NXT SEASON 8 THREAD

[Brysynner]

There were so many great little foreshadowing moments on this show with Owens, from the "You're not here to have a spot, you're here to take a spot" sign in the background during his part of the show open, to him being the last person in the ring walking out of the shot when Zayn turned around to celebrate in the corner (which made me think the turn was happening right there). Oh, and the matches were really awesome too. I want to show everyone I know this show as an example of why wrestling is great.

 

When my son gets home from school today he's watching this.

[hammerva]

Riley's commentary is weird... it's like he trying to heel, but he also wants to come across like a "real" sport PBP guy so it ends up being awkward and uncomfortable.

 

It reminds me of when Joe Buck got salty when Randy Moss did the mooning TD dance.

 

Alex Riley was the only clear negative of the night for me.   When he questioned whether Hideo Itami and Finn Balor can even speak English I was so pissed off.  I know that is he being fed the lines but for christ sake they were talking English in the promo video leading up to the match. 

[Patrick B.]

I'm all in on Sasha Banks.  She was one of those gals who got my initial impression of "cute, has indy experience, hope she does well".  The Charlotte-Summer match showed that Charlotte isn't QUITE a miracle worker, but Charlotte-Sasha was on par with Paige-Emma and Charlotte-Natalya this year, if not above them.  Her heel schtick is top-notch, too.

[Technico Support]

Does anybody know what the story is with Drake Younger?  Did he just not fit what they wanted but he took a job as a ref for some stability?

 

You know NXT is awesome when the opening match referee is better than a good chunk of the wrestlers on the main roster.

[Matt D]

Speaking of refs, I love that Little Naitch refs all of Charlotte's big matches.

[supremebve]

I've been knee deep into the early 90s Misawa/Jumbo feud lately, and it was the perfect way to build up a group of young guys.  I know they fucked up the original Nexus angle, but they may want to try again with this group.  They need to bring up Zayn, Neville, Balor, and Itami all at once and have them feud with Cena, Orton, Rollins, and (hopefully) Bryan.  The story would start with one of the young guys, I'd pick Zayn, to get a clean win on Cena and win the title(Night after Summerslam).  Cena, would try to be gracious afterwards, but on the next PPV he would try to kill him on the way to winning the belt back(Zayn would be on his full sympathetic, never say die even to the point of death, babyface game).  Cena would then do an promo the next night on Raw about how Zayn has a great future ahead of him, but like the song says, "My time is now."  Zayn would come out and cut a promo about how John Cena is an all-time great, and how he was so honored to be in the same ring as him and they shake hands...but as they disengage Sami turns to him and tells them that they are 1-1 against each other and the way he sees it John Cena's time is up.  Cena gets in his face and tells him if he wants his spot, he welcomes him to try to take it.  The whole time guys like Neville, Balor, and Itami have been tearing it up in the undercard and they come out and make it very clear that not only is Zayn coming for Cena's spot, they're all coming for Cena's spot.  Over the next few weeks Cena, Orton, and all the other vets wrestle matches with the youngsters and they get more and more vicious and eventually there is an out and out brawl leading up to Survivor Series and a giant 8-10 man main event.  The young guys have to go over putting over the fact that not only these guys have to be respected, but they can actually win.  The entire time Cena is still champion, and while he's not necessarily ducking Zayn, it is becoming apparent that he isn't really eager to give him another shot at the belt.  On the lead up to Royal Rumble, Zayn brings up the fact that he has never received a rematch, and Cena tells him, if he wants a shot at the belt there is only one way to get it and that is to win the Rumble.  Zayn wins the Rumble, and Cena is the main event at Wrestlemania. 

 

I think the feud will work best if Cena is the exact character he is now.  The whitebread babyface who wants to be everyone's hero, but the majority of people don't want him as their hero.  They shouldn't make one group the heels or the babyfaces, they should let the crowd decide.  Zayn and Cena are kind of perfect for the roles.  They can both work, talk, and build an emotional relationship with the crowd.  If they do it right I think everyone would come out looking better than they went in.  Cena would be the veteran ace, who is fighting tooth and nail to stay on top, and Zayn would be the new guy who is going to lead the company into the future.  The only problem is that I wish they would have saved the Owens turn for after he wins the title at Wrestlemania.

[Vincey Greene]

YOOOOOO!

 

I don't always watch the weekly show but that ending, though. With the © 2014 WWE notice and all before the turn... and Regal's response... gosh. I always find WWE shows to be stiff and over produced but they made that feel absolutely correct for the situation.... it's the little things man.

[Brysynner]

I've been knee deep into the early 90s Misawa/Jumbo feud lately, and it was the perfect way to build up a group of young guys.  I know they fucked up the original Nexus angle, but they may want to try again with this group.  They need to bring up Zayn, Neville, Balor, and Itami all at once and have them feud with Cena, Orton, Rollins, and (hopefully) Bryan.  The story would start with one of the young guys, I'd pick Zayn, to get a clean win on Cena and win the title(Night after Summerslam).  Cena, would try to be gracious afterwards, but on the next PPV he would try to kill him on the way to winning the belt back(Zayn would be on his full sympathetic, never say die even to the point of death, babyface game).  Cena would then do an promo the next night on Raw about how Zayn has a great future ahead of him, but like the song says, "My time is now."  Zayn would come out and cut a promo about how John Cena is an all-time great, and how he was so honored to be in the same ring as him and they shake hands...but as they disengage Sami turns to him and tells them that they are 1-1 against each other and the way he sees it John Cena's time is up.  Cena gets in his face and tells him if he wants his spot, he welcomes him to try to take it.  The whole time guys like Neville, Balor, and Itami have been tearing it up in the undercard and they come out and make it very clear that not only is Zayn coming for Cena's spot, they're all coming for Cena's spot.  Over the next few weeks Cena, Orton, and all the other vets wrestle matches with the youngsters and they get more and more vicious and eventually there is an out and out brawl leading up to Survivor Series and a giant 8-10 man main event.  The young guys have to go over putting over the fact that not only these guys have to be respected, but they can actually win.  The entire time Cena is still champion, and while he's not necessarily ducking Zayn, it is becoming apparent that he isn't really eager to give him another shot at the belt.  On the lead up to Royal Rumble, Zayn brings up the fact that he has never received a rematch, and Cena tells him, if he wants a shot at the belt there is only one way to get it and that is to win the Rumble.  Zayn wins the Rumble, and Cena is the main event at Wrestlemania. 

 

I think the feud will work best if Cena is the exact character he is now.  The whitebread babyface who wants to be everyone's hero, but the majority of people don't want him as their hero.  They shouldn't make one group the heels or the babyfaces, they should let the crowd decide.  Zayn and Cena are kind of perfect for the roles.  They can both work, talk, and build an emotional relationship with the crowd.  If they do it right I think everyone would come out looking better than they went in.  Cena would be the veteran ace, who is fighting tooth and nail to stay on top, and Zayn would be the new guy who is going to lead the company into the future.  The only problem is that I wish they would have saved the Owens turn for after he wins the title at Wrestlemania.

 

But Zayn's not going to be the guy who is the new John Cena. Finn Balor is. Zayn is probably going to be the next Daniel Bryan....if I had to to a NXT = WWE set up it would be the following:

 

Balor = Cena/BITW CM Punk

Zayn = Bryan

Itomi = Sheamus

Owens = Orton

Charlotte = Beth Phoenix

Banks = Heel Trish

Bailey = Face Trish

Becky = Less Slutty Version of Heel Lita

Alexa = Alundra Blaze

Corbin = 2002 Brock Lesnar

Neville = Less Slutty Version of Rated R Edge

Kalisto = Pre-Eddie's Death Rey Jr.

 

Now these are all where I think they'll end up at the end of the day. Which means I count SIX future world champions in the bunch. I think Balor's going to be the face of the company sooner rather than later.

[Matt D]

What the hell do they do with Neville now? I can't imagine him doing well at all on the main roster. He's agile, can hit his spots and play into others', and has decent enough timing. He's not a great talker. He's not a great seller. He's not super charismatic. Outside of them bringing the Cruiserweight belt back to open cards up with a ten minute spotfest (the current role of he tag team titles, actually), I have no idea what they'd do with him. I could see them debuting him at the Rumble with some sort of agile elimination avoidance fest with Kofi, but after that? Maybe a flashy goon for Barrett if he had a UK faction? 

 

EDIT: as for Balor, I see his cap much more in the 2009 R-Truth role (which shouldn't be underestimated): over, fan interaction babyface on Smackdown with a definite glass ceiling. I guess that'd kind of be Ziggler now. It was supposed to be Sin Cara but he never quite took off in that role. 

[Craig H]

I didn't have a chance to post my thoughts yet, but that was fucking awesome. Probably the show of the year. I was really hoping Finn Balor would bust out the body paint and he didn't disappoint. He's going to make himself and the WWE so much goddamn money. Main event was bananas. Ending was really great too. Once the count hit three I started tearing up. That and Daniel Bryan conquering WrestleMania were the feel good moments of this year in wrestling. And that made KO's sneak attack all the sweeter. My jaw hit the floor and I was stunned. Stunned for a couple reasons. 1) I can't believe they did that spot and could get away with it and 2) Just because of how evil it was. I thought KO would be a heel and was surprised he wrestled like a badass babyface in the opener. Then he came out to hug Sami and I kept waiting for the turn and it never happened. When the heel turn sneak attack did happen, my guard was completely down. 

[jaedmc]

 

What the hell do they do with Neville now? I can't imagine him doing well at all on the main roster. He's agile, can hit his spots and play into others', and has decent enough timing. He's not a great talker. He's not a great seller. He's not super charismatic. Outside of them bringing the Cruiserweight belt back to open cards up with a ten minute spotfest (the current role of he tag team titles, actually), I have no idea what they'd do with him. I could see them debuting him at the Rumble with some sort of agile elimination avoidance fest with Kofi, but after that? Maybe a flashy goon for Barrett if he had a UK faction? 

He'll probably need a tag partner. Ideally someone big who can talk but needs a partner to carry the wrestling side of things. Kevin Nash?

[JonnyLaw]

They've got three hours that pretty much everyone agrees they're not using well, and entire shows (including Smackdown) that they pretty much outright ignore.  I say bring back the Cruiserweight Title either through Noble (ignoring he lost it to Hornswoggle) or Hornswoggle, who puts it on the line against El Torito, who then loses it to some heel.

 

Or just, you know, bringing it back fresh.

[jaedmc]

The Baron Corbin/Bull fuck me eyes segment was a little uncomfortable, but I think every other match got a THIS IS AWESOME chant

Best part was the lady with the Baron Corbin sign over Bull's shoulder slowly realizing Baron was looking at Bull, not her. 

[Skeeball Wizard]

What the hell do they do with Neville now? I can't imagine him doing well at all on the main roster. He's agile, can hit his spots and play into others', and has decent enough timing. He's not a great talker. He's not a great seller. He's not super charismatic. Outside of them bringing the Cruiserweight belt back to open cards up with a ten minute spotfest (the current role of he tag team titles, actually), I have no idea what they'd do with him. I could see them debuting him at the Rumble with some sort of agile elimination avoidance fest with Kofi, but after that? Maybe a flashy goon for Barrett if he had a UK faction?

He'll probably need a tag partner. Ideally someone big who can talk but needs a partner to carry the wrestling side of things. Kevin Nash?

I think the answer is in your question, Wade Barrett and Neville together would be tremendous.

[Matt D]

They've got three hours that pretty much everyone agrees they're not using well, and entire shows (including Smackdown) that they pretty much outright ignore.  I say bring back the Cruiserweight Title either through Noble (ignoring he lost it to Hornswoggle) or Hornswoggle, who puts it on the line against El Torito, who then loses it to some heel.

 

Or just, you know, bringing it back fresh.

Not totally relevant, but I wish they'd bring back the TV title and have it defended every Monday with a ten minute time limit like WCW used to do. 

[supremebve]

You guys are crazy, Zayn is the clear cut, top of the card babyface of the future.  There isn't anyone close to him as far as having the presence of a star.  Watching him wrestle on NXT is like watching Lebron in high school.  You see everything you could possibly want to see in a wrestler, and you can't wait to see him at the highest level. 

[hammerva]

My guess is that Zayn will do the injury angle and neville will feud with Owens for a couple weeks.   Maybe to set up a three way match at the end of the tapings with Zayn, Neville, and Owens

[Brysynner]

 

 

What the hell do they do with Neville now? I can't imagine him doing well at all on the main roster. He's agile, can hit his spots and play into others', and has decent enough timing. He's not a great talker. He's not a great seller. He's not super charismatic. Outside of them bringing the Cruiserweight belt back to open cards up with a ten minute spotfest (the current role of he tag team titles, actually), I have no idea what they'd do with him. I could see them debuting him at the Rumble with some sort of agile elimination avoidance fest with Kofi, but after that? Maybe a flashy goon for Barrett if he had a UK faction?

He'll probably need a tag partner. Ideally someone big who can talk but needs a partner to carry the wrestling side of things. Kevin Nash?

I think the answer is in your question, Wade Barrett and Neville together would be tremendous.

 

 

Barrett/Neville vs. Sheamus/Balor for a house show swing would be the awesomeness

[Brysynner]

You guys are crazy, Zayn is the clear cut, top of the card babyface of the future.  There isn't anyone close to him as far as having the presence of a star.  Watching him wrestle on NXT is like watching Lebron in high school.  You see everything you could possibly want to see in a wrestler, and you can't wait to see him at the highest level. 

 

Zayn is the guy you want to see win it all and have time on the top (ala Daniel Bryan/Tim Duncan/Greg Maddux/John Elway), Balor is the guy who looks and acts like a world class star and can be the face of the company (ala John Cena/Michael Jordan/Derek Jeter/Tom Brady)

[Greggulator]

My one gripe with the show is that Itami didn't get the pin against The Ascension. That would have been the perfect finish to that feud. The match itself was pretty great.

 

Finn's entrance was the best entrance since Bray/Wyatt Family's. It was a total star making moment. I've only caught a glimpse here and there of his body paint stuff. He looked like Muta 2.0. That is among the highest compliments for me since The Great Muta is essentially a family member because of how much me and my brother talk about him. Konor's look when Finn came out was awesome. It was a total turnabout, since that's what the string of jobbers fed to The Ascension looked like during their massive push.

 

The show was so good last night that I haven't even talked much about Finn Bator coming down to the ring looking like some Darth Maul/Jeff Hardy/WTF? I think it's proof The Ascension will be just fine. It's not like The Usos ever really speak, and they're one of the most over acts.

Finn/Itami vs. Lucha Dragons is going to be a blast if they go that route.

[JonnyLaw]

I hope we get Finn/Itami versus the VaudeVillains after Aiden takes umbrage that someone else is trying to be the artiste of NXT.

[turk128]

Simply awesome two hours.

 

I love that the crowd totally turned and was behind Sasha, she really deserved it. I second the fact that she is the best all-around performer, only behind Tyson.

 

Chivalry chant for English saving Gotch was ace. The crowd really helped make the two hours that much more special.

 

Balor wasn't just any Symbiote he was all Symbiotes. He totally is going to steal all the Jeff Hardy fans.

[Greggulator]

Daniel Bryan got over as huge as he did and translated to popular culture because he was the best proxy for the audience in years. And maybe ever. He is what fans look and act like.

Sami Zayn is even better than Bryan at that role in NXT. I mean, the dude wears Operation Ivy and Rancid shirts and comes out to a 90s ska punk song to the ring. You can't really get much dorkier than that. And the NXT crowd is filled with the dorkiest folks from the Orlando metropolitan area. (I am not knocking you if you are one of these people. I am one of you but I don't live in Orlando.)

Sami's also the best storyteller in wrestling. Period. He's a wonderful wrestling actor. He's amazing working from underneath. It's been eons since someone was as good as him as translating his out-of-the-ring storyline into his actual matches. When we were talking about him before, someone said the last guy that good in that capacity was Eddy. I completely agree. I think Sami is the new Eddy Guerrero. I have no idea if he can work as a heel or not.

But I don't want him to ever work as a heel. He's the a throwback good-guy who upholds values and finally kicked the ball before Lucy pulled it from him. He was tempted to take that shortcut but didn't. It was one of the best payoffs to a storyline ever.

Damn. I think Sami's the best wrestler in the WWE right now.

[JohnnyJ]

What the hell do they do with Neville now? I can't imagine him doing well at all on the main roster. He's agile, can hit his spots and play into others', and has decent enough timing. He's not a great talker. He's not a great seller. He's not super charismatic. Outside of them bringing the Cruiserweight belt back to open cards up with a ten minute spotfest (the current role of he tag team titles, actually), I have no idea what they'd do with him. I could see them debuting him at the Rumble with some sort of agile elimination avoidance fest with Kofi, but after that? Maybe a flashy goon for Barrett if he had a UK faction? 

 

Maybe I'm in the minority but  I really like what Neville has showed the past few weeks. He gets overshadowed because of just how good Zayn is right now. He comes off as sincere in his interviews.  His personality comes through in his matches.  He's got a good look. He's improved by leaps and bounds over his indy spot monkey days. 

 

What impresses me most about Neville is he has a cool looking offense that actually looks like it hurts. To me, that's what separates the smaller guys who will always be lower card fodder  from the guys who can actually move up the card.

[Greggulator]

I will say that there is one thing I'm worried about with NXT. It's so awesome that guys like Owens and Finn and Itami are in the company. I haven't seen really anything they've done in the indies/Japan. But all three of those dudes have really made me mark since their debuts. They're awesome.

But one of the great things about NXT is how goofy it can be. And I love that. Bo Dallas's NXT run is one of my favorite characters of all-time. Stuff like his failed YES! Movement and his sprinting around Full Sail's campus in an attempt to avoid school security is some of my favorite, favorite, favorite stuff ever. Even The Wyatts stuff is goofy -- it's not funny, but it's still pretty ridiculous to think a religious cult could come into a wrestling promotion.

Guys like Tyler Breeze and Kass/Enzo/Carmella and The Vaudevillains are also why I love NXT. They're completely ridiculous characters but awesome.

I don't want NXT to become too serious. The whole ultra-serious wrestling stuff gets tiring for me. I don't watch wrestling for technical masterpieces anymore. I appreciate them, but don't watch them. I watch for the sublime. I don't want NXT to lose that.