-- 2/23 NXT TV Reax

A.A. Norman of Tulsa, Okla. (9.0) Best: Everything except... Worst: Vintage Michael Cole. When the show opened with Josh Mathews and Michael, I was initially disappointed that Matt Striker wasn't in Cole's seat. While relieved that they gave Striker the hosting role, "Vintage" Michael Cole continues to annoy me and apparently many other viewers. Aside from that, I have very high hopes for the future of WWE with this new show, and admittedly, I enjoyed WWE's new ECW show back when they had all of the Originals and Paul Heyman, so I know how quickly a good thing can change. When I look at all of the recent stars that ran through ECW like Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, and Sheamus, I think about how it was unfortunate that these guys didn't have a show like NXT to introduce them more to the crowd before being thrown to Raw and Smackdown's midcards. And then, there was also the recent ECW New Superstar Initiative that gave some guys even less time to get in front of an audience, like Yoshi Tatsu. WWE needs NXT to give audiences a reason to care about the new guys. I look forward to watching next week and hope the show doesn't go the WWE's ECW route.

Steve Berger of Beachwood, Ohio (5.0): Best Match: Daniel Bryant v. Chris Jericho. Worst Match: Cole vs. Reality. The first broadcast showed some promise and the closer camera position gave this a throwback feeling, like it was a studio show from back in the day. Bryan Danielson showed some great ring promise, but looks tiny next to all of the other contestants. The others were a mixed bad with no real purpose on the show. The biggest problem seems to be that they are making this up on the fly with no real plan. What other "reality show" can you think of where you have no idea how the contestants are judged, eliminated, or how they win? WWE seems to want to script this show rather then actually have a real competition, so they need to start explaining how this works. If Michael Cole believes what he said, he needs to be removed; it's one thing to not respect the independents, but to act like he didn't know about ROH (the #3 wrestling company in the U.S.) and Bryan's accomplishments is either incredibly lazy or stupid.

Bill Sartori of Windsor Locks, Conn. (4.5): Not as bad as I thought It would be, but airing ECW in this timeslot would not have been as bad either. I just can't wrap my head around Cole being the face announcer on Monday night and 24 hours later, he's the heel announcer on NXT. What up with that?? The Bryan (Danielson) match against Jericho was not bad, but the shot he took against the table was brutal looking. Give me 99 percent wrestling and 1 percent soap opera and this might work. If it goes the other way, no way!

John of Cocoa Beach, Fla., writer (2.5): Best Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Chris Jericho. Worst: Miz being paired with Bryan. Having seen my share of how to break into wrestling shows like Tough Enough and Celebrity Championship Wrestling, the concept of NXT can be workable, but it just seems like there is no continuity to what the purpose is of some of the pairings. A ten-year wrestling veteran of other independent companies paired with a former reality television star who got a break in WWE is like pairing a junior high school P.E. teacher/basketball coach with LeBron James. I think it's obvious Daniel Bryan has already been chosen to "win" this season's competition, much like you knew Dennis Rodman would be the winner in the ill-fated CCW show. At least that show had guys like Eric Bischoff and Jimmy Hart offering honest reviews to the celebrity wrestlers on how to use holds, tell a story, and perform a quality in-ring match. NXT doesn't offer this; it's like more or less tag team wrestling. The only good thing I saw was Savannah as the ring announcer. Matt Striker should be a mentor, not a backstage reporter. Cole as a heelish announcer doesn't cut it for me. If anyone should give advice how to be a heel announcer, the best guys available are either hosting a reality conspiracy theory show, Jesse Ventura, or sadly, still battling cancer, Bobby the Brain Heenan. Although he's kind of getting lost in the TNA shuffle, I'll bet Nigel McGuiness a/k/a Desmond Wolfe is glad he didn't sign with WWE if he watched this show last night.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for an "NXT TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on NXT, click here.

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