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

[djthefunkchris]

DiBiase and Bourne could become a kick ass tag team.

 

What WWE doesn't seem to get with tag teams these days however is that you need a tag team GIMMICK for them. It's not just enough to randomly pair midcarders and then do nothing further. Give them a common gimmick with matching attires and a wicked tag team finisher.

 

If done right, tag teams can become just as over as main eventers in singles competition.

I agree with all of this. I think they purposely don't go this route though, even with tag teams that have been together for a long time (If they hire one, for example). The reason I believe is to make sure they are seen as individual characters, just in case they can get over huge on their own (Jeff Hardy for example). Two individuals can make twice the money, and probably more money even if they never hit the status your talking about, if they are "just under" that status (Miz/Morrison).

 

I could be totally wrong, but my mind always goes the "Money" route whenever I try to understand anything the WWE does.

[bigtplaystew]

Tag team wrestling isn't as relevant anymore as far as WWE is concerned. I feel like they're cool in live events to break up the show a little bit, but other than that, I dont see tag teams as being big draws in WWE's world.

 

Don't get me wrong, I dig good tag team wrestling. ROH knows how to put together really crazy live tag team wrestling matches. But a wrestling-based promotion benefits from tag teams as it gives the fans something different to watch. In the world of talking-over-wrestling (as in the WWE) tag teams don't really make much sense it seems.

 

Maybe with the network they'll have the time and freedom to maybe have a more wrestling oriented show and tag teams can develop there. I just dont see several tag teams being a big part of a two hour Raw or Smackdown.

[BurningHamster]

This. Oh god, this. Part of the reason the Attitude era was so successful for the 'E was that they had the tag division for young guys like Edge and Christian and the Hardys to get face time on camera, get themselves over with the fans, and also to put on entertaining matches every now and then.

I know I've said this before, but the tag division is also a really handy way of pacing a PPV. I lost count of the number of PPVs in the attitude era where the New Age Outlaws jerked the curtain and put on a competent and entertaining, but not mindblowing match to get the fans warmed up.

 

Also, it's a nice place to hide the guys you don't have anything in mind for right now - the likes of DiBiase, Evan Bourne, R-Truth - all decent workers who you could either have pulling a dark match or the 'superstars special', or you could give them a tag match to fill a segment on Raw, and therefore we'd never ever have to endure another Funkasaurus segment again. And that's something I think we can all agree would be a wonderful thing.

 

Yeah, all of this. The fact we rarely even see the tag belts defended on PPV is an absolute travesty. As is the fact we are subjected to singles matches by some of these "superstars". I loved the Miz/Truth combination but find them less interesting as singles guys, thought Kofi was way more tolerable when teaming with Bourne. The thing is, WWE has lots of singles wrestlers who shouldn't be. Guys who can wrestle and talk well enough to get over are few. So why not team up a few people so that between them you might be able to get an okay promo and an okay match out of them if need be?

[Jaysin]

There's also a ton of guys who they're just not doing anything with or have something for. Remember before Miz and Morrison teamed up, both of them were kind of floundering with nothing going for them except their talent. They randomly get paired up and take off like crazy.

 

I don't think Miz would have been as successful as he's been if it wasn't for that pairing with Morrison that initially got him over.

[b0shey]

Wow, how could WWE not have Skip Sheffield do his original Ryback gimmick.

 

He is supposed to be a new age terminator.. his OVW/FCW look was menacing along with the Terminator theme.

 

on a side not; I swear AJ gets more adorable each time i see her

[Target Practice]

thought Kofi was way more tolerable when teaming with Bourne.

 

Oh god yes. Air Boom seemed to be pretty over (or at least as over as it's possible to be in the WWE tag division), they even had the beginnings of a feud going with Primo and Epico, and I actually began to hope that this was the start of a resurgence for the division. Now, it looks like they've split the team without any reasoning whatsoever, Kofi is on a very mild push that will peter out before long unless he gets a meaningful feud, and the last I saw of Evan, he was tagging with Hornswoggle.

[Self]

Evan getting busted for a wellness violation and then breaking his foot probably did something towards ending the team.

[BurningHamster]

Evan getting busted for a wellness violation and then breaking his foot probably did something towards ending the team.

 

Yeah, stupid Evan. But still, it's not like there's a shortage of smallish highflying white guys around they could replace him with, or a shortage of people already in the WWE with not much on. Pretty much anyone who I am bored by or who isn't up to much should be thrown into a tag team to see if that makes them any more tolerable.

[crownsy]

Oh god yes. Air Boom seemed to be pretty over (or at least as over as it's possible to be in the WWE tag division), they even had the beginnings of a feud going with Primo and Epico, and I actually began to hope that this was the start of a resurgence for the division. Now, it looks like they've split the team without any reasoning whatsoever, Kofi is on a very mild push that will peter out before long unless he gets a meaningful feud, and the last I saw of Evan, he was tagging with Hornswoggle.

 

What explanation would you like them to go with?

 

maybe kofi could come out and say something like "yea, we were going to be awesome, but my partner is a chronic pot head so...don't do drugs kids!"

 

I mean, if the team had been more established than 3 weeks of doing the boom claps together and coming up with a crappy name, then sure im with ya, they would have needed to explain why Evan randomly disappeared and the tag team ended.

 

But given how quickly Evan derailed the whole thing, I think it was just as valid for them to trust the audience to know the guy got suspended TWICE in the last 6 months and not reward evan for his stupidity by hiding his absence through keyfabe.

 

I mean sucks for Kofi, but thems the breaks.

[milamber]

I enjoyed Teddy telling Lauranitis to go to hell and Lauranitis making Teddy his bitch.

 

Kane v Orton - Orton gets his revenge. Decent brawl with a couple of nice DDT spots. Rubber match at Extreme Rules where I hope Kane wins.

 

Barry Who? v Ryback - WWE doesn't really need another monster but it's good to see Skip Sheffield back.

 

I like that they acknowledged Bryan's popularity then had him rip AJ a new asshole. Say what you will about the so-called "mishandling" of Bryan since NXT, but his entire storyline since day one has led to a brilliant payoff. Let's hope they keep him interesting until WM 29.

 

Damien Sandow - Another call-up from FCW.

 

Sheamus v De Rio - The match was okay but the finish was great with Del Rio play-acting to get Sheamus DQ'd. And Sheamus brogue kicking the ref? I like it when WWE let their characters have shades of grey.

[milamber]

They paired together Gabriel & Kidd for the WM 28 dark match but Gabriel's out for 6 weeks. They could be a damn good tag team.

[Basmat01]

Tag team wrestling isn't as relevant anymore as far as WWE is concerned. I feel like they're cool in live events to break up the show a little bit, but other than that, I dont see tag teams as being big draws in WWE's world.

 

Brian Kendrick and Paul London seem to have been told the same thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNXg3KRUOcY&feature=related

[ThatChizzle]

Is it just me, or is David Otunga using Chris Masters gimmick?

[Zeel1]

Is it just me, or is David Otunga using Chris Masters gimmick?

 

 

Masters as a stuck-up lawyer, I guess.

[Self]

They paired together Gabriel & Kidd for the WM 28 dark match but Gabriel's out for 6 weeks. They could be a damn good tag team.

 

The curse of Tyson Kidd. First he does an angle with Trent Barreta, making them a team, and Trent gets hurt. Now the same thing with Gabriel.

 

I believe tag teams can draw as much as solo acts (I always make the tag straps 'Main Event' in my TEW games). With the right push, it can happen. Problem is, a main event tag team isn't going to draw twice as much as a solo act, which it would need to justify paying two guys 'top guy' wages. Now there are a million variables in there, but generally it makes a twisted, capitalist kinda sense. Together, Miz & Morrison were awesome, and could conceivably draw on top. Alas, separate, they were more valuable. Filling two spots on the card, selling their own merchandise etc.

 

NXT has teams. Uso's. Young & Titus. Rekins. It makes characters more interesting to see who their friends are. I love NXT.

[milamber]

Epico's post-mania twitter rant:

 

Can you believe this @LaRosaMendes ? Every single WWE title was on The Wrestlemania PPV. But the WWE tag champs get the Pre-show

 

I thought this was WRESTLEmania.... Not CONCERTmania... Who did Flo-rida and that MGK beat??? I guess they beat the tag champs

 

Not only the tag champs get left out of wrestlemania... We weren't even on Raw and it looks like we won't be on smackdown either...

 

@Rygaux and since when is Flo-rida, MGK and that menounos chick relevant to a wrestlemania????

 

Dude's got a point but he better keep his mouth shut or there won't be any tag teams in WWE.

[Bull]

Epico's post-mania twitter rant:

 

Can you believe this @LaRosaMendes ? Every single WWE title was on The Wrestlemania PPV. But the WWE tag champs get the Pre-show

 

I thought this was WRESTLEmania.... Not CONCERTmania... Who did Flo-rida and that MGK beat??? I guess they beat the tag champs

 

Not only the tag champs get left out of wrestlemania... We weren't even on Raw and it looks like we won't be on smackdown either...

 

@Rygaux and since when is Flo-rida, MGK and that menounos chick relevant to a wrestlemania????

 

Dude's got a point but he better keep his mouth shut or there won't be any tag teams in WWE.

 

Last thing I read about this was that it was part of WWE's thing to do more storylines via social media, so I don't know if I would take it all that seriously or not.

[shawn michaels]

Laurinaitis being the ass kisser that he is, and keeping his work as an executive was already bad...but will he be leading the 2 shows for a long time? Cause that is a disaster.

[Bigpapa42]

Laurinaitis being the ass kisser that he is, and keeping his work as an executive was already bad...but will he be leading the 2 shows for a long time? Cause that is a disaster.

 

Since they're keeping Teddy Long around, chances are he won't be permanent. That said, Laurinitis has grown on me and he feels much much more fresh than Teddy Long at this point, who has been doing the same basic stuff forever (or at least it feels like).

[cappyboy]

Laurinaitis being the ass kisser that he is, and keeping his work as an executive was already bad...but will he be leading the 2 shows for a long time? Cause that is a disaster.

 

Agreed. Johnny was pretty good to watch as a talent. But as an on-screen executive, he's strictly stock. There isn't enough to him to put the energy into in-character hating him. That why I wanted Team Teddy to win at Wrestlemania. Love the guy or hate him, there's substance to Teddy's character. You could have a Jeff Raitz or a Steve Simpson or some other half-remembered indy guy from 20 years in his role and it would be just the same as Laurinaitis as far as how he projects himself. For a company that's supposed to be all about entertainment, they sure swung this match in favor of the less entertaining choice.

[djthefunkchris]

Since they're keeping Teddy Long around, chances are he won't be permanent. That said, Laurinitis has grown on me and he feels much much more fresh than Teddy Long at this point, who has been doing the same basic stuff forever (or at least it feels like).

 

/nod, I agree. Plus the size of Laurinitis could be used to "intimidate" smaller worker's or even female characters. Just thinking he's a good choice.

 

I mean, don't get me wrong, I like Teddy, always have.. For years, and I mean years. I've always liked him, just seems to be a guy interested in helping people (not that I know this, just comes off that way to me). On camera, for instance, I've always felt he gives his best for whomever he is against/for, in his role. Treats them as if they are important, no matter what level of the card they are on. Other's that have come and gone I haven't had that same feeling with... Even other wrestler's. Teddy treats them, no matter if they are a tag team starting up, or main eventers... He gives it the same amount of "work". I'm not saying he's "great" at it, just that he makes me believe "everything" is important, which is what I feel is needed on any of the "B" shows (for example).

 

Laurinitis looks like he could probably go again, if needed. He looks like he can fill Vince's shoes somewhat. He looks like he could have a feud with someone in the lower card and shoot them into the Main Event, if needed. If only he could speak a bit more aggressively.

[The Final Countdown]

That said, Laurinitis has grown on me and he feels much much more fresh than Teddy Long at this point, who has been doing the same basic stuff forever (or at least it feels like).

100% agree. I'm sick of Teddy. Not that I have anything against him personally, but you can only hear "holla holla", "playa", and "tag team match" so many times.

[Tha Black Phenom]

I like Teddy purely for memes' sake. Whether its announcing a tag team main event or a one-on-one match with "The Undertaka!~" cause that's what we know him best for. I wouldn't choose him to manage both brands though, I'd feel more comfortable with Johnny which I've grown into. I think revisiting the dynamic of a heel authority could be very interesting, and could help build certain babyfaces.. God knows there's a need of some bankable ones.

[djthefunkchris]

I like Teddy purely for memes' sake. Whether its announcing a tag team main event or a one-on-one match with "The Undertaka!~" cause that's what we know him best for. I wouldn't choose him to manage both brands though, I'd feel more comfortable with Johnny which I've grown into. I think revisiting the dynamic of a heel authority could be very interesting, and could help build certain babyfaces.. God knows there's a need of some bankable ones.

 

Basically... Teddy's good to build heels with, but you need a heel GM to build up faces with.

 

A good heel can help build a good face, and the opposite is true as well... but with an authority figure, a face GM doesn't do much to promote a good guy, as they are going to side with the good guy (or should). A heel authority, can manipulate results, make it hard on a face, and make them lose, thus making it hard on them and it gives the fans a reason to support them.

 

Basically.

[shawn michaels]

Basically... Teddy's good to build heels with, but you need a heel GM to build up faces with.

 

A good heel can help build a good face, and the opposite is true as well... but with an authority figure, a face GM doesn't do much to promote a good guy, as they are going to side with the good guy (or should). A heel authority, can manipulate results, make it hard on a face, and make them lose, thus making it hard on them and it gives the fans a reason to support them.

 

Basically.

 

No disagreeing there. And i like Teddy, but i also think it's time for a change. I wouldn't mind seeing him around as a manager. But i just don't want that change to be Laurinaitis. I don't hate him enough. At the end of the day, he seems too bland for the important heel part he has to play. I think Reagal was a good heel gm. They could go with that. Anything but Johnny!

 

Edit: "You know how much you've got to suck to be cut off the Canadian football league?" Damn, The Rock truly rules. I lmao with that one. Is he staying only until WM29? Hope he remains after that.