WWE NXT Review: The Miz hates Daniel Bryan

NXT in Review

I liked this show a lot better than last week's. I think the Miz and Daniel Bryan have an interesting dynamic. In hindsight, not pairing Bryan with William Regal is probably better for him at this point. The Miz is becoming a hot commodity in the WWE and fans just want to see him get his ass kicked by somebody. I'm really digging a match between these two down the road.

This show did a lot better job of profiling the wrestlers. The only one that didn't get much time was Michael Tarver, who cheered on Carlito instead.

Minus the RAW Rebound and WrestleMania push, plus commercials, this show could probably watched in 30-35 minutes.

NXT: Shot by Shot

If I missed anything in the first 3 minutes, I apologize. I had an emergency meeting for class.

Matt Striker tried to explain the NXT competition again, but didn't really add anything, I didn't think.

The first match is David Otunga and R-Truth vs. Daniel Bryan and The Miz.

I'm kind of surprised they don't involve the Big Show much with Daniel Bryan and his tag partner, the Miz. Especially since R-Truth is involved in this match. Yeah, I almost forgot R-Truth and John Morrison have formed an interim tag team to battle ShowMiz at WrestleMania.

Miz cuts a promo on Bryan for going 0-2 and doesn't think he's proven himself to the pros. If they don't win tonight, Miz says, he's kicking Daniel Bryan off NXT.

Josh Matthews says Otunga and Truth have patched things up. They do hit a sweet double-team where they wind up and Truth flips over the top rope onto Miz and Bryan on the outside.

The story of the match was dissension between Miz and Daniel Bryan. Miz ends up losing for their team. Post match, Miz flinches after Bryan feigned a punch and Bryan walks away. Wow, I guess Otunga and Truth are really straight again.

Heath Slater cries about getting spit in the face with an apple by Carlito. The look and content reminded me of some idiot bitching the Real World.

We finally get a look at Justin Gabriel, who also has a martial arts background. Maybe they'll do an MMA bout down the line with Gabriel and Michael Tarver. Matt Hardy pumps him up for his main event shot and says he'll be the first WWE rookie to beat a WWE pro. All right, he's got a point, but that's semantics. John Cena beating Kurt Angle in 2002 was pretty huge for loyal SmackDown viewers.

Chris Jericho and Wade Barrett show up to intimidate Gabriel by putting over Barrett's victory over the Daniel Bryan last week.

I like how during the entrances, they show who the rookies' mentors are, and vice-versa.

Why does Michael Tarver have 1.9 written on all sides of his shirt? Josh Matthews later explains that's how many seconds it takes for Tarver to knock somebody out.

Slater ducks an apple spit from Carlito and gets the upper hand before they cut to commercial. That's a weird spot to break, but whatever. Later on, Carlito hits a big boot and Tarver says Slater's going to need to go to the dentist. I like stuff like that during matches.

The match was a pretty fun back-and-forth match. Christian took Carlito's apple, then told Christian he was going to embarrass his rookie. They do a series of roll-ups and finally Slater gets the pin. I guess Heath Slater was the first to beat a WWE pro, not Justin Gabriel. Oh well, Gabriel can still be the second, right?

Darren Young is profiled and says it's all about entertaining and having fun, likening his favorite wrestlers to Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and Shawn Michaels.

CM Punk involves Serena and Luke Gallows in reminding Young that he's the pro before telling Young he should adopt a straight-edge lifestyle.

Wait wait, Gabriel's wrestling Wade Barrett? I thought he was wrestling Chris Jericho. Did I watch the promo I thought I watched?

Why is "Be Yourself" a WrestleMania theme song? Didn't it get played enough during one of the Diva Searches?

That RAW Rebound with Vince McMahon vs. John Cena was just as stupid in recap form as it was live.

We find out Wade Barrett's rose colors mean different things every week. A little weird, but okay.

The dumbass crowd chants "USA!" and Josh Matthews doesn't get it either. The only American at ringside, besides the announcers, is Matt Hardy. I would posit a guess that speaking English is the only requirement to get that chance, but every one of them speaks English. Reminds me of a match in Peoria between La Resistance and Chris Benoit and Edge, where our local yokels chanted "USA!" too.

Gabriel defeats Barrett with the 450 Splash and goes 2-0 on NXT.