Season 1- The Cast of NXT- General Discussion

[XgringolocoX]

MODERATOR COMMENTS​

Evidently, there is confusion off the get-go on what type of comments to put in the first two threads we have. I have already moved countless posts from one thread to the other because each one isn't discussing the appropriate topic. So let me clarify.

This thread is for general discussion of the entire cast of the show as a whole. Feel free to discuss whether you think some of them will work out and make for entertaining television, or perhaps who you think won't. Talk about the pairings of the mentors with the mentees. Are there other people who you think would have made better choices or better pairings than the ones you see on here?

This thread is not for discussing the actual concept of the show in whether you think it's a good idea or not. That is what the purpose of the other thread is. This show is for the cast as a whole. The other thread is for the concept of the show. And there are other threads in place if you wish to specifically discussion one particular pairing.

Thank you.

The following this from the WZ main page.

"WWE NXT is a hybrid live event/reality show featuring eight well-known, popular WWE Superstars (“Pros&#8221 mentoring eight WWE “Rookies.” These Rookies, who are learning the ropes, are athletes who epitomize pop culture and personify strong attributes – they are opinionated and aggressive – which means inherent conflict between Rookies and other Rookies, conflict between Rookies and Pros, as well as, conflict between Pros and Pros. The trials and tribulations of the WWE NXT cast ensure action-packed, innovative entertainment – WWE Style."

- Daniel Bryan (aka Bryan Danielson) - Mentored by The Miz

- David Otunga - Mentored by R-Truth

- Wade Barrett - Mentored by Chris Jericho

- Skip Sheffield - Mentored by William Regal

- Justin Gabriel - Mentored by Matt Hardy

- Darren Young - Mentored by CM Punk

- Heath Slater - Mentored by Christian

- Michael Tarver - Mentored by Carlito (not sure how good an idea it is for Carlito to be mentoring anyone)


I can see this being the career demise of more than a few of these guys, but that's just one mans op. So have at it. What's your opinion of some of these pairings, the mentors, and the mentees?

What say you?

 

[Schizophrenic]

Well looking at the roster already it looks pretty good but one combo makes me scratch my head and get happy all at once......"The Miz Mentoring Daniel Bryan." While they were promoting the team they made mention that Bryan is a "no nonsense type of guy who claims to have more knowledge and ability than the others and takes things seriously". Paring that up with the Miz? That must mean that we see Bryan's first feud in the WWE on RAW or SmackDown......Get ready for The Miz vs Daniel Bryan to be the big feud coming out of the first season of NXT.

 

[Okay Fabian]

Wow. They are letting David Otunga debut under his real name and saddling Bryan Danielson with Daniel Bryan? I don't get it. They make it such a point to trademark names but they let Otunga slip by? I guess they are trying to bank on his "fame" from I Love New York 2 and his status as Jennifer Hudson's Baby Daddy. Couldn't they have banked on Danielson's fame in, I don't know, the wrestling business?

I am intrigued with the Punk/Young pairing. Young is a member of The South Beach Boys tag team in FCW with Percy Watson, and their party boy personas could not be any more different than CM Punk's. I am wondering if Punk will recruit Young to the S.E.S. or will Young and Punk butt heads? It will be interesting to see if Punk can mentor Young without recruiting him or if Young can resist going to the dark side.

I think Carlito's partnership might end up with him getting knocked the F out by Michael Tarver.

 

[Wolfdemon]

My question is where in the hell is Low Ki? He was rumored to be one of the guys on the cast and is not on here. All i can say about the Miz with Bryan Danielson is AWESOME. These two are going to have a good clash give him a good future in WWE.

 

[Okay Fabian]

I was wondering the same thing about Low Ki (Kaval). Here are a few explanations for his absence:

1) He needs to work off some ring rust stemming from his injury.
2) They are saving him for the next "season" of NXT.
3) They are debuting him on RAW or SD.

Do you think any developmental superstars will debut on RAW or SD, skipping the NXT experience entirely, or will they all have to go through the NXT process?

 

[realblackhart]

According to wiki On June 15, 2008, Bennett (Wade Barret's real name) was arrested in Tampa, Florida and charged with Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer (a felony) and Obstructing an Officer (a misdemeanor).The arrest took place outside of Champps Restaurant and Bar (2223 West Shore Boulevard North) at 2am. Sanders was released the next day.
I guess he and Jericho have something in common. This guy was tagging with Drew in OVW and was supposedly pretty good. He also commentated for them when Josh was sent to ECW so I hope they don't use him for that.

Tarver who's real name is Tyrone Evans is a beast and is more like a Zek kinda guy. If anybody believes the Chavo and Carlito conspiracy of them being treated like crap, this guy could hurt Carlito and unlike most of you here I like Carlito. I understand Carlito being a mento for his father is a big time promoter in Puerto Rico and they know about evaluating talent.

The guy CM Punk got isn't that good and CM punk had been wrestling for a while before comming to ECW so he's the right person for the job, he could teach him a thing or two.

Matt Hardy was a tag team jobber on Superstars and Wrestling Challenge on FOX in the 90's for ages before he and Jeff became houshold names so he paid his dues and that's a different aspect of the business.

Now as far as Danielson and the Miz us concerned, the Miz is good but he has little if any backround in wrestling and he shouldn't be mentoring anyone but maybe that's what they want since Danielson really doesn't need any mentoring.

Skip usued a cowboy gimmick in OVW under a different name, we don't need to see a gimmick like that. The WWE has destroyed Jimmy Wang Yang who is a good talent and misused him with this gimmick.

 

[realblackhart]

I was wondering the same thing about Low Ki (Kaval). Here are a few explanations for his absence:

1) He needs to work off some ring rust stemming from his injury.
2) They are saving him for the next "season" of NXT.
3) They are debuting him on RAW or SD.

Do you think any developmental superstars will debut on RAW or SD, skipping the NXT experience entirely, or will they all have to go through the NXT process?

That's interesting, a part of me says the latter. Vince was very high on Drew McIntyre and he wanted him up on the Smackdown roster which is probably why he was brought up when he was so he didn't have to go through the NXT process. Or maybe if your that "damn good" you could just come up. I hope they don't HAVE to go through the NXT process. That would mean Henning, the Dibiases, and the Rotundas, Colt Cabana would have to go through that same process. Some guys might not need it.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

I can tell you right now, that Bryan Danielson made a huge mistake. There are a couple of instances where the wrestler probably surpasses the mentor, and with Danielson being mentored by the MIZ?! The Miz. As in 'The Real World' Miz? Look, I'm a fan of Miz, and he's grown leaps and bounds over the past few years as a performer, but he's not in the atmosphere of Danielson. Period.

This is a huge error on the part of the WWE and to me, shows how little they think of Danielson. If I were him, I'd try to stick this out, then get the hell out and go to TNA, where he'll have a chance at being a main event talent, and not a product of a stupid reality based show and being mentored by someone who was starring on MTV 10 years ago.

I don't care about the other wrestlers. Danielson got the shaft on this one. Period.

 

[Schizophrenic]

I think the only reason Otunga is involved is because of Hudson and the publicity they will get from that because honestly he has never stood out as anything but the average big dude and Ezekiel Jackson holds that spot and is actually better in the ring. My question is...Why isn't Joe Hennig involved with this? Who better to try to make the "breakout" start of the new show than to be the son of "Perfection"? Joe had been in developmental for way too long and he is one of the best they had down there. His feud with Sheamus got me interested in FCW.

 

[Cookie]

I'm intrigued.

I'm not going to judge who is mentoring who because I'm not sure to what degree the mentors will be involved and I'm not entirely familiar with most of the mentees. I'm looking forward to the interactions between the mentors and mentees. If it's kayfabe, it will (hopefully) be some good screen time for the superstars and I think it could be pretty entertaining watching them interact with their fellow mentors as well. Seeing a self-righteous Chris Jericho act high and mighty with a new guy, Christian being a great motivator for his mentee, a cocky Miz showing off Bryan Danielson, etc. I'm open to the possibilities.

I am intrigued with the Punk/Young pairing. Young is a member of The South Beach Boys tag team in FCW with Percy Watson, and their party boy personas could not be any more different than CM Punk's. I am wondering if Punk will recruit Young to the S.E.S. or will Young and Punk butt heads? It will be interesting to see if Punk can mentor Young without recruiting him or if Young can resist going to the dark side.

Interesting. That sounds like a good dynamic, especially if the two butt heads.

I do hope they don't just use the new guys to further the development of the mentor superstars and their storylines. I'd love to see these "new" (clearly Danielson isn't) guys get a push if they've got the potential. I'm sure some will be casualties to this endeavour but hopefully it doesn't end up being a total waste.

I'll give it a shot.

ETA: Sid, you can move this comment to the other thread or just delete it if it doesn't fit into this one. Thanks.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I don't really have much of an opinion on the mentor idea, it could be good, it could be bad. Maybe the person that has Carlito will be annoyed he's been given somebody who put in very little effort and is essentially a jobber and he'll refuse to work with him, which could then lead towards an angle between the two. Maybe the person teamed with Punk will become part of his Straight Ede Society, I don't see how they can't. Maybe the idea is that Danielson is going to show up The Miz, and maybe the person who has Jericho as a mentor won't be able to live up to what Jericho expects of him. All possibilities, or maybe they'll just stand in their corner and give them advice, it'll be a teaching session presented as a real wrestling show.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's got my curiosity piqued and I'm not gonna make any sort of rash judgements based on what's been revealed so far. When NXT was first announced as the replacement of ECW, a thread was started that was filled with wildly speculative posts blasting the show without really knowing anything about the show other than its name.

On the surface, it looks like an interesting mix of a cast. I admit that I'm a little puzzled that The Miz is going to be mentoring someone on the show, particularly Bryan Danielson. I'd say quite a few members of the IWC isn't all that thrilled about that, but it's not an issue for most fans because, quite frankly, most fans don't have a clue who Danielson is.

Like I said, I'm not going to rush to any snap judgements but I do have a feeling that Danielson could have made a mistake. I'm not familiar with him in the least, just that he's an IWC darling, Dave Meltzer has a constant hard on for him and he's about the same size as Evan Bourne. All in all, I don't know how confident I'm feeling about how the WWE is going to use him.

 

[Dagger Dias]

- Daniel Bryan (aka Bryan Danielson) - Mentored by The Miz

This is the one I'm the most interested in. I've heard so much about Danielson and it will be cool to see what he can do, plus if these mentors are any indication of possible career paths (character-wise, etc) then we could be for something really interesting here.

- David Otunga - Mentored by R-Truth

This could be alright.... Truth could could teach Otunga quite a bit, being a former TNA World Champion.

- Wade Barrett - Mentored by Chris Jericho

Other than Danielson/Miz, this is the one that sticks out the most. Barrett will benefit A LOT from working with Jericho. I'm interested in seeing how these two will interact as a mentor/protege pairing because Jericho is one of the best possible guys that a rookie could be learning from.

- Skip Sheffield - Mentored by MVP

Why make this pairing? Not really interested. What's MVP going to do, teach Sheffield how to be a jobber?

- Justin Gabriel - Mentored by Matt Hardy

Not really that interested here either, but Hardy's still a better mentor to work with than MVP. Hardy is over and could potentially still help this guy out.

- Darren Young - Mentored by CM Punk

Should be decently interesting, Punk's awesome and will be able to help this guy out.

- Heath Slater - Mentored by Christian

Yes! Slater's lucky to get to work with Christian. Great mentor pick, and hopefully Slater will be cool himself.

- Michael Tarver - Mentored by Carlito (not sure how good an idea it is for Carlito to be mentoring anyone)

I feel sorry for Tarver. Why would WWE pick Carlito as a mentor? There's nothing he could really teach Tarver.... or perhaps he could teach him how to improve based on Carlito's mistakes (laziness, badmouthing WWE, etc) and "what NOT to do"....

Ok, so most of these pairings look alright. A few sound really good, while two or three sound bad. I'm going to give this show a chance next week no matter what though.... Everyone else should too. It could end up being really bad, but it could also be really good. I'll even give the "bad pairings" a chance, we could always just ignore the bad pairings and focus on the great ones anyhow. I'm excited to see what each of these mentor/protege pairings can do because some of these rookies might (stressing the word MIGHT) be the future of WWE.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

I don't think the "Danielson's screwed" camp is looking at this from the right perspective. If they put him with the Miz - one of the most over heels in the company right now - and he dislikes Miz, then it'll do him wonders. Danielson gets described as a professional type of guy who knows what he's doing and doesn't like nonsense, right? So you pair him up with a trash talker who wants to bully him around, but the guy doesn't want to take it and stands up for himself. There you go, you've just created a new midcard face that, if he's decent enough in the ring (and from what I've heard, he is) can make an impact very early on.

As for these other guys...meh. None of them seem particularly interesting. Slater looks like he patterns himself off the Edge/Christian tag team era, so I'm not surprised to see Christian as his mentor. The one guy, if he shows up and starts doing cowboy stuff, it'll be career suicide for him. People aren't into the TL Hoppers of yesteryear. They just come off looking ******ed. Look at Tyler Reks with his surfer gimmick. Where's he at now?

 

[Planty]

I honestly think The Miz-Daniel Bryan pairing is genius.

Granted, Danielson doesn't need a mentor. But honestly, whilst Danielson can cut a good promo, why not have one of the best on the stick today as his "mentor"? His ring skills need no mentoring, that is more obvious than anything. But who knows if his promo style matches "the WWE way".

Plus, as some people have already mentioned, it could lead to some interesting clashes between the two.

Furthermore, Miz came from a totally different background from wrestling which was heavily focused on television. With Danielson in the indies, originally he came from a background to do with wrestling but nothing to do with television. The two are complete polar opposites and I dunno, he might just learn something. But saying that, what is left for him to be learn? It'll be interesting, that's for sure.

I'd rather have had Danielson not be involved in this whatsoever or not have a mentor, but I'm pleased it is the Miz.

 

[modest-genius]

I think the mentor thing is mostly to add starpower to the show, I don't know how it will work but I doubt it's going to go as far as Jericho making his guy do bumps.

For the Miz pairing, isn't it obvious? Why put Jericho with Daniel if he's as good as you all say he is? You give the best the least needeed mentor, because he doesn't need one. Meanwhile Jericho is off helping some guy with lesser abilities

 

[JAWILLIAMS]

Matt Hardy mentoring Justin "Angel" Gabriel sets up for a future tag team. i get the feeling that out of all the Mentor / recruit combos, this may have been set up to jump start a new tag team.

Wade barrett- has all the makings of a Bodyguard turned hero role. Much like batista followed. I would expect he becomes Jerichos enforcer until he has enough. Then it's instant face.

Daniel Bryan and the Miz are on a crash course to a feud. The brash ways of MIZ will annoy Bryan to no end.

But this is just an oppinon......who knows whats going to happen........im excited

 

[Macho Man Andy Savage]

I got to agree with Lariat, Miz mentoring Danielson is kind of a slap in the face. Ive never taken Miz seriously as a wrestler although I'll admit he's improved a lot.
If it's done the right way though, it might not be that bad. If Danielson or Daniel Bryan, clashes with the Miz claiming he's better, or not respecting what the Miz has done because of the Real World and his reality shows, it could be very interesting. I just hope it's not Miz giving pointers and advice to a guy that could outwrestle him on his worst day.

 

[Theo Mays]

I like the pairings. I don't know much about the rookies, but I'm definitely gonna search them this weekend and watch some of their stuff. I might be in the minority, but I'm a fan of Miz/Danielson team. Yes we know Miz isn't going to teach Danielson anything in the ring, but this could be a setup for a feud down the road between the two and gets the E audience familiar with Danielson. Plus maybe behind the scenes Danielson can hep the Miz out and give Miz some pointers in the ring. Really a big fan of the team.

And from what I read earlier about Darren Young having a party goer type gimmick in FCW, then it is brilliant to team him up with Punk. Punk and him could easily become rivals and go at it on the show, as Punk could criticize him for not putting effort into achieving the dream.

Carlito as a mentor makes me chuckle, really can't see a point in that. Heath Slater looks like he has a much similar build to Christian, so that pairing seems to make sense. And Barrett is in good hands with Jericho and this guy might have a future with Jericho mentoring him and helping him out.

 

[BlakkVI]

According to wiki On June 15, 2008, Bennett (Wade Barret's real name) was arrested in Tampa, Florida and charged with Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer (a felony) and Obstructing an Officer (a misdemeanor).The arrest took place outside of Champps Restaurant and Bar (2223 West Shore Boulevard North) at 2am. Sanders was released the next day.
I guess he and Jericho have something in common. This guy was tagging with Drew in OVW and was supposedly pretty good. He also commentated for them when Josh was sent to ECW so I hope they don't use him for that.

Tarver who's real name is Tyrone Evans is a beast and is more like a Zek kinda guy. If anybody believes the Chavo and Carlito conspiracy of them being treated like crap, this guy could hurt Carlito and unlike most of you here I like Carlito. I understand Carlito being a mento for his father is a big time promoter in Puerto Rico and they know about evaluating talent.

The guy CM Punk got isn't that good and CM punk had been wrestling for a while before comming to ECW so he's the right person for the job, he could teach him a thing or two.

Matt Hardy was a tag team jobber on Superstars and Wrestling Challenge on FOX in the 90's for ages before he and Jeff became houshold names so he paid his dues and that's a different aspect of the business.

Now as far as Danielson and the Miz us concerned, the Miz is good but he has little if any backround in wrestling and he shouldn't be mentoring anyone but maybe that's what they want since Danielson really doesn't need any mentoring.

Skip usued a cowboy gimmick in OVW under a different name, we don't need to see a gimmick like that. The WWE has destroyed Jimmy Wang Yang who is a good talent and misused him with this gimmick.

Skip and the gimmick are both very over in FCW..so I wouldn't mind it. Plus, Jimmy Wang has had a SERIES of bad gimmicks..so I wouldn't go as far as placing that blame on WWE. "Flying Elvis" anyone? He was decent in the Jung Dragons, but thats about it.

 

[billm75]

So everyone seems to think this mentoring thing is a for-real deal? I"m sure the Pros will help them to certain extents, with things like timing, promos, working the crowd, but I don't think it's a big of a deal as everyone is making it out to be.

This is STILL professional wrestling, and it's being packaged as a reality show. The pros are likely there to add some name recognition and to help guide fueds. I doubt you're going to see too many of the mentors hanging out for hours and hours training their new recruits in real life. It's a show.

That said, I don't follow the indie circuit or the non-televised feds at all, so I'm interested in seeing what this group of rookies brings to the table. All of these rookies (or so called rookies) are getting a fresh start in MANY people's eyes. It will be interesting to see how many turn on their mentors as the show progresses.

 

[ErictheEnt]

Wow.

Getting to train under Chris Jericho; Wade Barrett has to be nearly the luckiest s.o.b. on the planet. He's easily the best trained star teaching anyone. He's also the most experienced person there. What a lucky draw to be trained by him.

 

[RVDgurl]

I have to say that the WWE has peaked my curiousity on this one. I haven't decided if I think this whole NXT idea is innovative or completely repulsive. I can say that it certainly is shaping up to be something competely different and I an excited to see how things turn out. It could be so bad that it's good.

Honestly, I know nothing about any of the Rookies slated to participate in this little experiment, other than Bryan Danielson. That in itself is exciting to me. I am also excited to see the role that the mentors will play. I think the list of mentors is a very good one, I am curious to know how the WWE came up with these pairings.

Obviously, I'm most interested in the Miz/Danielson pairing. There has to be a reason behind this. Danielson could wrestle circles around the Miz in his sleep. I certainly don't buy for one second that the Miz will be mentoring Danielson in any way. With that being said, I actually like the pairing. They have absolutely nothing in common which could make for a very interesting dynamic. It could also be the catalyst for the first major fued to come out of NXT. I think these guys could work a great program together.

 

[Sean Valjean]

These are some pretty interesting choices for mentors and more intriguing pairings. I'm disappointed that Joe Henning and Low-Ki didn't make the cut, though. My thoughts:

Daniel Bryan (aka Bryan Danielson) - Mentored by The Miz: This is easily the most interesting pairing. While it's understandable that some people might get angry at this, I think this is a genius idea. Danielson needs no help as far as ring work goes, but he could learn a thing or two about mic work; and who better than one of the best promo cutters on the roster. As someone suggested, maybe Danielson could upstage the Miz, making him jealous and starting a feud between the two. Miz is so much heat, this could really get Danielson over quick.

David Otunga - Mentored by R-Truth Funny how a guy who has a singer for a wife gets a mentor who raps to the ring. I'm interested to see how Otunga is in the ring, and Truth is a solid guy that can teach him a lot. Thanks to his wife, Otunga will probably get a decent push since he's somewhat of a celebrity (at least compared to his fellow rookies) and he could bring exposure to the WWE, which Vince loves. Who knows, maybe at Wrestlemania Jennifer Hudson will sing with R-Truth while he raps to the ring. Just sayin'.

Wade Barrett - Mentored by Chris Jericho Needless to say, Barrett hit the jackpot as far as mentors go. Working with someone as big and established as Jericho will give Barrett alot of recognition and give him a huge head start in terms of getting over. Hopefully Barrett will be worth it.

Skip Sheffield - Mentored by MVP I'm kinda meh on this one. I like MVP, but what has he done lately? If anything, he can definitely teach Skip how to talk (which he'll need, with a name like Skip)

Justin Gabriel - Mentored by Matt Hardy Another one I'm meh about. Though Matt is a more ideal mentor than MVP, he's been doing even less. Wouldn't be surprised to see Gabriel become a heel that completely outshines Hardy and eventually discards him.

Darren Young - Mentored by CM Punk Young might be the second-luckiest guy on NXT. If you can't get Jericho, Punk is the next best thing. Based on what I've heard about Young's gimmick, I can see these two going at it a bit (if they keep it, that is). Personally, I'd like to see this end up with Young joining the SES; I've felt they needed a fourth member to really legitimize them as a stable.

Heath Slater - Mentored by Christian another score in terms of mentors. Christian's more than solid in the ring and one of the best on the mic. Slater could benefit huge from this.

Michael Tarver - Mentored by Carlito I couldn't help but laugh at this. If anything, Carlito may need a mentor more than Tarver does. If this is going to be done completely kayfabe'd, this could be funny to watch with Carlito's character being lazy and trying to teach Tarver how to be "cool". Tarver could get fed up with Carlito and ditch him, setting up a small feud to help get Tarver over.

 

[Baller]

Now Bryan Danielson or Bryan Daniel, is a great wrestler as we all know from his time in ROH and all of you guys raving about him for the past few months. However, I believe he needs some work on his mic skills. So who do your pair him up with in NXT? The MIZ!

Now The Miz, may not be the best wrestler in the World, in fact Bryan is probably a better wrestler then The Miz, but The Miz is right now one of the best talkers in the business right now. So while Bryan works with Miz in the wrestling department, Miz works with Bryan on the mic.

What do you think of this pairing?

Will it help Danielson, Miz, or both?