NotJayTabb

Given that Nikki Bella returned as a heel on Sunday, I wonder if they'll mention that she's the sister-in-law of the face GM

I'm looking forward to a big push for the Z-Man

It's interesting that the guys on the video - Noam, Swann, Kendrick and Perkins - are bypassing NXT TV almost entirely. I think Swann was a job guy on one episode (vs Balor?) and Kendrick is obviously TV experienced, but the other two will only have had the CWC to get used to the WWE way of filming.

I've been critical of Dean Ambrose before, but I give him all the credit possible for making the world title match somewhat watchable. Thought he heeled it up nicely, and was actually convincing as the champion who knows he's better than his challenger, but is sometimes caught offguard. Loved his condescending slaps to the face and his mock Sweet Chin Music warm up (followed by a poke to the eye). For his part, Ziggler did have one nice moment (the headbutt used to set up a superkick), but that aside...wretched. Really awkward looking roll-ups, the "hold me up until I slap your back" DDT, some utterly terrible elbows where he was clearly just punching the floor, his corner headbutts where he was just flinging wet hair at Ambrose....just abysmal.

Kendrick was highlighted on the "Cruiserweights coming soon to RAW" video, so there's a good chance he's sticking around.

Between putting it on Smackdown, putting the title match in the middle of the card at Summerslam and having a loser like Zigger as #1 contender, they've managed to make the world title seem pretty unimportant.

I got as far as the end of the women's title match last night (due to the time difference, I'd decided to stay up until the first match I didn't care about, and thankfully Apollo Crews turned up to get me to go to sleep), and it felt kind of odd. It was incredibly sloppy, yet also really exciting. The drop from the corner has already been discussed, but Sasha almost landing on her head during the splash mountain reversal was equally dicey (to the extent that Will Ospreay tweeted her advice on how to do it safely out of legitimate concern. At the same time, it felt like a really fun match to watch, really felt like they were both laying it on the line for the title. I also liked the pre-match panel dropping hints that Sasha might lose, wondering if she was a bit too cocky in the build up to the match. It also suggested as possible heel turn for Sasha, especially if Bayley goes to Raw. Sasha is much better as a heel than face, and Bayley should be over enough for a heel turn to stick. The only issue is that the face side of the Raw women is pretty lacking, with Charlotte, Jax, Summer, Lana and Dana all heels, with Alicia Fox pretty much a tweener. Actually feels like the balance and depth is greater with the Smackdown women

This may be more appropriate for the "against the grain" thread, but I'm still not totally on board yet with Nakamura. Just too much twatting about and pulling funny faces to the extent that I kinda wanted to see Joe kick his head off. Match felt underwhelming too, the build up had suggested this big war, especially with Joe raging about Nak the past few shows, but the first half of the match contained none of that hate and was more about working holds. It seemed to kill the crowd, who didn't really pick up until the end. Loved the women's title match. One or two flubs, like the power bomb spot, but I thought Bayley looked more convincing as a fighter than I'd seen before. The end was really good too, with Bayley knowing she had to escape the Asuka Lock, but this leaving her prone to getting blasted in the head. With Asuka not going full blown heel, and the face show of respect at the end, I can't work out her next challenger. Too soon for Ember Moon or Nikki Storm, Billie Kay not on her level...be interesting to see. The Ember Moon debut was fun, though I'm not sure what Moon's character is supposed to be. She had all the supernatural promos and a mysterious entrance, but she just came across as an excited face when the mask came off. Good showing, and it's nice that Kay got some shine before losing. Thought Kay looked as good as Moon, would like to see her do more on the TV shows

Just had a Google - looks like it was August 2014

I think Marty's pretty good. I liked him as "Party" Marty, even if the character was a little bland, and saw him have some decent matches with Robbie X and MK McKinnon, but he needed to add something extra to the overall package. His reinvention as the Villain has breathed new life into his career. It's a little over-the-top in places, but he's still a fun wrestler to watch live, feel that's where the gimmick really clicks.

Phantasio. As a 13yr old catching his debut (only) televised match on an episode of Wrestling Challenge, he was instantly fascinating. A wrestling magician using tricks to confuse and humiliate his opponents seemed like a great idea to me, and I thought his gimmick of taking off a mask and giving it to a ringside child would make him as big as Bret Hart*. I had a little book I kept of matches I really wanted to see, and I immediately wrote in "Phantasio vs Skip". which I maintain to this day would have been terrific (just for Candido stooging around for silly string and phantom wedgies). As the weeks went by, I kept waiting for my new favourite wrestler to have a second match, but it never happened. *I also thought Jesse Sorenson's TNA schtick of signing a miniature American football and passing it to a lucky kid at ringside would make him a star. I totally overestimate the starmaking power of giving kids gifts.

I know, it was really bizarre, nothing about it made any sense. After Conners beat Jannetty, Masters' music and video came on, and out came comedy wrestler Flex Buffington (gimmick: out of shape guy who thinks he's an Adonis), who Conners destroyed. Then, the video played again and Masters emerged to take on Conners. Bear in mind Conners is the top heel in the promotion, so they had him cleanly beat an aging legend, beat up someone who challenged him post match, then wrestle to a draw with a big name ex-WWE star who hadn't just fought 2 people. Really baffling. The only thing I can assume is that Masters was already in the country for a PCW show, and made himself available too late for them to advertise.

I went to a show featuring Tatanka a few years back, and I'm almost positive Tatanka started a "You've still got it" chant then as well. The bulk of the match was Tatanka hitting chops and no-selling any offence. As I recall, this was the same show where Joseph Conners was tasked with getting something watchable out of papier-mache-ankled Marty Jannetty, then after winning had another match with a non-advertised Chris Masters.

WCW 92 - This was the first promotion I ever watched, my first exposure to pro-wrestling, and it was the best possible way to get into wrestling. Great wrestlers, great angles, one of the best heel stables of all time in the Dangerous Alliance. CZW 2002-2004 - CZW was the first indy promotion I started watching in my final years of uni, and I've still got a soft spot for that period of it. I was a big fan of the Messiah and Trent Acid, and generally enjoyed the chaotic ramshackle approach of the promotion over the too-serious RoH. Even now, I'll happily dig out an old CZW tape, not knowing which random name might come out to wrestle Nick Berk or GQ Triple X Wrestling 2013- now - TXW is easily my favourite current promotion in the UK. The first company to give exposure to the likes of Zack Sabre Jr, the Dunne Brothers and Tyler Bate, they've got a real eye for emerging talent, but more importantly, a real talent for just putting on fun shows. Massively inventive, genuinely funny in places, but still able to put on really great bouts (ZSJ vs Pete Dunne is still the best match I've seen in person). Was gutted to miss the comeback show last Saturday due to holidaying.

Quoted for truth. Watching Pete's evolution the past few years has been great. He's always been a really good wrestler, but his change from mild-mannered Brummie blue-eye to meat-headed Bruiserweight brawler has really helped him stand out. There's a great photo from the RevPro show of Vader and Pete Dunne in the ring, Vader sat down catching his breath and Dunne right behind him looking hard as nails. Using the Vader match to build up a big Dunne/Ospreay match and put the heat onto the regularly-booked heel makes perfect sense to me.

Yes! I bloody loved NXT Redemption. Johnny Curtis being the most entertaining guy in the company, action figure on a pole matches, the excellent Kidd/McGillicutty feud, gangsta Jacob Novak. Just a great series

TM is their initials, and +61 is the international dialing code for Australia

I thought the "In Defence of Pierroth" piece on SC was great, mainly for puncturing the idea that people like "bad" wrestlers for valuable Internet Points

Johnny Curtis is the single most under-utilized wrestler in the entire WWE. Here's a guy who won the 4th season of NXT, meaning he must have garnered at least some interest from the public. Doesn't get his promised mentor tag title shot because R-Truth suddenly got caught up in the Awesome Truth storyline. Gets a couple of promos on Smackdown, gets squashed in his debut, then ends up back on NXT for the brilliant Redemption series. Goes on to be by far and away the standout of the series, hilariously sleazy and putting on solid matches in the ring. The backstage skit where he and Maxine kidnap Matt Striker is one of the most intentionally funny backstage bits the WWE has ever done ("Why do you have chloroform?" "Why DON'T I have chloroform?") Finally, he gets called up to RAW, but is given a gimmick that should be hot death. Seriously, who saw "husky-voiced ballroom dancer" lasting 6 months? Yet Johnny Curtis fully embraced the role of Fandango, giving the character a shelf-life that I certainly didn't see coming. Fandango has been pushed, he's been de-pushed, been turned face, barely even made TV, yet through it all, he's maintained a level of commitment to the character. I saw him on a houseshow in a total jobber tag (Fandango/Sandow vs Rose/Slater) where none of those guys was getting regular TV, yet as soon as Fandango came out, he was bang on character, slinking around the ring, riling his opponents with hip thrusts and dance moves, and he got the crowd into a total nothing match. He's a good worker who isn't given enough chances to show what he can do in the ring, but still offers enough glimpses that you can tell he know's his way round the ring. I'm delighted to see the Breezango team, because at least he's finally getting another regular role on TV, and there's potential for them to be a really good tag team going forward. It also means more great Fandango skits, like the recent Pokemon Go bit where Fandango totally steals the show. When guys like Ziggler, who don't have half the charisma, talent or commitment, are getting world title shots, it really feels like they've missed the boat on Johnny Curtis.

I think people got on the hype train because Kennedy had the Vince seal of approval that basically guaranteed a big push. As I recall, Vince personally chose to give his middle name for use as Anderson's new surname, then he started getting PPV matches with the Undertaker pretty early into his run.

I assumed that he picked on Jose because he was frustrated at losing to Nakamura, so decided to take out his frustrations on the happy dancing guy who he assumed was no threat, and is now in a situation where Jose is more fired up than he expected.

Ha, I actually thought the Shane Twins seemed ok in the ring (based solely on them dragging something watchable out of a past-it Road Warriors and Nasty Boys in XWF), but both these gimmicks were appalling. Trust TNA to take something as surefire a muscular, competent twins and instead use them as masked penises.

I think dropping Roman back to the midcard when he already gets some of the loudest reactions on each show would be a mistake. For better or worse, he's currently getting heel heat most of the roster would kill for. The trick is to use that reaction to get the most out of it. There's definite signs that they're positioning him towards a heel run - feuding with then-face indy darling AJ Styles, positioning him opposite debuting face indy darling Finn Balor, even his new thicker beard seems to scream that he's turning to the darkside. Roman's already one of the best wrestlers on the roster, so a run of matches against Balor, Zayn, Cesaro etc. If people still think he's being carried and boo him, fine. If they realise how dumb it is, chanting "You Can't Wrestle" at the guy who had the WWE MOTY in 2015 and (in my opinion) has had the MOTY for 2016 thus far (vs AJ at Payback), then he can be a face again organically. I will say turning Rollins face seems like a bad idea though. He's a good face worker, as the Shield run showed, but the only way he'll stay face is if he's given an injury angle where someone permanently injures his voicebox, because his nasty, nasal voice is promo-death.

I can't believe we waited so long for someone to dethrone Tully, and another heel has the title within hours of the change. You're a cruel booker, man :-)

Ambrose v Ziggler sounds like an utter trainwreck. I think Ambrose is at his most effective fighting from beneath - he's not the biggest or the strongest guy, but he's a scrappy fighter and he works well as a never-say-die type fighter. He's best paired with a Rusev or Reigns character, someone who can overwhelm him, forcing him to sell and make well-timed comebacks. It's why he was so effective as FIP in the Shield/Wyatts matches. Ziggler has really shitty looking offence, which will give Ambrose nothing to work with in that department. Even worse, Ziggler is incapable of actually selling any damage beyond a big bump, so we're going to get them spamming superkicks/rebound lariats for 10-15 mins. In terms of match quality, Ziggler is maybe the worst possible match for Ambrose on the roster.