(BP)

Who produces the commentary team on NXT? I'd hope whoever it is will replace Vince in the Raw team's ear since NXT is usually superb, and at worst is still head and shoulders over Raw.

I thought Kidd/Neville II from this week's NXT was better than the takeover match, although they had something to build on from that match and Nattie contributed by being in Kidd's corner. Neville doesn't have much going for him, but if I'm going to watch a mediocre worker relying on a couple of cool stock spots I'd take him over RVD. The crowd will turn on him when he finally faces Sami, if not earlier during the Breeze feud.

It's a shame Dixie's purse strings are so tight right now. I really want to hear Tenay have to exasperatedly keep saying, "We know who that is Taz!"

Vince seems to simultaneously have a thing about being a legitimate entertainment conglomerate like Disney while also believing that his audience is mostly the lowest common denominator.

I'd guess that it'll be Ambrose/Reigns vs Rollins/HHH at MITB or a singles match with all involved somehow. There's no point to putting Rollins in the ladder match if he won't win the title. Except for the gloriously sick bumps he'd take.

Ziegler's certainly lost enough this year to win the title. I wonder if they stick Rusev in MITB to transition to a Cena program. It's still too early, but Cena facing a monster heel sounds like a safe bet for Summerslam.

If the title goes back to Cena or Orton, it's going to be a long summer.

Oops. I thought he went into the HBK match totally undefeated.

The Viper mannerisms got really out of control when he turned face around mania 26. I always figured he was sarcastically overdoing it because he hated being babyface, but he's stuck with it.

They even messed up building Kozlov for HHH. There was no reason for him to job to HBK to set up the Undertaker WM match.

Larry had that air of authority and knowledge, like Ventura or Regal, that cannot be faked on commentary. He could be a blowhard for sure, but I liked his announcing a lot.

This reminded me of the "What if Vince ran with Slaughter instead of Hogan" thread from a couple years ago that was interesting. Ugh, I'm having trouble posting links with my phone.

The larger issue is the historically prevalent "out of sight, out of mind" paranoia every top star has encountered while injured in the WWE. It's shortened a lot of careers.

That Saturday Morning Slam match with Tyson Kidd(?) was great, and I'm sure he'd stay over working that way. I don't know if he'd want to work that safe, or be pressured into the more dangerous stuff, which is certainly stupid.

The Bryan deal is scary. I'd rather see him in the midcard for the rest of his tenure than come back early to protect his spot and suffer the kind of injury Edge narrowly avoided.

He had a pretty brutal resthold phase when he was really swelled up on the gas, but he's had good to great showings the last few years. Also, it's hard to believe now with how apathetic crowds are to him, but only a couple of years ago he was crazy over without even having substantial programs to work with.

Ron Simmons during the initial Nation of Domination run. I don't know about THE top guy, but Stevie Richards could've been a top guy for sure. He's in great shape and could hang in WWE if he was brought back now. Corino was definitely a victim of timing, as he could have been huge too.

I always figured Corey Graves would get called up so HHH could work out his Punk feelings on TV, but I guess it's going to be making Rollins a pet project instead.

"Insurance Policy" Rick Rude is one of my favorite things ever. I wish they'd done more with him besides hang with DX and then Hennig in WCW. Doing something like that now with a retired WWE guy would be great if they picked the right one.

This could have set up a more serious, dangerous version of the Goldust character, but they went with the parody costumes and shock value stuff instead. Dustin was also suddenly in the worst shape of his career like overnight.

I enjoyed Takeover, but it falls short of the much stronger Ascension show. I felt like Zayn/Breeze, Charlotte/Natty, and Neville/Kidd were all layed out too similarly. The formula worked, but it was used consecutively in 3 matches, which was a little much.

I'd love to see that. Terry selling Bruno's offense would've ruled.

I was just watching '96 WCW on the network, and I was struck by how beautiful Elizabeth was compared to pretty much every other woman in 90s wrestling. Even when she was doing the jezabel act she looked classier than the rest. For what it's worth, Francine looks much better in recent pictures, probably due to a healthier lifestyle out of wrestling.

I got Extreme Rising tickets for my birthday last year, and the ECW arena crowd was maybe 10% smart fans and 90% wild animals screaming funny stuff. I haven't been to a WWE show in years, but it always looks like a 80/20 split between families and smarky types. Early 90s WCW definitely had some smart crowd chants from what I've seen on the network.

We haven't seen anybody new step up like the last crop did, but Zayn should be getting called up soon. Breeze too, although he may end up in the Emma/Rose pile.