WWE TV 8-17 - 8/23

[Alucard]

I missed the John Cena/Seth Rollins stuff. Now I'm reading people saying that Cena verbally eviscerated Seth on the microphone. What did he say?

 

-Brought up this being his chance to become a 16 time champion and tying HHH's mentor Flair's record which would upset H, saying Flair passed on his legacy to HHH and now HHH is trying to do that with Rollins so Rollins is fighting for HHH's legacy, then said the only difference is HHH was never Flair's bitch while Sunday Cena will make Seth his.

 

-Said Seth isn't the future but a footnote and will just be an answer to the trivia question of who did John Cena beat for his 16th world title.

 

-Pointed out 'lets go cena / cena sucks' but nobody saying a damn thing about Seth Rollins

 

-Called him a cheap imitation and said it's about time he make the title mean something.

 

I personally liked it and always enjoy Cena's extra serious promos. Felt like he was bringing the fire as he should be coming off the broken nose.

[donsem43]

Shouldn't Stardust and King Barrett be feuding with Adam West and Burt Ward?

[sek69]

 

To those who watch NXT regularly. Why are Enzo and Big Cass not on Saturday's card?

 

They will either have a bonus 8 man match or be on the NXT taping after Takeover is over.

 

 

Unless they are going to be debuting on the main roster on Raw, this seems like a huge missed opportunity. Blake and Murphy are a black hole of blandness who's act is only saved by Alexa Bliss being way better as a heel than anyone suspected, and the Vaudevillians went from being afterthoughts to suddenly #1 contenders. It's like what was even the point of the gimmick if you aren't going to put Enzo and Cass on a big show in Brooklyn?

[NotJayTabb]

Part of me suspects that Enzo and Cass are headed for the main roster shortly. They've been downplayed a little bit in NXT recently - they're the only team I've seen lose to Dawson and Wilder on the show - and you'd think they'd be getting the title match in Brooklyn if they were going to be in NXT for a while. Personally, I find Enzo/Cass horrific on every level, in-ring and out, but I can imagine them getting a great reaction if they were to debut on Raw on Monday and challenged a title-holding New Day.

 

The only issue is how they'd deal with Carmella. I can see her being fun as an outside equalizer against Xavier, but she's nowhere near good enough to wrestle on the main roster, and she'd be lost on her own in NXT.

[Matt D]

Summerslam's the best card, on paper, WWE's had in a while.

[The Chief]

If Cena keeps the US title, how great would it be to see Liger answer Cena's US open challenge the Raw after Summerslam as part of his little stop-over in NY?

 

EDIT - Another fantasy scenario:

Any chance of Owens getting his title back from Balor, then going on to face Cesaro the next night, Cesaro talks him into defending the NXT title, then Cesaro beats him for the belt? I think Cesaro would be great as the NXT ace.

 

I'm pretty pumped for SummerSlam. Both shows sound like a lot of fun.

[Slasher]

I don't know. Cesaro was a lot of fun last year in NXT but if this is really the time to push Cesaro, he probably should be kept strictly on the main roster. Until they have guys like Cena, Orton, Sheamus etc going down there for a quick program or two also anyways.

[jcmmnx]

Outside of Cesaro/Owens I don't really care about anything at Summerslam, and it's not like that match has been very well built. There's no possible result to Cena/Rollins or Brock/Taker that would make me care. If Seth wins he continues his terrible run or Cena wins his 100th title, and then possibly transitions it to non over Sheamus. If Brock beats Taker so what he's already done it in a much bigger match. If Taker wins clean you just had a broke down 50 year old go over the biggest beast in WWE history. If Kane gets involved lol.

[The Chief]

I don't know. Cesaro was a lot of fun last year in NXT but if this is really the time to push Cesaro, he probably should be kept strictly on the main roster. Until they have guys like Cena, Orton, Sheamus etc going down there for a quick program or two also anyways.

 

But for what they want to actually accomplish with NXT, he would be perfect. I really don't think fans would see it as a step down if they did it right. He can still be utilized on the main roster a la Owens.

[Slasher]

While I like the idea, they need to start making Cesaro a big deal. Owens worked because he was coming UP from NXT so it was the big dog from NXT going into Raw events. Cesaro is already a main roster member. It would actually be a step down if he went down there to challenge for the title. It would be saying he can't really compete for the big boy belts so he is trying his luck with the minor league belt, even if they have done a great job making NXT more than that. If they want to spin their wheels in the mud with a Cesaro push, by all means go for it. If they want to start elevating him...that means...ELEVATING him. You know, UPWARD movement.

[vikingsfan73]

From the RAW report on the Observer site...

 

"Heyman BROKE INTO SONG singing a remake to the tune of "Glory Glory Hallaelujah" when the Undertaker's dong went off."

 

I haven't watched the show yet, but I'm thinking he meant to say "gong".

[NotJayTabb]

The other issue is that Balor is a guy they've clearly got big plans for, and having him lose his title one month into his reign in order to hot shot his belt to an upper-midcarder who loses more than he wins would damage his aura.

[Russellmania]

as much as smarks love NXT it is still clearly a development system, not a separate brand. Christ, Sasha hasn't even been bringing her NXT title out on RAW so that shows you how little prestige they see in NXT. To argue that you could send a guy like Cesaro down to be the "ace" of NXT without damaging him is ludicrous.

[goc]

Yea I don't understand how being the "ace" of developmental is supposed to help Cesaro feel more special to the audience that watches Raw. I think people under estimate how many people only watch Raw and not anything else. You don't need to "convert" the hardcore fans who watch NXT into thinking Cesaro is special, they already do.

[Loss]

Up until a few months ago, NXT was seen as developmental, but they don't view it that way anymore. They have said as much. I think that's a bit short-sighted and I can't see how they can sustain it long-term, but there has been a major shift in thinking over the last few months. It seems like this is HHH's Bangor, Maine.

[Russellmania]

Up until a few months ago, NXT was seen as developmental, but they don't view it that way anymore. They have said as much. I think that's a bit short-sighted and I can't see how they can sustain it long-term, but there has been a major shift in thinking over the last few months. It seems like this is HHH's Bangor, Maine.

who is "they?" HHH clearly wants it to be a big deal, but the company as a whole per Vince's direction clearly still sees it as developmental. If HHH can fill a 13,000 seat arena for a special then Vince isn't gonna stop him and I don't think Vince really interferes with NXT at all, but when they think it's time for a certain guy to come up to the main roster they make it happen even if it ultimately hurts NXT. If NXT wasn't still seen as developmental then why not leave Owens, Banks, Neville, Charlotte etc. down there and start touring full time?

 

the whole "they have said as much" argument doesn't hold much water to me since I think it's really just lip service. At the end of the day anyone in NXT that they think can be a star is going to get phased out of NXT...the flow of talent between the two entities only goes one way.

[Loss]

I'm just the messenger.

[Russellmania]

I'm just the messenger.

I don't think I'm "shooting" the messenger if that's what you're implying...

 

I think my point is valid: They can say whatever they want about their designs on NXT being more than just developmental, but their actions tell a different story.

[goc]

They are essentially leaving the cupboard bare with all the call ups they have done recently so this whole "NXT is more than just developmental" talk feels more like a lip service thing to keep people into it and buying tickets to the shows more than a "we are going to keep the roster really strong even if it means not calling up people who are ready" thing.

[sek69]

The only bare cupboard is on the women's side. The only male who's been called up is Owens and he's been on NXT just as much as before. Zayn and Itami out with injuries has been the big hangup more than anything else.

 

I mean, there's no reason to keep someone like Balor in NXT other than as a ticket draw for house shows. Once he learned how to "make movies" WWE style there's nothing more he needs to do there from a developmental standpoint.

[Jmare007]

From the RAW report on the Observer site...

 

"Heyman BROKE INTO SONG singing a remake to the tune of "Glory Glory Hallaelujah" when the Undertaker's dong went off."

 

I haven't watched the show yet, but I'm thinking he meant to say "gong".

 

Don't know if he made the report, but Bryan Alvarez always calls it "dong" instead of "gong". No clue why, maybe it's an inside joke.

[vikingsfan73]

 

From the RAW report on the Observer site...

 

"Heyman BROKE INTO SONG singing a remake to the tune of "Glory Glory Hallaelujah" when the Undertaker's dong went off."

 

I haven't watched the show yet, but I'm thinking he meant to say "gong".

 

Don't know if he made the report, but Bryan Alvarez always calls it "dong" instead of "gong". No clue why, maybe it's an inside joke.

 

 

Gotcha! It was someone else reporting, but maybe I missed the joke because I rarely listen to Bryan's podcasts.

[Slasher]

Everyone they want to call up are going to get called up but there definitely seems to be some kind of weird plan they have where guys are only going to get called up after a certain time in NXT, beyond actually developing. Like when it seems like time is right to end marketing for the guy on NXT and moving him up into the next phase. There is no reason Zayn should have been in NXT this long and that was even without the injury factored in. He was definitely part of their marketing vision for NXT that they wanted sold before he finally got a call up. But yes ultimately NXT is a developmental territory and until that changes and changes so visibly obvious with guys like Orton or Sheamus or anyone with a big name and less of a direction (or hell throw US Champion Cena pre-Rollins program in there) going down to NXT for cup of coffee programs with NXT talents, they should keep Cesaro away if they are serious about pushing him. He already had his cup last year with that excellent program with Zayn, no need to do it again. The only way Cesaro should be involved with the NXT title is if Owens won it back and Ceaaro goaded him into putting it on the line AT Summerslam in a big pay per view event that superseded the NXT scope. Doing it on Raw is just lesser of value and after already wrestling the guy at Summerslam, there is no good reason to do it. But then again, like mentioned, no point in hurting Balor's aura just to run that angle and even moreso hurting Owens by having the guy win a title only to hand it over to someone else.

[Russellmania]

The only bare cupboard is on the women's side. The only male who's been called up is Owens and he's been on NXT just as much as before. Zayn and Itami out with injuries has been the big hangup more than anything else.

 

I mean, there's no reason to keep someone like Balor in NXT other than as a ticket draw for house shows. Once he learned how to "make movies" WWE style there's nothing more he needs to do there from a developmental standpoint.

Zayn would almost certainly have been called up by now if he wasn't injured. Itami is hard to predict b/c he's not a conventional WWE guy so who knows what they plan to do with him.

 

But as for other top NXT guys: Bo Dallas was champ for almost a year and got called up after. Neville was the next champ and got called up. Zayn had a brief run but got hurt and then Owens got called up pretty quickly. Balor will almost certainly be called up after his title run ends.

 

So yeah I kind of reject the idea that they haven't been calling up their top guys. They are steadily doing it one by one and aren't really backfilling those spots with equally marketable guys. The whole argument here is that they don't have enough "top" guys in the pipeline to support NXT as a full-time touring brand.

[goc]

Yea I am pretty sure Zayn was on his way to the main roster before he got hurt. I don't think they gave him that match against Cena to just send him back down to NXT like it never happened.