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I'm actually going to start with the Pros. Here are the eight Pros I would choose for next season:
Big Show: A former World Champion with something to promote, could use the extra exposure, and could be genuinely entertaining within the format.
David Hart Smith: Although they seem out of place in this list; I don't mind the idea of DH Smith and Tyson Kidd competing with their rookies, to see who manages to keep theirs in the longest. It also balances things out on the RAW and SmackDown! side, and keeps a balanced face/heel dynamic.
Edge: The usually selfish Edge would lend an interesting coaching dynamic towards whoever he is paired with. Plus, Edge is a former nine-time World Champion (and might be winning his tenth soon). This all adds up to someone who can be taken seriously as a WWE Pro.
Jack Swagger: Another former World Champion who could use some time going over some rookies. Plus, I really want to see the pairing of him and Wes Brisco together. They could play up Swagger being discovered by Wes' father.
Rey Mysterio: Anyone Rey Mysterio is mentoring is going to be instantly over with the fanbase. As a former World Heavyweight Champion and Royal Rumble winner, he also has the credibility to be an effective coach.
Sheamus: I don't know why, but the idea of Sheamus being a Pro is interesting to me. As a former two-time WWE Champion, Sheamus could give a guy credibility, heat, and a continued on-air relationship would be interesting in a Miz/Alex Riley sort of way.
The Miz: Yeah, he's been on it for two previous seasons, but now that he's the WWE Champion it can lend something else to his coaching. There's nothing wrong with having your champion's face pop-up places, either. You've also got the dynamic between Miz and Big Show to play on. He can also send out Alex Riley to wrestle the rookies sometimes, which can be further development for Riley and be a good gauge of where the rookies stand on the credibility ladder.
Tyson Kidd: Essentially the same sort of deal as with DH Smith. This could also allow Kidd to really show off his skills with former World Champions, and put himself over as "Bret Hart's protoge" and "The Crown Prince of the WWE." Having both members of the former Hart Dynasty there could also allow for some Natalya appearances on NXT. And that wouldn't be a bad thing.
Now, as for who their rookies could be?
Big Show: Xavier Woods
David Hart Smith: Johnny Curtis
Edge: Seth Rollins
Jack Swagger: Wes Brisco
Rey Mysterio: Hunico
Sheamus: Conor O'Brien
The Miz: Jackson Andrews
Tyson Kidd: Richie Steamboat
Big Show is paired with a guy he puts over as having perhaps an even larger heart than himself. Plus, the idea of having them in tag team matches would be Woods absorbing the punishment and then tagging in Show who dominates, tags in Woods, who gets the pin.
DH Smith can be paired with Johnny Curtis. This is just a random one, but Smith could put over that Curtis was trained by the legendary Killer Kowalski, and that now he gets the secrets of the Hart and Smith family passed onto him.
Edge and Seth Rollins would be an interesting partnership, and Rollins could get quite over from it, as he really has the talent to succeed. A match I saw between him and Richie Steamboat from FCW recently was really quite amazing.
Jack Swagger taking on Wes Brisco is one that I really want to see. Gerald Brisco, Wes' father, discovered Swagger. It'd be an interesting dynamic that could either cause tension or allow them to get along well.
Rey Mysterio and Hunico being paired up because the two are both masked is pretty cliche, but they would get over so well, and you know this. Plus, I've given up on the WWE trying to form tag teams, and Tito Colon can just be used as Primo's tag team partner, anyway, since Primo isn't really doing anything.
Sheamus could say that Conor O'Brien is descended from Irish lineage, and that can fill him with pride in his rookie. The former Ryan O'Reilly is not a worker I am too familiar with, but there are plenty of solid workers in the season to help carry him if he's shitty.
The Miz has had an indy darling, a guy like him, so why not stick him with a massive guy? That guy can lose and then still show up under "personal contract" to The Miz, and continue to help him dominate RAW. Plus, Andrews has been working dark matches, so the WWE should be looking at him pretty closely. I know Mason Ryan has been doing the same, but I agree that him debuting straight away on RAW or SmackDown! might be more effective, and hide his shortcomings better.
Tyson Kidd being paired with Richie Steamboat could build Kidd's heat. Especially if he looked down on the Steamboat legacy, and even wrestling families, and developed a persona where he claims he had to work for everything he had because he wasn't born into a famous family of wrestling. It could lead to a feud between rookie and Pro, with the matches being quite amazing.
Some changes I would like to see to NXT 4:
* A reward for the Pros as well as the rookies. It would just go a little further into explaining why they are creating new Superstars, and thus more competition for themselves.
* Perhaps when the guys are eliminated, you can have some sort of stipulation where if they manage to defeat their Pro, they get a spot on the same roster as them. It allows them to call up guys if they are ready, or send them back down to FCW if they are not. It also gives them a big win to ride if they do get it, and doesn't mean that the emotional attachment people develop in these guys is for nothing. If they are good enough, they get contracts.
* Less of those shitty challenges. More of a focus on the guys' wins and losses. Give immunity out in Beat the Clock Challenges, Battle Royals, etc. if you need to have a hook, whatever. People don't want to watch kissing competitions, though.
* Allow the NXT guys to get extra exposure on RAW and SmackDown! by consistently appearing with their Pros. The WWE did a good job of this with the season three girls. But it would do wonders for Conor O'Brien if people saw him on RAW for the duration of his stint in NXT. Hell, they might even get used to it.
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