JCM

I was looking forward to the ppv then they announce an iron man match between two teams that should have moved on to new feuds by now. Also there is a Rollins/Bray match I'll avoid like the plague, and a Dean Ambrose match. Looks like I'll be waiting to 9:30 to start watching from the beginning. I actually think Brock will put on a fun match with Joe. It can be like Brock/Goldberg at Mania only longer.

Ideally Asuka would have her streak end and drop the belt to the next face of the NXT women's division. I don't see Ember Moon as that person. I don't think she'd be a terrible choice, but I'm not the least bit excited to see it happen. Having the Iconic Duo, Nikki Cross, and a few other get called up and doing somewhat of a restart doesn't mean those women are failed experiments. Alexa, Carmella, and Nia never won the NXT women's title and are doing just fine. The problem is there's not really enough spots on the main roster for several call ups right now. As far as being a Joshi mark I'm just a good wrestling mark, and I want to see Asuka finally wrestle some opponents that are on her skill level.

If they have real plans for Asuka on the MR post Summer Slam then cool bring her up and let her do her thing after dropping the belt. If not let her keep the belt and defend against the next wave of challengers. If those challengers include Kairi, Io, Toni Storm etc it'll be the best competition Asuka has had.

They're going to have to do something with Ember character wise to get people invested in her. The whole gimmick is basically pointless and she seems only half committed to it. Her promos are just generic destiny and dreams cookie cutter babyface stuff. I'd just ditch the whole Ember Moon presentation with the red contacts and the entrance lighting and just let her be herself. She's in the same place Becky was before she found the steam punk gimmick, and had her breakout match with Sasha. Hell of a talent, but she hasn't really connected with the fan base yet. Asuka meanwhile is on fire in and out of the ring, and even though she's a year plus into her reign it still feels like there's momentum and life left in it. The problem is if she beats Ember you have to build someone new to face her from scratch. They could buy time between Takeovers with Sonya until the winner of the MYC gets built up.

Compared to Gollum Jr. Sheamus isn't ugly. I like Lorcan a good deal as a worker, and I think if he teamed up with Lars Sullivan they could be the ones to beat AOP. He's a perfect example of someone the writing team hasn't done shit for, but went out and made a name for himself by having kick ass matches.

I caught the end of Sabre/Juice and still saw that Sabre does the annoyingly terrible dumb facial expressions when selling. He just sits up after taking a big move and does that dumb ass face, and it takes me out of the match every time. Really good offensive wrestler(if you can buy a skinny giraffe man beating people up) but terrible on defense. This style just isn't for me I was done with 2.9's after the Naito match.

I can't see Lorcan getting called up in his current form. Pale ugly dude who stiffs people doesn't sound like a gimmick Vince would be crazy about.

Why can't they just leave Hojo's name alone? There have been several men that kept their non WWE names, but to my knowledge no woman has been allowed to keep their full name.

I was surprised to hear them say he was only 21. I think it's still a work in progress. I like how he gets pissed whenever someone hits him in the face. He's more vicious than you'd expect the character to be which I think is by design. I'm interested to see how he does in a competitive match.

Now that you mention the Nikki/Cactus comparison that was like the NXT version of Cactus vs Sting. Pretty nutty match and it has to rank as one of the most brutal women's matches ever in WWE. There was some sick bumps in this. I thought Asuka had a concussion after that powerbomb on the chairs spot. I feel like Ember has a lot to live up to following that. I don't know where Nikki goes from here maybe a continuation of the Ruby feud. I'd like to see Nikki break away from Sanity, but she's the only good thing about that group so they'll probably keep her with them if they have any big plans for them. Personally I just don't see much in Sanity, and I don't think it'll work very well on the MR. Looking forward to Roddy vs Roode as that build has a very Steamboat vs Flair feel to it.

Well these MITB matches have definitely made Carmella a bigger star. I think Becky has been helped as well. Everything Charlotte does looks reckless to me. She's really strong and athletic, but it looks like she doesn't quite know how to control it. Orton is probably already thinking of ways to maim the Singh Bros in the punjabi prison match. Fashion Police need their own network show.

What don't you like about having the finals of a tournament in front of an audience where about 5% of those in attendance have been following it?

J.R and Lita? FFS they couldn't throw Nigel in there?

I wonder if they want him and his rumored to be coming to NXT partner to replace DIY?

I think it might work out for the best if Shirai isn't in the MYC. It'll give other women a chance to step up and steal the show. Io is going to get over no matter when she debuts, and IMO she's the kind of talent you give a big Takeover debut to.

Ohno vs Black was really good. The writing team needs to step up and give Black some direction because he could be a big star for NXT. I really hate MMA gimmicks in wrestling, but I'm trying to give Sonya a chance. I can see some potential there, but I'm not a big fan of "oh this girl has some real training unlike the fake fighters at our Performance Center so she's going to kill them" stuff. Why wouldn't every wrestler just leave the PC and train MMA? Peyton had some over the top expressions while selling, but it was a strong performance from her.

I'd like to see Gargano make a run for the title. I think he's probably the most over baby face in NXT right now. They could space it out where Gargano's big title opportunity lines up with Ciampa's return, and he screws Gargano out of the belt and you pick that feud up where it left off. I see Drew Mac being a heel before too long. He's another guy who is in the anti indy mold with his size, looks, and WWE background.

Nak and Joe's title runs were a let down, and none of their matches against each other lived up to the hype. Balor spent most of his run getting upstaged by the Horsewomen. Roode has been about as good as any NXT champ before him, and is more over than Neville and Joe were.

They could've used a few of the 205 guys like Cedric Alexander, Gallegher, or Swan to rebuild their roster. They do have a pretty loaded roster now, but they need to give them some direction and give newer acts time to connect with the fans. I think the women's division will be pretty amazing after the MYC, and it'll be interesting to see who steps up to dethrone Roode.

Orton destroying the Singh Bros is my favorite thing in WWE now.

Tyler Bate could be NXT's Daniel Bryan if they start booking him in NXT story lines. That dude is insanely good for his age, and Dunne is right there with him in terms of talent. Those two need to be major players on NXT's weekly show. I agree with Craig that none of the current women should beat Asuka, but with Hojo, Io, and probably Toni Storm coming in I really hope she sticks around for another 6 months or so.

He was the most over face on the show.

Roman vs Joe was pretty great, and Braun got a superstar pop for his return. To no one's surprise the Cass heel turn was no where near Ciampa's. Emma appeared on Raw two weeks in a row is that a new record?

Dillinger(who's doing nothing on SDL) and Nak were the two most over faces in NXT when they were called up. Combine that with no Joe, no Revival, no DIY , and I'm not surprised at low attendance numbers. Go back a little further and you have Balor, Zayn, Bayley, Cass and Enzo, Alpha, Bliss etc getting called up close together. There's only so many times a fanbase can lose their favorites over a short span when you get to the point of not being able to replace them fast enough. The writing and character development hasn't been as strong as it was in 2014-15 either. I like the current talent roster a lot, but they haven't had time to connect with the audience yet. Even acts who've been around for a while like Peyton and Billie should've been pushed harder than they were over the past year. The tag division has one dominate team and one decent face team right now. It needs a lot of work. The women's division will be loaded after the MYC, but they need 3 more months before it all airs. Dunne and Bate look like the two brightest young stars they have, and they haven't even been included in NXT story lines yet.

One match show and even that had a beginning and end that killed the crowd.