WWE NXT
Bradley Center
Milwaukee, WI
February 23, 2010
Commentators: Michael Cole & Josh Matthews
Ring Announcer: Savannah
Host: Matt Striker
Its the debut episode of a new WWE show, NXT. With Vince McMahon mercifully killing off WWECW for good, we got a new "Tough Enough" style show but rather than insult the fans intelligence by having indy wrestlers "train" under Hardcore Holly, Al Snow, etc, this show format will take eight independent wrestlers and call them "rookies" with individual "coaches". This is still pretty absurd considering who some of the "rookies" are but we'll get to that soon enough. The show opens with a montage of the rookies and their coaches. Skip Sheffield is coached by William Regal (it was supposed to be MVP), Darren Young will be matched up with CM Punk, Justin Gabriel will be paired with Matt Hardy, Wade Barrett is with Chris Jericho, David Otunga will be coached by R-Truth, Daniel Bryan is matched with The Miz, Michael Tarver is coached by Carlito and Heath Slater will be matched with Christian. Before we do anything, we got a dark match.
Dark Match:
Jimmy Wang Yang & Slam Master J vs Tyler Reks and Vance Archer
With ECW biting the dust, a lot of the dregs of the roster had nothing to do so they put these guys in a tag match before the show went on air. Yang and J win.
Winners: Yang and J
We start the show after the opening montage with all 8 "rookies" posing for the camera. David Otunga looks Straight Outta Compton while Daniel Bryan looks like he's bored. The Miz sizes up all of them but singles out Bryan. Maz says he's US Champion and Tag Team Champion and calls Daniel an "internet darling" and a star of the "minor leagues". Miz asks if Bryan is ready and Miz says he has to expect anything. He wants Bryan to go to the ring, introduce himself, show charisma and to give the fans a reason to watch every Tuesday. Bryan says that's no problem and Miz says to use his music, Bryan counters with that's a problem (Ha!). Miz says to have a good catch phrase as Bryan leaves. Miz says what Bryan doesn't know is if Bryan doesn't show personality, he'll slap some personality into him.
Out comes Daniel Bryan as Michael Cole and Josh Matthews welcome us to ring side. Matthews sends us to our host, Matt Striker. Striker says he'll be waiting to get reactions from Bryan or Miz depending on how this goes. Bryan thanks the audience and shouts out The Miz to a chorus of boos. Bryan says "I'm sorry" because he wishes his pro was William Regal. He says he's been wrestling all over the world for 10 years and finally he has an opportunity here. Bryan says NXT is the next evolution but he's cut off by The Miz. Cole says he's not surprised since he dissed Miz and Miz says this is going to be a lot of fun. Bryan says to watch what he says or he'll submit him right now. Miz calls him cute and a submission machine but he needs charisma and personality. Bryan says he was going to go on a reality show, get a faux-hawk and act like an idiot...oh wait, that was Miz. Miz says that's fine and wants a catch phrase like "I'M THE MIZ AND I'M AWESSOMEEEEEE." Bryan says if Miz tries him, its "Tap or Snap". Bryan asks the crowd what they think and they love it. They cheer Bryan as Miz asks if he belongs in the same ring. Miz says Bryan failed and slaps him across the face. Bryan is barely fazed by it and smiles at him. Miz storms off and Bryan says "you got nothing on me" as we go to break.
I know they're going to explain it and I already covered Bryan a long time ago in his Velocity matches but what the hell. The reason this whole scenario is ludicrous is Daniel Bryan was born Bryan Danielson and he was trained at the age of 18 by none other than the "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels. He made his in ring debut in December of 1999 and worked in both the US and Japan with school alums & future WWE stars Lance Cade and Brian Kendrick. In 2000, he was signed to a WWF developmental deal with Memphis Championship Wrestling and was given further guidance by William Regal (hence the name drop earlier) where he got the nickname "American Dragon". He was released in July of 2001 without ever being called up to Raw or Smackdown. He did make sporadic appearances on Velocity for the next two years while working in Japan or Ring of Honor. In Bryan's WWE Blu-Ray story, he said John Cena got heat for letting Bryan get some shots in rather than squashing him in their Velocity match. After a 7 year run with Ring of Honor, he was finally signed by WWE again who put him in their new developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling in early 2010. At first he wrestled under his own name but before he was to make his NXT debut he had to choose a stage name. Apparently he had to choose between Buddy Peacock, Lloyd Bonaire and Daniel Bryan. Once again, where Vince got his names I'll never know but thankfully Regal bailed him out by calling him Daniel Bryan. What makes this storyline more absurd is while Bryan was literally on WWE TV doing jobs and working with Cena, Miz was making his pro debut in 2003 after being an MTV star before becoming a Tough Enough 4 finalist (outlasting the very same Skip Sheffield we'll see later) in 2004. Not that the Miz didn't scratch and claw his way to stardom, but what the hell could Miz possibly teach the guy personally trained by Shawn Michaels and William Regal? That's basically the storyline here moving forward.
Back from commercial, Bryan is still in the ring and he says he's going to slap him back someday. After an out of place Triple H vignette, Matt Striker asks what Bryan feels about being slapped. Bryan says he slaps harder than Miz does. Striker says Miz is his mentor and Bryan says he can say that because he's been wrestling longer than Miz has. Striker says not in WWE and Bryan says he can be a star on his own. That's rich coming from the guy who was still a teacher when Bryan was on Velocity working with John Cena.
Before we get to the match, we're told that Daniel Bryan will go one on one with World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho tonight. As if you needed any more proof that Bryan is a bigger deal than he's being presented as. Carlito comes out with a mic and says let's introduce Michael Tarver. Carlito says with his skills, Tarver will be the next breakout star. The video montage shows Michael grew up in Akron, Ohio and is known as "Mr. 1.9 seconds" because he can knock out anyone just like that. His father was professional boxer Tyrone Evans who was Mike Tyson's sparring partner. He would join his father and Mike in 5 mile runs in the snow before school & church. He figures that it doesn't matter how big someone is, you take out the head and the body falls. He says he had it hard sleeping in cars and earning just $20 for indy shows but this is his way to prove what he's capable of. He wants the other rookies to bring their A game because the world is in front of him. So what did that montage not tell us? He started wrestling in 2005 and was signed to a developmental deal in 2008. Because of his boxing background, he was one of Floyd Mayweather's bodyguards at Wrestlemania 24 if you looked closely enough. He spent the next 2 years in FCW where he and Wade Barrett were a tag team managed by Byron Saxton. So this is no "rookie" either.
Christian and Heath Slater come out next. Slater apparently is a rock star without the instruments and likes to showboat a lot. He wanted to be a WWE superstar since he was born and we get a video montage of him in the 90's with wrestling toys and backyard wrestling belts. Slater says being a superstar is the only thing he's ever wanted to do. He came up with the party boy thing and his motivation is to prove everyone wrong. He's about to blow your mind! So, what WASN'T said? Slater was born in Pineville, West Virginia and really did grow up a massive WWF fan. He was trained by none other than Mr. Hughes and made his pro debut in 2004 under his real name of Heath Miller. In 2006 he was signed by WWE and put in their developmental territory Deep South Wrestling then moved over to Florida Championship Wrestling where he had been a mainstay ever since. Just a few months prior, he and Justin Gabriel feuded over the FCW Heavyweight Championship. Now in NXT, he wrestles under the name Heath Slater. Let's get to the match.
Match 1
Carlito and Michael Tarver vs Christian and Heath Slater
Slater is going to start with Carlito as Matthews says these guys are meeting each other for the first time. Slater and Tarver just came from FCW together and Slater was actually in a feud with Carlito's brother Primo. I'm sure they've met before. Slater gets a quick roll up for a two count and Heath shouts "Yeah baby" to no pop. Carlito goes to town with strikes then kicks away in the corner. Tarver tags in and punches away in the corner with body shots. Slater hits a springboard splash and a few arm drags to no pop again. Tarver hits a drop toe hold onto the bottom rope and Carlito gets a cheap shot. Christian distracts the ref long enough for Slater to kick out of the pinfall attempt at two. Cole says Christian told him he could do without the Slater hair flip. Carlito locks in a chin lock as Christian tries to start a clap for Slater. Cole then goes on to babble on about Daniel Bryan as Tarver tags in to lock in a chinlock as well. Slater does manage to catch Tarver with a powerslam as Carlito tags in. Christian gets the hot tag as Cole brings up Christian qualifying for the Money In The Bank ladder match coming up at Wrestlemania 26. Christian drops Carlito with a forearm and a second rope dropkick. Christian covers for 1...2..no. Christian goes for Killswitch but Carlito rolls out of it. Carlito jumps off the second rope but right back into Christian's arms. Carlito elbows Christian but is kicked in the corner. Christian hits a second rope sunset flip for 1..2....no. Tarver tags in and whips Carlito into an elbow by Christian, whoops! Tarver's charge eats boot as Slater pulls Carlito out of the ring. Christian hits a second rope elbow smash and hits the Killswitch. He covers for 1...2..3 to win the match. Kind of a short match but this whole episode is just an introductory showcase anyway. Christian and Slater celebrate as Christian does get a pop. Good, safe tag match to kick off NXT.
Time of match: 4:23
Winners: Slater and Christian by pinfall
CM Punk is joined by his Straight Edge Society members Luke Gallows and Serena with Darren Young babbling on inaudibly because Christian's music and Michael Cole's talking downs out whatever Darren is saying. Meanwhile R-Truth is talking to Otunga who looks like something out of an Eazy-E music video. Back from commercial, its time for our next match. The SES come out with Young who doesn't even get an introductory montage.....the hell? Young was born Fred Rosser and he was trained in New Jersey back in 2001. He worked most of 2002-04 for local independents including Chaotic Wrestling. He actually got some WWE dark matches wrestling as Fred Sampson in 2005. I know this was still before the internet was as advanced as it is today, but how are you going to call someone who was wrestling on WWE TV in 2005 a "rookie" five years later when his "mentor" didn't even show up himself until 2006, no diss to CM Punk of course. Speaking of Punk, he gets his own mini-interview where he has no idea why he's here or who Darren Young is. Punk says he mentored Gallows and Serena so if Young wants in too, he has to live straight edge. Considering Young is trying to pass himself off as a "party boy" this isn't gonna work. Matthews wants to party with Young but we send it to a David Otunga montage.
Otunga says he's from Hollywood, California and he's a touch above everyone else. He's a very busy man and he's engaged to Jennifer Hudson. He's met President Obama, he's popular, nobody can touch him, you get the idea. He graduated from Harvard Law School and everyone's jealous of him. Great heel promo to be honest. Now for the real story....most of it is true. He really did graduate from Harvard Law school and passed the bar in Illinois. He made his name on the TV show I Love New York 2 where he came in third place. He really was engaged to Jennifer Hudson and they had a son together. He's not actually from Hollywood as he grew up in Illinois. He was signed to WWE in 2008 in a path similar to The Miz, cashing in on his ILNY2 fame.
Match 2
Darren Young (with CM Punk, Serena & Luke Gallows) vs David Otunga (with R-Truth)
Otunga makes his entrance completely ignoring Truth's rapping at ring side during his entrance as the SES pretty much blow off Young as well. Bell's gone and Young gets in a knee to the ribs. Young drops Otunga with a back elbow smash and covers for a deuce. Otunga ducks a line, hits a few clotheslines of his own and damn near botches a Ron Simmons style spinebuster. Otunga covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. I know they were pressed for time since they had Jericho and Bryan later but that was ridiculous. That made Young look worthless. Otunga celebrates with Truth in the ring as the SES bails without showing any emotion. Otunga had the look and the charisma, but just could never do it in the ring.
Time of match: 38 seconds
Winner: Otunga by pinfall
We cut to earlier where Miz slaps Daniel Bryan and get a graphic for Jericho vs Bryan coming up. Back from commercial we get a Divas vignette and the "Raw rebound". John Cena on Raw complains that he won Elimination Chamber yet Vince McMahon forced him to wrestle Batista at the end of it. McMahon says he's going to face Batista in a match, and if he wins, he faces him again at Wrestlemania. Batista then demolishes Cena to earn a DQ but the beat down was to send a message that John couldn't take him. Its a shame it took damn near 5 years for Cena and Batista to get it on when they were neck and neck in popularity in 2005. Back to ring side where Cole says he's the mentor to Matthews and Josh fires back. A graphic saying Justin Gabriel will be making his NXT debut the following week.
Match 3
Daniel Bryan (with The Miz) vs World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho (with Wade Barrett)
As I said earlier, it was high praise to put Bryan in the ring with Jericho in his NXT debut when the others had to wrestle each other or in standard tag matches. We don't get an introduction vignette for either Bryan or Barrett so that might be coming next week. Before the match starts, Jericho grabs the mic and says he wants Barrett to introduce him instead. Barrett goes on about himself that he's a European champion and bare knuckles fighter. He says its an honor to be paired with Chris Jericho and tries to put him over, but Chris cuts him off. Chris says just introduce him as Barrett says "Have it your way." He introduces Chris and here comes The Miz and Bryan. Bryan runs right past him and gets in the ring, ha! Bell rings and Bryan wants a hand shake. Does he think he's in Ring of Honor? Jericho slaps his hand away and goes on about himself. He shoves Bryan and Daniel slaps him before dropping Chris with a dropkick. Daniel stops away in the corner but Jericho counters with a dropkick. Jericho kicks away at Bryan and delivers a back suplex. Chris gets a forearm to the back and a snap mare. Jericho locks in a half nelson but Daniel powers out of it. Daniel rolls him up for a two count and Jericho counters with an enziguiri. Chris slaps the back of the head and hits an elbow to the chest. Jericho hits forearms in the corner as Matt Striker sneaks ring side to ask Wade Barrett what he's learning. Wade replies that Jericho is quality and says he's going to get to his level. Bryan kicks Jericho int he chest, slides hunder him and goes for the dragon screw, but Jericho botches it by back bumping. Cole screams at Matthews for saying Bryan is a sensation and that he's wrestled in front of high school gyms. By the way, THIS was the start of the Michael Cole heel turn no one wanted. Bryan runs up the turnbuckle and backflips over Jericho and drops him with a clothesline. He covers for 1...2....no. Bryan nails Chris with a forearm against the ropes, causing Jericho to bail outside. Bryan goes for the suicide dive and it looks like Jericho countered with a powerslam against the announce table, but Bryan doesn't sell it. Jericho rolls inside and Bryan goes for a hurracarana but jumps right into the Walls of Jericho. Bryan rolls through and applies an Indian Deathlock. Jericho screams and barely makes it to the ropes. Jericho catches Bryan with the codebreaker out of nowhere to drop him. We're shown the "rookies" in the back all watching the match. Jericho locks in the Lion Tamer and Bryan taps immediately to end the match. Jericho gets the win but Bryan hit him with everything but the kitchen sink. In terms of the actual match, that was awesome. For damn near six minutes it was perfectly paced with Bryan pushing the action.
Time of match: 5:53
Winner: Jericho by submission
Post-match Miz gets in the ring and beats down Bryan. Jericho laughs and leaves with Barrett. Miz rams Bryan's head into the mat and screams at him that he disrespected him. We go to the replay and Matthews puts over Bryan while Cole uncharacteristically puts Miz over, what's that about? We're back with the seven "rookies" with Striker who says this is NXT before signing off. This was definitely the Daniel Bryan coming out party and the sad part was, this set the tone for the rest of the show's run. Bryan was clearly head and shoulders above everyone else and showcasing him first cast a shadow over everyone else. Still, there's still a long way to go and more matches to showcase the others. Even though this was glorified Tough Enough, the fact it was actual wrestlers will make the matches good at least. See you Thursday for Smackdown.
