All Good With Aaron Wood: Who's NXT For The WWE

undefined undefined So, we're now less than a week away from WWE NXT, and we now know that the show will see a number of "rookies" out of FCW paired up with current WWE talents, a format almost akin to the old Tough Enough show. As an idea, this is interesting to me, because while Tough Enough was taking people who had no name anywhere and seeing what they had, this show is inevitably going to feature some people some have heard of, so it'll be interesting to see just quite how much mentoring goes on for some compared to others, especially among the IWC.

What I also found interesting in the Variety report is that NXT will have 2 or 3 seasons a year, and not run every week like RAW and Smackdown do, which would be something new, at least to the current generation of wrestling fans, unless you remember Wrestling Society X. Indeed, Pro Wrestling Insider is reporting that the first season will last for 16 weeks, which puts the end sometime in Mid-June, by my calculations a couple of weeks out from The Bash.

It's certainly the right move for the supposed format. That said, I don't believe, going by the Variety report, that there is only one roster spot up for grabs every season. This seems to be showing showcasing the up-and-coming talents WWE has to offer as well as offering an insight into how the Superstars come into being, so to speak.

And of course, on the final episode of ECW, the WWE revealed not only the eight "rookies" who would be taking part, but also the eight "pros" mentoring them. According to Pro Wrestling Insider, they will be 2 teams of four, with four faces and four heels, and will be looking at likely issues not only between the two side, but also the pro/rookie pairings. Looking at the list of names, some are surprising. Some are entirely predictable. Now, while coverage of NXT will be brought to you by our own RDLee, since everyone on the show is currently from FCW, and I of everyone on the site has probably seen the most of most these guys down there, I thought I'd chime in with a quick little profile on each of them, so you know what to possibly expect, assuming that the released names are the ones who appear over what I'd imagine to be the first few episodes, unless they want to rush through everyone and hurt the chances of anyone being invested in the newbies.

JUSTIN GABRIEL

Justin is a native of Cape Town in South Africa. Real name, Paul Lloyd Jr., he is the son of late South African wrestling Paul Lloyd Sr., known as The Pink Panther. He stands at around 6' 1" and is around 225lbs, which doesn't make him all that big. Indeed, before coming to FCW, all the titles he had ever held were Cruiserweight belts. He spent some time in the UK, being partially trained at the FWA Academy around the same time as Katie Lea and Paul Burchill, before heading back to South Africa.

Signed by WWE to a developmental contract in 2008, he debuted under his old ring name of PJ Black in 2009, before becoming Justin Angel. He had a short lived tag team with Kris Logan, winning the FCW Tag Titles for an incredibly brief spell before Logan was split off and eventually (and sadly) released, as he was developing a superhero-esque gimmick, based on his looking like Wolverine. After splitting with Logan, Justin began a push that took him to the FCW Heavyweight Title in a 30 minute, 2/3 Fall match, defeating Heath Slater, a title he's held ever since, making him currently the second longest-reigning FCW champion behind Jack Swagger.

It'll be interesting to see how he comes along. As I've said in the past, he is like a slightly bigger Paul London. I don't think he necessarily needs any real work doing to his wrestling, because while he is a high-flyer with a 450 Splash as a finisher, he has also shown that he can work on the mat as well, as his FCW Title-winning match attests, where he did a lot of mat work when in control. I think he's a decent talker, but my concern would be that he's sometimes a little too softly spoken, which when mixed with the accent could possibly prove a problem. He has the good looks that will get him over with the ladies however, and indeed has done some modelling.

He's been paired with Matt Hardy for the show, which pretty much works for me. It's actually one of the few pairing for NXT that has a babyface rookie with a babyface "pro", and Hardy is such a perennial babyface, when they turn him heel, it ultimately fails. Indeed, Hardy has always been a hit with female fans, and Justin's model looks should provide him with the same benefit. However, on the downside, I'm not sure Matt is a great talker, and I would say that Gabriel is the better worker at this point. So it'll be interesting to see how they work together.

WADE BARRETT

Wade Barrett has been wrestling for around 6 years now, starting off in the UK NWA affiliate Hammerlock. Trained in part by Al Snow, he signed a WWE developmental deal in 2007 and was assigned to OVW and then, when the OVW relationship ended, was moved to Florida. When TV rolled around for FCW, he was one half of the FCW Tag Team Champions with Drew McIntyre as part of The Empire, losing the belts in the first ever episode to Primo and Eric Escobar. His name was then changed to Lawrence Knight and made part of The Conglomerate, led by current FCW PBP and ECW Colour announcer, Byron Saxton. Once that split up, Barrett pretty much disappeared form the radar until appearing, ironically enough, with Saxton again, this time as colour commentator on FCW TV, with them mentioning a bare-knuckle fighting background, something they mentioned on ECW in the reveal. In episodes about to be aired (or just have, I'd need to check) Barrett becomes involved in the wrestling side again, attacking Justin Angel, claiming he has a benefactor behind it.

Barrett has scored big in who he has been teamed up with, as he got Chris Jericho as his mentor. There's something of an ironic note in there, given Jericho’s recent arrest for public intoxication, as in 2008, Barrett was himself arrested for DUI, although charges were dropped there. But he's still British, so you know he likes a drink!

HEATH SLATER

Heath Slater has had a succession of names since he signed with the WWE, but his real name is Heath Miller, with a spell as Sebastian Slater in-between. Born in West Virginia, he was trained by Curtis Hughes before being signed by the WWE in 2006 and sent for DSW until that relationship ended and he moved to Florida. He eventually won the tag team titles there with Joe Hennig before losing them to the Hart Dynasty. He then spent some time out injured before coming back and turning heel, a push that led to his currently only FCW Title win, defeating Tyler Reks on what was billed as the First Anniversary show. However, he lost the title only a few weeks later to Justin Angel in the 30 minute, 2/3 Falls match.

He actually appeared on WWE TV late last year on Smackdown playing a pissed-off Santa Claus who whined and complained about kids to Cryme Tyme who then beat him up and jacked him for his gift bag, giving away stuff to the crowd when they came out for their match. That said, facially, he does pass for Jesse/Slam Master J, which left people confused as to who it was, but it was indeed Slater, as we saw a glimpse of his long red hair in the skit.

I would say he's a good talker (and indeed show reports have him with a talk show segment on early FCW shows) and a very decent wrestler, although I think there's an intangible missing for me to really succeed on the main roster.. Indeed, it's such an intangible, I could even begin to say what it was. Just a feeling I have. One thing that is somewhat ironic with Slater is that he's paired with Christian, as Slater has shown, on occasion, some of the mannerisms of Edge, such as wearing a long jacket to the ring and sliding in, which makes for quite the familiar visual, especially with his longer locks. However, we begin to enter some odd territory, as the rest of the pairings are mismatches in terms of a babyface is paired with a heel or vice versa.

SKIP SHEFFIELD

Skip Sheffield is the current gimmick of Tough Enough 4 (the one done on Smackdown with The Miz & Daniel Puder) contestant, Ryan Reeves. While he didn't win the competition, he was impressive enough that he was signed to a developmental contract, joining up with then-WWE Developmental company Deep South Wrestling in 2005 before moving to Ohio Valley in 2006. While there he was suspended for a Wellness Program violation, although he claimed it was because of an over-the-counter bodybuilding supplement he didn't realise would give such a reading, and the product was later taken off the market. After passing a second test, he returned to OVW. He was then released in a blood-letting in early 2007, only to be resigned a year later.

He was brought to FCW after the relationship with OVW ended, and came in as Ryback, a Terminator-like gimmick, where his video promo had written objectives in a Terminator style, while he also wore a red contact lens and leather jacket. He teamed with Sheamus for a period until Sheamus was called up. Ryback disappeared and happy-go-lucky cowboy Skip Sheffield showed up, with a catchphrase of "What It Do" and a finisher that was a stunner while the opponent was in the "piggyback" position, called "The Over The Shoulder Boulder Holder", which is, if you are unaware, a euphemism for a woman's bra.

Standing around 6' 2" and weighing something in the region of 270lbs, he's a stocky, muscle-bound guy, who was a bodybuilder form a young age, desperate to get into wrestling, so he's certainly isn't just there because he was muscled up. His promos have certainly improved under the Sheffield gimmick, compared to the Ryback days, but I'm not sure the gimmick overall does him any favours, especially with Santino Marella filling the comedy role quite nicely. As of right now, he seems to be down with William Regal as his mentor, although it was originally announced with MVP in the role. That said, with all due respect to Montel, Regal is all round a massive upgrade, especially in comedy potential terms. However, it is now a coupling that’s a babyface/heel pairing, leaving only 2 pairing full babyface or heel.

MICHAEL TARVER

I have to admit, I don't know much about Michael Tarver's past, other than he's from Ohio. Born in Akron, but billed from Cleveland. His real name is Tyrone Evans, but has gone under many name changes since coming to FCW, mainly necessitated by having the name Tyson Tarver until Tyson Kidd made his WWE debut, at which point, Tarver used Mr. Tarver before they settled on Michael. He also is around 6' 4" and 240/250lbs.

His gimmick is that he is a boxer, although they have shown flashes of MMA skill as well, using a Knockout Punch as his finisher, a la Big Show, as well as having a sweat towel with him. I think he's a pretty decent wrestler and decent talker and I think the gimmick could work in the big leagues with the right push. It's a little interesting he'll be featuring in this first season of the show, since he's only really now getting main event FCW push, having had recent matches with Justin Angel, whereas he was something of a midcard floater to that point, but it's not a spot I'd begrudge him, because I think he's been a bit undervalued in that way, and you only need to see Yoshi Tatsu's case to see that you don't necessarily need a big FCW push to succeed on the main roster.

He has been given Carlito as a mentor, which could be another attempt to energise Colon. Certainly gives him something to do for the next few months.

DARREN YOUNG

Of the list of names released as taking part in NXT, the one I was most surprised by was Darren Young. Born Fred Sampson, he has been wrestling since 2002, but was only signed to a WWE Developmental contract in the middle of last year, coming onto FCW TV as part of a tag team called the South Beach Boys, an incredibly annoying mix of Orlando Jordan and Saturday Night Fever. And indeed, since debuting they haven't made many, if ANY, appearances beyond the first couple of weeks. None that I can find. So I have to assume he's impressing someone at live events or at training to be put on this roster.

To that end, I can't really tell you if I think he's at all ready. His promos have been all pre-taped and cut together with his partners and he's shared the load in the all of THREE matches I've seen him in, so even for me, he's something of an unknown quantity in NXT. Indeed, I can't even tell you if he's a face or a heel, because in one match the South Beach Boys are facing a couple of babyfaces and in the next, they're facing Vance Archer and Alex Riley (one of FCW's main heels, and I'm quite surprised he didn't make the list). I suppose you'd have to say a face, because the third match is a singles match against Riley, but I find it such an annoying gimmick that I WANT him to be a heel. It'll certainly be interesting to see what happens there.

It'll be interesting to see him paired with CM Punk on the show, because of Punk's current gimmick. I can't help but think that Punk will try to influence him into becoming Straight Edge. Hopefully it means that silly afro gets shaved! This is another mismatched babyface/heel pairing, or so it seems anyway.

DAVID OTUNGA

Don't ask me why the picture says "Ortunga", because everywhere else I see his name, it doesn't have the R in it, so screw 'em... If his face looks at all familiar, it's because he's appeared on various shows, most notably "I Love New York 2". His major claim to fame though is that he is the husband of Grammy & OSCAR-award winning Jennifer Hudson.

He is a legitimate graduate from Harvard Law School and has worked for a major law firm before giving it all up to try and live his dream of becoming a pro wrestler. He made his pro wrestling debut only in May of last year, having signed a developmental deal in November of 2008, under the name of Dawson Alexander as a babyface, before recently turning heel in episode 59 of FCW, returning having spent some time away from Florida to look after his wife who had just given birth to their first son. In the last few weeks, at a live event, he cut a promo about how he was being recognised in various places, but didn't know what to call himself, so was going by his real name in FCW, such as he is now in NXT.

He's an interesting case to call up because while he has the basics down, given he only began wrestling in the last year and a bit, he's still mighty green. However, his Hollywood connections make him an interesting case. He's been paired with R-Truth which should be interesting as once again, it's a case of someone who is currently heel in FCW working with a pure babyface in WWE. Obviously, it could be a case of them turning certain rookie back the other way to match their mentors, but that would probably upset the balance of having 2 teams of four, which works in terms of the rookies, and how they are currently "aligned" in FCW.

DANIEL BRYAN

No, I haven't gotten his names the wrong way round. If you aren't aware, Daniel Bryan is the new WWE name for Bryan Danielson. Again, this should be one that speaks for itself, and indeed, should be a lock to move up to the main roster post-Mania. Now as I said, Bryan is the most interesting name on here, because in FCW, they played up his masses of experience. Not that they directly mentioned anyone, but it was certainly done with a nod and wink to who the viewers that already knew. And indeed, they did play up that Bryan at least considers himself the most experienced in the group, so it'll be interesting to see how that notion plays out, because it's not exactly the WWE's MO, when it comes to the main roster, to really acknowledge much of anyone's past, outside of vagaries.

As I said at the beginning, it'll be interesting to see how in depth this "mentoring" is, because he has been, somewhat controversially, judging by many people's reaction online, paired up with The Miz. Now to us "smart" fans, there is a level of humour to it, and frankly, I'd doubt that there'd be anyone outside of HBK himself, or possibly Chris Jericho, that would have satisfied the IWC. If it were HHH, people would be saying Hunter wanted to bury him personally, and if it were Cena, people would complain that Bryan should be teaching Cena how to work, and so on and so forth. And of course, if it's the case that these mentors are supposed to teach these guys how to run ropes and such, as if they had literally decided to start wrestling training that week, then yes, that is a bit of a slap in the face to Bryan. It would be a slap in the face to all of them, but certainly at least to the IWC, Bryan especially.

But what we have to remember here is that, to the general, average WWE fan, they don't know who Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson is at all. He could be a completely raw beginner student for all they know right now. And let's face it, he could have been paired with Kung Fu Naki or Jimmy Wang Yang, who could be FAR worse choices than Miz. The Miz currently holds 2 titles in the WWE On the face of it, given how Jericho & Punk don't have any titles right now, The Miz is the biggest score of a mentor there is.

Plus, on top of that, as I said earlier, they want to set up rookie/mentor issues. Imagine if they have Miz act as if he was nothing, and trying to teach him some fundamentals only to have Bryan school Miz instead, I think that could make for great TV and build a possible feud. I mean, imagine a four month slow build throughout this season and then, come June/July, we end up with The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan for the US Title.

So, that's YOUR~! cast for the first season of NXT. Of course, Kaval/Low Ki is an obvious omission. However, I can actually live with it, as long as it's not the case that he's not on because they don't see the potential in him. I mean, this season will go one well into June. That's well beyond Wrestlemania and any likely upcoming draft. And of course, Wrestlemania is often a time new people make their debuts, so it's entirely possible that they want Kaval to debut that way. Either that, or they decided to make this first season of NXT about Daniel Bryan, and the second, assuming there is one, which I don't doubt there will be at least a second, they could make that about showcasing Kaval as the main new guy then.

On the face of it, I would say that Daniel Bryan and Justin Gabriel are the most likely ones to hang around at the end of the season, but it will all depend on how these "promotions" to the main roster are doled out. It could be all of them at the end of it, although I personally doubt it, because even with a 16 week introduction, introducing eight guys to already full RAW and Smackdown rosters would make things a bit too crowded. If only WWE had a third brand on the go to put these guys. I don't know. They could call it ECW or something...

So anyway, that's enough of a slight preview for me. Don't forget to tune in next Tuesday to the debut episode of WWE NXT with our own RDLee! But other than that, I believe I've fulfilled my contractual obligations and for reading this, you're cooler than the other side of the pillow, so until Smackdown on Friday, I'll outta here!