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WWE NXT – June 15, 2010
Season 1 Finale
After several months, the first ever winner of NXT has been crowned. He now gets a title match of his choosing at a future PPV. Before the final match, the other 6 NXT rookies were also invited back to ply their craft in randomized matches and hope to impress management with the competition ending.
David Otunga def. Skip Sheffield
Skip Sheffield showed much more fire and tenacity than he did in his previous NXT appearances, and he certainly seemed to have the A-Lister reeling. Unfortunately for Skip, that wasn’t enough to keep the crafty Otunga from grabbing a victory following a hook of the tights.
Bryan Danielson def. Darren Young
Darren Young got an unlucky draw on this night, as the former Daniel Bryan was certainly in the mood to use Young as target practice in advance of his unsanctioned match against The Miz. After using a flurry of unique offensive maneuvers, Danielson netted his first ever win against an NXT rookie following a bridging dragon suplex.
The Miz attacks Bryan Danielson
Danielson didn’t have much time to celebrate, as The Miz hopped into the ring and assaulted him before hitting a Skull-Crushing Finale. Miz belittled his downed opponent as if to say “how do you like it now?” These two men are surely going to tear into each other on Monday.
Michael Tarver def. Heath Slater
If Danielson’s returning performance was the most impressive, Michael Tarver’s surely was the most surprising. Although Slater got the early advantage, Tarver connected with a well-placed punch to the jaw for the victory. Tarver had boasted about his punch going into the contest, but this was the first time it had actually been seen, and it failed to disappoint.
Wade Barrett def. Justin Gabriel to win NXT
After being #1 in the Pros Poll for several weeks running, Wade Barrett seemed to lose some steam after suffering a defeat at the hands of Justin Gabriel last week and falling to #2 on the poll. However, he made up for it this week in a big way. The two finalists had an intense back-and-forth battle that captivated everybody. The turning point came when Justin Gabriel appeared to have the 450 all set up only for Barrett to put his knees up upon impact. Barrett capitalized by hitting his fireman’s carry finishing move, and three seconds later he was crowned the winner of NXT Season 1.
Barrett and his WWE Pro Chris Jericho celebrated afterwards amid streams of confetti. Wade Barrett has now earned the right to a title shot on PPV, and doubtless the intelligent Barrett will inform everybody of his decision in the near future. Furthermore, he has also earned the right to call himself WWE’s next breakout star. How high will Barrett’s rising star go? Will any of the other NXT rookies be able to establish themselves? Continue watching WWE programming to find out!
Next week on the standard 10 PM timeslot, we will take a look back at the most memorable moments from Season 1 of NXT. The following week, we will be introduced to the WWE Pros for NXT Season 2, and they will look to gain momentum before meeting their rookies. NXT Season 2 will formally begin on July 6th.
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