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June 16, 2010

Quick hits on WWE NXT

• The highlight of Tuesday night’s solid episode of WWE NXT was a good match between Alex Riley and Kaval. It may have been the best rookie-versus-rookie match since NXT’s inception. Riley won clean, so it appears that Kaval could be this season’s Daniel Bryan (meaning that he is the most-experienced and best in-ring competitor of the group, but never wins).

• The other match, which saw Kofi Kingston and Michael McGillicutty defeat Mark Henry and Lucky Cannon – was decent. McGillicutty looked good and Cannon didn’t look bad either.

• Layla and Michelle McCool had their moments on commentary during the Riley-Kaval match.

• We finally got an explanation as to why Joe Hennig is competing under the name Michael McGillicutty. Josh Matthews said that McGillicutty is Hennig’s mother’s maiden name.

• Cody Rhodes attacking Matt Striker at the end of the show was a surprise. It was odd seeing babyfaces such as MVP and Henry attending to Striker.

• The video packages on Kaval, Eli Cottonwood and Husky Harris all were well done. Kaval’s 12 years in the business and his international accomplishments were acknowledged. Cottonwood is an interesting character.

• John Morrison was not very smooth on the mic when he was asked for his assessment of Kaval and Riley.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 6:16 PM | | Comments (14)
        

Comments

Just a quick note...I haven't ever found Morrison very smooth on the mic. Especially, since he became a face. He was okay with the Miz, but the Miz carried him during promos. I think the time has come for him to go back to being a heel.

I'm not sure where Husky Harris fits in today's wrestling, but I like him. He seems a little bit goofy, but seems like he will be able to handle a promo.

It seems like there avoiding another tarver by getting o'neil and everybody time

But then did you hear during Tituses video promo he said his mistake by saying. Make it a win like he said last week

What is up with Cody Rhode's Nose Piercing

Kaval's in-ring performance was great. He brought great intensity to the match and kicked the hell out of Alex Riley. Riley's finisher looked pretty neat as well.

I thought that Lucky and McGillicutty looked horrible in their match, especially Lucky.

When you have a short tag team match and you're trying to impress people, you probably shouldn't spend half the time in a headlock.

My philosophy on life:
"Make It a Win, You Know It"

What's going to be the explanation for the use of Husky Harris as a name? Lots of people know his mother's maiden name was Windham.

I decided to put my errands on the back-burner, convinced a friend that I was supposed to go to the movies with to go on a short hike instead

Mr. Perfect had sex with Beaulah? Tommy Dreamer's gonna be awfully upset when he hears about this!

It seems pretty clear that this season of NXT won't be as good as the last one. I'm already a little bit bored of it. The match between Riley and Kaval was good, and I think the pairing of Kaval and Laycool is the most interesting thing to note so far. I also like the way Cody Rhodes is being portrayed and I think he handled himself well on the mic at the end of the show. For me, John Morrison hasn't always been the smoothest of talkers, and it definitely showed this week. As for the rest of the Rookies, it's too early to really judge them as performers as of yet.

"Riley won clean, so it appears that Kaval could be this season’s Daniel Bryan (meaning that he is the most-experienced and best in-ring competitor of the group, but never wins)."

Or maybe he just lost this match. Why would they repeat the same story again?

Let's stop being so kind... Morrison CHOKED.

Really enjoyed the Kaval/Riley match. The other one didn't do much for me. Hey, if NXT succeeds in elevating Woo Woo Woo Zack Ryder and Cody Rhodes, that's cool.

I thought Rhodes did a good job... I jumped out of my chair when he clobbered Matt Striker. How many of the other people Matt's "interviewed" on NXT have wanted to do that?

re: Morrison - He needs to take a cue from the character Midnight Mark in the movie "Pirate Radio." His gimmick is that he says very little, and by NOT talking, he gets all the girls (extra irony: he's a DJ who looks like, yes, Jim Morrison). Morrison could add a bit where he just uses one or two words and a "look" as his entire promo. Only problem would be that you'd always have to have him play his promo off someone else.

WWE can bring back Trevor Murdoch and pair him with Husky Harris.

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About Kevin Eck
The Baltimore Sun's Kevin Eck blogs about professional wrestling.
E-mail Kevin.
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