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NXT TAKEOVER: PHOENIX - 1/26/2019


Dolfan in NYC

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"Good athlete" is what shitty hot take panelists have been saying about black Quarterbacks who they feel should switch positions for no reason other than they don't look the part (tall, slow and white).  So it did kind of come off as racist to me. Plus,  I just hate Sam Roberts anyway and I fucking hate Peter Rosenberg too.  I didn't see him on this show but I thought I'd remind everyone how shitty he is also.  

That said..  I loved most of this event.   My only gripe is Shayna's 4 horsewomen stooges. I think the run-ins have gotten tiresome and they aren't very good at bumping and are usually out of position.  I'd be happy to never see that again. 

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5 hours ago, Burgundy LaRue said:

He said the match was a waste of time, that Bianca was just a good athlete with no business even looking at Shayna despite being built for this moment,  and was pretty close to pulling the HHH card during the Booker T feud (IMO, anyway).

Charly and McAfee both seem surprised at how negative he went, as if him being heel was expected but he missed a cue and went WAY overboard. He went out of his way to discredit her, IMO. 

I feel there were racial overtones, but that's me.

Besides this, the whole thing just felt so awkward and out of place. McAfee seemed ready to move on to the next point but Sideshow Bob seems to lose his train of thought, then just went full speed ahead with his rant. It wouldn't have sounded so strange on his podcast maybe, but it just seemed so bitter and random for no reason.

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26 minutes ago, Casey said:

Wait, people actually think that little rant was Sam Roberts' actual opinion, and not a very obvious instance of someone being fed lines from the back?

Okay.

That's what I was going to say. That is the most obvious "someone is in my ear telling me something I don't want to say, but I gotta say something like it" I've ever seen

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I wasn't super psyched for this show initially, and even though most of the matches totally delivered there's still a feeling of "second or third to last episode in a TV season." Some of these stories need to be wrapped up come Mania Takeover, especially DIYs arc (which is hopefully a heel team on SD since Bryan is high on Johnny).

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7 minutes ago, StuntmanCrowley said:

I don't agree that it was the best show ever, but I think it might've been NXT's most consistent.  Top to bottom, every match was great

NXT TakeOver: New Orleans for me.

Honourable mentions to NXT TakeOver: Dallas 2016 and NXT TakeOver: Chicago II 2018.

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1 hour ago, dokdoyle said:

That's what I was going to say. That is the most obvious "someone is in my ear telling me something I don't want to say, but I gotta say something like it" I've ever seen

Based on what I have been told (since I can't stand Roberts I am not listening to the show) - I don't think Roberts minded saying them at all (though it was clearly part of the angle)

Now - since I was the one who very slightly tongue in cheek noted that Roberts came off as racist when it happened - this is why. 

For the record - remember that Roberts had never done anything like this before and has never done anything previously that would allow people to brush it away with "HE IS A HEEL COMMENTATOR!" (For example say Jerry Lawler)

Roberts whole complaint was Bel Air hadn't "done anything" and didn't deserve to be on the show when the very person she was wrestling two years earlier had only had two NXT TV matches and her third match was a title shot that she got because she was a bully (and the face champion was stupid)

In the storytelling world of wrestling this means it is some sort of combination of the following

1) The commentator is stupid and hypocritical (Yes)

2) They expect the audience to be stupid and forgetful (Yes)

3) Lazy (Yes)

4) An example of white privilege (Yes)

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7 hours ago, Phil4126 said:

The look on Ciampa's face was priceless when Gargano came out to pose with him at the end. He thinks he's won and Johnny is fully on the dark side of the force. But...is he?(cue ominous music)

28 minutes ago, ComingToAmerica said:

I can see why people want DIY to go up together, but Gargano did nothing wrong here and my assumption with Ciampa being all happy is that the payoff will be Gargano intending to use the North American Title to get 'one more match' with Ciampa.

Ugh.

Card's matches were as fine-enough as I knew they would be (I'm sure those of you familiar with my opinions can guess where I stand on Ricochet-Gargano), but the issues I have with the booking worsened. Black is still taking up valuable space but is now dead in the water as a championship contender. The singles titles both being on DIY somehow managing to focus the shows even MORE on them might actually be the thing that gets me to stop watching NXT after all this time. So let's assume those 3 actually do finally get the call-up after Mania. Who are the go-to existing singles stars for NXT now that they've stifled the growth of every other wrestler in developmental?

Faces:
Riddle
Dream (also already kicking around NXT for long enough and ready for a callup)
Ricochet
Keith Lee? (Only six matches in the six months since his debut, 4 squashes and two jobs)

Heels:

Cole (UE in NXT is almost as stale as DIY, very much ready for a call-up)
Ohno (Clearly not being pushed past a gatekeeper role)
Dijakovic? (2 squashes, 2 jobs)

That seems pretty bare to me, especially when you consider the fact that WWE has been raiding the shit out of the indies for some time now. Clearly it looks like they're strapping the rocket to Riddle, but it doesn't look like he has a lot of options for feuds. Booking the shows around DIY has created the same problem that exists on RAW when they book it as The Shield Show. It just looks like "The Wrestling Show starring 3 guys and a bunch of jobbers in the background."

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KUSHIDA would instantly be one of their top stars - I guess on the face side (though ironically one of the reasons he left NJ is because they wouldn't let him be a heel)

 

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For a company full of racists, Velveteen sure had a lot of time on screen for someone with no match on the show. Have they ever done that before? ?

Sam Roberts script was retarded for sure. Suspending disbelief and working within kayfabe there was no-one with more credibility than Bianca going into the show (365+ day win streak, beat former world champions, earning her way in by winning the four way). That said I understand the motivation behind Roberts deviating from the norm, however muddled and racially discriminative it may have come across.

Did Bianca look strong in defeat despite the criticism? Absolutely. Was Roberts dumbfounded rant even necessary? Not at all, but will be used as the beginning of Bianca's motivation to take the title in the future. In an abnormal way, it may work to Bianca's benefit.

Bianca/Shayna was fine but it's clear Bianca has a bunch of flaws. Her sell job (or lack of) to finish the match was atrocious.

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Being told what is or isn't racist and sexist is par for the course. But we're all family here and respect each other's feelings, right?

If you don't see it that way, that's one thing. But when someone gives clear reasons why they think otherwise, don't assume they've imagined things or laugh at their feelings. Some here have a bad habit of doing that, brushing aside what another says because it doesn't fit into a neat box.

It doesn't mean we have loose thinking or are stretching anything. Maybe take a moment to really listen or talk to someone who sees something you don't. Because most of us here are careful not to throw around such labels.

You may learn a few lessons along the way if you actually listened instead of automatically laughed.

Dream gets pushed because he's more charismatic than all of them put together, but never wins a really big match. He hasn't held any title to this point.

To @MORELOCK's point, the DIY story has swallowed NXT whole for nearly two years. I'm all for long-term storytelling. I realize that it  extended because of various injuries. But there's no way this shouldn't have been wrapped up by now. The only logical reason I can see for continuing is HHH hinting a while back that some folks may become NXT lifers and most, possibly all the guys in this scenario fit that description. With NXT UK and 205 Live in the mix, it seems that they are looking to create a separate universe. RAW and SDL as the Justice League with NXT/NXT UK/205 as Teen Titans with a select few graduating to run with Superman and Wonder Woman full-time. 

 

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I was just coming on to say the same thing that’s been said by others above - when the show went off the air, Gargano was looking directly at Ciampa’s belt. He’s absloutely pretending to be on the same page with Ciampa and will say that he went in the direction of the NA Title like Ciampa suggested to become #1 contender. 

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