Season 5 continues its run as the longest season in NXT history tonight as Derrick Bateman, Darren Young, and Titus O'Neil all compete to get a shot on the next season. Who will leave the best impression on the WWE Universe and the Pros?
I hope Season 6 gives us a new theme song.
It is pretty cool that an NXT alum won Money In The Bank. Says a lot for the show, but not necessarily winning it.
Nice reference to the history between Regal and Triple H.
Have they done a punching competition on this show yet? I know they've done that one at least twice over the course of NXT.
That was umm... interesting from Bateman. I guess he's making the most of the opportunity to show off his personality, because he's not catching Titus.
I liked Darren's promo, but his delivery was a bit off.
He just out-cheap popped Bateman!
Titus was ok. His promos could also use fine-tuning.
Has there been any commentator who's actually enjoyed these competitions?
I don't really like the ads for Summerslam. I'm more of a fan of "see these wrestlers compete" etc..
I think JTG actually stands for Just That Gangsta, if anyone's wondering. Or Just Too Gangsta?
A JTG chant. Didn't see that coming.
JTG's been more impressive lately. He's come into his own more.
I'd rather see Pro vs. Rookie matches or tag matches on this show, since the goal is to evaluate the newer competitors.
I like the selling of next week's show. Post-McMahon Era has a nice ring to it.
I hope Hornswoggle's suitor is Maxine from NXT Season 3. I'm missing her devious ways. She can play him for a fool, then become Tyson Kidd's manager. Please?
I'm liking Titus' power game here.
I hope this doesn't mean we don't see Bateman in the ring tonight.
I think he's just a weirdo, Regal.
Daniel Bryan, World Champion. Still not feeling it, but I have hope that he can prove me wrong.
Not a bad match at all.
I get the feeling we're going to end with a video package again.
It's pretty funny that Triple H comes out to that song as an executive. It's definitely more fitting to a superstar.
Yep, another video package ending. On to rankings. Everyone's top tier again this week, because it seems relatively even between the three of them (and no one's made me ambivalent on them recently). For more detailed analysis:
Top Tier:
Titus O'Neil (Last ranking-1): Titus seems to be getting more comfortable as a performer. He isn't flashy and doesn't have a huge repertoire, but what he's doing in the ring is working for him. His persona could still use work and I think he needs more substance to his mic work, but I don't think he's in any danger of dropping to the middle tier anytime soon.
Derrick Bateman (Last ranking-N/A): I'm a bit surprised that they turned Bateman heel, but I'm interested with what they do with him from here. He's been consistently entertaining by virtue of standing out from the other performers. Sometimes people want filet mignon, and sometimes they want a Happy Meal. I'm perfectly fine with having some less-than-serious characters here and there to add some variety. Bateman's going to need to get more ring time in the weeks to come to stand a serious chance of being my pick to win, because he's at a huge disadvantage going up against the number of matches we've seen from the other two this season.
Darren Young (Last ranking-3): Darren's in kind of a strange position. I don't have any major problems with his ring work, but his persona still needs work. He seems to be getting better as a heel, playing to the crowd and the like, but he doesn't feel like someone I NEED to see every week. Not that Titus O'Neil's oozing charisma that gets me to want to see him, but he seems to stand out more than Young. There've been plenty of people that were "too good" to do NXT these past 5 seasons. I just want him to spice things up some. Maybe wear Nexus armbands and say he was the best part of that group. He's doing better at not being a background guy, but he could still do more to draw attention to himself and his character.
Anyway, that's my take on everyone this week. I'll be back for week 21(!!!) next Tuesday, and Superstars/Impact Wrestling on Thursday. A news post will be up later tonight.
I think Young proved himself this week (as if he even needed to). His promo was true, potent, and showed his fire and desire. Like I said before, I think it is a travesty that he keeps getting booked to lose these matches when he is clearly a better wrestler than Titus and Bateman.
ReplyDeleteThese redemption points are truly ridiculous, because the "face" character always gets the best crowd reaction, even though Young has CLEARLY won some of those points, objectively. They mean nothing to me and I think the pros and fans shouldn't take them seriously.
As far as Bateman goes, he is losing his fan base and has, in my book, taken a step back in almost every area. He certainly isn't at Young's level.
I like your blog and respect your opinion, but I honestly don't see why Young moves down to No. 3 when he has proven himself week after week in the ring, on the mic, and by being himself instead of sucking up to the crowd.
I forgot to point out this week that I don't actually rank people until elimination weeks. They're just generally put in tiers otherwise, with top tier meaning I want to see more of them, middle tier meaning I'm ambivalent on them, and bottom tier meaning I want them eliminated. So, I don't necessarily have Young ranked 3rd. I do that partially as a reference to the old Pros' Polls only being shown on elimination weeks. I could have put them in any order this week, because they were all in the same tier. I just put them in that order based on where the were when they did the last elimination.
ReplyDeleteRedemption Points have definitely been mostly a farce lately. When they do a straight-up challenge like an obstacle course or something, winning them means more than getting the biggest crowd reaction. That being said, it does give an indication of how well or poorly someone's getting over (even if they get roundly booed, it shows that they can get a solid reaction). It's definitely skewed towards the faces, though.
Bateman's at an odd crossroads now that he's going up against Titus. It's hard to remain a face when you're competing with the top cheer-getter. It feels a bit like some of the audience is still getting (re-)used to him. He's kind of tough to rank considering we haven't seen as much of him in the ring this season.
Who did you like promo and in-ring wise in previous seasons? I tended to favor people who either stood out or had a strong character on the mic in the first category.
I had a similar conflict to this in Season 3, where Naomi was the most athletic and wanted to be a straight-up wrestler, and I had her ranked first for most of the season, but AJ and Kaitlyn consistently entertained me with their personas and their ring-styles were different, so it was a tough call. Kaitlyn definitely had a disadvantage of inexperience, so Naomi's superior ringwork put her ahead of her in the final as far as my vote. I think AJ and Naomi might have been the closest between my first and second rank from any season.
Sorry that this got so long. I'll try to sum it up: I'd like to see more of a "sports entertainer" than a wrestler. I don't think I've had Young ranked below the middle the entire season. I've mostly liked his ring work, but it feels perhaps too familiar. I wish he'd use the gutbuster finisher he used to use, and the three amigos/frog splash separated him from the pack in the ring, too. I've liked the use of the edge of the ring, because we don't see that much.
There aren't as many "power wrestlers" on the roster, so Titus being a "big man" stands out a bit more I think.
You make some fair points. It is a shame that we both make good points, but are so far off on opposite sides of the fence in terms of this competition.
ReplyDeleteI think Young created some identification with the fans and pros that you mentioned he lacked before when he included the "No days off" and "D Young" persona he's been doing. I think his promos have been very good, and his in-ring talent has always been there before. The win/loss is bad, but we both agree that it shouldn't matter with matches being planned. I just think Bateman lacks the fire and aggression and ges a bit tiring and I've explained my opinion of Titus lacking a lot.
In a FAIR world, considering all of the tools needed to survive in the company, I'd say it would be 1) Young, 2) Bateman, and 3) O'Neil. By the way, when the heck is the finale?
I think it's a good thing that we both have good points. That's certainly better than being uninterested in the performers.
ReplyDeleteI do like that he's added nicknames to his persona. I wish he'd add to his look as well. His gear's fairly plain compared to Bateman's and to some degree O'Neil's. One thing Michael Tarver did really well in Season 1 (Byron Saxton did it some as well) was stand out with their T-shirts with slogans, designs, and the like. The need to stand out's a big thing for me after watching wrestling for 13 years.
Bateman's persona can get tiring (especially if you're not really into the gimmick), but it's only been around a few weeks this season so it still feels mostly fresh to me. As for his aggression, to me it would seem a bit out-of-character for him to wrestle like Young. He's more flashy in the ring to match his loud personality. At least that's how I looked at it. Somewhat like Santino Marella or maybe Zack Ryder.
I haven't seen anything about the finale yet. WWE really doesn't care too much about NXT these days (some would say that they haven't since it went to WWE.com). The show's kind of in limbo: they made it less of a big deal this season since it would be overshadowed by Tough Enough, and they might at one point have decided to keep it going long enough to put Bateman back in the mix. It looks like they'll squeeze everything they can out of it before coming up with whatever they want to do for the next season.
One good thing is that it gives the contestants for next season more time to be trained in FCW. I'm curious as to who they'll bring up. I want to see Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose after all the attention they got on the indy scene.