Tuesday, June 29, 2010

6/29/10 NXT

MVP vs. Husky Harris: DUD

Kaval, Lucky Cannon, & Michael McGillicutty vs. Alex Riley, Eli Cottonwood, & Titus O'Neil: *1/4
______________

Here are the official NXT rookie's records as of 6/29/10:
Michael McGillicutty: 3-0
Alex Riley: 2-1
Eli Cottonwood: 2-1
Percy Watson: 1-1
Kaval: 1-2
Lucky Cannon: 1-2
Husky Harris: 0-2
Titus O'Neil: 0-3
______________

Results of the first NXT poll (50% pros, 50% WWE Universe)
Kaval
Percy Watson
Michael McGillicutty
Alex Riley
Lucky Cannon
Eli Cottonwood
Husky Harris
Titus O'Neil (eliminated)

NOTE: Lucky Cannon won the Keg Challenge with a time of 12.7 seconds and was immune from elimination this week. As you can see, it turned out to be moot because he wasn't last in the NXT Poll.

No surprise that Kaval was #1 due to the fans having 50 percent of the vote. I must say though, he has the skills to make it in WWE. If Kaval worked on the mic skills, he'd be the winner -- he's already one of the frontrunners to win it all. And hey, he won't be going the way of Daniel Bryan...he won on NXT! And at least Michael Cole is not on his case. I thought it was clever for Kaval to not do the keg challenge, pointing to his size and wanting to impress in the ring. He only had a few minutes to wrestle in the six-man tag, but I liked what I saw.

Percy Watson at #2 again is totally due to the fans. He is very agile and has a lot of showmanship, but for me, he can still work on his in-ring wrestling skills. I do like the guy, and I think he has a shot to make it.

Michael McGillicutty at #3 again is a little bit of a surprise. He may be 3-0, but again, nothing to make me go "Wow!" or make me do a double-take.

Alex Riley is one person I thought would be a bit higher (I can't believe I'm agreeing with Michael Cole on this one). Again, the fans swaying the vote to make it more of a popular vote deal. To me, Riley seems quite polished for an NXT rookie, with a great look. He also has a chance in the WWE.

Lucky Cannon has done nothing for me so far. So he keeps saying he's lucky and has had a couple brushes with death. Great feel-good story, but show me what you got in the ring, son. You won the keg challenge...good for you.

Eli Cottonwood is another rookie that has done nothing for me yet. He just looks lost in the ring. Mic skills need to be worked on big time. So basically, of the people remaining in the competition, he is at the bottom of my list right now.

Husky Harris did make a statement by attacking Matt Striker last week, and I think that's really what saved him from elimination. His match with MVP tonight was atrocious, and I just wanted to change the channel. He has an attitude, though, and I like that.

Titus O'Neil was eliminated basically because he has a stale act...if any. Blah blah blah, "and make it a win." That's all I remember about him. At least he was a class act in his farewell speech.

As an aside, I would love for Nexus to grow and include these eight guys as well. It would probably be a nice shot in the arm for the group by that point. (Please note I have read no spoilers about the fate of Nexus, despite them being out there)

Monday, June 28, 2010

6/28/10 RAW

Vladimir Kozlov vs. Santino Marella: 1/4*

Sheamus vs. Mark Henry: 1/2*

Maryse & Alicia Fox vs. Eve Torres & Gail Kim: 1/4*

Randy Orton, Evan Bourne, John Morrison, & R-Truth vs. Chris Jericho, Edge, The Miz, & Ted DiBiase: **1/2
__________________

Wrestling sucked for the most part. And Nexus' beatdown of Ricky Steamboat made me want Daniel Bryan back in WWE so I can say the Dragon kicked the Dragon's head in....

Saturday, June 26, 2010

6/21/10 ROH

Eddie Edwards vs. Nick Westgate: *1/2

Sara Del Rey vs. Reggie: *1/4

Skullkrusher Rasche Brown vs. Ricky Reyes: *1/2

Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. Delirious & Jerry Lynn: ***1/4

Friday, June 25, 2010

6/25/10 Smackdown

The Big Show vs. Jack Swagger: *3/4

MVP, Christian, & Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler, Curt Hawkins, & Vance Archer: **

Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre: **3/4

Kelly Kelly vs. Rosa Mendes: N/A

Kane vs. CM Punk (No Holds Barred): *1/2

6/24/10 Superstars

JTG vs. Caylen Croft: *

Luke Gallows vs. Chris Masters: *3/4

Brie Bella vs. Jillian Hall: 1/2*

R-Truth vs. William Regal: *1/4

Thursday, June 24, 2010

6/24/10 Impact

Velvet Sky vs. Angelina Love: 1/4*

Jay Lethal vs. Kazarian: **1/4

Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe: **1/2

James Storm & Robert Roode vs. Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal: **

Abyss vs. Mr. Anderson (Falls Count Anywhere): **

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

6/22/10 NXT

The Miz & Alex Riley vs. MVP & Percy Watson: *1/2

Michael McGillicutty vs. Titus O'Neil: 1/2*

Eli Cottonwood vs. Kaval: *

Cody Rhodes vs. Lucky Cannon: *
______________

Here are the official NXT rookie's records as of 6/22/10:
Alex Riley: 2-0
Eli Cottonwood: 2-0
Michael McGillicutty: 2-0
Percy Watson: 1-1
Husky Harris: 0-1
Kaval: 0-2
Lucky Cannon: 0-2
Titus O'Neil: 0-2

Monday, June 21, 2010

6/21/10 RAW

Chris Jericho vs. Evan Bourne: ***1/4

Natalya vs. Tamina: N/A

Zack Ryder vs. John Morrison: *1/2

The Great Khali & Eve Torres vs. Primo & Alicia Fox: 1/4*

Sheamus vs. John Cena (WWE Title): **1/2

Sunday, June 20, 2010

6/20/10 Fatal 4 Way

Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre (IC Title): Great match. Excellent crowd reaction and the match told a great story. Very nice moves as usual from Kofi, and McIntyre worked well on Kofi's arm. These two gel very well. I like that McIntyre is getting tremendous heel heat right now, and I loved the pop for Long when he stood up to McIntyre. ***1/2

Alicia Fox vs. Eve vs. Gail Kim vs. Maryse (Divas Title): A very decent showing by all participants. Maryse seemed to be the whipping girl tonight, victim of the double submissions and those armbars. Finish was similar to how Miz won the U.S. Title. *3/4

Evan Bourne vs. Chris Jericho: Thank you, WWE, for pushing Evan Bourne. And you picked the right man to elevate him. The best match of the night, and easily the best these two have had -- including a couple of false finishes. The crowd loved it, and Bourne's star is indeed shining brighter than ever. My favorite match tonight. ***3/4

Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger vs. CM Punk vs. The Big Show (World Heavyweight Title): And the pushing of the little guys continues! Vince McMahon really must have turned a complete 180 from before, when it was only the huge guys being pushed. Yet again, WWE pulls off a good match. This one wasn't as good as Kingston's match and Bourne's match (mainly due to Kane's interference and fewer false finishes), but it was still a fine showing. ***

The Miz vs. R-Truth (U.S. Title): Good match for what it was worth. Good action and counters from both men. The right person won here, in my opinion. If Miz lost the title here mere days after winning it in a fatal four way, that would really have made the title change pointless. **

Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith, & Natalya vs. Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, & Tamina: This match was fine. The Usos did a decent job, but they still have a ways to go. Natalya was solid in her in-ring work, although I would have preferred she use the Sharpshooter to defeat Tamina. The announcers had been talking so much about the second-generation and third-generation links that it would have been better to pay tribute to Bret (kayfabe injured) by utilizing his finisher. **

Sheamus vs. John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Edge (WWE Title): This had one of the most chaotic finishes in quite some time, but for the wrong reasons, in my book. You knew the NXT Season 1 graduates would be appearing either during or after the match, and once WWE cut to some of the midcard babyfaces watching the match backstage, the more it became obvious that the NXT group would interfere during the match. Before the chaos, the match was pretty good. And then of course, all hell broke loose with the NXT graduates. In the midst of it all, Sheamus scored the pin and won (due to no DQ rules). I have mixed feelings about interfering during the match, but I guess it did make a bigger statement to do so. **3/4

The one thing I did like: Sheamus running for his life and the NXT group chasing him. Never thought I'd see Sheamus run so fast. If anything, this angle will make me want to tune in tomorrow to see what becomes of this.
__________________

MVP: Evan Bourne gets my vote. He really became a star tonight.

Overall Rating: The crowd was very amped for this PPV, and that helped make this show better. I thought the opener was excellent, but it was Chris Jericho doing it again. Evan Bourne should really be stoked that the best worker in the company is putting him over -- Jericho sincerely wants to elevate the younger stars, and the past few weeks have been proof of that. And yes, Vince really seems adamant on pushing the smaller guys. Rey got his second world title reign tonight, and I hope to God that it's much better than his previous run.

Now I really can't wait for Bryan Danielson to show up on WWE TV again. ***1/4

Friday, June 18, 2010

6/18/10 Smackdown

Curt Hawkins & Vance Archer vs. Christian & MVP: **

JTG vs. Chavo Guerrero: *

Drew McIntyre vs. Teddy Long: N/A

Kelly Kelly vs. Layla: 3/4*

Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Masters: *1/4

The Big Show & Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger & CM Punk: *3/4

6/17/10 Superstars

Kofi Kingston vs. Trent Barreta: **1/4

Primo vs. Yoshi Tatsu: *1/2

Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso vs. Mark Henry & Goldust: *3/4

6/14/10 ROH

Christopher Daniels vs. Bobby Shields: 3/4*

Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Sid Reeves & Bob Evans: *

Steve Corino vs. Colt Cabana: *1/2

Thursday, June 17, 2010

6/17/10 Impact

Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal vs. Kevin Nash & Eric Young: *1/2

Samoa Joe vs. Hernandez: *

Douglas Williams vs. Max Buck: *3/4

Angelina Love vs. Lacey Von Erich: 1/2*

James Storm & Robert Roode vs. Brother Ray & Brother Devon: *1/4

Jay Lethal vs. Desmond Wolfe: *

Abyss vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy: *1/4

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

6/15/10 NXT

Alex Riley vs. Kaval: **1/2

Kofi Kingston & Michael McGillicutty vs. Mark Henry & Lucky Cannon: *3/4
____________________

Here are the official NXT rookie's records as of 6/15/10:
Alex Riley: 1-0
Eli Cottonwood: 1-0
Michael McGillicutty: 1-0
Percy Watson: 1-0
Husky Harris: 0-1
Kaval: 0-1
Lucky Cannon: 0-1
Titus O'Neil: 0-1

So is Kaval going the way of Daniel Bryan on NXT? It probably seems so. They both had the same impressive debut match, so we'll see what happens from there.

I like how the first two weeks have gone: have just two matches per show, so that one set of rookies goes one week and the other half wrestles the following week. This should lead to better quality matches, in my opinion. Hopefully WWE keeps that up. One match already in the books for next week, as Cody Rhodes takes on Lucky Cannon.

6/14/10 RAW (NXT Fallout)

The Miz vs. R-Truth vs. John Morrison vs. Zack Ryder (U.S. Title): **1/4

Evan Bourne vs. Chris Jericho: *1/2

Eve Torres & Gail Kim vs. Maryse & Alicia Fox: 1/2*

The Big Show & Mark Feuerstein vs. Ted DiBiase & Virgil: 1/4*

Santino Marella vs. William Regal: DUD

John Cena & Randy Orton vs. Edge & Sheamus: **3/4
__________________

All I have to say about this NXT angle is...I LOVE IT. They played off the Daniel Bryan situation in passing, which is appropriate to me. Michael Cole never mentioned Bryan on the air, and didn't say "good riddance" or anything like that, so that seems to lead toward the release being legit. In any event, if Bryan is brought back onto WWE programming, this opens the door for him to be a face. The NXT graduates, in the meantime, finished the night by making another statement (the right thing for the storyline) and taking Bret out. Good stuff, and I hope they keep this up.

As a note...abducting someone, tossing them in the back of the limo, and proceeding to smash into a bunch of cars is not going to be horrid enough to warrant apparently legitimate firings, but choking a ring announcer with his tie was? Please.

6/13/10 Slammiversary

Kurt Angle vs. Kazarian: Oh hell yes. Tremendous response for Angle. When was the last time he curtain jerked a PPV? Loved how Angle refused to take the DQ win; we got an incredible match out of this. Several near falls and false finishes. This is exactly why Angle has been the best over the last decade. He can take guys that aren't main eventers and make them look outstanding. I was a bit puzzled as to why the fans were so quiet when Kazarian was on the offensive. Tough crowd (other than when Angle was dishing out moves), and that hurt the rating slightly, to me. ****

Douglas Williams vs. Brian Kendrick (X-Division Title): Another great match. Crowd really seemed to like this one as well. Williams' mat wrestling and Kendrick's aerial assault (plus mat skills) proved to gel very well. Very nice counters and impact moves. I thought it was clever for Williams to win with an X-Division wrestler move. ***1/4

Madison Rayne vs. Roxxi (Knockouts Title): So um, all of a sudden, Roxxi's career was on the line? Come on. I really like Roxxi. She's good-looking, can wrestle, and fans do like her. Bad move to let her go, TNA. At least the fans were quite vocal in telling Rayne to shut up. Roxxi got busted open hardway with that mic...that's a win in my book. Pretty decent match I'd say. *1/2

Jesse Neal vs. Brother Ray: Good storyline progression here. Brother Ray's chops are LOUD. Damn. And now what's up with Tommy Dreamer showing up? Guess that's another twist in the storyline. The match was otherwise very plain. Good crowd reaction here anyway. *1/4

Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez: Really a basic match. All I really could think about during the match was, "They let Hernandez choke Morgan with a T-shirt multiple times, yet Daniel Bryan is fired for choking a ring announcer with his own tie for a few seconds?" Yay for zero logic. Oh yeah, and there was a DQ. Figured that would happen. Just progressing storyline. Big win to Brian Hebner for taking the big foot from Hernandez. 1/2*

Abyss vs. Desmond Wolfe (Monster's Ball): Nice use of weapons. I semi-marked for the teddy bear wrapped in barbed wire. That was a win. Hardcore teddy bear! Awesome weapon spotfest really. Nice amount of blood in this one, although Roxxi's blood loss was better, in my book (meaning higher on the Muta scale). Good storyline progression with Chelsea throwing the brass knuckles to Abyss. ***1/4

Jay Lethal vs. AJ Styles: So I wonder if Hogan was one of the people behind Lethal dropping the "Black Machismo" gimmick.... Anyway, this was another great showing of pairing main eventers with midcard talent in an attempt to get the midcarder a bunch of credibility. Lethal has a very impressive moveset, and that gelled very well with AJ's style of wrestling -- no pun intended. I saw a bunch of moves out of Lethal that I had never seen before...a release dragon suplex? Wow. Using the figure four against Styles in front of Flair? Double win. AJ made Jay Lethal an even bigger star tonight. Excellent job. My only gripe was the finish. It looked quite awkward, but the reason is likely due to the figure four's effect on Styles' legs. ***3/4

Jeff Hardy & Mr. Anderson vs. James Storm & Robert Roode: I liked this as well. Very good double team moves from both teams. Hardy hit his usual moves to electrify the crowd. Crowd was into the match. Solid finish to the match. The Mr. Anderson face run continues in full force. ***

Rob Van Dam vs. Sting (World Title): Thanks to the storyline (and Sting's apparent inability to have a long match filled with only wrestling moves nowadays), the first half of the match resembled a street fight. Kudos to Earl Hebner for taking the springboard crossbody from RVD. Like father, like son, I guess. Heel Sting emerges with the baseball bat. Jeff Jarrett's interference made sense, and I'm glad they let RVD win with his finisher instead of having Jarrett's attack put Sting away. **1/2
___________________

MVPs: Kurt Angle shows why he is the man. Jay Lethal becomes a star. Kudos all around.

Overall Rating: This was a very successful PPV. Angle gave the show a very strong start, and almost all the matches ranged from good to great. Five of the nine matches were three stars or more, which is excellent for any PPV. I like that the crowd was quite vocal all night; it makes for a better atmosphere. I'm still irked that TNA decided to release Roxxi, but the Knockouts division should still be fine. That is, if they actually use women other than The Beautiful People on the show. This Slammiversary was the first one to not have a King of the Mountain match, but I didn't miss it at all. Slammiversary is basically one of TNA's huge PPVs, and they delivered. ***3/4

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Daniel Bryan situation

So I found out last night from my friend that WWE released Daniel Bryan (hereinafter, "DB"). Apparently, some believe it's a work, while others claim it's legit. There are arguments for both sides, although I do believe that the "work" argument has the better of this one.

Why it's legit: Basically, the strongest argument for this is that WWE has informed high-level executives that the release was legit. There is really no reason to deceive these corporate officers, and it would be extremely unlikely to have them be "in on it" this whole time. After all, those guys have better things to do, like run the corporate side of things.

Another argument is the WWE's PG rating. Sources indicated that the reason for the release centered on two incidents from the NXT beatdown on RAW. The first was DB choking ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie (which, by the way, would be an awesome .gif). The second incident was DB spitting on John Cena in the ring before kicking the champ in the head. Puzzlingly, DB's assault of Michael Cole was not among the reasons (despite RAW airing much of that footage from NXT multiple times).

The choking incident apparently violated the WWE's "Benoit Rule," which basically prohibits anyone from choking another person with a foreign object (although apparently you can still do chokeslams and "choke" people by wrapping the victim's arms around their neck). I can see how this has merit, as WWE has tried to steer clear of any Benoit references (save for the crossface) over the last three years.

Also, sources state that high-level executives, presumably from the USA Network, basically forced Vince McMahon to release DB. So it's not Vince's fault, apparently, although Vince did allow the beatdown to occur in the first place.

Why it's a work: Put simply, why in the hell would WWE invest a lot of energy in building up DB's storyline between him, Cole, and Miz, and then release him after things were going so well? The NXT beatdown was arguably the best ending to a RAW in years, so much so that the NXT Season 1 graduates replicated it on Christian and Miz at an FCW show. Now, the NXT graduates are still a force even without DB, but let's face it: the stable just lost its most high-profile figure. Sorry Wade Barrett, but even though you won NXT, DB will always be the best of the Season 1 rookies.

Another apparent giveaway was Michael Cole's Twitter account, where he personally claimed responsibility (kayfabe) for DB's firing. I can see if Cole broke character and started saying how DB is really a nice guy and wished him well. But to keep this apparent charade up by claiming responsibility for another guy's misfortune -- especially when in a storyline feud with the guy -- all but convinces me otherwise.

And finally, I have to rebut that whole PG argument. OK, so WWE has banned chair shots to the head, banned certain moves from the show, and cut out the swearing. Fine. But the penalty for DB -- being released -- went against things pretty significantly. We've seen wrestlers spit on other wrestlers. Hell, we've even seen Carlito spit apple at Heath Slater (and other WWE superstars over the years; Carlito was released for refusing drug rehab, not the apple spitting). The spitting deal, in a nutshell, is not sufficient grounds for a release here.

I'll admit the choking of Roberts with the tie was pushing things. But let's see...Heath Slater was about to choke Cena with the ring rope, but aborted that for some reason. So does this mean you can't choke non-wrestlers, period? Hell, wasn't it Darren Young who punched the timekeeper? Shouldn't Young have been released for that? Oh, and David Otunga punched the referee...surely that's grounds for at least a fine and suspension, right? Not in this world, apparently.

And seriously, if WWE really was PG, they would have gotten rid of many diva gimmicks a while ago. Technically, we would probably have no such thing as a Last Man Standing match. Or even a Hell in a Cell match. Or an Elimination Chamber match. There would be no TLC matches, no tables matches, no ladder matches, no chairs matches.

And of course, if the show really was PG, John Cena would always bounce back like he's Superman, with no ill effects from the previous show. Oh wait, that already happens. Never mind.

Until DB shows up in another promotion in about three months, I will prefer to believe this is a work. Right now, it appears to me that DB is being treated as a scapegoat to "teach the NXT stable a lesson on not assaulting WWE workers."

If WWE really did release DB, it would likely go down as one of the worst decisions in recent wrestling history -- whether it was through USA or WWE higher-ups is irrelevant to me. And if DB was indeed released, TNA would clearly come knocking. ROH and Dragon Gate wouldn't be far behind. WWE knows DB has unparalleled potential to be a huge star, and they would make sure to keep him away from other promotions.

As a side note, will this affect Evan Bourne's push? Kaval is really the next big star in NXT, so the smaller guys need to be pushed. Rey Mysterio has been captivating us in the States for many years now, and it seems fitting he's in the World Title picture at Fatal 4 Way. But we do need more smaller stars pushed, and Bourne is the next guy in line.

Anyway, DB will have a job. But that's not the issue. If anything, this makes the whole NXT angle a lot more interesting, and it will definitely get viewers to tune in for the latest, given that they haven't totally turned their backs on WWE.

Bryan Danielson's future -- whether in WWE or another promotion -- is one of the hottest topics in pro wrestling right now, if not the hottest. It should be interesting to see what transpires over the next few days to weeks.

Friday, June 11, 2010

6/11/10 Smackdown

Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger: **3/4

Layla vs. Tiffany: 1/4*

Christian vs. Dolph Ziggler: **1/2

CM Punk vs. The Big Show: *

6/7/10 ROH

El Generico vs. Ricky Reyes: *1/4

Jerry Lynn vs. Steve Corino: *3/4

Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries: ***

6/10/10 Superstars

Alicia Fox vs. Gail Kim: *3/4

Zack Ryder & Primo vs. Goldust & Yoshi Tatsu: **1/2

Kofi Kingston vs. Luke Gallows: **

Thursday, June 10, 2010

6/10/10 Impact

Brian Kendrick vs. Homicide: *1/4

Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, & Eric Young vs. Matt Morgan (Tag Team Titles): N/A

Kurt Angle vs. Amazing Red: **1/4

AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe, James Storm, & Robert Roode vs. Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson, Abyss, & Jay Lethal: **1/2

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

6/8/10 NXT (Season 2)

John Morrison & Eli Cottonwood vs. Zack Ryder & Titus O'Neil: *1/4

MVP & Percy Watson vs. Cody Rhodes & Husky Harris: *1/2
____________________

Here are the official NXT rookie's records as of 6/8/10:
Eli Cottonwood: 1-0
Percy Watson: 1-0
Alex Riley: 0-0
Kaval: 0-0
Lucky Cannon: 0-0
Michael McGillicutty: 0-0
Husky Harris: 0-1
Titus O'Neil: 0-1

Monday, June 7, 2010

6/7/10 RAW (Viewer's Choice)

The Big Show vs. Chris Jericho (Bodyslam Challenge): 1/4*

Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith vs. The Great Khali & Hornswoggle: DUD

Divas Battle Royal: DUD

Kane vs. Sheamus: *

The Miz & Zack Ryder vs. R-Truth & John Morrison: *1/2

Randy Orton vs. Edge (Edge has one arm tied behind his back): N/A

Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre: 1/2*

John Cena vs. CM Punk: *3/4
__________________

That was the most bizarre ending to a RAW I've seen in years. All the NXT Season 1 rookies basically dismantled everyone and everything at ringside -- including the ring announcer. Big props to Justin Roberts...he sold very well.

Friday, June 4, 2010

6/4/10 Smackdown

Jack Swagger vs. MVP: **1/2

Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre (IC Title): **3/4

Kelly Kelly vs. Rosa Mendes: *

Smackdown Battle Royal: ***
___________________

Great show tonight. One of the better Smackdowns I've seen in a while, and it was because wrestling was a huge part of the show.

6/3/10 Superstars

Mark Henry vs. Primo: 1/2*

Gail Kim vs. Jillian Hall: *3/4

Michelle McCool vs. Tiffany: 3/4*

Chavo Guerrero & Dolph Ziggler vs. Christian: **1/4

Thursday, June 3, 2010

6/3/10 Impact

Roxxi vs. Rosey Lotta Love: -*

Jay Lethal vs. Kazarian vs. AJ Styles: *1/4

Jeff Hardy vs. James Storm: **3/4

Robert Roode vs. Mr. Anderson: *3/4

Abyss & Rob Terry vs. Desmond Wolfe & Orlando Jordan: 1/2*

Rob Van Dam vs. Samoa Joe vs. Sting vs. Matt Morgan: **

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

6/1/10 NXT (Season 1 Finale)

Wade Barrett vs. Justin Gabriel vs. David Otunga (Elimination): **1/4
__________________

Here are the results of the fifth Pro's Poll taken after the triple threat match:
Wade Barrett
David Otunga
Justin Gabriel (eliminated)

Justin Gabriel was eliminated from NXT with a record of 7-4. Quite frankly, I was shocked with the decision. Otunga did not look like he belonged in that triple threat match. Meanwhile, Gabriel impressed me yet again in the ring. And you know, for a guy that seemed pretty lost on the mic in challenges, Gabriel did a respectable job when cutting his farewell promo.
__________________

Here are the results of the sixth Pro's Poll taken at the end of the night to determine the winner of NXT:
Wade Barrett
David Otunga (eliminated)

And no surprise here. Wade Barrett wins NXT after a talk-off where he basically had the better promo from the start. Barrett has the entire package; let's see if this leads to a great WWE career. Should be interesting to see who he decides to use his title shot against (good for any future PPV). Congratulations to Wade Barrett for winning Season 1 of NXT!
__________________

Here are the final official records of the remaining NXT rookies:
Wade Barrett: 8-5
Justin Gabriel: 7-4
David Otunga: 6-5
__________________

And finally, the NXT Season 2 Pros and Rookies:

Pro: Cody Rhodes --> Rookie: Husky Harris
Pro: John Morrison --> Rookie: Eli Cottonwood
Pro: MVP --> Rookie: Percy Watson
Pro: Zack Ryder --> Rookie: Titus O'Neil
Pro: Michelle McCool & Layla --> Rookie: Kaval
Pro: Mark Henry --> Rookie: Lucky Cannon
Pro: Kofi Kingston --> Rookie: Michael McGillicutty
Pro: The Miz --> Rookie: Alex Riley

Kaval FTW! Not really caring right now about the other rookies. And who the hell made Zack Ryder a pro?! Or Cody Rhodes for that matter? LayCool mentoring Kaval? That will be something. And Alex Riley? He looks like a cross between Miz and Matt Striker.

Season 2 starts next week!

For the Pro's Poll next season, the pros get 50 percent of the vote, while the WWE Universe gets the other 50 percent. That seems pretty fair to me.