By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

NXT HITS

Opening Segment: The Season 2 finale got off to a good start. There was a solid video package to start things off highlighting the season. There were quick talking heads from each of the remaining three rookies touting why they will win. The show had a big night feel to it with the introductions and the fact that the former contestants were watching from ring side (much like Season 1). They effectively set the stage for the rest of the show and announced the big triple threat match that would start after the first commercial break. The brief brawl that broke out before the commercial was a nice tease for that match. They also started the announcement of the Season 3 cast.

All Divas Format: I'm giving this a Hit merely for the fact that it is something different. I hope that it is better than the Divas Searches of the past. I hope that some of the main problems with the competition aspect of the show will finally be fixed. I don't know much about the future of the show considering it doesn't have a TV home past October 1. But, at least they are doing something different with the all Divas format. I'm curious to see it (at least for now).

Kaval vs. Riley vs. McGillicutty: This was the best all-rookie match of Season 2, although I'm not sure that's saying much. Kaval continued to shine in the ring. Alex Riley continued to look like a potential star as well. I have complained a number of times about the short matches that Michael McGillicutty got for most of the season, so it was nice to see him getting more in ring time here in the finale and he looked good. It was interesting to see him do a PerfectPlex, but not have the announcers refer to it by that name. There is a lot of potential in these three guys, but each needs to continue to improve (Kaval's mic work, McGillicutty's mic work and personality, Riley's in ring work).

Kaval Wins: Kaval really was deserving of winning (even though its not a real competition, if you pretend it is, he still deserved to win). He was the most impressive in the ring. His win-loss record wasn't great, but wasn't too bad. He showed personality. He showed an improvement in mic skills. He was clearly the fan favorite and if you accept the fact that the WWE Universe gets 50% of the power, then it makes sense they would be behind him. Plus, it was just good to see someone like Kaval (in terms of his size) getting this win and (hopefully) setting himself up for a push on either Smackdown or Raw. My only complaint is that it should have come down to Kaval and Riley, with McGillicutty being the first to be eliminated.

NXT MISSES

McGillicutty's Mic Work: I mentioned above that McGillicutty needs to work on his mic work and personality. That need was definitely on display the two times he had a chance to talk this week, once before the final elimination, and once after he found out he lost to Kaval. He sucked both times. I don't often agree with Michael Cole, but he was right in his criticism against McGillicutty. It was very rough. I was glad that he was cutting a heel promo both times, which seems to fit him better than a babyface, but it still was far from good, or even passable. Kaval on the other hand handled himself well on the mic for the third straight week showing his mic skills aren't as bad as some people may have thought.

Show Closing Brawl: This was possibly the worst executed brawl in the history of WWE. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. I'm not a huge fan of having the brawl in the first place, but I guess it would have been ok if it was well-executed. Instead, it was a mess. It looked ugly. I don't like that a babyface competitor like Percy Watson would be involved. This is too similar to how babyfaces from Season 1 turned heel with the start of the Nexus angle on Raw. The pros came to Kaval's aid, but quickly disappeared. That was a very poor showing from them. It was almost like they realized half way through the brawl that they weren't supposed to be there, and they just got out of the ring and left Kaval to the rest of the rookies. What was that about? Also, when Alex Riley stormed the ring, at first he went after the other rookies, not the pros or Kaval. Then, I guess he realized he was fighting for the wrong side, and started beating up Kaval too. It was terrible.

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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