The NXT Thread

[DylanWaco]

I thought Corey Graves had a good look going when he was the sleazy party boy teaming with Vader's kid.  I can't believe anybody thinks his current look is good though.  He looks like he sucks dick in bus station restrooms for meth money now.

 

This is fucking bullshit for two reasons:

 

1. That would actually be an awesome wrestling look

 

2.  He doesn't look like Chris Colt

[ultimoDANK]

So this week has PAC vs Ambrose? That sounds tremendous.

[JRGoldman]

I feel like Graves' look makes him seem like the kind of guy who was in a psychobilly band that was terrible, but was somehow on basically every local punk show to the point where it became infuriating. 

 

As an aside, when Graves was on the indies as Sterling James Keenan, he was by far the nicest wrestler I've ever talked to. The only wrestler who went out of his way to find me to say hi at shows and stuff, and always was willing to sit and chat. He had a tryout on Heat against Val Venis in like 06 or 07 and a few dark matches and they told him he needed to bulk up. I think he got pretty disillusioned with wrestling for a bit after that and didn't take as many US bookings. It's good to see that he was able to get back on the horse. 

[Dewar]

I don't know if its because they hates Bo Dallas so much or what but the people want Leo Krugar to take the belt off him

 

Dallas hate. I'm not sure what happened, but the NXT crowd turned on him something fierce at some point.

[TimLivingston]

PAC/Ambrose seemed kinda ho-hum this week. Like they just ran through the spots.

 

The dance battle was as predictable as you would think.

 

Breeze is gonna figure out that perfect midpoint between Zoolander and kitschy and he'll be solid gold.

 

Bo Dallas going with Strangle Hold Gamma just makes me want to watch Kensuke Sasaki matches. Or better yet, Akira Hokuto matches. Poor Leo did what he could (Even got a fucking face comeback) but you can only do so much with ol' Bo. No clue who they try and feed Bo next, but if it's Sami Zayn, it's too early.

[Jrag]

That Bo Dallas promo was fucking awesome.  That's all I got.

[TimLivingston]

That I'll agree with. He's starting to get it now. The "Don't Stop Bo-Lieving" cheap heat tracker is pretty fantastic.

[rzombie1988]

I reviewed NXT 8/7/13 here:
http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/wwe-nxt-872013-results-and-review.html

Overall thoughts: The show was fine. It wasn't that special though Alex Riley's commentary was very good. Ambrose/Neville was a bit disappointing and the main event was a Bo Dallas match, so the quality was restricted.

Some shots from the show:

[Ace]

So his selfies end up on the TitanTron? WIN.

[Buy Me a Burrito]

The Emma v. Summer Rae dance off on NXT is the divas version of Flair v. Rhodes at Starcade 85. Byron Saxton makes a good Joe Frazier too.

[hammerva]

So his selfies end up on the TitanTron? WIN.

 

Never mind that.  His TitanTron looks like an IPhone.  DOUBLE WIN 

[Stuttsy]

The Ascension somehow came off as more major league looking in FCW.  Maybe they had more seizure inducing lights then.  They also had the glowing moon rock gimmick.  Eddie Guerrero's daughter having orgasms at ringside really helped too.  Maybe they should replace her with Paige.  And Conor O'Brian really needs a more sinister sounding ring name.

 

Say what? (I didn't see a lot of the FCW)This week's show was fine. I love the gimmicks for Scott Dawson, Enzo Amore, Tyler Breeze, Emma and Summer Rae. I could not justify sitting through fifteen minutes of Bo Dallas vs. Leo Kruger when there is so much more wrestling to watch, but how was it? Bo's promo was pretty cute. Dance off segment was fine eyerolling sillyness and Ambrose/Pac was a solid 10:00 TV match.

[Patrick B.]

The Bo Dallas stuff is surreal.  His promos are clearly those of a self-absorbed heel character.  Despite that, he's booked as a face, feuds with heels, and the commentators seem to treat him like a face in all respects.

[Rows]

The Bo Dallas stuff is surreal.  His promos are clearly those of a self-absorbed heel character.  Despite that, he's booked as a face, feuds with heels, and the commentators seem to treat him like a face in all respects.

If they treated him like a heel, it wouldn't have the same effect.

[Greggulator]

I absolutely love that Enzo Amore exists. Guys like him were such a dime-a-dozen whenever I went to the Jersey Shore as a kid. He's a total throwback to 1987 Wildwood, NJ. Kudos to whatever writing staff member came up with "Human garbage who bets on fights between pre-teen girls" as a archetype.

 

Summer Rae, Defender Of The Art of Dance, is also AWESOME.

 

I also think we're underselling Tyler Breeze's New Order rip-off theme music. Really fits the Milan Fashion Club Kid gimmick. Also,, his fur belt is TO DIE FOR. They should run a gimmick where the sends Twitpics of him posing in triumph to his vanquished foes.And I am saying it right now. Bo Dallas is the new number one and the best. That promo was amazing. "He's a good kid." Deflecting blame for his loss to Leo Kruger, claiming mastery of tag wrestling despite being a fill-in, etc.  Just such a sanctimonious tool. Him awfully singing Journey is perfect. They need to keep him thinking he's a fan favorite and ignoring all of the jeers. Sami Zayn beating him is going to be epic.

[supremebve]

 

The Bo Dallas stuff is surreal.  His promos are clearly those of a self-absorbed heel character.  Despite that, he's booked as a face, feuds with heels, and the commentators seem to treat him like a face in all respects.

If they treated him like a heel, it wouldn't have the same effect.

 

There is something pretty interesting going on here.  Renee Young, who is on camera maybe 5 minutes an episode, is basically the voice of the audience.  The regular guys on commentary just comment on whatever the heels are doing, without really passing judgement.  The only person who seems to see that these people are crazy, and/or assholes is Renee Young.  I noticed how the commentators just ignored Bo being a huge tool, and didn't even really aknowledge Tyler's behavior being ridiculous.  But, any time Renee talks to them, her facial expressions make it very apparent that these dudes are assholes.  That is putting a lot of faith in the audience, which WWE rarely does, but it seems to be working.

[Greggulator]

I kind of think the NXT crowd is the perfect wrestling audience. They have an intimate ECW feel but also buy into what they're seeing like marks -- it's not about smarky smart stuff but just having a great time. But they're also smart enough to appreciate stuff like Tyler Breeze's entrance w/ a "That Was Awesome" chant. It's a perfect balance.

[BEN!]

 

The Ascension somehow came off as more major league looking in FCW.  Maybe they had more seizure inducing lights then.  They also had the glowing moon rock gimmick.  Eddie Guerrero's daughter having orgasms at ringside really helped too.  Maybe they should replace her with Paige.  And Conor O'Brian really needs a more sinister sounding ring name.

 

Say what? (I didn't see a lot of the FCW)

 

vs. Johnny Curtis, Donny Marlowe, CJ Parker

 

vs. Colin Cassidy, Mike Dalton, Jason Jordan

She's mic'ed for this one.

 

That's all I found on a quick search but I don't think they were all together that long anyway.  Seemed like Colon got called up just as the gimmick made FCW TV and then Diaz got repackaged.

[Ligerbusa]

Kruger's HOOOO HOOOO is the new HUSS

[rzombie1988]

 

 

The Bo Dallas stuff is surreal.  His promos are clearly those of a self-absorbed heel character.  Despite that, he's booked as a face, feuds with heels, and the commentators seem to treat him like a face in all respects.

If they treated him like a heel, it wouldn't have the same effect.

 

There is something pretty interesting going on here.  Renee Young, who is on camera maybe 5 minutes an episode, is basically the voice of the audience.  The regular guys on commentary just comment on whatever the heels are doing, without really passing judgement.  The only person who seems to see that these people are crazy, and/or assholes is Renee Young.  I noticed how the commentators just ignored Bo being a huge tool, and didn't even really aknowledge Tyler's behavior being ridiculous.  But, any time Renee talks to them, her facial expressions make it very apparent that these dudes are assholes.  That is putting a lot of faith in the audience, which WWE rarely does, but it seems to be working.

 

Great post.

[caley]

-The Neville/Ambrose match was pretty bland, really.  They just didn't mesh well, at all.  Neville's dive was ridiculous, though.

-Emma/Summer Rae was terrific.  The Advanced Shopping Trolley was amazing.  Also, it goes without saying, but Summer Rae is hot as balls.

-Breeze-whoever was entertaining.  I'm happy that it appears Breeze read my post from July 25th ("Also, I'd like to see Breeze do his model pout over his prone opponent and tweet that out too.") as that is exactly what he did last night (Minus the tweet).  His finisher is more of a set-up move, though.  He should probably pay tribute to past models and do the Boston Crab.

-Dallas-Krueger was a perfectly acceptable match...but it was pretty boring.  I will say I like that Bo Dallas' interview was totally good and I like that they're now moving him more towards heeling it up.  But, man, that crowd just HATES him.  Impressed that Kruger bit his own hand so hard while in the submission hold that he drew blood.

 

Bottom 3 Performances:

3. Edge Jr.: I actually don't remember what his name actually is, the guy who hangs out with the swarthy Italian guy.  He needs to do something other than repeating his partner's catchphrases.  And he really looks like a younger, taller Edge.

2. Bo Dallas: His interview kept him out of the bottom spot.  He's actually perfectly serviceable in the ring, but the problem is, with him shifting towards being a heel, his ring-style doesn't match as it's all about fighting out of spots and momentum spots.  Doesn't work very well when the crowd is booing it.

1. Dean Ambrose: He didn't do anything poorly, he just didn't really impress me at all, unlike pretty much every other time I've seen him.

 

Top 3 Performances

3. Kruger: Looked solid here.  I like that sommersaulting clothesline he does over the ropes.  There's actually a handful of things he does that really reminds me of early Mick Foley...minus the death wish.

2. Summer Rae: She's really not much of a dancer, but she conveys that level of bitchiness so well.  Nailed her finisher perfectly, too.

1. Emma: You have to hit just the right mix of goofiness/silliness to make that gimmick work and she's nailing it right now.  Hard to put 2 competitors from a dance battle as 1 and 2 this week but...it was so good.

[Buy Me a Burrito]

Watched an episode tonight with my wife in the room. She had the best non sequitur I've ever heard when she saw Paige: She looks like the kind of white trash who would jump out of a truck and kick someone's ass. My wife and NXT: making wrestling great again.

[Niners Fan in CT]

I don't know dude the last thing I think about when I see Paige is white trash

 

*shrug*

[Buy Me a Burrito]

Please come to Western NC sometime.

[JonnyLaw]

Please come to Western NC sometime.

Yeah, it isn't what first comes to mind, but I can see it.