NXT TAKEOVER: London

[turk128]

I actually want people to be demoted.

 

 

I want Curtis Axel coming in to slap Tye Dillinger in teh face for daring to call himself 'Perfect'.

I want Damien Sandow telling the NXT crowd that graduating from Full Sail doesn't count as 'education'.

Unfortunately, Curtis Axel is a lost cause; they did bring him back for a cup of coffee and the crowd response was tepid. On the other hand, Sandow was as over as ever when he came back for a short stint.

[The Man Known as Dan]

I think this entire discussion has been kinda pointless, but I'll say: I don't want Nia Jax to be Kong, I want Nia Jax to be Nia Jax. Her smiling because she knows her opponent is helpess beneath her is good. How often do we get a monster heel who can also be a cocky heel? 

[Craig H]

MGFanJay's creepy as fuck screenshots need to stop.

[Greggulator]

Emma/Asuka was awesome. Asuka reminds more of a rock star playing like she's in front of Live Aid when in reality she's playing in front of a 400-seat club. That's not a slap in her face. She plays to the room SO big. I love all of her glances to the crowd and motions to the crowd. Emma is a perfect foe because of her more low-key approach. Dana's a fantastic second in the corner. She's got all that stuff down wonderfully well. Just a very good match.

The tag match was great. Just straight-up 80s tag wrestling. Dash and Dawson rule.

I *LOVED* Bayley vs. Nia. Bayley is fantastic at facial acting. She really sold feat and apprehension and nervousness and grit and determination. Nia was great when she was a bully and did great work super exasperated. I loved how her inexperienced actively hurt her and Bayley's grit got her the win. Great stuff.

[Hollywood Cibernetico]

I remember around 1994/1995 I was watching Johnny B. Badd vs. Arn Anderson on WCW Saturday Night for the TV Title and Arn won. I hated that because he just looked boring and was too straight-forward of a wrestler for me. Because of this 'traumatic' childhood moment, I was SUPER not into Dash/Dawson, but after tonight I am now looking at the purposeful old school gimmick in a new light. I like it. There are TOO many people in NXT and WWE who are trying too hard to be cute all the time, its good there are some guys who are just coming out without 10 second poses on the ramp, signature light patterns, etc. The San Antonio Spurs of NXT. It also REALLY helps the guys WWE wants to invest in look ten times better. Jordan/Gable, Enzo/Cass, The Vauds, and hell even Black and Murphy look like stars compared to Dash/Dawson (and this is most likely intentional). I would be ALL for Dash/Dawson becoming the new Ascension in NXT. Keep them away from the cute stuff and we could see some legit MOTYC from those guys in 2016. Imagine Dash/Dawson vs. Jordan/Gable for the tag straps inside a steel cage on a summer Takeover show!

 

I know a lot of people are high on Nia right now, but I still need to see more. I keep waiting for her to turn it up. Again, maybe its my high expectations ( Vadersault,etc.), but I haven't seen anything special from here or anything that looks like death or true viciousness. Everything she does works on the indie level and the basics are solid, but it times for the moves to match her frame. I want to see death and power moves from her, until then...I am honestly not going to be satisified and will be forced to view her matches through 'brown colored glasses'. I am not trying to be down on the girl, but I think a monster type character should have some monster and 'Oh Shit!' type of offense.

 

I love Apollo Crews and I think he has a good future in WWE, but fuck! I hope in 2016 he learns how to work better control segments.

[Jenalysis]

I think this entire discussion has been kinda pointless, but I'll say: I don't want Nia Jax to be Kong, I want Nia Jax to be Nia Jax. Her smiling because she knows her opponent is helpess beneath her is good. How often do we get a monster heel who can also be a cocky heel? 

 

Big Show during his Smoking Giant phase.

 

As for Nia- could she work as a face?  I could see it.

 

As for Dash and Dawson , I want them on the main roster as henchmen for Steph.   They'd be a huge step up from J&J- have them on their first night injure Roman's knee and cause him to drop the strap later Sting/Rude style

[Cristobal]

Oh what the fuck. The finally get Roman on track and you want him to put over the bargain-basement Brainbusters?

[Gorman]

 

 

Shouldn't Nia's theme be a bit more ominous instead of being whatever girl-power anthem she has now?

 

Also:  Why the smiling?  She's a heel.  Scowl and kill people.  Worked for Kong.

 

Nia Jax's biggest issue right now.  She doesn't know how to not be incredibly attractive.  She is a very good looking woman, who has a smile that lights up a room, but that isn't what you really want from your killer, monster heel.  Her character is supposed to be Godzilla terrorizing Tokyo, but that isn't what I feel while watching her.  OK guys, if you walk into a bar with all of the WWE women, and you had to pick which one to approach based purely on her body language, where does Nia Jax rank on the most approachable.  She looks like she wants you to like her, when her character shouldn't want you to like her. 

 

 

This is a problem for some of us.

[MoeCristyV.1.6]

Less discussion of smiling heels and more creepy ass pics, amirite?

[AxB]

Monster heels with beaming smiles, you say? Ezekial Jackson. Big Ryck.

 

 

Dude has happy teeth. Even when he scowls, he looks like he's grinning.

 

[Vincey Greene]

I'm struggling to think of monster heels that are also facially attractive. Vader's smile might be scary but Nia's isn't.

Beth Phoenix

Well, monster male heels. I don't recall Beth smiling too much during matches though.

She's not like most girls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDDs4VNL77Q

That's just one step below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqN6pl1IAKk

I just noticed that once it gets going, Chyna's music is near identical to Krispin Wah's WCW theme.

[RIPPA]

I think this entire discussion has been kinda pointless

 

And that makes it different from the rest of the board how?

[AxB]

The rest of the board is kind of pointy.

[Phantom Lord]

I forgot to talk about the Dash/Dawson match. Enzo and Cass have to be making the move up to the main roster soon because if not they have reached their full development potential and it would be stupid to keep them in NXT. But anyway it's a shame they gave Dash and Dawson such random names. I would have made them "distant" Anderson newphews or something. They're all ready rocking Arn's old jacket's which is a huge plus.

 

Dash/Dawson vs. Jordon/Gable is going to be so fun when it happens.

 

I liked Corbin vs. Crews but I'm still not totally sold on Crews. I honestly didn't see any of his Indy stuff (the GO BACK TO ROH line was funny). Corbin is becoming such an entitled little asshole it's great. I hope he wins the title soon. Balor has been good as champion but he hasn't been great as champion. Balor is a great wrestler but there's just something about him not clicking that I can't explain. If you put him on RAW he'd be like Neville or Cesaro. Over with the crowds, but too much of a niche to be anything else.

 

We need more Evil Emma vs. Asuka. That match was great. Asuka is actually a great face in peril. If you ever watch some of her matches from Japan, she can take a hell of a beating before she makes her comeback. If she can condense that to the WWE style she'll be amazing.

[JohnnyJ]

Really enjoyed the show. I spend 90% of my time when I'm watching the main roster either rolling my eyes or fast forwarding a show that I hate. NXT makes me feel like I'm more than a bitter critic of today's mainstream wrestling who just hates everything.

 

Emma v. Asuka was the match of the night. Emma's reinvention has been fascinating. It's almost impossible to envision the two characters being the same person.

 

I enjoyed Corbin v. Crews. To me it was Corbin's arrival. I'm finally seeing that this guy has the tools to be a player. Crews is a guy that was pushed onto a depleted NXT roster because of his indy pedigree and his look. He is toolsy as hell. All of the pieces are there he just needs to add some warmth and relatability to the character.  

 

I never saw Balor prior to his time in NXT. His matches remind me of what you see on the main roster. Perhaps that's why the brass is so high on him. He has 3 or 4 go to moves, none of which are particularly impressive with the exception of his finish. It feels like everything he does is either hitting one of those moves, the move being reversed or a reversal of an opponents move into one of those moves. It's very formulaic in a fed that has had some creative memorable matches. In his current incarnation he's the type of guy who fits the mold of a Ziggler, where every match is average or higher but he can't seem to get beyond that point.

[Spritenaut 32]

 

I think this entire discussion has been kinda pointless

 

And that makes it different from the rest of the board how?

 

 

The rest of the board is really pointless?  "Kinda" would be a step up?

[Ramo2653]

Just finished watching this. Don't have too much to add except that since Bayley once gave her finisher to Blake during the six-man tag from last month so I don't see why she couldn't hit it on Jax. But they never even teased it either.

[Eivion]

To be fair Nia actually is heavier than Blake.

[turk128]

Monster heels with beaming smiles, you say? Ezekial Jackson. Big Ryck.

 

 

Dude has happy teeth. Even when he scowls, he looks like he's grinning.

 

 

I liked the evolved version much more: "The Alpha Male" Marquis Cor Von

 

 

He was freakin' fantastic; total package and he had the 'it' factor.

[Jenalysis]

I'd love to see a Hippophants vs Unicorns feud now.

[Jrag]

To be fair Nia actually is heavier than Blake.

 

And she clearly can't jump.  Glad they didn't try it.  Well booked match to play to Nia's strengths, but it's about all they will be able to do with her.

 

I'm really hoping they jump right into Bayley/Asuka because I would hate for Bayley to get the call up with that match still in the chamber.  NXT is REALLY light on the women faces.  They need to go back to squashes with Nia until she improves and elevate someone to feud with Emma.

[Ramo2653]

To be fair Nia actually is heavier than Blake.

 

Just checked it. I didn't realize that. There goes my point, lol.

[Marty Sugar]

To be fair Nia actually is heavier than Blake.

On the show the announcers said (via a twitter quote from The Rock) that Nia is 272 pounds. Wikipedia confirms that, and she's 6 feet tall. That makes her bigger than about three-quarters of the guys on the NXT roster.

 

I just watched the show now and I enjoyed it. The fans were not really into Crews/Corbin and that was too bad. That should've been the opener because you just shouldn't open shows with ref-bumps...but I'm nitpicking and old fashioned, maybe.  I'm surprised Crews lost that, as usually the WWE likes to have new stars go on extended unbeaten streaks; case in point is the Asuka/Emma match, as twice they could've set up cheap wins for Emma (by DQ or even a cheapshot with that belt), but instead went with Asuka continuing to embarrass the Mean Girls of NXT. It's too bad they are rushing to Nia/Asuka, as a loss to Emma wouldn't have hurt Asuka, and maybe lead to a more in-depth feud.

 

Really enjoyed the tag titles match, and I appreciate that Dash/Dawson are actual heels in a world where heels spend more time being cool to sell merchandise. Loved the crowd's treatment of Bayley: great stuff. Main Event was very well done. My oldest daughter, Zoe, was only vaguely watching the show (as she buries her nose in her iPhone about 90% of the time), but she threw out an interesting zinger...

 

ENZO: ...this is Carmella, and she's hot as Hell. And you. Can't. Teach. That.

ZOE: Uhhh, yes you can...it's called MAKEUP.

[stro]

Very, very easily the worst Takeover. I would say it was, at best, a meh show. Coming off of TLC, which was for sure the worst PPV of the year, the bar was pretty low and NXT barely made it over. I don't know if the roster was worn out from the tour, or if the fans tired themselves out, but everything felt so flat and wonky. The booking for...everything except the tag match was so weird.

 

Asuka/Emma has been built on Emma being so afraid of Asuka that she literally won't even look her in the eyes and will only attack from behind. So of course in the match, she controls 80% of the action, and the crowd is silent for her heat sections because Asuka is on such a different level that no one is going to buy her as FIP in NXT. Ever. Then you have the international object tease just to fuck with the smart fans, which I'm not a fan of. It was 3 times as long as the Asuka/Dana match, yet should have been basically the same thing.

 

Tag match was great, because the Mechanics are fucking wonderful as the Brainbusters and I love them.

 

Crews/Corbin wasn't good. I don't understand the point in stripping everything that got Crews noticed and turning him into a generic babyface who could literally be anyone in the ring. All of his flippy dippies are gone, and the handful of athletic spots he still does don't even look that good (his dropkick and Stinger Splash). They didn't mesh at all, and I assume Corbin is probably the next challenger for Balor, otherwise the totally clean finish makes Crews look like a goober.

 

Bayley/Nia I have so many issues with. This was the worst booked match. Jesus Christ. I get they were trying to do the KO/Sami match, but that match had 10 years of backstory behind it. This had 2 months. Bayley is a true underdog, meaning she can actually lose. Here, she kicked out of 7 finishers of the monster who is bigger than like...all the men except Corbin and Cass. It killed Nia Jax's monster aura. It ruined any believably that Bayley can lose. And then, just to add insult to injury, the move Bayley won it with should have been negated by the rocker dropper to the shoulder and all the rib work. The Nia/Asuka tease before the match is meaningless, because obviously Nia Jax can't beat Asuka, who is clearly much better than Bayley. With all the care they've given to the women's matches and characters, I can't believe how big of a misstep that match was on all fronts. The characters of Nia and Bayley are borked, and the entire women's division now looks weaker. Just awful.

 

The main event was a Balor match. Which means no story, no selling, no emotion. It was nice to see Joe finally exorcise the TNA demons and look great again, but Balor has been a massive disappointment for me in NXT. I wasn't a big fan of his in NJPW, either, but he had some great matches (like the ones with Okada) with story and selling. In NXT, he's the most generic video game character and it is frustrating as shit. 

[The Man Known as Dan]

http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/bs2.gif