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

[The Final Countdown]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="guyver3" data-cite="guyver3" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>On the subject of the more expensive network tier I was part of a WWE survey about what one would like to see or expect as a part of that higher cost. Watching live Raw and Smackdown was not listed as a benefit of the tier but they did say next day viewing of the shows no waiting a month or so.</div></blockquote><p> I have to think USA would object pretty strongly to the TV shows being on the Network the next day.</p>

[iruleall15]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Final Countdown" data-cite="The Final Countdown" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I have to think USA would object pretty strongly to the TV shows being on the Network the next day.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Well USA needs to start airing Raw and SD a 2nd time each week. If I can't make Raw or SD I don't wanna get spoiled. So next day on network works since USA doesn't air repeats of WWE</p>

[guyver3]

I don't know how the next day avaliblity would go over with usa but it was one of the things listed as a possible benefit of the higher tier. I don't remember all of the things listed but I remember next day viewing, a free PPV chair after a year, and a letter from Vince as the only things that were of interest to me.

[CQI13]

There is a second showing of Raw on one of the premium channels (Universal maybe). And they can't object too much if Hulu is also carrying it. I may try it out with Hulu at a reduced price for now.

[FuzzyLogic]

Being in the UK, if the WWE Network did next day RAW & SmackDown then I'd re-subscribe in a heartbeat.

[iruleall15]

Im really Surprised that everyone is subscribed to the network. For $10 a month I can watch every PPV, watch the next generation of WWE each week, and watch a larhe selection of old wrestling and every old PPV id say it's a steal. People don't seem to appreciate how great the network is

[Jaysin]

Yeah, the Network is awesome. I've been really excited about the Mid South/UWF stuff they've added. There's not much, but you can see how advanced UWF was for the time and see guys like Sting and Warrior at the beginning of their careers.

[CQI13]

Not to pile on Bray Wyatt, but this from an opinion piece in I think Cageside Seats:

 

There's a current headline at WWE.com that reads, "Orton faces his fears at No Mercy." Unless Randy has a phobia of going over an abysmally booked MINO (Monster in Name Only), and having his hand raised at the end of the program, I'd say he has nothing to worry about. All he has to do is ask anybody with stature that's ever tangled with Bray Wyatt NOT named Dean Ambrose.

[Russelrules44]

Not to pile on Bray Wyatt, but this from an opinion piece in I think Cageside Seats:

 

There's a current headline at WWE.com that reads, "Orton faces his fears at No Mercy." Unless Randy has a phobia of going over an abysmally booked MINO (Monster in Name Only), and having his hand raised at the end of the program, I'd say he has nothing to worry about. All he has to do is ask anybody with stature that's ever tangled with Bray Wyatt NOT named Dean Ambrose.

 

Honestly, the only way Wyatt is even going to come close to the main event is to ditch the cult leader gimmick all together and become the new C.M Punk. (Bitter, disgruntled, passionate about his views. That sort of thing)

 

As fun as the cult leader gimmick is, it has long since past it's expiration date. The very moment the gimmick died was at Survivor Series 2015 when he was embarrassed by Undertaker and Kane.

 

And like I've said before. It's a great gimmick, but this came during the wrong time. People don't want to see men playing characters in the ring anymore, they want to see people that they can relate to. Even Wyatt himself has admitted in a podcast that no one really knows what to do with the character. (

) If Wyatt had been in WWE back in the 80s or maybe 90s, I'm pretty sure he would have been a world champion by now.

 

Look, as much as I hate to say it; it's time for us to face the facts. We're never getting another Undertaker. What make The Undertaker work was just a happy accident. The perfect combination of the right character, the right person to play the character and the right time for the character. Wyatt has the character down pact and they fit like a glove. But the character itself is quite a few years too late for it to unleash it's true potential.

 

If Wyatt decided the stop being the 'New Face of Fear' and start throwing pipebombs at everyone, that would send him into a whole new world of potential and maybe finally get him in the main event.

 

(And maybe a face turn wouldn't hurt, I suppose.)

[Blackman]

Well USA needs to start airing Raw and SD a 2nd time each week. If I can't make Raw or SD I don't wanna get spoiled.

 

This. People won't stay at home to watch a TV show anymore. Ten years ago I planned my week around TV shows. Why would anyone do that now? Everything's on demand. Well... everything but RAW and SD!

 

And nobody's complaining about the price of the Network. It's just not a complete deal. And a month is a LOT. If I'd take a guess I'd say nobody ever watches the uploaded RAW's from a month ago (when you can watch any RAW you want). It if was close to a week that'd be much better.

 

What's with the jobbers on RAW? Both Bailey and Cesaro/Sheamus had them, and though it served a purpose with the latter, why did Bailey have to beat someone completely irrelevant. I guess it's a side-effect from the brand split, but they should use them in NXT. Loved the Kendrick promo, but the show seemed mediocre.

[CQI13]

I just keep up on the shows (for now) on the PPV itself. As for the jobbers, I'd rather they do that than the 50/50 booking they have mastered.

[milamber]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Russelrules44" data-cite="Russelrules44" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Honestly, the only way Wyatt is even going to come close to the main event is to ditch the cult leader gimmick all together and become the new C.M Punk. (Bitter, disgruntled, passionate about his views. That sort of thing)<p> </p><p> As fun as the cult leader gimmick is, it has long since past it's expiration date. The very moment the gimmick died was at Survivor Series 2015 when he was embarrassed by Undertaker and Kane.</p><p> </p><p> And like I've said before. It's a great gimmick, but this came during the wrong time. People don't want to see men playing characters in the ring anymore, they want to see people that they can relate to. Even Wyatt himself has admitted in a podcast that no one really knows what to do with the character. ( </p><div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/HsWzMJrQ1ro?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="Bray Wyatt - Harper Injury, Wrestlemania Placement, Treatment, etc - Sam Roberts"></iframe></div></div>) If Wyatt had been in WWE back in the 80s or maybe 90s, I'm pretty sure he would have been a world champion by now.<p> </p><p> Look, as much as I hate to say it; it's time for us to face the facts. We're never getting another Undertaker. What make The Undertaker work was just a happy accident. The perfect combination of the right character, the right person to play the character and the right time for the character. Wyatt has the character down pact and they fit like a glove. But the character itself is quite a few years too late for it to unleash it's true potential.</p><p> </p><p> If Wyatt decided the stop being the 'New Face of Fear' and start throwing pipebombs at everyone, that would send him into a whole new world of potential and maybe finally get him in the main event.</p><p> </p><p> (And maybe a face turn wouldn't hurt, I suppose.)</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> What's hurt Bray the most in my eyes is the Wyatt Family. It was good at first but then the pattern emerged. Harper, Rowan and Strowman overwhelm his opponent so he wins. Then the feud ends when the babyface gets Bray 1-on-1 because Bray is all hype without his family. Rinse and repeat. Now that he's (almost) on his own they don't have that storytelling crutch to lean on and the losses are more damaging for Bray. He simply has to back up his words with more meaningful wins now.</p><p> </p><p> The have teased him in a "down with the machine" anto-hero role as far back as his last NXT appearance. I would trust the Smackdown writers to handle such a turn.</p>

[milamber]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blackman" data-cite="Blackman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>This. People won't stay at home to watch a TV show anymore. Ten years ago I planned my week around TV shows. Why would anyone do that now? Everything's on demand. Well... everything but RAW and SD!<p> </p><p> And nobody's complaining about the price of the Network. It's just not a complete deal. And a month is a LOT. If I'd take a guess I'd say nobody ever watches the uploaded RAW's from a month ago (when you can watch any RAW you want). It if was close to a week that'd be much better.</p><p> </p><p> What's with the jobbers on RAW? Both Bailey and Cesaro/Sheamus had them, and though it served a purpose with the latter, why did Bailey have to beat someone completely irrelevant. I guess it's a side-effect from the brand split, but they should use them in NXT. Loved the Kendrick promo, but the show seemed mediocre.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="CQI13" data-cite="CQI13" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I just keep up on the shows (for now) on the PPV itself. As for the jobbers, I'd rather they do that than the 50/50 booking they have mastered.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Jobbers are handy. The problem is the ass-backwards booking: Bayley gets hot-shotted into a title match where she rightfully loses and <em>then</em> they build her up against jobbers.</p><p> </p><p> Nia Jax was handled better, at least until her first big mach-up with Alicia Fox who they never bothered to build up as a threat beforehand. Now with injuries to Emma, Paige and Summer things have been difficult but they could have thrown Foxy a jobber or 2 first (*cough* Billie Kay and Peyton Royce *cough*). Or put Foxy over Dana (instead of Bayley) and not waste Dana on the main event storyline with Charlotte when the division is so thin and she's out of her depth there anyway.</p><p> </p><p> Or to sum it up: Smackdown Writers > Raw Writers <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[codey_v2]

The jobbers are there simply because they've divided the roster. There's a smaller roster on each show, so they've got to protect the guys they have a bit more. I've actually run into that after doing my own brand split in TEW. My roster went from being massive enough that I didn't have to worry about guys being seen jobbing every week to just that. Hiring local jobbers was the best way to avoid that and build those previous jobbers up a bit.

[The Final Countdown]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="milamber" data-cite="milamber" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> The have teased him in a "down with the machine" anto-hero role as far back as his last NXT appearance. I would trust the Smackdown writers to handle such a turn.</p></div></blockquote><p> Smackdown certainly feels like it has superior writing, but in the present climate that character would only work on Raw, where he would have Stephanie and maybe Trips to rebel against.</p>

[milamber]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Final Countdown" data-cite="The Final Countdown" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Smackdown certainly feels like it has superior writing, but in the present climate that character would only work on Raw, where he would have Stephanie and maybe Trips to rebel against.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Unless the World or IC Champ is a babyface favoured by Shane & Bryan (eg. Cena/Ambrose/Ziggler in the future) and Bray starts targeting them to "bring down the corporate machine." That could actually be a useful motiviation for Bray to start caring about winning a title for the first time ever and wouldn't require a face turn.</p>

[CQI13]

Strange thing is, at least for me, I cared about Heath Slater way more than I ever cared for Bray. Maybe my suspension of disbelief doesn't work as well for characters I just find goofy, but he's all talk. He'd need a severe overhaul and some big wins before he's slotted against a champion. Because in his current state, it'd be a snoozefest.

[HighDefOverDose]

Wyatt should be a manager, would be a great manager for monster heels, cult leaders make others do their bidding anyway.

[liontamer]

<p>some random tidbits I saw on the web.</p><p> </p><p>

Sara Lee was either cut, or her deal was not renewed and she his pregnant with one of the NXT stars kid (can't recall if it was blake or murphy), which makes me wonder if maybe there actually was some merit to the accusations on TE?</p><p> </p><p>

PJ Black aka Justin Gabriel broke both ankles in a base jumping accident</p><p> </p><p>

Jamie Noble was stabbed in a brawl of some sort</p><p> </p><p>

Saw a teaser that WWE may be buying out TNA as supposedly Matt Hardy posted on twitter about his premonition of where he'll be on Monday night</p><p> </p><p>

Also saw that Lashley wants lesnar at WM 33, making me think that he'll be leaving TNA to make a WWE return even if they do survive. Then again Kurt Angle wants a return, but hasn't gotten it, so it doesn't mean anything until he is signed.</p><p> </p><p>

Also saw talk of AJ vs Brock, which would be weird to me, but could really draw And as for the Bray talk, I like him, but he needs more wins. They still haven't recovered from what Rock did at WM either.</p>

[K-Nection]

<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><p> Also saw talk of AJ vs Brock, which would be weird to me, but could really draw And as for the Bray talk, I like him, but he needs more wins. They still haven't recovered from what Rock did at WM either.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Yea I really thought that was weak of them feeding the Wyatt Family to The Rock at WM....I loved the whole impromptu match thing they did but they really killed their monsters right before a brand split to a guy who shows up once maybe twice a year and has had 4 matches in 7 years. I love The Rock and I didn't have any problem of him going over against Erik Rowan but there was better ways to do it and make stars out of the Wyatts at the same time.</p><p> </p><p> Honestly they have dropped the ball with the Wyatts so much it's ridiculous.</p>

[moon_lit_tears]

<p>Not sure how bad it was, but the pictures don't look life threatening, but it appears Del Rio was attacked.</p><p> </p><p>

<a href="http://www.wrestlingnewssource.com/news/43832/BREAKING-NEWS-Alberto-El-PatronDel-Rio-Stabbed-GRAPHIC-PHOTOS/" rel="external nofollow">http://www.wrestlingnewssource.com/news/43832/BREAKING-NEWS-Alberto-El-PatronDel-Rio-Stabbed-GRAPHIC-PHOTOS/</a></p><p> </p><p>

Also this site is reporting it too.</p><p> </p><p>

<a href="http://www.24wrestling.com/alberto-del-rio-victim-of-knife-attack-before-aaa-event-graphic-photos/" rel="external nofollow">http://www.24wrestling.com/alberto-del-rio-victim-of-knife-attack-before-aaa-event-graphic-photos/</a></p>

[milamber]

<p>Raw was good but still about half an hour too long. The cruiserweight action was solid. Jeri-KO/New Day segments were gold. The women main eventing was cool. I just wish they wouldn't have so many title matches and title changes on Raw. That's what PPVs are for. It just stinks of WWE being desperate for ratings and media buzz. I really hope they give Charlotte/Sasha an actual HIAC match.</p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="giphy.gif" data-src="https://media.giphy.com/media/l0MYHxfJW6Zig6boQ/giphy.gif" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[liontamer]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="moon_lit_tears" data-cite="moon_lit_tears" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Not sure how bad it was, but the pictures don't look life threatening, but it appears Del Rio was attacked.<p> </p><p> <a href="http://www.wrestlingnewssource.com/news/43832/BREAKING-NEWS-Alberto-El-PatronDel-Rio-Stabbed-GRAPHIC-PHOTOS/" rel="external nofollow">http://www.wrestlingnewssource.com/news/43832/BREAKING-NEWS-Alberto-El-PatronDel-Rio-Stabbed-GRAPHIC-PHOTOS/</a></p><p> </p><p> Also this site is reporting it too.</p><p> </p><p> <a href="http://www.24wrestling.com/alberto-del-rio-victim-of-knife-attack-before-aaa-event-graphic-photos/" rel="external nofollow">http://www.24wrestling.com/alberto-del-rio-victim-of-knife-attack-before-aaa-event-graphic-photos/</a></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I'm surprised he's not taking time off. Those look bad. He's going to get staph or something else wrestling like that</p>

[K-Nection]

<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>I'm surprised he's not taking time off. Those look bad. He's going to get staph or something else wrestling like that</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Especially wrestling in Mexico!</p>

[jjohns44]

A bit random but it jumped into my head as I thought about it, but was Triple H's skull-mask inspired by Shao Kahn from Mortal Kombat? He looks(or looked back when he was a full timer) just like him!