From wrestlinginc.com


Firstly, appologies if there's another thread about NXT specifically. I found one about "who will commentate it", and "an idea for the format", but none specifically talking about what it actually will be.

I actually really like this idea, and I think Danielson will emerge as a rather big star from this. It'll be interesting to see who mentors who, and what other FCW wrestlers will get the nod as far as being part of the show.

Personally I suspect Rey Mysterio will mentor Kaval, building up to their long rumoured feud. HBK could be a good bet to mentor Danielson, unless they finally decide to bring back Lance Cade as part of this show.

I'd predict the following FCW wrestlers will take part:

Brett DiBiase (mentored either by Randy Orton or Ted DiBiase) - This could help prolong WWE's current storyline involving Legacy, while giving Brett a boost.

Joe Hennig (mentored by either Orton or DiBiase) - Whoever doesn't mentor Brett should mentor Hennig, building up the Legacy storyline, as well as giving us the interesting prospect of seeing what Orton is really like, should the show break Kayfaybe at any point.

Justin Angel (mentored by Evan Bourne) - Both men are high fliers, so it'd make sense in that regard, and also give Bourne a boost by featuring him on a second show as a mentor. It may also give him the chance to show some personality.

Barretta and Croft (mentored by Matt Hardy) - Having one half of one of the most famous tag teams of all time mentor these two would make a lot of sense.

Johnny Curtis (mentored by CM Punk) - Curtis has been a regular feature of WWE House shows recently, along with Alex Riley. I'll predict one (if not both) will feature in this show. Featuring Punk as a mentor would make sense given his character, and potentially build up to a future storyline where Curtin (or whoever Punk mentors) refuses to embrace Punk's Straight Edge Society.

AJ Lee (mentored by Mickie James, Melina or Finlay) - I can't imagine NXT will feature an all male cast, and AJ Lee is the current "Queen Of FCW" so I'm picking her as our female involvement. I'd imagine her mentor will be female, but if it isn't I'd suspect they'd go with Finlay given the fact he's worked heavily with WWE Divas in the past and received major credit for it. I'd imagine they'd take this option if these are real mentors doing a real job, and not just "storyline options". I'm assuming it's a bit of both though, and this is why I've given the choices that I have.

(NB. Although There are 9 people here, and the article says 8 will take part, I'm counting a tag team as one pick...)

So it's going to be some kind of worked shoot Tough Enough/ECW hybrid type thing? Interesting.

Initially I thought the whole thing would be of little interest to me, but I am now rather intrigued.

I'll definitely watch it, but they really ought to promote the fuck out of it on next weeks RAW and this weeks Smackdown so that people know what it's all about. The concept of a "new show" alone isn't going to attract an audience.

Won't it end up just being the Goldusts and William Regals of the world as mentors rather than the Randy Ortons and Shawn Michaels'?

Great way for the wwe to get new talent over for sure

Regal will no doubt be Danielson's mentor, I mean he pretty much has been his entire career by all accounts.

This is quite an interesting little feature and I'm quite intrigued as to how it will play out, will defo DL the first Ep and take a ganders at this, it could be belting, but knowing WWE programming it may also fall flat on it's arse from the off.

If WWE pick the right mentors, it may also serve as a great purpose for getting them over too.

Remember Regal 'training' Eugene? I loved that promo, a more serious take on that could work very well.

I'm REALLY hoping some legends pop up for this, Ricky Steamboat would be great in my eyes, and we may get to see a little more of him in the ring, a Steamboat Regal match could be all sorts of goodness.

Thing is though, Tough Enough was a disaster in terms of creating new talent. Exposing wrestlers to the public before they're ready can't be a good thing, surely?

And for those guys who ARE ready, like Bubba Poon, it'll forever break the wall of illusion surrounding them as a wrestler. People will always think of them as a weird sort of reality tv star rather than a legit wrestler. Kayfabe may be "dead" but it's still really important for taking the whole thing seriously.

Apparently HHH hated Tough Enough - I can't imagine he'll like this either.

I don't think it paints people as reality stars at all. Look at The Miz, John Morrison, and The Boogyman amongst others. All differing levels of success, but I don't think many people look at them and think of Tough Enough.

Well the roster is apparently going to be (don't think its official yet):

- Justin Angel (FCW Champion)
- Daniel Bryan (formerly Bryan Danielson)
- Kaval (formerly Low Ki)
- Skip Sheffield
- Joe Hennig (son of Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig)
- Brett Dibiase (son of the Million Dollar man, brother of Ted Jr.)
- Darren Young
- Heath Slater
- Michael Tarver

Nidia and Chris Nowinski managed to shake off that tag, as did Josh Mathews. It took years for Maven to rid himself of that stigma though.

Also, nobody equates Kenny King to Tough Enough.

I might seem a bit down on that show, but personally I adored Tough Enough. It was so well produced and chucked out some awesome TV characters and stories like Greg's back problems in season 1 which scuppered his chances of probably winning, Jackie Gayda cheating on her boyfriend and then tearing her ACL to shreds but carrying on the training in season 2, and the epic about of ribbing which took place in season 3.

If only I could get seasons 2 and 3 on DVD from someone.

Apparantly someone called Kaval used to be Low-Ki. That's the same as your name! You gonna watch your favourite wrestler on there?

Tough Enough was a quality show, great characters and stories in a show about learning to wrestle. I don't think it harms the audience as we are smart enough to suspend our disbelief then get back to reality the next moment.

Also Maven was great up until they sort of gave up on him, remember the short Undertaker fued where he eliminated him from the Rumble? Also Maven had a great heel promo at a PPV when he wrestled Carlito, but he was released soon after.

I honestly believe Nowinski could have been a star had it not been for his injuries. He had a great look and gimmick going on.

Also now The Miz, Morrison and to a lesser extent the Boogeyman. Also ODB was in the first episode of the first series so I don't know if she counts.

Oh and Matt Capotelli, who I thought was cool. But we know what happened to him.

So yeah anyway, pretty excited for NXT. If is has Danielson and Low Ki, then cool, plus I'm really excited to see what the rest of the FCW roster has to offer.

but if it is all FCW guys, what about Croft and Baretta, Vance Archer and guys like that? Do we think they'll just move to Smackdown or Raw and have enough to get over or will they go back to FCW and wait until the next series of NXT?

Do you mean against Shelton Benjamin at New Year's Revolution? I never liked Maven at all before that point and from then on I thought he was a great heel. Shame he was released a few months later though.

Aye thats probably it, don't know why I thought of Carlito...

Sounds a bit shit to me. I thought NXT was just going to be the same roster as what ECW has. Im guessing they wont put all the roster on RAW/SD. Id rather NXT was a brand rather than reality.

well i hope croft and baretta get released as they are just awful,Archer is ok though

Really like this but I expect at least two of the pairings to be women which if it happened would dilute the possibilities in 42 mins a week.......

Nice to see Heath Slater finally getting an opportunity. He has been in developmental for years, going all the way back to Deep South when he was known as Heath Miller.

Isn't Skip Sheffield Ryan Reeves? I am pretty sure he originally came from Tough Enough before being signed, sent to both Deep South and OVW, cut, re-hired and also under going several name changes along the way.

I'm excited for this new show. I liked Tough Enough, so I'm sure I will love this "NXT" show since it will contain wrestlers who can wrestle and not complete newbz. I'm mostly happy that they've "cut a brand" with ECW. I'm not a fan of the brands, great step in my mind.

Why do you think they're awful? They can work a good match, the only thing they need is to find some kind of character in my opinion.


What'd be the point in that though? If NXT was ECW in all but name that'd kind of render the change pointless. What they're doing is something new and different, and hopefully this will translate to being fun and watchable.

My thoughts exactly. They have a decent look and can work, they just need 'something' to get them going. Much like Orton & Cena did when they first debuted.

Dude Busters>Generation ME

The thing is that televised wrestling in the US have essentially used the same format since the days of Raw and Nitro:
Shows held in Arena's or similar venues containing matches and promo's/vignettes, often driven by 2 or 3 key stories linking multiple segments.

The format is something like 15 years old. WWE must think that staleness may be a factor for dwindling TV ratings and the lower appeal of wrestling. Plus, they are struggling to get some new guys over.

So they looked at TUF, which rejuvenated a then flagging UFC when it came out, and looked at a similar concept for new wrestlers. If it gets ratings then it's a success. If that fails it can still succeed if 1 or 2 guys get over with the fans quicker than in a month or 2 of squash matches.

Just to add to the 'they came from Tough Enough but people forget' thing...Melina and Shad Gaspard were also both from Tough Enough I believe. I think NXT will be slightly different than Tough Enough when it comes to creating new stars though, as they will be promoted to Raw or Smackdown.

This PWtorch article contains videos of each wrestler from FCW. Some of them look really green. That's not to say that they haven't improved since these matches took place, but it looks like some of their "coaches" will be doing a lot of work.

Partially on-topic, and a little deep, do people think pro-wrestling as a whole has a (even if a long one) shelf-life?

Wrestling has evolved from something that was accepted by everyone who wasn't directly involved in the industry, including workers' family members, to be completely real, to a mixed crowd of total believers, casual not-sure-what-bit-is-real-and-don't-care-too-much fans and "smart marks" who know the score, to the grand majority accepting it is pre-determined and either accepting it for what it is or renouncing it completely, with a small portion of (generally very young) fans still believing to some degree.

Tough Enough and various other things like Louis Theroux, Beyond The Mat and Secrets of Pro Wrestling Revealed have exposed wrestling massively in the last decade or so, but when a point is reached that everyone internationally knows that the results are pre-determined and nothing about it, except very rare mistakes/disputes are "shoot" will pro-wrestling as an industry, have outgrown itself?

Laurel and Hardy custard-pie-ing each other had to become South Park to keep the medium of comedy alive, where does pro wrestling go if it's international flagship utterly buries kayfabe?

From Prowrestling.net:



Interesting pairings. Two I want to focus on is Jericho with Barrett and Miz with Bryan. Wasn't Barrett the FCW commentator? Strange that he should get the tutelage of the best and most high-profile pro. You would assume that he has a distinct advantage from the get-go simply via association. Miz mentoring Bryan Danielson? I nearly pissed myself laughing at that. AmDrag has probably wrestled a career double the length of Miz, he should be teaching Miz if anything. From all reports the show is going to break kayfabe a fair bit, so hopefully this fact is highlighted.

I'm going to guess they have other plans for Kaval, or maybe they want to use him in the next NXT season. Also rumoured was Brett Dibiase and Joe Hennig, so either they participate in the Legacy angle or they'll get a main roster debut after WM. Actually, it would be weird using them as NXT rookies, seeing as they have the benefit of being second generation stars. On the other hand, they could use that as a storyline device to create conflict and jealousy on the show.

Maven was over huge off the back of Tough Enough, he just wasn't ready to carry it. Someone like Danielson would be though.

Is there anywhere to find Tough Enough online? Not just the grainy Youtube clips but whole seasons? I dont have a XWT account or anything like that. Can you download from Daily Motion?

I did wonder how they'd work the pairings, but it looks like they've got a good mix.

I think it needs to be face/face, face/heel, heel/heel and heel/face .. that way if/when they debut on the main roster, you have some in-built storylines.

Miz/Daniel, for example, certainly has good potential for conflict you would assume.

When I first found out that Danielson was gonna be a heel, I was a little pissed tbh. But after thinking about it for a while, look what it did Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho (WCW), Edge, Kurt Angle etc
That is what they need to do, give him some WWE standard mic skills before being promoted to Raw or Smackdown. That is why Desmond Wolfe is so entertaining in my opinion becuase he is one of the best in the buisnees both in the ring and on the mic. If only they had given Shelton Benjamin some mic skills before debuting...

Who has said he's going to be a heel?

Mic skills wouldn't have stopped him falling on his head a lot and nearly killing opponents. And you can't give someone mic skills, they have it, or they don't. Shitton doesn't.

You have to feel sorry at Michael Tarver. Everyone else gets a bit of a name, and he gets Carlito who's not won a match in what feels about a year, poor sod.

You make it sound like John Laurinitis has a stash of mic skills hidden in his desk to be handed out at his discretion. Shelton Benjamin is wooden, and he'll always be wooden. If they'd wanted to make him, they could have made him when he was hot.

He is a heel, his mentor is The Miz.

Unless they feud with each other. Danielson the serious wrestler and Miz the Hollywood star.

Exactly.

I think it's a bit weird to assume that each pairing will result in everyone just getting along fine etc, and that the new guys will be exactly the same as their mentors.

Surely there has to be some feuds coming out of it?!

I guess it depends on just how far they go with the 'realism' - do we get Punk the SES crazy leader? Will we get a world-travelled Jericho or his on-screen heel persona? Will we get a motivated Miz saying how he's got up the ranks, or do we just get the cocky better-than-you attitude?

No one knows a thing at the moment.

Wade Barrett is England's Stu Sanders and Justin Gabriel is South Africa's PJ Black.

David Otunga is the hubbie of singer Jennifer Hudson.

Miz mentoring Danielson is gold in my opinion.

Christ almighty How dumb are you!

People also forget a fat Matt Morgan took part in Season 2.

This show looks a great concept. I think reality tv still plays a huge part in television and blending it with an actual wrestling show seems a clever concept - like the Ultimate Fighter somewhat (remember Hogan saying he wanted to revolutionize TNA with a Ultimate Fighter style show which saved the UFC). I've long been a fan of bringing the young lads in through ECW and weve seen some good wrestlers come through. Theres alot of lads I'm looking forward to seeing from FCW (Wade Barrett, who worked for All Star as Stu Sanders).

All the smarts are already up in arms that WWE is calling Miz a "Pro" and Daniel Bryan a "Rookie" and the fact he's called Daniel Bryan saying it's another move designed just to piss them off, the mugs. Bryan looked a star in his promo shot mind.

To be fair to the WWE they put Bubba Poon over as "world travelled" in their video introduction last night.

Yeah wrestled in Japan, UK and American and "more experienced than anyone" so at least it's a good build. I like him with The Miz though, I love Bryan Danielson and his weakest area (in my personal opinion) is his mic work and promos and The Miz is one of the best at that right now. I personally put Miz up as the best heel talker at the minute with Jericho and Punk behind. So why put Bryan with someone where he wont learn anything about technique, talent, the business because he could tutor them, at least this way it's going to be mutually beneficial for this pairing.

Exactly, Plus Miz is on fire like Wayne Rooney at the minute. Everything he touches is turning to gold. Who better to learn the WWE style under? (Though it's not like these Pro's are actually gonna be mentoring there Rookie's. It's still gonna be scripted.)

and he's perfect for theMiz, because that "I'm a pro, you're a rookie" thing is exactly how Miz will act towards him, thus creating drama as Poon schools him in the ring or does things he can't do etc

This isn't one of your card trading games you probably play during break-time at school, you can't just 'give' someone mic skills. If only they gave John Cena technical wrestling skills, I bet you also wonder.

I am looking forward to this, if done similar to TUF. They all share the same house, Bubba Poon gets a bit vexed when Wade eats all the ice cream, they have a bit of a fight then make up after. In all seriousness though, this could be decent tv- even though it's a worked attempt at something that is supposed to be real (which is the same as wrestling anyway). And the potential conflicts between Miz & Poon could provide the best talking moments. Hell, this show is surely ten times better than a drab 'C-roster' show like ECW was. Something a bit different.

No Kaval then, not surprised. I still think WWE won't do a thing with him- and he will quietly be released at some point this year.

So is this the roster? Did I read somewhere that the other half of the roster will be guys already on WWE tv? Did this mean other guys, possibly Vance, Baretta, Croft, Yoshi etc or the mentors?

Is it me or does Darren Young look like a CAW? As well as a black Cena?

CM Punks first duty of tutelage should be to shave that God awful cut off, I hope that has been grown solely for it to be buzzed, if that barnet is serious ... well, fuck me I've seen it all.

Heath Slater just looks shit, really shit.

Do you mean the card trading games I played when I was 7? You realise you don't have to treat me like crap, this is a forum, where people discuss things that they are interested in, in this case wrestling. I was just giving my opinion, and quite possibly you would have a different one, but you don't have to talk to me like that. Besides, I didn't say any one could get given "mic skills", but some can develop them over the course of some time. Just like The Rock and Stone Cold did, and look how their promos turned out...

Steve Austin was cutting fine promos as a Hollywood Blonde 3 years before he was in WWF.

Why say things like that? And how the hell would we know what you have or haven't read? Go and give yourself a shake.

I've seen quite alot of Austin wrestling in WCW, but the oldest Austin promo I think I have seen was his first ECW promo which was gold.