SirSmUgly Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Watching a bunch of NXT to catch up, I think the entire (and really the ENTIRE) reason why it's so good, relatively, is that guys are protected in a way they never can be on the main roster. A guy like Tyler Breeze, for instance, would be chewed up and spit out by being on TV so much and, just by the nature of that, have to lose as much as he wins, or close to it. Because of the lack of TV, they can have him win most of the time that we see him and make sure to protect him in the times he doesn't win. Really? You don't think that the writing and the presentation of characters, something that isn't necessarily dependent on the lack of television, are significantly better on NXT? There is no "we have lots of hours to fill" excuse for, say, Roman Reigns cutting wascally wabbit promos on Smackdown. That shit would never fly on NXT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Fixit Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Reigns has cut a lot of good, focused promos. And he's cut a lot of repetitive and straight up bad ones too. The need to fill up 6 hours a week is definitely a factor. Also the character presentation isn't exactly top notch for everybody in NXT. Look at what the Ascencion were doing there for two years. Breeze has been spinning his wheels for a while too. Crowe is a really good worker who's been misused. And Itami's "loveable international star" gimmick doesn't fit him at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Evans Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Went to the NXT house show in Orlando. Real fun show with some fresh matches and debuts. Main event was Kevin Owens vs Crowe. I think this match was the first time I've seen Crowe where it looked like he fit in WWE. Owens beat the shit out of him but he kept coming back. Owens is a guy that is just so different than anybody else I think he'll fit in great on the main roster. Other matches included Balor/Corbin with Corbin being a full fledged heel. Such a better role for him. Bayley/Bliss/Carmella vs Dana Brooke/Devin Taylor/Lina. Lina is Rock's cousin and she kinda looks like a Samoan HAVOK. Even down to the outfit. Devin Taylor is real entertaining as the rich girl heel. She did So Cal Val's gimmick in front of Val and even better. Some tag matches including Enzo/Cas vs BAM and Vaudevillans vs Mechanics. So glad the Vaudevillans are back as babyfaces with the awesome music. Gotch vs Dawson is such a treat to watch. Rookie Mike Rawlis beat Chad Gable and his finisher is the Razor's edge. I'm stunned WWE lets that move happen in 2015. Oh and the announcer was still plugging Zayn/Owens on the 20th. Either it's happening or they locked up the Most Disgusting promotional tactic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Part of me half thinks that they could have Crowe answer an open challenge and get beat up hard but get a roll up out of nowhere and it could be the thing that saves his career and the Special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Reigns has cut a lot of good, focused promos. And he's cut a lot of repetitive and straight up bad ones too. The need to fill up 6 hours a week is definitely a factor. Also the character presentation isn't exactly top notch for everybody in NXT. Look at what the Ascencion were doing there for two years. Breeze has been spinning his wheels for a while too. Crowe is a really good worker who's been misused. And Itami's "loveable international star" gimmick doesn't fit him at all. I understand your position, but I don't think that I'm sold on it. NXT has a smaller roster, but they also have a smaller, focused writing team. The big shows have a whole fleet of writers that somehow produce stuff worse than daily soaps on a fairly regular occasion. I think the issue in this case is more that the person in charge of NXT delegates responsibilities and lets people handle them and the person in charge of RAW and Smackdown does not, forcing last-second re-writes and even taking charge himself to write some of the promos even though he's hopelessly out of touch from a creative standpoint. If we saw more delegation of creative duties to the people who are creative, RAW would probably become far, far better even under the general "writers write all the promos" structure that we have now. Hell, NXT is written in part by a dude who worked for Rachael Ray, so I'm sure the writers on RAW could put out good stuff if they weren't restricted by the whims of their boss. Re: Characterization, I'm not sure that I follow you. Breeze is excellent as a character. He's spinning his wheels because there's no secondary belt for him to defend and they don't want to pull him up to the big show. The Ascension, even after going through tons of changes because of personnel issues, at least had the aura of being unbeatable. Crowe looks terrible at this point, but misused? We'll see. I figure that when this gimmick fails, they'll give him a better one that suits him. Same for Itami. Both these guys are in NXT to get comfortable and to find what works for them. If you take a look at, say, Sasha Banks and where she was eighteen months or twenty-four months ago compared to now, they let her find her way and helped her figure out where she was comfortable. I don't think any of those guys are a strike against NXT from a characterization level - not that I think NXT is perfect in this area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fresh Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 The girl I'm dating now has pretty much no experience with pro wrestling at all. Which to show her first: Nattie/Charlotte, Banks/Charlotte, or Banks/Charlotte/Lynch/Bailey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go2Sleep Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Owens should definitely not be dropping the belt any time soon. I think the best play here is Owens/Balor/Breeze triple threat. It's a quick fix, logical, and protects everyone involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Moose Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 The girl I'm dating now has pretty much no experience with pro wrestling at all. Which to show her first: Nattie/Charlotte, Banks/Charlotte, or Banks/Charlotte/Lynch/Bailey? Depending on her politics, you might want to avoid Banks/Charlotte. A lady-friend of mine watched it and just after the video package, asked if Charlotte's thing was "being creepy and aryan"... and then was not happy when she ended up retaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fresh Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Ha. I think she'd like Charlotte because of how good of shape she's in. My girl is into powerlifting. Though, that could be said for all of them. Dana Brooke is probably gonna be her favorite wrestler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 The girl I'm dating now has pretty much no experience with pro wrestling at all. Which to show her first: Nattie/Charlotte, Banks/Charlotte, or Banks/Charlotte/Lynch/Bailey? I'd go none of the above and show her Bayley/Charlotte first. Nattie/Charlotte is the longest and best-quality match, but Bayley/Charlotte really set up the whole build for Charlotte's character and made it possible to get Banks/Charlotte and the four-way to click more. The base story of it with "Charlotte, the evil heel, is going one on one against her sweet, innocent former friend who may or may not be in her league, and Bayley's going out with the ultimate goal of getting the title...but in her heart, she'd be just as happy if she ends up getting her friend back" really improves the other two far more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill S. Preston ESQ. Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Bring in Samoa Joe. I almost wrote that. Rhyno vs. Owens would be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 The girl I'm dating now has pretty much no experience with pro wrestling at all. Which to show her first: Nattie/Charlotte, Banks/Charlotte, or Banks/Charlotte/Lynch/Bailey?Try "The Notebook". 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimLivingston Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 It's gotta be Joe. There's demand for it, it would actually be somewhat shocking, and it wouldn't seem like a patchwork thing. That damn crowd, though. They're gonna fuck up the surprise if it does happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 My only problem with Joe being a surprise opponent is that it's really a no win situation aside from the shock. Joe shouldn't lose in his debut and Owens shouldn't drop the belt so soon. And where do both guys go after that? If anything, I prefer them teaming up as the Fat Boy Wrecking Crew of my dreams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick B. Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Double countout/DQ? Dare I say, time-limit draw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I watched nearly zero indies for most of Joe's big run to the top of that scene. I have watched maybe three minutes of TNA, none of which included him. I know NXT fans are very wrestling geek heavy, but I'm certainly not alone in my type of viewer. Do you really want to have a guy a certain percentage of the audience no one has ever seen beat your dominant heel champion? Or even go 60 minutes with him?Go with the winner of Balor/Itami/Breeze. And I'd go with Breeze out of those three. Itami/Balor has a lot of legs as a feud. Breeze would be a great underdog against the Owens monster. I could just hear the pop already after Breeze hits The Beauty Shot and has to make a last-ditch cover for the win.If not Breeze, than Itami. He had that awesome post-WrestleMania episode a few weeks back that really added to his persona. I love the fighting spirit stuff.I'm also very much not a Balor guy. He's grown on me but that's the easiest answer.* Oh wait, I forgot Itami's out for a few months, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nofuture Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I watched nearly zero indies for most of Joe's big run to the top of that scene. I have watched maybe three minutes of TNA, none of which included him. I know NXT fans are very wrestling geek heavy, but I'm certainly not alone in my type of viewer. Do you really want to have a guy a certain percentage of the audience no one has ever seen beat your dominant heel champion? Or even go 60 minutes with him? They've already treated newcomers like Balor, Itami and Owens like big deals (hell, Owens got the title in his second match), and Joe's had a lot more exposure than all those guys combined. But still, I don't think Joe/Owens would be smart at this time. You've got to build to it. I still think they should go Rhyno/Owens in a competitive match with Owens eventually destroying Rhyno . NXT has always been about the slow build, so no need to rush in the winner of the #1 contenders match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 We should have a pool or something. I want to put my money down on an open challenge and Big Cass. He's over enough that the crowd won't shit on it. He's big enough to be a threat. He can lose and still be elevated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 My only problem with Joe being a surprise opponent is that it's really a no win situation aside from the shock. Joe shouldn't lose in his debut and Owens shouldn't drop the belt so soon. And where do both guys go after that? If anything, I prefer them teaming up as the Fat Boy Wrecking Crew of my dreams. Joe lost his first match in ROH. Things worked out for him there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I know what it's gonna be. Owens comes out and talks about how he injured Sami. He says he'll beat anyone else up that messes with him, too. Puts forth an open challenge. Then, silence as the crowd anticipates the person to come out when... BULL! BULL! BULL! BULL! *guitar riff* BULL! *another guitar riff* BULL! The place goes banana. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyJ Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 My only problem with Joe being a surprise opponent is that it's really a no win situation aside from the shock. Joe shouldn't lose in his debut and Owens shouldn't drop the belt so soon. And where do both guys go after that? If anything, I prefer them teaming up as the Fat Boy Wrecking Crew of my dreams. What makes Owens so much fun is that he's both a beast and a coward. They can certainly figure out a way to protect both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 My only problem with Joe being a surprise opponent is that it's really a no win situation aside from the shock. Joe shouldn't lose in his debut and Owens shouldn't drop the belt so soon. And where do both guys go after that? If anything, I prefer them teaming up as the Fat Boy Wrecking Crew of my dreams. Joe lost his first match in ROH. Things worked out for him there. As mentioned in his JR podcast, Joe wasn't meant to be an ROH regular. He was supposed to be one and done. It can't be Cass. He and Enzo are facing the Wesling Buddies that night. Rhyno would be as disappointing as when he was the replacement for Nash in TNA. If you want to pop the crowd and put Owens over, your best bet might be Uhaa Nation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I watched nearly zero indies for most of Joe's big run to the top of that scene. I have watched maybe three minutes of TNA, none of which included him. I know NXT fans are very wrestling geek heavy, but I'm certainly not alone in my type of viewer. Do you really want to have a guy a certain percentage of the audience no one has ever seen beat your dominant heel champion? Or even go 60 minutes with him? They've already treated newcomers like Balor, Itami and Owens like big deals (hell, Owens got the title in his second match), and Joe's had a lot more exposure than all those guys combined. But still, I don't think Joe/Owens would be smart at this time. You've got to build to it. I still think they should go Rhyno/Owens in a competitive match with Owens eventually destroying Rhyno . NXT has always been about the slow build, so no need to rush in the winner of the #1 contenders match. They didn't just throw those guys right into title matches, though. Itami had his big entrance before his public contract signing, which led to The Ascension trying to chump him. And then Balor came in to save the day a few weeks later, setting up that match. Owens had a bunch of introductory vignettes before debuting. He didn't start the "cut the line" angle until the audience knew who he was for about a month or so. Joe has had zero introduction to the WWE's universe. (Not the WWE Universe marketing phrase.) Just tossing him out there in his debut match doesn't have a great feel to it. However, it might work if they book it as "You did this in two months? I did this in 15 minutes." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 My only problem with Joe being a surprise opponent is that it's really a no win situation aside from the shock. Joe shouldn't lose in his debut and Owens shouldn't drop the belt so soon. And where do both guys go after that? If anything, I prefer them teaming up as the Fat Boy Wrecking Crew of my dreams. Joe lost his first match in ROH. Things worked out for him there. As mentioned in his JR podcast, Joe wasn't meant to be an ROH regular. He was supposed to be one and done. It can't be Cass. He and Enzo are facing the Wesling Buddies that night. Rhyno would be as disappointing as when he was the replacement for Nash in TNA. If you want to pop the crowd and put Owens over, your best bet might be Uhaa Nation. Or fly in Cesaro. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fresh Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I know what it's gonna be. Owens comes out and talks about how he injured Sami. He says he'll beat anyone else up that messes with him, too. Puts forth an open challenge. Then, silence as the crowd anticipates the person to come out when... BULL! BULL! BULL! BULL! *guitar riff* BULL! *another guitar riff* BULL! The place goes banana. Well, I would. I really like Bull Dempsey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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