NXT thoughts- 2/22/11

Season 4 is coming down to the wire, and tonight we go down to the final 2. Who's getting cut? Read on for my thoughts on this week's NXT.

No pros this week? Interesting. I wonder why they did that other than to actually focus on the rookies this week.

I could have sworn we had more than 2 weeks left. 

Heheh, I don't know why I like the little jokes about things like Josh Mathews and beer pong, but for some reason they're funny to me.

Another crazy challenge, and an obstacle course to boot.

They're really out of ideas for this show. Is there going to be a Season 5? I wonder what kind of ratings this show gets in international markets to justify it being kept around.

I would really not be surprised if they made up the point values as the show went on to avoid a potential tie.

Derrick Bateman should try to sabotage Brodus Clay in the Immunity Challenge, for the good of wrestling.

If there's been some decision to let wrestlers be more "free" on the mic, I'm all for it. Cena and Rock's promos were noticeably above some of what we see in WWE. Edgy, but not the stupidity we get from Mr. Anderson. In other words, more clever and less unnatural yelling. It was kind of weird hearing Cena go back to the Dr. of Thuganomics style, but it was a nice change of pace.

More Talk The Talk. Better promo than we're used to from Clay, but he's supposed to be a heel.

It's not a stretch to think that Clay would have gone home without immunity. At least I hope so.

I think we'll see Bateman down the line, just not immediately. There's something there for sure, but more experience certainly wouldn't hurt him.

With that said, here are my rankings for this week:
Top Tier:
1. Johnny Curtis (Last time- 2): It's very close between Bateman and Curtis. Bateman has more personality, but I think that Curtis is the better all-around performer. I'd like to see both of them get a shot in WWE someday, but all in all I think Curtis might be more ready. Both should continue to work in FCW.

2. Derrick Bateman (Last time- 1): Oh, I guess I already kind of covered both of them. What put Curtis ahead of Bateman was that I really looked at both talents as a whole moreso this week. In other words, who is more prepared all around for WWE. Curtis seems more refined in the ring and can build on that in the future. Bateman needs more work in this regard, but both have good potential.

Middle Tier:
3. Brodus Clay (Last time- 3): Yeah, still not feeling Brodus as a WWE Superstar-to-be. It's the nerve holds and whatever he is he yells mainly I think. He's not bad elsewhere but I'm not so sure that those types of things will get over that well in 2011. Not to mention that his character hasn't been consistent. He's been a monster heel that we should fear and then he goes and cuts less-intense promos, sometimes even borderline-babyface ones. There's some serious inconsistency there, and I don't see him doing too well on the main roster at his current pace.

That's all for this week. Next week we finally put this horse out to pasture. Until then, Thursday has Superstars and Impact thoughts.