1. With the recent announcement that Smackdown! is moving to the SyFy channel in October and that NXT is not going to stay on SyFy when this move is complete, I have to wonder if this will be the only season of NXT. If it is, that’s quite sad because I’ve enjoyed a lot of things about this show. They might be able to integrate parts of it into Raw or Smackdown! but since the ratings have not drastically improved over what ECW was pulling on a regular basis I think it’s a safe bet that this show will be a one shot deal.
2. Why did they show the highlights of the keg contest? I know they have to recap but they could’ve at least avoided showing Sheffield’s part in it because it showed how botched it came off when he crossed the line .5 seconds too early.
3. I’m not one to critique signs that fans take with them to the shows but this one caught my attention near the entrance ramp and gave me a good laugh: “Cole Shot JR.”
4. As a former Impromptu speaker in high school and as a coach for high school and college speech and debate, I thought the speaking competition was interesting. However, it’s execution was horrible botched. Daniel Bryan looked like a fool, very few of the guys stayed on topic, and I didn’t understand anything Sheffield said.
5. Is the casting of Tarver as a bumbling baffoon who doesn’t make sense intentional? He botched his lines when he was introduced, causing Striker to make fun of him, and then said some nonense about Britney Spears.
6. I loved the music for the Battle of Tattoos (Batista/Orton) video package. Since I missed Raw last night, I was into it until Cena ambushed Swagger and trapped Batista in his weak looking STF.
7. Gallows comment about throwing Darren Young into a chair like a punk and having CM Punk give him the stare of death was entertaining.
8. I’m glad we’ve returned to the interaction between the Miz and Bryan. I was afraid that they had transitioned that issue to Bryan and Cole.
9. As much as I hate to say it, Bryan just looked small when matched up against Regal and that’s going to be a big knock on him in the WWE. When he hit the full nelson suplex it didn’t look all that devastating because of the size issue.
10. I felt like many of the storylines were rushed on tonight’s show. One segment didn’t properly build the Young-Gallows match. Also, I’m not sure it was all that deserving of a main event slot considering the build and how unover both guys are.
One final note as I close these 10 Thoughts: there are STILL several more months of this show and it’s beginning to drop. Once the eliminations start I’m sure things will speed up, but the last several episodes of this show have really cooled this concept down after a hot start.
