The NXT Roster: I'm happy
 

From PWInsider.com

The NXT roster will be:

FCW Champion: Justin Angel
Daniel Bryan
Kaval
Skip Sheffield
Joe Hennig
Brett Dibiase
Darren Young
Heath Slater
Michael Tarver

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DOUBLE STOMP TIME

lol Daniel Bryan.

Everyones gonna call him Bryan probably, no difference

http://www.fcwwrestling.info/images/...ath_slater.jpg

HOW MANY UGLY GINGERS DOES WWE NEED???

6

Btw, DX seems to have a crush on gingers.

Pretty sexy.

Honestly I'm interested to see how NXT comes along. Decent roster at least.

Danielson better win it.

what ever happened to the story of kaval feuding with rey after mania?

Danielson and Kaval are pretty much shoe ins, since Danielson went to FCW himself to get off his "rust", and Kaval was already talked about being brought up.

Henning and Dibiase have good chances on their name alone.

I'm hoping that Danielson has enough of a following that the American Dragon name comes with him whether WWE wants it to or not.

I hope that it isn't a "competition." Maybe they can have a Champion or something crowned at the end of it, but I hope the theme of the show is that it's just those guys honing their craft, developing rivalries, telling their stories, etc. The goal for them could be that they just want to each be signed to either RAW or SmackDown!, and it can be their (kayfabe) journeys towards getting there.

That way, there's less chance of Justin Angel, Heath Slater, Darren Young or Michael Tarver to get lost in the "names," and be seen as "losers" when it does come their time to ultimately end up. In fact, I wouldn't mind it if there was a guarantee that they were going to be WWE Superstars, it's just how they get there.

I like the roster here. I predicted something very much like this, except for a few different guesses. I called eight instead of nine, and I had Curt Hawkins and Dawson Alexander in there instead of Tarver, Skip Sheffield (Ryan Reeves from Tought Enough 4, by the way) and Darren Young. I figured that Tarver and Young could be in the next season, and that Sheffield could get called up on his own, as he is pretty much a "gimmick" wrestler at this point (he plays a face happy-go-lucky Texan, I believe).

I'm actually looking forward to this show. I wish they had just kept Bryan Danielson's name as is, though. It won't ruin him or anything (I mean, if his real name was "Daniel Bryan" no one would be complaining), it's just going to take some getting used to. People are already sort of used to "Desmond Wolfe."

From Wikipedia:

Unlike the competitive format seen in Tough Enough where contestants compete for a contract with WWE, NXT will instead see each of the contestants graduating to one of WWE's brands at the end of the season.<sup id="cite_ref-Variety_1-4" class="reference"></sup>

Woot! Exactly what I want to see.

It seems more like the sort of gimmick that would walk face/heel lines if done correctly and with nuance, but I really like the idea of Heath Slater's gimmick in FCW for a while (I'm not sure if it still is or not). Basically, he started targeting second generation stars because he feels they get it "easy." Given how many second generation stars are in the WWE, this would give Slater quite a few simple feuds.

Of course, we wouldn't likely get Slater as a tweener who believes in his code and will go after anyone that fits his profile, and we'd get a heel that just went after face second-gen stars; but it could still be a great character for him. I haven't seen much of his work, and he's never been the "developmental darling" that other guys are -- but I can actually see Heath Slater doing quite well for himself in the WWE. He seems like a guy that someone in the WWE would have a hard-on for.

Holy Shit! WWE might have just pulled a rabbit of their hat here..

It's basically a scripted reality show with guys who already know how to wrestler.

I wonder if Danielson knew about this when he wanted to go down to FCW.

Danielson is smart enough to play the company man role well. This could also be exactly what the man needs. He could show some personality, elaborate on his stylings and his influences and such. Could really get him over by the time it comes for him to debut on either RAW or SmackDown!.

So this is going to be a season ? Basicly when its over do we wait for another season to begin or will it be a show every week ?

i'm more interested in who the veterans on the show are going to be. Finlay and Regal are obvious choices.

Finlay and Regal are who I have suggested in the past. It would make a lot of sense, given that Finlay has been written out of storylines, and Regal has sort of taken on more of a mentor role. They also have that history together. Although, it could help Chavo Guerrero if he was also there. He did Tough Enough for the WWE one season, and even though he's been a joke character, it might remind people that he is a third generation veteran Superstar.

I think Chavo would be great. The wwe owes him this after everything hes been doing for them. It would be a nice way to show him that they apreciate what he does.

It'd be kind of cool if they all sort of got a veteran "sponsor." As a high-flier, Justin Angel could get Rey Mysterio or Matt Hardy, or something. I don't know, the idea needs some developing, but it would give each guy a "connection" when they debut.

Justin Angel: Matt Hardy
Daniel Bryan: Shawn Michaels (he has time now that his career is "over") :shifty:
Kaval: William Regal
Skip Sheffield: Chavo Guerrero
Joe Hennig: Dean Malenko
Brett DiBiase: Dusty Rhodes
Darren Young: Shelton Benjamin
Heath Slater: Finlay
Michael Tarver: Charlie Haas

I don't think there will be veterans. All the ECW guys get drafted away and all the new guys come in. It's an entirely new show/concept. Think of The Office but with wrestling.

I guess they could also do "themed episodes," for example "Tag Team Wrestling" where the WWE's tag teams can come down and inform them how they work as a team. And maybe even some former teams like The Blue Bloods and The World's Greatest Tag Team.

An episode on "aerial maneuvers" could feature Matt Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Evan Bourne and John Morrison all offering insight into their strategies and movesets.

I think the idea of veterans being involved comes from a few news bits here and there saying that the WWE wants some more experienced names to be involved. It's probably most likely we'll get some sort of "guest starring" appearances. A backstage conversation between Shawn Michaels and Daniel Bryan, for example.

From the main page...

Each rookie will be paired up with a veteran WWE superstar as their mentor, “with egos often getting in the way, as they learn the ropes of competing in the ring in front of live audiences, creating characters and speaking on camera.”

So yeah, it's official. Each one paired up with a veteran. Could be interesting.

Interesting.

Sounding so much better than Tough Enough.

more legacy?

Switching American Dragon's name around is the best they could come up with? Wow.

9 man roster ain't much. I know there will be multiple combinations, and we're eager to see how the farm boys are coming along down in FCW. Surely there has to be a few women with talent that can join the party, right?

Still think the name Daniel Bryan sounds terrible.

Wow. Surprised they did this, actually. Sounds really fucking good. Will it be an active Superstar on the WWE roster, or maybe a figure from the past? I think this works out well, because it allows the WWE to develop 18 guys instead of just 9. You can also set up a tag team, or even give a guy a rivarly when they get called up to RAW or SmackDown!.

Of course, since these guys are done "training," this will most likely be done from a storyline perspective. One guy I definitely see being involved is Finlay. He's been written out of active storylines, has got some kayfabe credibility, and is quite over, etc. I also Matt Hardy there, as he hasn't being doing too much recently. This would also be an ideal thing for Charlie Haas to be involved in, as he has sort of disappeared, but he may not be "credible" enough.

Regal + American Dragon= Great tag team. Put him with Regal because Regal actually trained him. Michaels didn't it was just Michaels' school not him personally.

Kane would be a great mentor

lol, wonder if anyone will get paired up with Goldust. Would love to see that, actually.

I'm really excited for this show now. I already was before, but now I'm getting giddy.

Now that we know the format and the young guys, we should start listing who we'd want for the "mentors". How many "odd couple" mentor/mentee pairings do you anticipate?

If they actually do matches and whatnot, I'd like to see them do a sort of tournament for a spot in the MITB.

I'm still not exactly sure how this is supposed to work, but I think I love it.

His momma named him Bryan, Imma call him Bryan.

So is this starting next week, or is there a break between the end of ecw and this.