Unfortunately we don't seem to get WWE NXT down here in Australia - or at least i can't find it in the TV guide.

Off topic, Kevin, have you ever interviewed Vince McMahon? In my 25 years of being a wrestling fan I can only recall seeing 2 interviews with him and that was a long time ago. I'd be interested to see or read a recent interview. I know he'd be tough to schedule, but it would be interesting to read an interview done by you with him. I like your interview style with the others you've done.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I've interviewed McMahon on five occasions, most recently for a Tribute to the Troops story a few months ago when WWE was in Baltimore.

So far, i'm only impressed with danielson (of course) and justin gabriel.

Honestly, the other guys are just bodybuilders who are slow in the ring. Cant take bumps and botches power moves. They have personality, but that only takes you too far. I think they're far too concerned with their character and should focus more on their craft. (im talking to you otunga and young)

I hope the next time David Otunga ask for a rematch, but a tag team one. Since CM Punk wants to interfear. Him and his rookie and R-Truth and David should handel their business. David needs to show Punk a thang are two. Otunga has to get more physcial and tough. I feel he could have still won the match even after Young beat him all over the ring. Focus is a must!!!!

I don't understand how wrestling for 10 things means anything. Just because you wrestle for 10 years doesn't mean you are good. I have watched Bryan Danielson (Daniel Brian) wrestle on ROH and he is no better then Tyler Black, or Austin Airies. For example Sean Morley (Val Venis) has been wrestling for a long time and all he was or ever will be is a wannabe "Chick Magnet" and for a period of time he thought he was a pornstar. So what I'm saying is he shouldn't have more of a push then Heath Slater, Darren Young or any other FCW star.

No way is Young a babyface at this point, he was getting a lot of heat playing a guy who is a little too pleased with himself, i.e. celebrating mid-match, trying to play to an uninterested crowd, etc.

I was disappointed that Bryan's match was over by the time I got back from a run to the kitchen. I'm surprised he lost, but even more surprised (pleasantly) that Jericho covered for his mistake. I would have imagined Jericho making a snide comment and questioning whether Bryan is WWE-quality.

It struck me in this week's episode that the fans in the audience weren't really sure who to cheer for and who to boo. In the opening match-up between Young and Otunga, the former was getting booed when he was trying to get the crowd going due to his affiliation with Punk, despite coming across as a fun-loving face. Yet, at the same time, the crowd was rallying behind Otunga, who was portrayed as a unnappreciative heel in his video package last week, thanks to his ties with Truth. It's all a bit confusing for those who didn't watch the first episode, and/or just can't spot the signs.

the fans have no idea who is a heel and who is a face, which i think is ok for now.

more importantly, david otunga is so incredibly slow in the ring. for a guy in the shape he is, i didn't expect it to seem that mark henry would beat him in a footrace.

the whole program has made it apparent that the rookies really are green. lots of botches spots and uncertainty.

so far i think barrett and bryan are the top two (they've been pushed best too), though young's comment that he wants to get to know more about SES is also interesting.

Hey kev
Love your blog, as a South African fan I have seen quite a bit of Justin Gabriel and I think he is definitely one to watch. I would consider him to be more like a John Morrison type wrestler and given enough ring time he will be over very soon with the crowd. His aerial abilities are second to none from 450 splash , shooting star press to diving senton this guy can do that and more. He also has an equally impressive mat ability and the Wwe look which definitely makes him the most complete rookie

Hey Rob, WWE NXT is on the same day and timeslot as the former ECW. It is on Thurdays, 3:30 pm (EDT) on Fox8.

"Unfortunately we don't seem to get WWE NXT down here in Australia - or at least i can't find it in the TV guide."

Fox8 are showing it, mate.
It's on at 3.30pm on a Thursday (so you've just missed that one), but it's replayed at 5.30am tomorrow morning (Friday) and usually again in the wee small hours over the weekend.

I watched last week's ep and really enjoyed it so hopefully you get a chance to catch it.

BTW Sorry for the Aussie indulgence, Kev, but i just wanted to give 'rob' a headsup.

From: The Natural - They have personality, but that only takes you too far.

Ummm have you forgotten about Mega-stars Hulk Hogan, The Rock & Steve Austin? They all had personality and weren't necessary ring generals. Personality is EVERYTHING in wrestling, no matter if the smart fans want to admit it or not.

I think WWE could be a little clearer in terms of explaining how the NXT Rookies will be voted off the show. Cole and Matthews just kept saying that there would eventually be a vote and that the Pros can't vote for or against their respective Rookies. Other than that, I thought this was another decent episode. This show is certainly showing a lot of promise for the future.

I was pleased to see that Darren Young and David Otunga were given much longer than they were last week in their match, and it's good that Young got the win after being squashed last week in a matter of minutes. It seems a bit silly that R-Truth and Otunga have seemingly turned on each other after only two weeks, but we'll see what happens there.

I thought Daniel Bryan made another good showing of himself, even if it was in defeat to Barrett. Hopefully he'll start to actually win soon.

Justin Gabriel's finish was certainly spectacular, but maybe he's destined to be just another Evan Bourne, only being used to wow the crowd with one particular move without actually making any real impact.

Rob: It is on Fox8 in ECW's old time slot ... still advertised in print as ECW due to (I am assuming here) the quickness of the change.

looks like a good episode, which I get to see in 7 hours.

Hey Kev,

I kinda thought that Bryan's botched spot was a planned part of the match to help sell his injury.

Kevin, I don't think Bryan botched the spot. I think it was intentional - in order to sell his injury. You're giving Jericho a little too much credit for thinking on the fly there - though Jericho showed that he'd probably be the top color commentator in the WWE - if he were given that assignment.

Btw, what's up with Young? He's got a ton of talent, but he's awfully strange - if he showed any aerial game, I'd say - perhaps the next Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka?

I think Gabriel as a bigger sized Bourne is bad news for Bourne and not Gabriel.

David Otunga temporary, absolutely doesn't cut it for me. The real David Otunga in "I love New York" (yeah, I watched it ---- shame on me) was the classic supersweet nice guy from next door, who always listens what his mommie says, eats his vitamins and goes always at 9pm to bed. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with that, but NO WAY (!!!) that I can buy him as this super cocky bad--- who destroys everything that moves. NO WAY!!!
But WWE probably sees an opportunity to reach more to mainstream through him, because of his relatedness to Jennifer Hudson and his connection to Hollywood. I mean, a lot of the mainstream media already covered his NXT debut.
That would explain his quick push, even though he lost this week.

Daniel Bryan was far less impressive this week. But they did a good job to alleviate his loss by selling his rib injury. Chris Jericho was excellent on the mic. That shows again how great he is.
I hope the next weeks will be better for Bryan. At this moment, he's the only reason why I watch NXT, and I hope he will make it in the WWE.

I agree completely with "The Natural" about the other participants. I'm clearly biased here, but the majority of them are just plain bodybuilders. Especially, Skip Sheffield. His effort in the gym is really admirable. I know he worked his a-- off to get a body like that. But really, instead of wasting so much time to gain "200 pounds" of muscle mass, he should've instead visited acting and bodylanguage classes. He can barely breath because of his muscles, and his strut walk was, in my opinion, really disastrous. Absolutely no charisma at all. But just like you said, Kev, maybe his "cornfed meathead"- gimmick can give him a couple of years in the midcard.

Darren Young reminds me of the Rock in '96 when he was smiling all the time (as a rookie named Rocky Maivia). It irritated me then & it's irritating me watching Darren Young right now.

Gabriel definitely has a great deal of babyface charisma - I feel like he could be on the roster regardless of what happens after the voting.

Not sure if I'm the first to notice this, but doesn't Darren Young bear a striking resemblance facially to John Cena?

Now granted, he looks like John Cena who got locked in a tanning booth for a few weeks, but take a look at the facial expressions he makes. Very Cena-esque.

I have enjoyed the NXT format so far, we even got to see a little bit more Wrestling this week. The whole show was worth it for the 450 Splash at the end too! Executed to perfection.

Kev, do you think there's a chance that Danielson WON'T get a WWE contract at the end of the show, whether he wins NXT or not? He seems a certainty at this point with the way they've marketed him.

Miz Bryan Danielsons pro,what a joke. However i will say it does make for interesting tv.I had a idea,how about all the rookies compete in a match where the winner recieves a spot in the money in the bank ladder match at WRESTLEMANIA. That would be awseome to see Danielson in that match

WWE NXT just seems like a big work after being built up as this new and interactive 'reality' show.

The whole concept of 'the pros' voting to determine your next WWE Superstar is a joke as it will just fall in line with the rest of the scripted nature of a show that was advertised as being 'interactive' (I guess the pros 'interact' with the creative team before voting so there ya go).

If its ratings that The WWE is looking for, then they definitely need to do more with the show that used to be ECW on Syfy than simply changing one letter (it is now FCW on Syfy) because that aint gonna move the needle for very long.

This show needs more reality. I like the cutaway interviews before each match, but The WWE needs to take it a step further and focus more on the talent interacting with one another in a house or on the road with live matches sprinkled in.

They need to show the talent actually being trained so that we better understand the pro/rookie relationship and can be intrigued when it comes time for Vince - er - the pros to vote.

ECW went under due to broken promises of an 'Extreme' Championship Wrestling show, and if WWE NXT contiues to operate as just another live show on Tuesday Nights with a more unorganized format, we may see the same fate for a show that could otherwise be (like the young superstars it focuses on) a diamond in the rough.

I did notice a mistake by Matt Styker when he was explaining the rules of WWE NXT. Stryker said the 8 pros would be voting for the rookie who they thought deserved to win.

He really meant '8 cons'.

Ooops, sorry Kev. I am not from the USA. I didn't know that I am not allowed to write a** on your blog.

RESPONSE FROM KE: No problem. On this site we have to adhere (for the most part) to the same standards of the print edition of The Baltimore Sun.

I was looking on line at Bryan Danielson's matches prior to this run in WWE and he and John Cena have a match posted from some years ago. John Cena was really green and Bryan made him look like a million dollars. If you get a chance just look up Bryan Danielson try out match vs. John Cena on youtube.

Adam is spot on. Darren Young is a dead ringer for Cena..... so if he now crops his hair and starts to wear cutdown denims!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's up with Matt Hardy's conditioning? It looked to me like he was carrying quite a bit of extra weight, although the camera angles and quick cuts did well to disguise that fact. I know fans are generous with older, gravity bound guys like Flair and Hogan, but given how much Hardy relies on high-risk moves it seems like it would be more of an issue with him.

Kevin, you're not the only one who's puzzled about the nature of the voting. There's a thread on the WrestleCrap WWE forum called "NXT voting rules (Calvinball!!!)"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes#Calvinball

Because as the O.P. says, "Knowing the WWE the rules will change a few times over the next 14 weeks or so."

The Miz's work on this show does more to get him heat than anything else he's doing right now, in my opinion. On the other shows he's an obnoxious jackass, yes, but he rarely exhibits the kind of mean streak we've seen from him on NXT. In addition to that, the target of his bullying is a guy who is likeable as an underdog, a guy whom a lot of fans are familiar with and want to see treated with more respect, and who is either reluctant to fight back or isn't in any condition to fight back. It seems like somebody recognized how much legitimate heat JBL's gotten for tormenting new arrivals to the company and figured that the Miz would get good heat if his character were shown doing the same thing against a sympathetic target. I'd say it's been successful so far.

After two episodes NXT looks better than ECW but let's see whether they sustain the interest