E:60 Revisited

[Doctor Awesome]

Sorting through my DVR tonight I noticed that I still had ESPN's E:60 from early this summer saved on there. So...of course I watched it again. Jeremy Schaap did a great job on the piece that seemed to cover a span of just about two years focusing on the lives of 3 NXT talents looking to splash on to the main roster. By the time it was broadcast both Xavier Woods and Adam Rose had both been called up for over a year each and Corey Graves took to the booth about 6 months prior. The piece was very revealing of the production process as well as diving deep into the individuals' home lives. As of now, Graves seems to be finding his niche, Woods gets plenty of TV time and Rose seems to be the one looking to find his foothold on the main roster.

My question to you all is, did the ESPN doc change the way you looked at those individuals and did any one of their personal stories make you want to see them succeed that much more? Also, where would you like to see each guy in a few years time?

Ray Leppan (Adam Rose)- we got to see the birth of his "last chance" character reinvention and the reasoning behind it. He's a guy they all liked and had high hopes for (though I thought Michael Hayes was a bit douchey in his opinion) and it seemed that he found the gimmick to get him to the dance. I hope that becUse he is dependable and liked by mgmt that he will get the opportunity to tweak his character over time and see a decent mid card push focusing on the ring general that he was as LEO Kruger. Seeing his story of survival as a teen to a dedicated father and husband makes me wanna see him prosper for a few years as much as he can.

Matt Polinsky (Corey Graves)- Sad to say but we may never know just how great he could have been as an in-ring talent. They wanted to push him to the moon and sans physical setbacks seemed like he was in a position to do really well. Will he ever get to perform in a RAW or PPV ring? Not likely but possible, I suppose. He will only get better as a broadcast journalist and he may be able to hold that job for quite some time and develop into one of the faces of the broadcast team. I hope he does.

Austin Watson (Xavier Woods)- Like Leppan, he spent a long time in developmental waiting for his call-up and his wasn't all that eventful when it happened. He's not exactly the kind of guy/character that was gonna make a massive splash but managed to hold on long enough for the formation of the new day. Those 3 fellas should get quite a bit more life out of that gimmick and when it's all said and done he should be able to work for WWE as long as he wants. He will never be WHC but can be used well in many ways with one being possibly the booth like Graves, one day.

 

[Slash-LN]

Adam Rose as a character I don't care for still. I hate the gimmick. However it was a pretty emotional story on his end. I can't remember which agent it was that was with him that was really behind him but when they're outside talking and like crying it was pretty emotional. As a person it made me look at him different. And if he is to find a better gimmick and succeed then that would be cool.

Corey Graves I already liked. There was nothing that changed my opinion of him one way or the other. I think if he can get a grip on speaking well enough to do commentary sometime down the line it would be cool to see him in that capacity.

Xavier Woods I had already liked from his TNA days. He wasn't my favorite or anything but when he got his call up I was happy for it. I wish he could have a bit more serious role but I actually do enjoy The New Day and would rather see that than him being the new Funkasaurus or whatever he was supposed to be.

 

[Navi]

Adam Rose as a character I don't care for still. I hate the gimmick. However it was a pretty emotional story on his end. I can't remember which agent it was that was with him that was really behind him but when they're outside talking and like crying it was pretty emotional. As a person it made me look at him different. And if he is to find a better gimmick and succeed then that would be cool.

Corey Graves I already liked. There was nothing that changed my opinion of him one way or the other. I think if he can get a grip on speaking well enough to do commentary sometime down the line it would be cool to see him in that capacity.

Xavier Woods I had already liked from his TNA days. He wasn't my favorite or anything but when he got his call up I was happy for it. I wish he could have a bit more serious role but I actually do enjoy The New Day and would rather see that than him being the new Funkasaurus or whatever he was supposed to be.

I've only seen bits and pieces here and there, but I like all three guys. Woods look awhile to grow on me.

I loved Rose when he was in NXT, and if they had let him keep "World Goes Wild" as a theme, the crowd would have gone nuts. But yea, his character didn't come off as well on the big stage as it did in NXT, and he's suffered for it. Hopefully he'll get a tweak and be able to make it, because he's a pretty good wrestler and a very dedicated family man.

Woods has impressed me because he took a crappy gimmick, New Day and between the three of them, they've turned it into a real selling point. His work in NXT wasn't the greatest, and I never watched him in TNA, but with Kofi and Big E, he's managed to get himself going. What I like the most is I think he's one course away from getting his doctorate, so he's planning for the future, just in case it doesn't work out in wrestling. How many wrestlers do that. And you have to admire a guy that wrestled for a living plus got a medical degree at the same time.

Corey Graves is a sad case. He would have been a great mid card guy, probably a US or IC title holder if he had managed to stay healthy. As it is though, he might actually have his career made even longer. Let's face it JBL and the rest of the announce team, have pretty much had it and he is a perfect fit. He's knowledgeable and comes across very well on screen. I actually like him better than Saxton.

So hoping that all three guys manage to make it big. Woods and Graves have the best chances I think, Rose with some help could be up there as well.