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

[milamber]

<p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">NXT Review:</span></strong></p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Neville vs Camacho</strong> - Camacho refusing to shake hands and employing viscious chops reminded me of ROH. Neville started off with mat wrestling to show off his range before ending the match with his Red Arrow. After, Neville delivered his best promo joking about not being a proto-typical champion. Bo delivered a quality promo of his own (to a mix of boos and screams), congratulating Neville but insisting that climbing a ladder isn't the same as a pin.</p><p>

<strong>Emma vs Charlotte</strong> - Backstage interview where Emma put over Paige. Ric Flair and Charlotte showed up to put Emma in her place. Sasha was ringside holding a funny photo of Summer's face on a stick. Good match heavy on mat wrestling. Emma had the upper hand until Charlotte landed awkwardly. Everyone (including me) thought she was legit hurt but she was faking and picked up the sneaky win. That was smart booking.</p><p>

<strong>Tatsu vs Graves</strong> - Graves did a promo taking the mickey out of Tatsu and Sami Zayn and claiming he could beat Cesaro first time. He threatened to walk out on the match but ended up pushing Tatsu into the steps for a count-out victory, then beat Tatsu down in the ring. Zayn came out to make the save. More smart booking. Graves is boring in the ring so focusing on his mic work and with heel tactics will help him get over.</p><p>

<strong>Adam Rose vs Blake</strong> - First promo was in a fancy dress nightclub set backstage. His entrance was equally strange, dancing and crowd-surfing to the ring with his costumed groupies. It got "That was awesome!" chants. His ring style is basically the same but with some added weirdness at the start. They need to tweak it more to better fit the gimmick. I prefer him as Leo Kruger but I'll give the new Russell Brand inspired gimmick a chance. </p><p>

<strong>Graves vs Zayn</strong> - Good match. Zayn won with a roll-up but Graves impressed me more than usual.</p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Verdict:</strong> Strong follow-up to NXT Arrival. I'm not digging the new theme song. The old one was awesome.</p><p> </p><p>

<span>http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Screen-Shot-2014-03-06-at-9.57.48-PM-650x389.png</span><span>http://d1etibv7kd3lht.cloudfront.net/images/419268/article_view_big/NXT_211_Photo_10.jpeg?1394200524</span></p>

[Rickymex]

I love the Adam Rose character! The ring style needs more work and less armdrag and more Jack Bruce-ness but the Party King is perfect

[DaMegaFish]

<p>So was just on my usual dirt site, and I occasionally take a peek at the comments and this time...ooh boy was I glad I did.</p><p> </p><p>

<span>http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/DaMegaFish/HHHGimmick.png</span></p>

[milamber]

<p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smackdown Review:</span></strong></p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Christian vs Ziggler</strong> - Solid match dominated by Christian. Ziggler came back but Del Rio distracted him and Christian won. Christian acted like an ass with Renee interviewing him. Sheamus rushed out and got in a few punches before Christian ran away.</p><p>

<strong>Batista & Bryan</strong> - Another strong heel promo from Douchetista. I laughed when he called himself a superhero and Bryan a fan who should buy a ticket to watch him main event WM. Bryan made fun of Batista's clothes/tats/nose ring and got the fans chanting. Kane and Batista beat down Bryan until Big Show made the save.</p><p>

<strong>Rybaxel vs The Usos</strong> - Solid match.</p><p>

<strong>Shield Summit</strong> - My favorite segment of the night. Ambrose and Rollins got a lot of mic time. Rollins claims he sacrificed himself on Raw to get Dean and Roman back on the same page. Rollins and Ambrose hit each other. Then they stood together as one (but Ambrose still didn't look happy).</p><p>

<strong>Del Rio vs Sheamus</strong> - Good match.</p><p>

<strong>Wyatt Family</strong> - Good promo on Cena. Harper got a few words in.</p><p>

<strong>Rusev</strong> - Another entrance without a match. It kind of makes him seem like a big deal but I just to see him wrestle.</p><p>

<strong>Batista & Kane vs Bryan & Show</strong> - Good match with Bryan pinning Kane. Batista was booked too weak, though. He needs to squash some midcarders before Mania.</p><p> </p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Verdict:</span></strong> Good show. WWE is on a roll this week.</p><p> </p><p>

 

</p><div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/9dxT-mRr5YI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="The Shield Summit: SmackDown, March 7, 2014"></iframe></div></div>

[CQI13]

Was watching some early WCW PPVs (pre-nWo)...It's appalling. A match on a flatbed truck? Wow. That, and most of Superbrawl 3 (I think, the one before the Uncensored with the aforementioned "King of the Road" match) - equally bad.

[lazorbeak]

The silver-lining of that King of the Road match is it directly led to Goldust in WWF, since he got fired over it.

[fullMETAL]

<p>Main Event last week was pretty good, with the Usos defending against Los Matadores because the Outlaws were "too injured" at the time.</p><p>

Methinks the NAO/Usos tag title rematch may very well be at WrestleMania after all.</p>

[lazorbeak]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="fullMETAL" data-cite="fullMETAL" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Main Event last week was pretty good, with the Usos defending against Los Matadores because the Outlaws were "too injured" at the time.<p> Methinks the NAO/Usos tag title rematch may very well be at WrestleMania after all.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> It'll likely be a six or 8 man match involving Cody and Goldust, surely. More than likely it'll be on the pre-show, too.</p>

[machinesxe]

<p>Yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!</p><p> </p><p>

Wrestlemania Will Be So Good!</p>

[20LEgend]

<p><img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/cool.png.f00d2562b2c1d873a09323753efdb041.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p>

Can't wait the potential reaction if HHH beats Bryan <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[machinesxe]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="20LEgend" data-cite="20LEgend" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><img alt=":cool:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/cool.png.f00d2562b2c1d873a09323753efdb041.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> Can't wait the potential reaction if HHH beats Bryan <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div></blockquote><p> I can't imagine that happening unless it is cheap, and then Vince comes out and reverses the decision to show he still owns it.</p>

[machinesxe]

WWE knows Orton vs Bootista can't ME, WM30. It will be a fail if it does.

[GhostDogg]

<p>You know what ..congrats WWE, you now just made me want to order WM again. But knowing trips, they would bury Bryan. or....</p><p> </p><p>

(in a perfect world- DB def. HHH and then at the Main Event, Bryan makes Batista submit with assistance from Punk, and that would set up a rematch with Orton with the reason that Orton was never pinned or submitted)</p><p> </p><p>

But that how I would booked it.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

<p>Wow that Bryan/HHH segment was fantastic. People draw comparisons to the Vince/Austin feud for obvious reasons and want Bryan to act like Austin did and just destroy HHH every week but that's not his character.</p><p> </p><p>

Tonight was an extremely unique segment that cemented Bryan's character as one of "The people" and used it to get what he wanted instead of say Austin beating Vince into submission multiple times. HHH and his haters always amuse me, but you can't deny his ability to heel it up and he is easily one of the best ever in that department.</p>

[bigtplaystew]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="GhostDogg" data-cite="GhostDogg" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>You know what ..congrats WWE, you now just made me want to order WM again. But knowing trips, they would bury Bryan. or....<p> </p><p> (in a perfect world- DB def. HHH and then at the Main Event, Bryan makes Batista submit with assistance from Punk, and that would set up a rematch with Orton with the reason that Orton was never pinned or submitted)</p><p> </p><p> But that how I would booked it.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I think this is the best way to do it. I just predict the opposite will happen. I see Orton tapping and Batista carrying on as the guy who never really got his shot at the title since he wasn't pinned and didn't tap. I think they keep Batista strong for awhile. And they should. A weak Batista is an ineffective Batista. Batista should be cocky and arrogant and beating the crap out of people. If he isn't scary he's got no heel heat at all.</p><p> </p><p> And to be honest, Batista's grappling isn't THAT bad. He's still doing the power moves and stuff but i think his BJJ background could mesh well with Bryan's style and possibly allow both men to put on a match like we've never seen. A nice, long Batista/Bryan match would not be a bad thing to me at all.</p><p> </p><p> I would like to discuss the Cena/Hogan angle. I'm sure smarks everywhere rolled their collective eyes but I was watching with my girlfriend and checking out the more casual fans' reaction on my facebook and I think that was one damn fun segment. Cena was even funny for like two whole seconds!</p>

[Jaysin]

Randomly decided to watch WCW Mayhem 2000. I wish there was a "mute Mark Madden" button. Ugh.

 

Anyway, the first match is Mike Sanders against Kwee Wee. There was a super sweet spot that I don't think I've ever seen before. Jindrak and O'haire interfered and picked up Kwee Wee on the outside, threw him from the floor over the top rope into a power slam by Mike Sanders. Perfectly timed. The match is pretty bad, but then again it has Kwee Wee.

[Slim Jim]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="bigtplaystew" data-cite="bigtplaystew" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> I would like to discuss the Cena/Hogan angle. I'm sure smarks everywhere rolled their collective eyes but I was watching with my girlfriend and checking out the more casual fans' reaction on my facebook and I think that was one damn fun segment. Cena was even funny for like two whole seconds!</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I can get onboard with most of what Cena does and is about and accept him as part of the show, and sometimes enjoy what he does, but the way he reacted to Bray's promo shows everything that is wrong with him. He basically no-sold a great promo from Wyatt and dismissed him as a joke, it made him look so weak. Granted it was only a tiny thing so it won't de-rail Bray's momentum but it's typical of how Cena deals with opponents in his promos, and I don't know how much of that is creative and how much is him but it certainly feels like Cena has more freedom and that's how he uses it.</p><p> </p><p> People criticised Rock when he came back and was in a title feud but he legitimised Punk far more than Cena ever did and put him over strong in his promos. Cena rarely does that, especially in the last few years. It's frustrating.</p>

[bigtplaystew]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Slim Jim" data-cite="Slim Jim" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I can get onboard with most of what Cena does and is about and accept him as part of the show, and sometimes enjoy what he does, but the way he reacted to Bray's promo shows everything that is wrong with him. He basically<strong> no-sold a great promo from Wyatt</strong> and dismissed him as a joke, it made him look so weak. Granted it was only a tiny thing so it won't de-rail Bray's momentum but it's typical of how Cena deals with opponents in his promos, and I don't know how much of that is creative and how much is him but it certainly feels like Cena has more freedom and that's how he uses it.<p> </p><p> People criticised Rock when he came back and was in a title feud but he legitimised Punk far more than Cena ever did and put him over strong in his promos. Cena rarely does that, especially in the last few years. It's frustrating.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> So is it better for Cena to lie down and let Bray trash him and not retaliate a single decent shot back at him until Wrestlemania? Is JOHN CENA supposed to cower in fear of Bray Wyatt? It's John Cena, man. He NEVER BACKS DOWN lol. </p><p> </p><p> I don't know. I feel like when two wrestlers go at each other on the mic, they each get to hit each other. I think cena making fun of Bray is 100% fair game. Now bray has to go back and tear Cena a new one on Smackdown. Thats how a hot feud should play out IMO. These are, from what I understand, two guys on a very small list who do the old school promo style of receiving bullet points and doing the rest on their own. It feels more real if Wyatt is trying to tear down Cena and Cena laughs it off. Ifeel like that's how it SHOULD go. But that's my opinion.</p>

[RayW]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="bigtplaystew" data-cite="bigtplaystew" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So is it better for Cena to lie down and let Bray trash him and not retaliate a single decent shot back at him until Wrestlemania? Is JOHN CENA supposed to cower in fear of Bray Wyatt? It's John Cena, man. He NEVER BACKS DOWN lol. <p> </p><p> I don't know. I feel like when two wrestlers go at each other on the mic, they each get to hit each other. I think cena making fun of Bray is 100% fair game. Now bray has to go back and tear Cena a new one on Smackdown. Thats how a hot feud should play out IMO. These are, from what I understand, two guys on a very small list who do the old school promo style of receiving bullet points and doing the rest on their own. It feels more real if Wyatt is trying to tear down Cena and Cena laughs it off. Ifeel like that's how it SHOULD go. But that's my opinion.</p></div></blockquote><p> I agree. If we're going to say Cena is wrong to do this then we need to go back and say that The Rock and Chris Jericho were also wrong to do it, too. Hoot-n-Toot Guerrera, anyone? I mean, it fits his character, like it fit Rock's and Y2J's, to take childish pops at his opponents. Not every character can pull that off, but Cena can. He's geared towards the younger audience, and they love all that crap, just like we loved The Rock telling all the 'rudey-poo jabroni's' of yesteryear just what he thought of them. Just like we loved DX coming out and mimicking the Nation. It really is hard to say that its harmful, because it didn't hurt the product or the workers much back then.</p>

[lazorbeak]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="bigtplaystew" data-cite="bigtplaystew" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So is it better for Cena to lie down and let Bray trash him and not retaliate a single decent shot back at him until Wrestlemania? Is JOHN CENA supposed to cower in fear of Bray Wyatt? It's John Cena, man. He NEVER BACKS DOWN lol. <p> </p><p> I don't know. I feel like when two wrestlers go at each other on the mic, they each get to hit each other. I think cena making fun of Bray is 100% fair game. Now bray has to go back and tear Cena a new one on Smackdown. Thats how a hot feud should play out IMO. These are, from what I understand, two guys on a very small list who do the old school promo style of receiving bullet points and doing the rest on their own. It feels more real if Wyatt is trying to tear down Cena and Cena laughs it off. Ifeel like that's how it SHOULD go. But that's my opinion.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Yeah I also agree with this. Wyatt for his part didn't go "awww man why'd you trash my fedora geez," he just laughed off Cena's jokes creepily and sent his goons in. That's how these feuds are supposed to work. </p><p> </p><p> Also, sometimes for fun I go back to the start of this WWE thread and read all the gloom and doom predictions about how Sheamus is an awful wrestler and he'll be fired within the year and it cracks me up. He had a great match tonight. I wish he had more to do at Wrestlemania than being in the final three-four of the Andre battle royale.</p><p> </p><p> Also, I made the joke elsewhere, but I'll make it again: I hope Hogan has an even bigger trophy for himself, in true Wrestlemania III style.</p>

[christmas_ape]

Even as someone who sort of likes Cena I didn't like the way he responded to Bray's promo. I understand people's reply that it's sort of Cena's 'thing' to be jokey and that The Rock and Jericho did similar stuff but I do think it's different here. For one, I think there is a difference between Cena coming out and joking about Bray and Bray cutting a promo and Cena responding with a joke. It just sort of made everything Bray said to him seem pointless.

 

Also there is a big difference between say The Rock making fun of Triple H and Cena making fun of Bray. Bray's character is dependent on a level there being a certain aura or mystique (or whatever word you want to use) behind him. Making fun of Triple H would just make him more angry and make the feud seem personal . I can't remember the exact wording Cena used but saying how he looks like a homeless man and all that stuff just doesn't do anything for anyone. It would be like if Undertaker came out, had his long entrance, cut some promo saying how the person is going to rest in piece and then Rock just saying like 'Lol no you're just an old man with a silly hat on why would I be afraid of you?'

 

That's not to say I think Cena making a couple of jokes at Bray's expense is SO bad, but ir really highlights why a lot of people have a problem with him. I like Cena but he desperately needs to seem more human. I'd even be fine with Cena still beating Bray at Wrestlemania as long as in the process he actually fears him or at least acknowledges that he is a huge threat.

[christmas_ape]

Although I actually came here just to say the obvious really, how good that Bryan segment was. When the first few people got into the ring it was so cringey but I was very happy to be proven wrong.

 

One thing it's all fully cemented to me though is how much I love Steph as a heel authority. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise what her being Vince's daughter but she is easily one of my favourite heel authority figures ever.

[masterded]

What bothers me about Cena when it comes to face to face promos isn't what he says to people but how he reacts when other people are talking. It seems like he is just waiting for his turn to speak and doesn't care at all what the other people is saying. You go back and you watch promos with the Rock and Jericho and their reactions to what people said were great. It was either frustration, anger, annoyance, and yes at times fear. Did that stop them from tearing down the other person on the mic? Nope, but it sure made the other person seem more important, like what they said actually mattered and had weight. Someone compared him to the old DX promos and I think that is kind of fair in the way he kind of no sells the other persons promo. That being said their is a big difference seeing as Cena doesn't openly mock the other person as they talk and instead waits his turn to mock.

[Slim Jim]

So is it better for Cena to lie down and let Bray trash him and not retaliate a single decent shot back at him until Wrestlemania? Is JOHN CENA supposed to cower in fear of Bray Wyatt? It's John Cena, man. He NEVER BACKS DOWN lol.

 

I don't know. I feel like when two wrestlers go at each other on the mic, they each get to hit each other. I think cena making fun of Bray is 100% fair game. Now bray has to go back and tear Cena a new one on Smackdown. Thats how a hot feud should play out IMO. These are, from what I understand, two guys on a very small list who do the old school promo style of receiving bullet points and doing the rest on their own. It feels more real if Wyatt is trying to tear down Cena and Cena laughs it off. Ifeel like that's how it SHOULD go. But that's my opinion.

 

I agree. If we're going to say Cena is wrong to do this then we need to go back and say that The Rock and Chris Jericho were also wrong to do it, too. Hoot-n-Toot Guerrera, anyone? I mean, it fits his character, like it fit Rock's and Y2J's, to take childish pops at his opponents. Not every character can pull that off, but Cena can. He's geared towards the younger audience, and they love all that crap, just like we loved The Rock telling all the 'rudey-poo jabroni's' of yesteryear just what he thought of them. Just like we loved DX coming out and mimicking the Nation. It really is hard to say that its harmful, because it didn't hurt the product or the workers much back then.

 

It's not that he mocked him or didn't back down, it was the way he did it. He didn't sell Bray, in my opinion. His reaction didn't make me think "damn, I've got to see these guys go at it". I can remember the feud in the early days of DX and Taker going into the Rumble, with DX mocking him but they also made sure to sell how damned scary Taker was too. And recently with Rock/Punk last year, Rock mocked Punk as much as he mocked anyone but he also sold him as a bad ass dude that was a threat. You can mock your opponent without completely undermining them.

 

I can't really put my finger on exactly what it was, I'd need to rewatch it to remind myself, but I just felt at the time like Cena didn't do Wyatt any favours.

[lazorbeak]

"Undertaker, with his mickey-mouse tattoos and his 33 pound head, jumpin' around screaming like a girl."

 

-The Rock, talking about the Undertaker in 1999, a few moments before saying that Undertaker and Big Show would wet themselves when The Rock appeared.

 

Seriously John Cena talking about Cracker Barrel isn't going to kill Bray.