By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist
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NXT HITS

Pros Give Their Criteria: This is a marginal Hit. I was glad that after suggesting this type of segment, WWE did it. Of course, I suggested it about five or six weeks ago and they are just now getting around to it. Also, as I pointed out last week, WWE seemed to ignore the fact that they gave the criteria for how the pros are supposed to judge the rookies. They continued to ignore it this week with the pros stating what each of them are looking for. I do like having a better idea of what the pros are looking for. I like some of the specifics that they said. For instance, it was interesting to hear Matt Hardy talk about the fact that being able to survive in the locker room was just as important as being able to survive in the ring. The reason that this is just a marginal Hit is that we should have heard this weeks ago and it is a little too late at this point. Also, I just don't like hearing the pros talking about stuff like the "it" factor. That is important from a behind the scenes p.o.v. But, as Batista has said lately, WWE should be about winning Titles and making money, not about having the "it" factor.

Pro Evaluation Videos: I liked these videos when they debuted awhile back. Then, they stopped doing them for the last two weeks which was a bad idea. It was good to see them back again this week. I particularly liked the wide range of views of David Otunga, including what sounded like a shoot comment from CM Punk that he is going to hurt himself in the ring which is pretty telling about where he is in his in ring development (as in not nearly ready for WWE yet). Again, I will call this a marginal Hit, as I was glad to see these videos return, but the last in the series should have been featured three weeks ago instead of this week.

Daniel Bryan's Promo: The best thing that has happened in the first (and hopefully last) season of NXT was when Daniel Bryan cut this promo on the WWE management, the fact that he is better in the ring than all the rookies and some of the pros, challenged The Miz to a fight, stuck up for himself after Matt Striker once again interrupted him (seriously, seven of the eight rookies did not talk about their subject in the Talk the Talk challenge, yet Bryan was the only one whom Striker interrupted which threw him off. That feeds into the conspiracy theory that WWE wanted Bryan to fail on this show), and then verbally and physically assaulted Michael Cole. It was a little too insider for my tastes, talking about some of the back stage politics and how Vince McMahon tells the announcers what to say. But, he delivered the promo very well. It seemed like this was the type of promo where WWE didn't care if the fans booed or cheered Bryan. They wanted to get a reaction and it seemed to work.

NXT MISSES

Where Were Carlito and R-Truth?: Seriously, I would like to know. The other six pros were all in attendance watching the show together. So, where were these two? Shouldn't they have been there to evaluate the rookies and participate in the poll? If they weren't going to be there, then shouldn't WWE have acknowledged the fact that they weren't? It was like we were just to forget about them and ignore the fact that they were missing. WWE really should have explained their absence in some way.

Pros Rankings: I'm sorry, but it is ridiculous that the only thing that happened between last week's ranking and this week's was that Heath Slater lost his match, and Justin Gabriel won his. So, why did Slater move up a spot in the rankings and Gabriel move down one? It makes no sense. What could Slater have possibly shown in this one episode to over come that loss? What could Gabriel have done wrong for them to look past his win and rank him lower? This shows a fundamental flaw in the concept of this show which is one reason why fans haven't embraced it. My other problem is that I will miss Darren Young, if for no other reason than he looks exactly like John Cena.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and Superstars each week. s 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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