The "other" NXT Rookies

[Dagger Dias]

So anyone who was watching WWE in 2010 should be familiar with a certain group known as The Nexus. This group's original lineup was made up of the rookies from the first season of the NXT contest. Plenty of threads have been made about them, but the contest version of NXT ran for a total of 5 seasons. This thread will address the rookies from each of the other seasons of the NXT competition.


Season 2
Alex Riley
Eli Cottonwood
Husky Harris
Kaval (winner)
Lucky Cannon
Michael McGillicutty
Percy Watson
Titus O'Neil



Season 3
AJ
Aksana
Jamie
Kaitlyn (winner)
Maxine
Naomi



Season 4
Brodus Clay
Byron Saxton
Conor O'Brian
Derrick Bateman
Jacob Novak
Johnny Curtis (winner)



Then there was also the strange 5th season that ended up lasting over a year and never truly ended, made up of some names from the previous seasons returning for another shot.

The NXT contest has been over for almost 2 years now, but many of these wrestlers are still with WWE. I would like to discuss the successes (or lack thereof) that they have seen so far, and who out of the 2nd through 4th seasons of NXT you think will end up being the biggest star in the end once all is said and done? Keep in mind, this is not about any of the guys from Nexus so do not discuss the 1st season rookies. That will be considered off topic and you risk getting an infraction for spam. The whole point of this thread is to discuss the rookies from the other seasons, as I do not see many posts on them anymore, thus I wanted to know your thoughts.


Here are some discussion questions.


1. What do you think of the careers of these wrestlers and divas so far? Anyone you want to see pushed, why?

2. Who do you think will become the biggest stars out of these groups, why?

3. Out of those who have left, who would you like to see return and why?

4. Which ones were your least favorites, and why?

Discuss!

 

[rosey34]

I never really followed NXT but based on the names you give (and the ones I recognize), I think currently AJ has had the most success. That's saying quite a bit too considering its a woman in the list of mostly men in a male dominated industry. She has brought interest, some prestige and most importantly, some wrestling skill back to the divas division that hadn't been seen much in quite sometime.

Husky Harris stands out to me as he is now Bray Wyatt. He is clearly gaining momentum and making a name for himself, working with John Cena who is the top dog in the company and is amazing on the mic. Of all those names, he will be the most successful. Some of the others have potential but need work, such as Titus O'Neill's mic skills.

Out of those I'd like to see return, I'd chose Alex Riley. I know he's still around but I thought he was a solid ring worker and just needed to polish up his skills. His feud with the Miz peaked my interest as well. Plus I think he has a cool entrance song haha

A lot of the names I don't recognize or remember so there are probably better workers in there with more potential but those are my thoughts on this topic. Interesting topic to think about!

 

[SmattyG]

Season 2 - I'd like to see Percy Watson and Eli Cottonwood return. Cottonwood seemed to be the big monster type that Vince likes, and was working ok with John Morrison. Watson had a good gimmick and seemed to be confident on the mic too.

Obviously, Harris has morphed into Bray Wyatt and has been the most successful of this group. But McGillicutty has also transformed, and won himself the Intercontinental Title. I think Bray will be the most successful out of this group though.

I didn't watch Season 3 at all - so that's where AJ came from? Obviously she has had the most success from the gals.

Season 4 was really entertaining. I loved Brodus Clay's character, which he seems to be getting back to. His catchphrase, And You Do Know THAT! was pretty over too. But Derrick Bateman stole the show. His character was very funny, but he could go in the ring too. He's doing as well as anyone could with the EC3 character in TNA, but I'd love to see him back in the majors.

There's always talk of Conor O'Brian getting the call up as part of Ascension, and Johnny Curtis has done ok with the Fandango gimmick.

I'm always wary of declaring a least favourite, as everyone who steps in the ring does so at risk of injury for our entertainment, and I have full respect for that.

Overall, Bray Wyatt and AJ have had the most success. I think Bray will go on to even greater success, though I'm not sure titles are in the post just yet - he seems beyond titles at this point.

I'd love to see Brodus Clay get a big push as a heel. There is a lot of untapped potential.

And I'd like to see Derrick Bateman back. Here's a clip of his double date with Daniel Bryan and the Bellas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSH4-Ihvme0

 

[Griezz]

If I'm not mistaken, Eli Cottonwood was the first member of the "Wyatt Family" down in NXT, before he was replaced by Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. All I know is that, one week, Eli had disappeared and was replaced by Harper and, later, Rowan.

Nevertheless, they are the picture of consistency, next to "The Ascension". A four-person group, dropped to two members, then a single guy when the other is released, before finally being resurrected as a tag team. I wonder if all the changes are why the team has remained stuck in NXT, or whether they figure that, with the Undertaker still semi-active, there's no room for a second "dark side" act.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

1. What do you think of the careers of these wrestlers and divas so far? Anyone you want to see pushed, why?

In the grand scheme of things, I can't say that I've been all that impressed by most of the NXT rookies. From Season II, almost none of these guys have amounted to all that much. Alex Riley is now a commentator, Eli Cottonwood is gone & forgotten, Kaval's back out on the indie circuit as Low Ki & was allegedly difficult to work with backstage as he's, again allegedly, a huge mark for himself, don't even remember Lucky Cannon, Michael McGuillicutty, AKA Curtis Axel, is a solid mid-carder that just doesn't have the stuff to go any higher, Percy Watson was like a jack up Steve Urkel who's gone & forgotten & Titus O'Neil is someone that I think could've had a more promising career had he not waited so long before getting in the game. He was well into his 30s when he got into wrestling. Husky Harris, AKA Bray Wyatt, has become an extremely entertaining heel & character.

As for Season III, it was pretty much like watching an abortion go down right in front of you on a weekly basis. I think WWE was hoping for Kaitlyn to kind of be a female John Cena, but she had an utter lack of charisma or personality. I think Kaitlyn got into wrestling in the hopes of making some decent money, save it up and get out; which is pretty much exactly what happened. Maxine had a great heel vibe about her, she looked great, but she couldn't wrestle worth a shit. Listening to Aksana try to talk every week was beyond painful and she's just not especially talented. AJ struck me as easily the standout talent, even though she didn't win season III. Kinda ironic that two winners didn't exactly have the kind of "look" that WWE was looking for but, then again, that's what Big Johnny cared about more than anything else while he was in charge of talent relations and WWE's developmental system.

As for Season IV, I'm not even sure that I watched it. I'm pretty sure I didn't, now that I think about it, but nobody's especially stood out. Johnny Curtis puts a ton of effort into Fandango, but I knew the character wouldn't be taken seriously in the long run.

2. Who do you think will become the biggest stars out of these groups, why?

As of right now, Husky Harris/Bray Wyatt has shown that he's got the charisma, promo skills and in-ring style to be a bit league player. AJ has already gone as far as she can in the WWE as a Diva seeing as how she was WWE Divas Champion for almost 10 months.

3. Out of those who have left, who would you like to see return and why?

Eh, I honestly can't say that I'd be all that wild about any of them returning. I thought Maxine had a lot of potential, but she asked for her release in 2012 because, and this is pure speculation on my part, she saw just how tough of a job it was gonna be now that Triple H was in charge of WWE's developmental program and overhauled it. As a result, she was gonna have to train to be an actual wrestler with all that entails rather than simply being a hot chick.

4. Which ones were your least favorites, and why?

Hmmm....well, Percy Watson just flat out got on my nerves, Eli Cottonwood was essentially a hillbilly version of The Great Khali. They sort of stuck out the most for me.

 

[MCMG]

Fandango, O'Neil and Axel are all fine mid-carders. Reily could have perhaps been someone. He is a strong talker but pre-shows/commentary is a good place for him. The same applies for Saxton.

Kaitlyn was a great Divas champ. She could actually wrestle and her feud with AJ was enjoyable. The WWE would take her back instantly. Derek Bateman could have been a good mid-card talent. We are seeing what he can do in TNA and it is surprising he never got a chance. Bateman would have been a useful talent even if he was never going to be World Champ.

I suppose Naomi did well. She's on Total Divas which is something. AJ has been a terrific success. She was the best champion in years and is the best woman on the roster. "Husky Harris" failed but Bray Wyatt has been an absolute success. It is difficult to gauge how much NXT helped Mr. Rotunda but I presume it didn't hurt. He wrestle John Cena at Wrestlemania... that is an incredible feat for such a young superstar.

As for the worst, Cottonwood was awful. Percy Watson was pretty bad as well but he was kind off funny at the same time. Overall, I enjoyed NXT (especially when Punk was on commentary) but the current format is far superior.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Wyatt legitimately surprised me with this character. I hated him as Husky Harris. Out of anyone who participated in NXT seasons 2 or 4, I see him becoming the biggest star in the end once all is said and done. Out of the divas, AJ. No one even comes close. She's become the best diva since Trish and Lita. I liked Brodus' career path from after NXT season 4 up until they took away the Funkasaurus gimmick and his tag team, now he's just another generic boring big guy. That was such a unique gimmick, it made me a fan of him as well as Tensai. Without it he sucks.

As for who should see pushes.... I'd like to see Brodus Clay get pushed using his old gimmick the Funkasaraurus, getting back together with Tensai. Riley is another who I would like to see get pushed. They could try a heel version of him, like how he was on NXT. All we ever saw of him on Raw was the sidekick of The Miz during one of the worst WWE Championship reigns ever and then he had a very brief face run after turning on Miz. He also had a really cool entrance theme! Fangango never got his tag team title shot with R-Truth, so that's another push I'd still like to see.

I'd like to see Kaval return. He could be a big part of the midcard title scene and win either of those belts at least a couple of times. He was very exciting to watch in the ring, so he's missed. Kaitlyn needs to come back. She was very good as Divas Champion and I'd love to see her return to have matches with Paige, Emma, Natalya, and revisit the AJ feud! Then we have my least favorites.... I don't miss Eli Cottonwood at all. All I really remember about him was an extremely weird promo about mustaches. Percy Watson was the worst of all though. I absolutely hated him he was SO ANNOYING!!!! I'm glad he is gone.