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

[Jaysin]

Smackdown was a lot of fun this week. The Bloodline segments delivered as usual and then main event was dope. I'm so glad Ridge is developing into a solid in ring hand. For some reason I've always liked the dude. Working with Sheamus and Butch has really helped him grow. 

On the topic of solid hands, I wish Madcap Moss would get a new name and better ring gear. I think he has a ton of potential and a good look. He reminds me of the Natural Born Thriller Power Plant graduates like Mark Jindrak and Sean O'Haire. 

[CQI13]

2 hours ago, Jaysin said:

Smackdown was a lot of fun this week. The Bloodline segments delivered as usual and then main event was dope. I'm so glad Ridge is developing into a solid in ring hand. For some reason I've always liked the dude. Working with Sheamus and Butch has really helped him grow. 

On the topic of solid hands, I wish Madcap Moss would get a new name and better ring gear. I think he has a ton of potential and a good look. He reminds me of the Natural Born Thriller Power Plant graduates like Mark Jindrak and Sean O'Haire. 

People will complain when he either becomes just Madcap or just Moss. I heard he was supposed to get new ring gear coming out of the feud with Corbin but Vince didn't like the options presented so they kept what he had. Which I guess is fine for now, but he looks a little generic until they give him some sort of character to build off.

[Jaysin]

3 hours ago, CQI13 said:

People will complain when he either becomes just Madcap or just Moss. I heard he was supposed to get new ring gear coming out of the feud with Corbin but Vince didn't like the options presented so they kept what he had. Which I guess is fine for now, but he looks a little generic until they give him some sort of character to build off.

He should go back to Riddick Moss. 

[Matt_Black]

That was like the 27th shocking return of Edge in 2022.

[St. Templar]

12 hours ago, Matt_Black said:

That was like the 27th shocking return of Edge in 2022.

It was so shocking that I forgot to be surprised.

St.T

 

[CQI13]

On 9/27/2022 at 9:37 AM, Matt_Black said:

That was like the 27th shocking return of Edge in 2022.

Much like Punk, Edge just looks...old. At least he looks infinitely better with the short hair than when he came back with the long hair. I'll enjoy it for what it is, but haven't been a fan for a while.

[Makhai]

9 hours ago, CQI13 said:

Much like Punk, Edge just looks...old. At least he looks infinitely better with the short hair than when he came back with the long hair. I'll enjoy it for what it is, but haven't been a fan for a while.

Hard disagree. Grizzled Vet Edge was a great look. His best ever, honestly. They really squandered his return by locking him in that feud with Randy Orton and getting baited into trying to get him his "6-star Meltzer" match. 

While it was absolutely the best work he's ever done, in-ring. He could have done business with the belt. Instead he hurt himself trying to do the perfect move so they could edit it into "The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever!" The triceps tear and then returning into a mid-card mixed tag feud was also, odd. And the whole heel-turn into this Rey Mysterio thing is just so far beneath him IMO. 

Now he's talking about retiring. And it's just very sad. 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Makhai

[The Swanton825]

17 hours ago, CQI13 said:

Much like Punk, Edge just looks...old. At least he looks infinitely better with the short hair than when he came back with the long hair. I'll enjoy it for what it is, but haven't been a fan for a while.

Edge IS getting close to 50 and has had multiple devastating injuries over the course of his career. Punk makes way less sense when you realize he's only in his early 40s, had most of his 30s off from wrestling and yet he's become so old and frail. He's starting to remind me of that "I was born with glass bones and paper skin" bit from Spongebob.

[Makhai]

4 hours ago, The Swanton825 said:

Edge IS getting close to 50 and has had multiple devastating injuries over the course of his career. Punk makes way less sense when you realize he's only in his early 40s, had most of his 30s off from wrestling and yet he's become so old and frail. He's starting to remind me of that "I was born with glass bones and paper skin" bit from Spongebob.

Edge is a lifer though. Wrestling is all he ever wanted to do. After 2013, Wrestling was literally the last thing Punk wanted to do, and I can tell you nothing is worse on your body than training MMA full-time. He was breaking down in WWE, doing MMA probably made that worse. Also, there's the consideration that Punk is straight edge. No Roids, No HGH. Big factor. 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Makhai

[Dawn]

I disagree about the Orton feud having been a bad thing as that was quite possibly the best version of Randy Orton we had ever seen and any feud involving him during the pandemic era was gold. I agree that everything else after the Reigns feud has felt like a waste though. Even with the Judgment Day having improved exponentially with HHH in charge, glueing Edge to them forever is not how I'd use him on borrowed time. Glad they're finally doing the Bálor match and hoping they'll move on after that.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Dawn

[The Swanton825]

20 hours ago, Makhai said:

Edge is a lifer though. Wrestling is all he ever wanted to do. After 2013, Wrestling was literally the last thing Punk wanted to do, and I can tell you nothing is worse on your body than training MMA full-time. He was breaking down in WWE, doing MMA probably made that worse. Also, there's the consideration that Punk is straight edge. No Roids, No HGH. Big factor. 

Yep, I truly believe that Punk actually spent those two years doing MMA training full-time and didn't wait to start seriously training until Dana White got impatient with him. It's either that or Gracie BJJ is a total scam and they only gave Punk a black belt because he was a minor celebrity, but when have the Gracies ever been known to be scumbags? ...Oh, right.

And frankly, not using roids or HGH would make his healing time longer but it shouldn't make him so frail that a stiff breeze could make him break a bone. If that wasn't the case then Brody King would be hurt all the time too. (Cue King developing an injury bug now)

[CQI13]

On 9/29/2022 at 1:59 PM, The Swanton825 said:

Edge IS getting close to 50 and has had multiple devastating injuries over the course of his career. Punk makes way less sense when you realize he's only in his early 40s, had most of his 30s off from wrestling and yet he's become so old and frail. He's starting to remind me of that "I was born with glass bones and paper skin" bit from Spongebob.

All valid points, and looking back on it I think it comes down to personal bias. The spear never looked believable to me for a guy his size so now that he is (and looks) older it stands out more. But your explanation holds true, I can definitely see what you are saying.

[Makhai]

2 hours ago, The Swanton825 said:

Yep, I truly believe that Punk actually spent those two years doing MMA training full-time and didn't wait to start seriously training until Dana White got impatient with him. It's either that or Gracie BJJ is a total scam and they only gave Punk a black belt because he was a minor celebrity, but when have the Gracies ever been known to be scumbags? ...Oh, right.

And frankly, not using roids or HGH would make his healing time longer but it shouldn't make him so frail that a stiff breeze could make him break a bone. If that wasn't the case then Brody King would be hurt all the time too. (Cue King developing an injury bug now)

He spent almost 4 years training actually. He was doing commentary for CES while he was doing it. Original plan was to do local Chicago amateur fights and then go pro but Dana got wind of it, and wanted him to fight for the UFC and offered him big money to do it. 

Also he's a blue belt, under Duke Rufus. Don't know where the hell you got that he's a black-belt. 

No. HGH and Testosterone management do absolute wonders, especially for guys in their 40s and 50s. Look at guys like Vitor Belfort on and off the stuff. It's night and day. You recover faster, train harder, your endurance goes up, you get stronger because you can go longer, it's literally night and day. 

Edited September 30, 2022 by Makhai

[Dawn]

Punk doing MMA was a bad idea from the onset - there is a great video from Napoleon Blownapart detailing how screwed his career was from the very beginning. I can't vouch on the Gracies being scumbags point because I never looked into that but mostly for how late he began training, he could have trained with the best of the best for reals every single day from when he first announced he had signed with the UFC until the Gall fight and he would still have been at an inherent disadvantage.

Hell, the second fight they gave him was so blatant trying to save face as in ''there's no way he'll also lose to THIS GUY, will he?'' but yeah, it turns out even the worst of the MMA fighters in the UFC have way more experience in shoot fighting (dude had 4 boxing fights to his name) than a dude who first started training for that when he was pushing 40.

[The Swanton825]

21 minutes ago, Makhai said:

He spent almost 4 years training actually. He was doing commentary for CES while he was doing it. Original plan was to do local Chicago amateur fights and then go pro but Dana got wind of it, and wanted him to fight for the UFC and offered him big money to do it. 

Also he's a blue belt, under Duke Rufus. Don't know where the hell you got that he's a black-belt. 

No. HGH and Testosterone management do absolute wonders, especially for guys in their 40s and 50s. Look at guys like Vitor Belfort on and off the stuff. It's night and day. You recover faster, train harder, your endurance goes up, you get stronger because you can go longer, it's literally night and day. 

His videos with Rener Gracie sure did a great job pretending he wasn't a blue belt then.

And re-read what I said. I wasn't dismissing what roids and HGH can do for older men. My point was that NOT using it shouldn't make him more frail than every other guy who also doesn't use it like, for example, Brody King.

[Makhai]

10 minutes ago, Dawn said:

Punk doing MMA was a bad idea from the onset - there is a great video from Napoleon Blownapart detailing how screwed his career was from the very beginning. I can't vouch on the Gracies being scumbags point because I never looked into that but mostly for how late he began training, he could have trained with the best of the best for reals every single day from when he first announced he had signed with the UFC until the Gall fight and he would still have been at an inherent disadvantage.

Hell, the second fight they gave him was so blatant trying to save face as in ''there's no way he'll also lose to THIS GUY, will he?'' but yeah, it turns out even the worst of the MMA fighters in the UFC have way more experience in shoot fighting (dude had 4 boxing fights to his name) than a dude who first started training for that when he was pushing 40.

It made absolutely no sense to me. I remember when Punk used to explain why his Savage elbow always looked like crap, he answered "Because I'm the least athletic human being on the planet." or something to that effect.

He was right. Punk has never been this stunning athlete, he didn't fight or grow up doing anything but pro-wrestling. I get wanting to do something as a bucket list thing, but when Hershel Walker did it, he was an elite athlete. When Brock did it, he was a NCAA champion, and a freakazoid athlete. I still do not know what Dana White and the UFC were thinking. It was only ever going to go one way.

[Makhai]

It was great seeing Big E looking mobile on Fox this morning. Hopefully he's on track for a Rumble return. 

 

Edited October 1, 2022 by Makhai

[Matt_Black]

On 9/30/2022 at 3:54 PM, CQI13 said:

 The spear never looked believable to me for a guy his size so now that he is (and looks) older it stands out more.

I remember watching one of the WhatCulture videos (not Simon, sadly; his are the best), and it was about the worst finishers. And they listed Edge's spear, and the description was GREAT.

"Edge tenderly embraces his opponent and gently, lovingly, lowers him to the ground" or something to that effect.

[Croquemitaine]

Honestly, if your name is not Goldberg or Rhyno, you should not be using the Spear as your finisher.

I've been saying that for twenty years.

 

[Matt_Black]

1 hour ago, Croquemitaine said:

Honestly, if your name is not Goldberg or Rhyno, you should not be using the Spear as your finisher.

I've been saying that for twenty years.

 

What about Lashley? I always thought his looked pretty good.

[Jaysin]

4 hours ago, Croquemitaine said:

Honestly, if your name is not Goldberg or Rhyno, you should not be using the Spear as your finisher.

I've been saying that for twenty years.

 

Lashley does a good spear, but Rhino will forever be my number one spear. 

[The Swanton825]

11 hours ago, James The Animator said:

Well, Lashley wasn’t on TV twenty years ago, and Croquemitaine specifically said twenty years.

Technically they said "I've been saying this for twenty years". That implies a span of time from twenty years ago to the present. Last time I checked, Lashley was on TV in that time span.

[Jaysin]

I can't believe how much I enjoy smarmy heel Rollins. He reminds me of a villain from the Adam West Batman series. 

[Jaysin]

Johnny Gargano: Oh Dexter...

[Matt_Black]

Are they ever actually going to explain who Dexter Lumis is for those of us who didn't watch NXT (which, looking at the ratings, is a lot of people)?