Though I'm not doing the regular NXT blogs for Season 2, I am ranking them, I think. The original NXT group, I would have kept six of the eight regardless...with Slater being given a shot as a heel (and he's working out nicely as one right now, though I would have gone less serious with him if I weren't doing the Nexus angle) and Otunga probably just canned. That said, Otunga does sound more believable on the mic to me than he ever did on NXT...if he's working on his ring work, he might be fine.
Anyway...after three weeks...here's my Rankings.
#8: Eli Cottonwood
Pro: John Morrison
- Eli Cottonwood is the biggest wrestler in NXT to date...and that's just about it. He has an awful name, an awkward look, no mic skills and he's ugly as crap in the ring. His first match consisted entirely of kicking Titus O'Neil in the gut. He is like The Great Khali, without the name, charisma and presence. After three weeks, I believe he got in entirely on his height. I see more upside to David Otunga, and I hate Otunga. As much as I like Morrison, he's doing his rookie no favors, either.
#7: Husky Harris
Pro: Cody Rhodes
- I'm not hating on Harris' look...if it was good enough for Dusty Rhodes, it's good enough for Husky Harris. However, Dusty had a natural charisma that Harris doesn't have. Harris, in fact, comes across like he's trying way too hard. Actually, Cody comes across that way, too. Good combination. Cody has already completely outshined Harris, though they tried to give him a boost by having him attack Matt Striker this week.
#6: Titus O'Neil
Pro: Zack Ryder
- An odd, heel-face combo. I really like Ryder, and I wrote O'Neil off during the first two weeks (as well as the preview from the Season 1 finale). The guy looks great, but he's bland, monotone and awkward in the ring. He finally gave me some hope this week with his impassioned plea about how he's worked for everything he's ever gotten (and his harkening back to John Locke's "Don't tell me what I can't do" doesn't hurt in my eyes). If he can step it up in the ring, I'd see ranking him higher.
#5: Michael McGillicutty
Pro: Kofi Kingston
- McGillicutty has a great look, and generally crisp in the ring (jury is out as to who F-ed up this week, him or O'Neil), but I kinda get a vibe from McGillicutty that he doesn't NEED NXT...like he's already been told (or decided) that he's a shoe-in because of his family legacy. Honestly, WWE will likely rank him higher, as he has the generic look they love (see Legacy), but to me he comes across incredibly...entitled. WWE's had a few of those guys, and it ended badly.
#4: Lucky Cannon
Pro: Mark Henry
- Cannon has a great look and adequate mic skills. He's not a terribly dynamic individual, but he seems to say the right things for WWE's PG atmosphere. In the Attitude Era, I'd say "Complete repackage" or "jobber". However, he could appeal nicely to kids and be a great role model. To top it off, Mark Henry goes out of his way to put the guy over, which is also a great thing. If WWE keeps him in the competition for a while, they could easily foster the growth of his character as a classic babyface (which they don't have a ton of right now). In fact, I'd say a smart Final Three would be Lucky Cannon for the kids, Alex Riley as the foil, and Kaval to appeal to the hardcore fans.
#3: Kaval
Pro(s): LayCool
- Kaval is incredibly solid on the mic, and looks completely believable at basically everything he does in the ring (I'm lookin' at you, Rey Misterio). His systematic dismantling of Eli Cottonwood this week should have looked ridiculous, but Kaval works his moveset very well. I'm not a long-time fan of Kaval/Low-Ki/Senshi, either...he didn't really stand out to me in TNA...but he's been GREAT so far in NXT, from his in-ring stuff right on through to his interactions with LayCool (which I never thought I would say).
#2: Alex Riley
Pro: The Miz
- Riley has a great look, a great gimmick, the best mic skills among the NXT rookies yet, and he looked great in the ring in both his matches. His pairing with Miz is a natural born combo that would easily be a team, a mentor-student combo, or turn into a rivalry. In fact, with all that, why do I have him at #2...?
#1: Percy Watson
Pro: MVP
- Two things: I have never liked MVP, face or heel, and I think Percy Watson has a ridiculous gimmick. Unless the dude really has some kinda facial tick, his expressions are ridiculous and his glasses are absurd. Why is he number one? On Week 1 of NXT, first match on the show, he managed to get a bigger crowd reaction for pinning Husky Harris than any NXT rookie got for weeks in Season 1. That trend continued this week, getting the crowd on his side right off in his tag match against Alex Riley and The Miz. He sells great, and his offense is fine...and his character is a goofy fit for the kids. The fact that he plays the gimmick to the hilt is just one more reason to vote for the guy.
Am I saying Watson should win? No. What I am saying is that he has shown me more in three weeks than anyone else. It helps that, even though he's been in tag matches, MVP hasn't been a "ball hog", letting Watson have time to shine. One thing I will say is that with Season 1, I probably would have hired 6 of the 8 guys (maybe even 7)...so far, I would be fine cutting it off at 4 and moving on.
The Proof Is In the Fun
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tommy's Take on Bold & Brave
Bold & Brave (hereafter B&B) is the first supers release by Precis Intermedia Games, better known for such releases as Two-Fisted Tales (the best standalone pulp game, IMO), Iron Gauntlets and GnomeMurdered among others.
Powered by GenreDiversion 3E, B&B is uncharted territory for PIG, and it's been kind of overlooked due to the hype and release of other recent supers games. So, we're gonna take a look and see if it's been unfairly overlooked.
A little background on me: My first RPG was the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set...my favorite RPG of all time is Marvel SAGA...I own a lot of supers games and played even more. Supers is my favorite genre. Heck, I labor endlessly producing small press comics as fast as I can find artists to draw them. I love supers...so I'm willing to give any supers game at least a good read through.
B&B is a 57 page book available in PDF format for $6.95, which can be upgraded to a print book for an additional $6.54 at PIG's website, http://www.pigames.net . It is not a standalone game, requiring the GenreDiversion3E game book, which provides the core rules for the game, both of which are written by PIG's own Brett Bernstein.
The PDF has a very nice cover by Scott Harshbarger, featuring a man in a black and blue bodysuit flying through the air and hurling electricity at a knight garbed in red who is riding what looks an awful lot like the Goblin Glider. I am assuming the man in black and blue is The Shocker, who was the first super in the game's setting, Prudence City.
The PDF has a table of contents but no index, but is fully bookmarked, fully searchable and allows copy and paste.
Basics of the System
I'm only doing a rough overview of the system, since it's not included in the book. Characters have five abilities: Fitness, Awareness, Creativity, Reasoning and Influence, which are rated on a scale of 0 to 6+ (6 entering “unimaginable” territory). Character creation options allow for random rolling, assigning scores of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to the abilities or a point buy.
You customize characters with pursuits (skills) and gimmicks (advantages and disadvantages). Options include either 10 points spread out among the pursuits (you can take an incompetency for bonus points), or a system where you pick one incompetency, two proficiences, three specialties and one mastery.
Each character gets one free gimmick, and pays for the rest through lowering abilities or pursuits, or taking detrimental gimmicks.
The basic mechanic is rolling 2d6, adding the relevant ability, as well as any bonuses or penalties from a relevant pursuit and comparing it to a difficulty number set by the Director. Pretty straightforward stuff.
Introduction
B&B's setting, Prudence City, seems to have been inspired by Marvel's Civil War, in that the default assumption is that the government requires registration of heroes as sanctioned agents. However, “unlicensed” heroes are generally given a pass, so long as collateral damage is kept to the minimum. The introduction provides an overview of this, as well as a discussion of the additions B&B makes to the game system, and a very nice breakdown of supers types, from Pulp Heroes to Silver Age style to starting in a world with no heroes at all.
It's a good introduction, providing a solid summary of the setting and never drags.
Characters
This chapter gets into making characters for B&B, focusing on the additions to the rules. First up is origin, of which there are five: Paragon, Gadgeteer, Mutant, Alien and Construct. The one that's going to be the most confusing to fans of games such as Mutants & Masterminds is going to be Paragon, which isn't your Supermans in B&B, but your Batman-esque highly trained types.
B&B also adds Acclaim and Heroism meters, which are rather cool and remind me of the Popularity and Karma mechanics from Marvel FASERIP, in which your heroes can boost their profile through their deeds...Acclaim can provide bonuses when interacting with people, while Heroism fuels things like gaining powers.
The Powers section is about 15 pages long, running the gamut from enhancing your abilities to firing blasts of energy to being freakishly large. With some of the more basic powers not running more than a sentence or two in description, there are a LOT of powers in the section, allowing for some broad customization. Interspersed throughout this section are several sample characters, some of whom are kinda cheesy, but not as bad as I've come to expect from non-licensed supers games. Some of the powers are simply layers, such as Extra Protection, Super Protection and Epic Protection, each of which provides more and more defense from attacks.
The powers are more flexible than, say, Savage Worlds (or maybe it's just that there are more of them), while also being simpler than Mutants & Masterminds. The game includes Power Limitations as well as Weaknesses, the former of which limit powers (as it sounds), the latter being broader limitations for characters above and beyond detrimental gimmicks. A character with Dark Presence, for instance, has trouble trying to interact with animals and children, while a guy with Rotten Luck will almost always be the target of an attack or insult.
New gimmicks include Alter Ego (of the Captain Marvel kind), Sidekick, Nemesis and more...filling in the standard superhero tropes, really.
It's a simple, workable system with enough depth to keep a guy like me interested.
The chapter ends with the specific character generation rules for B&B, which I definitely would have put at the beginning of the chapter instead of the end. You can randomly roll your origin, or choose it. You can use any of the three Ability generation methods listed above. The standard options for pursuits remain. Gimmicks have a random roll table, or you can use the standard method. With Powers, you can either use a set number based off of campaign scale, or you can do random rolls based off of campaign scale. In either instance, the origin selected impacts the number of powers. A random background chart is available as an option, and certain origins require specific limitations on their powers. In addition, the player has to roll one die for each power and, if it falls in the range listed on the chart, must select a limitation based off of the origin. Weaknesses are handled in a similar fashion, you roll the dice listed and, if they fall in the range listed, you gain a weakness for each die that does so. Alternately, the Director can allow players to select up to three weaknesses, gaining a new power for each weakness.
The chapter ends with information on damage, and scaling it by campaign scale, as well as how characters of different scales mix, as well as a handy chart listing all the Powers, Gimmicks, Limitations and Weaknesses.
My main gripe is definitely that I would have put all the character generation info at the beginning of the chapter, before Gimmicks, Powers and so forth. This is how it's laid out in the core, and it's more intuitive. That said, the system seems to have a good amount of flexibility without being overwhelming, which I certainly appreciate.
Jurisprudence
Prudence City is detailed in this chapter...filling in about nine text heavy pages. It starts with the city's founding and moves through the various sections and quirks of the city. City Hall, for instance, is rumored by some to rearrange its corridors and cubicles at night, when no one is around. The old City Hall is now home of the Prudence City Police Department, and despite being a weathered and decrepit building on the outside, is always somehow kept up with the cutting edge technology on the inside.
This chapter provides three newspapers, news networks and major corporations, each with their own identities. Some poor folks have been left in houses that have had highways built over and around them, and the police largely leave them to their devices...the wealthy have their own neighborhoods, complete with a distinct architectural theme, and rumors of a Romeo & Juliet story in the making between an old money family and a new money family.
The author does a really nice job of painting the city in broad strokes, while still leaving plenty of room to play around with it. Of the three networks, for instance, only two reporters are even named, giving ample room to fill the roster out as need be.
The city section is interspersed with a couple of more sample characters, as well as a very nice “random crimes & disasters” chart that you can roll on for inspiration. Results are divide by scale (ranging from local to global down to personal) and have results like rioting, cats stuck in trees, slave trading, dinosaur attacks and abducted relatives, with 60 results in all. A very nice addition.
The next section talks about being a hero in Prudence City, including the Hero Registry & Oversight Committee, as well as the pros and cons of being a registered hero, or an unregistered vigilante. The author takes a morally relative approach to matters of justice and what is an acceptable breach of law by the heroes, and a slightly cynical stance that heroes are fairly likely to slide into villainy.
A handy breakdown of types of heroes is listed in a sidebar, from tragic heroes to righteous ones, as well as vengeful heroes (vengeful villains surface later, with a note detailing their one notable difference, namely that a vengeful villain is more likely to take their mad-on out on the whole world).
The section also provides a discussion of forming teams, which has the benefits of pooling resources, but has the downside of the actions of one reflecting on the entire team. A page or so is devoted to villains, from the types of villains to a discussion of villains using henchman and lackeys, villainous masterplans and so on.
There's some good advice in the latter part of this chapter, a lot of which you've heard before (if phrased differently) if you've read too many supers RPGs...but the author never really gets full of himself, so it's not a hard read or hard to digest.
Jurisidiction
The book veers back into the crunchy stuff at this point, starting off with areas of character advancement, as well as guidelines on how to create new powers, in case your favorite oddball power from some other supers game isn't present.
A handy subsystem is detailed here for making gadgets, ranging from typical gadgets through suits and into large industrial machines. However, only Paragons or Gadgeteers can make gadgets, for better or for worse. This section also talks about damaging and repairing gadgets. It wraps up with a collection of rules and guidelines including benchmarks for guesstimating difficulties on actions you're not expecting.
Finally, a character sheet rounds out the book.
Conclusion
The book says a lot, in not a lot of pages. Admittedly, this is a sourcebook and not a rulebook, but the 57 pages or so are crammed with text and not a lot of filler. As with most all of PIG's games, you can spring for the PDF, and if you like it, upgrade to the print copy for a little more. The layout isn't the flashiest, but it also doesn't feel bland. The setting information provides a lot of leading statements that it then leaves open ended for you to fill in as you like, and most of the setting information is system neutral, to boot. Now, while I don't think the 8 pages of setting is worth getting just to port into your own favorite system, if you're already a fan of PIG's games, or if you're looking to try something new, this (and the GenreDiversion3E manual) are well worth looking at.
Powered by GenreDiversion 3E, B&B is uncharted territory for PIG, and it's been kind of overlooked due to the hype and release of other recent supers games. So, we're gonna take a look and see if it's been unfairly overlooked.
A little background on me: My first RPG was the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set...my favorite RPG of all time is Marvel SAGA...I own a lot of supers games and played even more. Supers is my favorite genre. Heck, I labor endlessly producing small press comics as fast as I can find artists to draw them. I love supers...so I'm willing to give any supers game at least a good read through.
B&B is a 57 page book available in PDF format for $6.95, which can be upgraded to a print book for an additional $6.54 at PIG's website, http://www.pigames.net . It is not a standalone game, requiring the GenreDiversion3E game book, which provides the core rules for the game, both of which are written by PIG's own Brett Bernstein.
The PDF has a very nice cover by Scott Harshbarger, featuring a man in a black and blue bodysuit flying through the air and hurling electricity at a knight garbed in red who is riding what looks an awful lot like the Goblin Glider. I am assuming the man in black and blue is The Shocker, who was the first super in the game's setting, Prudence City.
The PDF has a table of contents but no index, but is fully bookmarked, fully searchable and allows copy and paste.
Basics of the System
I'm only doing a rough overview of the system, since it's not included in the book. Characters have five abilities: Fitness, Awareness, Creativity, Reasoning and Influence, which are rated on a scale of 0 to 6+ (6 entering “unimaginable” territory). Character creation options allow for random rolling, assigning scores of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to the abilities or a point buy.
You customize characters with pursuits (skills) and gimmicks (advantages and disadvantages). Options include either 10 points spread out among the pursuits (you can take an incompetency for bonus points), or a system where you pick one incompetency, two proficiences, three specialties and one mastery.
Each character gets one free gimmick, and pays for the rest through lowering abilities or pursuits, or taking detrimental gimmicks.
The basic mechanic is rolling 2d6, adding the relevant ability, as well as any bonuses or penalties from a relevant pursuit and comparing it to a difficulty number set by the Director. Pretty straightforward stuff.
Introduction
B&B's setting, Prudence City, seems to have been inspired by Marvel's Civil War, in that the default assumption is that the government requires registration of heroes as sanctioned agents. However, “unlicensed” heroes are generally given a pass, so long as collateral damage is kept to the minimum. The introduction provides an overview of this, as well as a discussion of the additions B&B makes to the game system, and a very nice breakdown of supers types, from Pulp Heroes to Silver Age style to starting in a world with no heroes at all.
It's a good introduction, providing a solid summary of the setting and never drags.
Characters
This chapter gets into making characters for B&B, focusing on the additions to the rules. First up is origin, of which there are five: Paragon, Gadgeteer, Mutant, Alien and Construct. The one that's going to be the most confusing to fans of games such as Mutants & Masterminds is going to be Paragon, which isn't your Supermans in B&B, but your Batman-esque highly trained types.
B&B also adds Acclaim and Heroism meters, which are rather cool and remind me of the Popularity and Karma mechanics from Marvel FASERIP, in which your heroes can boost their profile through their deeds...Acclaim can provide bonuses when interacting with people, while Heroism fuels things like gaining powers.
The Powers section is about 15 pages long, running the gamut from enhancing your abilities to firing blasts of energy to being freakishly large. With some of the more basic powers not running more than a sentence or two in description, there are a LOT of powers in the section, allowing for some broad customization. Interspersed throughout this section are several sample characters, some of whom are kinda cheesy, but not as bad as I've come to expect from non-licensed supers games. Some of the powers are simply layers, such as Extra Protection, Super Protection and Epic Protection, each of which provides more and more defense from attacks.
The powers are more flexible than, say, Savage Worlds (or maybe it's just that there are more of them), while also being simpler than Mutants & Masterminds. The game includes Power Limitations as well as Weaknesses, the former of which limit powers (as it sounds), the latter being broader limitations for characters above and beyond detrimental gimmicks. A character with Dark Presence, for instance, has trouble trying to interact with animals and children, while a guy with Rotten Luck will almost always be the target of an attack or insult.
New gimmicks include Alter Ego (of the Captain Marvel kind), Sidekick, Nemesis and more...filling in the standard superhero tropes, really.
It's a simple, workable system with enough depth to keep a guy like me interested.
The chapter ends with the specific character generation rules for B&B, which I definitely would have put at the beginning of the chapter instead of the end. You can randomly roll your origin, or choose it. You can use any of the three Ability generation methods listed above. The standard options for pursuits remain. Gimmicks have a random roll table, or you can use the standard method. With Powers, you can either use a set number based off of campaign scale, or you can do random rolls based off of campaign scale. In either instance, the origin selected impacts the number of powers. A random background chart is available as an option, and certain origins require specific limitations on their powers. In addition, the player has to roll one die for each power and, if it falls in the range listed on the chart, must select a limitation based off of the origin. Weaknesses are handled in a similar fashion, you roll the dice listed and, if they fall in the range listed, you gain a weakness for each die that does so. Alternately, the Director can allow players to select up to three weaknesses, gaining a new power for each weakness.
The chapter ends with information on damage, and scaling it by campaign scale, as well as how characters of different scales mix, as well as a handy chart listing all the Powers, Gimmicks, Limitations and Weaknesses.
My main gripe is definitely that I would have put all the character generation info at the beginning of the chapter, before Gimmicks, Powers and so forth. This is how it's laid out in the core, and it's more intuitive. That said, the system seems to have a good amount of flexibility without being overwhelming, which I certainly appreciate.
Jurisprudence
Prudence City is detailed in this chapter...filling in about nine text heavy pages. It starts with the city's founding and moves through the various sections and quirks of the city. City Hall, for instance, is rumored by some to rearrange its corridors and cubicles at night, when no one is around. The old City Hall is now home of the Prudence City Police Department, and despite being a weathered and decrepit building on the outside, is always somehow kept up with the cutting edge technology on the inside.
This chapter provides three newspapers, news networks and major corporations, each with their own identities. Some poor folks have been left in houses that have had highways built over and around them, and the police largely leave them to their devices...the wealthy have their own neighborhoods, complete with a distinct architectural theme, and rumors of a Romeo & Juliet story in the making between an old money family and a new money family.
The author does a really nice job of painting the city in broad strokes, while still leaving plenty of room to play around with it. Of the three networks, for instance, only two reporters are even named, giving ample room to fill the roster out as need be.
The city section is interspersed with a couple of more sample characters, as well as a very nice “random crimes & disasters” chart that you can roll on for inspiration. Results are divide by scale (ranging from local to global down to personal) and have results like rioting, cats stuck in trees, slave trading, dinosaur attacks and abducted relatives, with 60 results in all. A very nice addition.
The next section talks about being a hero in Prudence City, including the Hero Registry & Oversight Committee, as well as the pros and cons of being a registered hero, or an unregistered vigilante. The author takes a morally relative approach to matters of justice and what is an acceptable breach of law by the heroes, and a slightly cynical stance that heroes are fairly likely to slide into villainy.
A handy breakdown of types of heroes is listed in a sidebar, from tragic heroes to righteous ones, as well as vengeful heroes (vengeful villains surface later, with a note detailing their one notable difference, namely that a vengeful villain is more likely to take their mad-on out on the whole world).
The section also provides a discussion of forming teams, which has the benefits of pooling resources, but has the downside of the actions of one reflecting on the entire team. A page or so is devoted to villains, from the types of villains to a discussion of villains using henchman and lackeys, villainous masterplans and so on.
There's some good advice in the latter part of this chapter, a lot of which you've heard before (if phrased differently) if you've read too many supers RPGs...but the author never really gets full of himself, so it's not a hard read or hard to digest.
Jurisidiction
The book veers back into the crunchy stuff at this point, starting off with areas of character advancement, as well as guidelines on how to create new powers, in case your favorite oddball power from some other supers game isn't present.
A handy subsystem is detailed here for making gadgets, ranging from typical gadgets through suits and into large industrial machines. However, only Paragons or Gadgeteers can make gadgets, for better or for worse. This section also talks about damaging and repairing gadgets. It wraps up with a collection of rules and guidelines including benchmarks for guesstimating difficulties on actions you're not expecting.
Finally, a character sheet rounds out the book.
Conclusion
The book says a lot, in not a lot of pages. Admittedly, this is a sourcebook and not a rulebook, but the 57 pages or so are crammed with text and not a lot of filler. As with most all of PIG's games, you can spring for the PDF, and if you like it, upgrade to the print copy for a little more. The layout isn't the flashiest, but it also doesn't feel bland. The setting information provides a lot of leading statements that it then leaves open ended for you to fill in as you like, and most of the setting information is system neutral, to boot. Now, while I don't think the 8 pages of setting is worth getting just to port into your own favorite system, if you're already a fan of PIG's games, or if you're looking to try something new, this (and the GenreDiversion3E manual) are well worth looking at.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Tommy's Take on WWE NXT 6/1/10
So, judging by non-spoiler reactions, I'm going to be very disappointed by NXT.
- A highlight package opens the show, running the whole series, including eliminations.
- Barrett wins or we riot.
- Seriously...Otunga shouldn't even BE here at this point.
- Striker is in the ring!
- I would be fine with Gabriel. He's not as complete a package was Barrett, but he's got a future.
- The five eliminated Rookies are in the front row.
- Here come the Pros...bet Carlito's not with them.
- Now here comes Wade Barrett, David Otunga and Justin Gabriel.
- Ugh. Otunga's winning and taking on R-Truth for the US title.
- Two Pro's Polls tonight.
- Ooooh...Next week, Season 2 of NXT.
- Husky Harris, son of Mike Rotunda...paired with Cody Rhodes!
- Triple Threat Elimination...NEXT!
- Harris does not have the "WWE look"...but he looks a lot like Cody's dad...
- John Morrison will be a Pro for Season 2! Apparently he's got a giant...Eli Cottonwood. 7'1"! The guy is not threatening when he talks...but looks good.
WADE BARRETT (w/CHRIS JERICHO) vs DAVID OTUNGA (w/R-TRUTH) vs JUSTIN GABRIEL (w/MATT HARDY)
- What the Hell is on the back of Otunga's head?! The big guys go after Gabriel, who fights back. Otunga drops Barrett, but Gabriel with a quick cover attempt. Gabriel dropkicks Barrett through the ropes, but Otunga takes over. HUGE clothesline in the corner. A second one by Otunga. Matthews calls Gabriel a "one trick pony". Barrett dumps Gabriel and beats down Otunga. He nails Gabriel as he tries to enter the ring. Otunga blocks a suplex, and Gabriel hits a springboard sunset flip on Barrett! Otunga all over Gabriel now. Dumps Barrett. Slams Gabriel into the turnbuckles. Gabriel gets dumped onto Barrett! Apparently WWE fans will get to vote next season. Otunga goes for the pin, but Gabriel kicks out. Powerslam by Otunga! Barrett fights Otunga down, and gets nailed by Gabriel! 450 on Otunga! Barrett rips Gabriel out of the ring! He covers Otunga! Otunga is gone!! Barrett takes a breather in the ring as Hardy offers Gabriel encouragement! Commercials.
- Barrett with a submission, but Gabriel fights back! Abdominal stretch on Gabriel! Barrett has been all over the midsection of Gabriel instead of the back, trying to eliminate the 450! Seriously...Barrett needs to win this whole thing. Big elbowdrop. Misses an avalanche, and Gabriel unloads with kicks! Huge kick and forearm! Floatover Stinger Splash! Springboard crossbody gets two!! Cheap shot to the gut, nice continuity! Gabriel fights out of the fireman's carry into a sunset flip! Kickout! STO! Kinda sloppy...but he's going up!! 450 gets knees!!! Cradle! THAT'S IT!!
Winner: WADE BARRETT via pinfall over Otunga (after Gabriel 450 Splash) and pinfall over Gabriel (inside cradle)
- Good triple threat. Barrett and Gabriel looked great.
- The first Pro's Poll.
- One guy loses now, and the last guy goes out later, I guess.
- MVP will be a Pro in Season 2. So he gets this season's Darren Young? Percy Watson...this guy seems incredibly energetic. Looks annoying, but not necessarily in a bad way.
- Zack Ryder is a Pro in Season 2...and is only talking about himself. Titus O'Neil is his rookie. Ripped dude. Guy is bland as Hell talking.
- Someone loses right now.
- Striker's going to the eliminated rookies!
- Tarver is talking about himself...and says he should win it...even though he's out.
- Daniel Bryan says Otunga can't wrestle and Gabriel can't wrestle...so Barrett should win.
- Sheffield refuses to talk.
- Darren Young says Barrett is the only one built for it mentally and physically...and sounds like he's cheerleading for him.
- Slater says Barrett should win it...it's "obvious".
- Crap.
PRO'S POLL:
#1. Wade Barrett
#2. David Otunga
#3. Justin Gabriel
- Ugh.
- Gabriel says he's tenacious, and he'll keep coming back until he makes it. This is probably the best promo he's cut.
- Matt Hardy intercepts Gabriel with a handshake and hug.
- Justin Gabriel WILL NOT DIE.
- Team LayCool?! SERIOUSLY? Kaval! HA! This is this season's Daniel Bryan-Miz.
- So...how is Otunga taking #1 from here?
- Mark Henry is a Pro. His rookie? Lucky Cannon. He's got a good look. Reminds me a bit of Morrison.
- Promo contest between Barrett and Otunga.
- Otunga is knocking on Barrett's teeth and nose with weak jokes about intimidating dentists. Barrett flexes his pecs after Otunga knocks on his body.
- Barrett says he's a fighter, not a bodybuilder. Says Otunga has no clue how to use his body, and Khali has more balance and poise than Otunga. HA! He makes a veiled "IT Factor" joke.
- Ugh.
- Wasn't Barrett's best mic work, but it was better than Otunga.
- Kofi Kingston is a Pro! He gets Michael McGillicutty, who is the son of Curt Hennig.
- Can we get the Otunga abortion over with?
PRO'S POLL:
Winner:
Runner-Up:
- Wait...The Miz interrupts. Miz is returning as a Pro! I think even Punk did a thumbs down! He's ripping on Bryan. His rookie is Alex Riley...who is like mini Miz. Wow.
PRO'S POLL:
Winner:
Runner-Up:
- Regal SLAMS Jennifer Hudson! Punk and Regal are with Barrett. Regal is congratulating him already.
- Regal and R-Truth having an awesome stand-off. Christian points out Regal hasn't won in a year.
- Jericho undercuts Regal!
- Crap.
- They're going to turn on Jericho. Otunga's winning with a bullshit swerve on Jericho.
- YES!!! THEY DID IT!!
- Otunga looks like he's about to cry.
- Otunga's a two time loser...aw.
- Jennifer Hudson's not a bigger star than Carrie Underwood. Just saying.
- Barrett calls it the beginning of a brand new era! Change is HERE.
- Darren Young and Daniel Bryan clap for him...I'm guessing that's a shoot.
- I doubt I recap Season 2. The cast looks good...Team LayCool does not.
- NXT video package to end the show.
- Great ending to a good first season. Thank God Barrett won in the end.
- A highlight package opens the show, running the whole series, including eliminations.
- Barrett wins or we riot.
- Seriously...Otunga shouldn't even BE here at this point.
- Striker is in the ring!
- I would be fine with Gabriel. He's not as complete a package was Barrett, but he's got a future.
- The five eliminated Rookies are in the front row.
- Here come the Pros...bet Carlito's not with them.
- Now here comes Wade Barrett, David Otunga and Justin Gabriel.
- Ugh. Otunga's winning and taking on R-Truth for the US title.
- Two Pro's Polls tonight.
- Ooooh...Next week, Season 2 of NXT.
- Husky Harris, son of Mike Rotunda...paired with Cody Rhodes!
- Triple Threat Elimination...NEXT!
- Harris does not have the "WWE look"...but he looks a lot like Cody's dad...
- John Morrison will be a Pro for Season 2! Apparently he's got a giant...Eli Cottonwood. 7'1"! The guy is not threatening when he talks...but looks good.
WADE BARRETT (w/CHRIS JERICHO) vs DAVID OTUNGA (w/R-TRUTH) vs JUSTIN GABRIEL (w/MATT HARDY)
- What the Hell is on the back of Otunga's head?! The big guys go after Gabriel, who fights back. Otunga drops Barrett, but Gabriel with a quick cover attempt. Gabriel dropkicks Barrett through the ropes, but Otunga takes over. HUGE clothesline in the corner. A second one by Otunga. Matthews calls Gabriel a "one trick pony". Barrett dumps Gabriel and beats down Otunga. He nails Gabriel as he tries to enter the ring. Otunga blocks a suplex, and Gabriel hits a springboard sunset flip on Barrett! Otunga all over Gabriel now. Dumps Barrett. Slams Gabriel into the turnbuckles. Gabriel gets dumped onto Barrett! Apparently WWE fans will get to vote next season. Otunga goes for the pin, but Gabriel kicks out. Powerslam by Otunga! Barrett fights Otunga down, and gets nailed by Gabriel! 450 on Otunga! Barrett rips Gabriel out of the ring! He covers Otunga! Otunga is gone!! Barrett takes a breather in the ring as Hardy offers Gabriel encouragement! Commercials.
- Barrett with a submission, but Gabriel fights back! Abdominal stretch on Gabriel! Barrett has been all over the midsection of Gabriel instead of the back, trying to eliminate the 450! Seriously...Barrett needs to win this whole thing. Big elbowdrop. Misses an avalanche, and Gabriel unloads with kicks! Huge kick and forearm! Floatover Stinger Splash! Springboard crossbody gets two!! Cheap shot to the gut, nice continuity! Gabriel fights out of the fireman's carry into a sunset flip! Kickout! STO! Kinda sloppy...but he's going up!! 450 gets knees!!! Cradle! THAT'S IT!!
Winner: WADE BARRETT via pinfall over Otunga (after Gabriel 450 Splash) and pinfall over Gabriel (inside cradle)
- Good triple threat. Barrett and Gabriel looked great.
- The first Pro's Poll.
- One guy loses now, and the last guy goes out later, I guess.
- MVP will be a Pro in Season 2. So he gets this season's Darren Young? Percy Watson...this guy seems incredibly energetic. Looks annoying, but not necessarily in a bad way.
- Zack Ryder is a Pro in Season 2...and is only talking about himself. Titus O'Neil is his rookie. Ripped dude. Guy is bland as Hell talking.
- Someone loses right now.
- Striker's going to the eliminated rookies!
- Tarver is talking about himself...and says he should win it...even though he's out.
- Daniel Bryan says Otunga can't wrestle and Gabriel can't wrestle...so Barrett should win.
- Sheffield refuses to talk.
- Darren Young says Barrett is the only one built for it mentally and physically...and sounds like he's cheerleading for him.
- Slater says Barrett should win it...it's "obvious".
- Crap.
PRO'S POLL:
#1. Wade Barrett
#2. David Otunga
#3. Justin Gabriel
- Ugh.
- Gabriel says he's tenacious, and he'll keep coming back until he makes it. This is probably the best promo he's cut.
- Matt Hardy intercepts Gabriel with a handshake and hug.
- Justin Gabriel WILL NOT DIE.
- Team LayCool?! SERIOUSLY? Kaval! HA! This is this season's Daniel Bryan-Miz.
- So...how is Otunga taking #1 from here?
- Mark Henry is a Pro. His rookie? Lucky Cannon. He's got a good look. Reminds me a bit of Morrison.
- Promo contest between Barrett and Otunga.
- Otunga is knocking on Barrett's teeth and nose with weak jokes about intimidating dentists. Barrett flexes his pecs after Otunga knocks on his body.
- Barrett says he's a fighter, not a bodybuilder. Says Otunga has no clue how to use his body, and Khali has more balance and poise than Otunga. HA! He makes a veiled "IT Factor" joke.
- Ugh.
- Wasn't Barrett's best mic work, but it was better than Otunga.
- Kofi Kingston is a Pro! He gets Michael McGillicutty, who is the son of Curt Hennig.
- Can we get the Otunga abortion over with?
PRO'S POLL:
Winner:
Runner-Up:
- Wait...The Miz interrupts. Miz is returning as a Pro! I think even Punk did a thumbs down! He's ripping on Bryan. His rookie is Alex Riley...who is like mini Miz. Wow.
PRO'S POLL:
Winner:
Runner-Up:
- Regal SLAMS Jennifer Hudson! Punk and Regal are with Barrett. Regal is congratulating him already.
- Regal and R-Truth having an awesome stand-off. Christian points out Regal hasn't won in a year.
- Jericho undercuts Regal!
- Crap.
- They're going to turn on Jericho. Otunga's winning with a bullshit swerve on Jericho.
- YES!!! THEY DID IT!!
- Otunga looks like he's about to cry.
- Otunga's a two time loser...aw.
- Jennifer Hudson's not a bigger star than Carrie Underwood. Just saying.
- Barrett calls it the beginning of a brand new era! Change is HERE.
- Darren Young and Daniel Bryan clap for him...I'm guessing that's a shoot.
- I doubt I recap Season 2. The cast looks good...Team LayCool does not.
- NXT video package to end the show.
- Great ending to a good first season. Thank God Barrett won in the end.
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