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

[Jaysin]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Kijar" data-cite="Kijar" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I had just convinced myself Peacock would be the one service I don't need, and then this. <img alt=":rolleyes:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/rolleyes.png.4b097f4fbbe99ce5bcd5efbc1b773ed6.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />:rolleyes:<img alt=":rolleyes:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/rolleyes.png.4b097f4fbbe99ce5bcd5efbc1b773ed6.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />:rolleyes:<img alt=":rolleyes:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/rolleyes.png.4b097f4fbbe99ce5bcd5efbc1b773ed6.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> What's dumb is that there's actually going to be far less WWE content on Peacock as there is on the Network. The Peacock ads say 17,000 hours of content, while the Network ads boast upwards of 25,000 hours of content.</p>

[guyver3]

Overnight Rumble thoughts

 

Oldberg looked terrible and why did he wear shorts? Even with the finisher spamming and shortness this match was not good.

 

Sasha and Carmella had an alright match and Carmella has gotten better since I last saw her but this still wasn’t anything that felt important.

 

I don’t care what anyone says I enjoyed and laughed at the Billie Kay stuff from the moment she came out to when she was eliminated she was at least consistent with her character. Why did Charlotte who hates Lacey maul her right when she came out and then pretty much ignore her the rest of the match? The ending showed they didn’t learn from last year they have Rhea Ripley who can be a huge star and instead of having her win they give it to Bianca.

 

Roman and Owens had a solid fight that actually had me invested I know Roman is doing career work as the head of the table but Owens looked better than I’ve seen in awhile. That finish though was soooooo bad I was laughing they really started a second count and just stopped it. If they didn’t fumble the ending this would’ve been an awesome match.

 

The men’s rumble was the 3rd match in a row with a bad ending so there’s consistency. Apparently starting the rumble is no longer a bad thing since both winners were out there from basically the beginning so going coast to coast is meaningless now. Edge did not need to win plain and simple he can still have a marquee match without this. If they’re hell bent on edge challenging for a world title then have the other challenger win. Also the last 10 entires had 4 people that looked like real chance of winning so why was Christian in there for the final four. He adds nothing to the end beyond the tired team up spot and if last night wasn’t a one off he’s at best a 3-6 matches a year talent. Edges win further buries the current roster because this star from 10 years ago just went coast to coast past the people we’ve been trying to tell you for the last 5 years are our stars.

[Mootinie]

I think the ship has sailed on Rhea Ripley to be honest. After WrestleMania last year was the time to do it instead of giving her a year in NXT's purgatory.

 

I don't know what's going on but moving to the United States from Australia and then being on the road all the time has got to be a very difficult commitment to make and I wouldn't blame her if she opts to stay in NXT just because it means she gets more time in one place. She also seems more interested in being true to herself instead of following the company line. Look-wise she leans more and more into that metal culture and I'm sure she'd be tatted from head to toe if it was her call. I hate to conform to stereotypes but the piercings, the make-up, the short hair, the gear she wears... none of it is the look of a wrestling star. She's trying to be niche instead of going for broad appeal.

 

Now Bianca Belair... always a superstar. She has the pedigree, the look, the talent, the readiness. It was always a matter of time with her and everything that's happening to her right now is exactly what she's always wanted. I don't feel the same way with Rhea Ripley. I get the impression that Rhea's spot is wresting NXT TV main events, having barnburners with other girls who can go as hard as she can go. She doesn't strike me as the type that would be happy with 2 minute matches on TV and spending more time talking than wrestling. The instances where she's had to get by with character alone have felt like the wrong fit. She's a wrestler, a helluva wrestler and a brilliant athlete but she's not an actress, she's not a personality, she's not a character and that might put a ceiling on her progress.

[Jaysin]

I enjoyed the ppv more than I expected. Drew vs Goldberg was worse than I thought possible. Multiple spears, a couple clay more kicks, and a jack hammer. That's all there was movewise. Thankfully Drew won, but I hope we never see Goldberg wrestle again.

 

I also hated Sasha vs Carmella. It was sloppy and boring. The most excitement was when Carmella nearly killed herself. I hope they don't have another match.

 

Bianca winning is awesome and her post match promo was really well done. Super emotional. Some nice surprises in the women's Rumble too. Victoria showed a little ring rust, but it was still awesome seeing her. Hopefully this helps get her in the Hall of Fame.

 

Universal title match was real good other than the ref and Heyman fiasco. The ref stopping at 6 or 7 even though Roman was still on the ground was just bad. It was awkward and the announcers didn't even acknowledge it.

 

Mens Rumble was fun too. I love Edge and I'm happy he's back, but I just don't think he needed to win. I think Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, or even Cesaro would have been more entertaining winners. Edge vs Drew, Finn, or Roman just doesn't interest me at all.

[guyver3]

I think the ship has sailed on Rhea Ripley to be honest. After WrestleMania last year was the time to do it instead of giving her a year in NXT's purgatory.

 

Now Bianca Belair... always a superstar.

 

 

The last few years I’ve watched the Rumble and Mania with a couple of friends who are lapsed fans one stopped watching after wrestlemania 17 and the other around the time Eddie died. I also only watch the “ppv” shows and don’t keep up with weekly storylines. Neither of my friends even remembered Bianca was in last years match and lost interest when she won. At least we know what the bathroom break match is was one comment. To them Bianca is nothing special and I agree her EST gimmick sucks and she doesn’t have it. Rhea though she has it both my friends took notice of her when she came out and said she should’ve won. She looks different she looks like a badass and most people didn’t see last year’s Wrestlemania including my friends so this was their first exposure to her.

[Self]

To me, Bianca looks like a WWE Superstar, but Rhea Ripley looks like a wrestling star. I know which one I'm more interested in seeing.

[Antonin]

I have never bought a WWE pay-per-view, but these days I watch Raw and Smackdown maybe every other week.

 

The story lines are fascinating. It takes a lot of imagination to keep everything going. But I don't understand the Bray Wyatt line. I missed the time between his being head of a "family" and now. The firefly friends stuff is too bizarre for me.

 

And Riddle is a little too wacky for me.

 

One of the interesting things I've noticed when I recently looked up a number of wrestlers in wikipedia is how many of them are related. Nia Jax is a cousin of...is it Roman Reigns? And a bunch of other wrestlers are cousins.

 

I'm always happy to see Rick Flair. And I was intrigued by the return of Goldberg. I wonder where that's going.

 

Sheamus has been one of my favorites for a long time. A few years ago I saw him in a PSA against bullying. I thought that was pretty cool.

 

I know some people don't take pro wrestling very seriously, but it's great entertainment and they really do have incredible athletic ability. Week after week after week you see somebody like Asuka flying around the ring taking and dishing out an astonishing amount of physical punishment. I don't know how they do it. Years ago on some program I saw a woman's elbow become dislocated. It was a gruesome sight.

[Jaysin]

Nia is The Rock's cousin, not Roman's. Rock's mom is Nia's aunt.

[Antonin]

Nia is The Rock's cousin, not Roman's. Rock's mom is Nia's aunt.

 

Yes. Sorry, I mixed things up. There are a couple other family relationships as well.

[guyver3]

Nia is still a cousin of Roman though that’s not an incorrect statement. Pretty much all the Samoans in WWE except Samoa Joe are all from the same Anoa’i family.

[Jaysin]

Nia is still a cousin of Roman though that’s not an incorrect statement. Pretty much all the Samoans in WWE except Samoa Joe are all from the same Anoa’i family.

 

Not true. The Rock and Nia are not related to the Anoai/Fatu family.

 

The Rock's grandfather and the patriarch of the Anoai family did a blood brother ritual, but they're not actually related.

[Mootinie]

<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>The last few years I’ve watched the Rumble and Mania with a couple of friends who are lapsed fans one stopped watching after wrestlemania 17 and the other around the time Eddie died. I also only watch the “ppv” shows and don’t keep up with weekly storylines. Neither of my friends even remembered Bianca was in last years match and lost interest when she won. At least we know what the bathroom break match is was one comment. To them Bianca is nothing special and I agree her EST gimmick sucks and she doesn’t have it. Rhea though she has it both my friends took notice of her when she came out and said she should’ve won. She looks different she looks like a badass and most people didn’t see last year’s Wrestlemania including my friends so this was their first exposure to her.</div></blockquote><p> The thing is though, WWE is an environment built around weekly TV where some of the talents are going to get 5 minutes max to show what they can do. You have to maximise that time and I think that's why they lean into personalities instead of wrestlers, it's why they go with Bianca instead of Rhea, it's why Billie Kay looks to have done better than Peyton Royce after the breaking up of the Iconics.</p><p> </p><p> NXT really does them dirty in this respect as so many of them establish themselves in 15 to 20 minute matches and then arrive on RAW to be given 5 minutes to establish themselves doing a dueling promo in the ring in front of a live audience.</p><p> </p><p> Until the environment changes and they start making NXT more character-centric and they start giving the wrestlers on main roster TV more matches and making them longer, the Kairi Sane's and Shayna Baszler's of the wrestling world will carry on struggling in the WWE environment whilst the Carmella's and the Alexa Bliss's (both decent in their own right but hardly great wrestlers) will carry on thriving. </p><p> </p><p> That's how I feel about Rhea anyway, great wrestler but it's the rest of her game that truly matters and I'm concerned she's not there yet and it's probably why they're holding her back instead of having her on the main roster as one of those talents that's signed but never put on TV. Until the time is right, I'd rather she carry on getting reps in NXT and carry on working on her game until she can become as adaptable as Sasha Banks has become. Sasha is great at everything, they need to get Rhea to that point and considering she's only 24, she has all the time in the world to get game.</p>

[Jaysin]

Watching NXT for the first time in awhile just to see Edge. Was excited to see the first match was Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro vs Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez. It had a lot of botches, but was solid for the most part. I didn't like that Kacy and Kayden stole Private Party's silly string spot or MJF's Heatseeker. Someone clearly watches the competition

 

WWE's fake crowd sounds really make it hard to enjoy the show. Everything seems extra phony and manufactured. Even the commentary sounds edited together

[Antonin]

It's disappointing to see that NXT and AEW are on TV at the same time.

[Jaysin]

Sheamus's new look looks like he raided Jimmy Wang Yang's closet.

[Jaysin]

So I randomly watched Vengeance Day last night just for the women's triple threat and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a good show from beginning to end. My only real complaints were Shotzi and Ember losing, Gargano winning, and Kushida's stupid jeans and wife beater. Street clothes do not fit him at all.

 

Also, Raquel Gonzalez has improved so freaking much since last I saw her. Her and Dakota teaming has really helped both of them improve.

 

I thought the women's triple threat would steal the show, but it was too short and Io won in kind of a heelish way despite being a face. Io is still the best women's wrestler in the world in my opinion.

 

The main event made me a hypocrite. I just complained in the AEW thread about Darby working Joey Janela's arm through the match and winning with the Coffin Drop. Finn worked over Pete Dunne's leg the whole match and won with his 1916 finisher. Pete and Finn are both so damn good right now. I was hoping Pete would win, but the UE split after the main made a lot of sense storyline wise. I don't like Kyle or Cole, but them feuding sounds good for some reason.

 

I subscribed to the Network again, so looks like I'm making NXT a weekly watch again.

[Jaysin]

Elimination Chamber was pretty fun for the most part.

 

I'm hoping it'll be Lashley vs Miz at Fastlane and Lashley destroys Miz to win the WWE title.

[Mootinie]

<p>Good for The Miz, though I doubt very much he'll hold that title going into WrestleMania, it's one for the resume and hopefully it segues into Lashley entering the main event scene now.</p><p> </p><p>

But... there's always a But. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> I would be happy if they just retired the Money in the Bank now. Having one guy cash it in 11 years after he first cashed it in to win the title for only his second time is an indictment of how desperate things have gotten and how much they need fresh new ideas.</p>

[Antonin]

I always enjoy The Miz because he's from Cleveland.

 

I watched RAW last night (Monday, February 22) and I noticed that people were booing Sheamus. Why is that? I don't catch the show every week, so maybe I missed some sin that Sheamus committed.

 

I don't mind Money in the Bank. It's an interesting hook upon which to hang a story.

[Mootinie]

I watched RAW last night (Monday, February 22) and I noticed that people were booing Sheamus. Why is that? I don't catch the show every week, so maybe I missed some sin that Sheamus committed.

He turned heel on Drew in January, I think it was the first RAW after the Rumble but not 100% sure.

[Jaysin]

Decided to tune into Raw just to see Lashley vs Miz.

 

Three of the worst hours of television I've seen in quite a long time. At least wrestling wise. The only two positives were Drew vs Sheamus and Lashley finally winning the WWE title.

 

The Bray/Randy/Alexa nonsense is pure garbage. Like the Dungeon of Doom would laugh at how idiotic it is.

 

Braun's story is stupid. He's in a tag title match and his partner is being pinned less than a foot away and he just STANDS there then got mad because they lost. Horrible writing.

 

God I hated this show and I'm torn between tuning in next week for Lashley or going back to ignoring WWE.

[Jaysin]

Rumors going around that April 13, NXT is moving to Tuesdays since they're always losing to AEW in the ratings. Probably a smart move.

[Mootinie]

NXT is a bit curious at the moment. This Wednesday's episode has both Balor vs. Cole and Shirai vs. Storm for the two titles. Bear in mind, we're maybe two weeks removed from TakeOver and they have another scheduled for three weeks time. So, why the hotshotting? Maybe they think AEW is going to be a bit weak but I imagine that both matches could have been saved?

 

I've heard rumours of NXT moving nights to Tuesday, probably because USA Network's patience has worn thin for paying for the rights to a program that sometimes doesn't even chart on the demos. But I wouldn't be greatly surprised if they were pulling the plug all together. It's been 18 months, surely they figure the audience maybe isn't there for this show?

[Kijar]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Mootinie" data-cite="Mootinie" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>NXT is a bit curious at the moment. This Wednesday's episode has both Balor vs. Cole and Shirai vs. Storm for the two titles. Bear in mind, we're maybe two weeks removed from TakeOver and they have another scheduled for three weeks time. So, why the hotshotting? Maybe they think AEW is going to be a bit weak but I imagine that both matches could have been saved?<p> </p><p> I've heard rumours of NXT moving nights to Tuesday, probably because USA Network's patience has worn thin for paying for the rights to a program that sometimes doesn't even chart on the demos. But I wouldn't be greatly surprised if they were pulling the plug all together. It's been 18 months, surely they figure the audience maybe isn't there for this show?</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I'm thinking this is because both are dropping their titles soon, so it gives them an extra title defense and an excuse to have a marquee sort of episode. <img alt=":confused:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/confused.png.d4a8e6b6eab0c67698b911fb041c0ed1.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[BHK1978]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Mootinie" data-cite="Mootinie" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>NXT is a bit curious at the moment. This Wednesday's episode has both Balor vs. Cole and Shirai vs. Storm for the two titles. Bear in mind, we're maybe two weeks removed from TakeOver and they have another scheduled for three weeks time. So, why the hotshotting? Maybe they think AEW is going to be a bit weak but I imagine that both matches could have been saved?<p> </p><p> I've heard rumours of NXT moving nights to Tuesday, probably because USA Network's patience has worn thin for paying for the rights to a program that sometimes doesn't even chart on the demos. But I wouldn't be greatly surprised if they were pulling the plug all together. It's been 18 months, surely they figure the audience maybe isn't there for this show?</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Jim Cornette said that the move was more to do with the NHL moving into that spot and less to do with AEW beating them. The NHL will probably outdraw NXT in that timeslot so it makes sense to put them there. </p><p> </p><p> I am not a huge hockey fan so I don't know if it is entirely true but I think Wednesday nights were typically nights when they would have national games broadcast. It is that way for both the NBA and MLB.</p>