GENERAL NXT DISCUSSION THREAD

[Dewar]

He's gotta show off the gold. I appreciate the fact that he actually wears his title belt to the ring.

[Go2Sleep]

If there's one flaw in the NXT training process, it's that someone there is telling people to do way too many reps of their entrance pose.

 

Still, I like Finn's jacket. It's a good, simple prop when he's not in demon mode.

[Raziel]

He needs to add his old Rock n Rolla lights if he goes heel.

[Hollywood Cibernetico]

So how long has NXT been doing the Kevin Dunn zoom in/zoom out during attacks stuff? I've noticed it the last two episodes and its fucking terrible. Just as terrible it is on the main shows.

[Iron Moose]

Two quick thoughts on the women's division:

- assuming they're building to Emma/Asuka, has Emma been characterized in such a way that it would make sense for her to *not* disrespect Asuka (ie: accepting handshakes, not slapping her from a moment of calm), meaning Asuka wouldn't unleash fury?

- there's a perfectly valid in-canon way to set up Eva/Asuka... both of them have been undefeated for a while. A triple threat between them and Bayley would massively troll the crowd during the inevitable "Eva: the only one left standing" segments.

[turk128]

- assuming they're building to Emma/Asuka, has Emma been characterized in such a way that it would make sense for her to *not* disrespect Asuka (ie: accepting handshakes, not slapping her from a moment of calm), meaning Asuka wouldn't unleash fury?

Emma recognizes the viciousness below the surface in Asuka, it just burns brighter and more intense than hers. She'll try to avoid all the triggers but eventually she'll have to use something from her heel repertoire that would trigger Asuka.

[nofuture]

 

- assuming they're building to Emma/Asuka, has Emma been characterized in such a way that it would make sense for her to *not* disrespect Asuka (ie: accepting handshakes, not slapping her from a moment of calm), meaning Asuka wouldn't unleash fury?

Emma recognizes the viciousness below the surface in Asuka, it just burns brighter and more intense than hers. She'll try to avoid all the triggers but eventually she'll have to use something from her heel repertoire that would trigger Asuka.

 

 

Even better, have Emma do everything to avoid disrespecting Asuka , but Dana Brooke foolishly pisses Asuka off during the match.

[Tromatagon]

Emma already disrespected her in promos and is going to get murdered

[Trocar Slush Weasel]

Emma already disrespected her in promos and is going to get murdered

 

DUDE, ASUKA DON'T KNOW THAT ENGLISH, YO.

[RandomAct]

Sorry guys, I like Eva Marie now.  Just found out she's possibly a Mavs fan.  May change mind if new info comes to light.

[NikoBaltimore]

I will preface this by saying I had a few drinks (yet still make sure shit's typed out fine, even if it takes longer)

1. NXT is very much college in the WWE system where they get to try shit out and hope it sticks. Much like real life you explore and hope to come out if it a decent shape. In NXT, it's all about trying gimmicks/moves/stories and hoping it can be something productive and meaningful. And what's cool is the crowd is more than willing to accept whatever that is so you can try whatever and it's fine. So many gimmicks in NXT would get ripped apart on the main roster, but given the crowd be forgiving and accepting of its developmental status they're cool with it. Shit, even Eva Marie has people that accept her for some inane reason.

2. Despite trying out whatever sticks, marketabiliby is still a huge factor. If a wrestler is going to translate well to the main roster, they need to find that something that the casual viewer will dig. And on first viewing of a wrestler called up, looks play a huge part into it. Asuka will show how fucking awesome she is with her wrestling and will be a good world beater. But on first viewing she's super attractive and that will make people pay attention. On the male side, Finn Balor is insanely handsome. On first viewing many females will want to check him out and considering that's a demo they want to reach that's a good thing. Though honestly, there's some males that are pleased as punch to see him on TV and part of that segment might have to do with how fucking good he looks (remember, I had drinks, and I'm not ashamed to say I'm one of those males) But that's fine, though. People like my wife will want to see as much of Finn as possible due to the look. But once called up they'll be able to show what they can do and the main roster will be fucking grand. Now granted, the main roster is a lot like the post-college life in that it'll be a bitch to succeed in. But for those that can get their foot in the door quite easily (you know Finn and Asuka will be called up soon enough) they'll have an advantage and have the goods to back it up. From there it'll take a lot of dipshits to fuck them up. As cool as it is to blame Dunn, there's more morons to deal with and I'm hoping everybody is on board.

I hope this shit makes sense, thankfully it's a general NXT thread. But cliff notes version, marketability is key, Asuka and Finn are insanely good looking and marketability is key. I'm really hoping I typed something semi-sensical in all this, if not then my apologies. If I need to explain/edit anything I'll get to that tomorrow or Monday. But yeah, marketability is key and holy crap do Finn and Asuka bring it in a huge way.

 

EDIT:  Looking at this two days later, holy bats what the hell was I saying in this?  Either I need better drinks or stick with posting while at work.  I consider it a minor miracle people were able to make any kind of discussion out of this.

[Tim Evans]

I'm interested in how Friday's NXT show went because I think it was the first time NXT ran two shows in two different cities on the same day(Dallas and in Florida). I know the Florida show had the tag champs feud while the Dallas show had all the big stars minus Bayley and Finn who were in Europe. I guess it was a test run to see how the Florida shows will draw while the main tv guys are on a national tour if they go that route.

[Cristobal]

Nick is almost as boring a drunk as I am.

[turk128]

So... Bliss is the girl next door who went to college and started experimenting.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

So... Bliss is the girl next door who went to college and started experimenting.

That would make Blake & Murphy the fratboys she had a threesome with after being drunk for probably the first time in her life.

[SorceressKnight]

The bigger problem with those factors of "NXT is a place to experiment" and "Marketability is a huge factor" is that after three years of the new NXT, it's become apparent that the things that work on NXT and will stick are way different from the things that are marketable in the WWE. 

 

NXT's had problems the last few years with getting real breakout stars who could truly be considered "NXT Stars" , but what isn't as noticed is the related problem where "The Wyatt Family are the only act from the 'Hulu Plus Era' of NXT to not only become big stars on WWE programing, but ALSO be big stars on WWE programming without any major changes to their NXT characters."

 

During 2012-14 when the Hulu stars were getting promoted, that can be seen. Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns made it to the main event...but Reigns was barely on NXT programming before his debut, and both Rollins and Reigns were dramatically repackaged in The Shield to something entirely different from what they did on NXT. Big E Langston had taken a couple of years to get any momentum in WWE, and both happened after being originally repackaged from the 5 counts in NXT. Emma had failed miserably by being a direct port, Rusev had to change his nationality to become an WWE star, Leo Kruger had to change his gimmick just to be a bust, Bo Dallas had to change the concept of his character entirely. The only other NXT performer to even come close to the Wyatts for transitioning well from NXT to WWE was Paige, and even then it took about 9 months and two turns for WWE to really "GET" her NXT character enough to make it work.

 

Right now, the bigger issue for these NXT superstars' marketability as a result ties into how intertwined NXT and the WWE Network truly are. The result of the "Divas' Revolution" wrestlers' promotion may be questionable for if it's revolutionizing the women's matches on WWE programming- but what's more important for WWE is the equally important factors:

 

Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks were, for all intents and purposes, stars created during the WWE Network era of NXT [with Lynch literally never appearing for NXT before the Network], All three are getting maligned on the main roster in large part due to how shoddy their character development has been on WWE programming...and yet, Sasha Banks is still incredibly over with fans, solely based on how great her work on NXT has been all year, making the fans want more of her on the main roster in-turn.

 

 Put these in place, and it becomes clear- The only way for NXT superstars to become marketable on the WWE main roster is for NXT to remain an amazing product on the WWE Network that can draw fans to subscribe to it, and in turn want the NXT superstars to succeed on WWE programming AS NXT superstars.

[Niners Fan in CT]

I absolutely believe that Finn, Joe, Bayley, Gable & Jordan, Alexa and maybe some others could be stars on the main roster without changing much to their current characters. People who come from NXT and then struggle on RAW, that is more of an indictment on creative than anything.

[turk128]

So... Bliss is the girl next door who went to college and started experimenting.

That would make Blake & Murphy the fratboys she had a threesome with after being drunk for probably the first time in her life.

With how their relationship turn out, Bliss was the wolf in sheep's clothing taking advantage of a couple drunk freshmen.

[SirSmUgly]

I appreciate your point, SorceressKnight, but I feel like the "doesn't translate" stuff is over-stated. So far, Adam Rose and Emma have bombed badly, but Adam Rose and Emma weren't booked very well, either. It actually took Paige awhile to get over because they changed her NXT character. If she came in as the anti-diva/elite wrestling prospect that she was portrayed as on NXT, she would have found her footing much more quickly.

 

Owens is still over, but he's in the midcard where no one is really over. He came in as essentially his character and started to get over. 

 

The crop of folks they have coming up are better and have more TV-ready gimmicks than most of those folks. They'll be fine. 

[assfax]

What's th' deal with NXT, can I just start watching this shit or do I need years of understanding of the specifics of independents and Japan to grok why anything is any good on this bullshit?   Last I remember they brought in Samoa Joe and I ain't heard shit since then.  Did he die in a hotel room or what?  I can just watch this shit on hulu right?  Why isn't Dok Rivers WWE champ?.  Main thing I see is people posting .gifs of wimpy ladies in goofball joshi outfits spooking children like it's the second coming of Brody swinging a chain.

[Cristobal]

[Brysynner]

Two quick thoughts on the women's division:

- assuming they're building to Emma/Asuka, has Emma been characterized in such a way that it would make sense for her to *not* disrespect Asuka (ie: accepting handshakes, not slapping her from a moment of calm), meaning Asuka wouldn't unleash fury?

- there's a perfectly valid in-canon way to set up Eva/Asuka... both of them have been undefeated for a while. A triple threat between them and Bayley would massively troll the crowd during the inevitable "Eva: the only one left standing" segments.

 

Actually the easiest way to troll the NXT audience would be a straight Eva/Asuka match. Eva would immediately set off Asuka just being her "charming" self, get locked in the Asuka Lock but the ref counts to three because Asuka fell on her back right away and moves but the ref didn't notice her shoulder up. Eva should tap out before the three count in full view of the ref to look like a botch finish where the ref still awards Eva the victory. No need to have an actual match between the two on NXT ever.

[JCM]

When did we get to the point where wrestlers coming up from developmental are expected to be fully finished products? If that were the case why even have a creative team on the main roster? Having performers like Rollins, Big E, and Reigns be different characters on the main roster than they were in NXT isn't a big deal. Roman and Big E learned everything they know in the WWE system it's still a massive success for developmental. The main roster audience needs to see the journey to get attached to performers. Bringing people in as fully finished characters with little room to grow severely hampers the ability to connect with a new audience imo. They need to see that growth in the performers and go along for the ride especially with babyfaces.

[w. josh]

That would be fine if the main roster writers had shown any ability whatsoever to write compelling characters or storylines on a consistent basis.

[JohnnyJ]

The criticism of nxt alum on the main roster could be made about 90% of the people on the roster regardless of when they were called up. Since the nxt era began, how many wrestlers on the main roster haven't had difficulty connecting and spent most of their time lost in the shuffle?

 

Nxt is the first program to take advantage of what the wwe network can be. With no need to fill arenas or television time and no pressure to please advertisers and television execs you can take your time and see what sticks.