Scouting Developmental - aka the WWE NXT Thread

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

NXT 5/23

-Curt Hawkins v. El Sami Zayn - Is Curt Hawkins wearing an Aces n 8's jacket? Sami Zayn is full of El Generico mannerisms. Spatters of Ole! chants from the crowd. Crowd is dead throughout most of the match...rare for the NXT crowd. Just go check out this match to see the beginning of the age of the genesis of...Sami Zayn.

-Antonio Cesaro v. Dollar Store Tanahashi - Jobber Squash. Cesaro cuts a promo.

MOAR ZAYN! Sami Zayn interupts. Now we have a match!

-Antonio Cesaro v. Sami Zayn - YES YES YES! What stands out right away, is what made El Generico so fantastic...his ability to sell and show emotion during a match. Evident right away. Now we get to see that Generico is a decent looking guy, got a ton of natural nice guy charisma, and he can talk, along with that fantastic in-ring ability which isn't lost. Zayn with the big upset, Regal says "Ole Ole Ole" on commentary (lol). Cesaro with post-match shenanigans. Crowd was rather dead throughout the match. But its quite good.

Entire first half of the show is definitely watchable because of ZAYN!

Emma and Audrey Marie promo...Audrey Marie was already future endeavored, so, I guess she'll put over Emma on her way out.

Fantastic Bray Wyatt pre-tape package.

-Enzo Amore v. Mason Ryan - Terrible Jersey Shore gimmick from Enzo Amore. Ba da BOOM...baddest guy in the room. Wut? This is going to be a terrible squash match. Mason Ryan makes Rob Terry look like Bryan Danielson. Its funny to think they once had the rocket ship strapped to Batista Jr. as he was the second longest reigning FCW champion.

-Corey Graves v. Bray Wyatt - Both of these guys are considered top of the food chain in NXT. I'm not a fan of Graves at all, but he's gotten better. Wyatt is in a groove right now. He's fantastic. If I'm a promoter, I see Bray Wyatt, and I see dollar signs everywhere. But what the fuck do I know? Wyatt's mask has come off at least five times now. Its comical. Heel shenanigans and Bray Wyatt wins. Really good main event. Wyatt is one of the hottest guys in the entire company right now.

Kassius Ohno comes in during a post-match beat down. I guess we'll see Ohno and Graves team up versus the Wyatt Family at some point.

Strongly recommended watch. ZAYN! Good main event. Go watch. NOW.

[SuperKevin]

Bray Wyatt wears a mask?

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Bray Wyatt wears a mask?

Current gimmick...Chris Jericho broke his nose, so he wears a white face plate.

[SuperKevin]

Current gimmick...Chris Jericho broke his nose, so he wears a white face plate.

Oh ok

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Sami Zayn

What He's Up To - The former El Generico just debuted winning both his opening match against Curt Hawkins and in an impromptu match versus Antonio Cesaro.

Look/Physical Presence: 3.5
- No homo, under the mask, he's not a bad looking dude, he's got a good enough physique. He's not huge, but there is no reason why you can't bill him at or around Shawn Michaels size with a little more work in the gym. He could use a tan, too, but very little needs to be done for the guys look.

Promo Ability/Charisma: 4+
- He's got a natural nice guy charsima to him. He can cut a promo. He can capture an audience like few others in the ring.

In-ring Ability: 5
- He's one of the best in the world. Period.

Overall: 12.5/15.
- Let him develop a repoire with the crowd and sky is the limit for Sami Zayn. I can see him getting comfortable in the mid to upper card for a long time. The cream will rise to the top.

Is He Ready? Could he go on the main card right now and work his way up? Yeah. But I think he should go and dominate NXT for a little while. Honestly, he should win the NXT title and be their star for a while.

[Leftwich]

Sami Zayn

What He's Up To - The former El Generico just debuted winning both his opening match against Curt Hawkins and in an impromptu match versus Antonio Cesaro.

Look/Physical Presence: 3.5
- No homo, under the mask, he's not a bad looking dude, he's got a good enough physique. He's not huge, but there is no reason why you can't bill him at or around Shawn Michaels size with a little more work in the gym. He could use a tan, too, but very little needs to be done for the guys look.

Promo Ability/Charisma: 4+
- He's got a natural nice guy charsima to him. He can cut a promo. He can capture an audience like few others in the ring.

In-ring Ability: 5
- He's one of the best in the world. Period.

Overall: 12.5/15.
- Let him develop a repoire with the crowd and sky is the limit for Sami Zayn. I can see him getting comfortable in the mid to upper card for a long time. The cream will rise to the top.

Is He Ready? Could he go on the main card right now and work his way up? Yeah. But I think he should go and dominate NXT for a little while. Honestly, he should win the NXT title and be their star for a while.

I didn't like the fact that they took the mask off of him but like you said "He's a good looking dude". I think he has the "IT" look to get insanely over in the E.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Listing my little scoring for NXT talent.

Sami Zayn - 12.5/15 - Upper midcard / Main Event potential.
Kassius Ohno - 12/15 - Main Event caliber with physique improvements.
Dean Ambrose - 11.5/15 - Main event heel FOIL potential.
Bray Wyatt - 10.5/15 - Upper card potential with this gimmick.
Roman Reigns - 10/15 - Raw, but Main Event potential.
Seth Rollins - 9.5/15 - Midcarder.
Richie Steamboat - 9/15 - Midcarder.
Big E Langston - 8.5/15 - Midcarder.
Adrian Neville - 7.5/15 - Height limitations, but potential tag team guy or undercard workhorse.
Bo Dallas - 6.5/15 - Curtain jerker and I'm just not into him.
Corey Graves - 3.5/15 - Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.

Overall, I'm still pretty solid behind these rankings. I've since bumped Kassius Ohno down slightly in regards to "look" just because its been months now and still not much change to his physique...still kind of doughy looking. Its just something that you know the E will knock him down for. Big E has some hidden charisma I think he can unlock in his promo work and it could bump him up a little bit, and I've seen improved work from him in the ring, so I gave him a little bump. He's had good matches on NXT and on the main roster.

I'm finding my scale to look something like this.

10+ - Upper mid-card to Main Event quality and potential.
9.5 - 8 - Midcarder.
7.5 to 6 - Bottom of the card talent, or potential tag team standout.
5 and under - NXT -4- Life or I'm just not that into you.

[Warner2BruceTD]

FUCK HIM AND THE HORSE HE RODE IN ON

Agree with most of these. I think, unfortunately, we are higher on Ohno than the company is. Also, the company seems to be much higher on Langston than you are.

Rollins has acquitted himself much better than I thought he would. This is going to sound horrible, but he sounds like a pussy when he speaks. He will never sound tough. So I think he needs to be in a whiny kind of role to take advantage of that.

[FedEx227]

Just saying Larry. I think you should add a little more content to each of the rankings and post it on Voices of Wrestling

[FedEx227]

In fact everything you do in this thread needs to be on the damn site and get the nice shiny layout it deserves.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Watch while you can, the Zayn/Cesaro match was already pulled off youtube

[Warner2BruceTD]

also, Curt Hawkins is very, very good

Great guy to have around on the roster, for matches like this.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Sami Zayn is full of El Generico mannerisms.

Yup.

Watching it, I was instantly struck that holy shit, this is just El Generico without the mask. He even does what is essentially the same entrance, running the apron and jumping over.

[calgaryballer]

Is that a good debut for a former ROH type? I've only seen a couple his matches with Steen, but that match seemed a bit short and sloppy. Maybe it's just me

[Warner2BruceTD]

Is that a good debut for a former ROH type? I've only seen a couple his matches with Steen, but that match seemed a bit short and sloppy. Maybe it's just me

I thought it was as good as a 5 minute TV match is going to get, and he acquitted himself quite well.