The NXT Thread

[TimLivingston]

God, shows like tonight just reaffirm my love for this program. The comedy mixed tag was great. Santino was on point and Fandango stooged like a badass.

 

The Cass/Enzo promo was awesome. Them going after the belts is going to be money.

 

Ohno's in better shape for sure. Had to fall to Harper for obvious reasons, but if he and Cesaro cross paths, a KOW reunion might be his ticket to the main roster.

 

Tag match was fine, although the difference between Graves and Neville is huge at this point. Graves seems like he needs to take a turn at some point because his character is so dull.

 

Loved the Bo invitational. Won't spoil the end so that people watch it (although if you've kept up, it's pretty obvious what will happen, and it'll still rule) but it was another great way to end the show.

 

No joke, this shit is like Florida TV in the 80's. Ascension is a way tamer version of Kevin Sullivan's Army of Darkness now that the Wyatts are gone. Bo Dallas is OBVIOUSLY Mike Graham. I guess Xavier Woods is the skinny version of Dusty?

[MORELOCK]

Bo's still terrible on the mic.

[thepunkrockicon]

So I've been watching this show from back in the redemption season that never ended. I'm up to the March 21, 2012 episode. The talk in this thread about the current episodes is what got me watching, and I have to admit, I'm really enjoying the matches. I also like that although some of the angles are hilariously silly[i.e. Tatsu feuding over an action figure] it definitely feels like everyone is involved in something. No one's just on the roster to take up a roster slot, like you often see on the main shows[i don't know if that's still the case, as I haven't been able to watch RAW or Smackdown consistently for almost a year now]. I'm surprised they didn't jump on some of the guys and make them huge stars , since some of them are insanely over. I understand why Titus O'Neil didn't get put on a main show, it definitely felt, at least earlier in the season, that the show was built to make him into a huge star, but some of the Pro midcarders are insanely over, Alex Riley and the Usos chief among them. When Riley's music hits, the crowd goes insane, so I don't know why they didn't make more of him, he's pretty good in the ring, decent on the mic, and got over like nobody's business.

 

On a side note, I blame this thread for keeping me up late as hell, because I keep watching this show, and that would have never been the case if not for this thread

[GojiColin]

-  Comedy tag was great.  Emma and Santino were lovable goofs.  I know the whole feuding tag partners thing is pretty played out, but Santino/Fandango could be some amazing comedy.

-  Connor O'Brien still has a good evil laugh.

- Ohno/Harper was good stuff.  Just two dudes beating the snot out of each other.  Glad to see Ohno back.

- Enzo and Big Cass' promo was just awesome.  

- I'm intrigued by Mojo Rawley and would like to know more.

- It'll be interesting to see what happens with Neville and Graves now.

- The Bo Invitational was perfect.  The crowd going nuts for "This Guy", Kruger, Antonio and the ending being perfect.

 

Another great show.  I wonder if we're going to get a Kruger/Real Americans feud; that could be fun.

[MarcosLoura]

I'm eagerly waiting for the angle that will make Sami start wearing a lucha mask.

 

CALLED IT!

 

Is Neville gimmick "Guy from ROH 2003"? Ugh. Corey Graves. Ugh. The Ascension. Ugh.

 

Everything else? Pretty fucking good.

 

"Let's go this guy!" was great. 

[MonteCarl]

I love this show, but watching it today and thinking about the roster, there are very few guys there who I can see coming to the main roster and actually rising above a Justin Gabriel level. As much fun as Tyler Breeze is, can you see that act on RAW? I can't. I'm a fan of Leo Kruger, but there's something about him that just doesn't seem like a fit for the mainstream show. CJ Parker? Please.

 

From the current roster, here's who I could see getting to the main roster and them actually doing something with:

 

Adrian Neville - Smaller size, but his athleticism is too great to ignore. He'd get over with his great acrobatics and awesome twisting shooting star finisher. Tag with Evan Bourne when he comes back?

Aiden English - Would be a great "understudy" for Damien Sandow

Alexander Rusev - He's big. He's agile. He has a unique look. Give him a manager and let him be a silent killer like Umaga was

Conor O'Brien - He's huge and has a unique look. I think the people who make these call ups would love to have a guy like this on the main roster, even though he's not great in the ring. Rick Victor, however, they can get rid of. He's useless.

Kassius Ohno - We know how good he is. Can he discipline himself enough to get up to the main roster and prove it to the rest of the world?

Xavier Woods - I think he has the charisma and talent to make it to the main roster. Perhaps he's a cousin of R-Truth or something?

Sami Zayn - This one is obvious. He'll make it there soon and will become a big star.

 

That's about it out of their pretty large roster. I think Corey Graves has a unique look that would get some attention from the "regular" crowd at first, depending on the vignettes leading up to his debut. But he can't back it up in the ring and he'd fizzle out pretty quickly. Everybody else is good within the small confines of the NXT show and crowds, but I just don't see any of them clicking on RAW or Smackdown.

 

Enzo and Big Cass are a wildcard. They are quickly becoming big fish in a small pond and they are endlessly entertaining, but again, I don't know if their act would get the time on a main show to truly get over. The same could be said about almost all the Divas on NXT. All their characters are completely fleshed out way more than most of the Divas on the main roster, but Divas are given maybe 5 minutes a week and I don't see how Emma's goofy dancing gimmick would get over in RAW like it does in the smaller NXT atmosphere.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather keep most of these guys on NXT where I can selfishly be entertained by their antics instead of them being called up and getting lost in the shuffle on RAW or Smackdown. Except for Sami Zayn. Get him up there stat. He's their next break through star.

[Ace]

I love this show, but watching it today and thinking about the roster, there are very few guys there who I can see coming to the main roster and actually rising above a Justin Gabriel level. As much fun as Tyler Breeze is, can you see that act on RAW? I can't. I'm a fan of Leo Kruger, but there's something about him that just doesn't seem like a fit for the mainstream show. CJ Parker? Please.

 

From the current roster, here's who I could see getting to the main roster and them actually doing something with:

 

Adrian Neville - Smaller size, but his athleticism is too great to ignore. He'd get over with his great acrobatics and awesome twisting shooting star finisher. Tag with Evan Bourne when he comes back?

Aiden English - Would be a great "understudy" for Damien Sandow

Alexander Rusev - He's big. He's agile. He has a unique look. Give him a manager and let him be a silent killer like Umaga was

Conor O'Brien - He's huge and has a unique look. I think the people who make these call ups would love to have a guy like this on the main roster, even though he's not great in the ring. Rick Victor, however, they can get rid of. He's useless.

Kassius Ohno - We know how good he is. Can he discipline himself enough to get up to the main roster and prove it to the rest of the world?

Xavier Woods - I think he has the charisma and talent to make it to the main roster. Perhaps he's a cousin of R-Truth or something?

 

 

Re: Neville - Why put two flippy guys together. Give him a bruiser to team with and contrast off of.

Re: Woods - TNA did it already. "Truth and Consequences"

[Greggulator]

I think the WWE looks (or should look) at NXT the same way baseball teams look at their minor leagues.If the WWE has a 40-man/diva roster, you'd like all 40 of those spots to have value. There's a bunch of guys who are stalwart performers who have value -- only a few have main event or top-card value, but there are guys like Santino and Fandango who are entertaining and will keep people from flipping the TV channel and/or could sell a T-Shirt. But then there are guys who don't have any value beyond being decent filler for a few matches, like Justin Gabriel. Or there are guys who have had significant roster time who are just done at this point -- R. Truth, Khali, etc.

 

So, let's say there are 15 guys who don't add anything to the show whatsoever. If you slowing replace Justin Gabriel with someone like Tyler Breeze or Aiden English, you're adding value. You're putting an entertaining character on a show like Main Event or Superstars and giving people a reason to tune into Hulu. But the performers obviously need seasoning and have to learn how to work a TV-length match before they're called up. But a Jack Swagger vs. Justin Gabriel match doesn't have anything to offer me. But Aiden English coming down to song or Breeze taking selfies to Zeb's puzzlement?  Sold.It's just a matter of finding the value in these guys and what clicks.

 

They've hit with a lot of people already. Look at the dudes who came up through either FCW or NXT within the past two years (and yes, I know there are guys who came up in the indies) when they really started implementing this system: Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, Cesaro, Wyatt Family, Big E., Fandango. The first three guys are already main event. They can pull the trigger on Cesaro any time they want. Bray Wyatt has limitless potential. Harper's at least a quality hand while Rowan's a work in progress (but probably sells the most merch with that sheep mask). Big E.'s really talented but they haven't really used him yet. Fandango's a good comedy guy.  Heck, even Renee Young has a lot of value, being a highly competent backstage announcer.

 

It's really exciting to see this unfold. We haven't seen a minor league system like this -- I know they had OVW and that stuff, but the WWE pretended like those leagues didn't even exist. But NXT is incorporated into the universe AND we get to see that petri dish in action. On top of being a really fun and entertaining program, we're also getting to see a business plan unfold at once.

[MORELOCK]

 

I'm eagerly waiting for the angle that will make Sami start wearing a lucha mask.

 

CALLED IT!

 

I don't know that I've enjoyed eating crow more.

[Greggulator]

1) Santino/Emma vs. Fandango/Summer Rae is amazing. Is there a list of the greatest comedy matches of all time anywhere?  Because this legit might take the top spot. Santino put on a master class of slapstick comedy there. His rolling out of the way, diving to make tags to Emma who wasn't there, etc.  Emma's great. Summer Rae is pitch perfect as the mean girl. And the announcing was insane. I love how matter-of-fact Renee is about Fandango hitting on her but her not really caring. It was like if my friend Bridgit was a wrestling announcer. I don't see Bridgit nearly as much as we want but whenever we do it's a great time. She's really frank and open about her relationships and it's refreshing. ("It was weird dating a 55-year-old but he was rich, so that was a nice change of pace." "I wish Bobby could hold down a job because, if he did, he'd be the best boyfriend ever. For some reason, he's really hot when he watches Swamp People." Bob and the rich person aren't the same.) Renee Young rules. This rules. One million billion stars. CMOTYC. 

 

2) The Ascenscion dude with the evil laugh. I wish there was more of a context for him to justify having such a great sci-fi evil laugh.

 

3) KO vs. Harper was fair enough. Kassius got in a bunch of stuff before the conquering hero took him out with the nastiest clothesline in the business.

 

4) Big Cass and Enzo's promo was spot on Jersey trash all day. I loved Enzo's meth eyes at the end. A million, billion stars.

 

5) Mojo Rawley coming off like some LA Fitness gym trainer-turned-motivational speaker might have some legs. I really want him to be a little more toned down version of the Ultimate Warrior with a YO! MTV Raps graphic. Interesting.

 

6) The tag match was there. I just can't really get into those dudes one bit. The match was fine. Nothing objectionable from what I remember.

 

7) The BDI was awesome. So, so, so, so awesome. Bo Dallas is such a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful toolbag. I loved the crowd chanting for "This guy." The Cesaro/Kruger run-in. El Local. I loved the announcers acting as if they had no idea who El Local was. So great. This put a big smile on my face.Legitimately, this made me feel like I was 10-years-old watching wrestling on Saturday afternoon with my brother. One of the great single epsiodes of television wrestling in a really long time.

[supremebve]

Losing the titles hopefully leads to a break up of Neville and Graves which should have happened months ago.  Those two have no direction and teaming them up didn't help at all.  Neville needs to develop a couple of mat based spots to round out his game.  His flying stuff is great, but he won't get very far unless he can fill in the gaps between his highspots.  Graves on the other hand if way further away.  He seems to not have a gimmick, any signature spots, or anything other than "Stay Down" tattooed on his knuckles. I've seen him wrestle 15-20 times, but I can't remember anything that he has ever done in the ring.  He doesn't strike me as bad, just totally uninteresting.  Turn him heel and give him some sort of gimmick.   

 

Bo is about as hateable as any heel working right now, and his poor mic skiils kind of works in his favor.  Him stumbling over his words with that goofy ass look on his face makes me want to slap the hell out of him.  The anger he showed after "That Guy" tried the rollup really added to the character.  He is so believably disingenuous.

 

I could watch Emma, Paige, Bayley, Sascha, and Summer every week in some combination.  They all have a clearly defined direction and they keep improving week by week. 

[scraylo187]

I think my main problem with the Ascension is that I think they are supposed to be time traveling space vampires but they have normal person names. They should be named like Blade and Swordhands The Dark Lord or something.

[JonnyLaw]

I just watched the Santino tag match. Shit, that was amazing pro wrestling. I really don't feel like sitting through an Ascension match now though.

[Matt D]

They need to bring Leo Kruger up to the main roster to hunt the awesome bull mascot.

[supremebve]

They need to bring Leo Kruger up to the main roster to hunt the awesome bull mascot.

Oh shit, he needs a tag partner fast.  Can they put a pith helmet on Neville, and have him be a poacher?  Most people can't tell the difference between an English accent and a South African accent. 

[Greggulator]

I'm 100% serious that if there is some sort of WWE MOTY balloting I'm going to place Santino/Emma vs. Fandango/Summer Rae as Top 10 somehow. It was pretty much a perfectly executed match for what it was looking to do. I enjoyed it to a ridiculous degree. Not everything has to be a serious affair to be great. There have been a lot of great "serious" matches this year but there are only a few matches this year I enjoyed watching more. Cena/Bryan, Punk/Lesnar, Sami/Cesaro, and a whole slew of Shield six-man stuff. But other than that, I'm not sure.Santino is so criminally underrated.

[Greggulator]

They need to bring Leo Kruger up to the main roster to hunt the awesome bull mascot.

 

Can you please apply for that WWE head writing job they posted a few weeks back?

[Bustronaut]

If I were Damian Sandow, I'd be annoyed or worried I was still in the open for NXT. Rest of the show was a amazing

[Matt D]

 

They need to bring Leo Kruger up to the main roster to hunt the awesome bull mascot.

Oh shit, he needs a tag partner fast.  Can they put a pith helmet on Neville, and have him be a poacher?  Most people can't tell the difference between an English accent and a South African accent. 

 

 

Best possible use of Neville imaginable.

[Rev Ray]

 

 

They need to bring Leo Kruger up to the main roster to hunt the awesome bull mascot.

Oh shit, he needs a tag partner fast.  Can they put a pith helmet on Neville, and have him be a poacher?  Most people can't tell the difference between an English accent and a South African accent. 

 

 

Best possible use of Neville imaginable.

 

 

Man, Fonzie totally Earl Hickey'ed that screen cap.

 

And they have a south african on the roster to play a poacher.

[Greggulator]

Justin Gabirel's not really doing anything except listening to dubstep, apparently. I liked him as a heel. He could have some good flying stuff against Los Matadors.

[Matt D]

One thing that made no sense to me was the changing of Big E's music when he got called up. Do you think that the FullSail people are working on the music for the NXT guys and then Jim Johnston takes over when they hit the main roster or something?

 

I say this absolutely having Summer Rae's music stuck in my head right now. 

 

Edit: Non-related, but I love how Bo Dallas always sounds totally out of breath whenever he tries to talk.

[supremebve]

Justin Gabirel's not really doing anything except listening to dubstep, apparently. I liked him as a heel. He could have some good flying stuff against Los Matadors.

Good point, is there a reason that they never seem to have anything to do with him?  From what I've seen he is generally good in the ring, I would have thought he would have been one of the first guys they would have put into a tag team when they started the push of the tag division.  He has been around for a good while now, he is probably the most underutilized person they have on the roster.  At least send him to NXT where he can have some fun matches.

[Ace]

Bad booking.

[scraylo187]

 

Justin Gabirel's not really doing anything except listening to dubstep, apparently. I liked him as a heel. He could have some good flying stuff against Los Matadors.

Good point, is there a reason that they never seem to have anything to do with him?  From what I've seen he is generally good in the ring, I would have thought he would have been one of the first guys they would have put into a tag team when they started the push of the tag division.  He has been around for a good while now, he is probably the most underutilized person they have on the roster.  At least send him to NXT where he can have some fun matches.

 

 

Pair him with Kruger. Apparently they use to team together as PURE JUICE.