The NXT Formula: How Season Two, Future Seasons Will Go

Since NXT began, I have been observing the way that the talent has been used by the writers. Knowing that the majority of the creative writers are the opposite of just that, I decided to turn NXT into an exact science. There are some certainties that can be made from a season of NXT, which are:

ECW Alumni Dominates Pros

When NXT began and replaced the cancelled ECW, it seemed like there was a shift in the treatment of the WWE's talent. Much of the wrestling world can agree that when joining ECW, it meant one of two things for veteran wrestlers.

ECW either: 1) gave legitimacy to those who needed momentum or 2) punish those who were in the proverbial "doghouse". For the most part, becoming an ECW superstar was not a blessing. While some used the brand as a stepping stone, much of the roster consisted of those that WWE had forgotten about, yet wanted to keep around (just in case).

The rosters for the first and second NXT seasons have consisted many superstars that have already spent some time on Tuesday nights.

From season one: Christian, CM Punk, The Miz, William Regal, and Matt Hardy. From season two: John Morrison, The Miz, Mark Henry, Layla, Zack Ryder, and Kofi Kingston. This doesn't even include the fact that the host is Matt Striker, former ECW wrestler and commentator, along with Josh Mathews commentating, a job he did on ECW also.

If this trend is to continue, expect the likes of Yoshi Tatsu, Chavo Guerrero, Goldust, The Big Show, Jack Swagger, Evan Bourne, Sheamus and Vladamir Kozlov. It will be interesting to see how many of these men will actually be in future seasons.

Typecasting the NXT Rookies

At this point, you can almost feel like you can associate this season's rookies with last season's and almost create stereotypes for the eight rookies, including:

The indie wrestler with the bad pro pairing: previously Daniel Bryan, insert Kaval.

The rookie that gets along well with his pro: was Heath Slater, now Percy Watson.

The awkward pairing that will lead to the rookie leaving early: first Skip Sheffield, now Eli Cottonwood.

The athletic rookie without a good pro, leading to him being misused: previously Michael Tarver, currently Titus O'Neil.

The rookie with an experienced and cocky pro that will likely win: it was Wade Barrett, it will become Alex Riley.

The lively rookie who won't agree with his pro and end up fighting him: so long, David Otunga, hello Husky Harris.

The rookie with excitement that fans will not enjoy or root for: take out Darren Young, insert Lucky Cannon.

The hyped rookie that will stick around, but will have that something about him that will keep him from winning: that was Justin Gabriel, it is now Michael McGillicutty.

NXT's Impact on Pros

There are also some things that we have seen from the first season that look like they will continue with season.

For one, as mentioned before, one of the Pros will fight his own rookie. In season one, it was David Otunga going after pro R-Truth. This time around, the writing on the walls suggests that it will be the pro fighting the rookie, as Cody Rhodes will take on his rookie, Husky Harris.

Another interesting point about the Pros from season one was the amount of gold. Two of the eight Pros came into NXT with gold, just like this season (if you group Women's Champion Lay-Cool as one Pro, as well as Kofi Kingston as Intercontinental Champion).

In season one, The Miz had the United States Championship and Chris Jericho had the World Heavyweight Championship. Both men lost their titles by season's end, including Miz winning the Unified Tag Team Titles during the show. As season one wrapped up, R-Truth had gained the United States Championship.

Expect the same to happen in season two. There's a chance that it might not, since NXT's second season is only 12 weeks long. Kofi and Lay-Cool could easily lose their titles in the next three months, while the likes of Cody Rhodes, The Miz, MVP, or even Zack Ryder as possible contenders for singles titles.

Will these trends stand? It's possible that they won't. After all, there has only been one week of the second season and it's hard to compare to something that has only happened once. But this is the WWE, after all. History repeating itself is just a regular thing.