It was clear that Barrett was going to be the leader/winner from the moment he was paired with Jericho, who was the champion at the time and in the middle of his biggest push.
Not so. The pros legitimately picked the winner of NXT1, and for the most part the rookies were for the most part paired up with pros that suited them. It was obvious from week one however that it was a two horse race between Barrett and Bryan because it was pretty damn clear that they were the best.
Bryan with Miz (Bryan had the ring work but not the personality to go with it. Miz had the opposite. Who better to help DB learn the importance of personality), Gabriel with Matt Hardy (Who better to help the good looking high flier get over than a Hardy Boy?), Sheffield with Regal (big hulking hoss with plenty of charisma pared with someone who can teach him the finer points of working beyond killing bitches with power moves), Young with Punk (the party animal with the Straight Edge cult leader), Slater with Christian (OMRB Heath Slater was pretty much cut from the same cloth as E+C), Otunga with Truth (The Harvard garaduate with the street smart rapper) and Barrett with Jericho (Someone who could help Wade bring his game to the next level in the ring and on the mic). Tarver's the only one who I can't really fathom why he was given the pro he was.
And in most of the cases the pros really were helping their rookies. For example, Gabriel and Hardy went over tapes together, and Jericho's the first guy Wade talks to when he's got an issue about wrestling.
Mike "The Kid" Killam;3559594 said:
WWE actually wanted to bring Daniel Bryan immediately into the main roster when they snagged him from Ring of Honor. They had extremely high hopes for him and wanted to use him right away. Bryan actually asked to be sent to FCW to adjust to the WWE style, coming from a very intensive indie scene. He was only there for a month or two before WWE got the brilliant idea for NXT and brought up all their decent talents at the time. I remember some of the FCW fans freaking out because almost all their higher up guys just vanished at the same time.
Not quite true there. NXT season 1 called up the cream of the crop in FCW, but it didn't get all their decent tallent called up until NXT season 2. Losing Riley, Kaval, McGillicutty (he might be shit, but he was one of the better in ring guys down there) and Harris was a big blow and led to the absolute worst I've seen FCW be during the time I've been watching (the show revolved around Abraham Washington and Byron Saxton with Mason Ryan as FCW champion feuding with Johnny Curtis). That's what led to Season 3 being what it was because there were simply not enough guys ready for TV down there.
As for what Nexus would have been if Barrett hadn't won NXT, simply put it wouldn't have been. Firstly because I remember reading that Barrett was the person who came up with the idea. The other rookies didn't know a damn thing until the day they did it. But also because nobody on that show apart from him could have carried the stable. Gabriel doesn't have the charisma to pull off the role, but made for a perfect number 2 for Barrett; Otunga ultimately lacks the presence and ring skills to be a believeable leader, but just the right amount of slime to be a great Starscream; Slater is too bland to be a leader, but since he's very safe and sells well he was a good fall guy; Sheffield was a charismatic beast, but like Batista in Evolution he was simply a better fit for the powerhouse role than the leader; Young wouldn't have worked because simply put he was the weak link in the group; Tarver could cut a promo, but he again lacks Barrett's presence and ring skills (ask Greg Iron how safe he is in the ring) but was a perfect fall guy who could be intimidating when he needed to be; Danny Bryan was ultimately the only other person who could have done the job as leader, but his skills and characrter at the time means it's unlikely that he'd have got that role. Bryan's strength is is ring work and his goal was to work his way up the ladder and main event 'Mania. As leader of a heel stable he'd have been avoiding conflict with the top guys at all costs (because cowards get more heat) and taking shortcuts to the top, which plays to his weaknesses. If he'd won NXT he'd have gone solo, probably after Miz in revenge for his mistreatment on NXT and work his way up from there. Meanwhile, the other rookies would have gotten pissed off and invaded Raw so that all of them could get contracts because damnit they don't want to lose the chance to work in WWE.
The much more interesting question would be what would have happened if Daniel Bryan hadn't gotten his ass fired in the first week.
