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

[LoNdOn]

That's not something to be proud of. I've never even been in a pro wrestling ring before, I'm legally blind without my glasses and I have no cardio, but I can probably work better than most of the TE crew, Matt Cross included.

 

All he does is random flippy moves, with no substance or meaning to any of them. And he's not even really THAT spectacular at doing crazy flippy moves.

 

93% of the combined rosters of Dragon Gate and CHIKARA can do what he does, only better. And the other 7% might not be as flippy but are still better overall.

 

You pretty much just described Ruckus, I feel Cross has more to his game, far more. So I guess we will have to respectfully disagree.

[FlameSnoopy]

Just finished watching both of the episodes of Tough Enough. I'm fan of Luke's buddy, whatever his name is, and Miss Usa (Rina?) after how she reacted when Cena entered

 

I've seen Matt Cross in the ring and he can do more flips than perhaps anyone else. But I agree with Austin: he didn't show anything. If nobody had heard of him, nobody would be upset. Because then they would actually realise, he didn't showcase ANYTHING.

 

Oh and when Austin mocked the Ryan guy, that was funny stuff. "How long did it take you to come up with that bull****." "Yeayeayeayea."

[juggaloninjalee]

I agree Matt Cross isn't the best wrestler in the world but he is better than most people who ever train to be a wrestler in the first place. I know if I could wrestle as well as MDogg20 I would be doing it and trying to do it for a living.

 

Anyways from the sounds of it Matt Cross and 1 other guy may be able to be WWE pro wrestlers and the IWC wouldn't hate it. Just too bad the guy I wanted to win is already out.

[GatorBait19]

Dude c'mon. Matt Cross has talent. He may not be the most charasmatic guy around but he was far more talented than 9/10ths of the shmucks in there.

 

Stone Cold said it. They are looking for that guy who can mainevent. Cross didn't have it to them. I think Luke is hands down the favorite. Him and Randy Orton could do a hey we are actually cousin's lol they look so much alike.

[The Final Countdown]

Did precisely that haha. Awesome. Speaking of which I'd presume that won't be her name, unless she's gonna be a new ally for the Miz

I would think that TNA owns the copyright to "Awesome" Kong anyway. She was "Amazing" Kong everywhere else.

[The Shape]

I would think that TNA owns the copyright to "Awesome" Kong anyway. She was "Amazing" Kong everywhere else.

 

Ah good point. Think I brought her in as Queen Kong on TEW once, maybe she'll just get a normal name though.

[LoNdOn]

Stone Cold said it. They are looking for that guy who can mainevent. Cross didn't have it to them. I think Luke is hands down the favorite. Him and Randy Orton could do a hey we are actually cousin's lol they look so much alike.

 

My point is besides Luke, do any of the other guys/girls scream main event over Matt Cross? In my opinion if you can't wrestle at all, no amount of charisma will see you become a main eventer (Hulk Hogan excluded) .

[LoNdOn]

Ah good point. Think I brought her in as Queen Kong on TEW once, maybe she'll just get a normal name though.

 

The Incredible Kong or just Kong perhaps.

[djthefunkchris]

On the Matt Cross situation, I believe it was Trish that had him in the ring and asked him to show her something. He failed to show her really anything. He was also in the ring with one of the other contestants, where he was supposed to shine, and the other guy outshined him somehow.

 

I also had the feeling when it come down to it, he was just too nice for Austin's tastes. After a long talk about guts, attitude, and even talking about his own carreer (brought up the ringmaster gimmick), Matt says "Permission to speak sir?" You could litterally see on Austin's face that the guys reaction was the opposite of what he was trying to get out of him. "Miss USA has shown me as much as you have, for all credible reasons." Austin says... Letting the guy know he knows he can do better.

 

Plain and simple, the guy was holding back and that was what made him lose. Come strong or don't come, is obviously the motto for this show. Don't hold back just because you don't want to look like a show-off.... WHICH I believe if he would have even said that.. "I didn't want to look like a show-off" or "I didn't want to come off ****y" or something like that might have gave him some leeway....

 

I also think if he would have told Steve Austin "Look, I can wrestle circles around these guys! I can wrestle circles around YOU!" that Austin might have felt he got the guy out of his box...

 

I don't know.. The guy was in a little shell, and never let loose. He had a chance to shine twice, and didn't. You can't just make exceptions for this stuff, all because you know he can do better. It's not fair to the other contestants.

[ZMAN]

I get why Austin let him go. I mean, I wouldn't have eliminated him so soon, but **** it's Austin. The thing was, Cross came into the competition (with like, 10 years under his belt?) and didn't make himself stick out in a group full of newbies, so how would Cross shine in a company full of trained "superstars?" I think it's stupid for these guys with so much experience in the indies to be doing this competition anyways.

[GatorBait19]

My point is besides Luke, do any of the other guys/girls scream main event over Matt Cross? In my opinion if you can't wrestle at all, no amount of charisma will see you become a main eventer (Hulk Hogan excluded) .

 

First off no girl ever screams Main Event. Second Matt Cross didn't show the team anything and he looked lost on the show. He was the smallest wrestler (I believe) on the show. Luke is the only one who seems like he will make anything of himself.

 

Most wrestlers don't start off as great wrestlers. They have charisma and work their butts off to become good wrestlers.

 

I mean if you want a wrestler that can make others look good and put on good matches, then Cross is your man. If you want someone who will contend for the highest titles and sell merch Cross isn't the man, which makes him not WWE's man.

[crownsy]

Very sad to see Edge go, but I'm happy to see he's going to get out with his health in tact.

 

Hogan, apparently, is not and thinks that the WWE is blackballing edge out of the business for liability reasons

if any of the guys like me, Flair, Hardy, Andre, AA, Blanchard, orndoff, Henning would have listened to doctors we would have quit15yrsago. but I don't know Edges working environment because they are a media company not a wrestling company. HH"

 

I find it sad and ironic that i would think most wrestling fans wish they had listened to doctors. Alot of those guys were some of my favorites but have forever tarnished their legacy's by their actions and not knowing when it's time to hang them up.

 

Also seems like a Pretty inappropriate time to try to take a shot at WWE for being an entertainment company and thus push this absoultly failure of "legit wrestling based or something" product that TNA thinks it has but i still can't figure out.

 

I mean on one hand we have hogan telling us that TNA is "real" and he doesn't want any "lame gimmicks" and that "If you draw and work your tail off for the business, you main event brother!"

 

meanwhile we have a jersey shore rip off storyline and a drug addict giving us 90 second PPV main events mixed in with painful, painful shoot promos for 1 and a half hours a week....

 

But i digress. Thanks for the memories Edge, I hope they keep you around, perhaps in an announcer role? maybe thats what they were hinting at Friday when he was criticizing cole for not doing his job and saying he could do a much better job as an announcer than he could and Cole getting flustered?

 

If there's a silver lining to this, It's that two of my binkies are now set up for a money fued that writes itself.

 

1) send Del rio out to give a Heel "I retired you, I get the belt" promo complete with Wink in edge's face

 

2) have Christan come out, Legit put Edge's HOF career over and end with "And you'll get that title over my dead body antionio!"

 

3) Profit! they already seem to work well together, and adding in trying to capture the title for his friend along with the injury angle could push them both to the top.

[ZMAN]

Del Rio/Christian does sound like a good feud, especially since they have history even before all of this. If someone is to take over Edge's spot as reliable headliner, I think Christian is the man. Keep the guy on SD and let him work with your young main event talent.

 

As for Edge, I would also like to see him hang around in some sort of non-wrestling role. The announce booth seems pretty full at the moment though, but there's plenty of other roles he could take on.

[crownsy]

Del Rio/Christian does sound like a good feud, especially since they have history even before all of this. If someone is to take over Edge's spot as reliable headliner, I think Christian is the man. Keep the guy on SD and let him work with your young main event talent.

 

As for Edge, I would also like to see him hang around in some sort of non-wrestling role. The announce booth seems pretty full at the moment though, but there's plenty of other roles he could take on.

 

I agree the booth is pretty full, but thats mostly due to cole being on both shows.

 

To me, they have to transition Cole out of the announce booth. While I like what Cole is bringing as an annoying heel, when you stretch it out over 4 hours + of programing, it gets tired and distracts from the talent in the ring.

 

If i was booking Cole I'd either

 

A) have him be a manager. Miz doesn't need it, could do it with Swagger.

 

B) Start a UMC Heel stable for him to manage, possibly including some of Core ( Turn JG Face, send Slater to FCW, Keep BArret and Zeke.)

 

But you have to get him away from the table. I literally lose enjoyment, particularly of midcard matches, which he always buries as unimportant. which again, is understandable given his character's gimmick, but not enjoyable for the viewer.

[Self]

Stone Cold said it. They are looking for that guy who can mainevent. Cross didn't have it to them. I think Luke is hands down the favorite. Him and Randy Orton could do a hey we are actually cousin's lol they look so much alike.

 

First time I saw Luke I legit thought they'd put Alex Riley in the show. He's being positioned as the star of the show, and he's fine but... Where's the variety? I REALLY hope he gets eliminated down the line. He's too WWE perfect for my tastes. Too much exactly what they're looking for, which they already have a dozen of. It's going to be a boring and repetitive and obvious season if he wins the whole thing.

 

I like his bromance with the toothless dude though.

[milamber]

Raw: Sin Cara v Primo - Sin Cara is my new favourite wrestler, with Punk a close second. And the crowd are chanting for him already! I even enjoyed Primo for a change.

 

King v Swagger - JR is awesome. Cole's repetition was annoying. Swagger face turn at Extreme Rules?

 

Edge retiring - Shocked

 

Fatal 5-Way Gauntlet Match - Good way to kick off the show. Ziggler beating Orton was good but R-Truth beating Ziggler and Morrison??? I like how the Miz looked worried about Cena winning even if he wouldn't admit it. Interesting finish - stacking the odds against Miz at Extreme Rules.

 

Tough Enough: Sad to see Matt Cross go but I can see why as a lot was expected of him and he didn't shine. Still, Skidmarks should have been eliminated this week.

[dvdWarrior]

Sad to see Edge retire. He was always a good performer and always entertaining. I'll always remember how his heel persona used to INFURIATE my mother to no end... kinda like how The Miz does now.

 

I'll miss him, but at least he seems to know when to walk away. Many, if not most in wrestling, don't.

 

I love fast-paced, high-flying wrestling like none other, but for some reason, I wasn't overtly impressed with Sin Cara's debut. Not sure why, but something just seemed out of place for me.

 

Haven't seen Tough Enough yet... it came on opposite House, and I still don't have DVR. My hands were tied.

[ampulator]

Sad to see Edge retire. He was always a good performer and always entertaining. I'll always remember how his heel persona used to INFURIATE my mother to no end... kinda like how The Miz does now.

 

I'll miss him, but at least he seems to know when to walk away. Many, if not most in wrestling, don't.

 

I love fast-paced, high-flying wrestling like none other, but for some reason, I wasn't overtly impressed with Sin Cara's debut. Not sure why, but something just seemed out of place for me.

 

Haven't seen Tough Enough yet... it came on opposite House, and I still don't have DVR. My hands were tied.

Sin Cara is really, really spotty. Not in the sense of a spot monkey, buth in the sense he depends on spots too much.

[OctoberRaven]

To be fair, it was a showcase match that was given like five minuites. You're kind of supposed to be spotty in those situations. I've only seen him work once before in Mexico and he didn't do much so I can't tell you how psychologically sound he is, but lucha libre in general is a well-coreographed, organized chaos style rather than just a mindless series of flippy stunts.

[lazorbeak]

Very sad to see Edge go, but I'm happy to see he's going to get out with his health in tact.

 

Hogan, apparently, is not and thinks that the WWE is blackballing edge out of the business for liability reasons

if any of the guys like me, Flair, Hardy, Andre, AA, Blanchard, orndoff, Henning would have listened to doctors we would have quit15yrsago. but I don't know Edges working environment because they are a media company not a wrestling company. HH"

 

It tells you something about the brain-trust over at the Hogan residence that he makes his point by citing drug addicts, people who literally have no choice but to work, and people who died before they hit 50 as his examples of working against doctors orders. It's almost as if wrestling through excruciating pain made someone more likely to take dangerous drugs and/or die prematurely!

[Mr Rager]

Just watched Raw. Sad to see Edge retired.

 

Having started watching wrestling circa 2000, I could possibly say that he made up one half of the best tag teams that I've ever had the pleasure of watching - one of my favourites, at least. I've always admired Edge, while I wouldn't say that he's ever been one of my real favourites since his singles career kicked off, I've enjoyed his work. Heel or face, he's been a stellar component of the main event scene since he got there. It's a real shame that he's been forced to retire, but like others have touched on, it's a good thing that he was diagnosed and advised to retire before he ended up in a wheelchair.

 

It's really strange for me, from the top of my head I can't think of somebody who has been so prominent in the WWE since the day that I started watching, for such a long time, who I've watched had so much success, retiring.

[LoNdOn]

First off no girl ever screams Main Event. Second Matt Cross didn't show the team anything and he looked lost on the show. He was the smallest wrestler (I believe) on the show. Luke is the only one who seems like he will make anything of himself.

 

Most wrestlers don't start off as great wrestlers. They have charisma and work their butts off to become good wrestlers.

 

I mean if you want a wrestler that can make others look good and put on good matches, then Cross is your man. If you want someone who will contend for the highest titles and sell merch Cross isn't the man, which makes him not WWE's man.

 

Which begs the question, why put him in the show at all? As far as I'm concerned, and I may be in the minority saying this, give me two talented wrestlers participating in a match rather than two musclebound, charismatic oafs who don't know a wristlock from a wristwatch any day of the week. Hopefully Matt lands himself an FCW contract like the girl who got eliminated in the first show did.

[OctoberRaven]

The point of Tough Enough, I feel, is to find a gem, someone WWE can't find a replacement for. And well, Matt Crosses are penny a pound.

 

Marty Wright was a mediocre at best heavyweight worker, but was given an incredibly cheesy gimmick with The Boogeyman and turned it into gold.

 

Mark Callaway was given the role of wrestling zombie and turned it into one of the most iconic acts in wrestling history.

 

THAT is what they are looking for. A guy who can take whatever role assigned to him, no matter how silly, and make it memorable. Can Matt Cross do that? In my opinion, hell no.

[ampulator]

The boogeyman was terrible. I have no idea what you are takling about. That's a terrible example. He was replaced. Easily.

[LoNdOn]

The point of Tough Enough, I feel, is to find a gem, someone WWE can't find a replacement for. And well, Matt Crosses are penny a pound.

 

Marty Wright was a mediocre at best heavyweight worker, but was given an incredibly cheesy gimmick with The Boogeyman and turned it into gold.

 

Mark Callaway was given the role of wrestling zombie and turned it into one of the most iconic acts in wrestling history.

 

THAT is what they are looking for. A guy who can take whatever role assigned to him, no matter how silly, and make it memorable. Can Matt Cross do that? In my opinion, hell no.

 

And what have Tough Enough unearthed? Any one of them look replaceable (with Luke being the exception), hell, half of them have little to no training and don't look or act like they have "it". You could throw a stone out on a local street and hit five people who are no different.

 

I think I must be missing the point of the show. It is enjoyable to watch from an entertainment perspective but the criteria for which they assess the contestants is beyond me. Do I want to hire the guy who gets dizzy from a forward roll and admitted that he would leave if his girlfriend asked him to come home, the girl who pads her ass to run the ropes and disrespects the whole process by turning up late, or the guy who can work a good match and just needs a rew touches here and there? Seems like an easy choice to me but like I said, I must be missing the point somewhat.

 

EDIT: Also, what you described is seeing who are good character actors, Tough Enough should be to see who the best and most capable in-ring talents are. If they want good character actors, go to a theatre school and train those guys to be wrestlers.