Today on WWE NXT, the competition (?) marches onward. Derrick Bateman, Darren Young, and Titus O'Neil join the rest of the young and hungry locker room in seeking to make their mark in the company. Two teams looking to do just that will be in the main event, as Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks take on the Usos. Read on for my thoughts on the show as it happens.
WWE will just post NXT any time now apparently. Their Twitter page apparently had it up a lot earlier than the show's website, and a lot earlier than the advertised time of 4 p.m.. I think you have to be pretty dedicated to stick with the show after all these crazy time issues.
Nice selling of NXT as a breeding ground for Mania headliners. I guess you could argue that if Daniel Bryan's World Champion going into the show, he'd be a co-headliner of this year's event.
4 matches works for me.
I like Striker as the de facto GM. If they're going to make sense of the goings on here as more than just a bunch of matches, they might as well use him to do it.
Whether or not Pineville is a real town, it certainly sounds like somewhere in West Virginia. No offense.
Good analysis of the situation by the commentators.
And that's why you don't turn your opponent breathing room early in the match.
Good sequence by Bateman.
OOH. That looked like it hurt.
Slater might not be the most technical competitor on the roster, but he can get a crowd into what he's doing.
And Bateman just made the same mistake Slater did.
I thought that was Bateman's finisher?
Good getting the crowd into what he's doing.
Whoa, really!? Slater beat Bateman. Wow. Slater never beats anyone.
"Big Dog" Titus O'Neil works for me as a nickname.
Nice flair from Watson on the way to the ring.
Nice talking points from Titus early. No need to yell all the time.
I do like Young gesturing to the Tron like "Look at me and how awesome I am".
NICE sequence from these two. Both men have experience and know-how in the ring.
GREAT use of the ring apron. That was awesome. Very Finlay-esque.
Good points from Titus at commentary.
Why can't we get this Young more often? Nice energy in the ring without going out of his way to point out what he's doing.
Butterfly suplex. I like it.
And a good match all in all. They worked off of each other well.
That might have been Titus' best performance on the mic all season. He didn't try too hard and stumble.
I thought all the people on NXT had matches tonight.
This is... creepy. Both of these people are good actors. The "naaah" might have been a bit much, but other than that I liked the segment.
Maybe Trent and Tyson end up as a team based on mutual respect after this? Please? They're talented and I'd love to see it happen. Maybe someone can manage them?
These two play off of each other REALLY well. I'm seeing stuff here we rarely see in WWE period.
OUCH. Tyson's going to feel that in the morning.
Hats off to both of these guys. It's a shame these two are stuck in relative obscurity on NXT. Someone needs to start a petition or something to get people to watch this show each week if they want to see good straight-up wrestling.
Kaitlyn and Bateman make a fun duo. Actually pretty much any duo with Kaitlyn is fun.
I figured Kaitlyn's gum would be in her pink fanny pack.
Good points by Maxine.
Good segment from all involved. I hope we get more shows in this vein on the WWE Network.
That Mania song is catchier than I care to admit.
Good of Kaitlyn getting the crowd into her with her entrance. She's always had personality and I think that's why she's gotten farther than the arguably more athletically talented Naomi (based on Season 3).
Maxine is downright mean here.
Who would have thought Kaitlyn and Maxine would have such great ring chemistry given the "hoodie match" on Season 3?
Kaitlyn chants? I hope WWE's listening.
Whoever says that Divas can't wrestle needs to watch this match. Damned impressive by both women. I'd be fine with them replacing Alicia Fox and the Bellas on the main roster.
Please make this a real team. Just give Tyson some time to fit in the babyface character and I think they could have something as a team.
Wait. I thought all the people on NXT were getting matches tonight. Though I don't think Titus not competing this week is a bad thing.
Interesting that Regal brought up Anderson given Reks and Hawkins' parody of him.
That was a dangerous but pretty cool move.
Good double-team strategy from Hawkins and Reks.
Regal's insight is almost always thought-provoking. I like the remarks on tag teams and wanting to be stars.
I like the "U" "so" thing. Thankfully, so does the crowd.
NICE move with Hawkins going into Reks.
And a great ending sequence. This was a good match for all four men.
OOOHHHH. Doesn't get much more heelish than punching out the "GM" and not feeling any remorse about it. Didn't see that coming. Consequences coming next week!
Not a bad show at all. Though it wasn't as explosive and big as previous weeks for the "main characters" and stories, sometimes you need some off weeks to build things up.
On to rookie rankings/evaluations. 5 is someone you should go out of your way to watch, 4 is mostly there and enjoyable to watch but not great enough to REALLY stand out and warrant tons of praise (yet), 3 is someone who's ok in small doses or certain roles but isn't someone who should be seen regularly, 2 is someone only die-hard fans will likely care for due to their limits, and 1 should probably not even be in the ring in front of an audience.
Derrick Bateman - 5 (Last week: 5). While Bateman's not lighting the world on fire, he is a very natural and strong character who has been almost entirely "on" in his in-ring performances. If he can continue to progress with what he does in the ring, he could really be someone to watch in good time. Experience in the "WWE style" as always is going to take time to really excel at, but so far so good. (Grade: good showing in the "A" range but might need more strong showings in the ring before becoming a sustainable A+. More strong matches will bump him there.)
Titus O'Neil - 4 (Last week: 4). Titus is kind of on shaky ground as a 4 due to the somewhat different evaluation scale, but I feel somewhat obligated to keep him at that level for comparison purposes. He sounded almost like a completely different performer this week on the mic, in a good way. He wasn't an over-the-top stereotypically angry character; he's speaking softly but carrying a big stick. Since we're in kind of a rebuilding period on the show, it pays for his angle with Percy to stew a bit more. It's way too soon to say we're looking at a future World Champion or anything, but he's at least getting more comfortable in his role. If he can become more fluid and nuanced in the ring, I think he can make it as a regular competitor in time. It's just that time might be after the part-timers, Legends, and older performers aren't around and WWE has to go with the current "troops in training". Experience and "higher level" training (moving beyond just having big moves and going full throttle) will be key for him. (Grade: somewhere in the "B" area. He fluctuates a lot with good and bad performances.)
Darren Young - 4 (Last week: 4). This is the Darren Young I like to see, even in a loss. It looks like for this week at least they're going back to basics with him. He had an impressive in-ring performance, and didn't "turn the volume up too much" with a lot of taunting, yelling, and big moves. Hopefully this is the start of a rebuilding process where he has good performances in the ring and grows as a competitor that way instead of trying to "force" his way into our minds with a possibly unsustainable pace of big moves and loud promos. In time, ideally, he'll have built up a solid game in the ring, and with more experience under his belt, he'll sneak in the back door and become a bigger part of things. It might take a while for him to impress whoever he needs to impress to get featured, but solid showings in the undercard will hopefully pay off in his favor as WWE continues to move into 2012 and beyond. (Grade: B.)
If I had to eliminate someone, it would be: Darren Young. While he was better this week, one week's not enough to completely change my mind on someone. I'm not leaning towards "take him off the show and completely rehaul him" as much, but if I had to cut someone, he'd still be my pick.
That's all for NXT this week. I'll be back with Superstars and Impact Wrestling tomorrow. A news post will be up later tonight. Thanks for reading!
Chuck, I have to respectfully disagree in terms of Titus and him getting comfortable in his role. Though he was more "relaxed" this week on commentary, someone, hypothetically, who just started watching NXT this week wouldn't really know if he was a good or bad guy based on his performance this week. He sounded nothing like a "bad guy" to me this week. His demeanor, tone and aggression weren't there.
ReplyDeleteThough his promo after his match with Young was awkward, it was still obvious what he was going for. This week, I didn't see any sense of aggression, purpose or sense of "balance" as a bad guy.
Young does have his pitfalls, but he is getting to be more identifiable with his mannerisms. Titus has kind of been erratic, and I view that as more of a bad thing than good thing.
You mentioned before that if Young simply went out there and didn't try to be too over-the-top with his promos and demeanor, you could possibly move him to a 5. Does that still reign true with you?
Hmmm... I can see that point. Though I would counter that him being opposite the clear-cut babyface and talking down about the fans would make it apparent. I saw this week as improvement because he went through a good deal of verbiage without the big stumbles he usually has, and got his points across without seeming like an over-the-top caricature.
ReplyDeleteI took the lack of aggression as a sign that he's kind of biding his time before going after Percy again. I think they're (Creative) "cooling things off" before heating them up again so we don't run into the problem we had with Titus vs. Young where they ran out of places to go with the storyline because they've faced off so many times (and not just in matches- challenges, post-match attacks, etc.). Since they only have so many people to work with for an hour show each week, they want to make each feud meaningful for as long as possible and not let it completely burn itself out.
Titus is still getting used to his role, so there's still a feeling out process of what will work for him and so on.
As for Young, it's still possible that he'll go up to a 5 but he's been in the role I got burned out on for so long that I think it will take some time for it to happen. He's also still "new" to the role of not being as important of a character and not getting as much screen/mic time, so it will take me a while to get used to seeing him that way.
I think a commonality that you and I can agree on that would make both of our interpretations a bit easier is knowing and not speculating on the actual adjudication of the decisions of Creative/Management lol. Most of the time, it's hard for fans who don't work for the company to know for sure how much of promos and the demeanor (like Titus on commentary) is staged or not. Like you mentioned, promo topics and some dialogue is staged, but some others, such as tone and whatnot I'm not sure is.
ReplyDeleteThat is part of the reason why I dislike the fan vote for the competition. Though it is basically irrelevant now like you mentioned, the pros know not only 20X more about what it takes to make it in the company, but how decisions are made.
Bottom line, to me, is that if Creative/Management decided to calm Titus down and make him a little more mild this week, I can't fault Titus too much. However, and this is my viewpoint in that I think demeanor and tone isn't as controllable or staged, and because of it, I would find fault with Titus taking it easy this week. I didn't really see any identification with him aggression-wise.
Would I be safe to say that this "version of Darren Young" would be a "5" territory in your mind? Disgusting promo, aggression, mockery, more moves and complete ridicule on his part that exemplifies a heel all in a 10-minute span. It's 2:55 into it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi5K7BE2liw
It can be REALLY complicated, and honestly I think that could be some of why wrestling's not as good as it used to be in some ways. I'll try to explain the structure as I understand it (which isn't a complete understanding since it is so complicated and could be something kind of different): Raw and Smackdown each have a team of writers who put the shows together (who says/does what and when). Each brand has a lead writer, who in turn reports to Stephanie McMahon, and Vince can pretty much step in at any point and change things up on either brand. However, he's got a lot more responsibilities, so he isn't always directly involved. Superstars is just pretty much "bonus matches" for performers who aren't in anywhere near the top stories, but someone still wants to use.
ReplyDeleteNXT is harder to classify. The ECW brand had its own lead writer, but sometimes they probably worked together with the Smackdown team since they were taped on the same night and used some of the same talent (with the "talent exchange" angle they had between the two brands). Since NXT has been such a weird hodgepodge that at times has involved talent from both Raw and Smackdown, it was probably at one point written by members of both teams in conjunction, and maybe even an NXT-exclusive writer or two. Given how busy Vince and other higher-ups are with the main shows (and all the other things they do in the company), I doubt they were directly involved. They might have scouted talent on the show for roles later, but in general they likely just left it to whoever wasn't used in writing on the bigger shows.
By now, since the show is half-way between Superstars and younger talent evaluation, I'm guessing the higher-ups give the writers pretty free reign as far as stories go, since they're occupied elsewhere. I'm assuming they do tell them who they want them to use and maybe as heel or face (this is partly determined by how the crowd responds to them). I know Management picked the Rookies in early seasons, so I assume they pick who stays and goes now. Bryan and Hornswoggle were Pros, but they wrote them off because they wanted them on Smackdown.
As for individual segments, if someone on Management wants something to go a certain way and they aren't confident enough in that person's ability to give their own verbiage, they'll script something for them. People on NXT probably have more leeway since it's somewhat experimental for the people involved to see what can work for them and Management likely doesn't give it much attention.
There are also Producers (also referred to as agents), former wrestlers who give advice on the nuts and bolts of matches and promos. Since sometimes segments go too long or not long enough for whatever reason (injuries or just in general it being difficult to get things timed "just right"), things have to be changed. They're also like Pros in the sense that they can also say what moves they think someone should add, how they should play their characters, etc.. And of course, there are the teachers at FCW who advise in a similar fashion for those who are still there part-time.
Point being, there are a lot of gears in the machine. It's even possible that someone was feeding Titus lines through the headset. VERY complicated and it's come a long way from one writer doing a general run-sheet of who wins and who does a promo when and the performers coming up with the rest!
One thing I left out: how someone's used can also be affected by their connections with top talent. Cena liked what Ryder was doing, and that helped him get used more.
ReplyDeleteI still think that the fan vote could be a good idea in theory, or would be if it was somehow modified to not be biased for the good guys. All of the things Creative and Management do are just tools to try to get the talent over, and the reactions of the crowd are the barometers for whether that works (along with related things like merchandise sales, ratings, and the like). Back when it was exclusively about the competition, it was a lot more about people kind of doing their own thing and getting advice from their Pros, then somewhat succeeding or failing based on how well what they did worked (though a lot of that went out the window when they were all put together in Nexus and didn't have much in the way of individual personalities for a while).
I do know that there are some in the company who would be in favor of him "toning it back", but I don't know specifically if he's been instructed to. I know Bill DeMott stressed not going 100 mph with the Tough Enough contestants, and JR has similar thoughts on people in FCW. He's pretty old-school, though, so things might be somewhat different.
I definitely wouldn't attribute it to Titus being lazy or anything and putting in an intentionally so-so effort. It sounded like he was trying to get his points out in a clear, measured fashion instead of freezing up and not knowing what to say or how aggressive to be. I'd be pretty surprised if after this much training he could drop the ball that badly. In the past when he's messed up, it's generally been in more erratic verbiage and an angry tone. If he continues to be more in this vein, I'd assume it to be a conscious decision from someone (possibly himself) to go in a different direction with how to do promos.
Young had a lot going in his favor that night due to circumstances out of his control. He could afford to take shots at Chavo because Chavo had left the company. Unlike someone like Titus who WWE would want to protect, he got the leeway to run down Chavo because they knew they weren't going to have him around any more and weren't concerned with how the fans perceived him.
As for him doing that with someone on the active roster, there's the theory that if you run down your opponent and make him look worthless, all you do by beating him is beat someone worthless. And if you lose, you lost to someone you said was worthless, so that would theoretically make you even lower than someone worthless.
I liked him using Chavo's moves, but that would mostly only work with someone who left the company. It'd be odd for him to start using others' moves that he's feuding with on a regular basis, since that's what they use to get over (and him using them would be more of a jab at them than a boon for himself) He should use his own signature offense for the most part.
All in all, I did enjoy the match. It generally takes a good while for someone to reach "5" level, though, especially if they don't have great promos. It's going to take a good streak of enjoyable matches and good mic work to hypothetically bring him there.
All valid points there. Thanks for clarifying the whole Management decision process. That being said, would you agree that more of a "free reign" instead of this scripting stuff would be more of a telling story and would make more sense in a competition? I mean, let's be honest here: A chunk of why NXT is no longer on television in this country is due to the competitions being bogus and not being too representative of one's true talents.
ReplyDeleteI believe Seasons 1-4 were more "scripted" with the planned competitions and promos and whatnot, so that is what I don't really see fitting in a competition. Say what you want about Season 5, but it is more "free reign" like you mentioned, than Season 1-4. Parts are scripted, yes, but there is more of one being able to be themselves without having a kissing contest, egg balance contest, or whatever the heck idiotic challenges were going on before.
I knew about the Cena/Ryder connection before, but I didn't consider it too much for guys like Bateman or Young, because they're still technically "rookies" versus "pros", which Ryder was even before his push. I know a lot of the pros like Young, but I'm not sure how much credibility Young would have being so low down on the totem pole. It does reign true, though. It could help him if and when he makes it to a main roster, because he does have the support system.
I really liked that match, as well. You're right in that Young can't really bash someone like that every night, because it's once in a blue moon someone will retire. He was kind of set up to have a good night that night. But, the attitude, intangibles, aggression was the first actual time I saw that real "heel-aggression" from him on an elimination night I believe. Given, before that, he attacked Hornswoggle, but it kind of was a wake-up call that he needs to make an impact, and by himself.
There might be something I'm leaving out, but that's kind of the gist of it. It was helpful to me to type it all out since it is pretty complicated. I think they have 16 writers now between the two main brands, which could very well be necessary given how often Vince or someone will just come in and decide to change everything. Very frustrating to see.
ReplyDeleteI can justify them having some general rules and guidelines as far as certain things they can and can't do or say, but in general I think things are WAY too "controlled" at times. Some of the best characters haven't been "given" to talent but were their own ideas, or at the very least characters they could believably portray and pull a lot into. There's a reason people like Punk, Miz, and R-Truth are doing pretty well right now: they're natural entertainers who aren't being shoehorned into something that doesn't fit them.
While I think a really talented superstar can make just about any character work (The Undertaker for instance could fail miserably if it was played by the "wrong person"), I think it would be good for them to work with performers' natural strengths. The Miz isn't going to wrestle a "5-star match", but if used right he can still make a lot of money. That kind of thing.
I do think SOME of the unconventional challenges were clever ways of seeing what performers would be willing to do and how well they could do it. I think sometimes at least the really talented performers were able to make those work without going for the fairly cheap "I'm better than this competition" route, and management generally respects that someone's a "trooper" and willing to put up with some of the bad comedy or whatever they come up with (not that I'm justifying them coming up with some of the bad characters and angles).
But all in all, the casual fan will almost certainly not see the relevancy of someone talking about cereal or whatever. I'd imagine they'd want to see more in the way of angles and matches than what were kind of "acting lessons". Save the silliness for training or something off-screen.
I'd think it would still count for rookies. It's just a case of the right respected and tenured performers pushing for them. It's no easy task to get management to do something that's "not their idea". Especially if they stick their neck out for someone who doesn't get over as well as they want to. And sometimes it's apparently not going to work either way, because Management just won't push them for whatever reason. They could have lost C.M. Punk if it wasn't for people they actually do listen to putting faith in him.
I think Chavo still wrestles. He was just fed up with how he had been used over the years, and I can't say I blame him for some of it.
I worry about how they'll use Young past NXT if they can't find something they want to do with him as a character. You can be the best wrestler in the world, but if they don't see something in you beyond that, you're likely not going to get very far.
Yeah, I think guys like Baretta are in that same boat as Young is in that they need to prove they are more than just good wrestlers. The ironic thing is that Young has TRIED by cutting some good promos and showing ruthlessness, but for some reason, it isn't getting through to Management. At least that is something he has over guys like Baretta and The Usos. I personally don't think much of The Usos other than their good in-ring ability. They are in the same boat.
ReplyDeleteThen again, the tag team division is WAY more open than the singles division. I mean, barely anyone even knows who Epico is, and he and Primo show little personality or promo skills out there. So, auditioning for the tag team division with good in-ring talent and medicore promo talent may be good enough for The Usos.
I'm curious to hear your input on this NXT Finale a while back. I think Otunga did good with this promo considering Wade didn't have many weaknesses. What did you think of this faceoff to end Season 1?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SrcnX46gyY
They either don't watch the show that closely or don't like what Young's doing enough to see him as someone to push. I think a lot of it could be his fairly plain look and character. He doesn't have the panache I'm assuming they're looking for. His character, to some degree, is an aggressive, motivated wrestler. A lot of people on TV have more unique things going for them:
ReplyDeleteSlater's the "one man rock band" and his look emphasizes that. Jinder's character is an important Indian person, so he has the garb reflecting that. Hunico's the Mexican gangster, Otunga's the Harvard-educated lawyer, etc.. I honestly don't remember the last time someone made it very far in the company JUST by being an aggressive, pure wrestler who didn't stand out with great acting skills and a less basic look. Swagger, Ziggler, and Rhodes all have strong amateur backgrounds, but they also have characters that aren't based primarily on their aggression, motivation, wrestling ability, etc..
Barreta's look and what he does in the ring stands out more than Young's I think. They look for that a LOT more than whether someone's good in a technical sense or whether what they're doing looks like it could actually hurt someone. As for The Usos, they have the 2nd-generation connection, the entrance dance, and can get a crowd into what they're doing with the "U-so" stuff. Primo and Epico also have family history, teamwork, and Rosa Mendes to do talking for them.
Long story short, I think Young's a wrestler in a company looking for sports entertainers, and that's why he's stuck where he is (and could very well continue to be stuck for quite some time).
Otunga's always been smooth on the mic and a natural character. I think Barrett did pretty well as well. Glad both of them get to show their strengths when they're featured.