No Kaval. No Fortunate Sons (DiBiase and Hennig). No HBK. Looks like a bit of the leakage from yesterday was misdirection, but for the most part, the names were there. The big news from the WWE NXT unveil was that Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) was paired with a guy with less than half the pro experience that AmDrag has in The Miz. From a smarky standpoint, it is lulz-inducing to the extreme. From a kayfabe/chemistry standpoint though, it's the best possible pairing for Bryan not named Shawn Michaels or William Regal, both guys conspicuous by their absences as the pros. Among the pros, there are two names that I'm really scratching my head over.Matt Hardy and Carlito.
Seriously, these are two terrible choices both from a kayfabe standpoint and a "how the fuck does this make sense out of kayfabe" standpoint. Off-camera, both have been blasted for being lazy, with Hardy reportedly asking for his release so he can join the drug party with his brother down in Orlando. Carlito's accusations of laziness were in the past and he seems to have turned it around from a work ethic standpoint, but at the same time, they're not doing anything with him in character, and the most notable thing he's done since losing the Unified Tag Titles has been getting punked out by John Cena. Everyone else makes sense.
Going back to lulz though, the experience disparity in favor of the student in the Miz/Bryan team-up is but a chuckle compared to the guy I have pictured. That's Darren Young. I'll give you a second to laugh at the utter ridiculousness of the way he looks. Go ahead.
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Done? Okay good. Now here's the really funny part. He's CM Punk's charge. That alone will make NXT worth watching over the next couple of weeks, just to see how this Jersey Shore reject interacts with Punk's militant on-screen character. Aside from Bryan/Miz and Wade Barrett/Chris Jericho (Barrett being the salient color commetator from FCW as well as a wrestler, as our anonymous commenter on the Danielson/Kaval FtA let us know) teamings, this is the one I'm most looking forward to.
Anyway, aside from the obvious WTF? namings of Hardy and Carlito as mentors (Regal and Finlay would have been so much better), nothing that was announced last night deters my tempered optimism for NXT. I'm still looking forward to it, and hopefully, it'll be worth the taking of ECW off the air.
