The John Report: Quick Thoughts on WWE NXT
I wasn’t intending on writing a post about WWE NXT, but after hearing earlier in the night that Jericho/Bryan was happening I had to watch. Some quick thoughts for now. We’ll be having a regular WWE NXT recapper debuting tomorrow here on The John Report blog. I’ll just go over some quick, bullet point style thoughts on the show.
– I absolutely loved how they had The Miz & Daniel Bryan react from the beginning. They really played it up perfectly, even better than I thought. They mentioned how Bryan’s been wrestling for a decade (true) while Miz has only been wrestling for half that, but that Miz was more accomplished obviously. They even did a good job with Josh Matthew defending Bryan by talking about his success in the indies while Michael Cole said that didn’t mean anything because it wasn’t in WWE. I loved seeing Cole almost be a heel here. It gave him some personality for once. He even ripped internet bloggers. Hi Cole! Vintage! How about a hug? Anyway, I thought the way the whole thing was produced with the bickering at the start as well as Miz beating down Bryan at the end was really well done. Loved it.
– The video packages on some of the guys were really good. It’s a solid way to introduce these guys to the audience. The best one was by far for David Otunga, who is the fiancée of singer/actress Jennifer Hudson. He was in law school, but is pursuing his wrestling dream now. He really came off as a cocky bastard, which is great. He backed it up by showing all the places he’s been, meeting the president twice and then ending it by saying: “Come on man, Google me.” I love that. “Google me” as a catchphrase could be money.
– The most difficult thing about the show will be having the crowd interested in the wrestlers. Since the fans don’t know much about the wrestlers (some cities will know Bryan of course), there’s going to be a lot of silence when they’re in the ring. That’s probably why they booked Otunga to go over in one minute. They probably knew they couldn’t keep the crowd for long. Plus, they wanted to book Otunga strong (more on him later).
– CM Punk was fantastic. He had no interest being on the show or mentoring a guy that parties a lot. His facial expressions were terrific. I laughed my ass off. Oh, and Serena looked nice too. She always does, though.
– I touched on it earlier, but the announcers arguing was GREAT. They need to do that on the other shows. That’s how wrestling should always be broadcasted.
– I really enjoyed the Jericho/Bryan main event. Obviously. I’m a huge Bryan fan for years now and I’m very excited to see him on WWE TV. They really booked it well with Bryan scoring a lot of offense including a sick leg submission at one point. The bump on the floor was awesome as well with Bryan doing a pescado only for Jericho to catch him and toss him rib first into the announce table. It left a welt, which they showed. Great directing job there, seriously. Jericho won with the Liontamer that had some STANK on it because his foot was at Danielson’s head. I love when he does it like that. Call the match **1/4, which is very good for only a 7 minute match. I want more, damnit! More!
– To end the show, Miz beat Bryan up. Fine by me. I want to see this feud. They’ll both make the other guy better. Miz will get his personality over while Bryan will help Miz in the ring. Win win for me. I want to see this feud big time. It should be a blast to see in the summer of 2010, I hope.
– The two stars in this cast are Bryan and Otunga. No question about it. Bryan will likely come out as the winner that’s a technical wrestler while Otunga’s personality is really going to help him shine. He seems like somebody that could be big one day although I need to see more of him in the ring obviously. You can tell, though, that management are pushing these two the hardest.
Thumbs up for NXT. I didn’t care about ECW by the end. I don’t think many people did. I care about NXT. A lot. I want to see it every week now.
Congrats WWE. You might have something here. Let’s hope the word spreads.
John Canton
oratoryjohn@gmail.com
TJRWrestling 
Agreed!
You hit it on the nose, i agree for one thing the announcers did do a good job even better by arguing w/ each other. For a sec I was like “Is that really Micheal Cole?”
What a bump Daniel took (OUCH).
Fellow Canadian here who was interested in watching NXT. What channel was it on? or did you find it online?
I watched it online. I’m sure it’ll be on youtube in the morning somewhere. I’m going to bed now, but if I find a link I will share it.
Daniel was good, but his look is going to need something I think. I was kind of hoping they would do a little more of a tough enough thing than a wrestling show. I thought that would help the charectors get over more
WWE’s website is saying its on Global at midnite, which was ecws old slot… but didnt ECW loose that slot, and it was on at like 3am or something?
Saturday night 3am. Fuck it. Just watch it on youtube or find a link like I do. Much easier.
Why the hell doesnt the Score in Canada pick this up, they have everything else WWE?
This looks interesting, but 3am…holy hell!
Yeah, I liked the Tough Enough layout much better than this one. This one seems all over the place. Meh.
Do they tape this before Smackdown like they did with ECW?
Yes.
I give it up a thumbs up! Bryan was great. I hope he gets to keep his nice offensive arsenal and not be relegated to doing the same 3 moves every week, I mean “WWE style” wrestling.
All you people that pay attention to the dirt sheet!!! Awesome!
NXT got off to a great start. I really enjoyed it the entire way through.
Daniel Bryan=Huge Fuckin Ratings!!! When i found out Jericho and Bryan were wrestling i almost shit my pants!!! Dream Match!!! There were certain things i didn’t like about the show..it did seem all over the place…not really structured…but i just want to see more of Daniel Bryan…aka the Goat…oh yeah please snaz up his ring attire…get him like a boxing robe with goat on it…major heel heat…
good match that was a hell of a bump. Now im hearing cole vs internet bloggers is ganna be a storyline. Ktfo at chamber… Two jr signs… Jerishow name steal…col vs the bloggers.. A huge drop in midget camios… John works for the wwe now. Just tell us. Its ok we know you got the inside goods.. So when did it happen. After bragging rights? Good luck. Btw swagger shelton 2010 babby wooo and put stryker next to cole on raw if this storys ganna happen. Now thats a show.
One, I thought it was sweet that Michael Cole had a little vinegar in his piss tonight. Heel turn for Cole?
I really liked the Wade Barrett character, he has a good look to him as well. On the otherhand, Heath Slater looks like a complete douche. Maybe they could spin a heel character off of that, something like he thinks he’s hot shit then gets beat by the babyface. Michael Tarver, knockouts really don’t matter in WWE. Outside of Big Show, who even throws punches that matter? Loved Otunga as well, heel monster like Umaga type. Young didn’t do or say anything to make me think he was on the party scene.
Seems to me that the show will focus around 3-4 guys and the rest will just be filler.
“something like he thinks he’s hot shit then gets beat by the babyface”
Wasn’t that Zach Ryder or whoever the douche with one full leg tight and one no leg tight was? Mr. Woo Woo Woo?
I think the best thing CM Punk did was move Serena so she would be further away from Darren Young as they were walking down to the ring. A little subtle, but still such a great way of conveying how he feels about this rookie.
I thought it was decent. sure it is a glorified FCW tv show, but that is what makes it decent. seeing the young guys was really cool. I agree that the show will probably revolve around 4 guys which deosnt really sit well with me but then again that could be part of the learning process for the other 4…maybe they arent as ‘polished’ as the other guys.
Danielson will be the star of this group, probably of the whole NXT thing as well. I can see him being the new Chris Benoit (hopefully not the tragedy part and just the wrestling aspect) in that while he might not be the talker that Miz or Jericho or Punk is, but his in ring abilities could push him above and beyond anything else. Plus his size could be beneficial to him as well, as a gritty underdog ala Benoit.
Otunga is the second Harvard guy to come off cocky in the WWE (Nowinski) and possibly we will see him turn heel by taking out R-Truth sometime down the road. Does have a good look to him and could do well.
Barrett is this generations Regal, would like to see him in the ring and see what he can do. Darren Young will become part of Punks crew as the weeks go on. He will probably lose, lose and lose some more then do the change and then he will start winning..maybe a nice streak at the end which will leave him just short of the overall victory. Tarver and Slater seem like filler they will most likely need more time to see what they can do. And the other 2 we will see next week I guess.
I liked it overall. I thought it was going to be another tough enough but wasnt surprised of the scripting aspect. And Punk was awesome as always, I liked seeing Young try to get some motivation out of him and the blatant ignore from Punk.
Also this is why Jericho is the man and always will be the man. No way in hell will we ever see HHH, HBK, Orton, Batista, Taker or Cena take a rookie under thier wing on a TV show but Jericho is the ultimate class act.
I would argue any of those guys would’ve done it, the opportunity just wasn’t right. HBK and Taker will be off TV in about a month, HHH, Cena, Orton are on RAW and I would assume this show would require another day on the road per week for them. I think Cena’s nicked up, as well, and also may have another movie down the tubes? Batista being excluded almost makes me think he’ll have a bit of a run as the WWE Champ. Jericho included in the cast makes me think he’ll drop it to Edgeward at WM and they’ll feud for a bit. In theory, I personally would’ve preferred Jericho off of this show, because as a fan you worry one of your favorites will get burned out and walk away again. That said, I’m sure he wouldn’t have agreed if that was an internal feeling of his own.
I had my doubts at first, but by the end, both me and my wife was watching. We was talking about wrestliing being somewhat fake, then fucking bryan hit that sick table bump and we were both ”WTF!!!” Then my wife turns to me and say ”yeap, that’s either a broken rib or cracked!” I marked out almost through out the whole Jericho/Bryan match…mainly during the ”Walls of Jericho/Liontamer”. I was yelling, ”put some STANK on that bitch Jericho.” Cole/Josh was great as well as Striker telling Bryan that what hes done in the indys dont mean shit in the WWE. Jericho didn’t even have to do a promo and he was fucking great on the mic by making his rookie introduce him! Punk as great as well. NXT will be watched from now on. Just one question…how is this going to work out in the long run? I know they are spliting it into three different ”seasons” during the year, but how long are the seasons? Will the rookies face off with other WWE stars like Big Show, Evan, Shelton, or Rey Rey?
I had my doubts at first, but by the end, both me and my wife was watching. We was talking about wrestliing being somewhat fake, then fucking bryan hit that sick table bump and we were both ”WTF!!!” Then my wife turns to me and say ”yeap, that’s either a broken rib or cracked!” I marked out almost through out the whole Jericho/Bryan match…mainly during the ”Walls of Jericho/Liontamer”. I was yelling, ”put some STANK on that bitch Jericho.” Cole/Josh was great as well as Striker telling Bryan that what hes done in the indys dont mean shit in the WWE. Jericho didn’t even have to do a promo and he was fucking great on the mic by making his rookie introduce him! Punk as great as well. NXT will be watched from now on. Just one question…how is this going to work out in the long run? I know they are spliting it into three different ”seasons” during the year, but how long are the seasons? Will the rookies face off with other WWE stars like Big Show, Evan, Shelton, or Rey Rey?
I got to admit I nearly turned off the show when I saw Cole. Kudos to Matthews for spitting back at him, didn’t think the kid had it in him. I know we’ve all been saying we want Heel King back as an announcer, but Heel Cole might work. We hate him anyway, he’s clearly a douche nozzle. The only problem would be is if he starts getting more tv time to develop that character. Just let him do it the way it has always been done.
great episode! but otunga is the worst worker from the 8 of them!
is otungas finisher called *the botch* ???
*the botch* lol. how about the ‘search engine’? you know based on the next best catchphrase to enter the wwe hall of mic skill fame ‘google me’. otunga’s finishing move was a little off but nonetheless it wasn’t be bad as previous wwe botches such as the infamous jackie gayda match on raw a while back. now that should be on failblog. (i wonder if it already is?) aside from that i have to agree with most on the comment section here; nxt took me by surprise as to how good it was. there were times during the show i wished nxt replaced raw on monday nights! the main event was awesome if not a little too short with the american dragon taking a sick bump to the kidney region and jericho showing why he’s the best at what he does by allowing the ‘rookie’ to get some real high end offence in. the miz continues to shine as a mic technician. ‘nevada devert’ ha, even the best sometimes can’t get their words out right but nonetheless he oozes charisma. cm punk and the straight edge society continue to show why they are the best wrestling faction since like for ever. cohesive, always in character and exist with a purpose. a good one too. michael cole as a heel was actually pretty darn good. i’ve always kind of hated his commentary skills in the past well because he had none. but as a heel, i hated him because of the ignorance and wwe kiss ass persona he portrayed. it actually made him interesting to listen to for a change. a catchy theme song by american bang and an intriguing format to the show taking elements of wwe’s flagship programming and combining it with a reality tv concept over a live broadcast. all in all, a success if i may so for nxt.
CM Punk = God.
I really enjoyed NXT. Me and my buddy both were like “Oh shit!” when Danielson took that table bump. Punk was perfect and his reaction when Young lost was brilliant. Also, I don’t know how much of a botch Otunga’s spinebuster actually was. Faarooq used to do his spinebuster by grabbing one leg and slamming them down with a hand on their chest, very similar to Otunga. Clearly it’s not perfect, but not the whole thing was a botch, in my opinion. I’m looking forward to seeing Wade Barrett and Skip Sheffield in the ring, as I know nearly nothing about both. Finally, on a small note, I really liked the opening shot of all eight guys in full ring gear at the top of the show. I don’t know exactly what it was about it, but I liked it. Maybe the “Before” shot and they’ll do another one at the end. Who knows? Overall, thumbs up WWE. Much better than I expected. It makes me think Vince puts booking ideas on a dartboard, gets drunk and just throws. This was a bullseye.
The bickering back and forth between announcers reminded me of Gorilla and Jesse the Cody combination and the Heel Jerry Lawler and Face JR… Liked it when it was like that…but they picked the right announcer to be heel here, everybody hates him anyway
Jessse the body…Sorry mistype
Not much on Daniel Bryan/Brian Danielson. Great ring work but zero work or charisma. His attire and entrance at the beginning of the show made me think of a string of jobbers in the 80’s. He just has that look to him.
Redneck from WVa doesn’t do much for me either. The whole ‘rockstar’ thing is a terrible gimmick. I would’ve played up his West Virginia roots a bit more. Nothing over the top, like the Godwinns or ‘Stalker’ (was that his name) but something the fans could get behind a bit more.
Mr. 1.9 or whatever could have potential, but he reminds me of Ezekiel (Almost called him Rampage) Jackson. I didn’t see Otunga or any of the others.
Finally, what’s the ‘purpose’ of this show? Will it end like a ‘Tough Enough’ with a defined winner or will it have some wrestlers getting bumped up to RAW/Smackdown and being replaced by other FCW talent as the show evolves? Overall, very interesting concept though I had expected more of a reality tv type show and was pleasantly surprised to see it in front of the live crowd.
I got a wrestling boner when they announced Bryan vs Jericho
Right now, I think Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) is playing a CHARACTER. He obviously looked as if he’s playing the green rookie and has no charisma. Also in ROh, etc, he alwasy took ona more neutral character, if not neutral, HEEL. He obviously can’t play the hell alongside the Miz, so the fact that he appers to have ZERO charisma is really not fair. He played green. It worked. He’s going to be fine.
Overall like some have said, I dunno the direction of the show. Obviously displaying new talent is the thing, but where’s it going? I think you’ll see it weave in and out between the other two brands.. sotrylines progress, and WWE will feel it out from there. I like the opening.. started to get a little bored in the middle, but that last 20 mins I enjoyed, and how can you not with Danielson/Jericho? Overall, I was entertained and am looking forward to next week.. I had low expectations which were easily met. Now my expectations are growing.
Also, liked the announcers as well.. for a second I was getting offended by Cole! So he did his job very well.. I hope it bleeds into Raw broadcasts.. Also, I hope Lawler retires.. but that’s another story.
There’s character and there’s the eye test. He isn’t passing my eye test. Granted, I’m no talent scout, but I just can’t see one of the big straps around his waist and carrying the company in to Wrestlemania. Just can’t. Doesn’t have the physical build. Again, any personality notes I wouldn’t comment on, as, you’re right, he’s playing a green character. Mic work based off of one show would be unfair (and, hell, they all were botching and fumbling lines last night, Miz and Stryker included) We’ll see about his in-ring work, but let’s not kid ourselves – that hasn’t mattered since ‘wrestling’ became ‘sports entertainment’ so I can’t fully get behind someone based on ‘tap or snap’. That said, I’m more a ‘chuckle or previous channel’ kind of guy.
Ya Lawler is old. He’s lost it. Cole was actually pissin me off tho. But ur rite. He was doin his job. I really hope they keep pushin Daniel Bryan n dont giv up on him. I’d like him to go to main event status someday. I kno he can do it too!
I feel like making a general reply here. To the people that think this show was supposed to be like Tough Enough (or Ultimate Fighter), get over it, you’re wrong. It’s not happening. It was never really happening. If you heard or read it was going to be like that, you were misinformed. Tough Enough featured guys who barely had any training. The guys WWE has on this show have been in developmental or the indies for years. In four months the idea is for all, or at least most, of them to go to Raw or Smackdown. That’s how it is. I like it like that. A Tough Enough show isn’t going to happen again because WWE thinks a guy has to pay his dues before he gets a push. That’s why John Morrison is still in the midcard more than five years after winning the show. Others like Maven and Puder are long gone.
I like the purpose of the show. I think it’s a good idea. Unlike ECW, I actually look forward to watching this.
As long as VKM stays away from production meetings, this may be must see tv. I don’t want to see Bryan wearing a dress or in a turkey costume.
Keep up the good work, WWE!
liked what I saw last night. I agree John, CM Punk looked genuinely disgusted with his rookie, makes since because his character is straightedge, and apparently this guy likes to party. I will be watching in coming weeks for sure
I got to say that was a surprisingly great show. First episodes of shows usually are though, can they keep the momentum going next week? Loved the Danielson/Miz stuff, that made the show, along with Serena of course. Maybe next season we can get some diva action? All in all very cool.
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Also, and a final note, I really like heelish Cole, but I don’t know if I agree with going after the ‘internet fans.’ My argument is, and has always been, by even giving the dirt sheets, etc., mention, you send X number of fresh, new internet readers to the computers. I just feel like you cause even more problems for yourself. I could be entirely off on that, but why publicize something like that? I thought it was foolish when WCW encouraged it back in the late 90’s as it just gives you too wise an audience which puts the performers, as well as the company under duress.
It’s not a bad idea to publicize it if you’re billing “Daniel Bryan” as a face and The Miz as the heel. Running to the internet will only make you more sympathetic to “Bryan” which is what they want, I would think.
I agree that Dave had some great micskills but his ring stuff needs improvment. from waht i saw of him in fcw he needs some work. Slater seems like a douche and building a=him as a face with the douche thing is not a good idea. I noticed you didnt mention Tarver and i gotta say i really did like his video package. he seems to be a smooth speaker and make a point.
I LOVE HOW WWE TRIED 2 STICK IT 2 “SMART”FANS BY MAKIN DANIEL BRIAN LOOK LIKE A COMPLETE NERD THATR CANT OVERCOME THE MIZ HAHA BRIAN DANIELSON WHO HAHA JUST ANOTHER WWE JOBBER FUCK HIM……..DAVID OTUNGA IS WINNING THE WHOLE THING THATS MY BET HE SAID HE’S THE ROCK JOHN CENA AND TRIPLE H ALL ROLLED UP IN ONE, AND I BELIEVE IT NOBODY THROWS TRIPLEH’S NAME AROUND UNLESS ITS A OFFICIAL CO-SIGN OR THEY WANT THEIR CAREER 2GO THE WAY OF PRIMO………….DOESNT THE GUY CM PUNK TRAIN LOOK LIKE JOHN CENA AND THE GEIKO CAVEMAN HAD A BABY????…………WHILE IM ON THE SUBJECT DOEST THE GUY CHRISTIAN TRAIN LOOK LIKE OWEN HART AND EDGE HAD A BABY GAWDDAMN LOL……………..SOME ROOKIES LOOK MISMATCHED WITH THEIR TRAINERS 2ME, JERICHO OR REGAL SHOULD TRAIN DANIEL BRAIN….MIZ SHOULD B TRAININ DAVID “PUNK” OTUNGA IDK I FEEL CM PUNK GUY IS GONNA B FORCED 2GO STRAIGHT EDGE JUST BLAME THE BAD TAN AND HAIR ON DRUGS AND LET PUNK SAVE HIM………..
“Bryan doing a Pescado”
Yet again proving you know very little, her didn’t do a Pescado, he did a Suicide Dive. A Pescado uses the top ring rope to slingshot the person over the top rope.
“It left a welt, which they showed. Great directing job there, seriously. Jericho won with the Liontamer that had some STANK on it because his foot was at Danielson’s head”
No, his knee goes on the back oft the opponents head, at the same time driving the knee into the opponents back. It didn’t have stank on it because of what you said, that is how the Lion Tamer is performed. (Don’t confuse it with the Walls of Jericho, which is just a Boston Crab)
JCITY617 are you really that moronic? First off lay off the caps. Second Otunga sucks. Third Danielson is better than ever Rookie on NXT, and 90% of the WWE roster, and lastly Danileson will be winning, not the piece of trash who can’t even do a Spinebuster. Danielson is far from a jobber you tool.
Ummm hmm since he only does the Lion Tamer in WWE when he seems to be putting STANK on it, putting stank on it seems to be an appropriate term. He kind of retired the Tamer when he came over from WCW and used the regular Boston Crab as the Walls more often… Sooo before you start throwing around insults at someone who is just sharing his opinion, you may want to do a little fact checking yourself.