We start off the show with another competition. Our eight rookies are lined up in the ring, and (in ranking order) each will be given a topic and 30 seconds to speak on that topic. Afterward, the audience -- in London, England -- will vote on "originality and creativity." The winner gets his own custom-made entrance theme.
Daniel Bryan: PASSION is the topic. Bryan totally whiffs it, but is not helped by Matt Striker interrupting to tell him to stay on topic. Bryan says that passion ranks an "8" on the Daniel Bryan Manliness Scale (?) and finishes with "I LOVE ENGLAND!"
Wade Barrett: BLASÉ. Barrett says these other guys are blasé, but not him. He speaks coherently for thirty seconds -- good enough.
Justin Gabriel: FLOWERS. He says that there are flowers in South Africa. He's not really into flowers -- well, roses are okay, pandering to the English crowd -- aaand he basically stalls out here.
Heath Slater: CEREAL. These are getting goofier. Slater lists a few types of cereal and says he doesn't eat it.
David Otunga: SLEEP. Otunga nails it, saying that he doesn't sleep because you don't get a body like his by sleeping. The other rookies can sleep; he'll sleep when the competition's over.
Skip Sheffield: RAINBOWS. Skip ignores the topic entirely. "YEP YEP YEP WHAT IT DO." He actually gets the crowd to chant along!
Michael Tarver: ITCHY. Tarver, wearing a bandanna over his mouth, refuses to say a word. Crowd chants something I can't catch; Michael Cole says it's "WHO ARE YOU?" or its equivalent.
Darren Young: TOOTHPASTE. Young's all, no offense but the people in this country could use it a little more. He says he's rather be anywhere but here. Is he supposed to be a heel?
NOW Tarver wants to talk, saying that Young, Striker, and everyone else doesn't know what they're talking about.
Striker polls the audience. Barrett and Sheffield (!) get the most positive response from the crowd. Young, Tarver, and Otunga get boos, and Slater gets near-total silence. Bryan gets a mild, mixed reaction.
Barrett and Sheffield have a talk-off (yay!).
Sheffield: BUBBLEGUM. There are many types of bubblegum, but he doesn't chew gum. He would have done A LOT better just repeating his catchphrases again, and it would've fit his character.
Barrett: WIND. Barrett talks about the wind of change, and how he'll be the first English WWE Heavyweight Champion. Nicely done, and he wins.
I'm pretty sure this was mostly a "shoot" since most of the Rookies just choked up awkwardly, several of them just staring at the timer for time to run out. Bryan's "Passion" topic was a HUGE gimme, but he couldn't go anywhere with it (although, again, I think Striker screwed him up on purpose). It wasn't until Barrett's final promo that someone grasped the concept of METAPHOR, which was too bad because several guys got topics custom made for that. ("Bubblegum? I chew it up and spit it out, which is what I'll do to..." "Flowers bloom into something amazing, just as I'm doing under the eyes of..." "Yeah, I've got an itch -- an itch to knock somebody out, and I'm gonna scratch that itch...")
Backstage, CM Punk makes a deal with Darren Young: If he can beat Luke Gallows one-on-one, last week's transgressions will be forgiven. If Young loses, he gets his head shaved.
Wade Barrett vs. Christian: Heath Slater and Chris Jericho are also out. Barrett cannily focuses on Christian's back, hitting three different varieties of backbreakers across his knee, including a tilt-a-whirl and one bouncing Christian off the ropes. He's got Christian up for his Fireman Slam when Slater pulls at his ankles, allowing Christian to reverse into the Killswitch.
Lengthy Access Hollywood segment on David Otunga (featuring Jennifer Hudson). Otunga says he's practically a professional diaper changer. Maybe that should be the next NXT Challenge!
The Miz berates Bryan backstage for not being AWESOME. Miz tries to rub off some of his own AWESOME and smear it on Bryan.
Daniel Bryan vs. William Regal: Miz and Sheffield are out. Bryan hits some nice moves, including a Dragon Suplex on Regal. He tries a choke, hopping up on the front of Regal's torso like a little pet monkey. Regal suplexes Bryan over, then finishes him off with the Knee Trembler.
Darren Young vs. Luke Gallows: Luke goes for power and manhandles Young, but Young gets Gallows in a surprise rollup and ekes out a win.
CM Punk stoically raises Young's arm in victory, then, emotionless, leaves the ring. Young, following, seems confused. Gallows, left behind, makes a Sad Festus face.
And that's it.
--K
(edited by Karlos the Jackal on 14.4.10 0235) Last 5 movies seen: XXY *** - The Emperor's New Groove ***1/2 - You Can Count on Me n/a - Dead Man n/a - An Education ****
Originally posted by Karlos the JackalI'm pretty sure this was mostly a "shoot" since most of the Rookies just choked up awkwardly, several of them just staring at the timer for time to run out. Bryan's "Passion" topic was a HUGE gimme, but he couldn't go anywhere with it (although, again, I think Striker screwed him up on purpose). It wasn't until Barrett's final promo that someone grasped the concept of METAPHOR, which was too bad because several guys got topics custom made for that.
Seriously. Bryan was given the most obvious open goal, but it was by no means the only one. I mean, CEREAL. Come ON. You're going to have the competition for breakfast, you dumb....
If you're right about the shoot thing (and I think you are) it did not speak volumes for the quick thinking of our NXT rookies.
I confess that I would've struggled to come up with anything on the spot for toothpaste though.
The promo bit only solidify my opinoin on Wade Barret. I like his style, and the pairing with Jericho is awesome. He's got a good look and he seems to have the skills in the ring and on the mic.
Daniel Bryan really needs a win. I don't follow indy wrestling. SO I keep hearing how good this guy is. I can see he has the skills, but I'm starting to not care about him, and so are most of the fans from the sounds of it.
Tarver should be the first gone, and I think it's quite obvious that he will be as even WWE doesn't seem to know what to do with him. The final four I think are going to be Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett, David Otunga and probably Darren Young. I say Darren Young becuase of the others he's the one that heavilly involved in storyline right now, the whole 'SES' thing.
Of the other four Gabriel and Sheffield may have a spot, but I could care less about Slater and Tarver.
Wade Barrett really showed something with his promos. He's a quick thinker, and he has mic chops to go along with his size. The Winds of Change would be a good nickname for him (or at least for his finisher); better than the Eagle. I don't know how much time in real life the Rookies spend with their Pros, but Barrett has clearly learned a thing or two from Chris Jericho.
Of these eight guys, Barrett has shown the most of what I believe WWE is looking for in a potential top guy. I don't just mean a spot on the roster: Daniel Bryan, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater (the One Bland Rock Band) and David Otunga all show sparks of belonging in WWE in some form or another, but everyone else looks like they're competing for a spot on the midcard. Barrett could have main event potential one day. Perhaps it's because he's being mentored by Jericho, the only true main eventer of the Pros, and Barrett is intelligent enough to listen and learn.
Honestly, while I think Daniel Bryan is pretty great in his own right, he's got an Evan Bourne career at best in WWE. (Not that there's anything wrong at all with traveling the world and making WWE money. They all wish they had Evan Bourne's spot.) Vince McMahon won't know what to do with him because of his size.
Slater and Gabriel seem destined for midcard status as well. Otunga can talk but is miserable in the ring and everyone can see that. He's also too smug as a heel; he doesn't react to boos or show ass. The others are unlikely to win NXT but you know, a good gimmick or storyline at the right time can salvage anyone. Skip Sheffield and Michael Tarver have good heel potential under the right circumstances.
I was most disappointed in Gabriel. He didn't even remember he beat Otunga LAST WEEK when Striker REMINDED him outright. His promo sucked. I think Gabriel's been learning a few wrong lessons from his Sensei, mealy-mouthed Matt Hardy, who can only cut a decent promo on YouTube when he's drunk in a hot tub at 4am.
The Miz really impressed the hell out of me with his motivational speech to Bryan. For the first time, he seemed interested in Bryan's success, if only as a reflection of himself. The Susan Boyle line was clever and apt. The DBMM on Twitter could stand a little adjustment to the Daniel Bryan Miz Meter when Bryan is performing on NXT.
But mainly, The Miz was right. Bryan, whether instructed to or not, has been bombing in his presentation as a WWE Superstar-to-be. He goofed around the keg challenge last week and he goofed around on the promo challenge - it's as if he KNOWS he has short term job security and a spot waiting for him after NXT is over. Hmmm...
Originally posted by John OrquiolaBryan, whether instructed to or not, has been bombing in his presentation as a WWE Superstar-to-be. He goofed around the keg challenge last week and he goofed around on the promo challenge - it's as if he KNOWS he has short term job security and a spot waiting for him after NXT is over. Hmmm...
On one hand, it certainly seems like Bryan's been deliberately tanking (kegging) these challenges to the point where you have to think it's in the script. On the other hand, the logical conclusion is to generate an "organic" backlash to turn Bryan's popularity against him....except, how can such a backlash be cultivated when you're scripting Cole's lines about Bryan the way they're doing?
With that said, and repeating that the last thing I expect from the WWE folks is subtlety, Luke Gallows had a few (well, two) moments during the SES/Darren Young backstage promo that seemed to go pretty much unnoticed, but made me wonder if a seed was being planted for a future angle. Did anybody else catch that last night?
(Oh....and of course I will reserve making a smarky comment about how they're even bothering to have them promo extemporaneously in the current era of every last freakin' word being put down on paper by a writer before it's "performed.")
I liked the show. I even liked the challenge. A-List and Wade Barrett were both great, especially Wade. As far as Daniel Bryan is concerned: The Susan Boyle of NXT?? Give me a break!! And it's not even true: Nobody expected anything from Susan Boyle and she delivered big time, while everbody expected huge things from Daniel and he screwed it all up (probably not on purpose) or wasn't aloud to do better .. or even good! And one thing I have to add: WWE does such a great job in not showcasing his talent and having Michael Cole talk him down, that I honestly start to care less about him from week to week. It's sad, but we've reached a point where even I don't know anymore why in fact he should be number one or even be on NXT ... or in WWE for that matter. Like I said: Great job, WWE!
Originally posted by CRZWith that said, and repeating that the last thing I expect from the WWE folks is subtlety, Luke Gallows had a few (well, two) moments during the SES/Darren Young backstage promo that seemed to go pretty much unnoticed, but made me wonder if a seed was being planted for a future angle. Did anybody else catch that last night?
I caught that too, and after thinking for a split second that it was Creative's way of telegraphing where they're going with the whole SES thing down the line, I thought about it and... it seems to lead to a big face turn for Gallows, which would counterproductively put him exactly where he was pre-Gallows. But I'd be on board if it's finagled into a massive face run for Punk. Turning a straight-edge Punk face again would be more in line with WWE's family-friendly direction right now anyway. If I had any more confidence in either of their mic abilities, seeing Gallows and Young turn the tables on Punk could be really cool. Either way, I think it's moreso just a dynamic that Punk and Gallows have manufactured for some comedic relief.
I was left unimpressed with ALL of the rookies last night after the promo-off, except for Barrett. It had to have been a shoot, given that Sheffield is leaning heel but still fell back on his catchphrases, and Young is supposed to be a face but is apparently itching to go heel. Just a mess of a segment. I was frustrated with how WWE was aimlessly booking Tarver until last night he showed that even HE is up in the air about what/who he wants to be. Just abysmal.
Was it me or did William Regal look shocked or worried about Daniel Bryan? Regal wasnt himself at all and I swear he was gonna check on Bryan had Miz not clotheslined him out
Originally posted by ecwfan4life2004Was it me or did William Regal look shocked or worried about Daniel Bryan? Regal wasnt himself at all and I swear he was gonna check on Bryan had Miz not clotheslined him out
The announcers did bring up Regal having trained Bryan, so I thought it was more of a trainer showing concern for someone he knew quite well. On the other hand, WWE didn't call attention to the look Regal gave or follow-up on it so who knows.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaOtunga can talk but is miserable in the ring and everyone can see that. He's also too smug as a heel; he doesn't react to boos or show ass.
Here's the thing, though. A lot of fans you see posting on the internet these days don't WANT to see heels show ass. They want heels to be dominating and savage everyone else (including the fans) on the mic. They want to cheer for and get behind the heels, not see the heels get embarrassed.
Now, I realize those same fans hate Otunga, but for the most part, they don't want to see heels get embarrassed.
Originally posted by ecwfan4life2004Was it me or did William Regal look shocked or worried about Daniel Bryan? Regal wasnt himself at all and I swear he was gonna check on Bryan had Miz not clotheslined him out
Might have had something to do with Bryan's mouth getting bloodied by Regal at the very end of the match.
I will completely agree with John Orquiola about Wade Barrett as his mic skills are second to none on the NXT roster and doesn't use his celebrity status to catapult himself (aka Dave Otunga, but Otunga has shown some promise as a heel).
"The One Bland Rock Band"; now that is a good way of describing Heath Slater and should be his new nickname(well done John Orquiola). Heath Slater before got boo's before he even spoke from the crowd which shows how little his personality has gotten him and how little he means to the WWE fans.
Back to Wade Barrett, he not also has the mic skills needed to be in the WWE, but does have a good move-set for a big man which means we can watch him wrestle and talk and not get bored.
I don't know what to exactly think of Daniel Bryan; he is good in the ring and for the 2 minutes he wrestled with Regal, he looked a little more aggressive which by all means is good. However, his personality and mic skills are not on the levels that the WWE would be looking for or should be looking for. I would say perhaps going a little heelish as heels are more entertaining and could perhaps help Daniel Bryan with his personality and mic skills (a ridiculous notion perhaps but anything is worth trying to improve).
I must say though that the topics given to rookies at the beginning of the show were quite ridiculous and only top-notch mic people could perhaps made those topics look credible.
As for Darren Young, I wonder if he is heel just for one night or is this a hint at a turn? I had to chuckle when he asked if what he said was PG. I can see something turning for Darren Young but I would not put him 8th; to me it be a toss-up for either Tarver or Slater.
Why does this show exist? What is it? Why is it? Nothing happens, nothing has consequences, nothing makes sense. I'm not upset, I'm just confused. Why is Daniel Bryan #1/why does Daniel Bryan lose every match cleanly without Miz messing him up anymore? Why did Bryan vs. Regal go one minute after weeks of watching green dudes mistime and out-of-position their way through long matches? Why did Striker interrupt Daniel Bryan's off-topicness like a cunt but let the other idiots ramble on about whatever? How long until Diss The Diva and the American Gladiators diva search bits? This is not Internetman's Disappointment that the show isn't some kind of ROH DVD/stolen torrent Danielson showcase either, I just don't understand. It's been two months and there's no point to anything. Google David Otunga, he and the president are in da same club.
Michael Tarver is pretty awesome though when he makes that face~~~.
Originally posted by JimBob SkeeterI would love Bryan to go all Backlund/Chicken Wing on Miz, but that would lead to a Miz face turn, and that would suck.
It would suck if Miz turned face but I don't think it would necessarily turn Miz face because some of the wrestling fans are expecting or would like to see Bryan get back at Miz; in fact, I think something like that could help Daniel Bryan with his character instead of having the rep of being a famous indy guy who can wrestle but has close to nothing in terms of personality. If Daniel Bryan "took matters into his own hands", then I think seeing a more aggressive side would be beneficial to Bryan's character and he still could keep face.
And for the record, I think it would be interesting to see Bryan go cross-face chicken wing on anyone and not just Miz.
Not a bad show, except for the golden missed opportunity to elevate Cade and Jindrak. The $100,000 was secondary anyway to the 'I took out Goldberg' street cred, so Batista got over* anyway. So for Survivor Series....