NXT Weekly Rankings & Evaluation
Report by George Chiverton, PWTorch specialist

April 18 - Week 59

I have decided to revise my evaluation system once again to give better consistency. The new set-up is as follows. The number outside of the brackets represents my opinion of that particular week's performance, whereas the number within the brackets represents the average score of the past four weeks. If the wrestler doesn't feature in a certain category, e.g. Bateman's lack of a match this week, the average will remain the same as in the previous week. Hopefully this will improve the idea of progression, which NXT is apparently designed to encourage.

Rookie: Derrick Bateman
In-Ring Performance: No Match (8)
Out of Ring Performance: 5 (6.5)
Last Week's Rank: #1
Rank: #1

Comments: Bateman seemed to completely seize up this week on commentary and William Regal appeared to jump on the opportunity to tear him to shreds. It was unfortunate, because he usually works well alongside Curtis, but where Curtis shone, Bateman did not. I'm hoping he'll bounce back. His hair suggests he'll do just that.

***

Rookie: Darren Young
In-Ring Performance: 5 (-1)
Out of Ring Performance: 5 (+3)
Last Week's Rank: #3
Rank: #2

Comments: Darren stepped up this week for his Smackdown debut and he did the leg work in a pretty good match. I was going to jump on him as I have with Titus, but Darren certainly proved that, for now, he belongs. His selling was great and he was also all the better for a subtle character shake up. All in all, a good send off for "Mr. No Days Off" (I still hate that).

***

Rookie: Titus O'Neil
In-Ring Performance: 3 (3)
Out of Ring Performance: 7 (5.5)
Last Week's Rank: #2
Rank: #3

Comments: "No more challenges, no more redemption points." So, NXT? No? Not NXT? Where's Titus gone? Smackdown. Are you serious? You chose Titus? And then you feed the best tag team in = WWE to him? Although I strongly disagree with the decision, Titus seems to have finally sorted out his character with Darren as simply really annoying, "in your face" heels, which I'm quite enjoying. That's fine. But, in the ring on Smackdown, Titus's flaws were clearly exposed earning him a drop to third place. Will he care? Erm. No. But, hey, in my opinion he may become "Kroniked" if he doesn't step up his ring work.

***

Other Comments: Okay, so my Rookies have started flying the nest and hence I think as of next week I'll feature anyone who is consistently on NXT in my column. After all, they are all fighting for the same roster spots and a column just about Bateman (as much as I'd love that) would likely get me future endeavored. Or, Teddy Long'ed if we follow the Laurinaitis train of thought.

Elsewhere, debuts are my favorite part of WWE and this week was a bit of a feast. You already know my opinion about Titus and Young, so lets look elsewhere. Claudio Castagnoli was called up, hooray! He's paired with Aksana? Stupid. Totally stupid. I have a lot of respect for anyone who can talk in both languages, but I feel like subtitles are essential for his backstage segments. I'm just hoping his match on Smackdown this week delivers. He has potential and I think a managerial addition beyond the inaudible Aksana would be great for the first couple of months. Of course, the dream would be a tag team partner, perhaps with the initials CH / KO depending on which persona he's using.

Also, Ryback needs to be featured better for me. The way that the camera cuts backtage in his matches is just frustrating. Usually, the wrestlers who are watching the match over-sell their reactions and hence they come off as completely scripted. It undermines the entire idea of having them there. Otherwise, he seems impressive.

I am blinded by love for Bernard/Tensai and I'm really enjoying his in-ring work. Getting a rub from Cena can only be a bonus, too. I'm not sure about his attire, but other than that all thumbs up from me. I'll be interested to see if he gets over soon, otherwise the mid-card looks homely.

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt