The NXT Thread

[Matt D]

Man that'd be the best Gang Warz ever.

[rzombie1988]

Hey Greggulator, really enjoy your reviews man.

[BEN!]

Breeze should walk up to Neville backstage and hop up and down and then say, "Look who gravity didn't forget!" and then walk away while Neville hangs his head.

[Matt D]

 

Just to confuse you people.

[odessasteps]

Very confusing emotions ...

[BEN!]

That's the disguise Reba used to sneak into the country.

 

They stopped Orca at the border.  Lack of tassles raised suspicion.

[Buy Me a Burrito]

Who are those people?

[Harbinger]

The mojo rolling 3 point stance was begging for no to call time out or throw a flag on the play.

I wish the live nxt shows get 30-45 minutes added to it so we don't have off weeks from certain wrestlers, but on the same token wouldn't want them to overdue it with angles or unmotivated Kofi or Nattie matches.

[Peck]

Who are those people?

 

Sorta looks like Renee as Goldie.

[rovert]

From all accounts they have seemed to have settled on Becky Lynch's gimmick - evil Irish Riverdancer. Her Book of Rhymes has been shelved. She did the WWE website scan thing over the weekend too.

 

 

 

 

[supremebve]

The mojo rolling 3 point stance was begging for no to call time out or throw a flag on the play.

I wish the live nxt shows get 30-45 minutes added to it so we don't have off weeks from certain wrestlers, but on the same token wouldn't want them to overdue it with angles or unmotivated Kofi or Nattie matches.

I'll see if I can find the story, but I read that it will be a two-hour Clash of the Champions type show.  I think/hope that they are looking to expand the NXT brand with the network and with the perfomance center they should have the talent to fill out bigger shows.  I hope that they keep the weekly show under 90 minutes, but a big show every month or two would be a welcome addition.

[Greggulator]

Having NXT guys work live TV shows is a great idea. It's a totally different style than taped TV wrestling. Get their feet wet doing live work before they end up on the big show.

Man, can you imagine how great the Nexus angle would have been if NXT back then wasn't a joke? I mean, I really liked all of those dudes but seeing them play musical chairs or whatever was such a waste of time and energy.  But if the first season NXT guys went through the infrastructure now in place?. That season produced three guys who have main-evented in Bryan, Wade and Ryback. There are also really solid hands in Gabriel and Heath and Otunga. 

But if they did the Nexus-type thing now with a crew of NXT guys but still had them also wrestle on NXT at the same time? You're getting fans interested in seeing exactly what the hell is going on over there and getting subscriptions.

[Cristobal]

That season produced three guys who have main-evented in Bryan, Wade and Ryback. There are also really solid hands in Gabriel and Heath and Otunga.

...I don't think "solid hand" means what you think it means.

[Goodear]

Yeah, Otunga just never clicked with me.  Like there were pieces but they didn't go together very well.  I think the Harvard Lawyer thing could be taken by the current NXT writing staff and be totally raven but it just didn't mesh with him being this oiled up body builder who loves to pose who also wears Gucci tights who also... like there are too many ingredients in the soup.  Too much cayenne.

 

Where is Otunga nowadays?  

 

Now Darren Young?  Solid hand.

[Goodear]

So I was thinking about NXT today and came to the realization that the characters in the promotion are like totally High School to the max.  You have your goth girl in Paige, your jock who everyone actually likes in Mojo, the other goth kids who just like the outfits in the Ascension, the shy kid in Bayley who just wants acceptance, the marching to her own drum kid in Emma, the mean girls in the BFF, that annoying stoner kid in CJ... and that I thought, "What about Bo?  Where does Bo fit in?"  BOcause you can't really have a NXT analogy without Bo.  

 

And then it hit me.

 

Bo is the guy who wins student class president because only 6 students actually voted.  But man, now that he won?  Woof.  He is making speeches at lunch about having a mandate to make this the best year ever at Vince McMahon High!  He will change the cafeteria to vegetarian meals only.  He will wear his campaign button allllll year long.  He has spirit!  How aBOut you?

[Casey]

William Regal is the English teacher that everyone pushes around and makes fun of, but will/could totally kick your ass after school is over.

[Goodear]

Vice-Principle Renee Young maintains order while smiling to herself when the kids leave the office.

[Greggulator]

Antonio Cesaro is that weird dude who graduated from high school three years ago who still fights kids in gym class.

[mattdangerously]

If the WWE Network featured a Saved By the Bell remake that was exactly the way you guys described, it would be the greatest thing ever.

[victor]

These are the matches that go up on NXT today:

 

*Antonio Cesaro defeated CJ Parker with the Neutralizer.

 

*Sami Zayn came out on crutches and challenged Antonio Cesaro to a 2 of 3 Falls match. Cesaro comes out. He showed Sami respect and shook Zayn's hand and then shoots down the challenge, saying he already showed who the better man is.

 

*Natalya defeated Summer Rae with the Sharpshooter

 

*NXT Tag Team champions The Ascension defeated two wrestlers they didn't announce.

 

*Corey Graves defeated Camacho.

 

*NXT champion Bo Dallas came out and did his spiel. Adrian Neville challenged him for a title shot. Triple H came out and said if Neville can Beat the Clock, he will get a title shot on 2/27. Neville won and earned the title shot. Dallas attacked Neville and they brawled.

[Greggulator]

We get right into it! Sweet T joins us on color tonight.

ADRIAN NEVILLE VS. WESLEY BLAKE -- Blake apparently came up in the rodeo business. He has an absolutely hideous back tattoo. This was a squash match for Neville. He broke out a lot of his flips and showmanship. The crowd ate it up. The end was weird and it seemed like Blake was out of position for the Red Arrow so they kept the camera focused on Neville while Blake rolled into position. I liked the announcers putting over how big this match was for Blake -- how this could change his life. I also thought Neville did a really good job connecting with the crowd in this -- a lot of "come on!" hand gesture type things and glances to the crowd before a move. Good showing.

THE BFFS SPEAK! Whoever is trying to be Renee asks Charlotte where she has been. Charlotte talks about what she's been up to -- limo rides, jets, "You know, things my family is used to." This was really good spoiled brat stuff. Her outfit lacked the flare (no pun intended) of Summer and Sasha's but it was still really fun. Summer has a match against Natalya.

XAVIER WOODS VS. RUSEV -- Tensai bugs out for The X-Man as they're now friends of sorts. Lana introduces Rusev and is, uhm, scorching hot. Xavier starts off showing some fire but Rusev gets control. This is a rematch as the original was a surprise, set up by Kane in order to punish Woods for trying to help Big Show get his job back. "Xavier wouldn't be in this position if he could just control his social networking habit! Let that be a lesson to all of you kids out there!" True words from Byron Saxton. Woods gets a nice comeback, including a great Shining Wizard. (I think that's what it is.) Rusev hits some stiff looking stuff and gets on a BRUTAL looking Accolade. He refuses to break the hold as Lana looks on and approves. Finally, Sin Cara comes out to make the save and hits a flying headscissors to take him out of the ring.

Rusev's stuff looked REALLY good here, I thought. Nothing too fancy. But everything he did looked nasty. He needs to add in a few more power spots and he'll be good to go. Xavier will make a perfectly fine jobber. I wish they'd get him out of this dumb funk fan gimmick though and into something he could run with. I'd love to see him as Sandow's protege and/or foil as they battle over who is the true intellectual, for starters.

CJ PARKER VS. ANTONIO CESARO -- Crowd dies when The Moonshild comes in but goes crazy for Cesaro. Cesaro starts off in control but Parker rallies and -- like a true pro -- Cesaro gives him a lot to work with. Parker's stuff is weak but I did like his superkick. One of the funniest sports of the year ends this match, though. Parker airplane spins Cesaro and then when he puts him down, he does his dumb nitrous huffer dance. Cesaro just stands there and smirks, since he's IMMUNE to dizziness apparently! He then cranks his neck and does the Giant Swing into The Neutralizer. Great stuff.

SAMI ZAYN comes out on a crutch, wearing a jeff cap and stylish white dress shirt and blazer. If I knew to dress like him when I was a young man. I don't have regrets -- my life turned out very well -- but what if I figured things out a little earlier? But then again, learning and making mistakes is how you grow up, and there's no timetable as to when that actually has to happen. And while I certainly didn't do too well with the ladies over the years, and I have my share of heartbreaks in my history, it's all fine now. I've been married for almost seven years and with the same gal for almost 12. I don't like to live in the past. And why should I? My friends who did have their successes and triumphs when we were younger all seem to be stuck in that phase of their lives, still. I'm not begrudging them or judging them. But I think I learned to appreciate relationships and how special they can be by not casually dating too much.

Sami talks about 2013 being the best year of his career. But he's in a medical situation now, so 2014's off to a rough start. What would make his year better? Another shot at Cesaro, a rematch from what was their MOTYC. Sami lays down the challenge. Cesaro confidently walks up the aisle, grabs the mic, and says a hilariously cocksure jock "NO!" before bumping Sami on his way to the back. Really simple, but great.

Sami's the best pure face in the entire company right now. He just comes off so natural and that he's like this in real life.

THE MIZ comes out and talks to Not Renee. He does his spiel -- "This is AWESOME, yadda" and then CJ Parker comes out whining about "win or loss, these people won't stop booing me!" The Miz takes offense and calls him disrespectful. "You must have a big carbon footprint from ALL THE TOXIC WASTE YOU ARE SPEWING! CONSIDER THIS AN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION!" CJ then slaps The Miz and hightails it out of there. CJ Parker, the new best heel.

Back to the booth AND RENEE IS HERE! Out comes Natalya (w/ Bailey) who has been pretty good lately and not awful.They show Natalya's app interview. One line is great: "I hope Summer gets a good chiropractor because her feet is going to touch her head when I get her in The Sharpshooter" which is immediately followed by "My New Year's Resolution is to get hungry and to forget my manners!" That is so friggin' amazingly bad.

Natalya gets control early. Summer is sitting on the mat and Natalya off the ropes RUNS UP HER BACK into the other ropes and hits a knee. Cool little spot. Summer gets some of her long-legged dance offense, but Natalya gets the Sharpshooter. "I'm so happy to see good triumph over evil!" -- Renee says, admitting she's melodramatic. This, though, looks like the end of Natalya's NXT run. This was a really productive few weeks for her. She was one of the my three or four least favorite people getting screen time on Raw/Smackdown but her esteem has risen in my eyes. She's had a bunch of good little matches with the young girls.

BACKSTAGE WITH ENZO AMORE AND BIG CASS! Enzo gives an update as to his health and I have no idea what the hell he is talking about but it is glorious and awesome. Aiden English comes off to rub in his big win over Cass and to sing some more. Enzo leaves by running over his foot in the wheelchair. A+.

BO DALLAS comes out for a banner raising commemorating him being the longest running champion in NXT history. Bo is the best. "I carry your cheers!" "Here are my friends and family, including my sister's college roommate!" Neville comes out to challenge for a rematch. Bo reminds him they already had a match and that, to earn it, it took him 4:45 to beat a nobody. "I'm a champion. It wouldn't take me that long to beat you!" HHH comes on the screen and lays down the main event -- Neville gets a title shot if Bo can't beat him in under that time! And Bo has to do it in his dress clothes!

The match starts off marvelously well. Adrian was on the apron to set up some flying move. But Bo pulls on the apron, sending Neville crashing to the floor. Bo rolls in and demands the ref to start to count him out -- great callback to the first match in their series. Most of the match has Bo trying to wear Neville down with a series of different moves. Neville gets control at the end and has Bo set up for the Red Arrow. Bo rolls out of the ring and Neville just lets the clock go down to zero to get his title shot. Bo's pissed off and wants to attack Neville, who sidesteps him and then hits the Red Arrow and makes the three count himself.

Not sure they really got over what they wanted in the final match. I think they tried a little bit too much. I like the idea of Bo trying to outsmart Adrian and getting a cheap b.s. win. I like Adrian wanting to beat Bo no matter the stipulation. But there wasn't any drama at the end of this. No near falls from Bo or Adrian.

[Matt D]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CymOD0XFd8U

 

Someone reposted this.

[odessasteps]

William Regal is the English teacher that everyone pushes around and makes fun of, but will/could totally kick your ass after school is over.

Regal is Giles.

[odessasteps]

Is Yoshi still around to be the foreign exchange kid (aka long duk dong)?

[Doubting El Dandy]

Pretty bland episode this week. The wrestling was okay but nothing special, mostly felt like showcases. 

 

Also it could just be me but I can't care less about Bo Dallas. 

Yes the gimmick he invented after the failed face run was good and I dug it, but I guess for me it had a shelf life. 

I mean he did his promo fine and all, I just didn't care. That gimmick feels like the one where the guy sneaks out with the title once or twice then gets squashed Bob Backlund vs. Diesel style and vanishes down the card.