By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

NXT HITS

Wins & Losses: WWE still needs to do a much better job of explaining the rules and format of NXT (more later). However, I was pleased this week to see some emphasis on wins and losses. I really like how the rookies' records were listed during their ring entrances. Michael Cole and Josh Mathews talked about their records quite a bit during the night and how those records might influence the judges' decisions when it comes to finally vote in two weeks.

Punk & Young vs. Hardy & Gabriel: While most of the matches on NXT were a bit boring this week, the opening tag match was quite good. Darren Young looked pretty good in this match. I like how his relationship is developing with CM Punk. Punk clearly doesn't care about Young's wins and losses or how he performs in the ring. He just wants another SES convert and is trying to convince Young that Straight Edge is the way to go. Last week I complained that Justin Gabriel is being treated like a one move superstar, and I was glad to actually see much more of him in the ring this week. He sold a lot like last week, but got to show plenty of his own offense as well. The use of the two pros worked well too.

NXT MISSES

Still No Full Format Explanation: That is sort of a long title for this Miss, but I couldn't think of a more concise way of saying that WWE still hasn't shown that it has any clue at all as to exactly how the competition side of NXT is going to work. As I said above, I like the fact that they put an emphasis on wins and losses this week and hope that that continues for the rest of the show. WWE acts like it is addressing the fans' criticisms about the show by having Matt Striker announce that the first vote will be in two weeks. However, they never explained what that means. Will the pros be voting for their favorites, or against the ones they think should be eliminated? How many will be eliminated? How often will votes take place? How long will the season last? How will the ultimate winner be determined (it better be a match)? I have no problem with some ambiguity as to the criteria for voting. In other words, I don't mind that they are putting emphasis on more than just the win/loss record. They are also putting an emphasis on charisma and toughness (I believe I heard Josh Mathews say something about judging how a rookie faces adversity for instance). The problem is that we have no idea how the eight pros view these things. It would be very interesting that instead of replaying the same video on David Otunga (which I should give a Miss too), they play a video of a few of the pros stating exactly what they are looking for in terms of judging. Maybe some of them will only look at wins and losses. Maybe some of them take that into account, but also attitude or respect. Maybe some of them simply say they are looking at who they like the best or intangibles. Having each pro's criteria be a bit different is a good idea as not everyone should be looking at the same thing. But, you have to lay that out there. It would create intrigue for every match because you would know that Chris Jericho is only impressed by wins, but Christian in impressed by how a rookie who lost last week responds this week, while The Miz is impressed by how the rookie deals with their mentor, etc. This is just off the top of my head as I write this.

Slater vs. Tarver: This was just a boring match. As I said a few weeks ago, until we know more about these rookies and see more of what they can do in the ring, having them face in long singles matches is a mistake. WWE didn't do that here which is good. It was kept short. However, that didn't change the fact that we still don't know what Heath Slater's finishing move is (right now it appears to be a roll up). Last week I complained about the lack of exposure for Michael Tarver on NXT so far, and WWE responded by putting him in a short match against another rookie which he lost after not showing much in the ring. That didn't help him at all. Then, after talking about the importance of wins and losses during the show, the announcers changed their tunes and talked up Tarver's post-match attack as getting the WWE Universe talking which is what NXT is about. Since when? The announcers were also very annoying in this match. I like the dynamic between them for the most part, but arguing over Tarver's backstory was so forced and unnecessary. It felt like they have been told to always argue with each other no matter what, and it does get very tedious.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and Superstars each week. Email 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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