WWE TV 12/19 - 12/25 Messi. Ronaldo Nazario. Mbappe. Pele.

[strobogo]

A very Ewiakian perspective 

[Johnny Sorrow]

SD tonight was pre-taped and clearly a show made for a night where most people aren't sitting around watching TV, unless it's Rudolph, Frosty, or The Year Without A Santa Claus.

But it also opened with Sami Zayn spitting fire with the best promo I've seen in years. Seriously, check it out. 
 

[KawadaSmile]

listen

Top Dolla deserves better

[TheDuke]

I wish during these Christmas street fights they would go the Kendo sticks "Singapore Candy Canes"

[KawadaSmile]

I was dreading the worst when I saw that QR Code at the end of the vid, but it was actually ok. 

[KawadaSmile]

Sol Ruca's finisher is honestly something I have never seen before.

[NintendoLogic]

Looks like Ruca is a graduate of the Dean Malenko school of kicking out of your own pin attempt. Dope finisher, though. Dope name too. I approve.

[sek69]

She's been improving a lot in a short period, I just hope they don't try to push her too quickly because her move went viral. 

[rovert]

You guys should check out the Myles Borne/Charlie Dempsey match on the same episode of NXT Level Up. Probably the best Level Up match so far.

[Blehschmidt]

While the rest of that looks like they've been studying The Best of Jerry Lynn vs Rob Van Dam, that finished is indeed something to behold.

[KawadaSmile]

Sami truly is on that Mick Foley tier of being just super damn likeable

[Coffey]

11 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

Sol Ruca's finisher is honestly something I have never seen before.

Well, the finish is cool. The rest of that was nonsense. 

[sek69]

They're still basically brand new at this, Level Up is like AA level baseball. It's going to be a lot of rehearsed spots since they are so green. 

[NintendoLogic]

It might be a better idea to make sure they have the basics down before sending them out there to reenact Jackie Chan fight scenes. The dojo model of having trainees drill endlessly in the fundamentals and not letting them do anything fancy until they've had a bit of seasoning has a good track record of producing top-tier workers. At the very least, it's more likely to produce workers who don't turn into deer in the headlights when a spot doesn't go according to plan. Am I saying that Level Up should consist entirely of matches were rookies in black trunks and boots do nothing but basic chain wrestling and maybe a dropkick before one of them submits to a Boston crab? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

[Coffey]

If they're that green, they shouldn't be on TV where people can see it. You can tell they're athletic & in great shape & the blonde woman especially looks like she has a ton of potential, but the rest of it was nonsense. We should never be in the position of where as fans we're watching workers learn to work & then complimenting them on not breaking a limb. 

In a world where we're supposed to pretend that Alexa Bliss & Liv Morgan are good, this is what the future of wrestling is going to look like anyway.

[KawadaSmile]

Sol Ruca and Tiffany Stratton (more so the latter) seem to have a pretty damn good comprehension of what works in pro wrestling, and given their level of experience, are looking promising.

I still cannot get over how much Stratton progressed weekly on live TV. She was doing new shit every time she was on and was always putting on some quality matches.

 

Btw, is Level Up even live? I feel like it is similar to Dark or Elevation.

 

[SirEdger]

LVL UP is pre-taped same nights than NXT.

[sek69]

4 hours ago, Coffey said:

If they're that green, they shouldn't be on TV where people can see it.

I get your point but I don't think many people actually watch Level Up so it's not the worst place for folks to learn. 

[Embrodak]

Training in a world without territories and with the internet and smartphones is honestly very difficult, I don’t envy modern wrestling companies who have to figure it out. Guys forty years ago could just suck in Memphis for a few years and then migrate to Texas as someone who had their shit together.

[sek69]

 

GOONTA and Jinny (last seen on NXT UK) having a celebratory dinner with Ludwig Kaiser and Tiffany Stratton.

[Alucard]

Dante Leon in NOAH has been using that move that Sol Ruca used. He tweeted something along the lines of "Now I know how KENTA felt" 

[Johnny Sorrow]

10 hours ago, sek69 said:

I get your point but I don't think many people actually watch Level Up so it's not the worst place for folks to learn. 

People need to learn how to work on TV, even if it's TV nobody watches.

[sek69]

3 minutes ago, Johnny Sorrow said:

People need to learn how to work on TV, even if it's TV nobody watches.

Yeah, that's kind of my point. Level Up is probably the best place for them to work since it's technically TV but if they mess up not too many people see it. 

[NintendoLogic]

4 hours ago, Alucard said:

Dante Leon in NOAH has been using that move that Sol Ruca used. He tweeted something along the lines of "Now I know how KENTA felt" 

I've made this point before, but KENTA deserves to be recognized as one of the most influential wrestlers of the past 20 years. Virtually every modern junior heavyweight cribs from him to a degree. Hell, Punk and Bryan were practically KENTA cosplayers in WWE.

[KawadaSmile]

15 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

I've made this point before, but KENTA deserves to be recognized as one of the most influential wrestlers of the past 20 years. Virtually every modern junior heavyweight cribs from him to a degree. Hell, Punk and Bryan were practically KENTA cosplayers in WWE.

Marufuji, too. Everybody was stealing the Shiranui.