-- 7/13 WWE NXT Reax

Shane McKinley, PWTorch Absurdity specialist (5.0): Best: Alex Riley video. Worst: conclusion of show. Nexus appeared on NXT to cause "bedlam," which consisted of beating up some mid-carders and providing the first lame Nexus slip-up: Wade Barrett's "You're either Nexus or against us" line. Ugh. NWO's "Survey Time" it ain't. The Mark Henry-Miz feud got a nice follow-up. I don't think WWE could convince anyone of Cena vs. Sheamus for the gold this Sunday, considering what happened on Raw the previous night (Cena and Sheamus are best buds, awww). Somewhere, there's also the Swagger vs. Mysterio hype, but good luck finding it. The PPV hype is a disjointed mess, so the PPV hype in this show didn't convince me one iota to buy the PPV. The best part of this NXT season is the almost "insider" criticism video package of the Rookies. I wondered, too, why Alex Riley, a grown man, is dressing like a high school varsity bully. The battle royal...why, in a kayfabe sense, would any of the wrestlers stick around for this is beyond me. But, hey, at least this show didn't resort to a soda drinking competition.

Bill Sartori of Windsor Locks, Conn. (2.5): How does a battle royal end with six winners? Answer: When WWE is still trying to push the Nexus as the next big thing in wrestling. WWE can't even remember its own stipulations from 20 minutes earlier when Wade Barrett announced that he was going to be the "winner" of the battle royal. Winner as in solo, one, alone, no one else, and certainly not six.

Richard H. of Wilmington, Ohio: After giving NXT another shot due to the advertised presence of Nexus, I was not disappointed - much. There are still too many talking heads, Striker seems out of place, and the new ring announcer's voice is grating. There was one standard match. Just one. And the "impromptu" battle royal between three factions does not count, especially when several of the performers didn't participate. Mark Henry showed fire and pure force he has not displayed since he feuded with 'Taker years ago. It was good to see the big man actually being a force in the ring. The dark version of Gabriel may be the next breakout star of the Nexus, although the intensity of Sheffield can be felt through the screen. Otherwise, none of the Nexus second string stand out. Just throwing it out there, but if you had been eliminated from a battle royal, but your allies were being jumped after the match, wouldn't you come back out and help? Just askin'.

Blake Reilly of Milwaukee, Wis., Frontier Ramper (9.5): I thought this was actually a really good show and the best NXT show of the season by far. The only complaint I have is that there were only two matches, but at least they were long good matches. First of all, I think the tag match was well done, especially playing up the Mark Henry-Miz feud from the night before on Raw. I'm not sure if I would have had Mark Henry get the pin on Riley; I would have preferred Lucky Cannon getting it, then Henry "sending him message" with the trashcan. "Showtime" Percy Watson has what it takes to be a star. I think he just needs to slow down a little bit. It's hard to follow what he's saying, but I would like to see MVP show him how it's done with the VIP Lounge on a future Smackdown. As for the battle royal, I thought it was interesting and well set up. Miz was really funny and I actually didn't expect him to run like he did, but it made perfect sense. Cody was hysterical showed that his new character is coming along really well. I would have preferred that a Rookie or two lasted until the end, but I could understand that WWE didn't want to book this to dismantle the Rookies on their show. The only thing is, I thought it was an every-man-for-himself battle royal, not a team battle royal, so it probably confused people when it ended the way it did. Otherwise, very good show.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for an "NXT TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on NXT, click here.

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