"WWE NXT" 5-11-10 Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

This is it, tonight the journey will end for one of the NXT Rookies. We know it will not be Justin Gabriel, who won the Obstacle Course Challenge last week and earned himself immunity.

You can see the Rookies' records here (http://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/rookierecords/). The last Pros Poll was revealed on March 30 (http://www.toonzone.net/forums/showthread.php?t=265975) with these results:
1. Daniel Bryan
2. Wade Barrett
3. Justin Gabriel
4. Heath Slater
5. David Otunga
6. Skip Sheffield
7. Michael Tarver
8. Darren Young


http://library.toonzone.net/talkbacks/wwe.jpghttp://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e92/Shadow0285/NXT3.jpgWWE NXT #12
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 @ 10 p.m. ET/9 CT on Syfy

WHO GOES HOME?
The first NXT Rookie will be eliminated tonight after the critical WWE Pros' Poll! Who will the WWE Pros pick? Tune in to WWE NXT to find out which NXT Rookie is going home.

[RedNinja84]

Wow this is just a stupid show. What in the world is WWE is doing? This makes no sense to me unless Bryan shows up on Raw or he is being released.

[ToonFaithful]

What were they thinking? Eliminating Daniel Bryan?! I'm done.

[EinBebop]

Wow, are they intentionally trying to see how low the ratings can go?

[RedNinja84]

Wow, are they intentionally trying to see how low the ratings can go?

Doesn't matter to them, it won't be back since SD is moving to syfi this fall.

[ToonFaithful]

Doesn't matter to them, it won't be back since SD is moving to syfi this fall.
They still could've kept Daniel Bryan.

[Matt Hazuda]

Either Bryan will get back in tonight somehow or the illness he's been suffering from has just gotten too bad for him to stay in.

Love the use of "future endeavors" in these exit interviews BTW.

[The Penguin]

No matter how far behind I get on WWE talkbacks, I always go in order, until tonight when I am going back to RAW later tonight or tomorrow to skip to NXT. As WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross once said, "This is the biggest pile of horse crap, that I have ever seen, in my life."

I haven't fiercely defended the things others haven't cared for, but I think I've been pretty forgiving, trying to find the bright spots, taking the challenges for what they were and even giving WWE a little bit of leeway when it seemed they had no idea what they were doing. With this week, I have no idea what they are doing and don't believe they do either.

"WWE Management" getting rid of Tarver and Bryan and then the Pros' Poll still eliminating Sheffield was just ridiculous and made even the most forgiving but still willing to be critical fan feel like WWE was punking them. What is the plan here? Is there a plan? Are they trying to wrap this "season" up so they can cram in another one before SmackDown arrives at Syfy? I can come up with no logic for any of this.

It's not even about Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson, if I were to rank my personal favorites, he would probably be fourth, there is just no reason to get rid of so many people. They went from an eight-man roster to a five-man roster and you can't fill out a show with that. Does this mean the show only goes another four weeks and then someone wins? Most reality shows that had people dropped outside of the normal process would call off eliminating someone the normal way.

I am just baffled that someone thinks this route was the way to go. The show is already dangerously close to the "WWE fans who will watch anything" audience and this can't help. If didn't have such a loyalty to WWE programming, I would consider packing it in after such a pathetic display.

I kept waiting for the fake out, the reveal that Bryan and Tarver were still part of the competition and it was just to shock them and the other Rookies out of any complacency and then a full eight-man poll would be presented with either Tarver or Sheffield going home, but that moment never came. I wonder what will happen next week, but not in an intrigued way, I'm wondering how WWE can screw this up more and make me even more frustrated with this concept I have tried my best to support.

[krazymed]

This is a textbook case of WWE's "self-fulfilling prophecy." Daniel Byran lost singles match after singles match after singles match, wins a meaningless 8 on 4 tag, and then is canned the next night. It's funny.

[Tapout]

http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/vms/wwenxt/2010/may8-14/14425312

If these guys are getting me excited for nothing I'm not going to be a happy camper.

[Mesousa]

Honestly, I'm more questioned about Skip Sheffield being eliminated dispite winning against Darren Young, who stays.

Yeah, I didn't want to be in the whole "OMG, DANIEL BRYAN IS ELIMINATED" thing, so I'll just ignore it.

[KJ Styles]

What were they thinking? Eliminating Daniel Bryan?! I'm done.

I stopped watching weeks ago when Bryan was 0-5, but eliminating him makes me not have any interest in any future NXT seasons provided that there are any.

[hobbyfan]

I think this is a case where they have to rush to the 2nd cycle and get that done before Smackdown moves to SyFy in October. We're now down to 5, and if my calculations are right, the finals will be June 8.

They also figure to accelerate plans for Bryan Danielson, and I think he may be involved in the Miz-Bret Hart US title match in Toronto. Just a hunch, but I think Miz is about to get swerved. At least we don't have to put up with him on Tuesdays anymore. Miz, that is. :D

Skip Sheffield (Ryan Reeves) knows the pain of elimination. As Reeves, he went through this on Tough Enough (Smackdown 2004), so that air of confidence that emerged in his farewell promo suggests that we're not done with Mr. Sheffield yet. He just started winning too late in the game, is all.

Everyone knew Michael Tarver was a goner going in, so they may have decided on the extra eliminations just to throw a few curveballs to the viewers as well. Sheffield had the best match, beating Darren Young, who in turn just can't escape the cellar because of his association with CM Punk. At 7-3, Young still has the best record on NXT, but the albatross he has for a coach is what's hurting his chances. Unless things change next week, Young's the next one to go.

Wade Barrett got back on the winning track, beating Heath Slater, and now is atop the leader board with (presumably) 4 weeks remaining. It's going to be hard to knock him from the top, IMPO, because he's just the kind of guy Vince loves (big).

David Otunga jumping from 5 to 2 in the poll speaks more to what Vince wants than what the pros really think, IMPO. He got the win back from Justin Gabriel, but the match was meh.

Hobbyfan's rankings:

1. Wade Barrett (moves back up)
2. Justin Gabriel
3. Darren Young
4. Heath Slater
5. David Otunga

Why Gabriel is stuck at 3 and Slater at 4 on the pros poll is a mystery. I have Slater at 4 because Young performed better despite losing.

If you thought this was upsetting, wait 'til Smackdown. That's all I'm going to say for now.

[RedNinja84]

It does seem that Danielson is staying as he has been added to a FCW event along with Miz and Christian. I don't know what the point was of him being on the show since he already is an established to a lot of people. They should have just done the old school vignettes of him doing promos and training. I'm like hobby though, I wouldn't be surprised if he does make an appearence in the Hart/Miz feud and still walks away with the US title. As for the rest of the rookies, you really have nothing going for them. Sheffield and his Demoltion jacket were eliminated and Young will go next week. That leaves really the only two with a real shot being Barrett and Gabrielle though I don't see Gabrielle winning. If Otunga wins it just shows that WWE doesn't care about wrestling but about name recognization. Otunga is terrible in the ring and I don't like his character, he seems to be a real jerk in real life with the way he is coming off.

[The Penguin]

I still need to go back to RAW, but I want to offer some more thoughts on the actual episode itself rather than just the eliminations.

One more thing about the eliminations in general, the roster is already too small now, but it would have been more interesting if Striker brought the Rookies out two or three times and declared some of them "safe." It would have built tension and given the entire show a theme. Remember Al Snow walking around the Tough Enough kids and telling them one-by-one to sit down?

I'd like to know when Wade Barrett is going to get his theme song. After he beat Slater he had the Jericho theme again. If you're going to give a prize like that, they need to actually win it. I said sometime last week it was the best prize this side of immunity and Barrett hasn't even gotten it yet.

Michael Tarver was less crazy in his backstage interview, but getting cut would do that to you. Cole & Josh had mentioned it before, but I believe this was the first time he referenced the stuff about sleeping in his car.

I had a bad feeling Skip was going to beat Young just based on what had gone on. Maybe it's the Demolition vest? :p I laughed at Cole referencing Michael Cole BINGO (http://www.toonzone.net/forums/showpost.php?p=3112147&postcount=20). He's only a year and half late. (Though we probably need a new card with "referee's vision obstructed." :rolleyes: )

Exciting to see the SmackDown Rebound get two nights of attention. I guess the I-C Title is big enough to merit attention beyond Friday.

Daniel Bryan saying that "Bryan Danielson" had a lot of success was interesting. Though I have a hard time accepting a name change was the reason he didn't do all that well.

I did not enjoy seeing Otunga beat Gabriel. I am less and less impressed with "A-List" every week.

Which is why four out of five Rookies said they want him gone. I fail to see how the last several weeks have moved Otunga all the way up to number two. Bryan being gone could move some votes around, but the guy doesn't have that much "it" factor. I also question Darren Young still being near the bottom after the success he has had since the last poll. At least he wasn't eliminated, that would have been really unfair.

With the six that were left after the highly questionable way the show started, Sheffield had to be the low man. He finally peaked two-three weeks ago and with Tarver already gone, that is too little, too late. I was intrigued at his mini heel turn, saying he should have listened to Regal.


Doesn't matter to them, it won't be back since SD is moving to syfi this fall.But if you believe what WWE is saying they want to get NXT on another network since Syfy won't be keeping it. It does matter, despite what we saw here.


Honestly, I'm more questioned about Skip Sheffield being eliminated dispite winning against Darren Young, who stays.Skip won Tuesday, but Young has stepped it up big time since he was ranked eighth in the first poll. Sheffield was on a two-match winning streak, but Young improved to the best record on the roster. It would have been a travesty if he had been eliminated.


If you thought this was upsetting, wait 'til Smackdown. That's all I'm going to say for now.And that is more than enough. I don't want to just pick on hobbyfan here, because this is to everyone. As a collective group we need to stop side comments like this on shows that haven't aired yet. Sure, this is minor, but speaking for myself, I don't want to know that SmackDown is going to be "upsetting." If we have TV shows on this board that won't even tolerate mentions of what happens in the official preview, we shouldn't have to accept untagged comments (however slight) about the full spoilers of a show people haven't been able to watch yet. If someone likes to read the spoilers, they are welcome to do that, but they don't have the right to subject everyone else to side or specific comments about what they read.

To bottom line this: side comments about taped TV show spoilers need to stop.

[Djm912]

As The American Dragon said himself. Daniel Bryan got eliminated from NXT.

But Bryan Danielson, his WWE career has only just begun. I'm excited and interested.

I tune in for him.

[Azrayel]

As The American Dragon said himself. Daniel Bryan got eliminated from NXT.

But Bryan Danielson, his WWE career has only just begun. I'm excited and interested.

Yep I agree with you.

as for the show, I didn't really care for it. It felt pretty boring as a whole.

[EinBebop]

One way to re-introduce Danielson might be as the Straight Edge Society's mystery man. It's been established he doesn't drink, and he's sure not shy about shaving his head...

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/8135/danielsonnoblelano.jpg

Wish I could find a shot from when the beard was full-on Grizzly Adams... maybe i'll dig out my old ring of honor dvds later.

[RedNinja84]

Don't forget the cape;)