NXT Results 2/23/10

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MILWAUKEE – Eight NXT Rookies. Eight WWE Pros. One dream. WWE Universe, welcome to WWE NXT!

Throughout the coming weeks, eight NXT Rookies will try to prove they have the personality, charisma, talent and strength to win a Raw Superstar contract while being mentored by WWE Superstars. But which Pro will successfully pass on his knowledge and skills to the future of WWE?

World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho def. Daniel Bryan Daniel Bryan was certainly put to the test during his first night in front of the WWE Universe. The NXT Rookie faced the new World Heavyweight Champion, Chris Jericho on the inaugural episode of Syfy’s new Tuesday night show. With his NXT Rookie, British bare-knuckle fighter Wade Barrett, in his corner, Jericho was victorious when Bryan tapped out to the Walls of Jericho. But Bryan wowed the WWE Universe with an impressive offensive arsenal of skills and submission moves, almost making Jericho tap out to a Heel Hook. But it’s unlikely Bryan has learned his incredible skills from his Pro, The Miz. In addition to their explosive clash earlier in the night, The Miz attacked Bryan after his main event loss, calling him an embarrassment. But did The Miz beat some respect into his NXT Rookie, or just fuel the intense fire already burning inside Bryan?

David Otunga def. Darren Young
NXT Rookie David “A-List” Otunga brought his A-game to the WWE NXT premiere, picking up his first win in front of the WWE Universe. Under the guidance of his WWE Pro, R-Truth, Harvard Law graduate Otunga defeated Darren Young, who had an ornery CM Punk, Luke Gallows and Serena in his corner. The confident, charismatic and strong Otunga took just minutes to impressively defeat South Beach party boy Young. But the WWE Universe is left to wonder how Young will fare in WWE NXT when his Pro, Punk, is less than excited to mentor the NXT Rookie, that is, unless he’s ready to join the Straight Edge Society.

Christian & Heath Slater def. Carlito & Michael Tarver
Christian introduced the WWE Universe to his NXT Rookie, Heath Slater, a star who is ready to rock the WWE Universe. Slater proved to be a great tag team partner for Captain Charisma, assisting him by pulling Carlito out of the ring, allowing Christian to capitalize and hit Michael Tarver with a Killswitch for the victory. Tarver, who is known as “Mr. 1.9 Seconds” for his ability to quickly knockout his opponent, is being mentored by Carlito, who is sure the knowledge and skills he’ll pass on will make Tarver become the next breakout WWE Superstar.

An early clash
The premiere episode of WWE NXT kicked off with quite a clash between United States and Unified Tag Team Champion The Miz and his NXT Rookie, Daniel Bryan. Before sending Bryan to the ring to introduce himself, The Miz warned his NXT Rookie to expect anything, and that if he doesn’t show personality, he’d slap some into the “Internet darling. Then, in front of the WWE Universe, Bryan poked fun at his mentor’s reality TV past, and pointed out that he’s been honing his skills all over the world for the last 10 years. Naturally, an angry Miz interrupted Bryan, and slapped his mentee, proving not all of the Pros and NXT Rookies will get along during season one of WWE NXT

I know this was only the first one, but I loved this show. I was worried that we would see these rookies practicing leg sweep bumps, like TE, but this show is nothing like TE. You actually get to see the rookies perform in a WWE ring, in an actual match. The opening segment with Bryan and Miz was awesome and it was even more awesome to see Bryan wrestle the WHC Jericho.

Figured this thread makes much more sense to post thoughts about NXT more than the thread you guys have been posting thoughts on the show in.

Let's start off ... that's Daniel Bryan? It was my first time seeing him and I just, well predicted he'd look like something else. I don't know, never would of pictured that as his look. Also, Daniel Bryan is still a stupid ass name. Enjoyed the Miz in the opening promo, as for Daniel ... let's just say there is definitely a reason for Miz being his mentor.

The tag match was decent. I see nothing special in Slater or Traver. Not a great first match for NXT and the next was not better. I do like David Otunga though. His promo was the best of all the rookies and I like the gimmick. Sucked that the match with Darren Young was so short, really couldn't get a feel for how they are in the ring.

Wade Barret was entertaining. The match, I'm going to have a different opinion than pretty much every other person on this site. I was so freaking disappointed. For about a year or so, I kept hearing about how great Daniel Bryan was, that was the best wrestler in the world, and a fantastic technical/submission wrestler. I love that style of wrestling and I really didn't want to see him work as a high flyer. I think everyone can understand why I was disappointed by that. The one submission move, he only did one, was really good though. I enjoyed the table spot and his turnbuckle flip thing. Also cool to see Jericho bring the knee back. Didn't he call that modification the Lion Tamer? Or something like that.

A few other thoughts. Firstly, Cole kicked ass. I enjoyed him talking about Daniel Bryan. I don't see a problem with that, be borning as hell and not nearly effective as a tool if everyone is glorifying his time in there. Matthews was doing his best to glorify it and it people do respond postively on someone when someone is putting them down. One of the many reasons why JBL would be putting down Rey before there matches. That was directed to Sykesy, who was blaming WWE for that. Secondly, those camera angles, horrible. You know, if WWE is going to copy something off TNA, do it right. I've counted four moves that weren't even visible due to the camera angles that would of been if they didn't use it. I counted about three times were the wrestlers head were cut off the screen. I'm not high on that camera angle to begin with, but WWE really ruined it. Also, what's the point of having that one angle like that and every other one being a typical WWE one. When the were switching I got kind of disoriented. Finally, saying Daniel Bryan is going to be as big as Stone Cold in ten years, Sykesy, is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen you type. If not, the most ridiculous thing you've typed. Popularity-wise, no chance in hell. Not even Hogan is or ever was as popular as Stone Cold in his prime. No superstar ever drew like Steve Austin. He drew more than anyone at a single point (ie nobody has drew more than him on single show). Sure, you can argue he wrestled durning a more popular era for wrestling but that means that Daniel Bryan has less chance to be as big as him. Triple H, I could see. Don't think he'll be a thirteen time world champion but still.

Whoa, Hold up Y2J X. You have seen one freaking match of Daniel Bryan. They made him look like a jobber, They made him speak like a backwards two year old and you are going to argue that he will not be big. You probably have never watched one indy match in your life. Danielson out performs everyone in ring wise on the entire WWE Roster. There is not one person on there better then him in the ring. Closest thing would be Evan Bourne. There are only two better in ring wrestlers in America better then Danielson and they are Styles and Angle.

Danielson is above decent on the microphone. He is no Rock or Cena, But his in ring ability makes up alot for it. I emphasize on alot. Plus how do you know if he will not be bigger then Austin. He is already a way better in ring wrestler and could quite easily get the confidence to be just as damn good on the microphone too. If given the right gimmick, He could quite possibly become one of WWE's greatest wrestlers. Judging him of his first match is really just plain retarded. Instead of being locked in a WWE Shell, Please Youtube him. There is more to wrestling then WWE and TNA.

Might be more to wrestling than WWE and TNA but that's where it counts. Austin seriously was the biggest star of all time, so I think that is setting the bar a little high, even for apparently one of the greatest wrestlers in the world. Benoit was a great wrestler and was decent on the mic. He was still no Stone Cold as far as super stardom goes. Don't get me wrong, Danielson could be a really big deal in the future. The guy can definitely perform. But "youtube him" is what pretty much every indy mark ever tells people to do. But quite frankly, it's irrelevant. I don't care what he did in PWG or ROH or anything else. It's not my job to find out what he's capable of, its his job to show me. And this would probably be where most indy marks tell me "But WWE are holding him back!". Again, don't care. Plenty of other guys can put on good matches while being entertaining in WWE, you either conform or get lost in the shuffle. Seriously, I have nothing against the guy and think he has a really bright future. But I wouldn't predict anyone, let alone Bryan, would draw as much money as Austin.

Austin was the perfect gimmick, at the perfect time, performed by the perfect wrestler. I like what I have seen from Bryan, but he is not and will not be bigger then Austin. Pure wrestling is not all it takes to be a huge star. Bryan might be better on the mic then people are giving him credit, but it takes far more then knowing a million holds to he a great performer in WWE. That might be good enough in a high school gym, but it is not good enough for WWE. I personally love the heat that is already between Miz and Bryan. I think they will have a feud when this NXT thing is over. Hell, it might not take that long. What he has done in high school gyms at this point means nothing. When he came to WWE, he left that all behind him and now he has to prove himself to WWE fans. You can bash me or WWE if you want, but this is not the Indies anymore. This is wrestling on the biggest stage in the world, with the biggest wrestling personalities in the world.

I mention b4 all this that it looked like Bryan was going to be the stand out. But truth be told he's going to need to show a few more moves. Too many flying elbows. His grapple skills are good but his enviroment ability sucks. Meaning he gets loss when he's thrown to the ropes or have to jump of them.

slater sucked big time. Tarver has nothing other than a punch are u serious. Not even a body slam come on. But he looks great even the T he makes with his arms are cool but once the bell rings he has to be the worst on the card.

This show will force them to get better, if they want to win it. I think Bryan is clearly going to "win" the first season of the show. The ECW brand was a vehilce to get Lashley over and I think the first season of this show will be to get Bryan over and there is nothing wrong with that. Bryan has to impress WWE fans now. Not just Indy people.

Concrete Jesus wrote:

This show will force them to get better, if they want to win it. I think Bryan is clearly going to "win" the first season of the show. The ECW brand was a vehilce to get Lashley over and I think the first season of this show will be to get Bryan over and there is nothing wrong with that. Bryan has to impress WWE fans now. Not just Indy people.

He has to fix his talking skills also he kept stuttering and i could see nervousness on him. He really deserve the slap that miz gave him because he did a piss pour job introducing himself.

Noones talking about CM Punk and his guy. Thats going to be very interesting pairing thier battle as Punk tries to convert him to str8 edge.

That-Damn-Good wrote:

Might be more to wrestling than WWE and TNA but that's where it counts. Austin seriously was the biggest star of all time, so I think that is setting the bar a little high, even for apparently one of the greatest wrestlers in the world. Benoit was a great wrestler and was decent on the mic. He was still no Stone Cold as far as super stardom goes. Don't get me wrong, Danielson could be a really big deal in the future. The guy can definitely perform. But "youtube him" is what pretty much every indy mark ever tells people to do. But quite frankly, it's irrelevant. I don't care what he did in PWG or ROH or anything else. It's not my job to find out what he's capable of, its his job to show me. And this would probably be where most indy marks tell me "But WWE are holding him back!". Again, don't care. Plenty of other guys can put on good matches while being entertaining in WWE, you either conform or get lost in the shuffle. Seriously, I have nothing against the guy and think he has a really bright future. But I wouldn't predict anyone, let alone Bryan, would draw as much money as Austin.

Thank you! Couldn't of said that better myself.

Oh, and Sykesy, I wasn't saying Daniel Bryan was bad in the ring, I was saying I was disappointed that his moveset in that match was primarily high flying because I was looking forward to him wrestling a good technical match because that's what everyone claimed (can't deny or agree) he's great at, on the net and even durning the show. That's all.

Y2J X wrote:

That-Damn-Good wrote:

Might be more to wrestling than WWE and TNA but that's where it counts. Austin seriously was the biggest star of all time, so I think that is setting the bar a little high, even for apparently one of the greatest wrestlers in the world. Benoit was a great wrestler and was decent on the mic. He was still no Stone Cold as far as super stardom goes. Don't get me wrong, Danielson could be a really big deal in the future. The guy can definitely perform. But "youtube him" is what pretty much every indy mark ever tells people to do. But quite frankly, it's irrelevant. I don't care what he did in PWG or ROH or anything else. It's not my job to find out what he's capable of, its his job to show me. And this would probably be where most indy marks tell me "But WWE are holding him back!". Again, don't care. Plenty of other guys can put on good matches while being entertaining in WWE, you either conform or get lost in the shuffle. Seriously, I have nothing against the guy and think he has a really bright future. But I wouldn't predict anyone, let alone Bryan, would draw as much money as Austin.

Thank you! Couldn't of said that better myself.

Oh, and Sykesy, I wasn't saying Daniel Bryan was bad in the ring, I was saying I was disappointed that his moveset in that match was primarily high flying because I was looking forward to him wrestling a good technical match because that's what everyone claimed (can't deny or agree) he's great at, on the net and even durning the show. That's all.

Regardless of what he has done in ROH or anywhere else, he is going to have to prove himself to the WWE fans. I am not going to youtube to watch vids with little to no production, in a high school gym. I have tried some ROH DVD's and they are not all that special. Yes, the Indy's have a few guys, but not all Indy stuff is better then main stream wrestling. He will get his chance to prove himself in WWE, but he is not going to get handed anything because he wrestled in high school gyms all across the world. I would be willing to bet that Tuesday night was the largest crowd he has ever wrestled in fron of.

See Concrete Jesus you keep saying he has wrestled in school Gyms all over the world ... He hardly ever wrestled in Gyms ... Maybe never. ROH has the same set up to something like TNA. He has wrestled in Japan to a much larger audience then WWE (Live not viewing). So yeah, Danielson doesn't wrestle in gym halls. You are going to believe Michael Cole. He is doing that to adapt a heel sense with the net fans, You cannot base your whole argument of something you heard on NXT. *Sigh*

i think the point is where he wrestled doesn't matter anymore. I was also disapointed by his move set in the ring. I think he looked like a novice highflyer. Once he did a little grappling you saw how good he could be but he needs to stick to that don't try anything he hasn't already made a fan base with.

Haven't seen NXT yet (gonna have to tape it late Saturday night) so I'm not gonna make any judgment on how it looked until I see it.

However, I can certainly understand many non-indy fans' disappointment after Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson's first match on WWE TV. Many of us, independent wrestling fans, sold you Bryan as the best thing since sliced bread so you were expecting a prodigy and a franchise player. I've seen Bryan wrestle a couple of matches and the best comparison I can make with Danielson is Chris Benoit: a fantastic technical wrestler who can keep up with anybody, but with subpar mic skills. Basically, he will have to earn his spot by working his ass off every night with the guy he's booked with. However, if he has one advantage with the NXT project, it's that he's paired with somebody who is not his equal in technical wrestling but will definitely have the tools to make Bryan come out of his shell. Again, I haven't seen NXT but judging by what I've read, I can put the bad impression he left some of you on the nerves of performing his first live TV match, with Chris Jericho, the World Heavyweight Champion no less, and I would've probably have the same feeling he had, had I been in his place.

Now, as to where Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson will fit in 10 years from now, it's way too early to speculate on how good he will do but I should remind you that I'm pretty sure that NOBODY ever expected John Cena to be the franchise player of WWE when he debuted as this plain generic guy that slapped Kurt Angle on an episode of Smackdown in 2002. Let's take the wait and see approach here...

He "almost" made Jericho tap out. Do you really think a WWE rookie is going to beat the new WHC? The fact that he got that match is something to be proud of.

Absolutely. And I think it shows how much faith WWE actually has in his abilities to book him against the World Heavyweight Champion in his very first TV match. I don't think they would've done the same with any other NXT rookie.

I agree but he has to get better on the mic or he's not going to make it. I think Batista is only person i can remember as a champion that i hated his mic skills. Jeff wasn't that good either but they will never be able to carry a brand. I guess they hoping the Miz a verbal master can help ignite a fire under this guys bridges or something if not he's doomed. He wont be able to say that they didn't push him because being mentored by a double champion and fighting on your first night a newly crowned WHC is as big a push as you can get and truth be told he aint show up.

EdgeHead wrote:

Absolutely. And I think it shows how much faith WWE actually has in his abilities to book him against the World Heavyweight Champion in his very first TV match. I don't think they would've done the same with any other NXT rookie.

They put the other NXT rookies in the ring with NXT rookies.