By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

NXT HITS

Daniel Bryan: I don't like the name change, but it's ok. I did like that WWE made him look like a star in the making on the first episode of NXT. He did a solid job in his promo. His interaction with The Miz was good. I liked how he stood up for himself with Miz and then Matt Striker. He was presented as a big deal and even got a good showing against World Champion Chris Jericho in the main event.

Video Introductions: I wasn't impressed by all that we saw in these video introductions, but they were well done. They served a good purpose of actually introducing us to the rookies that we saw and giving us a little glimpse of their personalities, characters, backgrounds, and even a little bit of in ring work. This worked much better than the few sentences that were said about them on the last episode of ECW last week.

Straight Edge Society: Other than Daniel Bryan, the highlight of the first NXT was CM Punk "mentoring" Darren Young. The look on CM Punk's face (as well as Luke Gallows and Serena) while Young was talking to them in the back was priceless. The juxtaposition of the SES with Young's appearance was great. I loved Punk's inset promo about not understanding why he's part of the show. Even more, I loved how the SES walked away from the ring after Young's quick loss to David Otunga (who looks to have plenty in the sports entertainment side of things, but that spine buster he hit looked ugly, and the match was too short otherwise to judge his wrestling ability at this point).

Bryan vs. Jericho: I don't understand why this match happened, but it was good for a 6 minute match. Bryan got a chance to show off why he is an internet fan sensation. Chris Jericho looked a little weak for taking so much offense, but WWE wanted to give a rub to Bryan right away. Even with my reservations about the match, I enjoyed it. It was entertaining. I even enjoyed the announcing with Michael Cole playing the heel who wants the rookies to show respect for all of the pros, even Miz who he doesn't like (he even did a nice job of explaining his position by saying that he doesn't like Miz, but Miz is the US Champion and half of the Tag Team Champions so he should get respect). It was very interesting to hear the internet fans, dirt sheets, and independent wrestling leagues mentioned so prominently on a WWE show.

NXT MISSES

Focus on Personality: This would be fine if it were a new season of Tough Enough. Personality and charisma (which Miz said too many times) are important traits for a professional wrestler to connect with an audience. I'm not disputing that. However, Tough Enough was a behind the scenes show where we saw WWE hopefuls being trained in the ring and learning how to put on a worked fight. They also worked on things like cutting promos, acting and developing characters. Again, in that context it made sense. NXT is different. NXT is being presented as trained wrestlers with independent wrestling backgrounds trying to make it into WWE. In WWE, the requirements for being on the main roster should not be personality or charisma. The requirement (in a scripted sense) should be about being able to win matches and compete in the ring. Obviously there are entertaining characters who never win matches (Santino Marella). But, his goal is still to win matches. That should be the goal of the NXT rookies. Perhaps this will only be the focus of The Miz and his rookie, but time will tell.

Tarver Loses: I don't get having a rookie like Michael Tarver losing in his first match to an established veteran like Christian. That did nothing for Tarver but make him look like the jobbers that WWE occasionally uses. Making matters worse, it did nothing for Heath Slater as he wasn't involved in the finish (other than keeping Carlito out of the ring). It didn't do anything for Christian, as he should get the win in this situation. So, I'm not sure what good came out of this. At least Bryan looked good in his loss, and Darren Young lost to another rookie.

What is the Format of NXT?: After the debut of the show, some questions about the format were answered, but not all. WWE is presenting NXT as a competition without explaining the rules. How long will the season last? Who decides which of the rookies will win a contract? Will only one of them win? I suspect WWE doesn't yet have answers to these questions. In terms of what we did see on the debut, I'm not sure what to think about the format. They made it seem like a shoot with Bryan talking about his actual background and The Miz talking about some criticisms about Bryan's lack of charisma. The random interview at ringside with Wade Barrett seemed to catch him off guard as if he weren't expecting it, and his answer seemed unscripted, and the announcers made fun of him for it. Was that a shoot, or a work made to look like a shoot? In other words, was Barrett scripted to give a simple "rookie" answer without much insight to set him apart from a "pro" who would have handled the interview better? I hope it was all a work, as Barrett would never be in the position to do a shoot interview on Raw or Smackdown and it is unfair to expect him to perform under those conditions on his first night. I'm curious as to whether this is a real competition, or if WWE already has a "winner" picked out.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and Superstars each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.

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