on a great show in NXT, and I can already see an upper card and a lower card forming. The upper card would be Bryan, Sheffield, Otunga, and Gabriel. All these guys have impressed me so far. Darren Young has a big Rocky Maivia feel to him, but I like how Punk shunned him the first episode, then helped him with the win the second episode. I like where they're going with this. Barrett and Tarver, we just haven't seen enough of. Ginger redneck rocker just annoys me. But in all, they're moving in a great direction with this, and it's doing a great job keeping my interest. Good job, WWE. I wasn't sure about this when I saw it, but now I'm hooked.

[Deleted]

I still don't get the fascination with Otunga, but other than that I pretty much agree with you. As for Slater, yeah, he's mostly just annoying.

Though the thing with Carlito was hilarious.

[Legion]

I agree.

If they release a 'Season One' DVD with kayfabe breaking backstage stuff and interviews and things like that, I'd buy it in a heartbeat

[Dub H]

Now im glad ECW was ended,because we received NXT

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2010 11:04:23 GMT -5 Dub H said:

Now im glad ECW was ended,because we received NXT

It's a little like losing five hundred thousand dollars then winning a million a week later.

[Back to being Cenanuff]

Mar 3, 2010 11:00:16 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

I still don't get the fascination with Otunga, but other than that I pretty much agree with you. As for Slater, yeah, he's mostly just annoying.

Though the thing with Carlito was hilarious.

It's not so much a fascination with Otunga, as it is an appreciation of the fact that he seems to know what he's doing in the ring. He sells the way you'd expect someone to sell. He reacted properly to Punk's interference. The shove to R-Truth was a little out of left field, but if they're trying to build tension between rookie and pro, it's a good place to start.

[Dub H]

Mar 3, 2010 11:13:03 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Mar 3, 2010 11:04:23 GMT -5 Dub H said:

Now im glad ECW was ended,because we received NXT

It's a little like losing five hundred thousand dollars then winning a million a week later.

haha,exact

[mcmahonfan85]

i'd say the upper card would be Bryan, Barrett and Otunga, midcard would be Slater and Gabriel, and lower card would be Sheffield, Tarver and Young

the one thing i really don't like about the show is Michael Cole. its not because he was bitching about Danielson last week, its that because he's inconsistant about it. Danielson mouths off to his pro and Cole vilifies him, Otunga shoves his pro then gets into a fight with him minutes later and Cole doesn't say one word.

[Back to being Cenanuff]

Well, with Cole, he's playing the part of the company man who sees the WWE as the pinnacle of sports entertainment, and has no respect for the indies. None of the other guys besides Bryan has an indy resume, let alone one to be proud of, so Cole does a Heenan on him, and only him. The other guys he's okay with, because they're trying to work entirely within the WWE system. Incidentally, Jericho could have a bright future as a heel commentator.

[Deleted]

This show is pretty good two episodes in though. I honestly thought I'd hate these rookies, but a lot of them show promise. Jericho's rookie (Barrett) looks like a legit killer though.

I just like the way Young was trying to get Punk's approval all throughout the match. Its like when he's properly motivated - he can kick some butt, but when he's just having fun, he loses focus and will lose in a heartbeat.

[chac]

I am enjoying the show especially The Miz and Daniel Bryan stuff. It is a great way to get guys over before just tossing them to the dogs on Raw or Smackdown.

[mcmahonfan85]

i think Punk & Regal should form an alliance on NXT so they could be indifferent/disappointed with their rookies together. they could be Team Who The Hell Did I Piss Off To Get Stuck Doing This. only good things would come out of it

[parder]

Long, long way to go, but how do you see the Pros making their votes at the end of the season based on what we've seen so far?

They didn't say much about the kind of voting system to be used. The two most plausible would be to just have a first-past-the-post ballot (guy with the most votes wins) or it could be done elimination style with the guy(s) with least votes being knocked out through each round of voting until you get one eventual winner. There's also a chance that perhaps the winner gets a Raw contract, and the runner-up gets a Smackdown contract.

Anyway, assuming they just did a first-past-the-post vote amongst the 8 Pros at this stage I can a few different scenarios for votes that would fit the characters of the Pros:

Jericho will probably go with Tarver or Bryan
Regal with Barrett or Bryan
Carlito with Barrett or Otunga
Matt Hardy with Slater or Bryan
Christian with Gabriel or Bryan
R-Truth with Gabriel
Punk with Tarver or Bryan
Miz with Otunga

So two possible vote tallies would be:

Barret 2
Tarver 2
Gabriel 2
Bryan 1
Otunga 1
Slater 1

or

Bryan 5
Otunga 2
Gabriel 1

I'd need to see a lot more from Young and Sheffield to see how any of the characters amongst the Pros could conceivably vote for them. It would probably be better if they do it elimination style anyway as that allows more for the angle where you get voting alliances, particularly amongst heels where one heel Pro can promise favours to another Pro to vote for their Rookie if theirs gets knocked out and vice versa.

[Spankymac is sick of the swiss]

I guess I'm the only Heath Slater fan around? Damn, I was hoping he'd catch on.

[Marvelously Mediocre]

Mar 3, 2010 12:26:43 GMT -5 Spankymac is sick of the swiss said:

I guess I'm the only Heath Slater fan around? Damn, I was hoping he'd catch on.

I love everyone in this except Tarver and Young.

Slater looks to have a really bright future based on his match last week and segment tonight he knows what he's doing and will hopefully go quite far in this.

NXT is one of the best ideas WWE has had in a long time. All the rookies have some supporters and people who dislike them. It certainly has got people talking.

[shadowforce420]

Mar 3, 2010 11:00:53 GMT -5 Legion said:

I agree.

If they release a 'Season One' DVD with kayfabe breaking backstage stuff and interviews and things like that, I'd buy it in a heartbeat

Me too, this is one of the best things WWE has done in a long time, atleast to me.

[Slammy Award-Winning Cannibal]

so the only thing on my mind is... if they're presumably doing 3 seasons a year. that's 24 'rookies' they're giving valuable TV time to.. with unique characters and rub from WWE superstars. so my question is -- what will they do after this? because if every year THREE rookies are chosen, where does everyone else go?

.. because it could go a variety of ways. Bryan could win but Otunga can just show up on SD and get signed by the GM. and Barrett could keep hanging around Jericho. and Young joins the SES. so there are ways for the rookies to be written into the show if WWE wanted them to hang around. but i guess in terms of the whole point of the NXT, wouldn't that sort of kill the objective?

my guess is that everyone goes back to FCW and gets groomed some more and eventually gets called back up as those characters, ala The Miz, etc.

thoughts?

[parder]

Mar 3, 2010 12:45:27 GMT -5 Slammy Award-Winning Cannibal said:

so the only thing on my mind is... if they're presumably doing 3 seasons a year. that's 24 'rookies' they're giving valuable TV time to.. with unique characters and rub from WWE superstars. so my question is -- what will they do after this? because if every year THREE rookies are chosen, where does everyone else go?

.. because it could go a variety of ways. Bryan could win but Otunga can just show up on SD and get signed by the GM. and Barrett could keep hanging around Jericho. and Young joins the SES. so there are ways for the rookies to be written into the show if WWE wanted them to hang around. but i guess in terms of the whole point of the NXT, wouldn't that sort of kill the objective?

my guess is that everyone goes back to FCW and gets groomed some more and eventually gets called back up as those characters, ala The Miz, etc.

thoughts?

It's not much different to Ultimate Fighter, the Diva Search, or Tough Enough where anyone who shows decent potential ends up getting signed down the road. The guy who wins the show just gets the more immediate rub from being able to claim he won a season of the show, and so gets the first shot at success on the roster. The rest just have to rely on repackaging down the line.

[Deleted]

I don't see how Sheffield is undercard

He's only had one match and it was a Main Event

[Deleted]

My guess, it'll be Diva Search style - one official winner, but with Teddy and whoever runs Raw on days that aren't Mondays picking up two or three others each due to being impressed with them. Which makes sense, though it could devalue the show a bit.