SirSmUgly

It looks like the WrestleCrap writers skim the threads here for ideas just like WWE's writers do. http://www.wrestlecrap.com/headlies/headlies-tommy-wiseau-hired-as-new-wwe-head-writer/

Rovert was not lying about Emma. Wow, that crowd was surprisingly silent for her, though they did get a "Welcome back" chant going at the start. They should just pull her back down to NXT and rehabilitate her with a gimmick change or something. It's too bad that Tyson and Nattie are known to be a couple in real life and are thus presented as such on the show because a Tyson Kidd/Charlotte power couple would be the best, most dickish wrestling couple out there outside of Macho King and Queen Sherri or Tully and Baby Doll. Itami showcase was fun. I was hoping he'd take back the G2S and maybe actually hit one that looked like it hurt for the first time in a WWE-affiliated ring, but I like the double-stomp, though I think he could just do one from the ground and get a bit of height on it, and it'd be just as cool. I'm not interested in the Ascension at all, but this little feud will probably be short so that Itami can move on to other things. I wish CJ Parker were a better wrestler because I like everything else about him - his gimmick is great, his music is great, his look is great. I get why people don't like Enzo and Big Cass, but I love those guys. They have great chemistry, and I think Carmella has great chemistry with those guys, too. I can ignore the mediocre wrestling because they're just really enjoyable, entertaining dudes. The tag match was solid. Kidd was the best thing about it.

They should just go ahead and delay the next-gen versions past the new year. I'd rather have a next-gen experience that is well-polished. I'm not sure how much more they can do to make that happen with an extra three weeks.

I do it all the time. Check out the old NXT thread. Are you still thinking/hearing that Sasha Banks will be headed to RAW/Smackdown in the next callup? I thought that they were going to put the gold on Bayley just to get a Charlotte/Sasha Loser Leaves NXT match set up, but there are still a number of ways they could go to get there.

Then let's set an example by talking about NXT instead of dwelling on what other people choose to talk about. Also, if you think people need to see KENTA, direct 'em to some KENTA so they can get acquainted. I'm encouraged that people who haven't seen KENTA before saw him being a badass right off the top. He's got amazing charisma. I'm wondering where they go with the tag belts. I'm almost sure the Vaudevillains are going to get them at some point soon, but maybe not. I'm also interested to see if Neville just turns outright heel and drops the NXT Championship to Zayn, which I sense will happen after seeing the post-show.

This is the first time that I've seen Verne Gagne outside of AWA. He's pretty fun to watch.

Everything everyone just fantasy booked in these last few posts is the best and deserves my money.

They did the shirts for The Vaudevillains right. If only it didn't have that out-of-place NXT logo right on the back...

I had no clue where to start, so I started with Angelo Poffo since I'd never seen him work. Hans Schmidt and Angelo Poffo v. Bob Konovsky and Pat O'Connor (2 out of 3 falls, 5/2/58) I think fans should start dressing in suits and ties again. This was a disjointed match for me with some cool stuff. Pat O'Connor's bridge-up into a headlock -----> strike the opponent square in the face thing was a great spot, though after the third time, I was wondering when Schmidt and Poffo would stop pinning him in the perfect position so that he could kick out by doing just that. I also loved the quick tags to clubber the shit out of Konovsky and Schmidt trying to stomp Pat O'Connor's ankle from outside the ring. Anyway, the clubbering and two Hans Schmidt backbreakers that led to the first fall was whatever, but what I liked was O'Connor cracking Konovsky's back in the interim before the second fall started. There was a quick heat segment on O'Connor before Konovsky got in, and for whatever reason, it really worked because the crowd exploded for the hot tag because I thought it was rushed. Konovsky throws some shitty judo chops, man. I know that some of the forearms Schmidt and Poffo throw can be weak, but those chops. The second fall was rushed, though of course the point was that the heels goaded Konovsky to start the fall after getting beat and paid for it. Then Schmidt is sore about losing, so Poffo has to start fall three. That's built around Poffo wanting to tag out and Schmidt not agreeing. There's not much here except for a couple neat spots and the commentator dropping quips about S&H Green Stamps, so you can probably just skip it. The first fall's segment where the faces outshine the heels sort of drags on and gets repetitive, and except for the quick tags near the end of that fall by the heels, most of this is rushed too quickly to really be effective after that. Note: I could be just not understanding the way '50s tag team wrestling in the U.S. worked, so if I don't understand what I'm watching, or if I'm not putting it in the proper context, please feel free to share your thoughts on that.

Bayley vs. Charlotte with Sting and Ric Flair as their seconds outside the ring sounds like a whole lot of fun.

They could make a lot of money off young girls with Bayley on the main show if they booked her right. Kallisto is a fun hot tag even with the botches. Zayn going apeshit at the end of that fourway was good stuff. Fourways that aren't elimination-style are usually pretty dull because you can ignore most of the false finishes, but from the Tyson Kidd neckbreaker-pinfall attempt on, each false finish in this match got me. If the finish leads to Zayn beating Neville for the gold one-on-one, I'll be happy. Tyson Kidd is sublime. Him getting fed up in the interview and leaving to go tend to his cats was hilarious. Him repeatedly saying "God bless" as he made his way out caused me to spit-take, too. He was also awesome in this match. I really think the guy is the best guy in WWE right now. Sasha Banks was also awesome shouting down Alex Riley on the pre-show. I like everything about CJ Parker until he actually starts wrestling...which is kinda how I feel about Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, too. Anyway, not much wrestling from Parker tonight. The squashes worked perfectly for what they were supposed to do. Bayley's elbow-based offense in the opening minute of her match was great, matched only by Charlotte's vicious leglock skull bashing and flipping. It was the least-contrived innovative offense of the night.

Still a three-syllable chant. Two-syllable chants are superior. In the end, it probably doesn't matter much.

Having him come out to announce his gimmick name was weird. Plus KEN-TA is so much more chantable than HI-DE-O.

I think that match is just a really easy example to turn to, but she's not good in general on top of that. But you are right that Saxton outpaces Renee in terms of being detrimental to the show. I will grant that they're probably told to argue over the matches, though. 'Tis a shame.

I think Phillips and Saxton are legitimately awful. Saxton's terrible heeling tends to distract from matches in particular. I love Renee Young, but she really struggled when Tyler Breeze was on guest commentary (and he did too, to be fair). They both actively subtracted from the match that was going on. I also think these three too often have awkward pauses as a threesome. I would actually prefer Albert be on commentary for the big NXT shows. He's the best guy they have now that Regal isn't on commentary anymore. I think he's coming along at it and could be pretty good some day.

Phillips and Saxton are terrible, and honestly, Renee Young is pretty bad at color commentary, too. She's a much better host/emcee/interviewer.

LET'S GO BREEZE! LET'S GO BAYLEY!

Is it just me, or is Craig Pittman a really fun wrestler? He builds his matches around getting the Code Red on his opponent, and it's a formula that really works for him. It's a shame that he ended up getting paired with Teddy Long and going nowhere.

I think the key is in the follow-up promos. He wrestles like a heel and then justifies it in promos by using the same logic we might use to reinforce that we are the actual heel here. Say he beats a face by pulling the tights and follows up with a promo where he says that everyone takes shortcuts, and that's not a bad thing, then points out how people often take shortcuts at work or home (by letting Type As do most of the work on a project, by stealing someone else's idea and presenting it to your boss, by breaking your promise to your kid to hang out when you need to do work by promising to do it later or give him a gift instead). By drawing an analogy between his actions and the actions of the viewer, I think it works.

Terrible news. Wrestlers even nowadays dying that young is just depressing. It's because he was a representation of your own self-justification for acting poorly. You are effectively the heel via that character. It was pretty thoughtful, particularly for a pro wrestling gimmick.

I'm honestly shocked that Spike felt the need to respond to Vince Russo, of all people. He's so irritating that he's getting executives whom surely have better things to do (even if those things are figuring out which paid commercials to put on at 3 AM) to respond to him.

John Tenta and Sting had really good chemistry. I liked their opening tangle in War Games '95, and they had a surprisingly fun two-minute Nitro match on one of those early Nitros.

Nah, not enough "Bro"s. If Vince wrote it, it would say, "Bro, Rollins has that hair, looks feminine, you know, can't say 'gay' anymore but you know bro, that's what we would have called it in the Attitude era bro, so he's totally a ga--uh, feminine-looking dude that should be cheap shotting and totally chickenshit bro..." etc., etc.

I don't know if "clamoring" would be the word for it, but a one-shot with Brock would be fine. No one thinks he should be champ...right? I definitely don't think that. Anyway, to my point: If you push a guy that the fans accept at that level and he gets injured, maybe you should have pushed multiple guys to be accepted by the crowd at that level. NWA's upper card didn't fall apart when Magnum TA got hurt because they could plug Nikita Koloff in there. WWE's upper card didn't fall apart when Steve Austin got hurt because they could plug The Rock or even Mankind in there, etc. I'd be fine with Wade being put in that position because when he inevitably gets injured, they should be able to turn to Bryan when he is healthy or to Ambrose or to Reigns if they position those guys correctly.

Re: The discussion about who faces Brock next, someone mentioned Dolph's name. I think that's the answer. Crowds love that guy for whatever reason. If he got a one-shot against Brock where he was basically doing the one thing he does best, bumping, for fourteen of the fifteen minute match and getting flash attempts at pinfalls the other minute, the crowd would be totally into the underdog thing. Now I think I'd really like to see that match.