#3 NXT Season One
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After a brief stint at FCW, Bryan seemingly formed a long-term agreement with WWE, agreeing to take part in their first edition of NXT, a new reality-TV like programme where the winner would be guaranteed a contract on the main roster as well as a shot at the WWE Championship. Bryan came in alongside Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, David Otunga and others. He was by far the most well known of the group but failed to win the series ultimately.
His time on NXT was of particular significance, however, as it was the first real occasion where the WWE Universe were able to see him in action. Independent wrestling had grown quite the following by 2010, but there were still plenty who only watched Vince’s promotion, and would not have known much about Bryan other than what friends and internet chat rooms had said. The WWE wasted no time in introducing the star to the audience, putting him in a match with the then World Heavyweight Champion, Chris Jericho.
Bryan’s NXT career was dominated mainly by his ongoing feud with The Miz, who became his ‘mentor’ at the start of the show. The two began a very believable, almost shoot-like rivalry where neither star felt the other was worthy of being associated with them.
Miz played off the fact that many doubted Bryan’s ability to connect with the audience, claiming that wrestling skills might have gotten Bryan so far in the indies, but to make it in WWE he needed a personality. This was not lost on the WWE Universe itself, as Bryan’s mic abilities were exposed as fairly mediocre, but he still managed to stay popular with the fans until his early exit from the show.
However you feel about Bryan’s first NXT run, it did allow him to put his foot firmly in the door and helped vanquish any doubts about whether the WWE would ever take him seriously as a competitor. After a brief hiatus following the now infamous tie incident on Raw, Bryan came back to the company, this time on the main roster, and it wouldn’t be long before he earned his first United States Championship.
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