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rzombie1988

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Alexa Bliss here:
 
She's SO small
 
Mike Johnson confirmed the Graves concussion story I've talked about before:
 

Yesterday, I answered a PWInsider Q&A question asking where NXT star Corey Graves has disappeared to, since he has been off NXT TV of late.

 

Graves, who was off for some time earlier in the year due to a concussion, suffered yet another one, according to several sources.

 

The timing of the latest concussion is really unfortunate as he seemed to be in a good groove as a heel since returning to the ring for a short feud with Sami Zayn.

 

 

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And Bliss is cute as hell.

 

If/when she learns how to sell like she should she will be a goldmine. NXT live events have her tagging with Becky Lynch playing FIP for a long time so it seems like it is being worked on. This is still Bliss's first year in the best. 

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We go right into the old-timey intro of THE VAUDVILLAINS. One of the great things about wrestling as a form of performance art is the range of characterization it allows. On a stage in a theatrical presentation, you can't have Lady Macbeth interact with Willy Loman. But wrestling can have characters from different corners of the earth interact. And it does so with a winking knowledge -- Yes, having two guys act like they're in a 1930s film wrestling in the 2010s is a ridiculous idea. The reason why I love NXT is Full Sail's willingness to embrace the sublime. The announcers do it, too. And that lets the audience at home embrace it. There's absolutely no way this act would work on Raw. None. JBL/Cole/King would have no idea how to present it. It would fly over the head of the younger audience and, sadly, the smarkier fans don't embrace the winking nature of wrestling when it's on such a huge stage in a lot of cases. But NXT gets it. And that's why I love NXT. I feel bad for anyone who doesn't watch NXT. I feel worse for people who don't "get" NXT -- it's not just about ranking matches or if something will get over on the big shows. NXT's here for those of us who still want wrestling to be real to them, damn it, and forget the snarkiness of writing about matches and the Kremlinology of backstage politicking. And the Vaudvillains and their insanely awesome entrance, in just their second match, show that more than anything.

This is a quick squash, with the highlight being Simon Gotch doing clapping push-ups while having his opponent in a head scissors. Renee adds in factoids about the jobbers -- one's a cycling enthusiast, the other hails from Oakland -- while Alex Riley says Alex Riley things. Simple, silly, and pretty perfect.

 

Next we recap Tyson Kidd walking out on Sami Zayn, and have Sami's reaction. T Sami talks about how you have to lose to learn to win, but he doesn't like losing. And not when it's because a partner walks out on you. Simple, sensible, perfect. Of course Sami wants a piece of Tyson. And why wouldn't he?

XAVIER WOODS makes his return to NXT. However, CJ PARKER is walking around with some of his hippie nonsense. Now we have the "debut" of BULL DEMPSEY (I think we've seen him as a jobber in some tag matches?). Bull looks like straight up early 90s wrestling trash. I mean that in the best way possible. He has a mullet, a singlet, some terrible metal song, and just wants to fight ala Bruiser Brody. This is pretty headlock heavy to start, but the crowd eats up Xavier's comeback.Bull wins with the Bull Dozer, which is some slam variant. After his match, he has the mic and talks about him being the "last of a dying breed." Not bad. This was a good introduction for a guy with a lot of old-school potential. And this fits in with why I love NXT and wrestling -- Bull Dempsey has no flash whatsoever, and that still works.

SUMMER RAE is taking on newcomer BECKY LYNCH! (I believe she's been around in Shimmer or what have you?) Becky's already a blast -- her theme music is a bit of a Pogues rip-off, as it starts with some guitar licks into sounding like traditional Irish fare. She does a jig and has a feisty, red-headed temper. I'm Irish-Catholic (my grandmother was born in Wexford; my grandfather from up north) in a parochial Irish-Catholic neighborhood, and this gimmick is essentially what would happen if one of my mom's insane cousins or my friend's aunt became a professional wrestler. So good. This match starts with a dance off (which already makes it the best) before it gets into a pretty okay match. Becky's jigs during the match are a bit awkward but I'm sure that will work itself out. The match ends when Summer gives Sasha and Charlotte some guff, as the BFFs are wont to do, resulting in Becky hitting a brutal (in a good way) looking Exploder Suplex. It reminded me of Taz, when he was still doing the Human Suplex Machine act. Another solid debut tonight!

 

Up next with his BIG CASS taking on Sawyer Fulton, described in commentary as a Mozart lover who trains with thumbtacks in his boots. Ah, wrestling. He gets a little bit of an advantage until Cass hits him with a big boot. I mean, like an ALL TIME crazy big boot. Cass then hits a big elbow. The match only lasted a little bit but Cass, in those two moves, made himself to look like he's just about to enter beast mode. Sylvester LaFort and his French minion come out for some nefarious reasons... and then comes the return of ENZO AMORE! The crowd is eating this up, as he does his whole intro shtick -- Bada bing, bada boom, the realest guys in the room. I'm really getting good vibes from this. Enzo always had a really unique charm and charisma to him and it seems like his time off from injury has given him some more fire. If Enzo has found that, if he steps up from really funny comedy guy to an intense fighter who is also funny, and Big Cass wrestles like a hoss... than these guys have a TON of potential.

ADRIAN NEVILLE is taking on ROB VAN DAM... but, thankfully, we have TYLER BREEZE on commentary! The match starts off what you would think -- a lot of Malenko/Guerrero-style US 90s counters and the like, and then it gets into some crazy highspots, with Neville doing an awesome moonsault to the floor. Tyler and Renee's banter is great -- he is SO arrogantly aloof and it's wonderful. This match actually is pretty decent on the RVD sliding scale. The story comes down to this -- RVD missed his split-legged moonsault AND the Frog Splash. Neville, however, hit the Red Arrow for the win. That's not a bad idea to tell a story like that. However, RVD's look of shock that he lost was so, so, so bad. Neville could have also done a bit more when he was going for the Red Arrow -- like really got it over that he was about to beat a legend in the ring and someone he looked up to his entire career. The match HAD that sort of emotion from him during different points but it lost it in the end. But not a terrible match by any means and, probably, the best RVD has had since his return.
 

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I remember when I first started following Shimmer, I had the first 6 shows and watched them in order. On show 3, one Rebecca Knox debuted... And she was really really good. I thought she was the next superstar, as she had absolutely everything. The look, the charisma, and good god did she have the talent. On Shimmer 6 she had a 2/3 falls match with Daizee Haze that was my favorite match of the year. I'm a mark for good, well done chain wrestling, and that match had it in spades. At that point, Rebecca was my favorite wrestler in the world. They announced at the next Shimmer show would feature Daizee and Knox in a 60 minute ironman match. I'm not sure if I have ever been more excited about a match.

And 2 weeks before the tapings, they announced K-Nox had suffered a serious head injury, and was being forced into retirement. At the age of 19. And I was devastated.

And today, 8 years later, I got to see her wrestle a match in the WWE. I didn't cry. But. I was kinda close.

Go kick ass K-Nox.

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^ Love it. Awesome to see Becky's debut in NXT, thought she looked pretty fantastic overall. Still full of charisma and looked good even in a 2-3 minute match. Summer usually delivers the goods as well. Neville/RVD was pretty cool to see as well, big win for Neville.

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Loved Becky Lynch but the dancing needs to go. Irish Emma isn't the way to be. 

 

Fun show. Really glad I jumped on the NXT bandwagon about a month ago. Tonight really hit hard how much of a step Van Dam lost. I'm a bit more forgiving of his WWE matches because everyone kind of works at a slower speed, but seeing him in there with Neville really hit home that even though Rob can hit everything crisply, he's nowhere near the gear he was in years ago. 

 

Bull Dempsey is like the best WCW Saturday Night wrestler ever. In an alternate universe he's having main events with Mike Enos or Brad Armstrong while Dusty babbles on about the NWO. 

 

And Renee Young is just the best on commentary. 

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Didn't Bull Dempsey job to Mojo a few weeks ago? I could've sworn that wasn't the first time I've seen him.

 

Love the Vaudevillains so much. Gotch is awesome. Just a couple weeks into the gimmick and he's already nailed the mannerisms. Once he perfects his comedy strength spots (and god willing they allow him to do some freakish super strength spots for finishes), he'll be one of the best on the show.

 

The main event was fairly boring. It sucks to see Neville have to slow down so lesser workers can keep up with him, which he gets to do plenty of on NXT anyway, so pairing him off with 2014 RVD was not my cup of tea. Tyler Breeze got kind of exposed on commentary due to the match being so long. Felt like he prepped 5 minutes of material and got stuck out there for 15. Renee sure was trying to help him, though.

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I liked the Vaudevillians more this time around.

 

Becky Lynch's Irish dancer gimmick is horrible an needs to go ASAP. That said, Lynch herself has so much charisma, energy, and is decent enough in the ring that you can actually look past the terrible gimmick.

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We go right into the old-timey intro of THE VAUDVILLAINS. One of the great things about wrestling as a form of performance art is the range of characterization it allows. On a stage in a theatrical presentation, you can't have Lady Macbeth interact with Willy Loman. But wrestling can have characters from different corners of the earth interact. And it does so with a winking knowledge -- Yes, having two guys act like they're in a 1930s film wrestling in the 2010s is a ridiculous idea. The reason why I love NXT is Full Sail's willingness to embrace the sublime. The announcers do it, too. And that lets the audience at home embrace it. There's absolutely no way this act would work on Raw. None. JBL/Cole/King would have no idea how to present it. It would fly over the head of the younger audience and, sadly, the smarkier fans don't embrace the winking nature of wrestling when it's on such a huge stage in a lot of cases. But NXT gets it. And that's why I love NXT. I feel bad for anyone who doesn't watch NXT. I feel worse for people who don't "get" NXT -- it's not just about ranking matches or if something will get over on the big shows. NXT's here for those of us who still want wrestling to be real to them, damn it, and forget the snarkiness of writing about matches and the Kremlinology of backstage politicking. And the Vaudvillains and their insanely awesome entrance, in just their second match, show that more than anything.

 

 

I agree with everything you've said.

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I want more strongman spots from Simon Gotch! The old-timey piano music and the grainy film tone are amazing. Everything about this is amazing except for the actual work, and that will come with time.

 

Like Becky Lynch, don't like her dancing. She looks really good in-ring, though. I like hearing that one of her inspirations is Finlay because I want to see her start using the ring apron skirting and all that stuff against people. Also, she could bring back using a shillelagh to show she's Irish instead of all the dancing.

 

Side note: With all the women that can really wrestle coming up through NXT now that are or will eventually be getting short shrift on RAW, and with the Network right here and in need of programming, I sure wish they'd do a one-hour women's show. Don't tape it at the arenas; do it in a more studio-like setting like NXT. Then, you can cross one major angle from that show over onto RAW. They have these really good workers that are being helped along by an awesome trainer, and I wish they would find a way to utilize them more. 

 

I love Tyler Breeze, whom gets better every week, but him at the booth was painful tonight. Ah, he'll learn. I love Renee as much as the rest of you, but she is not so good on commentary at all. They needed to work the conversation to what Tyler Breeze thought about Aaron Neville more quickly, and even though Breeze is a douchey heel, I think he shut Renee down a bit too quickly at the beginning. Take some improv classes, Breeze! Yes, and!

 

That King Kong Bundy-looking dude that squashed Xavier Woods is like their Brodus Clay replacement, and I hope he does more fat man splashes and clubbing small dudes out of the air in future weeks. I look forward to it. 

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I'm looking forward to the moment that someone tells Professor Hunter that his student Bull copied his book report almost word for word from Eddie Kingston. Chikara theft aside, Bull has some serious Abyss Syndrome and needs a mask.

 

I'm starting to realize that my gimmick here is insisting that people need masks, but a little Demolition would help 'the last of a dying breed' go far. 

 

Really getting tired of WWE commentary in general. The endless loop of sniping arguments, all of it. Even Renee was grating on me last night, which was frustrating because I want her to go far. 

 

On the plus side, ENZO IS BACK. He is the best possible Spike Dudley and I love him. I also love him and Cass feuding with those French guys who I also love for some weird reason. I want them to put a twist on the 'evil French' thing. Maybe they are French Kumite fighters? Put them in JCVD gear with French flag headbands. 

 

1305841533t-bloodsport%20main.jpg

 

Give them a Mr. Fuji manager and a lackey that sponges up blood after they dim-mak dudes.

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Oh, I love the Vaudevillians with all my heart.  I feel they should only come out when Regal's con commentary.  He added much to them that without him there I wanted to mute the announcers and concentrate on the match itself.

 

Becky Lynch was great to see.  Really glad Knox finally has a shot, bless her.  Just want to mention as she's doing her dancing Sasha and Charlotte are awesome ringside.  They talk, then decide they're going to dance a jig as well.  I need a gif of that so badly, I cracked up at that.  What's cool about Lynch is that she has some quality opponents she can work with.  Her against Charlotte, Natalya, Emma, Paige, etc. would be wonderful.  Sasha would be a good heel for her to work with as well.

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Oh, I love the Vaudevillians with all my heart. I feel they should only come out when Regal's con commentary. He added much to them that without him there I wanted to mute the announcers and concentrate on the match itself.

This also applies to CJ Parker.

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Oh, I love the Vaudevillians with all my heart. I feel they should only come out when Regal's con commentary. He added much to them that without him there I wanted to mute the announcers and concentrate on the match itself.

This also applies to everyone.

 

 

FTFY

 

Also, re: masks - I still say Ascension needs Powers of Pain/Road Warriors-esque facepaint.

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Oh, I love the Vaudevillians with all my heart. I feel they should only come out when Regal's con commentary. He added much to them that without him there I wanted to mute the announcers and concentrate on the match itself.

This also applies to everyone.

 

 

FTFY

 

Also, re: masks - I still say Ascension needs Powers of Pain/Road Warriors-esque facepaint.

 

 

Yup.

 

I also wouldn't mind the little guy wearing a mask like the Dark Elves from Thor 2?

 

Dark_Elves_header.jpg

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No more dancing gimmicks please, it is bad enough watching Emma on Raw. Besides, Lynch doesn't need to do it to get attention.

Really like the Vaudevillians, they were the best part of the show.

Tyler Breeze was not very effective on commentary, the whole main event went a little too long for RVD and the commentary to stay interesting. Needs more Bo Dallas trying to sneak in.

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Pretty dismayed at Becky's debut to be honest. It was a win from a crowd reaction POV - mainly due to Full Sail feeling she was passed over and from in ring POV bar some moments.
 
For a sheer match time standpoint the Irish jigging is undercutting one of her very best suits - in ring Wrestling which is FAR more impressive. She doesn't need the gimmick of dancing in her matches as she has the IT factor in that people are naturally into her no matter what she is doing. 
 
Lance Storm was given the dancing gimmick has he had little personality. Becky has bags of it. Khali was given a dancing gimmick as he can't wrestle while Becky is elite.
 
Would love a re-run of the match with the dance kept to her entrance and/or one taunt/crowd appeal in the match. On the indies she would do the Irish jig to get heel heat. Or would let the (American) babyface out dance her. The implication was always that she was a bad dancer. So WWE made that her babyface character thing she was good Irish Dancer. Ok?
 
Irish Indy wrestler Bobby Calloway wrote a piece on her debut. Last paragraph is sums it up from an Irish scene perspective:
 
Well there you have it; after over a year of waiting, Becky finally made her debut. I remember reading something on Twitter last night about the match only being 30 seconds. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. But even if it had been 30 seconds with only three moves, it still would have been special. Other Divas like Bayley, Emma and Sasha Banks didn’t have much fanfare when they debuted. It used to be the norm that we’d see the girls on TV as enhancement talent while creative worked out a character for them. In contrast, Becky waited for over a year and went through several different gimmicks before finally getting to make her debut. I remember after it was taped, one of my Twitter followers summed it up nicely – saying that after everything it finally worked when they just let Becky be herself. And that’s indeed what made it work. That’s also why this debut felt much more special than those I listed above. The crowd were completely on Becky’s side and she got a fantastic reaction. Diva-fans were all awaiting this moment but it felt even more special to have even the casual fans into it as well. Apparently even Charlotte and Sasha broke kayfabe and smiled when Becky made her entrance.

 

 

You’ll have to forgive the gushing but this moment meant a great deal to all of us over here in Ireland – even for me as someone who never knew Becky that well. I met her the week before she returned; she walked into the training school, introduced herself and started training. I remember thinking at the back of my mind ‘no way, it’s not her, she’s retired’ – and then seeing her in action and thinking ‘wow, this girl is good’. So the next day of course I see the announcement ‘Rebecca Knox makes her return’ and I’m in shock. I was working the show where she returned and I just remember the atmosphere backstage. The excitement was definitely there and we all crowded around the curtain to watch it happen. But for Becky, it was just business as usual. At the time I was so intimidated and barely able to form a sentence. But she was very nice and helped calm me down before my own match that night. I got to meet her again at another show and, again she was lovely. Not everyone in the wrestling industry is that nice or genuine. So it’s always a good feeling for me to see great things happen for someone that is. And with the news of WWE signing Fergal Devitt – who is just as nice and genuine – it definitely gives everyone in Ireland reasons to be proud and happy. Congratulations, Becky. You did it.

 
 
Bobby kind of doesn't tell his own story. In that training session she went in fairly unrecognisable, hair in her face etc and just introduced herself as "Rebecca" and lined up with the rest of the class. The notion Becky would be back Wrestling simply wasn't thought of as everyone thought she was done with Wrestling for good. The Ringbelles website noted it was her first match in front of a camera for TV or DVD production or whatever in EIGHT years too.
 
I am seeing Prince Devitt wrestle for his last time before he moves on to NXT on a show today my time. So this week is quite the landmark for Irish Wrestling or the first wave of Irish Wrestling as the Irish Indy scene only started in 2002/3. It is that young. After Seamus, Becky Lynch and Sheamus really I don't know who comes close to having WWE potential.
 
In closing lol Bull Dempsey.
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No more dancing gimmicks please, it is bad enough watching Emma on Raw. Besides, Lynch doesn't need to do it to get attention.

 

 

Agreed, 'Lady Finlay' is intriguing enough.

 

If you are intrigued what people point to as her best match was a 30 minute 2/3 falls match with Daizee when she was 19 in SHIMMER which was going to setup the first ever 60 minute Iron Woman match. Dave Prazak (the promoter) said it was "probably the best women's match [that he'd] seen on U.S. soil in years, if not ever."

 
The match got strong notices elsewhere. I've never seen a review below ****:
 

Most of the undercard was hovering around the average mark, but the last two matches warrant a purchase. The 2/3 falls match was the best wrestling women's match I've seen since the fall of Japanese women's wrestling. Definitely try to watch that match at least once.

 

http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/video_reviews/67778/Dark-Pegasus-Video-Review:-SHIMMER-Vol.-5.htm#OO7ErVW2pLBUHB1o.99

 

 

There’s far too much to detail but the smoothness and innovation is to be commended.

 

http://www.pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/DVDs_-_VGames_-_Books_25/article_47879.shtml#.U5YhHvldW_h

 

At the time she was pushed on par with NXT trainer Sara Del Ray. Pre-WWE Bailey, Emma and Paige respectively referenced Becky was an inspiration/favourite wrestler which is funny given how things played out. Haze-Knox 8 years on is still held as a top 5 match in SHIMMER history

 

Her match with Daizee Haze is only available current from Clickwrestle for $2.49 - SHIMMER are working on re-issuing their older footage currently.

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Shame Devitt will get saddled with some Irish stereotype too. Why do they feel compelled to do this still, I know why, but all the same, ugh. As soon as I saw the jig I said to my dad who was in the room watching NXT for the first time "yeah, some of this will never make Raw"

He also thinks Aiden English is good but he is going to break his neck doing his second rope senton bomb.

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Shame Devitt will get saddled with some Irish stereotype too. Why do they feel compelled to do this still, I know why, but all the same, ugh. As soon as I saw the jig I said to my dad who was in the room watching NXT for the first time "yeah, some of this will never make Raw"

 

 

I very genuinely don't think that Devitt won't be pushed as someone whose gimmick/character's primary characteristic is that he is Irish. Devitt will take after Adrian Neville if anything. WWE have wanted him since 2008.

 

Becky ran through about a dozen gimmicks some relying her nationality others not however none worked/connect. She's quintessentially Irish there's no running away from that. They let her be herself/her Indy persona but then over WWE-ised it. 

 

I personally don't mind her being the "female Sheamus" but the incessant dancing and the announcers mentioning at every moment possible she is Irish is absolute overkill.

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