Matt Striker's our host and he brings out the Pros. What are their thoughts on Titus O'Neil's elimination? Zack Ryder thinks Titus was robbed! I had it all - Ryder as a pro, a dog bark noise -- what else would you need? John Morrison agrees -- he wouldn't have eliminated O'Neil, he would've eliminated...The Miz! Urf, urf, urf.
Striker brings out the Rookies. There's a podium in the ring, so it must be time for the "Talk the Talk" challenge -- the winner gets to host a talk show next week! They should just hand that to Percy Watson right now and save us the time.
And Watson's first. His subject: "Glasses." Kind of a gimme. Watson says he wears glasses because he has the vision to make it in WWE. He says his own name, hits his catchphrase, and the crowd eats it up.
Kaval is next: "Chicken." Kaval wisely avoids the literal meaning, saying that he's not chicken, and segueing into his usual "little man, big heart" thing.
Eli Cottonwood: "Mustache." Cottonwood starts with a definition of mustache, then says that he doesn't have one, and neither does anyone else here, and he has the best mustache because he's a man and the others are boys. He only figured out where he was going in the last few seconds, but too late to make any sense out of it. His Pro, John Morrison, hides his face behind his clipboard in embarrassment.
Michael McGillicutty: "Breath." McGillicutty talks at length about his pedigree, and then, at the very end, says he'll take our breath away. Kofi Kingston is very impressed with how McGillicutty brought it all back around. Straightforward, well delivered.
Husky Harris: "Doorknob." He used a doorknob to get into the building, and no one deserves to hear him talk. Well, on-topic, I guess.
"Lucky" Cannon: "Deodorant." Cannon lets us all know what deodorant is for, and then says that he's deodorant and the WWE is the sweat and stink, and they need each other. Points for trying to establish a metaphor, I suppose, although it was kind of a mess.
Alex Riley: "Pigeon." Riley has a clipboard for some reason -- did Miz delegate his note taking? Anyway, Riley's a rooster in a hen-house. It used to be him and seven dorks; now it's him and six pigeons. Totally nonsensical, but delivered with conviction.
Voting time: the WWE Universe applauds Watson wildly, less so Kaval and Cannon; McGillicutty gets a mixed-leaning-towards-negative reaction, and the rest are soundly booed.
Watson wins, and Michael Cole reveals his ideas for names for Percy's talk show: "Have Some Mercy with Percy" and "Showtime in Primetime." Josh Matthews, deadpan: "You are absolutely terrible."
Michael McGillicutty vs. Percy Watson: The Pros are on the apron. Good enough match -- not particularly smooth, but no big screw-ups either. Matthews points out that Watson has no lenses in his glasses. Watson tries hard and hits a nice dropkick, but McGillicutty FLIES over his head into a sunset flip for the pin.
Recap of the keg carry from last week, and O'Neil's elimination. They show him falling during the keg challenge over and over again in slow-mo, and the pros mock him mercilessly -- he sounds like a walrus, he's a clumsy oaf, his hand gesture is the best thing he'll ever do, he desperately needs to brush his teeth. Brutal.
Kaval vs. The Miz: The Miz dominates almost the entire match. Kaval fights back near the end with a sunset flip turned into a double footstomp and the Tidal Krush, but when he goes for the Warrior's Way, Miz knocks him off the top and hits the Skull-Crushing Finale for the win.
Video package of the Pros talking about Eli Cottonwood. He's big, but that's it: he's not all there, he's clumsy, and for a 7'+ guy he's just not very intimidating. He needs to go out there and start dominating.
Video package of the Pros talking about Husky Harris. Only Miz calls him "fat." Other pros dance around it (Kofi calls him "surprisingly athletic"), but seem to feel he's got a great look, a good personality; they feel he'll go far.
"Lucky" Cannon & Mark Henry vs. Husky Harris & Cody Rhodes: Short and uneventful match. Cannon's luck runs out when he gets taken to the Cross Rhodes, and Cody picks up the victory.
Next week: The Nexus returns home!
--K
(edited by Karlos the Jackal on 7.7.10 0220) Last 5 movies seen: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ***1/2 - A Single Man *** - Humpday ***1/2 - Fast Times at Ridgemont High n/a - Hot Tub Time Machine **
I got a little excited when Striker announced the Talk the Talk Challenge, anticipating someone stepping up like Wade Barrett did. That didn't quite happen.
Abraham Washington should be Percy Watson's guest on his show next week.
Alex Riley made a big gaffe when he said Vince McMahon was his boss, which Cole smartly called him on. Vince "isn't his boss", he's on NXT to try to win a WWE contract.
I wish I had LayCool cheering me on in whatever I did.
In general, I'm finding season 2 to be incredibly boring. It lacks both the novelty of wondering what the hell was going on with all of the season one rule changes and alterations to the format and the car crash quality season one had. Plus they stopped hurting Striker. Boo-urns.
Plus Kaval aside, who's the most fun to watch in the ring by light years, this crop of Rookies just isn't as interesting. The Nexus coming back will probably highlight that further.
I did think that this crop of 'rookies' did alot better at the Talk the Talk challenge than season 1's rookies where only Wade Barret really impressed me.
I liked Percy, Kaval and Michael McGillicuty's quite a bit, I even like Husky Harris' 'you voted me last so you don't deserve to hear me' snub.
Interesting that the pro/rookie partner not involved in the match is standing on the apron as if it was a tag match.
Is it just me or are the trying some new camera angles during matches. Or have they been doing this for a while an I'm just noticing now?
Originally posted by John OrquiolaI got a little excited when Striker announced the Talk the Talk Challenge, anticipating someone stepping up like Wade Barrett did. That didn't quite happen.
Abraham Washington should be Percy Watson's guest on his show next week.
Alex Riley made a big gaffe when he said Vince McMahon was his boss, which Cole smartly called him on. Vince "isn't his boss", he's on NXT to try to win a WWE contract.
I wish I had LayCool cheering me on in whatever I did.
In general, I'm finding season 2 to be incredibly boring. It lacks both the novelty of wondering what the hell was going on with all of the season one rule changes and alterations to the format and the car crash quality season one had. Plus they stopped hurting Striker. Boo-urns.
Plus Kaval aside, who's the most fun to watch in the ring by light years, this crop of Rookies just isn't as interesting. The Nexus coming back will probably highlight that further.
Let's be fair, last crop wasn't spectacular in the ring either, except for Bryan who had that losing streak going.
And the car crash quality that appealed to you is the one thing a lot of us rolled our eyes at, since it was obvious they had no idea. To be honest I never thought "oh great! They're making this up! Fun!" but I did think "let's see how lame this week's challenge is gonna be" (and yet I enjoyed the show)
I do agree that since everyone, including rookies, know how things went in season one, it's easier to prepare. The first batch seemingly had no idea they would be expected to cut a promo. This batch would have known it would happen and could've prepared better. It should make for a better show, but less of a car crash.
Originally posted by dMpLet's be fair, last crop wasn't spectacular in the ring either, except for Bryan who had that losing streak going.
And the car crash quality that appealed to you is the one thing a lot of us rolled our eyes at, since it was obvious they had no idea. To be honest I never thought "oh great! They're making this up! Fun!" but I did think "let's see how lame this week's challenge is gonna be" (and yet I enjoyed the show)
I do agree that since everyone, including rookies, know how things went in season one, it's easier to prepare. The first batch seemingly had no idea they would be expected to cut a promo. This batch would have known it would happen and could've prepared better. It should make for a better show, but less of a car crash.
I rolled my eyes at the car crash quality of season one too. It was a bad season of sports entertainment television. But I also think season 2 categorically hasn't particularly improved on season 1 in any real way.
Kaval has replaced Bryan as the Rookie Who Can Wrestle And Has Indy Cred. LayCool has been entertaining. Harris and McGuillicutty I would have expected to be further along than they've shown or have been allowed to show (the latter is the most likely) considering their heritage. I think Percy is a funny clown I don't take seriously. The rest don't particularly interest me. Actually, NXT season 2 as a whole hasn't particularly interested me. And Cole's hatred of Daniel Bryan was something really different and interesting season one brought to the table.
What I'm not seeing so far from any Rookie is what I saw in Wade Barrett, a guy who potentially could be a top guy given time and opportunity, not just a midcard or curtain jerker act. Once Barrett established himself (with help from Jericho, whose absence this season is glaring) as the favorite, he was the main focus of my rooting interest in season one. I also disliked Otunga intensely. No Rookie in season 2 as of yet has inspired either extreme of interest or emotion from me.
The only people NXT season 2 has gotten over with me are LayCool and Dashing Cody Rhodes.
(edited by John Orquiola on 7.7.10 0804) @BackoftheHead
"He had everything! He had me as his pro! HE HAD THE DOG BARK!" No one understands. The payoff to this season of NXT should be Ryder putting his career on the line - his LIFE on the line - to get Titus the WWE contract that he deserves. Dog Bark Day Afternoon, man.
McGillicuty is being hampered by being kinda, sorta presented as a face. You can tell he wants to play it as a heel and everthing about him makes it look like he should be doing it, but for whatever reason, they seem to keep putting him on the face side of things and he's doing what he can with it. I think, as a heel, he'd be running circles around Riley right now. Judging him solely on what he's done on NXT, he seems to have the best balance going, a good finisher and can think on his feet. I like him best after Kaval, and wish he had Morrison as his Pro, so they could build up some inevitable disdain for Morrison's weekly goofball micwork.
The next NXT challenge should be a moustache growing contest for all the rookies, since none of them have moustaches. Some of the Pros could grow full and manly moustaches as examples to their charges.
The Talk the Talk challenge certainly went better this season than last. Even the two worst promos (Cannon & Cottonwood) had a decent direction and probably could have come up with something tolerable if they'd had 5 minutes to prepare.
That was an absolute beauty of a sunset flip by McGillicuty. Since Nexus is going to be on the show next week, I propose a challenge between Percy Watson and David Otunga to see who can kick out of a sunset flip first.
Husky Harris is the clear stand out to me. He's decent in the ring, has a couple of really nice moves and has absolute 100% dedication to character. I'm wondering if (in reality, not NXT) whether Harris could actually end up benefiting Rhodes by helping him with character development.
LayCool deserve massive props. Everyone shit on the idea of them being Kaval's mentors when it was announced but they've kept the comedy in the background, for the most part, and are doing an excellent job of staying in character yet appearing to take their training of Kaval seriously. Kaval deserves just as much credit for playing the straight man, especially how he kept looking over to them at the beginning of his match with The Miz as if he were seriously taking their suggestions to heart.
I would have liked to have seen Kaval pick up the victory but The Miz has too much momentum coming off of his attack on R-Truth the night before and a loss would have killed that. I would expect to see a Riley/Kaval match up next week but they've already faced off one-on-one...
The idea of Percy Watson getting extended mic time is almost enough to make me skip next week.
I'm absolutely not invested in this "season" at all. Don't know whether it's because the guys are more bland; because it's less gonzo; because too many of the "pros" are barely better than their charges, are badly paired & aren't doing much. Or maybe it's just too soon on the heels of the previous "season", where those guys aren't even settled in yet.
I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't just read this thread, & you came up to me on the street & asked me to list who's in this batch, I might come up with 2 or 3 names without prompting. That's a baaad sign. (Actually, as I think about it, I'm not sure how many of the pros I'd spontaneously remember!)
Kaval: I like him a *lot*. I really wasn't all that impressed with Brian Danielson. Kaval is so far beyond the Danielson that I saw -- it's not even funny! He's not a great promo guy, but he pays attention & interacts well with whoever he's working with. I love his voice! :-) And I love his in-ring work! He's novel & interesting, but feels very precise & clean -- I love all that together.
Lucky: He gets extra points from me for being a cutie. (Hey, that counts in the screaming girls realm.) Pretty good worker, charismatic & charming, not awful on the mic.
Husky Harris: "Bad Belushi". John Belushi doing a bad impersonation of a wrestler, a la Nacho Libre. Or Eugene doing an impersonation of John Belushi. Or worse, Jim Belushi. Not working for me at any level. (IMO, wouldn't even have been looked at if he weren't a *triple* legacy, including daddy being a current employee.)
Miz Mark 2: Bland name, bland look. Might as well have been one of the Spirit Squad, 'cept he hasn't outgrown it.
Percy Whatever: Hate the gimmick. Sure, you think it's "cute" today, but much like the puppy chewing up your shoes, it's gonna get old real fast, & you'd wish you never laughed at it.
Eli Cottonwood: He certainly is tall. Like many of the other big, tall guys, we appreciate that you admire Kane, but he's got decades of backstory, plus a whole lot of talent, that makes it work. The big, tall guy who's just a little psycho doesn't fly. You've got to fully commit to batshit psycho & then dial it back -- and I'm still not convinced that'll still work out for you.
Uh, the other dirty blond who needs a shave: Is that one McGillacutty? (Has anybody explained to him that Lucille Ball's character's maiden name in "I Love Lucy" was MacGillicuddy? Every time they say it, that's where I go. Maybe he should dye his hair dark orange.) No kind of useful look, no personality, he doesn't engage me enough to care whether he can work or not. Would never have been there if he weren't a "legacy".
Oh, Titus O'Niel: Was at least a bit more interesting than some of the others -- more maturity, maybe. But yeah, not so good in-ring.
The thought occurred to me that Titus O'Neil would be a the perfect candidate for a twist on the bodyguard gimmick. Normally, you have the small guy who does all the working and talking and the big guy who just stands around silently and interjects himself physically when necessary. Titus can apparently talk, first episode stumbling aside, so why not pair him with a smaller guy who isn't so hot on the stick and let Titus do the talking and the smaller guy do the wrestling?
Has there ever been a big bodyguard who was actually good on the mic aside from maybe Diesel? (I was watching WCW at that point in time, so I never saw much of the Shawn/Diesel pairing.) I can think of a couple of guys who worked as the silent bodyguard and later demonstrated that they were capable of cutting interesting promos (Batista & Matt Morgan spring to mind. (Hey, remember when Matt Morgan's gimmick in WWE was that he *couldn't* talk right?)) but I no case springs to mind where the bodyguard did most of the talking.
I'm not sure who would be a good candidate for Titus to second. Ted Dibiase would be one possible candidate. Sure, he has Maryse but I think Titus could add considerably to that dynamic. Evan Bourne might be another possibility, if you wanted to give it even more of a twist and provide a bodyguard to a face. Maybe O'Neil is sick of seeing Bourne ambushed by guys like Sheamus and Orton and wants to help Bourne achieve the success that Titus wasn't given the opportunity to gain. Or you could pair him with Santino and just completely waste the entire idea!
I agree that the guy isn't so hot in the ring (I'm reluctant to refer to anyone as bad if they haven't actually hurt someone) but I think he still has something to offer...
Sing this special song. It's just for you. After the pros buried Titus like that, they deserve to see another six foot plus hoss join the Nexus and contribute to their beatings.
Aside from one awkward moment, Kaval's mic work was much improved. Here's hoping he keeps working on it.
McCool looked worried but our girl Layla straight up looked like she was reading the end of "Where the Red Fern Grows". I like her more every week.
I have to disagree with some of you. In my opinion, the new guys aren't more bland than the season 1 guys! No one can be as bland as Michael Tarver was. Or Heath Slater for that matter. Wade Barrett had a lot of charisma and rightfully won. And Daniel Bryan was a "superstar" already and always will be. But other than these two who wasn't bland and boring in season 1? This time we have guys like Kaval, who is totally different than anybody we have ever seen in the ring. I mean he's Sabu or Rey Mysterio-like different! Then you have Percy Watson - Oh yeah! And Beluah Hennig! I like this season a lot! But I agree with you as far as - I forgot his name - The Miz's new rookie is concerned - That guy really is bland!
Edit: I don't say that season 2 is better than season 1, but I don't feel that it's worse either.
SHAPRO'S POLL 1. Kaval 2. Percy Watson 3. Husky Harris 4. Alex Riley 5. Michael McGillicutty 6. Lucky Cannon 7. Eli Cottonwood
Bottom two are useless. Top five seem like they could be worthwhile to varying degrees. Husky Harris is kind of doomed by being a heel and fat, but everything he does is good except for that awful match with MVP. He stands out; he's well-rounded and un-green in all the ways I expected McGills to be. Percy Watson has been able to get over, as a babyface, on NXT, doing stupid NXT shit, so you've got to give him a lot of credit, oh yeah. Alex Riley has good delivery and personality but contentwise is still pretty green. MMcG is a create-a-wrestler with all the attributes evenly distributed but I don't think he's had the best opportunities to showcase his best qualities. Kaval should've already been on Smackdown a long time ago but I don't know that he'll be allowed to actually win, not that it technically matters since it's not a real competition.
Originally posted by JustinShapironot that it technically matters since it's not a real competition.
This is what I never got about the entire NXT concept. Even the eight-year-olds in the crowd know that none of these guys are going away - why pretend that only one of them is going to get a contract? Why not make the prize something else, say a World title shot on RAW, and start with the understanding that these are just eight guys who got their contracts by agreeing to take part in the contest? Why start from a position that nobody buys into, when you also have no intention of honoring the stipulations?
Originally posted by JustinShapironot that it technically matters since it's not a real competition.
This is what I never got about the entire NXT concept. Even the eight-year-olds in the crowd know that none of these guys are going away - why pretend that only one of them is going to get a contract? Why not make the prize something else, say a World title shot on RAW, and start with the understanding that these are just eight guys who got their contracts by agreeing to take part in the contest? Why start from a position that nobody buys into, when you also have no intention of honoring the stipulations?
Well 'part' of the prize is a title shot on a PPV. yes there is the whole 'winner gets a contract' thing, but the added bonus is the PPV Title shot.
And yes they are delaying it with Barrett right now, but that's probably so that we can have Cena/Barrett at SummerSlam.
Geez with the two MITB title shots and Barret's Title shot and the winner of NXT 2's title shot, it's not a good time to be a champion right now.
Technically, it's always been 'who will be the next BREAKOUT WWE star', and I've never heard anything mentioned in either season that only the winner gets a contract. And considering all the people in S1 got contracts but Barrett is the leader (as the BREAKOUT star, see), I think I am onto something here.
Originally posted by Psycho PenguinTechnically, it's always been 'who will be the next BREAKOUT WWE star', and I've never heard anything mentioned in either season that only the winner gets a contract. And considering all the people in S1 got contracts but Barrett is the leader (as the BREAKOUT star, see), I think I am onto something here.
I think in kayfabe mode it's simply that the other 7 don't have a guaranteed contract but if they have impressed WWE enough they can still get a shot. Kinda like the Diva contests always had several of them ending up on tv at some point.
Well that explains why the quality of Impact has improved by leaps and bounds the last six weeks. The strong push of Bobby Roode and the hype job video they put out on him was tremendous.
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