Burgundy LaRue Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 1 hour ago, Burgundy LaRue said: As for the Wednesday Night "Wars": it's been the saddest balloon fight ever. Personally, I don't think either side look particularly strong. AEW can brag about winning the ratings, but it's against WWE's third brand that's seen by many as still being developmental. I didn't call it developmental. I was talking about how it's perceived by many still, even beyond how WWE positions it (which comes with its own set of problems). NXT might have gotten more traction if they didn't have so many wrestlers who ignored COVID and kept the PC burning with the virus. There were times RAW or Smackdown would have called up some for short-term help, but they didn't want risk having the NXT crew around anyone else too much. Which was smart. I'm not seeing the 'hip hip hooray' celebration for AEW or indie wrestling, but I recognize many here do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 Personally, while I wouldn't brag about it if I were AEW, this result pleases me cuz it destroys the narrative that Hunter is the great saviour of wrestling and if only Vince would let him take over, WWE would become great again. How this man went from being the Satan of wrestling to the Great New Hope is baffling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 3 minutes ago, Burgundy LaRue said: I'm not seeing the 'hip hip hooray' celebration for AEW or indie wrestling, but I recognize many here do. For me personally, the hip hip hooray is not about AEW "winning" and all about "HUNTER IS NOT A BOOKING GENIUS, STOP WISHING VINCE DIES, THAT WON'T CHANGE SHIT" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 That's one of the most interesting things. Triple H went from hated main eventer with a golden shovel to Papa Hunter who loved all his NXT babies and would oust old man Vince to stumbling buffoon who should turn over NXT to almost anyone else. What an arc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 2 hours ago, sek69 said: Anyway, as always Big E had the correct take on this by saying if wrestler vs rapper feuds lead to a new Def Jam Vendetta game then he's all for it. Big E is awesome. And while I am very agnostic about Lashley being any kind of draw, I personally love him. Here's hoping that this year's Survivor Series's champ v. champ match is Big E v. Lashley. Surely good bubba @KawadaSmile would agree that's the best possible pairing of BIG MEN SLAPPING MEAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 1 minute ago, MoS said: For me personally, the hip hip hooray is not about AEW "winning" and all about "HUNTER IS NOT A BOOKING GENIUS, STOP WISHING VINCE DIES, THAT WON'T CHANGE SHIT" I can see that POV. For all the finger-pointing at Vince for 'ruining' so many NXT stars, Hunter has to bear responsibility for not better preparing them for what Vince wants and expects of them beyond the PC walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 12 minutes ago, Burgundy LaRue said: I can see that POV. For all the finger-pointing at Vince for 'ruining' so many NXT stars, Hunter has to bear responsibility for not better preparing them for what Vince wants and expects of them beyond the PC walls. A million times this. A true training facility would do a better job preparing people for life in WWE (as best anyone could be trained for such a thing) rather than getting them used to life in NXT. All the football drills and shoulder-busting weight training won't help if Vince thinks you're a geek on day one. Speaking of, you think Vince has ever had a conversation with Hunter like "goddammit Paul, why are all the people you sending me such worthless geeks? where's the MUSCLE MEN at?  Of course having said that, Vince clearly doesn't follow NXT since he seems to have no idea who these people are when they arrive, so perhaps a little bit more interest in it beyond "tool I used to destroy AEW" would be benefical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 And it's not even about what they can do inside the ring, because nearly everyone is at least passable at the actual graps these days. It's the character work, promo skills, carrying yourself like you're important. Vince isn't going to warm up to anyone who he thinks is just some bottled-fed fan who just got lucky. Gotta think at some point, Vince has told Hunter to stop with the 190-lb cruiserweights and give him some bigger guys. It's not a coincidence they signed some possible hosses in the last PC recruitment cycle. Honestly, I doubt Vince cares one iota about NXT beyond getting fresh talent for RAW and Smackdown every few months. But we can bet dollars to doughnuts that he's going to bust Hunter's chops over everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 Any time I try to watch NXT, I am almost always greeted by Leon Ruff and just turn it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 18 minutes ago, sek69 said: A million times this. A true training facility would do a better job preparing people for life in WWE (as best anyone could be trained for such a thing) rather than getting them used to life in NXT. All the football drills and shoulder-busting weight training won't help if Vince thinks you're a geek on day one. Speaking of, you think Vince has ever had a conversation with Hunter like "goddammit Paul, why are all the people you sending me such worthless geeks? where's the MUSCLE MEN at? The Keith Lee stuff is a perfect example. He got to the main roster and couldn't work the main event style very well. What the fuck had he been doing in NXT for a year+ if he wasn't even getting prepared for the match style of the main roster? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 The mere idea of "learning the WWE main event style" is everything wrong about this company and why it has sucked stylistically for so long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 4 minutes ago, El-P said: The mere idea of "learning the WWE main event style" is everything wrong about this company and why it has sucked stylistically for so long. I mean, a lot of companies have their own style they prefer. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect your "development" company to be getting guys reps with matches laid out like your parent company would want. If you're training some girls to work for Stardom, you aren't going to train them to be deathmatch workers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 14 minutes ago, Mad Dog said: I mean, a lot of companies have their own style they prefer. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect your "development" company to be getting guys reps with matches laid out like your parent company would want. The issue is that the WWE style is basically the dullest, most patterned style ever. You can't be different, you can't work a different way, which is basically the essence of pro-wrestling and why it's fun to watch. Trying to make everyone work the WWE style is why I could never care for this company for the last 20 years every time I gave it a try. This is why people like Mox or Brodie left. This is why FTR left. This is why they will never be able to have a true latino star coming from Mexico, because in the end he'll be working like Sheamus or something (or end up like all of them doing stupid shit on the undercard). What used to be fun about WCW is that it was a clusterfuck of different workers and styles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 I totally agree with you that it's dull as fuck. But they still didn't prep Keith Lee for being on the main roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 Just now, Mad Dog said: But they still didn't prep Keith Lee for being on the main roster. I guess so. That being said, let's not pretend it has nothing to do with Vince having the attention span of a teenager on TikTok when he comes to giving someone a serious push. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 3 minutes ago, El-P said: I guess so. That being said, let's not pretend it has nothing to do with Vince having the attention span of a teenager on TikTok when he comes to giving someone a serious push. This caused a mental image for me that was both hilarious and horrifying at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 He has no attention span and Bruce Prichard still seems to rely on people he was familiar with from 10 years ago. I think Keith Lee would have had issues anyways but I don't see what being in NXT actually did for him other than cooling him off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 1 hour ago, MoS said: Big E is awesome. And while I am very agnostic about Lashley being any kind of draw, I personally love him. Here's hoping that this year's Survivor Series's champ v. champ match is Big E v. Lashley. Surely good bubba @KawadaSmile would agree that's the best possible pairing of BIG MEN SLAPPING MEAT I mean, I don't think they've done Big E vs Lashley, and it is a dreamy BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT match, but it's not like Roman vs Lashley part 2 isn't a dope idea. Bloodline vs Hurt Business? Fuck yes. But I'd obviously be down for a Roman vs Big E program, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted March 4, 2021 Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 Lee was hot coming off that final sequence with Roman at Survivor Series 2019. He should have been pushed to the NXT title from that. Lee won the North American title not long after, but you could feel his momentum wane. They make him double champ at Great American Bash, but had him vacate the NA title in two weeks, then essentially get squashed by Karrion Kross the next month for the other title. Just bad choices all around. There was a way to get Lee to RAW without taking that route. That is on Hunter. As for not understanding the main roster style--once Lee nearly broke his neck on that over the top rope leap he did during a match with McIntyre, him being retooled was a foregone conclusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted March 4, 2021 Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 The NA Title was such a dumb addition to NXT. It's never meant anything and the fans don't care about it. It's clear that's what they give guys they don't have anything better planned for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted March 4, 2021 Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 2 hours ago, Burgundy LaRue said: Honestly, I doubt Vince cares one iota about NXT beyond getting fresh talent for RAW and Smackdown every few months. But we can bet dollars to doughnuts that he's going to bust Hunter's chops over everything. He might not care one iota about NXT, but he absolutely cares about crushing AEW. We have seen Vince's MO for decades now. He cares about crushing competition and/or nipping any kind of competition in the bud far more than he cares about being the biggest promotion on the planet. So he absolutely will be busting Hunter's balls about how he could not put away a pissant promotion run by skinny geeks and WWE rejects Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted March 4, 2021 Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 5 hours ago, NintendoLogic said: In fairness, building anticipation for something people want to see and then delivering does seem like a pretty solid ratings strategy. Yup. And if you look back at the Attitude Era shows when they were at the peak that was generally the formula they used with Vince & Austin The big problem is it's rare they have something people actually want to see. Let's say Lashley as champ for the next month is a smashing ratings success, and by whatever metrics it looks like more than just people tuning in for the WM build as usual. Would they actually run with him past WM? I doubt it. Practically every time something gets over that they didn't plan on, or more than they planned on, they don't change course. They planned on Lashley getting over, he's one of the few successes of the pandemic era. But I don't think they planned on him being more over than Drew, and to my eyes that happened a long time ago around the half dozenth Orton match Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav'oh Posted March 4, 2021 Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 There's no dishonesty in doing this: AEW beat WWE's developmental system. It's the attempts to distance WWE from NXT which are dishonest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 4, 2021 Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 WWE's idea of a big angle to counterprogram against a stacked AEW show being to have Adam Pearce do his best Earl Hebner impression in the women's tag match is just *chef's kiss* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 17 hours ago, cm funk said: Yup. And if you look back at the Attitude Era shows when they were at the peak that was generally the formula they used with Vince & Austin The big problem is it's rare they have something people actually want to see. Which is what actually worries me. Lashley won, everyone rejoiced. Now, what? Do we get this three-way feud between him, Miz and Drew? After Lashley's victory being met with such overwhelming approval, who is he going up against? With Lee missing and Andrade on the shelf? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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