The Official WWE / NXT Discussion Thread *May Contain Spoilers*

[jwt13]

You know what I just realized? Bad News Barrett debuted on Monday Night Raw on the day of my 13th birthday, December 2nd; 2013.

 

What a lousy birthday present that turned out to be.

 

And no; I didn't mean Perry Saturn thank god, I mean the lucha Perry. @everyone who was wondering.

 

Wow your young haha I think I started here when I was pretty young to though, 09 so I would have been 13.

[Hive]

Dolph Ziggler should have been Curt Hennig's son, so he could use the Mr. Perfect moniker. He'd be great with that gimmick.

[Russelrules44]

I think I finally figured out why Barrett never seems to win anymore.

 

If you remember three years ago; Barrett's arm got injury, he would be out for about September. Had he not been injured that year, WWE would have made him Mr. Money in the Bank and not Dolph Ziggler. Which probably would have meant he would have gotten the feud with Cena.

 

And last year; Swagger seperated Barrett's shoulder and he needed to go get surgery for it, and that was when Barrett's Bad News gimmick was really taking off.

 

To be honest; i'm not surprised that WWE isn't pushing Barrett hard. If you can't be trusted to be stay injury-free before your big push, why chance it? It's also a shame, that injuries at the worst time may have possibly ruined a once-shining career.

[liontamer]

So I caught my first episode of the new tough enough. I was wondering how many of the old group did anything notable. I have noted the ivelisse and martin are un lucha underground, and ivelisse also had short WWE and TNA stints prior. I think the first girl cut did make it in to WWE a well. Don't remember her name.

[iruleall15]

Anyone watched Swerved? It was damn good. Kept me laughing

[milamber]

So I caught my first episode of the new tough enough. I was wondering how many of the old group did anything notable. I have noted the ivelisse and martin are un lucha underground, and ivelisse also had short WWE and TNA stints prior. I think the first girl cut did make it in to WWE a well. Don't remember her name.

 

Matt Cross (Son of Havoc) & Ivelisse are part of a trio tag team in LU and are great to watch. Martin only just started there. Cameron is in WWE but she's barely passable in the ring and just fodder for Total Divas.

 

The new Tough Enough was OK. The live format part kind of sucks as it means less time watching the contestants train. They do seem to be more passionate than the last group but also more bitchy. I miss Stone Cold. Renee should be hosting on her own. Jericho and Hogan are just there to get good ratings (it didn't work). I'm glad Paige and Bryan weren't push-overs.

 

Anyone watched Swerved? It was damn good. Kept me laughing

 

I found everything funny except the poo mic gag. I'll keep watching until they run out of good material.

[steesh07]

I have to say that I am a big fan of Kevin Owens on commentary, also love how Corey Graves tries to hold back his laughter during the match. My interest around WWE's Japanese Supercard is growing, especially in regards to the Balor/Owens match.

[milamber]

NXT Review:

 

Itami/Owens/Balor/Rhyno - Good opening segment meshing together a few storylines. Owens botching a word and turning it into a dig at Itami's English was masterful.

Enzo & Cass vs Jordan & Leforte - OK match. I like Jordan's "losing until he finds a good tag partner" storyline. Not sure why Leforte is still employed.

Samoa Joe - I like his intense promo style. Refreshing for a babyface.

Dana vs Cassie - OK match. Cassie's smooth spin kick needs to be a signature move.

Who is Finn Balor? (Part 2) - Good documentary even though they skimmed over his NJPW accomplishments. They should make a show for the Network with other superstars playing lego and watching old PPVs at Finn's place

Mojo & Ryder vs Fulton & Dawkins - OK match.

Balor vs Rhyno - Solid match won by Balor despite interference. Owens and Rhyno beat him up until Joe made the save. Owens killed it on commentary, bullying Byron and Brennan among other things.

 

Verdict: Strong storytelling but not enough good wrestling.

 

[Dawn]

Bruh. First one since Kafu. I'm excited.

 

http://nodq.com/wwe/437350003.shtml

 

Also, Ziggler has re-signed with the WWE. I want to laugh. If I wasn't a bit sick I would do that really hard right now.

[Mootinie]

I don't think WWE and New Japan are on the best of terms right now, especially since the NJPW Network is 999 yen.

[BHK1978]

I am not sure if this has been brought up here or not and I am not about to read through the entire thread to find out. But Austin Matelson who was Judas Devlin in NXT is currently on the American version of Big Brother. Only two episodes have aired thus far and I do not get their live feeds (I am not paying for that crap) so I really have not formed an opinion on him yet but from what I read he is very annoying on the live feeds and many do not think he will last long in the game.

[steesh07]

I see the Yes! movement had support at Glastonbury, I was getting some weird looks of my fiance when I noticed it during Paul Weller's performance and started chuckling to myself.

[Mootinie]

Apparently, Zack Ryder is a cancer survivor.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1500957-wwe-news-zack-ryder-talks-about-his-battle-with-cancer?is_shared=true

 

As if we needed any more reasons to respect him.

[Dawn]

I already knew that. Yeah, I respect Ryder a lot not only for that, but for fighting against the machine, even though he failed miserably.

[milamber]

<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>Raw Review:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p>

<strong>The Good</strong> - Cena vs Cesaro (with Owens killing it on commentary as usual)</p><p>

<strong>The Solid</strong> - Paige vs Fox, Bray meta promo, New Day & Bo vs PTP & Lucha Dragons (shame it was a SD rematch), Neville vs Sheamus</p><p>

<strong>The Bad</strong> - Product placement overkill, boring IC Title feud (except Miz), Lana/Ziggler/Rusev/Summer, Barrett vs Swagger, Reigns & Ambrose vs The Authority</p><p> </p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Verdict:</span></strong> Not a good Raw. Trim the fat and it would have made a decent Smackdown, though.</p><p> </p><p>

Unsurprisingly, Raw averaged 3.6 million viewers, the 2nd lowest number for a non-holiday show since 1997.</p>

[liontamer]

<p>So I caught up on the second episode of tough enough, and I officially don't get it. I don't understand why it's being put together and produced this way.</p><p> </p><p>

Why is swimming across a pond with gators a challenge when it in no way relates to wrestling and places the contestants in unnecessary danger (and therefore the WWE in liability). How does it captivate the wanna be future stars that might be watching? The only thing similar I recall last time was the dog chase and at least there they were well protected and doing something wrestling related (running)</p><p> </p><p>

The in ring challenge was the shortest part of the episode.... I hope there was a lot of training off camera. As shown, again an unneeded liability. "Hey let's take a bunch of untrained people and have them fall off the top rope". As a fan I learned nothing (could they at least show us tips on how to do it), and it's boring.</p><p> </p><p>

I have yet to see footage of a single person in the house working out and most of the time the judges seem to confuse personality with bickering. ZZ is the only one with any of his personality coming through. I feel like this is real housewives with a few random physical challenges thrown in. It lacks everything that the prior seasons brought that made it interesting.</p>

[Jaysin]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="liontamer" data-cite="liontamer" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So I caught up on the second episode of tough enough, and I officially don't get it. I don't understand why it's being put together and produced this way.<p> </p><p> Why is swimming across a pond with gators a challenge when it in no way relates to wrestling and places the contestants in unnecessary danger (and therefore the WWE in liability). How does it captivate the wanna be future stars that might be watching? The only thing similar I recall last time was the dog chase and at least there they were well protected and doing something wrestling related (running)</p><p> </p><p> The in ring challenge was the shortest part of the episode.... I hope there was a lot of training off camera. As shown, again an unneeded liability. "Hey let's take a bunch of untrained people and have them fall off the top rope". <strong>As a fan I learned nothing (could they at least show us tips on how to do it</strong>), and it's boring.</p><p> </p><p> I have yet to see footage of a single person in the house working out and most of the time the judges seem to confuse personality with bickering. ZZ is the only one with any of his personality coming through. I feel like this is real housewives with a few random physical challenges thrown in. It lacks everything that the prior seasons brought that made it interesting.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Every episode of every WWE broadcast has a warning saying "Don't Try This At Home". Why would they show you how to do various wrestling moves/bumps?</p><p> </p><p> It's a reality show. They're catering to reality TV fans, not wrestling fans.</p>

[liontamer]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Jaysin" data-cite="Jaysin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Every episode of every WWE broadcast has a warning saying "Don't Try This At Home". Why would they show you how to do various wrestling moves/bumps?<p> </p><p> It's a reality show. They're catering to reality TV fans, not wrestling fans.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> you have a point there, but I seem to recall in prior seasons seeing better instruction in how to run the ropes, lock up, perform different moves, drills they did in the ring, etc. How exactly do you chose the next star based on bickering, falling, swimming with gators, a distance run, an the drill they fast forwarded through in week 1?</p><p> </p><p> I'm not suggesting that they show us a tombstone, but i wouldn't think how to take bump would be overly risky, or even basic lifting mechanics for the bag thing last week (I teach that to people daily)</p>

[Jaysin]

I definitely agree that there should be more wrestling centric challenges, but they're not really looking for a star, they're looking for ratings.

[liontamer]

is this getting them?

[Jaysin]

Not really. The first episode drew 1.20 million viewers and the second drew 1.05 million.

[iruleall15]

I really wish WWE would get off the Reigns bandwagon... He isnt good. If he beats Wyatt at Battleground thna I just officially giev up on WWE being intelligent ever.

[milamber]

<p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">NXT Review:</span></strong></p><p> </p><p>

<strong>The Vaudevillians vs Dash & Dawson</strong> - OK match.</p><p>

<strong>Corbin vs Jobber</strong> - I hope Corbin's getting longer house show matches or he'll never improve.</p><p>

<strong>Who is Finn Balor? (Part 3)</strong> - Here's a crazy idea: they should use documentaries and promo videos (highlighting the wrestler's past in either the indies or NXT) on Raw or Smackdown to get newly promoted guys over. It's worked for Balor and Owens in NXT.</p><p>

<strong>Eva Marie</strong> - Finally some footage of her wrestling (with Regal and Death Rey watching). From the short clip she looked OK. I'm willing to give her a chance.</p><p>

<strong>Emma vs Carmella</strong> - Solid match. Emma's heel work is great. She's practically got a whole new moveset and a Dark Emma theme song. Carmella isn't a convincing babyface yet but her in-ring ability is improving.</p><p>

<strong>Breeze vs Dillinger</strong> - Solid match.</p><p>

<strong>Sasha Banks</strong> - The Boss returned to set up a tag match with Emma & Dana.</p><p>

<strong>Balor & Joe vs Rhyno & Owens</strong> - Solid match but a little short. Owens busted out Cena's moves like he's been doing at house shows. Balor sidestepped a Gore which hit Owens and delivered Coup de Grâce to become the first man to pin Owens in NXT.</p><p> </p><p>

<span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>Verdict:</strong></span> Better wrestling than last week.</p>

[milamber]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="liontamer" data-cite="liontamer" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So I caught up on the second episode of tough enough, and I officially don't get it. I don't understand why it's being put together and produced this way.<p> </p><p> Why is swimming across a pond with gators a challenge when it in no way relates to wrestling and places the contestants in unnecessary danger (and therefore the WWE in liability). How does it captivate the wanna be future stars that might be watching? The only thing similar I recall last time was the dog chase and at least there they were well protected and doing something wrestling related (running)</p><p> </p><p> The in ring challenge was the shortest part of the episode.... I hope there was a lot of training off camera. As shown, again an unneeded liability. "Hey let's take a bunch of untrained people and have them fall off the top rope". As a fan I learned nothing (could they at least show us tips on how to do it), and it's boring.</p><p> </p><p> I have yet to see footage of a single person in the house working out and most of the time the judges seem to confuse personality with bickering. ZZ is the only one with any of his personality coming through. I feel like this is real housewives with a few random physical challenges thrown in. It lacks everything that the prior seasons brought that made it interesting.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I'm sure they learn a lot more than what we see (and hopefully the judges see more). It seems to be aimed at the Total Divas crowd and not those of us who want to see these guys actually wrestling. I hate the format of the show. They waste too much time cutting back to the live studio. Renee is a perfectly good host on her own so Jericho is redundant. Tough Talk, on the other hand, is more entertaining because of Miz and Paige.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="iruleall15" data-cite="iruleall15" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I really wish WWE would get off the Reigns bandwagon... He isnt good. If he beats Wyatt at Battleground thna I just officially giev up on WWE being intelligent ever.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I'm really enjoying Reigns at the moment, especially on Smackdown and whenever he teams up with Ambrose. What they need to do was give Wyatt a major feud win before doing the job for someone like Reigns (Ryback doesn't count). Soon he'll be in Kane territory, putting everyone over and never winning important matches, looking like a jobber in the process.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="liontamer" data-cite="liontamer" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>you have a point there, but I seem to recall in prior seasons seeing better instruction in how to run the ropes, lock up, perform different moves, drills they did in the ring, etc. How exactly do you chose the next star based on bickering, falling, swimming with gators, a distance run, an the drill they fast forwarded through in week 1?<p> </p><p> I'm not suggesting that they show us a tombstone, but i wouldn't think how to take bump would be overly risky, or even basic lifting mechanics for the bag thing last week (I teach that to people daily)</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> They didn't have a 100 million dollar facility with 200 contracted prospects already working there though</p><p> </p><p> In 2015 the odds are that if WWE thinks you have potential for them, they already have you signed and won't rely on a reality show to find you.</p>