Generally I think Barrett does brilliantly as a baddie and is by far the most promising NXT rookie, and Gabriel is a tremendous babyface (despite his head of air and mouth of marbles), but they both got reactions the opposite of that this week. I know in Barrett's case it was because he really did do well in his speech and he was a countryman, but even so.

I don't think anyone understands the rating system or how the winners are going to be selected. It wasn't even mentioned till week 2 and a lot of the time you get the impression they're making things up as they go along. Like when they suddenly introduced the challenges or announced the winner getting a PPV title shot. This should have all been laid out on the first show and a quick recap at the start each week so everyone knows what's going on. They do seem to have lost interest. How are the fans supposed to be behind them when the pro's can't be bother to turn up some weeks.

The booking of Bryan is very odd. As others have said the first few weeks were fine as he lost but looked good but the last couple of weeks they've just made him look like an idiot. For my money they would have been better off the last couple of weeks having Miz cause him to lose (or trying to make him lose and Bryan winning anyway), have them get more and more pissed off with each other. Have Bryan win the contest and use the title shot to go for Miz's US title. With the heat Miz gets Bryan would be over by default.

I'm beginning to think that WWE are actually trying to make Daniel Bryan look bad on purpose. It's a bit out there to suggest this perhaps, but the fact they keep bringing up his career on the indies suggests to me that they're using him as a tool to devalue the indies and other companies (such as ROH and TNA), creating this idea that even if you make it in another company, that doesn't mean you're good enough to make it in WWE. Trying to make WWE look like the undisputed number one, and all other talent (whether they be AJ Styles, Samoa Joe or anyone else) to be worthless.

Sure WWE doesn't NEED to do this, but the booking of Bryan has become so odd that it wouldn't shock me. I hope they turn it around asap, because it's getting too late to pull the trigger on him.

.... what I said, then. Tut.

Yeah, but like I said, and no-one seems to be taking this on board thus far, if that were truly and utterly the case, why have they pushed CM Punk to where he is now, and let him keep his original name at that? I don't harbour any illusions - we all know from the Invasion that VKM's not big on pushing talent he didn't make, but sometimes there are exceptions enough to let you know that there don't appear to be any hard-and-fast rules as to whom Vince likes and whom he doesn't. Evan Bourne/Matt Sydal hasn't done so badly from being an indy darling - given his size and comparatively limited character ability, I'd say WWE have been quite generous to him.

Maybe they want him to fall from grace in the eyes of the fans, from obvious favourite of the competition to the bottom of the rankings. From there, they can then do what they want with him and feel that it was from their own (WWE) merits.

Not exactly what you said, no. Tut.


I get that, but WWE never really played up their indy backgrounds. The whole NXT concepts gives them a vehicle to ridicule the indies. I'm not saying that's what they're doing, it does come across that way though. Regardless, whatever they are trying to do isn't working and they really need to change their approach with him.

Or at least, it would if he wasn't ranked number 1 of the NXT rookies.

I get the feeling when the updated rankings are released he's going to plummet right down to Number 8, forcing him to shape up and go on a winning spree.

Thats because Evan Bourne is the epitamy of the circus style, from 1910 to 2003 that guy would have been a jobber.

Vince fucked with our minds.. making us believe these guys are though and can out-wrestle somebody

I'm disappointed to have to point out on a wrestling forum that Bourne isn't what I would call a 'wrestler' , either.

He's a flippin' acrobat.

...which, now Ive thought about it, makes him a 'superstar' (of sorts) , so I guess he's in the club, afterall. Ouch.

That's what makes it so odd. I really don't understand why they did that. As it stands, though I'd rather Daniel Bryan did not win the show. Darren Young and Wade Barrett are the two most interesting characters on the show right now, and although I do like Bryan and Otunga I'd rather they not win. Presumably a babyface will make it to the final week, so I'd say that role probably will go to Bryan (or Gabriel) but we'll see what happens. I'm not as optimistic about Bryan's future in WWE as I once was, but I do hope he has one.

The only problem with that is that if that did ahappen he would get eliminated because no 8 go's next time.

Tarver will almost certainly be going, i'd think. I'm really disappointed that it's not Heath Slater, though.

It looks like trarver to me too at least skip sheffeid redeams himself by performing ok in the challenges Tarver argubly finished dead last in both.

I enjoyed NXT again this week, though I didn't expect to when the "rock-em-sock-em" challenge was announced. The prize was pretty shitty too, A "WWE.com feature"?! Why not the opportunity to wrestle in a main event match on Smackdown or something?!

Michael Tarver is starting to interest me for some reason. I think he's decent on the mic, and I do see potential in him. That said, I expect him to be the first eliminated and maybe even get released shortly after. If that doesn't happen I think he'll snap, knock out a few people and get a push as a psycho.

I like this :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPoEb-2wZR8

^^^ thats kinda shit.

Anyway, enjoyed NXT again, I think its been good fun, and they are mixing it up. Anyone else see Darren Young winning it? I've been really enjoying him way more than a few weeks ago, all the stuff with the SES has really made him into a player. how can he be 8th?

I also like Tarver, enjoying his bad-ass attitude, but him losing all the time makes him a bit shit, and he'll probably go first.

Josh Matthews girly giggle when Tarver drops his dueling stick was pretty hilarious.

I really like the Tarver character, but it's not translating well into his promos or his matches. If they used someone other than Michael Tarver the person to be Michael Tarver the character, it might turn out better. Both he and Skip have been more interesting in the past couple of weeks, though. Skip could be a big hit with the younger fans, lots of catchphrases and so on.

Bryan stopped grinning for a bit this week! Yes!

Gabriel vs. Otunga was probably the highlight this week. Great dynamic going through it from both rookies and pros.

I hope the SES/Young storyline continues to develop at the pace it's currently going, building intrigue week on week. Tentative thought of the week: Young gets to the final weeks, joins SES in an attempt to gain an advantage, but doesn't win.

The segment about the pros' views of Barrett was excellent, and made him seem like a big deal. The one on Slater didn't have the same impact, and his match with Jericho wasn't that memorable, but I'm sure he'll be around for a while yet.

NXT incorporating these challenges is pretty poor. The 'talking' one could have been done well but wasn't. Now they're playing Gladiators? A bit shit.

Plus, why wasn't there a DQ called in the Triple Threat match when Gallows got involved? They didn't even have Carlito distract the referee. Is the referee a rookie to? I also found it amusing when Tarver didn't kickout on the first shout by that said referee.

Plus the fact they promoted new theme music for Wade Barrett, yet we never heard it this week is also a bit shit.

Nobody else stands out for me other than Wade Barrett. I did like Heath Slater before he annoyed me no end for the past few weeks.

Who would the winner have been then?

Darren Young, seeing as Luke Gallows hit him first. Which I admit doesn't work with what they where trying to do, but still, it made me scratch my head for a bit.

I don't think single-fall Triple Threats traditionally have DQs, for the reason RepoMan gave. They don't have count-outs or knock-outs either.

Double post. God, these fucking IPS Driver Errors are doing my nut in.

I looked up Triple Threat Matches, admittedly on wikipedia, and it says Triple Threats rules normally omits DQ's and countouts essentially.

I guess that answers my question though.

So, I take it Skip Sheffield is a face again now? I fucking hate NXT. I'll give it a chance again when they sort the wheat from the chaff in a few weeks.

I'm still waiting for a 30 miniute match between Bryan Danielson and William Regal

I like Skip's face persona (albeit confusing when he's a heel some weeks!) but they really need to stop making him look like Stone Cold, as it's really quite distracting.

I quite like what Tarver's trying to do. He's realised that he's getting no help from the people in charge (he's saddled with a waste of a pro, does fuck all most weeks, always loses) and he's realised he's a bit shit, so he's trying to turn that to his advantage and stand out. I noticed this during the keg carrying contest, but wasn't sure it was intentional. Now it's like he's an aggressive Planet Stasiak. I'm still not sure how intentional it is -- I suspect he is genuinely trying to play the "I'm better than this" character rather than the comedy loser, but either way it's not a bad move for him. He is still crap though.

You probably have more chance of 14 more matches between them of the same length of the London match. Then, piece them together et voila - Regal vs. Danielson in a 30 minute Iron Man!

14-0 doesnt make a very interesting Iron Man match...

Oh come on i'm sure they would let regal win one or two

I hate Heath Slater, for seemingly spurious reasons. It's a combination of his stringy ginger hair, his stupid grin and his utterly crap 'one-man rock band' nickname. It's mainly the last one, though - what the fuck is that supposed to mean? A one-man rock band is simply a solo artist. It's not like the twat does anything remotely rock-themed, either, besides flopping his stringy ginger mop around during his entrance. The WWE have come up with some really stupid nicknames recently, this one is almost as bad as 'The All-American American', but not quite as bad as whichever one of Striker and Cole had the brainfart to call John Morrison 'The Abdominal Superstar' the other week.

This week's was Awful. I thought I was watching Gladiators!

I think 'The Abdominal Showman' would be a pretty good nickname for Morrison.

Nice

All American American is great! Especially when Swagger occassionalyl forgets how many times he's said it.

It almost feels like he's given up on it, and I'd imagine not bothering with the challenges he'll be the first to be eliminated.

Elsewhere, it was only the second episode of NXT I've watched and it wasn't great. That Heath Miller does my nut in, and like Magnum I can't stand his stupid hair, the way he moves his head and that weird pointing to people in the crowd that looks three times as good when Christian does it.

Tarver will surely go first now. I'm not sure if they're telling him to put on this can't be arsed shit or if it's just him but it's failing in my eyes. He might have potential but he's not looking good.

Ahhh Slater went over Jericho, I can't believe that. Bryan should have beat Jericho this week, they could've done so much with it if he had. He needs a win over someone like Jericho, surely they won't actually have him lose the whole way through the show.

Heath Slater getting wins really concerns me. They're going to sign the shit twat properly, aren't they?

His ring work is pretty good, I'll give him that. But he's so f'ng irritating. He's so annoying that if he carried this on to the main shows I'd switch the channel each time he came on. Maybe he'd fair better as a heel, I dunno.


Whatever he's trying to do he's still wound up getting over. He gets a lot of heel heat and it's less of a half hearted reaction than many of the rookies. There's no way he won't be the first eliminated, but at least he's making the most of his opportunity.

Yeah it's if he know's he is going so just thought "**** It"

Anyone want to have a stab at the next 'pros poll' rankings? On the evidence of the past few weeks, Wade Barratt would be my pick to jump to the #1 spot, but Slater is also making a good case for it. Both guys featured heavily this week and those video packages with the pros talking about them did a lot to put them both over.

My guess at the rankings would be this:

1. Wade Barratt
2. Heath Slater
3. Justin Gabriel
4. Darren Young
5. Skip Sheffield
6. David Otunga
7. Daniel Bryan
8. Michael Tarver (eliminated)

I think Tarver seems certain now, storyline-wise, to be bottom and hence eliminated. Bryan's massive drop from #1 to almost being eliminated will be justified by his win-loss record and his poor performances in the challenges, with the angle being that he is at risk of blowing his chance of a lifetime and will now need to fight to survive in the competition -which will be the start of his big 'comeback' angle.

Skip Sheffield will leapfrog Otunga due to his impressive performances in the challenges, while Darren Young will jump from 8th to 4th off the back of his six wins and the fact that he has now won Punk's approval.

Barrett and Young have to taken the top 2 spots. They're the only guys who have done anything worthwhile the past few weeks. I would add Slater to that list, but I don't think they pushed the undefeated streak enough - as he wasn't high enough last time to make it mean anything and while this Jericho win should push him to the top 3, I don't think they're working hard enough on building him up before that seeing as Kane effectively squashed him a few week before.

Daniel Bryan should be bottom, in all honesty. Guys been defeated at every occasion, and takes the piss out of every challenge and looks like a cunt doing it, get rid - he was interesting the first few weeks and now no-one gives a toss. The experiment of Daniel Bryan was fun while it lasted.

I can honestly see the top 8 going like this;
1. Wade Barrett
2. Darren Young
3. Heath Slater
4. Justin Gabriel
5. David Otunga
6. Skip Sheffield
7. Daniel Bryan
8. Michael Tarver

Looking at that, they've seriously balls things up. They had a nice idea with Otunga and Bryan feuding, but that didn't go anywhere as Bryan was dropping falls to the lowest seeded guy while Otunga was being brought to Monday Night RAW held in another continent to face the WWE Champion. And here's another stupid thing about Otunga, the guy was hosting RAW yet he did nothing to help out any of the pros that could help him win the competition. If I was Otunga, i'd have given Miz the night off, instead of having him wrestle twice. I'd have given Regal/Carlito/Punk/Jericho all decent matches that they might want, like title matches and what not, or hell, maybe make a giantly lopsided match so you can win the WWE Title while still on NXT. It made the guy look like an idiot, not tagging himself in, because if he really wanted to help Miz, he won't make him defend the belts at all. And now, after the big "I should be No 1" thing he had for 2 weeks, he's fallen a place instead of gradually rising, and no-one gives a toss any more as this is the Barrett and Young show.

And this was all looking so promising. I hope they don't fuck up Barrett's music or ruin the Young/Punk/Gallows storyline on NXT.

Before I get into this I'm not an ROH fan and have only watched about three shows. But the stuff they are doing with Daniel Bryan is why I really hate WWE at times. It's essentially bullying/burying. They appeared to have had high hopes for Daniel Bryan but no doubt Vince McMahon soured on him when he saw his size etc.

Matt Striker deserves a punch, the guy is such an arse licker. If Daniel Bryan cut a Rock-calibre promo (he never will) Matt Striker will undermine it and underplay it as nothing. Burials have never looked so obvious.

It's like the Lillian Garcia horse joke Triple H cracked with what appeared to be real venom. Not only did it make my new found appreciation for Triple H regress but it made WWE look like such a shitty place to be.

Desmond Wolfe failing that medical looks like the best thing that happened to him.

Yeah, the bastards! How dare they put him at number one in the rankings.

Yeah, but since being put at number one he's consistently looked like a complete waste of space, to the point that he's even starting to get negative reactions when he's meant to be a fan-favourite. I would have said i hope they do a sort of Rocky-style comeback with him, but they've pushed it so far that i actually couldn't give a shit now. They've done an absolutely admirable job of souring Bryan - it's almost like a running joke that he's in the number 1 spot.

I'll be really impressed if they manage to turn things around with him, though - assuming that's still their plan.

It's hard to predict what they intend to do with him. Completely burying him after ranking him at #1 would seem like a spiteful 'fuck-you' to Bryan and to all the hardcore fans that actually knew all about him before NXT. I don't know why WWE would want to piss off that particular demographic of their fanbase, but this is WWE- so who knows what to expect?

What I would like to see them do with Bryan from here would be to rank him at #7 in a few weeks, surviving the elimination at the expense of comedy jobber Tarver. At the announcement of the rankings, Tarver snaps and challenges Bryan to a match to stay in the competition. Have The Miz accept the match on behalf of Bryan, as he also wants to see him go instead. So you have the NXT main event set up as Bryan vs Tarver with Bryan forced to end his losing streak or face elimiation from NXT. Gives the match a real sense that both guys are fighting for their careers- a relegation dogfight! Bryan survives interference from The Miz and owns Tarver with a Cattle Mutilation to take the victory. After the match, he reverses an ambush from Miz and locks the Cattle Mutilation on him too, with the officials having to rip him off. This sparks Bryan's big comeback in the show and steps up the heat in his feud with Miz.

I don't see Bryan winning NXT, but there is a lot more they could do with him on the show yet, considering the attention he has drawn so far and the fact that his 'pro' is one of the most prominent heels on the roster right now.

When?

Some people moaned when Wade Barrett got a bigger reaction than Daniel Bryan, even though that week was from London!