NXT SEASON TWO PREVIEW + THE MOST APPALLING PRO/ROOKIE PAIRINGS I CAN CONJURE UP

SEASON TWO PRO AND ROOKIE PAIRING

KAVAL AND TEAM LAY-COOL

Photos - WWE.com

This is like when they announced that The Miz would be mentoring Bryan Danielson, times infinity billion.

So, in light of this unique pairing, I thought it'd be fun to come up with the most offensive, appalling, fake NXT Pro & Rookie combination my sick and twisted brain could muster up.

NXT ROOKIE

SAMOA JOE

AND HIS NXT PRO

SHAGGY 2 DOPE

NXT ROOKIE

KENTA

Photo - Scott Finkelstein's Get Lost Photography

AND HIS NXT PRO

JON LOVITZ

NXT ROOKIE

RICKY STEAMBOAT

AND HIS NXT PRO

PERCY WATSON

Photo - FCWWrestling.info

NXT ROOKIES

THE FOUR HORSEMEN

AND THEIR NXT PRO

DOMINIC

NXT ROOKIES

THE ENTIRE HART FAMILY

AND THEIR NXT PRO

THE DELL GUY

NXT ROOKIE

THE GREAT MUTA

Photo - WernerMueck.com

AND HIS NXT PRO

KE$HA'S KEYTAR PLAYER

WWE NXT: SUDDENLY MY HOPES ARE RAISED STUPIDLY HIGH

CHANGE OF PLANS

I keep going back and forth about this NXT business, but now I've accepted that I won't know what I'll think of it until I see it, so I am high as a kite on this thing right now.

Maybe it's because I just watched this...

FLORIDA CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING

BRYAN DANIELSON VS. KAVAL

The idea that this new show could focus around these two guys alone is amazing.

But if it's done like The Ultimate Fighter, where they spend the majority of one show building to one match... it could be even better.

I'm kinda shocked at the amount of people who are so quick to dismiss this concept as being a failure, because we (or casual WWE fans, rather) won't know any of the guys. Anyone who says that must be forgetting about EVERY reality show. Literally.

People seem to love being able to watch people they don't know on TV, in order to get to know them. American Idol, The Ultimate Fighter, The Real World, Jersey Shore... I mean, I don't have to list show after show or anything, but the truth is, in episode one of every one of those shows, nobody knew any of the characters.

The potential point of this show (which has to come obvious to more people than me) is that you tune into NXT to see who's working to become the next WWE Superstar. Hopefully there will be guys that people want to get behind, and hopefully there are matches or incidents, or anything at all that reveal more about these guys' personality as the show goes on.

One problem that could come up is the comparison to Ultimate Figher, which, unlike WWE, is real. The guys are real, the fights are real, and therefore you never have this thought in the back of your head that what happens on the show doesn't matter, because it's fake.

But even that, if the show is presented well, shouldn't matter too much. The WWE knows that people who watch WWE, LIKE the WWE (duh!). So why wouldn't we want to see who the next big star could be?

Tough Enough already tried this, but went about it the wrong way, I think. If NXT can show these guys without completely breaking kayfabe (i.e. don't show them learning how to take a bump or work a match or whatever), and just present it as "wrestling is real and I want to win and become the best," then I really think this could be cool. The Ultimate Fighter is a great show and such an easy concept.

I'm really intrigued, and I can't wait to see that first episode.

I will admit that my biggest fear (still) is that Bryan Danielson's and Low Ki's one shot to make it in the WWE will be flushed down the toilet with a failed reality show.

But my hopes remain high! Please make me come down, WWE.

WWE NXT: I FEAR CHANGE

I do. Maybe that's why I've followed pro wrestling for so long my adult life EVER.

But I do have some legitimate fears (and serious hopes) of what could happen with WWE's newest brand, NXT, which will apparently focus on entirely new talent in reality-based television:

WWE: NXT

WTF ARE YOU

THE POTENTIAL GOOD

This "reality" television style could come off really well, if that truly is what will happen. Guys could make some kind of real connection with fans, and we could blend reality with pro wrestling in a way that doesn't break kayfabe, but also gives fans a reason to cheer for a wrestler, besides catchphrases.

Maybe it will be something along the lines of profiling a wrestler (much like The Ultimate Fighter), by showing his life story, his training, and his lead up to his first match. This is a lot like Colt Cabana's idea for his own character that he presented to the WWE (according to his shoot interview), which was shot down. If they steal his exact idea, he needs to choke a bitch.

THE POTENTIAL BAD

This "reality" television style could come off just TERRIBLY, in any number of ways. Maybe breaking kayfabe every week, or coming off as so obviously scripted, or having everybody live in a house together and have fake conflicts that amount to nothing, so when they get called to the main roster, every new guy is seen as a cheap reality star instead of a WWE Superstar.

I don't know what would be worse - having the guys actually live in a house together, have some kind of conflict (hay u ate my proteen bar) and then wrestle, or having them live in a house, have a SCRIPTED conflict (hay u ate my proteen bar), and then wrestle.

THE POTENTIAL UGLY

This "reality" television style show could fail completely, and the FCW roster could pay for it. Imagine that this "NXT" idea fails so hard that guys like Bryan Danielson and Low Ki are associated with it's fail forever, and never get a chance beyond this new concept. This is my ultimate fear.

I really don't know what to expect. The WWE could totally put on really captivating shows that make me invest something in these new guys, and want to see them succeed, without breaking kayfabe and cheapening what happens on the main shows.

Or they could fuck up one of the best talent rosters that they have had waiting in the wings in a long while (Bryan Danielson, Low Ki, and countless second/third generation stars in Brett DiBiase, Joe Henning, and more). I really hope they don't.

Or they could do something entirely different that I haven't even thought of, and surprise me in that way. Which would be cool in itself.

I really do have hope for the best, so I don't want to tear it down before it even starts, because that isn't fair. But whatever they do, I'll be checking it out.

Because Thursday Raw Thursday is still coursing through my veins.

WHOA: LOW KI TO BE CALLED UP (RUMOUR)

LOW KI

I MEAN KAVAL

It's just a rumour, but it has to happen at some point, right?

For how negative I was about RAW on Monday, and just my general feeling about WWE overall as of late... I've been quickly turned around.

With Low Ki (Kaval) and Bryan Danielson waiting in the wings, the Briscoes getting tryouts, and the potential that already sits on the main roster (Punk, Bourne, Swagger, Kofi, Morrison, Miz, Ziggler, Hart Dynasty, etc.), WWE could be really exciting in new ways if it wants to be.

Whatever show gets Danielson or Low Ki will earn a viewer in me, that's for sure.

- mitts