By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

NXT HITS

Pro Evaluation Videos: One of the few aspects of Season 1 that I would have carried over to Season 2 were these evaluation videos of the pros discussing the rookies, so I was glad to see WWE bringing the videos back. However, there were two problems. One is that they probably should have waited a few weeks so that there was more to evaluate since this season hasn't been going on that long. Although that will be fine if it turns out we get updated versions of these early evaluations in a few more weeks. In other words, we saw what the pros thought of the rookies early on, now what do they think of them after more of the competition? The other problem is that they expected us to sit through an evaluation of Titus O'Neil who was eliminated last week. It was the first of the videos shown this week, and that was a mistake. It made no sense to show this at all. But, the other videos were better and I like the concept so I am giving it a marginal Hit.

Kaval vs. Miz: This is another marginal Hit. Kaval got to once again show some of what he can do in the ring. He can be exciting to watch. He has unique offense. He is starting to connect with the WWE audience. Also, The Miz looked good in dishing out his offense and selling Kaval's. The problem is that this was a glorified squash. Miz is in Raw's Money in the Bank ladder match at the next PPV. He is being positioned as a WWE Title contender. Did anyone expect him to lose this match? He was in control for the vast majority of a 9 minute match. Kaval looked great in his flurry of offense towards the end, but it was actually very little time to show what he can do in the ring. This got over Miz more than Kaval, but the point of this show should be to get over the rookies, not the pros. So, I had some reservations about this match. However, the wrestling quality was just good enough for it to land in the Hit column.

NXT MISSES

Talk the Talk Challenge: I was not happy last week when WWE brought back the challenges to NXT. I was hoping that they would realize how stupid they are and drop the concept from Season 2. Not only are they doing the stupid challenges again, they are doing the same stupid challenges which failed last season. Isn't a definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? I didn't need to see the keg carrying contest last week, and I definitely didn't need to see the Talk the Talk challenge this week. This bombed big time last season. It bombed again here with only one rookie getting a strong reaction from the crowd. What does talking about a mustache or pigeons or a doorknob have to do with being a wrestler? Why are these rookies being asked (presumably) to cut unscripted promos with no prep time when no WWE superstar has to do the same? The rookies are being held to a higher standard than veterans and they look really bad in the mean time. This was a boring segment. It was not enjoyable to watch at all. It did nothing for me and it went on forever.

Recaps: The recap videos got really tiring this week. Not surprisingly, NXT started with a recap of what happened last week. I'm fine with that. That is normal. Later, they showed more footage of the keg carrying contest from last week, focusing on the rookies who had trouble like Titus O'Neil when he fell. That was just needless humiliation. Later, after showing O'Neil's evaluation, they replayed his good-bye promo after being eliminated. Of course, there was also the long Raw rebound towards the end of the show. Instead of hooking us to stay past 11:00 for the over-run, they were replaying what we all saw the night before.

On a bit of a side note, there was also a commercial break soon after the Raw Rebound that made no sense given the time in the show. I really just wanted to switch over to The Daily Show at this point. To make matters worse, was anyone looking forward to Husky Harris & Cody Rhodes vs. Lucky Cannon & Mark Henry, particularly given how poor Harris and Cannon have looked in the ring thus far, and Henry's limitations as a wrestler? I know I wasn't. The match wasn't bad enough to get a Miss, but it wasn't good either.

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