NXT.......Season 1

[kirkt690]

Let's look at the very first season of NXT and it's rookies.

Daniel Bryan: first eliminated from nxt but he is the only one to have win a world championship multiple times (if you count the one where he was stripped of it the next night) and won it in the main event of possibly the biggest wrestlemania of recent

Michael Tarver: couple of backstage appearances and did nothing except piss cena off

Skip Sheffield(Ryback): nexus and then injured forever and came back and catapulted into the main event and title picture with cm punk and john cena and was even the last man to be eliminated in the rumble one year but then depushed majorly

Darren young: kicked out of nexus and interrupted one of wade Barrett's matches with a "surprise return" and no feud there? , primtime players which was what I would say as a successful and charismatic tag team

Heath Slater: nexus, corre and now 3mb? Oh well now 1mb again. Which I never understood since he was the very first rookie to defeat a nxt pro and the first to defeat 2 nxt pros and Chris Jericho at that but yet he is like a heel comedy character.

Justin Gabriel:nexus, corre and now nxt? And he got 3rd in the contest for some reason. I honestly think he had a great heel look when he would get that stare when he would be perched on the top rope and stare down before a 450 splash but guess there's nothing else to him.

David otunga: David otunga got second place in the very first season of nxt but now where is he? No really where is he now?

Wade Barrett: the winner of nxt season 1, rivalry with john cena, nexus, rivalry with punk. Or more like push,depush, push, job, job, job, but I'm afraid I've got some bad news! And now its starting to look uphill for him finally after how many years of the supposed major push he was supposed to get.

I want to hear your thoughts on how the very first loser of this competition has accomplished the most and how the 1st,2nd, and 3rd place stars were less fortunate.
Also why have Heath slater be the first to ever defeat an nxt pro if you have him be a side act for hornswoggle?

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Daniel Bryan has gone from being the 'best in the world' to the most over in the world in the 5 years since leaving Ring of Honor. Largely organically too. Goes to show that wrestling ability CAN get you through the door.

Heath Slater was actually a decent comedy act before he was lumped with the uninteresting McIntyre and Mahal. In the first NXT I felt he was actually one of the better wrestlers but needed to tweek/improve his personality. IF written correctly he could be a big mid-card player now he's on his own again, surely just use him as an arrogant 'Rock star' going solo?

Justin Gabriel is a tag team wrestler at best. Perhaps if Adam Rose fails (but only after given a fair chance) pair him with Gabriel as a South African tag team?

David Otunga has a ready made gimmick waiting for him - and make no mistake, WWE are just waiting for the right moment - as a modern era Clarence Mason, but one who can actually wrestle. Plus I hear he works a lot with the legal department (not sure how true that is) and his marriage to Jennifer Hudson means he's beneficial for WWE to keep around.

Skip Sheffield was a horrible gimmick ('the corn fed colossus??) so I was very glad they re packed him as Ryback. Pushed too fast, too soon - not his fault - but sometimes that is detrimental to development. Should NEVER have faced CM Punk so soon, which curtailed his push, as when he was unstoppable he was on fire. Found his niche now in a solid tag team with Curtis Axel, something WWE doesn't often do (find two singles wrestlers in a balanced team) who have longevity in them, as long as WWE remains interested in tag teams.

Darren Young is another one who is best suited to the tag division - having been part of the South Beach Boys with the underrated Percy Watson in FCW, and the underrated Prime Time Players in NXT and WWE (sense a theme here?) Given that Titus O'Niell was the personality of the team, though, it could be a struggle for Young when he returns from injury. PTP were split far too soon.

Michael Tarver had the gimmick of a boxer, with a knockout punch finisher. With the Big Show already using that, it was vital Tarver was repackaged. The most boring of the first season of NXT though, and quite understandably the one currently not employed by WWE.

Which leaves Wade Barrett. Very good talent, both as a wrestler and a talker, who reinvented himself a la Zack Ryder. Unfortunate with injuries, as was allegedly due a Money in the Bank win before he got injured. Perhaps a blessing in disguise, though, given some MITB winners.

Ultimately the thing that stands out for most of these is they have been willing and able to portray whatever character WWE picks for them, in whatever the situation. That adaptability is the single thing keeping most of them in a job. A lot of wrestlers, old and new, could learn from them.

 

[rge2010]

I was actually going to start a thread to see if the Nexus should reform. Nexus were great in their peak of 2010!!! Sadly too many chops and changes saw them derail!!! Punk actually destroyed them as a credible group.

There is no reason why Wade Barrett cannot reform Nexus and still use his 'Bad News' gimmick. His gimmick is over so that would surely help the group gain credibility and the group could elevate Barrett to the promised land of Main Event.

Once again Barrett could be the leader and he can enlist the help of his old remaining buddies David Otunga, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel and Darren Young. Daniel Bryan is just doing fine on his own and was only in the group for like a week, and Rybaxel would fit logically, but I don't think they need too as they are improving as a Tag Team on their own.

Hell, do they even have to be a heel faction? I think Nexus could get over as a face/tweener faction.

If Barrett wanted to reform under some new blood then Adrian Neville (another Brit), and The Ascension? That would be a very solid 4some.

That leaves Slater, who I like as a comedy act, who could easily be established on his own. He was doing okay before 3MB was formed. Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel formed a tag team around 18 months ago but Kidds injury derailed it. Put them two back together, would be brilliant. Otunga is dead in the water I am afriad, I'd have nothing for him. Darren Young the same. Release both.