Darren Young (with CM Punk and the Straight Edge Society) pinned David Otunga (with R-Truth) thanks to Punk tripping Otunga and distracting him.
R-Truth and Otunga have a pull apart brawl backstage.
Wade Barrett (with Chris Jericho) pinned Daniel Bryan. Jericho attacks Bryan and places him in the Lion Tamer after the match. (The Miz and Carlito observed the match from the back.)
Justin Gabriel and Matt Hardy defeated Skip Sheffield and William Regal when Gabriel pinned Regal with a 450 splash.
Carlito spit an apple in Heath Ledger's face to end the show.
We learned THE RULES: The winner will be chosen by a vote from the Pros, but the Pros cannot vote for or against their respective Rookie. I still don't quite understand, but hey, it's something. More rules next week when they think of them?
NXT was a bit toned down overall this week from the debut episode.
The Otunga vs. Young rematch was two segments with Young dishing out most of the offense. Otunga seemed lethargic to me; after he takes off his hoodie and tearaway pants, he really hasn't been very impressive. Punk's facial expressions and surprising decision to interfere and help Young win was the most interesting thing during the match. Serena was looking pretty orange, brother.
By my tally, half the Pros hate their Rookies.
Miz and Bryan hate each other, Regal and Sheffield hate each other, Otunga and R-Truth hate each other, Punk hates Young.
Jericho/Barrett, Christian Slater, Carlito/Tarver, and Hardy/Gabriel get along. They must have realized the disparity and broke up Otunga/R-Truth to even it out.
The Miz slapping Bryan in his injured ribs was... awesome. Bryan sold the ribs like a champ all night. He hit a pretty sick flying knee off the apron on Barrett too. Thus far, Bryan is the only Rookie to have lost both his NXT matches.
I wasn't sure if it was Cole or Mathews who made the "vintage Skip Sheffield!" call but it was hilariously inappropriate since it was Sheffield's debut.
Christian had a training video with Slater where he busted out the old Stone Cold line "I like you. Not a lot, but I like you" and admonished him for thinking he's over when the crowd was cheering for Captain Charisma.
Gabriel was mocked for his ring attire by Mathews but he was impressive. Teaming with Gabriel might even resurrect Hardy's floundering career - if the Great Khali is willing to step aside as Matt's partner for an NXT Rookie.
Cole made a comment towards "Twitter geeks" and for some reason has a bone to pick with Bryan (probably should just substitute "Cole" for "Vince McMahon") but he was generally toned down too. Cole did have a bizarre quote from William Regal mocking Sheffield's "workrate".
Nothing quite as mark-out memorable as Bryan vs. Jericho in the ring from last week, but Gabriel impressed me most of anyone.
The "Pro and Rookie hate each other" angle is already getting old and we're only in the second week. It doesn't work so well when you have that dynamic with half of the pairings, as you mentioned, John. The seemingly sudden decision to have Otunga turn on Truth just felt weird. I think Otunga could have gotten over well as a decent (if a bit bland) face, but now they made him look like a total crybaby sore loser, which doesn't work with a guy like him. The crybaby angle only works with the small, pesky heel like Christian and Jericho, not on a big guy like Otunga.
Gabriel looked great in his first outing. Sheffield looks like he'll fit in great as New Festus.
Best pairing so far for me is Christian Slater. They come across as a very likable pairing.
I wouldn't know if Cole was more obnoxious than last week, as I've pretty much tuned him out.
Skip Sheffield needs to ditch that awful catchphrase immediately. And his character is all wrong compared to the look that he has. He needs to be more badass and not goofy.
Cole was definitely alot more toned down. I only heard him make one legit heel comment the whole show (Twitter geeks).
The Miz slap was hilarious. Miz and Jericho are by far my favorite Pro's on the show.
What the hell was Gabriel wearing? And it was too small on him to boot.
Wow, they finally explained the rules to us! That's a nice touch!
Once again, I liked the show! I enjoyed it that much, I didn't have to ffw anything ... and that's a rare thing, as far as wrestling shows are concerned nowadays!
Daniel Bryan was great, but not the focal point of the show this week, which is ok, because now we got to know all of the rookies. Nonetheless, I hope he'll be back in the spotlight next week and maybe finally win a match?
Yes, I'm back! I know, I said I would never ever watch that crap again, but ... I just can't live without it, I guess.
Okay, now that we've seen all of them, here's how I rank them in "How Interested I am in Seeing More of Them."
1. Daniel Bryan. Kinda cheating because I'm more familiar with him than the others, but also Miz is great and Jericho's great and he's got more "story" going on around him right now.
2. Wade Barrett. Holy COW this guy's a BEAST. No accident that they put him in the ring with Bryan for his debut -- Barrett's like TWICE his size. And the accent tricks me into thinking his promos are more interesting than maybe they are.
3. David Otunga. Last week had me worried that he was going to be like Gayda-bad, but he seems alright. Not exciting, really, but his persona makes up for it.
4. Justin Gabriel. His entrance gear is awful. He looked like an Of Montreal roadie. I think Orquiola might be right about him and Hardy's career, though, and it's a good thought.
5. Darren Young. Only interesting thing so far is where he and Punk are headed -- collision or conversion?
6. Heath Slater. Hate his dancing. Hate his face. Hate his name (I keep wanting to say "Heath Ledger"). I might like him more if he was a heel, in a like-to-hate-him way.
7. Michael Tarver. I think I'll like his gimmick if they give him a couple of two-second knockouts or something.
8. Skip Sheffield. I really enjoyed Regal's fantastic long-suffering look when they were first in the ring together. Other than that...well, I felt a certain perverse appreciation for "YEP YEP YEP WHAT IT DO."
Originally posted by It's FalseThe "Pro and Rookie hate each other" angle is already getting old and we're only in the second week.
I think they could do a lot to differentiate the dynamics here, and maybe they will as things develop. The hate in the Young/Punk pairing was one-sided, for instance, and is already somehow shifting, pending explanations for Punk's interference. The Miz/Bryan pairing is unique, also, in that Miz is going out of his way to torment his protege.
--K
Last 5 movies seen: Alice in Wonderland (1933) **1/2 - Where the Wild Things Are *** - The Informant! **** - Sherlock Jr. **** - Revanche ***
Two wees in and I'm kinda wishing they'd dumped ECW for this two years ago. This is such a great way to intro new guys. Totally logicall, storyline-driven, and plenty of opportunity to learn from the vets.
Originally posted by John Orquiola I wasn't sure if it was Cole or Mathews who made the "vintage Skip Sheffield!" call but it was hilariously inappropriate since it was Sheffield's debut.
It was Mathews - perfectly timed and then denounced by Cole for 'stealing my line!'.
I like the show too - could use some more Stryker though.
I didn't link this week's show as much as the first week; last week, it felt like the rookies really didn't know what exactly they were going to have to do, and this week felt more like just another wrestling show. Was still interesting and all, though, and I'll be back for next week.
After this has been done a few times, they need to do the NXT masters season - instead of 8 rookies, it's 8 former WWE superstars trying to get back in. Eugene and Gangrel and Marty Jannetty and Steve Blackman and Joey Abs and whoever.
Originally posted by KJames199After this has been done a few times, they need to do the NXT masters season - instead of 8 rookies, it's 8 former WWE superstars trying to get back in. Eugene and Gangrel and Marty Jannetty and Steve Blackman and Joey Abs and whoever.
Originally posted by KJames199After this has been done a few times, they need to do the NXT masters season - instead of 8 rookies, it's 8 former WWE superstars trying to get back in. Eugene and Gangrel and Marty Jannetty and Steve Blackman and Joey Abs and whoever.
KIZARNY RETURNS
A real NXT Masters would need Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Bobby Lashley, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Booker T, Mr. Kennedy, and of course, the guy who wants back in the most, Ric Flair.
Count me in as liking Daniel Bryan a lot. The way he sold the ribs was consistant, and it helps that Miz is there to bring out some personality. Good move by WWE. I think a Miz/Bryan feud timed out for Summerslam seems like a good possibility.
My favorite rookie by far is Wade Barrett. He just has a presence about him that no one else seems to equal. He's almost playing the Hunter Hearst Helmsley character, but doing it with a lot of in-ring skill to back it up. I think he's going places.
Otunga really impressed me with his character last week, and I really want to like him. But in the ring, so far he's a snorefest. Add to that the fact that his eyes kept amateurishly darting back and forth between R-Truth and the ringside camera while he was berating him after his loss, and I'm not nearly as amped about him as I was after his video package last week.
As for Sheffield... Wow, where to start? His gimmick IS way too goofy, but I think that's an instance of trying to incorporate someone's real-life persona into their onscreen character. That's judging purely by his Twitter postings, but he seems to be a hee-haw type in real life so they probably figured that it'll just translate better if he doesn't have to pretend to be something he's not. It'll be tough to take his character seriously with his silly catchphrases and yellow/pink tights.
And speaking of tights... Lord almighty, Gabriel looked like he was wearing a toddler vampire onesie when he came to the ring. His actual wrestling gear is great, but he's one slab of glowpaint away from being Jeff Hardy and Kevin Thorn's lovechild.
Good show this week all around. I love the emphasis on the actual wrestling, and even the non-wrestling stuff was done with a light-handed touch. R-Truth is dead weight to me, but it seems like this show may breathe new life into Carlito & Matt Hardy's careers. Good for them.
Originally posted by It's FalseThe "Pro and Rookie hate each other" angle is already getting old and we're only in the second week.
Come on man, they're obviously building to a "rookies vs pros" Survivor Series match. Oh, wait.
Otunga needs to just learn to be a monster. He's pretty big, but he needs to work vicious. But, I noticed when he took the swinging neckbreaker, something with his selling was just off. He just bent over at the waste and his arms dangled down then he spun. It just looked really odd. Maybe I am not explaining it right.
For all the great things Daniel is doing, remember, when they don't have an entire hour to focus on him, he'll be the next Paul London. (Or, he may be the next Rey Mysterio, depending on if he can sell merch)
I liked this show a LOT better than last week's. Christian/Slater could be a good tag team.
Punk and Regal are having a competition to see who could care less, and it's great.
Sheffield? Well, anybody named Skip is just bound to suck.
Wade Barret seems like he's going to be the breakout star of this group. He gives off the right vibe in his promo spots, is big, pretty athletic and has "it".
Originally posted by GameCrazyCount me in as liking Daniel Bryan a lot. The way he sold the ribs was consistant, and it helps that Miz is there to bring out some personality. Good move by WWE. I think a Miz/Bryan feud timed out for Summerslam seems like a good possibility.
This is one of my main reasons to watch - I really love the interaction between the two. I wish there was more of it this week.
Originally posted by GameCrazyMy favorite rookie by far is Wade Barrett. He just has a presence about him that no one else seems to equal. He's almost playing the Hunter Hearst Helmsley character, but doing it with a lot of in-ring skill to back it up. I think he's going places.
I was thinking of the same exact thing when I saw him come out this week - he really has that pompous, arrogant heel thing going for him. I almost wish he was partnered up with Regal - they would have complimented each other nicely. I'm happy with Jericho, too, though.
Originally posted by GameCrazyAnd speaking of tights... Lord almighty, Gabriel looked like he was wearing a toddler vampire onesie when he came to the ring. His actual wrestling gear is great, but he's one slab of glowpaint away from being Jeff Hardy and Kevin Thorn's lovechild.
I won't lie - the first thing I thought of when I saw that outfit was Hal Sparks as Zoltan. I thought they worked well together, though - I wouldn't mind seeing a team in the future.
Also, admittedly I having been following up on the WWE as much as I should, but I don't really grasp R-Truth's ring introduction. It seems like he's going somewhere when he does the "What's up?" thing but then it just ends. Seems pretty abrupt.
I thought it was a good show, though. It definitely has a spot on my season pass list, at least for this season.
Not a bad second show; I am liking heel commentator Michael Cole for NXT as it makes him more interesting (they should make him heel commentator for the rest of the shows).
Sing this special song. It's just for you. Remember last week when it was posited that they'd be "thrown in the deep end" like being forced to improvise in situations? It felt like Ortunga and Young were thrown out without a match time or finish. Dug Young's Finisher, any slam involving a chickenwing/nelson is usually brutal looking if pulled off right. Something went awry there though and now I wonder if the challenge is "have a billion matches with someone you have zero in ring chemistry with".
Gabriel's outfit is... stolen from a Venture Brothers villain. But his ringwork is fun, and so far he and Brian are the only movesets that don't reek of lazy character creation in Wrestlemania 2000.
The Cornfed Meathead seems to have an engaging personality but I'm wondering if he'd be better served by being brought in in a bodyguard/enforcer capacity (then being gently ushered into the ring via interference and then tag matches ALA Tomko) rather asking the guy to hang with Regal. But this being his first week it may be early to judge him.
wwe.com has an interview with Justin Gabriel. Outside of his background growing up and training in South Africa he dropped a couple of other interesting tidbits:
"We have 17 weeks in the season..."
So now we know how long this cycle of NXT runs. 15 more weeks means this season wraps in the summer.
"I’m especially looking forward to facing Daniel Bryan, who’s doing really well at the moment. He went 15 minutes with World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho, so that says a lot."
We only saw 6 minutes of that match so either Gabriel's clock is off or that match was edited quite a bit for TV.
PS4 won't work because (at this point) you can't transfer games to the Vita from it, so you would need a PS3. If you're just trying to 'reserve' PS+ games for later, maybe there's a workaround by using the online store?
Thread rated: 4.59
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