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

[thepeopleschamp]

So let me see if I'm getting this right they will use NXT as a brand like Raw and Smackdown and their roster will not be called up to Raw and Smackdown so lets so American Dragon gets on NXT he wont be on Raw or Smackdown for a good amount of time. And will it have any veterens on it or just young guys from FCW or will it pretty much be FCW? Wow I'm confused:)

[Stennick]

Nobody really knows what NXT is about I haven't even seen a logo for it yet so I think we'll learn as we go. I can't imagine them just dumping all of the guys they have on the roster now onto the big two a month outside of Mania so I think its going to start out looking similar and then maybe with the draft it might get a lot of new talent influxed.

[Hyde Hill]

It will prolly be the same bar the ECW Champion will be retooled to a new belt and the branding and format will change. Not so much the roster apart from any true star power (Christian, Hardy, Kane) holding the belt will probably be absent. "Trainers" like Goldust, Regal, Finley etc can be easily explained away storyline wise.

[alden]

I don't expect there to be ONLY new wrestlers. You need the five or six guys to train the young kids how to work a wwe style show. They will most likely keep golddust regal christian and helms to help the young kids. Then you bring in a guy like danialson who already knows how to work and it will be good. You have guys like shelton *who is young but still can work* and you will be set.

[Tag01]

I'm guessing it won't change much but in name only. I love ECW now, I wouldn't mind it being two hours, expand the roster, etc. I would be suprised if they got rid of the veterans and made it all no names, I think it's major draw is Christian and Regal, I think that it's good for the entire WWE to get these prospects in there against the likes of Goldust, Benjamin, etc.

[The Shape]

Danielson should be pushed to the moon, the face of NXT

[foolinc]

If you can believe the dirt sheets, it looks like WWE NXT is going to be portrayed as a "reality" based series. And while it could very well be a Tough Enough 2.0, I highly doubt this to be the case. I really can't see WWE really giving us a true reality show again since wrestling is all about characters and personas. They might have gotten a good amount of talent from the series, but it too a while since the wrestlers needed time to work on their craft and have people forget that they were on Tough Enough. Instead I think they are just going to be using more realistic angles to build up the feuds.

 

For example lets say Bryan Danielson (using Danielson since is pretty obvious that the NXT concept was meant for him just as much as the new ECW was meant for CM Punk) and Zack Ryder are feuding for a chance to challenge for WWE Television title (or whatever they are going to use for the top prize in the new brand). To keep it simple, the build up is a promo from each man, an attack angle, and of course the match itself.

 

Instead of having the promo live and in the ring, I see WWE doing their promos and angles more "on location." So instead of Danielson getting interviewed backstage, he's getting interviewed at a gym while WWE is showing a package of video from the training session. Instead of Ryder insulting the crowd in ring, he's getting interviewed at a club while video of him is shown "beating the beat" and picking a fight with some guy hitting on Rosa. Instead of Ryder jumping from him backstage before their match, you could have the announcers show video footage of Danielson getting beat up in the parking lot of the gym he was training at by Ryder's buddies, Croft and Barreta. The announcers add that because of this footage, Croft and Barreta were suspended for the week (keeping up with the more realistic style of the brand), but wonder if the damage has already been done.

 

In the end, the "new" style gets to the same end point, just in a different way. I say "new" because if NXT is going to work like I think it is, then the show is going to be formatted closer to how wrestling was presented in the 80s than anything else.

[Johnny Fenoli]

If you can believe the dirt sheets, it looks like WWE NXT is going to be portrayed as a "reality" based series. And while it could very well be a Tough Enough 2.0, I highly doubt this to be the case. I really can't see WWE really giving us a true reality show again since wrestling is all about characters and personas. They might have gotten a good amount of talent from the series, but it too a while since the wrestlers needed time to work on their craft and have people forget that they were on Tough Enough. Instead I think they are just going to be using more realistic angles to build up the feuds.

 

For example lets say Bryan Danielson (using Danielson since is pretty obvious that the NXT concept was meant for him just as much as the new ECW was meant for CM Punk) and Zack Ryder are feuding for a chance to challenge for WWE Television title (or whatever they are going to use for the top prize in the new brand). To keep it simple, the build up is a promo from each man, an attack angle, and of course the match itself.

 

Instead of having the promo live and in the ring, I see WWE doing their promos and angles more "on location." So instead of Danielson getting interviewed backstage, he's getting interviewed at a gym while WWE is showing a package of video from the training session. Instead of Ryder insulting the crowd in ring, he's getting interviewed at a club while video of him is shown "beating the beat" and picking a fight with some guy hitting on Rosa. Instead of Ryder jumping from him backstage before their match, you could have the announcers show video footage of Danielson getting beat up in the parking lot of the gym he was training at by Ryder's buddies, Croft and Barreta. The announcers add that because of this footage, Croft and Barreta were suspended for the week (keeping up with the more realistic style of the brand), but wonder if the damage has already been done.

 

In the end, the "new" style gets to the same end point, just in a different way. I say "new" because if NXT is going to work like I think it is, then the show is going to be formatted closer to how wrestling was presented in the 80s than anything else.

 

 

This sounds pretty cool... "promos" could also be done, real world/survivor/big brother, confessional style things.

[Prophet]

Danielson should be pushed to the moon, the face of NXT

 

I hope that's how it works. I'm lucky enough to get the chance to see FCW, and the match he had with Low Ki ... I mean "Kaval" was astonishing. But the whole thing makes me wonder. The other two rosters are already heavily diluted, to the point that there's a handful of guys who are completely forgotten. Now we're adding guys like Yoshi and Archer, who are slowly gaining momentum, into two rosters who are already on the verge of bursting at the seams?

 

I fear we're gonna end up with another Elijah Burke debacle, where an incredibly talented youngster is let go for less impressive workers, like Mark Henry.

[jesterx7769]

When I first read about the "reality" thing today my first thought was that it was WWE's way of trying to get a "legit" feeling back especially with how the UFC has been cashing in and over the years WWE has been getting away from the super gimmicky (notice how long the vampire angle lasted) as most of the wrestlers now are just either c*cky or crowd pleasures with very little to them.

 

It also may make them more family friendly since they wouldnt have as controversial characters and can sell merchandise based on catch phrases or just the persons name.

[Astil]

I hope that's how it works. I'm lucky enough to get the chance to see FCW, and the match he had with Low Ki ... I mean "Kaval" was astonishing. But the whole thing makes me wonder. The other two rosters are already heavily diluted, to the point that there's a handful of guys who are completely forgotten. Now we're adding guys like Yoshi and Archer, who are slowly gaining momentum, into two rosters who are already on the verge of bursting at the seams?

 

I fear we're gonna end up with another Elijah Burke debacle, where an incredibly talented youngster is let go for less impressive workers, like Mark Henry.

 

OMG You're alive! Hit up my PM box!

[Prophet]

OMG You're alive! Hit up my PM box!

 

I am not ... you kids and your crazy stories.

[Mr T Jobs To Me]

Damn Bret Hart looks old. Not just Ricky Steamboat old, more Jimmy Snuka old.

[fatallylost]

Damn Bret Hart looks old. Not just Ricky Steamboat old, more Jimmy Snuka old.

 

As long as he doesn't look Scott Steiner old, I think we'll be ok.

[Tha Black Phenom]

The Miz with three title belts... oh the humanity.

[Astil]

I like how Cole went to break saying "Who will be the NEW Unified Tag Team Champions?"

[Prophet]

I like how Cole went to break saying "Who will be the NEW Unified Tag Team Champions?"

 

He did that during the Rumble too. Shelton had just come out, and taken down both HBK and Cena, and Cena got to his feet. The two were in the center of the ring, and Cole said "someone's about to be eliminated," before Cena had made a move to lift Benjamin up and over the top.

 

Vintage Michael Cole!

[b0shey]

i love the mega push Miz is getting simply because HE IS AWESOME... MITB winner

[ampulator]

I fear we're gonna end up with another Elijah Burke debacle, where an incredibly talented youngster is let go for less impressive workers, like Mark Henry.

 

The problem isn't Mark Henry, it's WWE's idiotic booking. In fact, they had Mark Henry actually OVER for a bit of a while, when he beat Randy Orton on his first match back on RAW.

 

Guess what they did with his momentum? Put him into a tag team with MVP that barely won, have him wear hornswoggle's hat to become "Markswoggle", have him give a crappy rap (which some may view as racist, especially because he's actually from SILVA, TEXAS), and recently, have him unceremoniously get beaten by Ted Dibiase Jr. through a really fake armbreaker.

 

If they want him as somewhat unbeatable, that got him to make him so. If he is really the "World's Strongest Man", he should never get beaten easily, even by Main Eventers (unless it's a really, really good finisher). He should prove a moderate challenge to main eventers and a huge obstacle for everyone else.

 

They can't have it both ways. They can't have him be the world's strongest man if he gets beaten by other midcarders.

 

Now, I'm not fan of Mark Henry. I think he's still pretty bad. But WWE's booking is just stupid and short-sighted.

 

As for letting people go, well, WWE hasn't adjusted to the new realities of wrestling. They haven't been able to adjust their product, because, they believe, at least in the short-term, John Cena is their gravy ticket (that's slowly changing, but still slowly.) Adjusting their product to better to fit the needs of the current wrestling climate would mean they would potentially hurt John Cena's ability to make them money. (I think this assumption is correct. They have tried to adjust the product to maximize the fanbase that's more likely to like John Cena, but it's a losing battle. I guess it's also why they aren't exactly pushing Cena as hard right now. Wrestling fans seem to be happier.)

 

I think a person like the Miz is an "experiment", so to say. He's got decent (if not always spectacular) skills, but is pretty good on the mic (but with some odd kinks, such as being repetitive), and good charisma.

[Remianen]

have him give a crappy rap (which some may view as racist, especially because he's actually from SILVA, TEXAS),

 

I don't understand this part. Are people from Texas incapable of rapping, by default? And why is it racist to have a member of a ethnic group perform the form of art his ethnic group created, innovated, and mastered? It's like getting offended if they got Chavo to sing a Tejano song.

[ampulator]

I don't understand this part. Are people from Texas incapable of rapping, by default? And why is it racist to have a member of a ethnic group perform the form of art his ethnic group created, innovated, and mastered? It's like getting offended if they got Chavo to sing a Tejano song.

 

That's interesting point, but I saw his rap. It was really, really, really, weird. It felt completely un-Mark-Henry. I can see someone like K-Kwik or even MVP doing a rap. But Mark Henry? He's a home-grown boy from Texas. How many rappers you know come out of Texas?

 

And as for Chavo singing Tejano... well, like with Mark Henry, I won't be offended. Just made very uncomfortable. It seems so un-Chavo like. Chavo is very, as my mexican friends would say, "Americanized". He doesn't really seem to be part of that culture.

[Mr T Jobs To Me]

That's interesting point, but I saw his rap. It was really, really, really, weird. It felt completely un-Mark-Henry. I can see someone like K-Kwik or even MVP doing a rap. But Mark Henry? He's a home-grown boy from Texas. How many rappers you know come out of Texas?

 

And as for Chavo singing Tejano... well, like with Mark Henry, I won't be offended. Just made very uncomfortable. It seems so un-Chavo like. Chavo is very, as my mexican friends would say, "Americanized". He doesn't really seem to be part of that culture.

 

Chamillionaire and Paul Wall are from Texas. Since they are 2 of the top 7 rappers ever, I think Texas' hip hop credibility is justified.

[PeterHilton]

And as for Chavo singing Tejano... well, like with Mark Henry, I won't be offended. Just made very uncomfortable. It seems so un-Chavo like. Chavo is very, as my mexican friends would say, "Americanized". He doesn't really seem to be part of that culture.

 

WTF?

 

This is an idiotic and very limited view of cultural identity.

 

As an American of Mexican descent who served in the navy, has never been part of a gang, speaks with zero accent, and has been extremely successful in a large corporate environment, I would question your "friends'" idea of what it means to be "Americanized" (and by the same token, what exactly their criteria of Mexican is? Should he wear a sombrero, talk like Speedy Gonzales, and sport a giant Pancho Villa like moustache?)

 

Chavo is a member of one of the founding families of lucha libre and his grandfather was as famous as El Santo in his prime. I think it's cool for him to be considered Mexican.

[ampulator]

WTF?

 

This is an idiotic and very limited view of cultural identity.

 

As an American of Mexican descent who served in the navy, has never been part of a gang, speaks with zero accent, and has been extremely successful in a large corporate environment, I would question your "friends'" idea of what it means to be "Americanized" (and by the same token, what exactly their criteria of Mexican is? Should he wear a sombrero, talk like Speedy Gonzales, and sport a giant Pancho Villa like moustache?)

 

Chavo is a member of one of the founding families of lucha libre and his grandfather was as famous as El Santo in his prime. I think it's cool for him to be considered Mexican.

 

You misunderstand me. I never said an American of Mexican descent has to be part of a gang, has to have an accent.

 

Second, you made too many assumptions of what I believed. I have made no assumptions of what you or what anyone else believed. Instead of maximizing my post to worst you think of it may be, you should see for it is - not exactly sure if Chavo should be singing a tejano song.

 

Didn't you read the other post? I wondered if Mark Henry should be rapping. It didn't seem to fit. Gather all your facts, and then assume the least and most of narrow first before going to the bigger. (Just a friendly suggestion).

 

You understood my post in a way you should not have. You need to narrow your scope. If I assumed the most implications out of every post (conclusions that may not have been the author's), I would jab at everyone.

 

But here's the thing. I view Mexican culture as distinct from the culture of the USA. I don't know about you, but that's the way I see it. What being Americanized is being raised the culture of the USA, rather in the culture of Mexico, or whether you came from. I consider myself Americanized. Heck, my parents would readily admit I am Americanized. I know people more Americanized than I am. Some people I know STRIVE to become Americanized (which I find odd, but to each their own). I've known people who spent their majority of their lives in Mexico are somewhat culturally different from Mexicans that were raised in the USA or were born in the USA. There is always a difference. Doesn't mean your not Mexican-American. You are. But to be clear, so you don't get any implied thoughts that I didn't say: being Americanized is fine. It happens. You live in the USA. It's part of either adapting or learning to leave within the culture of the USA.

 

To give an outside example, looking what happened to Manchu invaders of China. The eventually got absorbed culturally be the Chinese. This applies also the same from cultures to individuals, as it applies from larger groups to smaller groups.

 

Chamillionaire and Paul Wall are from Texas. Since they are 2 of the top 7 rappers ever, I think Texas' hip hop credibility is justified.

 

That's probably a fairer point than Remianen's or PeterHilton's. Still, if you saw Mark Henry doing it, he either was really bad at it, uncomfortable with it, or both (my take was both). He doesn't seem like the person that should be rapping. He did it, and he didn't seem like he was doing it because he wanted to or because he was good at it - he did because they told him to do it. That's fine on Mark Henry's part, but not exactly a good judgment call in WWE's part.

 

I can't really see why Remianen is defending WWE (everything is scripted there) telling Mark Henry to rap. Business sense? Has Mark Henry rapped before? No. Does he have a history of rapping? Not for as I know. Can he rap? Looking at what he did, I would say: No. Was he comfortable doing it? That also has to be a No.

[Stennick]

How many rappers you know come out of Texas?

 

Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Devin the Dude, Lil Troy, Lil Flip, Pimp C, Scarface, DJ Screw, Slim Thug, Ghetto Boys (Scarface, Willie D and Buschwick Bill) Swisha House crew (Paul Wall, Mike Jones, Michael 5000 Watts, Like Keke).

 

I could go on but Texas is one of about five hot spots for rap around the country. You got New York/Jersey, , Atlanta, Texas, Cali, and Detroit. Florida is on the climb as well as some other states. I'm not saying guys in other states don't rhyme but these areas are the tops in most peoples eyes.

 

None the less Scarface is the Godfather of Southern Rap and he's from Texas, UGK are legends in the game as well. Swishahouse one of of the most successful labels in the last five years. Seriously people in Texas rap.