I don't know who benefits by the WWE giving Michael Cole an idiot gimmick. It won't make him better. It won't make the product better.

It just makes him sound more annoying and dumb than usual.

I thought Punk was the highlight of the show. From his video stating that he didnt know why he was there to the look of disdain as his rookie was talking to him backstage to him seeming completely uninterested during the match.
I thought Jericho worked pretty stiff in his match. It seems to me he only puts on the old school Liontamer when he wants to work stiff someone. Do you have any info on this Kevin? I have always wondered if that is the case or not.
Overall a pretty good debut and I will be watching next week.

I forgot to mention that I thought Tarver looked horrible in the ring. He has a good look but man he looked lost out there and his atttempt at selling was comical.

I enjoyed the show, and am looking forward to the next episode.

I agree that Punk, along with Gallows and Serena were completely hilarious. They were looking at Young like he was crazy when he kept trying to talk to them. It was also funny when the Society posed on the ramp, and Young tried to join in, but Serena shot him a look and he backed off.
I wonder if Young is gonna join the Society... He could certainly use a haircut.

Speaking as someone who vividly remembers Cole interviewing The Rock back during the Attitude era, It's difficult to take him seriously as heel.

I enjoyed the Bryan-Miz and Bryan-Jericho interactions. Bryan wasn't horrible on the mic either. Kudos to Jericho for being a pro and selling for Bryan, even when he's the WHC and the other guy is a "rookie".

Otunga's finisher looked awful.

That's the first time I saw Bryan Danielson on TV and I think he's great.

Contrary to my expectations, his mic skills are, in my opinion, above average. When Miz told him to go out and cut a promo, for one second I thought he would screw up because he didn't see it coming. But one can see, that he has experience, because he was very comfortable, standing in the ring, in front of a big crowd. Well done, Bryan!

His in ring performance, which I guess is not even a tenth of his actual skills, was very good. I liked the fact that he got a good amount of offense against Jericho.
And I liked the fact that the crowd was pretty much into him, during his opening promo and his match. There was even a moment during the Wade Barrett interview when a large part of the crowd cheered "Daniel Bryan" for several seconds.

His only minus is his appearance. He has the same wrestling attire as Bob Backlund when he came back to wrestle in the 90's. He really needs a small makeover.

I hope WWE continues the slight push they're giving him.

It was awesome to see the Lion Tamer used again.

Otunga has been wanting this wrestling thing for a while now. At first I was a little surprised that Jennifer Hudson (American Idol)would marry a struggling wrestler, but looks like he may make do concerning his success in the business.

I was impressed by Bryan. A complete unkown in the middle of the ring and he did a good job with the crowd. There's WWE veterans that don't get near the mic or they record it backstage. Also he went move for move with Jericho.

I thought WWE NXT was interesting. I had heard of Bryan Danielson, but had never saw him wrestle before. He looked great. Hopefully, the crowd takes a little more interest as the show progresses. They seemed dead on my television set. I will continue to give NXT a chance.

What was with the low angle camera shots?

It was incredibly disorienting. Just go back to the standard wide angle, please!

I guess I just didn't get it. I changed the channel after about 20 minutes, and I really doubt I'll watch another episode.

Is it me or should Otunga have Punk as his mentor and Darren Young to be with R Truth?

Danielson was great. Miz was great. Jericho was great. For Danielson to get to wrestle the Champ on the first night shows VKM is serious about pushing the "young" talent. Better than TNA .

I really enjoyed the heel commentating by Cole, it was so over the top that is was funny. Also, watching the pros and their rookies not get along is going to make for an interesting ride. They should at least put Tony Atlas at the booth, maybe not on mic, but just behind Cole to laugh at him nonstop for all the nonsensicle things he says.

I enjoyed the show and look forward to watching NXT unfold, and I loved seeing the WCW-style Walls of Jericho. Bring it back, Chris.

Sorry Kevin, but I HATED this show. I felt insulted while watching it. I thought it came off very bush league. I feel very sorry for the eight "rookies" because Vince is going to be burying them very shortly. I won't be watching next week.

I really enjoyed the first episode of NXT. Two things jumped out at me after the show. The first was David Otunga. I think he has the most star power of any of the guys we saw last night. It's no secret that the guy is smart (Harvard Law!) but he seems at ease in front of the camera and I think he can definitely work the mic too. His in-ring work needs a tremendous amount of work, and this was evident by his match with Darren Young. It was terrible. Otunga made it on the show without a year's experience under his belt. Most of the other guys have been working for 5-10 years. Yet Otunga was given (literally) a clean victory on the premiere episode!

Also, did anyone else notice that The Miz and Jericho really laid a beating on Daniel Bryan? Bryan was by far the most heralded rookie leading up to the premiere. He really took a beating during last nights show. I'm pretty sure Jericho did a number on him to send a message. There was a spot where Bryan went to clothesline Jericho over the top rope, but the champ didn't appear to have any interest in taking the bump. He casually rolled out of the ring under the bottom rope and waited outside for Bryan to come flying out at him. While Bryan was in the air Jericho directed Bryan's body directly into the announce table. Hard. Spots don't get botched that often with Jericho, and sure, it could have simply been that the announce table was really close on this night. But add to that the killer Lion Tamer and the Miz's stiff post-match shots and its obvious Jericho and The Miz were sending a message to Bryan and the rest of the rookies. No matter what they've done in their careers, they better expect to pay their dues in the WWE. That was the clear message the WWE sent on Tues night. The "rookies" better know their roles and not let their egos get carried away, no matter who they are or what they have accomplished in the past.

I have no idea how the rest of the season will play out, but I'll definitely be watching next week as these guys bust it hard in pursuit of their dreams. So far, so good WWE. I'm legitimately excited to see where this goes.

"Cole is playing a character here, but to work in the wrestling industry and say you’ve never heard of Bryan Danielson just makes him look silly"

Sometimes you take wrestling way to seriously.

I love this show and think it's a huge improvement over ECW. Daniel Bryan was easily the most impressive rook last night, and I also liked Wade Barrett and David Otunga (Punk from I Love New York, another reality star - perhaps a feud with Miz?). The debut show did not feature Justin Gabriel or Skip Sheffield. Heath Slater really doesn't do anything for me, but I'd like to see more of Tarver.

And is it just me or does Darren Young's face look exactly like John Cena, but only African-American? CM Punk, Luke Gallows, and Serena were hilarious with their stares last night.

"He also said that it was Bryan’s first time on TV, which of course isn’t true. He has also appeared on Backyard Wrestling Brawl IV, which was broadcasted on Public Access Channel 9 in Seattle."

Yeah, I said it. Somebody knows that the only thing that the internet fans hate more than seeing Daniel Bryan paired with Miz is Michael Cole's announcing. Therefore Michael Cole's continual burial of the independent circuit has succeeded in sending the internet into even more of a frenzy, although I doubt the internet fans are as much of a concern to the WWE higher-ups as they'd like to think they are. Myself included

I got the sense that WWE was trying to downplay Daniel Bryan Danielson's time in ROH & the independent leagues and make it seem unimportant. I think they were sending a message that WWE is the only wrestling organization that matters (perhaps a subtle way of cutting down TNA without ever having to remotely mention TNA).

My respect for Jericho continues to grow. How many guys that are going to/ have main evented Wrestlemania would allow a "rookie" (I use that term losely with Danielson) to get that much offense on them?

What a dream match-up : Bryan and Jericho. They weren't given much time, but on a 30 min pay per view match, they would put on quite a show.

Really enjoyed NXT. I agree with you on the details: what the hell is going on? Just random fights and someday someone's gonna get a contract? It doesn't even make any sense since they all are already working for WWE, it's not like they're gonna fire 7 of them whenever the winner is crowned...

Otunga seems like another Kozlov/big Zeke type of guy, except he looks like he can speak. But in ring abilities? I'm not expecting much. One finisher, one botch already.

Christian's rookie sounded alright, but his stupid dance annoyed me, I guess he'll just finish like another Tyler Reks, trying to get crowd support through smiles and hands up, but nothing.

What a dive by Bryan... He really tried to hard on this one.

Forgot to say that I'm already betting on Bryan to defeat Miz for the US title someday.

It seemed like Matt Striker and Miz were REALLY going out of their way to disrespect Danielson. Is it WWE trying to kind of take him down a few pegs, or part of a potential story line involving Danielson "earning respect" by not taking any noise off some of the more established guys?

I wish they would just keep on ecw this new show sucks

WWE is genius, another show i want to watch, but am slapped in the face with 400 add breaks.

i never heard of Braniel Daniels until i read about him on this blog - so im viewing him with the eyes of most of WWEs younger fans. so on first impression he looked and sounded pathetic, no chance in wwe since he had no gimmick.

but then during the show, especially in the ring, i saw how wwe is booking him as the typical rookie, and i liked it. so did the crowd by the sound of it - but you never know, that could be pre-recorded sound editing.

and i think its unfair to STILL drop on the miz for his reality show stuff, cause for years now he has been doing the 300 day a year whatever it is job.
he is a pro wrestler just like anyone else.

Sorry, but count me in the "meh" category for Daniel Bryan. The guy has it in the ring, nobody is going to doubt that. But he does severely need an image makeover, and he needs more charisma when he speaks. He looks--and sounds--like the kid we all made fun of from 1st to 8th grade, except with some toned muscles.

As it stands, he is 5'10" and 190 lbs. This guy is going to get absolute zilch in the WWE.

Heel Cole cracks me up. Really - you can't hate the guy, he's just a natural dork. You guys in the comments have forgotten what it was like to be dorky!

"For his catch phrase, Bryan said that when you go against him, “you have two options: tap or snap.” Not bad, but hasn’t Kurt Angle used that one? ..."

Hmm. It does sound like something from the old Benoit/Angle feud years back.

Danielson did us all proud, though. And the way he said "I'm sorry" was cute.

I think the first 2 or 3 shows were always going to be a bit confusing as to what the concept is all about. It will take that many shows so people will have at least half an idea as to who each character is then we will see what the show entails.

I don't think the surprise promo and slap were a surprise at all. Either that or Danielson is really good at thinking on the go.

As for people saying they're not watching again after ONE show you have to laugh. Give it 3 or 4 viewings before making up your minds people!

The show sounds interesting -- a bit like the Ultimate Fighter show.

Perhaps the WWE should be consistent with these name reversals.

If Bryan Danielson must be Daniel Bryan then perhaps other names should also be reversed:

Colin Michael and Matt Joshua are the announcers. Robert Charles is the referee. Jerry Christopher is the visiting star. Soon there will be a special appearance from Manny McVince.

When a guy has built some following under his own name they really should leave it alone. This is almost as bad as when they gave Michael Hayes the name Doc Hendrix.

I'm pretty excited about this new show, and it certainly seems like it has a lot more to offer than WWE's version of ECW ever did. I was guessing that the main focus was going to be on the Miz and Daniel Bryan, considering the speculation surrounding the pair. Bryan got in some good camera time and I think he more or less held his own on the mic with Miz at the start of the show. The match he had with Jericho was good, and the nasty looking spot in which Bryan smashed into the announce table was gruesome but entertaining.

I loved Punk's reaction to Darren Young. The fact that the characters of each of the performers are total opposites plays out really well on camera. It'll be interesting to see if Punk will somehow persuade Young to change his lifestyle, then we'll have a fourth member of the Straight Edge Society.

David Otunga certainly came across as a big shot. Celebrity wife and various meetings with President Obama. Not bad.

Being a Brit, one of my favourites is definitely Wade Barrett. Although he didn't wrestle on this show, he still handled himself well on the mic, and delivered a good answer in his little interview with Matt Striker, even though Striker made a tool of himself by interrupting what was a perfectly reasonable answer from Barrett. Striker is definitely starting to get on my nerves.

All in all, I think this program shows great potential in terms of providing entertainment in all aspects of wrestling.

NXT: It Could mean, the next generation of young superstars to be buried by DX (see Spirit Squad, Masters, Eric Escobar, Miz, etc)

Most people don't know this, but this was Josh Matthews's second time calling a Bryan Daniellson match. In his actual WWE debut, Bryan lost to John Cena back in 2003 on Velocity, so this was not his first time on WWE TV. It would be nice if they would at least mention it. When he signed with WWE, I didn't think that they would give him much of a push, but I rank this debut up there with Desmond Wolfe in TNA, fighting one of the top guys on the show on his first night.

I was fully prepared to dislike NXT, but instead I was pleasantly surprised. Still early days; it's easy to get the first show right, and a lot harder to put out a consistent product. But NXT could become a superior way to introduce young wrest -- I mean, "superstars." NXT gives the rookies a platform to establish their skills and personalities. For that matter, it also gives current WWE talent a chance to showcase their mic skills in a new context (I'm lookin' at you, Miz). This kind of exposure could really give a boost to someone like Zack Ryder.

They didn't do a good job in establishing the competitive premise of the show. But maybe that's a good thing. I'd actually prefer an open-ended NXT, with wrestlers getting promoted or eliminated as events warrant. Whenever a wrestler leaves the show, they can insert a new rookie/pro combo to the mix. This is a more organic process, and (of course) allows them to continue the show indefinitely.

I'm praying we see Miz vs Daniels at mania for the US title. WWE should have MIZ defend tag titles with Show first at mania then fight the rookie in a match Miz for the title.This way Miz will have an excuse for losing.BTW would love for the tag title match to be Showmiz vs Hart Dynasty vs MVP Henry vs Cryme Tyme MVP Henry wins the Raw brand titles and the Hart Dynasty wins the titles for SD.What do you think about that Kev?

Jimmy, I don't know what kind of "burying" you are talking about. One of these rookies had a back and forth match with the WHC and teased a submission on him.

Clint: "It seemed like Matt Striker and Miz were REALLY going out of their way to disrespect Danielson. Is it WWE trying to kind of take him down a few pegs"

The heels are all about getting heat from wrestling fans on the Internet in addition to the crowd. I love it and it makes for a more entertaining program. Think about it, if WWE really thought Bryan Danielson was a scrub would they have put him in the ring with Jericho last night? All of Miz's recent comments and his blog post about Danielson were also in Kayfabe.

I'd like to see a picture of Danielson's side with all the bruising 2 days later... His match was good but too short. I liked his reversal on the first Lion Tamer attempt - that's the type of technical wrestling I don't see enough of in the WWE.

What are the odds of the NXT rookies getting time at Wrestlemania? I wouldn't be surprised to see a 4 on 4 tag team match or an 8 man battle royal. Maybe for the dark match?

I wasn't too impressed by most of the rookies, but Danielson was quite good. I agree with Mitch, I was surprised at how stiff his match with Jericho was and that Jericho used the actual Lion Tamer. I read that Jericho twittered about how impressed he was with Danielson. He does look the least like a star, being both very plain looking and shorter than the rest. Maybe it's me, but it reminded me of when Benoit first came, to WWE, there was a lot of hype and reputation, and guys like HHH just tried to put him down.

Dan Bryan or whatever his name is now certainly knows how to get noticed! That was some bump he took against Jericho in his first match. He gave people something to remember him for right out of the gate! Smart (or crazy?) guy!

I find it interesting the different ways WWE and TNA treated their popular independent "rookies" Daniel Bryan and Desmond Wolf.

Desmond Wolf starts out as a top guy, from out of nowhere, by getting the upper hand on their top guy, Kurt Angle.

Daniel Bryan starts out looking good against the champ, but winds up tapping out. Jericho works him very stiff, specifically directing his back into the table. The slaping, stiff match, and beat down afterwards, are simply him paying his dues.

I think both companies made their man look good. However, the WWE is doing it in a way that makes the audience better connect emotionally with their guy. Also, TNA kinda made itself look weak as a company by have an unknown (to casual fans anyway) stand tall over their top guy.

I have to chuckle about people looking at all the digs and thinking it's the WWE trying to take Danielson down a few notches - they started a new television and made him the star of it! You guys nitpick too much. They've put so much more effort into his debut than just about anyone I can remember.

As for the digs at his past or personality, it's called creating conflict to try and hook viewers with. All of the issues that were raised were answered on that very show - they gave him a chance to cut a promo in the ring and he did well. They buried his in-ring ability because he's from the indies and then let him go into the main even and have a competitive match with the world champion.

As for Jerico and the Miz taking liberties that's being completely overblown. The suicide dive into the table was Bryan's fault because he dove too hard. The reason that he got an old-school lion tamer is because he's actually able to take the move; Jericho has said in interviews that after coming the WWE he had to abandon the move because he was moved into the main event scene (no longer with the cruisers) and had to wrestle too many guys that were physically unable to safely bend their neck enough to make the move work. If Jericho wanted to put him in his place he probably wouldn't have gone on his twitter after the show and call him a future superstar.

As for the Miz getting too stiff, it wouldn't surprise me if they intentionally decided to make that spot look good because they knew it would be part of a highlight package hyping up a PPV grudge match down the line. This reminds me of how Vince McMahon requested that Orton give him a really stiff punt in Wrestlemania build-up because he knew it would replayed a thousand times.

If anyone doubted that Vince makes decisions on new talent based on wanting to upset the internet wrestling community & indy fans, that show should at least change that a little.

The level to which he's doing it now though is curious. They're actually going out of their way to make it known that all of Danielson's experience & following mean nothing. Having Cole say that "I've never heard of him till now" stuff also is so over the top.....but thats Vince.

I agree with everybody who was impressed with Brian's mic work.

I remember when Jericho first came to the WWE (or the WWF as it was then known)and he spoke about unmasking Juventud Guerrera and Cole responded, "Never heard of him."

For a variety of reasons, Cole has never been embraced by the WWE Universe. Casting him as a full fledged heel might be to his benefit. Heel announcers are supposed to say ignorant and outlandish things. I would say Cole is off to a good start.

@David

I disagree on the camera angles. I like the idea of using the boom cam up close, it give the show the feel of being in the small gym/building a la FCW, OVW, etc. It doesn't get rid of the huge crowd in the background, but I appreciated the camera tricks they were playing.

I also liked when Matthews said that you can look up Bryan on the internet.

Well if thats the case, why the hell did the WWE change his name?

This seems like it could be a good show. If WWE is serious about developing some of their younger talent this comes off as a fairly foolproof way for them to expose some unknowns to the fans under the guise of seeing which ones outperform the others to make it, while at the same time taking advantage of the chance to build name and face recognition by giving them time in front of crowds and on TV.

I also like the way it looks like they're going to fit them in with the pros, another way to see which ones have that "it" factor that could get them to the next level.

Good move, WWE.

I also love how this show beat TNA in the ratings.

The best part about the show was that they did center it around Danielson. The pairing with Miz now makes sense because he need to utilize his heel heat to get the audience to react to Danielson.

Show is going to have to do something in the next few weeks to keep me interested. Have a feeling that this might be a show where you can miss an episode here and there, but not even think twice about it.

The young guys who can work should be getting the push, but, they build up Otunga, who has the WWE "look" but looked awful in the ring. What WAS that finisher?
The first show had absolutely no focus. Agree with another poster who wrote it looked as if it was put together on the fly. Vince and his cronies should have had their act together before rolling this mismash out.

Watched ths show late, but I have to admit it was great and worth all the hype Vince gave it. I was really impressed by Bryan, who despite not really having the look came off as a star.

Tarver and Slater both seem interesting with Tarver being more so in my opinion. However that could be becuase I am a huge Carlito fan(wierd?,yes)

Dave Otunga strikes me as a guy who will shake the WWE if given a chance, but I am not too sure if it will be in an good way.

Y2J and Danielson was the best match I've seen on TV since the Angle/Styles match when they went up against Raw.

It gave me chills because it reminded me of Y2J's days in ECW. That match will be burned into my mind forever, and I can't wait to see Danielson soar to the top. Just imagine seeing Orton/Danielson in about two years. I can't wait for that.

I'm looking forward to the first appearance in the ring of Wade Barrett. I can see the WWE bosses wanting to use him. He is good with the mic': he has been hilarious at time in his color commentaries on the FCW shows, and he is a big, big man. Jerico is a heel, but so is Barrett; but I can't see Jerico fazing him. This will be an interesting rookie to watch, I think!

David Otunga is the most interesting wrestler out of your eight rookies. He is very confident and exciting to watch. His first match was a bit easy for him, and no he was not sloppy with his finishing move. The wrestler can off the rope in a scared mold, and I can not blame Young. David when ready to do his finishing move got to be more aggressive and take charge. Even though the first win was not perfect. He is still the main event.

Bryan was very good. Doesn't look like a star, but acts like one.
I think Otunga will be good, but the finisher was underwhelmingly botched, as you say.
Liked Barrett's look and sound: very Cockney gangster!