James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (4.0)

The first season of NXT can't end soon enough. WWE has apparently realized this, as evidenced by the company expediting the elimination process by canning three NXT Rookies this week.

The show needs a major overhaul going forward if they indeed have a second season. WWE simply hasn't created a strong emotional connection between the Rookies and the casual, mass WWE audience. It was never more evident than in the three matches where the crowd sat quietly not engaged in any of the Rookie vs. Rookie matches.

Daniel Bryan's elimination and transition into Bryan Danielson was a good move to give him new life on either Raw or Smackdown going forward. ... I like Michael Tarver's potential to remain in WWE. His personality stands out and he just needs a legit storyline and someone to feud with to connect with the audience. NXT simply didn't bridge the gap between Tarver and the audience. ... Skip Sheffield really improved the final few weeks on how he presented his character. He'll likely be back in FCW, but he has a future in WWE if he can improve in the ring. He has the "look" and a personality to be a solid mid-carder.

Dominick Mayer, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)

I'm wondering if this show is ending prematurely, especially with last night's development. However, at least it gave the show watchability, insofar as there's now a sense that anybody can go any week. Now, granted, Tarver's exit made no sense in the context of the show, as this is supposed to be based on the voting system, and his frustrated ranting got him "thrown off", but at least the crowd seemed to buy into it. Skip Sheffield is also done, which gives me hope that he'll go back to FCW and maybe come back later, hopefully without his character altered. The matches were throwaway as per usual, because even if one of the rookies is decent between the ropes, there's a David Otunga to drag the proceedings back down.

I also want to make special mention of Bryan Danielson's (man, it's nice to be able to type that again) exit promo. Having been rolled under the same eyebrow-raising pretense as Tarver, Danielson renounced his NXT self, the one that was supposed to come off as scrappy and instead made people wonder what all the hype was over this lame duck who didn't even get a single win. His promo is hopefully a promise of things to come, because his brief match with Batista on the Draft show proved that he's ready to hang once WWE gets behind him.

Greg Parks, Torch Columnist (4.5)

Not much difference seeing it live, then watching it on tape as I just did. Most of the crowd around my section was restless for Smackdown to start and were growing impatient by the NXT taping. The most noteworthy development on the show, despite the eliminations, was Daniel Bryan's transformation back to Bryan Danielson. He's a guy who can get over without winning the competition, so I don't mind him being eliminated here, though it was surprising.

The three matches were just thrown out there with seemingly no background or no reason to be there. I understand that win-loss records supposedly go into pro's decisions when voting, yet that's not enough of a reason for fans to sit through random matches featuring guys they have little to no emotional attachment to. Something needs to be improved in that area for next season, if there is one.

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