NXT talk

[C.S.]

Raven is another example. Left a plum WWF gig as a commentator/host/etc. to wrestle in ECW.

[WingedEagle]

 

Which few have turned down a pay raise? Not inquiring about those who are happy in NXT and not in love with the idea of leaving, but rather the wrestlers who said no thanks to being called up and the bump in pay that comes with it.

Sylvester Lefort for one. They wanted to bring him up as a manager but he wanted to wrestle. Now he's in TNA.

 

 

Ouch. Hope he's content with his current options.

[Slasher]

To be fair look at how WWE utilizes male managers nowadays. Is that ever an enviable position to be in compared to the heyday of the 70s and 80s?

[Jimmy Redman]

The greatest thing about the go-home (apart from the brutal Virgil line from Corbin...fuck me I'm finally on board with Baron Corbin) was the girls match promo vid.

 

The Horsewomen type girls - all the lucky ones got the fuck outta dodge before Asuka came along - are all "Oh sure Bayley will win! Isn't she lovely?"

 

And then Emma and Dana, who have been the ones out there in the trenches against Asuka this whole time, they're sitting there like "LOL...Bayley is going to die. Have you seen Asuka? She's a fucking psychopath. She kicked my head clean off. I'm awesome and I tried every trick I could possibly think of and she still fucking murdered and ate me. Bayley? That kid will be dinner. She has no fucking clue what's about to happen to her."

 

It was a great contrast, and a great way to put Asuka over because the people who have actually faced her talk about her like war veterans who still wake up screaming about her in the middle of the night.

[Ricky Jackson]

Yeah that was such an awesome segment

[Woof]

Yup, you just nailed my two my favorite parts of that show. The Virgil line KILLED me. And that video was the cats pajamas.

 

Also gotta ask if anybody else got the same "holy shit!" reaction I did from the camera angle of Joe hurling Balor into the announcers. Graves was in mid-sentence when all of the sudden Balor was in his lap and the angle they caught it from was GOLD. If Graves new it was coming he didn't let on, because he looked legit shocked to suddenly have Balor coming his way like that. Just a great little hidden gem of a moment.

[Goodear]

It was great because the angle didn't really set up what was going to happen but still caught it very well. It came off as being organic and believable. I think Corey may have oversold it a bit selling being unconscious but he story wise didn't have the time to brace for the impact. It felt right though from a production standpoint.

 

I thought the job matches were well done this week with Tucker Knight being a pretty good hot tag. I think his Thez press was a good starting point for him and the clothesline was meaty good. I don't think his gear is helping him right now and he could benefit from something a bit more flattering. Hollis and Skylar are okay as an undercard team but they seem so undersized that I can't see them getting a big chance to succeed. The return of Norman Smiley's swinging bodyslam was pretty epic though. Baron using the Deep Six as a secondary finish is a good thing for him for getting better near falls with it, I think it may be a problem that it sets up from the same place as the End of Days. His promo was good as well, he gets that 'better than wrestling' feeling across very well.

 

The Emma-Dana paring serving as enhancement talent for Asuka even in promos is outstanding and shows how valuable they are even if Dana hasn't been able to work for months. She's really been a highlight despite a stuttering start. I really feel like she gets it on a pretty high concept level.

 

Bull being cut might prove to be a blessing in disguise. I think he'll be able to parlay his WWE work into a good independent run. His size will be more of a asset on the smaller scene regardless.

[Woof]

So last night's mostly recap show was kind of deflating. Did they not record any other matches at TakeOver outside of Crews-Samson? Seems odd.

 

I don't know how long Jason Jordan has been toiling in developmental (I remember his jobber days in 2014 NXT), but man winning the belts seems to have legit affected the guy. He was still on the verge of tears for that post-match interview. I think that's been one of the underrated aspects of following NXT: these are mostly people who are within an arms reach of achieving a lifelong dream and seeing them work hard and get that recognition is really rewarding as a fan.

[WingedEagle]

Not really NXT at this point, but Enzo & Cass are on Austin's new podcast. No earth-shattering insights, but a very fun listen.

[donsem43]

Asuka's twitter had been kinda dull lately, then she had a house show match with Eva Marie...

 

Eva Marie...... That child is a headache.

 

I'll give you my Eva. Please take it...

 

I'm gonna fall for Eva Marie. I have a pain in my chest whenever I think about you... I have a heartburn.

 

Please...... Tums.

 

[PhilTLL]

The Henny Youngman act is tremendous.

[donsem43]

TMDK and Nikki Storm showed up a the Performance Center today.

[Woof]

I'm officially on board with Tye Dillinger as the NXT gatekeeper. His promo last night was tremendous, especially when he popped in to give the interview the "3". Guy entertains me thoroughly even though I have no real desire to see him pushed more than he is.

[Ricky Jackson]

Loved the fans chanting "he's 11" and "11, 11, 11" for Nakamura during his match with Dillinger. Although I made the mistake of watching NXT with my wife and sister playing a game in the background, and as a result Shinsuke was misheard by them as "shit stain" and I'll never be able to hear his name without thinking about that again 😀

[Woof]

Dillinger's reaction to the "he's 11" chant was also great stuff. I love a heel who isn't afraid to show that the crowd is getting to him. Makes them invest in his matches even when they don't necessarily care about the match-up.

[Grimmas]

My wife will watch NXT with me (well at least not leave the room). She really likes Bayley and how much the little girls love her.

 

WWE, don't fuck this shit up!

[sek69]

Kinda surprised no one is bashing Bayley for pulling a John Cena and acting her usual happy self after losing her cherished title. Even the announcers were trying to sell it as her just putting on a brave face.

[Jimmy Redman]

Maybe because nobody is that stupid.

 

Last week in her post-match interview she WAS upset. She was devastated, talking about how she let everybody down. But at the end she made the point that champions get back up, and was already talking about winning it back.

 

This week she's had another week to recover, and is almost back to her normal self. She didn't seem exactly the same, a little war-weary maybe, but she's not going to stop smiling and hugging and dancing. She's Bayley, that's who she is: positive, happy. She had a huge setback, but she'll lift her head up and get past it. How long is she supposed to mope for? Izzy and all the little girls are out there waiting to see her, is she going to let them down by sulking about the past? Fuck no! She's going to be the best Bayley she can possibly be, and start working straight away at getting back to the title.

 

It's the kind of reaction that I motherfucking WISH they'd do with Cena. With Cena you never get that nuance, that explanation. He just goes straight to happy without showing you why, so it comes off as stupid.

[Woof]

Maybe because nobody is that stupid.

 

Last week in her post-match interview she WAS upset. She was devastated, talking about how she let everybody down. But at the end she made the point that champions get back up, and was already talking about winning it back.

 

This week she's had another week to recover, and is almost back to her normal self. She didn't seem exactly the same, a little war-weary maybe, but she's not going to stop smiling and hugging and dancing. She's Bayley, that's who she is: positive, happy. She had a huge setback, but she'll lift her head up and get past it. How long is she supposed to mope for? Izzy and all the little girls are out there waiting to see her, is she going to let them down by sulking about the past? Fuck no! She's going to be the best Bayley she can possibly be, and start working straight away at getting back to the title.

 

It's the kind of reaction that I motherfucking WISH they'd do with Cena. With Cena you never get that nuance, that explanation. He just goes straight to happy without showing you why, so it comes off as stupid.

 

*standing ovation*

[Grimmas]

Kinda surprised no one is bashing Bayley for pulling a John Cena and acting her usual happy self after losing her cherished title. Even the announcers were trying to sell it as her just putting on a brave face.

Hmm.. that's not what happened.

 

She lost. She feels bad, but she is going to fight back to regain her title with the support of her fans.

[Eegah]

The show this week was a breeze to get through. Random notes are that Bayley is the best babyface in wrestling. Trevor Knight can really bump huge, between this week and that Revival tag he is something else. I hope he sticks around. Angelo Dawkins seems okay although he needs to get rid of that fairgrounds overshirt he wore to the ring ASAP. Nakamura and Dillinger match was fun.

[sek69]

 

Kinda surprised no one is bashing Bayley for pulling a John Cena and acting her usual happy self after losing her cherished title. Even the announcers were trying to sell it as her just putting on a brave face.

Hmm.. that's not what happened.

 

She lost. She feels bad, but she is going to fight back to regain her title with the support of her fans.

 

 

 

I didn't see it that way at all, to me she came out for her first post-loss match (which was taped the day after if I recall correctly) doing the same usual shtick as always. Plus her post match promo was straight up Cena style "oh well I lost guys, I guess I'll get 'em next time!"

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't think she should get beat up for it as bad as Cena does (it is kind of her gimmick to be unbearably cheery) but I was expecting someone to bring it up.

[hammerva]

Given that Bayley gimmick is that she is the ultimate optimist to be depressed or angry is out of character. I mean sure you can think of some kind of angle where she is so depressed about losing she goes to a dark place until someone from her past wakes her up for another run against Asuka but doing this at the height of her popularity is way too risky. Plus nobody really knows how long she is going to be at NXT and this is an angle you build for months.

[C.S.]

I'm officially on board with Tye Dillinger as the NXT gatekeeper. His promo last night was tremendous, especially when he popped in to give the interview the "3". Guy entertains me thoroughly even though I have no real desire to see him pushed more than he is.

Loved the fans chanting "he's 11" and "11, 11, 11" for Nakamura during his match with Dillinger.

Agree with both of these, except that I think Dillinger should get a huge push. His character is great, he's good on the mic, solid in the ring, and got amazing heat from the fans during the Nakamura match. Time to get behind this guy IMO.

 

Really fun show this week.

 

- Angelo Dawkins clearly has some kind of charisma, but his loud, brash character didn't work for me and would die an instant death on the main roster, where Vince and Hayes would interpret it as "too street." That's probably why he's still a JTTS in NXT.

 

- Really looking forward to Charlotte and Tessa Blanchard's interactions in a couple of years. Really don't understand the point of debuting Tessa as a face JTTS though. She should have been held back and protected IMO. I realize she'll probably eventually be repackaged as Tulla, or something dumb like that, but still.

 

- Gargano and Ciampa have the most jobber looking TitanTron video ever, and I didn't buy their victory over The Vaudevillains for a second because they're not over and don't have characters. Being "ROH legends" means nothing to me, and apparently even less to anyone at Full Sail. Jury's still out on the viability of these two. Making them a tag team is probably a good move though.

 

- Trevor Knight feels like another Bull Dempsey, and he got flatlined by Baron Corbin the same way.

 

- The American Alpha/Enzo and Cass vignette didn't quite work for me because Jason Jordan's facials aren't convincing at all and the lines they all had to recite did not sound authentic. Still, it will be a fun match, so who cares.

 

- Bayley's entrance, mannerisms, and behaviors seemed fine to me. Besides, everyone has robo-entrances now that can't be deviated from in any way. Ryback is the worst when it comes to this.

[goc]

Tessa Blanchard debuted as a JTTS because she isn't signed. Pretty much the only time I see her name pop up is some story about her pissing people off so I wouldn't get my hopes up too high about seeing her get signed or having a long run even if she does. Pretty sure they just had her do a job so they could take a look at her the way they have done other women's wrestlers as of late like Amazon Andrea and Deona Purrazo.