Go2Sleep

The Nash/Steiner/Goldberg "improvised finish" match might have the most confusing and counter-productive commentary I've ever heard. Ignoring how ridiculous the angle itself was, if you're trying to do a worked shoot, isn't the best play to have the announcers no-sell what's going on in the ring try to act like nothing's wrong? I have no idea how them talking about "political stroke" and "who WCW wants to go over" helps the story in any way. The way Schiavone, Madden, and Hudson drifted in and out of kayfabe was trippy as shit.

Re: IC Title Is it just me, or does this feel like an angle WCW would've run in 2000?

Bryan/Lesnar has been a dream match for the last couple of years, so I think there'd be a little more anticipation for the show with that alone. It also would've eliminated the need for Heyman to talk about Samoan cannibals in his promos, so that would've been a plus. People still wouldn't care about the rest of the show, but I'm sure most people here would gladly pay 10 bucks to see Bryan/Lesnar.

This show might have set a record for "highest percentage watched in fast forward" for me. Of the little I did watch at regular speed, the most captivating segment was Rusev/Lana backstage, and that wasn't even in English.

I think the big thing missing for them is some type of character. There's not much reaction for them because we know basically nothing about them. They have no obvious face or heel qualities. They don't really play up their hard work climbing the ranks. They don't have any real backstory about how they know each other. All we know is that they're two dudes who randomly teamed up and just won the belts. A team name would also help, but a good team name is only likely to present itself when they have something that sticks out.

Watching Charlotte handcuff Vince Russo at the GAB 2000 might have been one of the retroactively weridest things I've ever seen in wrestling.

I was trying to find footage of Bill DeMott in WWE, and this was my first hit.

Now that's a quality finisher. If the Zayn/Owens match can get ref stoppage on the map as a believable finish in NXT, Crowe should definitely start doing this. Also, someone should bring back Bryan's UFC 8 elbows.

It says a lot about Cody that the most over he ever got was when he grew an intentionally bad moustache.

Neville being the first to beat Rusev would be perfect. Looks like he'll be on Raw by 3/30 at the latest. There's no doubt Neville has the talent to stay over, the biggest challenge is getting that initial investment from non-NXT viewers for a guy who's not a killer promo. A ready-made angle with a ton of heat thanks to John Cena putting it over would be the ideal intro for someone like that. Plus it'd be on the one-year anniversary of Rusev's debut/streak and coming off a second win over Cena, setting up the obvious cocky promo just begging to be interrupted... Jesus, it's so perfect, you know we'll never see it on Raw.

Got around to my re-watches. I'm adding Bryan/Rollins, although I see it being toward the bottom of the list by year's end. The first half isn't super interesting, although I loved Rollins only doing a dive after J/J were gooning Bryan on the outside. The second half is really good, though. There's a couple good near fall sequences to play off the earlier neck work, but believe it or not, Roman Reigns is what really puts the finish over the top. First he comes out with spear of spears to take out Show, then he wipes out Mercury. Rollins backpedals, but leans through the ropes with the ref looking over his shoulder and is begging Roman to hit him for the DQ. Noble being the stooge that he is, tries to sneak attack Bryan with the case, which causes the ref to turn around unbeknownst to Rollins, then BAM superman punch. Totally underrated finish. I'm still not sold on Cena/Rusev. I did pick up some extra depth from the first time around. Both guys did a great job acting convinced they were better, and being frustrated when their normal moves didn't put the other away. I dug that aspect of the story, but the striking is pretty bad at points, and the counter sequences are slow and unnatural. Also, the finish really took me out of it since Lana getting in the ring either undermined the story they were building, or made Rusev look weaker than he should have. The ref missing a ball-shot would've been fine, but Lana's slow and awkward interference didn't make a lot of sense to me. Definitely a match of ups and downs for me.

I think it instantly makes her an unambiguous heel, and unlike the main shows, I trust the NXT writers to be able to frame it as "I'm mad because I'm back where I started" instead of "I'm mad because I'm on the developmental show and not on Raw where all the important people are." Plus her delivery just hit the right notes with me and was way more believable than Becky Lynch who did the exact same angle six months ago. And, yes CJ was great in his brief appearance too. His snickering at Riley's impassioned speech and the fact that he brought up hardway-ing Owens were perfect.

The problem with Tom Green being behind GTV was that in its first couple of appearances, it was "GDTV."

Crowe really needs to figure out his moveset or he was staring directly at his own future with his opponent 2015 Bull Dempsey. The crowd really wanted to like him, but everything he did on offense was so flat. Once again, NXT put on a master class of how to further angles with less than a minute of screen time. The Bliss, Cass/Enzo, and Zayn promos were all exactly what they needed to be, but Emma really stole the show with Bayley. The whole "I/you need to turn heel because I'm/you're a jobber as a face" angle is as cliche as wrestling angles get and has been used multiple times in the NXT women's division over the last year alone, but Emma made it sound like she was really on the verge of a mental breakdown. Like getting nowhere on Raw really traumatized her, and unlike recent new hires, she seemed really ashamed to be on NXT. Charlotte/Sasha wasn't as good as R-Evolution, but still a nice match. They did a good job playing off their spots from R-Evolution, and Sasha adapted her offense nicely to work the back. Charlotte's chop block was well-timed and nasty, although her ring post figure 4 wasn't so hot. Sasha has quietly become the best diva in all of WWE. Still anxiously awaiting the rubber match, presumably on the live show on 3/25 where they announced Balor/Owens.

This is the same company that bills Kofi Kingston from "Ghana, West Africa."

Things they did right with Roman this week: - His clear out of J/J in the opening promo - Pulling Mercury into the ring with one leg - His dive/general house cleaning of the authority at the end Things they did wrong: - Giving him a speaking role in the opening promo - Eating the pin in the main - Announcers unironically comparing him to Rocky Balboa It's frustrating, because any time they do something right, you know some setback is right around the corner for him. The build for Mania this year is pretty bad between Roman's ups and downs, the seriously-underrated awful Orton/Rollins feud, and attempting to create drama where there isn't any (will Orton turn on Rollins, will Cena be on the card, will Taker show up). Just announce the damn matches and build up anticipation for the showdowns. Of course, if HHH/Sting is any indication, they're no good at that either.

I remember it being good, but I'll need to re-watch it when it comes up on the network to see where it ranks. I also need to re-watch Cena/Rusev. My first impression was that it was a solid, but standard, Cena match. The other four matches had a lot of creativity and/or intensity that goes beyond the typical WWE match. I didn't pick that up from Cena/Rusev.

I'm surprised we haven't seen this thread pop up yet. 2015 certainly isn't off to the hot start that 2014 was, but there's been enough good stuff to start talking. Also, I loved having last year's thread to update my list regularly so as not to forget anything by the end of the year. Anyway, here's where I'm at so far. 1. Sasha vs. Bayley (Brooklyn) 2. Lesnar vs. Reigns (vs. Rollins) (Wrestlemania) 3. Sasha vs. Bayley (Respect) 4. Lesnar vs. Cena vs. Rollins (Royal Rumble) 5. Bryan vs. Reigns (Fast Lane) 6. Owens vs. Zayn (Rival) 7. Sasha vs. Becky (Unstoppable) 8. Owens vs. Balor (NXT 3/25) 9. Owens vs. Cena (Elimination Chamber) 10. Rollins vs. Neville (Raw 8/3) 11. Sasha vs. Charlotte vs. Becky vs. Bayley (Rival) 12. Owens vs. Neville (NXT 2/18) 13. Rollins vs. Orton (Wrestlemania) 14. Joe vs. Ciampa (NXT 12/2) 15. Jordan/Gable vs. Gargano/Ciampa (NXT 10/28) 16. Ambrose vs. Big Show (Raw 7/27) 17. Finn/Joe vs. Dash/Dawson (Respect) 18. Bryan vs. Sheamus (SD 4/3) 19. Bryan vs. Rollins (Raw 2/2)

I'd be down for Riley facing Owens if it's a quick squash and/or he takes the apron powerbomb to be written off NXT. He has to get an entrance, though, so we can hear that sweet theme that was wasted on Alex Riley one more time.

I wonder who's gonna end up with the longest streak of appearances in the ATGMBR.

One good thing about the show was the tag title match up to the finish. That was the most I've enjoyed the Usos since they were in the Shield's midcard opponent rotation. Orton in the Authority is a less-compelling version of Bryan in the Wyatt Family.

Also Dillinger: I'm not going anywhere until Jason Jordan comes back out here and explains why he left me high and dry. One Fan: Because you suck!

If Axel was still in the Rumble, wouldn't he have been officially eliminated when Ambrose came out and threw him over the top on the (second) Raw after the ppv?

Owens in the booth was the best guest announcer spot in ages. His character of "guy who seems normal from a distance, but the more you get to know him, the more you're kind of afraid he might be a serial killer" is perfect, and has manifested itself very naturally thus far. Plus the look on Riley's face as he was getting chucked over the table was awesome.

Good call on the camis. Those looked bad on guys with massive upper bodies, let alone old, skinny Shawn. I remember quite a few guys trying the cami look in WWE. I think Test might have been the first.