When you are a kid and the circus comes to town for the first time, it's pretty exciting. I mean, what kid doesn't like acrobats and animal tricks? You see it that first time and are in awe. If it comes again, perhaps you go based on your satisfaction from the first trip, but if there is no change from the first show to the second, it can get old quick. Once it comes around that third time, you may not be going for fear of seeing the exact same show yet again. This example somewhat applies to WWE's NXT. While no two wrestling shows are exactly alike, this new conceptual program neeeds to be continually innovative and exciting to draw the Tuesday viewer. Now in episode 3, the program can no longer rely on simply being a new concept, it must now draw based on superior character development and in ring performance. Whether that is becoming evident or not, I'm not so sure yet.
The episode opened with a pro/rookie mixed tag team match between R-Truth/David Otunga and Miz/Daniel Bryan. Before it got started, Miz reminded his rookie that he is 0-2 and that if he took the pinfall in this match, Miz would have him kicked off NXT and his dream of being a WWE wrestler would be over. With all the hype surrounding Daniel Bryan, it's easy to forget that he hasn't won a match yet, but that served as a pretty good reminder. The match itself was decent. I find David Otunga a lot more bland than most. His ring work and personality in the ring are non existent, and just because he has actual celebrity status doesn't mean he has charisma. Sunglasses and a jacket do not a wrestler make. Those items merely mask the fact that he exhibits no personality. With that said, he is absolutely ripped and if he can tap into a cockiness due to having fame outside the WWE, he might have something. As for Daniel Bryan, he did not pick up the loss...........Miz did! After Bryan tagged himself in earlier in the match, Miz tagged himself in when Bryan had a submission locked in. He was not happy, as he was about to get Otunga to "tap or snap", and the confrontation led to R-Truth hitting his finisher on Miz and Otunga hitting his, which I guess is a sitout spinebuster and getting the pin on the U.S. and Unified Tag Champion. Pretty embarassing for Miz and he let his rookie know about it. As pissed as Miz as, Bryan took it and wound up to hit Miz which made him flinch. I thought that was a funny spot and I'm loving the chemistry these two have.
Before more fallout of that mess of a pairing, a promo was shown to remind us that Carlito spit in Heath Slater's face and Heath cut a promo to address it. The kid has great energy, but he has a ways to go in promo work. I do think he has potential in that area though, because having personality to begin with is a huge advantage. I'll talk more about Slater when I get to his match with Carlito.
The fallout to Miz/Bryan was similar to the R-Truth Otunga fallout last week (which by the way, the announcers told us they "patched things up", so that was the end of that story). It wasn't a brawl, but there was certainly tension you could cut with nail clippers (yeah, it was that tense). I'd be lying if I said that any other duo was more important to NXT programming.
In a weird twist, a third straight backstage promo was shown, this time starting with Matt Hardy and Justin Gabriel. It was pretty straightforward with Hardy reminding us that Gabriel was the first rookie to get a pin on a pro when he pinned Regal last week. Standard stuff until Jericho and Barrett come in. Cool spot where Hardy mimicks Jericho in saying "do you hear what I am saying to you right now" in a slow, monotone voice like Jericho would. If Hardy was a better impressionist, it would have been great. As it stands, all 4 men were trying to get over the rookies and they hyped the main event later. I will say that if Matt Hardy somehow wins Money in the Bank, I'd like him to feud with Jericho as he's the type of guy that could legitimize Matt as a main eventer.
Before the main event was the Slater/Carlito retribution match. Before it started, Carlito told Slater that he shouldn't be offended, he should be honored to have been spit in the face. Not sure how that is ever honorable, but I rarely understand Carlito anyway. The match itself was ok. Slater's charisma only comes out when his focus is away from executing moves. As he progresses on, I think he will learn to keep the intensity throughout as hitting maneuvers will become more second nature. Luckily for him, it seems creative is pretty high on him as he picked up an "upset" victory with a rollup reversal after a match filled with Christian taunting Carlito. Christian also was barking advice to Slater and this pairing is proving to be very good. I liked the potential of Slater, but the "One Man Rock Band" thing he came up with is kind of stupid. As for Carlito's rookie, Michael Tarver, they made him a cute little shirt with the 1.9 second thing, but he's gotten very little chance to showcase himself. Then again, they couldn't have thought too highly of him to put him with Carlito anyway.
Before the main event, we got a promo hyping Darren Young which I didn't understand at all. They have been pushing him as a party boy from south beach and the promo was all about determination, never giving up, and focus. I get that all the NXT guys have to have focus and motivation to make it, but shouldn't the promos interweave information like hard work with his persona of being a party boy? I feel like it kind of paints two different pictures. The picture was pretty clear though with Young's encounter with Punk after the promo. Punk helped him and made it obvious that Young needs the Straight Edge Society's help. They still want him to be straight edge but Young wants to live his life his way. That's not going to cut it for Punk and that struggle is going to continue. It might get repetitive, but that's who Punk is and I like that he has such a grasp on his character.
As for the main event, it was a clash of styles with Gabriel and Barrett. What I absolutely loved during this somewhat short match was Jericho yelling at the announcers which you can hear through their microphones. At one point, they said he should just sit in on commentary and he replied "maybe I should, I'd be better than you!" What a classic line from a fantastic performer. The rest of Jericho's yells were hyping up his protege which he does better than anyone in the business. He did it with Big Show and he's doing it with this kid, talking up the dominance based on size and strength. Unfortunately for Jericho, his rookie got his first NXT loss, as Gabriel again hit his beautiful 450 splash for the victory. If only Gabriel didn't look so much like Adam Lambert, I'd be even higher on him. Get him a little better haircut and work on his promo skills and you have a potential superstar on your hands. I loved though that to give heat to the British Barrett, the fans chanted U.S.A!! The only problem is, Gabriel is from South Africa so neither guy was American!
After the match, Jericho was not happy and beat up on the victorious South African along with his mentor. He then stood tall with the 6'5" Barrett. Apparently, the WWE was very fond of TNA style booking in this case, as for Jericho and Barrett, it was apparently better to beat up guys after the match than to actually win the match. I suppose it's a way to keep heat, but the biggest guy on the show lost with no interference in less than 5 minutes to a high flyer. Yeah, he lost a good bit of credibility that he isn't going to get back by standing tall after his World Heavyweight Champion mentor beats up the guy he lost to. I like Barrett, but he needs to be booked as dominant, because otherwise, what's the point in being huge?
Decent show, but the problem I have is that after 3 episodes, I am still getting promos on who these kids are which sometimes contradicts what they and the announcers are saying about them as characters. Also, I still don't know when and how the "voting" will take place to determine who gets WWE contracts and if they are in fact voting, shouldn't the mentors start actually paying attention to the other competitors? I mean, since they can't vote for their own guy, they should be scouting every chance they get so they will have all the information necessary to cast a vote. I'm not sure I like this idea, and I am still confused by it. I was thinking they could wrestle for a couple of months and the pros could seed the rookies for a tournament. The men who go to the finals of that tournament would get a WWE contract, with the winnner going to the show of their choice and the loser going to the opposite show. At least then, it could be somewhat settled in the ring. Something has to be done though, as I've already heard that ratings are down to ECW's average already, so the steam is already being lost on this new programming. A more set gameplan and timeframe for the show I think would help so viewers would know that all these matches and segments aren't going for nothing. I hope that things start sorting themselves out, because like the circus, fans might become dissatisfied and look for another act. I hope that isn't the case, as I like a lot of the performers and I like the concept of pro and rookie, but it's time to take the next step in its evolution as a show. Here's hoping that step comes soon!
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