NXT talk

[dexstar]

 

 

Asuka getting distracted by Emma's music but winning calmly with a head kick KO instead of losing by flash roll up was a nice little subversion of a common Raw finish

Which was helped a great deal by Dana's gasp and "oh shit" face immediately afterwards.

Absolutely. So simple and effective. I was somewhat skeptical about how Asuka would work but I've enjoyed everything they've done. Heel Emma has also been a great rejuvenation for her.

[The Chief]

The lack of love out there for BAMF is fucking baffling. Blake and Murphy are fucking great and Bliss is fucking perfect as the mouthpiece . It's like people are still judging Blake and Murphy based on what they were like a year ago. They've gotten so god damned good on all levels while still keeping bad guy heat through ring work AND all the actually important shit without talking. They're clearly the best team in NXT. No one in the crowd is trying to turn them into good guys, therefore....best tag team in WWE.

They have the best themed ring attire in WWE. I hope they keep this gimmick up long enough to do a Breakfast Club ripoff.

[S.L.L.]

 

The lack of love out there for BAMF is fucking baffling. Blake and Murphy are fucking great and Bliss is fucking perfect as the mouthpiece . It's like people are still judging Blake and Murphy based on what they were like a year ago. They've gotten so god damned good on all levels while still keeping bad guy heat through ring work AND all the actually important shit without talking. They're clearly the best team in NXT. No one in the crowd is trying to turn them into good guys, therefore....best tag team in WWE.

They have the best themed ring attire in WWE. I hope they keep this gimmick up long enough to do a Breakfast Club ripoff.

I do appreciate that someone in the company paid tribute to Tommy Gilbert.

[Johnny Sorrow]

When I first saw the gear didn't think Freddy at all. I thought it was supposed to be a matching Christmas sweater motif since it's Christmastime.

[jcmmnx]

Blake and Murphy are clearly better than Jordan & Gable?

 

Jordan and Gable have been the best performers in NXT over the past few months.

[Loss]

I like what I've seen of Dash and Dawson, but I don't hear too much talk of them, good or bad.

[Woof]

That's the thing about the tag division right now; it's hard to single out any one team because they have six really solid teams that each have a distinct look and feel. I like all of them for different reasons. You could have the belts on four out of the six teams and it wouldn't feel wrong. The Vaudevillains need to finish turning back to heel where they belong and the Hype Bros aren't title worthy, but they're solid teams to flesh out the division.

 

My concern right now is the singles division, where it's basically Balor, Joe, Corbin and Crews. James Storm is still in the "he's here to be here" phase. Who's next? Tye Dillinger? He's a one-man mid-card at this point. Everybody else is either a straight-up jobber or a floater like Ciampa who we're not sure is meant to last beyond whatever taping cycle he happened to be at. Hopefully they can do something with Sampson''s new gimmick when he re-debuts, though he doesn't inspire much in me yet. I'm hoping there's somebody out on their live circuit that is ready for a decent TV push, just to liven it up.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I think Blake and Murphy are better than Gable and Jordon in so much as being a heel tag team, which I prefer.

[dexstar]

That's the thing about the tag division right now; it's hard to single out any one team because they have six really solid teams that each have a distinct look and feel. I like all of them for different reasons. You could have the belts on four out of the six teams and it wouldn't feel wrong. The Vaudevillains need to finish turning back to heel where they belong and the Hype Bros aren't title worthy, but they're solid teams to flesh out the division.

 

My concern right now is the singles division, where it's basically Balor, Joe, Corbin and Crews. James Storm is still in the "he's here to be here" phase. Who's next? Tye Dillinger? He's a one-man mid-card at this point. Everybody else is either a straight-up jobber or a floater like Ciampa who we're not sure is meant to last beyond whatever taping cycle he happened to be at. Hopefully they can do something with Sampson''s new gimmick when he re-debuts, though he doesn't inspire much in me yet. I'm hoping there's somebody out on their live circuit that is ready for a decent TV push, just to liven it up.

 

I don't disagree, but with the tag teams you mention and the deep women's division, there hasn't been all that much time to focus on men's singles outside of the title program lately. Whether that's by design due to lack of depth or not, who knows. I think over the next year you'll certainly see one of those two divisions go down a notch in prominence and the singles move back up. Unless they make NXT a 3 hour show too.

[Woof]

 

I don't disagree, but with the tag teams you mention and the deep women's division, there hasn't been all that much time to focus on men's singles outside of the title program lately. Whether that's by design due to lack of depth or not, who knows. I think over the next year you'll certainly see one of those two divisions go down a notch in prominence and the singles move back up. Unless they make NXT a 3 hour show too.

 

 

Fair point, but given all the injuries and the general dearth of stars on the main roster you gotta believe they'll be looking to poach from NXT soon, and they don't have much depth in the singles ranks. Now that they've established some tag teams they need to focus on singles guys. The idea is to have depth at NXT for when the need arises up at WWE level, and right now, the need has arisen.

[dexstar]

 

 

I don't disagree, but with the tag teams you mention and the deep women's division, there hasn't been all that much time to focus on men's singles outside of the title program lately. Whether that's by design due to lack of depth or not, who knows. I think over the next year you'll certainly see one of those two divisions go down a notch in prominence and the singles move back up. Unless they make NXT a 3 hour show too.

 

 

Fair point, but given all the injuries and the general dearth of stars on the main roster you gotta believe they'll be looking to poach from NXT soon, and they don't have much depth in the singles ranks. Now that they've established some tag teams they need to focus on singles guys. The idea is to have depth at NXT for when the need arises up at WWE level, and right now, the need has arisen.

 

 

Definitely agree.

 

And then to confuse us armchairs more, they announce a slew of NXT Live dates in the Midwest for January, presumably the first of many such tours. So I'd have to guess that guys like Finn aren't going up to the main roster anytime soon unless they plan on the name NXT being the draw.

 

Is it even 'developmental' anymore?

[cpst]

Breaking Ground continues to be good this week. WWE Films will soon be coming out with a buddy cop movie with Lovepreet and Robbie Brookside. For some reason Nhooph always gives me serious real second-hand embarrassment.

 

Next week has Sami Zayn and Scott Hall.

[Woof]

I'm surprisingly underwhelmed heading into tonight's Take Over. I really enjoy the weekly product and I think all the matches have been built really well, but for some reason this one is lacking sizzle for me. I still expect it to be a good show, but usually by this point on the day-of I'm in full on mark-anticipation-mode. Not so much today, Anybody else feeling the same way?

[Ricky Jackson]

The bar has been set high by the previous cards, so yes this may not feel as special, but come on, we know it's going to be awesome. I'm particularly jazzed today because I have the day off from work and am going to binge watch the matches from TLC that interest me, the parts of Raw that interest me, and then watch NXT live at noon. God bless the 21st century

[Woof]

I guess it's just lacking that one "must see" element for me. There's no debut being hyped (Hideo, Owens, Crews), no long-term story being blown off (Sami's quest for the title and subsequent face-off with Owens; Bayley's title quest; the ladies being the main event), nothing that grabs me in the "I MUST WATCH LIVE!" way. Which I suppose is good because I won't be home when it initially airs.

I think part of it might stem from me never really being able to accept Joe as a heel. He plays the part just as he should, but it always feels like he's doing just that: playing the part. He comes across as way too reasoned and respectful a guy off-camera. Owens can be a real dick on social media, and a guy like Corbin just oozes douchebag at times on Breaking Ground, so I find them easier to hate. Joe is just one of those guys who takes me out of the moment when I watch him go heel because it doesn't feel organic. Which I admit is my problem, not his, but it dampens my enthusiasm for the show even though I fully expect a really good in-ring product from him and Balor.

Sometimes being a fan of this stuff is just hard, man, you know what I'm saying?

[dexstar]

Really wanted to go to NXT Detroit. Tickets sold out in like a nanosecond. Anyone going to a show on this upcoming tour?

[DR Ackermann]

I tried to get tickets to TakeOver in Dallas on Wrestlemania weekend. Same thing.

[victory]

The Chicago show sold out 1500 tickets in a minute. Would of been fun to check out live. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

[cpst]

So what feuds are we going to have now? They teased Asuka and Nia Jax, but it's a bit of a strange pairing because Asuka is on her way up to a title shot and Nia Jax is on her way down. Who does Bayley feud with? I assume they're going to do a short TV program before building up something big for the Wrestlemania weekend show.

 

On the men's side, it looks like Baron Corbin will be getting a title program soon. Do they move right to that and leave the Joe rematch for later? Sami Zayn is back and Hideo Itami is hopefully coming back soon. Do the tag champs move onto the potentially hot feud with Jordan and Gable? If so, what do Enzo and Cass do?

[Loss]

Why did they put Nia Jax in a title match so early in her run instead of doing a longer buildup to it?

[GOTNW]

Why did they put Nia Jax in a title match so early in her run instead of doing a longer buildup to it?

They didn't have much choice, their female roster is incredibly thin.

[Loss]

Does anyone know how they are recruiting women now? I'm certain they've evolved past John Laurinitis flipping through bikini catalogs, but I have no idea where they are finding talent.

[Grimmas]

Does anyone know how they are recruiting women now? I'm certain they've evolved past John Laurinitis flipping through bikini catalogs, but I have no idea where they are finding talent.

Seems to be mostly international girls that worked Shimmer.

[Matt D]

Does anyone know how they are recruiting women now? I'm certain they've evolved past John Laurinitis flipping through bikini catalogs, but I have no idea where they are finding talent.

 

Outback Jack is a recruiter.

[jcmmnx]

Athena should step right in, and be near the top of the women's division when they debut her. I imagine Joe/Itami will be the program for Hideo when he comes back. I seem to remember those two working like they really didn't like each other in ROH. Balor/Corbin will probably be at the February Takeover with Balor/Zayn the most likely main event for Dallas with Bayley vs Asuka close behind. I think Cass & Enzo vs Jordan and Gable would be a pretty big match if they want to run it, but if not Jordan and Gable beating Dash/Dawson in Dallas for the belts would be fine.

 

Crews is the wild card here I'm sure they're high on him, but I haven't been that impressed. Crews vs Balor or Corbin for the belt does nothing for me. Corbin beating Balor and defending against Sami would be pretty sweet. Also I need to see a Joe/Zayn match while Joe is on fire.