If you read the spoilers for NXT (they tape well in advance) then you saw this debut coming, but I don’t, so this was a wonderful surprise. Rhyno looks exactly the same, and it looks like bringing former household names is going to be a trend going forward, as GM William Regal announced that The Brian Kendrick is coming to NXT next week. Bringing in wrestlers with already established reputations is a very smart move by HHH and NXT, for a few reasons. One of them is that the crowd already knows who these guys are, so putting Rhyno in a 30 second squash match like this is effective because the audience knows his back story and knows how dominant he can be. It also helps guys like Tyler Breeze and Adrian Neville who may have had to take a backseat and put over guys like Owens, Itami and Balor. With an influx of older, established guys, they can come in NXT and tear the house down with the new guys and allow ALL the young wrestlers to be pushed forward at once. A loss for Rhyno to a Finn Balor or Hideo Itami doesn’t diminish Rhyno at all, but in the eyes of the NXT audience, it’s a big win for Balor or Itami. While this has nothing to do with comebacks, I love that Regal is always standing/leaning against his desk in these backstage interview segments. I picture him just sleeping standing up and opening his eyes when it’s time to go to work. Chairs are for fools!

– Ryan