The NXT Thread

[The Natural]

 

As the longest-reigning NXT Champion in history, Bo Dallas' reign came to an abrupt end at NXT ArRIVAL. Following his loss to Adrian Neville in NXT's first Ladder Match, Dallas has been anything but his normal delightful and jovial self. Whether it's a coping mechanism or simply a way to ignite his alleged legions of Bo-Lievers, Dallas has chosen to write a letter to you, the NXT Universe. As is par for the course, the thoughts and opinions of the following letter represent the views of Bo Dallas and not WWE.com. With that said, this is Dallas' written word to you.

 

DEAR NXT UNIVERSE,

 

I’d like to apologize to all my Bo-Lievers for what took place on Thursday night, Feb. 27, 2014. In case you missed it, Adrian Neville found a way to defeat yours truly and capture my coveted NXT Championship. I’ve had several weeks to digest the events of this tragic day, and if it weren’t for all my loyal Bo-Lievers, I don’t think I would have made it this far. You have truly been the wind Bo-neath my wings. I will never forget that day as long as I live.

 

When I looked up and saw Adrian Neville holding my championship as he stood atop that ladder, I was filled with a flood of emotions. I was sad, heartbroken, alone and empty. I felt like a piece of me had been ripped from my soul and to make matters worse, I looked and saw each and every one of you. I saw children wiping their tears away, I saw husbands consoling their wives, wives consoling their husbands and even production crew members mourning the loss of their one and only true champion. It was in that moment that I realized a hero had fallen and that hero was me.

 

You know, they say a man is only as good as his accomplishments, and on Feb. 27, I feel like I failed. I chose to write this letter because I’ve decided I can’t allow myself to be a failure and I won’t allow you to have a failed hero. The desire and fire inside of me has never been stronger. I’ve realized that a true champion fights when the chips are down so you can celebrate when they stand back up. To quote my longtime idol and mentor, John Cena: NEVER GIVE UP. I, BO DALLAS, will never give up.

 

Bo-Lievers, on this day, I proclaim to you, you will never see someone fight as hard as I’m gonna fight and you will never see someone push as hard as I’m gonna push to one day once again become your NXT CHAMPION. Because I’m not only doing this for me, I’m doing this for the UNIVERSE.

 

I love each and every one of you and I promise to never let you down again.

 

Sincerely,

 

BO

 

P.S. Your Champion FOREVER…

[JonnyLaw]

I BO-lieve... dammit, I BO-lieve...

[IpponDropkick]

How can you not love this guy? 

[Brian Fowler]

Quoting Cena and Tebow? Quality heel work.

[Patrick B.]

After "This IS 'Bo's Ring'!", I can no longer hate him.

 

EDIT:  Post 500.  Score.

[awful waffle]

So they changed Adam Rose's music. It sounds like a knock off of his music he used for his debut. It's not nearly as good.

[SirSmUgly]

I think my favorite little random thing in this show was Saxton (I believe) alluding to his Archer fandom when he called the kid at ringside that Sheamus high-fived who looked sorta like him "the Wee Baby Sheamus."

[Josh Mann]

"[sheamus and English] look like a negative". God bless William Regal. 

[The Z]

I want to see more Bull Dempsey and less Mojo Rawley.

[Raziel]

Yeah, I'm not seeing what ya'll are seeing in Adam Rose.  Entrance is already getting old, and he's not good enough in-ring wise to get past that, too much working the prancing around the ring gimmick.

[Ace]

Changing the song definitely hurt Rose.

[Josh Mann]

Playing Devil's Advocate, I think the idea was to take the WHOOO out of the song and replace it with a HEEEEY in order to make it less high-pitched and thus more audible for crowd participation.

[Skeeball Wizard]

Yeah, I'm not seeing what ya'll are seeing in Adam Rose. Entrance is already getting old, and he's not good enough in-ring wise to get past that, too much working the prancing around the ring gimmick.

Personally, I feel like the gimmick has a lot of potential and once he finds his feet in the ring and really flesches the character out its going to be a ton of fun. And yes he needs the original music back.

[Raziel]

Eh. it screams Indy gimmick.  Its one of those that'll work fine in NXT, but soon as it goes up to the main roster, its gonna die a painful death.  Kinda like Emma's.

[Go2Sleep]

I want to see more Bull Dempsey and less Mojo Rawley.

 

I've thought the same thing about both of Mojo's opponents so far. Why does the guy whose gimmick is that he has non-stop energy open every match without hitting a single move, then sell for 90% of it? Terrible.

 

I like Adam Rose's gimmick, especially if they keep the "party's over" touch where he gets busted in the mouth and and goes crazy. Still needs a new finisher, though. That lariat is weak.

 

Not sure I like Zayn getting taken out from a ring post shot. He sold it well, but should that really be that debilitating for one of the top faces? He survived getting slammed on concrete by Cesaro after all. 

 

I like Bayley and Sasha Banks a lot more than their higher-ranked friends. Great pure babyface/chickenshit heel dynamic in their match.

 

That Aiden English entrance was spectacular. He looks like he could be a player in the ring too. We need more of him on this show. Solid match with Sheamus who was slumming it on NXT this week, although appeared to be having a lot of fun.

[Skeeball Wizard]

I think the biggest problem with the NXT gimmicks once they get called up is that the writers take away everything about the gimmick that made it work. Every one of them, save the Wyatts, is "fun loving funner who funs to have fun."

[Greggulator]

We start off with MOJO RAWLEY staying hyped! The dude's energy is great. Not sure I like him being friends with Gronk. If I were a NXT trainer, I'd sit that dude down and make him watch all the WWE-era "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan stuff possible. Bull Dempsey rules. This is just a simple squash-ish match. Nothing wrong with that. The thing to keep in mind with NXT and Mojo Rawley -- the guy has had less than 10 TV matches. In his life. I don't know how many house shows they run but it's not a lot. Legitimately, the guy probably has under 50 matches in front of a live audience. Compare that to Sami Zayn or Adrian Neville, who might have a total in the thousands. But Mojo has the important part down -- he's got a well-defined character, an insane amount of presence and has matches that are at least fun and constructed in a simple manner. He sells, makes a comeback and wins. Needs a better finisher than a butt splash but he'll figure it out.

Compare him to Titus O'Neil. Titus is of the same cloth. Titus is a football player who is beyond athletic, with charisma and presence. But the dude is really bad in the ring. If Titus came up in developmental as its now constituted, he'd be so much better. Instead, he was on the previous rendition of NXT that was fairly useless (although it's where The Usos really cut their teeth) as a learning tool. Or take Fandango -- that dude cut his stripes in that NXT, too. He's better than Titus but could be so much more. He's had a few okay matches (and was in one of the best comedy matches of all-time) but he'd be so much better.

 

CJ PARKER talks about Mojo Rawley and this is glorious and number one and the best. "I'm going to humanely dispose of Mojo Rawley" and drops trash into a recycling bin. I absolutely love, love, love this character. I really want to see this on the big stage at some point. CJ could be a really great Main Event 3MB/Justin Gabriel type of guy.

TYLER BREEZE is out. The thing I love about NXT is how great a lot of the introductions are. That's such a huge part of wrestling. It's how a character introduces themselves to the world. I don't know if a lot of guys think this through -- chances are, each week on Raw, there are a few thousand people tuning into for the first time in a long time (or maybe ever). The characters need to get introduced. A guy just coming out to pyro or whatever is just eh. And there are fantastic entrances. The Undertaker and The Wyatt Family and The Shield have all-time great entrances. But the company obviously can't give an elaborate entrance to everyone. But some guys have basic entrances and make the absolute most out of it. Cena does his salute side-camera thing. Bryan comes out a house-on-fire already with the YES! chants. CM Punk sat down and did variations of It's Clobbering Time. But dudes like Kofi or Darren Young or Justin Gabriel or Dolph have dumb, unidentifiable ring entrances. Dudes have to make the most out of every second they have TV time, especially for new audience members.

NXT is really pushing that with a lot of characters, Tyler Breeze especially. His isn't anything that elaborate -- just him strutting and taking selfies -- but you immediately can tell that this person is a completely full-of-himself toolbag (but perhaps oddly charming). Mojo has that, just by being Mojo.

SAMI ZAYN comes out. He lacks a cool entrance. He's one great idea for an entrance away from being a top card guy. The dude can work, obviously, and he's a fantastic promo. But he sorta just comes down and slaps hands and stares down his opponent. That works in Ring of Honor and other indies -- people are there to see wrestling. But a lot of WWE fans tune in for the spectacle. Adding to that works. Dude doesn't need a Flair robe or a catch phrase -- just a little something else.

Of course he comes down to the ring and COREY GRAVES comes out of nowhere and tosses Zayn into the ring. Regal is AWESOME here, talking about how Graves made his attack as Sami was slapping the hands of a child. Man, Graves has gotten so great lately. He gives the audience NOTHING to cheer for and I love it. He's such an utter dickhead. He's sort of like a mini-Batista -- he has a horrible belly button tattoo, skinny jeans, etc.

SHEAMUS comes out. Ugh. Dude's the worst and is always just in talking points mode. My main AIDEN ENGLISH comes out singing and talking about his Broadway dreams. I love Aiden flaring his nostrils after selling fear just a bit. So great.

 

ADAM ROSE comes out. Oh man, this entrance is fantastic and exactly what I'm talking about. Renee and Mr. Regal start their flirting. Love Byron just going "Hey Renee!" who responds with a "hey!" When did Camacho start wrestling in Chuck Taylors? Did he have to borrow them from Sami? "I have a feeling those parties are really different." Renee on Camacho's parties in Juarez. Man, they NEED to have Camacho as a henchman for the Suarez drug cartel. Their stories about Rose's parties are so great. I really liked this match. Camacho mocking Rose's dance, infuriating Rose in the process who used that to get control of the match, was awesome. What's funny is that Rose is using the same finish he did as Kruger -- then called The Slice -- and it worked fine as a Kraven The Hunter-style predator. Not sure it works for Adam Rose. But this gimmick is an A+ all around. I loved the dude in the full body suit and then the shot of some old woman dancing in the crowd. This is awesome.

The Wyatt/Cena/Eminem promo is one of the best promos they've ever done. I love it so much. Em's verse works so well with Wyatt's dialogue over it. Then the chorus with the Cena part of the debate works magically, too. I'm not a huge Eminem fan but I do like a lot of the guy's better stuff. I think the promo speaks really well of what I like about Em -- on one hand, he's this tortured genius of sorts who doesn't think he belongs in the world (like Bray) and, on the other, he has a legacy of being one of the biggest stars in pop music history. And it also touches on Cena's gimmick that got him over --an Eminem rip-off who now has a legacy that Bray Wyatt wants to destroy. Next level stuff.

Not to get all about the Wyatt Family, but that's what I love about the character so much. The dude's promos are poetry. He's a preacher gone mad who expresses himself in imagery and emotion and doesn't need to just spell it out for us. People in production or however that works have obviously fallen in love with the character, since this is like the 10,000,000th video they've done with him and he's been here not even a year. His original entrance promos -- addressing his religious complex while tied into class warfare -- were just the beginning. And we're far from the end. If anyone needs to break The Undertaker's streak, it's Bray.

 

Now it's time for the 10,000,000th match between Sasha and Bailey. I love the NXT Women obviously, but they really need to introduce some more women just to change it up. Nattie's also really changed in my eyes since she came down to NXT -- she's been really likable and has done a lot of nice work. I kinda think Sasha Banks might be a big deal. She can really work and has been fantastic post-heel turn. This got really fun quickly. Bailey doing the "WHOSE THE BOSS NOW!" stuff is so great, especially since the BFFs kept breaking her headbands. Great revenge stuff that gets Sasha fired up and this turns into a fun brawl. Bailey is going to get so over on the main roster. A lot of young girls do watch wrestling. They need an avatar. AJ can be that person but she's carrying a whole division right now and it's easier if she plays the little snot everyone hates so everyone else can at least get some sympathy trying to get comeuppance and the title. Bailey's it, though.

Okay, more later. My feed froze.

[Go2Sleep]

I also forgot to mention that Renee Young is like the best announcer. She's so calm and natural behind the mic and can put over stories with little effort. 

 

Even with Vince screaming in their ears, I'd have to think a Cole/Regal/Young team would be immensely preferable to the current group of "A team" announcers. Regal and Renee would have to cut out the flirting act, but you'd have a person who cares about the in-ring action, a person who cares about the gimmicks, and Cole wouldn't be stuck trying to guide a disinterested/senile Lawler to sounding competent or be dragged into inane banter with JBL trying to put himself over.

[Captain Kronos]

I have to disagree with the support for Adrian English's entrance. It just goes on and on and on. (Kind of like Jillian Hall and her singing - anyone remember her?) It was perhaps amusing the first time. Maybe.

 

Also, I completely zoned out during his match with Sheamus. Maybe it was the self-indulgent signing contest that opened the match.

 

 

Bayley and Sasha put on a very entertaining match. The wrestling was adequate, and the character work was superb.

[The Z]

I have to disagree with the support for Adrian English's entrance. It just goes on and on and on. (Kind of like Jillian Hall and her singing - anyone remember her?) It was perhaps amusing the first time. Maybe.

 

Completely agree about Aiden English. He's been around for a few months now and he still has a lot more work to do with his character than Adam Rose, who just debuted a week ago.

On the big stage that character would get old within a week of it's debut.

[Patrick B.]

Honestly been racking my brain to figure out what would be a good finisher to Rose.  He used the swinging fisherman buster/neckbreaker as Kruger...I'm sure someone else has used that in the past, but I don't think anyone's using it at the moment.

[Matt D]

I'm playing catch up on but on 211, before the Emma/Charlotte match, Eden trying to convince the pissed off ref to do the Emma Dance was great.

[Jamal]

Bayley stealing Sasha's shades was made of awesome. Since coming to NXT, the former Davina Rose has been displaying oodles of personality, And Sasha has come into her own after becoming a heel. IMO, she should be the BFF member getting the title shot.

[Captain Kronos]

 

"Sorry to interrupt you, but I was following you from your car. . ."

 

Love this Bayley. Love both of these gals.  A Trish and Mickie angle would be awesome, especially with AJ being just a nutty as Bayley. (compared to the normal Trish)

[DreamBroken]

Sasha is such an awesome character, loving her work. Her and Charlotte have been my favorite parts of the shows lately. Bummed they changed Rose's music already, this one seemed to really tone down the entrance.