baltimoresun.com

« Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam vs. Beer Money highlights entertaining TNA Impact | Main | Chat wrap: Wrestling Q&A with Kevin Eck »

March 26, 2010

Quick hits on WWE NXT

It’s been a busy week and I’m trying to catch up on things. Here are some thoughts on Tuesday night’s episode of WWE NXT:

• This show was basically an hour-long commercial for WrestleMania XXVI with a couple of matches thrown in. It was finally announced what the criteria is that the pros will be judging the rookies on for next week’s vote: win-loss record, strength of opponent, work ethic and “it” factor.

• Good thing for Daniel Bryan that there’s more to the evaluation than just his record, which is now 0-5 after he and Michael Tarver lost to David Otunga and Darren Young. I know some fans in the Internet Wrestling Community are angry that Bryan has yet to win a match, but the way he is being portrayed as a talented, likable guy who can’t seem to catch a break makes him stand out more than someone such as Young, who is 3-1.

• The Otunga/Young vs. Bryan/Tarver tag match went about 13 minutes and dragged at times. At one point, Bryan hit a crossbody on Young, and Bryan sold it like he also was hurt. I didn’t get that.

• The other tag match, which saw Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater defeat Wade Barrett and Skip Sheffield was a bit rough in spots, but it wasn’t bad overall. CM Punk and William Regal were both great outside the ring. Regal’s look of disdain when Sheffield was in the ring was hilarious, as was Punk sitting on the ring steps with his back turned to the action and carrying on a conversation with Luke Gallows and Serena.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:53 AM | | Comments (15)
        

Comments

I know the show was used to push WM but two matches in an entire hour, including 31 straight minutes between the two matches? Ridiculous.

The pros will be judging the rookies on win-loss record and strength of opponent? Someone should probably tell the pros that wrestling is fake.

Here's pulling for Daniel Bryan, the ultimate mid-major.

I'm not really sure what WWE are trying to do with Daniel Bryan. I'm hoping all this tough love is building to a feud with The Miz on the main card but I can't shake the feeling he'll get buried just to prove a point to the IWC. I don't watch ROH so I've never seen him before but I'm loving the display of submission manourvres. On another note; can't stand Otunga. I caught a couple of his other television appearances before he started wrestling and everything about this guy just makes me want to hit him with something large, heavy and blunt. Here's hoping he improves his inring skills because he'll make an awesome heel on Raw or Smackdown.

The video packages for the WM-matches, that were shown, were great. No matter how flawed or boring at some points, the actual storyline and the promos might be, the crew always creates an outstanding video package.
This year, the videos for the HBK-Taker match were particularly great, and in my case, it made 70% of the hype for their match. Even the video package for Hart-McMahon, during NXT, made me wanna watch this match so bad.
Kudos to the crew. They are awesome.

Maybe he is still selling the table bump he took in his match with Jericho. You can imagine that The Miz is working him hard during the week and not letting him have any time to recup.

That was nice of The WWE to premier their Wrestlemania PPV Preview Show on free TV in the middle of the week.  And while WWE NXT wasn’t peer pressuring you into buying Wrestlemania, they announced that there will finally be a Pro’s Poll unveiled next week.  The (producer's) Pro’s will vote on which rookies they like the best based on “IT Factor”, “Hunger”, and “Courageousness”.  Rookies will also be assessed using the “Intensity Meter”, which is an imaginary scale that only Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn can see.   

Based on what I saw this past weekend on WWE NXT, here are my power rankings:

1. Batista

2. John Cena

3.  Bret Hart

4.  Shawn Michaels

5.  The Undertaker

6.  Vince McMahon

7.  Daniel Bryan

8. Heath Slater

9. Wade Barrett

10. Justin Gabriel

11.  David Otunga

12.  Darren Young

13.  Skip Sheffield

14.  (Poor) Michael Tarver

Happy Wrestlemaniaing, folks.  I’ll be there LIVE!

Figured this would be an easy one to fast forward through with all the promos between the matches. With them only taping two for us I knew they'd have a lot of space to fill. Superstars is going to be the same way.

We got a good look from our seats at Regal's expressions and the interplay between Punk and the SES, which was a little more fun to watch than the match itself at some parts.

I think Byran was selling he was hurt after crossbody due to the after effects of the injury he suffered in his match against Y2J. At least that is the only guess I have

Wasn't paying close attention so I guess I missed it, but is Bryan still selling his "injured ribs" from the first NXT episode?

The media you guys has made NXT show a joke. D. Bryan is not the best of the rookies. The man has not even won a match yet. If I am not mistaken yall has already declared him the winner. He is not a rookie with 10yrs in the game. He has not shown the people anything. All the wrestlers have heart.

Bryan is still moderately selling his injured ribs from week 1.

It's as though, from a kayfabe perspective, he felt his ribs getting close to 100% so he threw in a spot that would test their mettle.

I think it a shame how the media is putting Daniel Bryan on, and he is loosing every match. He has been the top rated since the start. The biggest thing about this is Bryan is not a rookie, and why was he aloud to take part of NXT. Making this move was unfair to every rookie on the show. Bryan has 10yrs on the others, and has only gain heart. Hell every rookie on the show has heart and mental toughness. Bryan has not even won a match yet. Gabriel was FCW Champion as Angel. He also just like Bryan should have been grandfathered in the WWE before now. The only true rookie I can see have gainned alot of improvement with his skills and ring ability is David Otunga. He is the man among all the other rookies. The total package and Mr. IT FACTOR himself David A-LIST Otunga. Otunga had more to prove than any, and he is making it count.

Nice website, Norma. Even if it's not exactly real yet.

Hey Norma, it's OK to post under your real name - Jennifer Hudson. I can't imagine anyone else loving Daniel Otunga as much.

No I don't love Otunga. I am just a hugh fan of wrestling, and have been for over twenty yrs. However, I do like Otunga ability in the ring though. Fair is fair don't try to make someone look good if he is looking pretty bad. David Otunga is the real rookie and he is holding his own very well. They are hating on him because he is soon-to-be-married to a super star. His personal life should not make are break his skills. The media is hating on him becaues he is the total package and he really is hot stuff. The man should be judge on the skills in the ring, and he is doing the dam thang. I have been married for (19yrs) with three sons. My whole family loves the WWE. However, I am a hugh fan of Jennifer Hudson though and if David Otunga is her pick than we must support.

Post a comment

All comments must be approved by the blog author. Please do not resubmit comments if they do not immediately appear. You are not required to use your full name when posting, but you should use a real e-mail address. Comments may be republished in print, but we will not publish your e-mail address. Our full Terms of Service are available here.

Please enter the letter "b" in the field below:
About Kevin Eck
The Baltimore Sun's Kevin Eck blogs about professional wrestling.
E-mail Kevin.
-- ADVERTISEMENT --

Cast your vote
Most Recent Comments
Photo galleries
Sign up for FREE local sports alerts
Get free Sun alerts sent to your mobile phone.*
Get free Baltimore Sun mobile alerts
Sign up for local sports text alerts

Returning user? Update preferences.
Sign up for more Sun text alerts
*Standard message and data rates apply. Click here for Frequently Asked Questions.
Blog updates
Recent updates to baltimoresun.com sports blogs  Subscribe to this feed
Charm City Current
Stay connected