James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (6.5)

I look at this week's show two ways. I was disappointed WWE essentially announced they are dragging out the competition another three weeks, as this season needs to end as quickly as possible and be retooled for next season. As far as WWE trying to create a compelling, episodic TV show to get viewers interested in following a series of events unfolding on NXT, it worked well.

Obviously, the big story was Daniel Bryan's post-elimination angle with Michael Cole. WWE wanted to get people talking and hopefully get them to tune in next week to see what's next between Bryan and Cole. For the first time really all season, WWE created a compelling angle that should get viewers to tune in to see what's next. For Bryan, it allowed him to stand out on the mic and show WWE's audience he has what it takes to be a star.

The in-ring continues to be a waste of time. WWE simply hasn't created compelling-enough Rookies for them to hold the attention of the audience for a wrestling match. They would be better served putting the Rookies in squash matches against local talent for them to show off their offensive arsenal, then build up to Rookie vs. Rookie matches where the audience wants to see who would actually win. It's a complete waste and it waters down the wrestling product to simply throw Rookies in the ring without establishing a reason for the audience to care. This is another one of the re-toolings needed for Season Two.

Dominick Mayer, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.0)

Interesting elimination this week, with Darren Young going out. Granted, his program with the Straight Edge Society has pretty much run its course as far as major exposure, but I didn't expect him to be gone so quickly. On the other end of the spectrum, David Otunga gets to be the only remaining rookie who doesn't have to wrestle and still gets #2. Wade Barrett looks the best out of the four remaining, and will most likely win the entire competition. As of right now, tentatively, I'm saying that Slater goes next week, then Gabriel, and then Barrett beats out Otunga to win the whole thing.

As far as the Danielson-Cole promo, I actually didn't buy it as hugely as I felt I was supposed to. Danielson's delivery was good, but I think my problems with it were that he came off almost heelish, even if it was Michael Cole he was harassing. I'm not any bigger a fan of Cole's than the next guy, but it was a weird play for Danielson's character, which has only been in this current mode for two weeks now. I feel like to an average viewer, all they're seeing is a guy who went 1-10 while part of the competition and is now punking out a color-commentator. Not the impression you want to give if he's going to get his deserved push on Raw or Smackdown.

Greg Parks, Torch Columnist (7.0)

Let's start with the big news: Daniel Bryan cut a hell of a promo, getting to say a lot of things I never thought I'd here on WWE TV. Lost in the shuffle was a heck of a promo Michael Tarver cut as well. I'm lukewarm on Bryan's attack on Michael Cole, but in general, it worked for me. Also working for me: The pros (sans Carlito and R-Truth for some reason) gathering on the stage to watch. That made for some interesting interactions and they should do that more often.

I had Heath Slater or Darren Young leaving this week, so not a big surprise. I found Slater vs. Justin Gabriel to be one of the better rookie vs. rookie matches in NXT history. Skip Sheffield's promo was about the opposite of what he said last week. Consistency, Skip! A newsworthy episode, and that's not something you can often say about NXT. More episodes like this, please.

We suggest these recent related articles...

JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 9/30 - Week 182: Balor & Joe in Dusty tournament, Ciampa and Gargano in singles matches, final "Takeover" card, more; Overall Reax

JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 9/23 - Week 181: Vaudevillians defend NXT Tag Titles, Kana introduded, lots of promos, Takeover build, more; Overall Reax

WWE NXT RESULTS 9/23: Vaudevillains defend NXT Tag Titles, Kana/Asuka formally introduced, Breeze, Eva Marie, more