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

[RKOwnage]

Once Orton's done with Mahal, Rusev should be the next person he faces. That, or Zayn. Whichever comes first.

 

It'll be Corbin I think.

[Questlove]

People complain about a lack of surprises and treating half the midcarders like jobbers the last few years instead of building the undercard from the bottom up. I like WWE taking time to put over Mahal and The Colons. It can only benefit the Smackdown in the long run.

 

They didn't "take time" though, he went from jobber to main event contender within literally one week. Not even just a jobber, but an incompetent jobber who managed to concuss Finn Balor in the process of jobbing.

[K-Nection]

Honestly from a perspective of not being in the grind of watching every week after hearing Jinder Mahal is number one contender to me is interesting. It is a guy that has never been tested anywhere close to the main event who has all the tools to be somewhat successful. The guy has payed some serious dues staring at the lights for all these years. I'm glad they are not throwing another comedy jobber role at him this time around and are rolling the dice with him.

 

I don't ever see the guy becoming a face unless he just flat out gets over the way Daniel Bryan or Dolph did by putting on fantastic matches. But honestly I always thought his ring work was solid and was curious why they didn't at least try a few years back to push him up the card.

[RKOwnage]

They didn't "take time" though, he went from jobber to main event contender within literally one week. Not even just a jobber, but an incompetent jobber who managed to concuss Finn Balor in the process of jobbing.

 

Would you call Samoa Joe incompetent for essentially ending Tyson Kidd's career? What about AJ for injuring multiple people with the Styles Clash? You shouldn't. Accidents happen.

 

Hotshotting him to the top is a fair criticism. Calling him incompetent for one isolated accident is not.

[SanX]

<p>I see jinder's push as a way to give Orton/Bray a soliditary first defence. I mean come on, it is better than jobbing Rusev/Zayn/AJ Styles or even Crobin who has been solid. Its not like he is going to defeat Randy Orton/Bray? </p><p> </p><p>

He is an Indian. WWE are trying to break into Indian Market. In India, TNA has equal TV deal compared to WWE in terms of finance and time slot tells you lot about the market.(you may have heard how TNA's Indian deal saved them in last November/December.) It is also the market where they want to push WWE Network, which Indians will almost never buy because they are happy with TV and it's an country where Marks still think WWE is real as well as Roman/Cena is really a superman so we need to check that side too.</p><p> </p><p>

Not defending the move as it was Idiotic(he was a true Jobber. Not even an undercard guy.) but from WWE's viewpoint, SD is still the B-show and B-shows are there for doing experiments like this.</p>

[smurphy1014]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="SanX" data-cite="SanX" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>He is an Indian. WWE are trying to break into Indian Market.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> This is why he got the shot. Backlash is not a big PPV and it is possible that AJ/Owens is the Main Event of the PPV.</p>

[Questlove]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="RKOwnage" data-cite="RKOwnage" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Would you call Samoa Joe incompetent for essentially ending Tyson Kidd's career? What about AJ for injuring multiple people with the Styles Clash? You shouldn't. Accidents happen. <p> </p><p> Hotshotting him to the top is a fair criticism. Calling him incompetent for one isolated accident is not.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> No, because those guys have proven themselves as world class wrestlers over the course of the last 15 years. In AJ's case, I don't think he should shoulder the blame for injuries at all.</p><p> </p><p> Meanwhile, Jinder's entire role up to this week has been to job in 2 minutes or less and he couldn't even manage that without hurting someone.</p>

[The Dynamite Sid]

<p>I cannot believe the amount of people, here and elsewhere, defending Mahal's sudden main event status. This is one of the worst moves in recent memory if not WWE history and that is not hyperbole. This stands alongside Vladimir Kozlov and Mabel as random, no talent guys randomly getting skyrocketed up the card. Except actually even Mabel was more over. At least people chanted "whoop there it is"</p><p> </p><p>

To clarify. Yes, the push itself is good. Pushing a lower card guy and freshening the main event scene can be a great move. However the man they have given this opportunity to is decidedly not a good thing. Guy has been in the company how many years, total? How much of his act is or ever was over? Does he even have a finish?</p><p> </p><p>

I intended to reactivate my WWE Network subscription this month. That won't be happening now.</p><p> </p><p>

As for the "he's Indian it's just business" thing I've seen people trotting out. Who gives a ****? Since when do wrestling fans want to support business moves the company makes? Push the Bollywood Boyz if you want to push Indian guys</p>

[K-Nection]

How about lets see what the guy can do before we get our pitchforks out and declare boycotting subscriptions lol. He might be a effective hand.

[CQI13]

<p>Could we not say the same about Galloway? Sure, he was IC champ, at a time when the IC Title meant less than nothing. Or Heath Slater's sudden rise - and yes, sudden because for all intents and purposes he was a jobber for all these years, getting trotted out to be embarrassed by celebrities and Legends. A loved jobber, but jobber nonetheless.</p><p> </p><p>

Jinder getting a shot is like R-Truth getting a title shot against Cena. Who cares? </p><p> </p><p>

It's a TV show. The new character they brought in sucks. But I still like the majority of the characters. </p><p> </p><p>

I wonder what people will be saying when Corbin holds the WWE Title by the end of this year (over the likes of Nakamura and Styles).</p>

[The Dynamite Sid]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="K-Nection" data-cite="K-Nection" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>How about lets see what the guy can do before we get our pitchforks out and declare boycotting subscriptions lol. He might be a effective hand.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> He's been with the company for about 5 years. What are you talking about. If you haven't seen what he can do by now (and I haven't) I don't hold out much hope for him. And I'm not "getting my pitchfork" or talking about "boycotts". The only way to effectively make WWE hear your voice is by not giving them your money or by changing the channel. I was about to re-up to the Network after a dismal period and start watching their TV shows again. Now I'm gonna hold off until things seem to have improved. This isn't some smarky "this is BS take down the Network" protest here. I'm not happy with the product and I'm not gonna watch it. It's that simple.</p><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 wonder what people will be saying when Corbin holds the WWE Title by the end of this year (over the likes of Nakamura and Styles).</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Corbin is great and over. If you're comparing him to Jinder Mahal here - genuinely unsure - then you need to ask yourself some serious questions</p>

[RKOwnage]

<p>If you're not going to re-up the Network because one guy is going to lose in 10-15 minutes to the champion, then *shrug*. Your call. Ellsworth fought AJ Styles and that wasn't a big deal, though? And AJ/KO is on the same card.</p><p> </p><p>

I am at the point with WWE that their formula is so stale to me that I welcome anything different from what I've seen a million times. And this is different so I'm going to be optimistic. I've never seen Jinder in a proper feud or legitimate match, so we shall see.</p>

[K-Nection]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Dynamite Sid" data-cite="The Dynamite Sid" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>He's been with the company for about 5 years. What are you talking about. If you haven't seen what he can do by now (and I haven't) I don't hold out much hope for him. And I'm not "getting my pitchfork" or talking about "boycotts". The only way to effectively make WWE hear your voice is by not giving them your money or by changing the channel. I was about to re-up to the Network after a dismal period and start watching their TV shows again. Now I'm gonna hold off until things seem to have improved. This isn't some smarky "this is BS take down the Network" protest here. I'm not happy with the product and I'm not gonna watch it. It's that simple.<p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I've seen what the guy can do and he is really crisp in the ring. He has never been given extended matches until they were trying to establish a First NXT champion. If you go back and watch those matches they booked him to be a threat and he did very well. I'm just saying give the guy a chance to fail before we get emotional about him.</p>

[The Dynamite Sid]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="RKOwnage" data-cite="RKOwnage" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>If you're not going to re-up the Network because one guy is going to lose in 10-15 minutes to the champion, then *shrug*. Your call. Ellsworth fought AJ Styles and that wasn't a big deal, though? And AJ/KO is on the same card.<p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I'm not going to re-up to the Network because I have absolutely no desire to see Randy Orton vs Jinder Mahal in a pay per view match. That's a tea break match on Monday night so it has no chance of holding my attention on pay per view. There are far better wrestling shows out there that I currently subscribe to and if it's a choice of a WWE subscription with Jinder Mahal in the main event or for the same price a subscription to ICW and New Japan then it's a no contest</p><p> </p><p> It's not as if the rest of their matches and stories currently are so stellar that this is one bad mark against an otherwise great product. The whole roster is either treading water, bad or AJ Styles. In fairness Raw seems to be picking up but I can't bring myself to sit through 3 hours</p><p> </p><p> EDIT: and 205 Live is great</p>

[The Dynamite Sid]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="K-Nection" data-cite="K-Nection" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div> <strong>he is really crisp in the ring</strong></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> What does this even mean. He's crunchy?</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>He has never been given extended matches until they were trying to establish a First NXT champion. If you go back and watch those matches they booked him to be a threat and he did very well</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> So well he failed to get remotely over and they released him. </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Im just saying give the guy a chance to fail before we get emotional about him.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> And I will. Obviously. I'm not sitting here arms folded saying boycott WWE. I'm saying everything I've seen from his suggests he is bad, this run will be bad and his match with Orton will be the pits. If I read reports saying otherwise I might check back in but honestly I doubt a single one of the guys supporting this crap would actually bet money it will be anything other than tedious and forgettable</p><p> </p><p> The only way this gets over is if the full-time contrarians in the crowd get ironically behind Jinder</p>

[CQI13]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Dynamite Sid" data-cite="The Dynamite Sid" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>He's been with the company for about 5 years. What are you talking about. If you haven't seen what he can do by now (and I haven't) I don't hold out much hope for him. And I'm not "getting my pitchfork" or talking about "boycotts". The only way to effectively make WWE hear your voice is by not giving them your money or by changing the channel. I was about to re-up to the Network after a dismal period and start watching their TV shows again. Now I'm gonna hold off until things seem to have improved. This isn't some smarky "this is BS take down the Network" protest here. I'm not happy with the product and I'm not gonna watch it. It's that simple.<p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Corbin is great and over. If you're comparing him to Jinder Mahal here - genuinely unsure - then you need to ask yourself some serious questions</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I love Corbin. But I doubt that anyone would say he's at AJ's level.</p>

[The Dynamite Sid]

<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 love Corbin. But I doubt that anyone would say he's at AJ's level.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Of course not. There's only 2 possibly 3 guys in the while world who are</p>

[The Dynamite Sid]

My final thought on this is just that I wonder how many people who are on the Mahal bandwagon for reasons such as "he's paid his dues", "he works hard", "he gives then access to a foreign market" or "he's solid in the ring" have previously criticised Roman Reigns and John Cena

[RKOwnage]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Dynamite Sid" data-cite="The Dynamite Sid" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I'm not going to re-up to the Network because I have absolutely no desire to see Randy Orton vs Jinder Mahal in a pay per view match. That's a tea break match on Monday night so it has no chance of holding my attention on pay per view. There are far better wrestling shows out there that I currently subscribe to and if it's a choice of a WWE subscription with Jinder Mahal in the main event or for the same price a subscription to ICW and New Japan then it's a no contest<p> </p><p> It's not as if the rest of their matches and stories currently are so stellar that this is one bad mark against an otherwise great product. The whole roster is either treading water, bad or AJ Styles. In fairness Raw seems to be picking up but I can't bring myself to sit through 3 hours</p><p> </p><p> EDIT: and 205 Live is great</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> But if someone else from that match had won - say, Sami Zayn, who has an equal chance as Mahal of beating Orton for the belt (read: 0%), you would have re-subscribed?</p><p> </p><p> I completely agree with you on the WWE product as a whole, I don't want to sound like I'm unapologetic with respect to the company. I just don't think there's really anyone in that match that would've been interesting against Orton to begin with, so my question is simply "why not Mahal?" It's a B-level (C-level?) PPV. I just don't think there's a big problem with giving the guy a shot. After all, SDLive is "the land of opportunity." I guess that's a good thing until it's someone people don't deem deserving.</p><p> </p><p> On the Reigns/Cena point, I don't want to get into that because I think we all know where that will go. I don't feel that Mahal was a good pick for any of the reasons you mentioned, but even still, I wouldn't want Mahal shoved down my throat like Reigns or Cena regardless of how much I like (or dislike) the guy.</p>

[The Final Countdown]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="RKOwnage" data-cite="RKOwnage" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> I just don't think there's really anyone in that match that would've been interesting against Orton to begin with, so my question is simply "why not Mahal?" It's a B-level (C-level?) PPV. I just don't think there's a big problem with giving the guy a shot. After all, SDLive is "the land of opportunity." I guess that's a good thing until it's someone people don't deem deserving.</p></div></blockquote><p> Luke Harper would've been interesting, at least to me. I feel very comfortable in saying it would've been a much better match, and there's natural backstory there with the destruction of the Wyatts.</p><p> </p><p> My biggest gripe here isn't with Jinder himself. It's the fact that he went from low tier, bottom feeding jobber to world title challenger in one match. They could've at least had him win a couple of brief midcard feuds before doing this. Have him beat Mojo at Backlash, maybe a Zayn or a Harper or somebody like that at the next PPV, and then have him win a #1 contender's match. What they did instead was lazy and stupid.</p>

[K-Nection]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Dynamite Sid" data-cite="The Dynamite Sid" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>My final thought on this is just that I wonder how many people who are on the Mahal bandwagon for reasons such as "he's paid his dues", "he works hard", "he gives then access to a foreign market" or "he's solid in the ring" have previously criticised Roman Reigns and John Cena</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Roman and John are not fresh. Jinder is completely opposite because he hasn't been jammed down our throats for years. If Jinder falls flat on his face then he can spend the rest of his career staring at the lights but until then it is a good idea to have an open mind. </p><p> </p><p> When John was poking his head at the main event scene (2002-2003) going against Kurt and Taker I was really behind him. He was a fresh face going against established guys. </p><p> </p><p> I was heavily in the Roman Reigns camp for about 6 months after the collapse of the shield. The horrible booking flubs have made me cringe at the sight of him.</p><p> </p><p> Actually this type of move is good because they are trying something different.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><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>Luke Harper would've been interesting, at least to me. I feel very comfortable in saying it would've been a much better match, and there's natural backstory there with the destruction of the Wyatts.<p> </p><p> My biggest gripe here isn't with Jinder himself. It's the fact that he went from low tier, bottom feeding jobber to world title challenger in one match. They could've at least had him win a couple of brief midcard feuds before doing this. Have him beat Mojo at Backlash, maybe a Zayn or a Harper or somebody like that at the next PPV, and then have him win a #1 contender's match. What they did instead was lazy and stupid.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> See I'm glad I haven't been watching for a while or it sounds like this would have effected me the same way. I'm intrigued by Jinder but it does sound to me the booking was a bit rushed. Sounds like if they had Jinder pin somebody with the ref out of position and then Luke stole the victory that would have told a deeper story. Jinder then could have spent the whole month saying that he has been held down and screwed by politics and should be inserted into the match as well. Jinder can be breaking up big matches and causing a big noise until he finally gets put in there. That sounds like a way better way to bring Mahal into the dance.</p>

[Russelrules44]

<p>To me, Jinder was not exactly the best decision. If anything, he was the only decision.</p><p> </p><p>

Think about it-</p><p> </p><p>

Mojo Rawley- Not ready for the main title yet.</p><p> </p><p>

Luke Harper and Erick Rowan- Do you really want to see this feud continue?</p><p> </p><p>

Dolph Ziggler- Has a feud with Nakamura and his ship sailed three years ago.</p><p> </p><p>

Sami Zayn- As awesome as it would have been, it would be better saved for a heel champion.</p><p> </p><p>

Jinder, while you do have the issue with hotshotting; you do at least have the sense of something different. That and the fact that he is about to gain a stable of his own might be a sign that WWE might finally be ready to give him more than just scraps. (And despite what you think, Mahal wasn't always a jobber. He was actually pretty hot during his first few months in his first WWE run, and in NXT,)</p>

[RKOwnage]

<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>Luke Harper would've been interesting, at least to me. I feel very comfortable in saying it would've been a much better match, and there's natural backstory there with the destruction of the Wyatts.<p> </p><p> My biggest gripe here isn't with Jinder himself. It's the fact that he went from low tier, bottom feeding jobber to world title challenger in one match. They could've at least had him win a couple of brief midcard feuds before doing this. Have him beat Mojo at Backlash, maybe a Zayn or a Harper or somebody like that at the next PPV, and then have him win a #1 contender's match. What they did instead was lazy and stupid.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I hear you completely. I'm not saying it wasn't lazy or stupid, I'm just saying that it's something fresh and different and so I'm going to be open and optimistic toward it.</p><p> </p><p> I'm a huge Luke Harper fan. I was rooting for him in the match. I think the guy has the talent to be champion, both in the ring and on the mic and has been horribly booked as it stands. That being said, we've already seen Orton vs. Harper a bunch of times and we know who the winner is going to be. While we know who the winner of Orton vs. Mahal is too, I think it's cool that they're giving him a tryout in the main event scene.</p><p> </p><p> Basically my bottom line is this: I don't necessarily agree with the choice. But I think they've done far worse things, even in recent memory. I don't get the backlash here as much because at least they're trying to build someone new. (In an extremely hasty and thrown-together manner, but building nonetheless). This could end up being the worst pile of garbage WWE has ever put on TV/PPV, and I'll eat my words then, but I have no problem rolling with this for a month when there's a PPV every two weeks.</p>

[Mootinie]

<p>The only problem I see in taking the long game with Jinder is that the entire act with the Bollywood Boyz is going to be rejected by the fans en masse. I can foresee a scenario where he wins feuds with Zayn and Harper and then starts getting the wrong kind of heat. They need a high ceiling to make this work so starting out hot sounds perfectly logical to me.</p><p> </p><p>

I'm not even convinced Jinder is the problem here, Randy Orton is notoriously unmotivated, perhaps more so than Dean Ambrose. If he's not licking his lips over this program, the matches may wind up sucking more farts than the Wyatt program he apparently enjoyed. It's going to be down to Orton to carry this, which is rarely ever good news since his best matches have always been against superior workers than he.</p><p> </p><p>

Either way, I am cautiously optimistic like most people here and glad to see they still have the minerals to try something different once in a while.</p>

[Rone Rivendale]

Don't Hinder the Jinder.