Wrestling Rumblings #82
July 30, 2010
By: Jose Marrero of Wrestleview.com
As I write this column I am literally moments away from going to work late tonight and a hectic day with moving my house and work tomorrow but I thought the people who look forward to this column every Friday deserved some sort of effort, so I’ll apologize beforehand if this is not the best of efforts but something is better than nothing right? So here I am on minimal sleep, frazzed out of my mind and having to get into a wrestling state of mind. So what do I get into this week? TNA Hardcore Justice? Been buried and dissected by everyone by now I am sure. The storyline with the Nexus? There is nothing worth really getting into there at the moment. So I started thinking about NXT and how pretty soon there won’t be an NXT at all if nothing comes to fruition after Smackdown moves to Sy Fy in the fall. It wasn’t that long ago that I did a bit of a preview on NXT season 2 and it is amazing how a couple of months can change your prospective on things. Let’s see what I think of the cast of NXT Season 2…you’re reading “Wrestling Rumblings.”
Kaval- I don’t know if disappointed is the best way to describe the former Low-Ki’s performance on the show but it wasn’t quite what I expected. Sure I figured he was going to do a ton of jobs just like his other ROH predecessor Bryan Danielson but I thought there would be a bit more depth to him and I just haven’t seen it. Say what you want about Bryan Danielson but while WWE through the Miz picked on him relentlessly for a lack of personality they actually wound up giving him one. I still don’t know who Kaval is supposed to be yet and well having in ring talent is important but it’s not enough to make it on a national stage.
Eli Cottonwood- I’d probably like the guy a lot better if the guy who started just randomly beating guys up after being eliminated was the same guy we got from day one. I like the gimmick of him being a little off his rocker but instead of it being a crazy man gimmick it became a bit of a wacky one. Add into it his bad in ring work and promo skills and it really, really stunk. Believe it or not but after his elimination I saw potential in him. Say what you want about the guy but you can’t teach 7 feet and that’s an asset that can’t be denied. When I see Eli Cottonwood I think of another not so talented big guy in 911 in ECW and how over he was despite not being able to do anything more than one move. How did that happen? You accentuate the positives and hide the negatives. Eli might not have the brightest future but I still believe he has a future.
Percy Watson- It’s funny because early on I found him kind of amusing and now very quickly I have begun to be annoyed by him “you know what I am saying?” I think the whole deal with him wearing the glasses is retarded too and someone should tell Percy that Team 3D wants there gimmick back. I will say this much he has a great look but I still stand by my belief that he is less talented than his former tag team partner Darren Young and well look at Darren Young the whipping boy of Nexus. I still do not see much potential in Percy but I think he will get a good amount of time to prove me wrong. Here is hoping that he does.
Titus O’neil- I really felt bad for Titus but he proves that just because you can excel at one sport does not mean you can do the same at wrestling. He has an awesome body, but not much else. He can’t work, can’t cut promos and well isn’t all that charismatic. I do think WWE likes his look though and athletic background so maybe with some seasoning we can try it again one day.
Lucky Cannon- I really hate this character but I will give him a lot of credit he has found a way to connect with the audience and that’s really important and will open up a lot of doors for him. There is a saying in football that “speed kills” what that means is that if you have that burst of speed you can usually get by with it until you actually learn technique. In wrestling its “charisma kills” and the same thing applies. Here is hoping that Lucky can use his connection with the audience to learn to do the other things that make a superstar work.
Husky Harris- Boy this was not the same guy I saw in developmental. It’s funny but sometimes guys just kick around in developmental and don’t do much because they just feel it’s a waste. One of those guys most fans know really well in Brock Lesnar, Husky Harris will be another. If I had to find one chink in his armor it’s that I think his promo skills could be a bit better but he is definitely major league material and every time I see him now he seems to get better and better.
Micheal McGuillicutty- I will say this but his ring work at the moment is “perfect” but he just feels like he is missing something. I really can’t say what it is, he is a terrific athlete but it’s just something. I want to compare him to Shelton Benjamin in that I always felt that way about Shelton and while he had a decent career he didn’t go as far as most would have liked probably for that same reason. Here is hoping that Micheal finds it.
Alex Riley- Alex Riley is really hit and miss with me on most weeks. There are some weeks where I look at him and keep feeling h is gimmick would’ve been so successful if it happened 20 years ago and then there are weeks where he cuts great promos and I feel that a character like him could be very successful in the mid card of any company the question is which Alex Riley is the real one? I think if he could improve upon his ring skills and maybe lower the volume a bit on his character the future could be bright for him.
On that note it’s time to wrap up the column for the week. Of course I have to give the people who read this fine column something to do. Unfortunately for me I’ll be trying to get out of my mountain of boxes as I’ll be unpacking and working most of the weekend but of course you guys in the NYC area can check out NYWC which will be having a show on August 31st in Deer Park NY any independent fans should check it out. Rumor is Mikey was offered a shot to train WWE Developmental stars so you may not be seeing Mikey here on the East Coast for long if he decides to try his hand at that (Mikey owns and trains all the NYWC guys). OK it’s time to get out of here, while I am busy this weekend I will try my best to answer any and all emails so keep them coming at wrestlingrumblings@hotmail.com and well that’s it till next week, I’ll try to do better than and until then, I’m out.