By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

NXT HITS

Rhodes Introduces Harris: The opening segment with the WWE pros introducing their NXT rookies was okay. It reinforced the pairings in the minds of the fans. We got hints of how some of the pros will get along with their rookies. It wasn't particularly memorable in any way, but it was fine (thus not a Hit or a Miss). The one memorable moment was when Cody Rhodes introduced Husky Harris by simply saying his name and not saying anything else about him. It was a really good simple performance by Rhodes. I also liked what he had to say later that he was going to have to work harder than the other pros, but would still mold his rookie into the next breakout star in WWE.

NXT MISSES

Wild And Young: Many people complained about the really annoying music for Season 1 of NXT. I was not one of them, but I agreed with the sentiment. I just never commented on it (after all, there were so many other things to complain about). I was definitely hoping for new theme music for Season 2 and was disappointed when the show started with the same old music.

Same Old NXT Issues: WWE still hasn't addressed some of the main problems from Season 1. There were two tag matches this week which were solid at best. They aren't presenting good quality wrestling which was a problem throughout Season 1. It is going to take them several weeks to really establish these eight wrestlers with the fans, but we are being asked to invest in them right away. When you introduce one rookie at a time, it takes time to establish him with the fans, but it is in the context of a show with plenty of other established stars and superstars. Yes, there are the pros on the show, but the focus has to be on the rookies. It takes a lot of patience to be a fan of NXT, and that is partly why the ratings dropped off pretty quickly last season. Another issue with the first season was that so much seemed disjointed and unscripted, and not in a good way. I got the same feeling when Harris tried to get mic time at the end of the opening segment. The criteria for this show should be who can win matches. We still have the same problem with Miz talking about entertaining the fans (Batista wasn't trying to be entertaining; he wanted to win matches, win Championships, and make money, which is similar to what Wade Barrett said and he clearly stood out among the rookies). They talked about the importance of mic skills just like when they put down Justin Gabriel. What did Gabriel's lack of mic skills have to do with the NXT Rookies invading Raw and destroying John Cena?

Unpleasant Show: NXT is just not a pleasant show to watch. Part of it is the problems that I listed above. But beyond that, is the feeling that half the people on the show aren't really interested in being there. I get the feeling that half the rookies and half their pros don't want to be there. Only a few of the rookies seemed to try to connect with the audience in their brief opportunities. I'm probably wrong, but that was just the feeling I got watching. I also got the distinct feeling that Matt Striker didn't want to be there either. He seemed emotionally disconnected from the product. One of the other problems of Season 1 was that wrestling fans don't want to see young wrestlers hazed like they were to some degree last season. I feel the same about watching them get the crap beat out of them this week. I understand the connection to what happened the night before on Raw. I'm not saying it was bad, but it wasn't particularly pleasant to watch. Michael Cole is unpleasant to listen to. On a bit of a side not, some of the rookies gave good responses to what happened on Raw (Kaval and Percy Watson in particular), but Striker cut off Mike McGillicutty who was actually starting to cut an interesting promo. Striker really did a poor job hosting this show.

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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