NXT Takeover from the CAPTIOL WRESTLING CENTER

[DMJ]

- I have been pretty down on NXT for awhile now, but I liked the main event. In front of a live crowd, I think that would've been a "star-making" match for O'Reilly. I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, but I thought he shined here and I'm going to also give credit to Balor a bit. When's the last time he had two back-to-back Takeover/Network Special matches that were as good as the one he had against Thatcher at XXX and the defense here? I wholeheartedly agree that the heel/heel dynamic took away from it - but, again, I think in front of an audience, O'Reilly was fighting from underneath for a lot of the match and that it would've made him the de facto babyface. (They also drilled it into everyone's head on commentary and in the build-up that he was the underdog, which generally makes you the babyface even if you're not actually a "good guy".)

- I second whoever said that the Swerve & Adonis/Legado storyline/rivlary would be better off without the title or any mention of the numbers 2, 0, or 5. The fact that they're fighting over a meaningless, irrelevant piece of tin in a completely lame "division" makes their feud feel less important than their work deserves. Just have this rivalry be about Legado being bastards and Swerve & Adonis standing up to them. 

- I like and support Johnny Gargano as a guy I've watched from his earliest days here in Cleveland. What I've struggled with over the past couple years is why they've opted to book him like the Big Show or Kane. He gets over as the ultimate underdog but they turn him heel to add a wrinkle to his feud with Ciampa. Then they turn him back to a babyface only to, a few months later, turn him heel again. Each turn gets him further away from what made him feel like NXT's heroic anchor and someone you wanted to root for. 

- I don't think the WWE is actively working against making Ember Moon a successful character. I just don't think the WWE is actively working to make Ember Moon a successful character. As someone else said, having her big return come immediately after Toni Storm's big return detracted from Moon, who really could and should have her "aura" played up. Or are characters no longer welcome on USA?

- Now that Mauro is gone, the next weak link is Beth Phoenix. I think Beth is probably a swell person, she was a great in-ring performer and sports-entertainer, and she probably has a lot to contribute backstage as a producer or trainer. Her commentary has been a not-so-solid C- forever and I'm not hearing improvement show-to-show or even year-to-year. I wish it wasn't true, but she just isn't very good. I almost wonder if part of the issue is that she's not playing any sort of character/role. She's just this voice that never speaks about her own experiences, comes out against anybody (heel or face), or has any distinct personality. 

[Blehschmidt]

10 hours ago, DMJ said:

- Now that Mauro is gone, the next weak link is Beth Phoenix. I think Beth is probably a swell person, she was a great in-ring performer and sports-entertainer, and she probably has a lot to contribute backstage as a producer or trainer. Her commentary has been a not-so-solid C- forever and I'm not hearing improvement show-to-show or even year-to-year. I wish it wasn't true, but she just isn't very good. I almost wonder if part of the issue is that she's not playing any sort of character/role. She's just this voice that never speaks about her own experiences, comes out against anybody (heel or face), or has any distinct personality. 

I don't totally disagree with this statement, but I feel like the fact that you had Mauro constantly over talking everyone, and now whoever the Michael Cole sound-a-like lead announcer is does the majority of the talking. Add to that, that she has constantly been part of a three person commentary team (which to me has always been overkill), and I'm not sure she has ever had a chance to develop beyond where she is currently. Plus god only knows who she has screaming in her ear "producing" her. Not saying she would ever get better, but I just don't think she's really had the chance.

[DMJ]

^ Totally agree with all of that.

I just don't know if, even without being overproduced (which is likely) and in a 2-person team, should we shine in this role. 

If anything, I think she'd benefit from doing what Barrett did. Go elsewhere, learn the job outside the WWE umbrella, and when you come back, you'll have the confidence to be yourself. Barrett has been on NXT for what? A couple weeks? And he's already made a positive difference through sheer confidence and being himself. 

Right now, she's kinda just a generic commentator but female. We don't need "female Byron Saxton" (and I'm not even slagging Byron Saxton, just saying he's kinda vanilla) when Beth Phoenix being Beth Phoenix could actually add something to the mix. 

[Blehschmidt]

I get what you are saying. Female Byron Saxton is actually a pretty good description.

I feel like Renee Young was the best shot they had at a sure thing female commentator, but they swiftly beat the life and will to live out of her.

That really seems to be a problem with this company.

 

[Coffey]

The best commentators that WWE current has are Wade Barrett & Samoa Joe. Two former wrestlers that do color commentary. 

WWE's commentary has two major issues right now: 1. they don't have anyone that's any good at play-by-play & 2. for whatever reason, they insist on not doing a 2-person commentary booth. 

If they has a 2-person booth on the show & then put Joe on color for one show & Wade on color for the other, they would already been in a huge step in the right direction. But when your lead play-by-play is Michael Cole, whom has sucked for twenty years, and everyone after him is being groomed to sound like... Michael Cole.. it's a recipe for disaster. 

Cole has no credibility & when your play-by-play guy doesn't have credibility, they're not going to be able to sell the show to the viewing audience. WWE has been blessed over the years to have some great commentators & ring announcers but it's been one of the weakest parts of their game for about two decades now. 

There's not a big list of good play-by-play commentators anywhere right now in the world of wrestling. AEW also lacks in the commentary department & a big reason why is because 1. the play-by-play of Excaliber sucks & 2. they try to do a 3 person booth. Probably just because WWE does it or Nitro did it. It's unnecessary. If you insist on having multiple commentators on the show, you could just do what Nitro used to do & switch out the color person during the second hour or whatever.

[TheDuke]

I was listening to Bruce Prichard's podcast on Honky Tonk Man and he talked a bit about the three man commentary booth. He said the three rolls were play by play, color, and analysis.  I find this strange, as I would have expected the color commentator to do analysis. I'm not sure I could explain what the difference is and maybe that explains WWE commentary is usually just a wall of noise that my brain shuts out.

[SirEdger]

I mean, Bruce wasn't exactly wrong on that level. If you look at the WCW 3-man booth (even sometimes 4, when Mike Tenay was there specifically for the Cruiserweight matches), you had 3 guys filling those exact roles: Tony Schiavone doing the play-by-play, Bobby Heenan doing colour and either Dusty Rhodes or Mike Tenay bringing some analysis. If you look at RAW at the moment, maybe it's time to just shift to a 2-men booth on all shows with one guy doing both color & analysis. Samoa Joe is being great at it (hopefully he can still return to the ring soon though) and obviously, Wade Barrett did some great work first on NWA Power and now on NXT. WWE should just change the approach in general as a 3-men booth isn't really needed anymore. Hell, I'd prefer a 2-men booth on AEW Dynamite every week instead of the current team they have.