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

[milamber]

Pretty basic interview but it's good to see Paige getting some attention. Rumor has it AJ will back before the Payback PPV so fingers crossed they get a chance to steal the spotlight.

 

[sebsplex]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Teh_Showtime" data-cite="Teh_Showtime" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Really the Appeal goes far beyond just Cena storylines. For an entire decade now everything WWE has done was a vehicle to get the babyface John Cena over. There are countless examples of guys being pushed as big heels and being fed to Cena instantly for no other reason than because Cena is on top.<p> </p><p> If he somehow went heel it's not like someone (Bryan) would just assume the Cena role and he'd be another heel, the entire philosophy of the WWE would have to change. I think that is the most appealing part of it all. Think about all of the things they dedicated to getting Cena over recently like Nexus, Rock, Ryback's heel turn, or even going back to the days where he faced off against various monsters like Umaga or Khali. If he was a heel things would be totally different.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I was thinking this a few nights ago when watching Rusev. It's kinda depressing to think that if he gets over sufficiently, the closer he gets to being fed to Cena and quite probably reverting to either a whiny heel or a comedy face gimmick.</p><p> </p><p> I'm not holding out any hope for the feud with Bray changing much either. I suspect it'll skirt somewhere near the 'embrace the hate' feud Cena had with Kane... minus Zack Ryder.</p>

[Wolfie]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Teh_Showtime" data-cite="Teh_Showtime" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Really the Appeal goes far beyond just Cena storylines. For an entire decade now everything WWE has done was a vehicle to get the babyface John Cena over. There are countless examples of guys being pushed as big heels and being fed to Cena instantly for no other reason than because Cena is on top.<p> </p><p> If he somehow went heel it's not like someone (Bryan) would just assume the Cena role and he'd be another heel, the entire philosophy of the WWE would have to change. I think that is the most appealing part of it all. Think about all of the things they dedicated to getting Cena over recently like Nexus, Rock, Ryback's heel turn, or even going back to the days where he faced off against various monsters like Umaga or Khali. If he was a heel things would be totally different.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> why cant someone just assume Cenas role? Hogan did it, quite a few decades of wrestling has a guy who is the #1 guy for years, he steps down they find another.</p><p> Not to hard, they do it cause it works, its easy, and makes sure you have merc to sale</p>

[The Swanton825]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Wolfie" data-cite="Wolfie" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>why cant someone just assume Cenas role? Hogan did it, quite a few decades of wrestling has a guy who is the #1 guy for years, he steps down they find another.<p> Not to hard, they do it cause it works, its easy, and makes sure you have merc to sale</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Hogan did it because he wasn't, no matter what he will claim, the top guy in WCW. They had Sting already secured in that spot before Hogan even arrived. And Hogan wasn't exactly popular with WCW fans to begin with, turning him heel was more in response to the whole southern (barring Florida) audience despising him and not buying his merch than the smarks in the crowd finding him boring.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Wolfie" data-cite="Wolfie" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>why cant someone just assume Cenas role? Hogan did it, quite a few decades of wrestling has a guy who is the #1 guy for years, he steps down they find another.<p> Not to hard, they do it cause it works, its easy, and makes sure you have merc to sale</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> because Cena would still be the bigger name regardless and it would make much more sense to build around Cena, as a heel, before having him go down to the guy who will then be the new face.</p><p> </p><p> Like the period after the attitude era HHH was clearly the number one guy once Rock went to film movies and there were 2 world titles. Raw was built around HHH as the top guy as a heel whilst grooming Batista to be THE next top guy and then HHH put him over and made his career. They didn't just instantly find a Rock/Austin replacement and give them the same booking, though Lesnar did get a moon push and face turn, he was still beneath Angle on the brand.</p><p> </p><p> Then of course Batista and Cena switched brands where Cena was pretty much just another main eventer in 05 before he went over HHH at WM22 and basically became the Cena he is today later that year.</p>

[delv213]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Swanton825" data-cite="The Swanton825" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Hogan did it because he wasn't, no matter what he will claim, the top guy in WCW. They had Sting already secured in that spot before Hogan even arrived. And Hogan wasn't exactly popular with WCW fans to begin with, turning him heel was more in response to the whole southern (barring Florida) audience despising him and not buying his merch than the smarks in the crowd finding him boring.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> So people payed money to see Sting in the Rafters for 40 seconds each night from 1996-1997? You know how ridiculous that sounds, right? Hogan was the man in WCW and to say anything else is just uninformed, Sting may have been the most popular guy in WCW. However, once Hogan signed that 4 million dollar per year guarantee contract(+$250,000 per appearance) in 1994 he instantly became the focal point of the WCW brand. Sting admitted recently in an interview he was insanely jealous of Hogan taking his spot in WCW, so I'm not the only one who believed the company changed focus.</p><p> </p><p> Hogan was getting rejected for years even prior to him signing with WCW, a huge example of him getting booed was at the Royal Rumble in 1992 when Sid Vicious eliminated him to a thunderous positive response. What's funny about that spot is that the WWE did so much editing back then to make sure people didn't know Hogan was getting booed, they actually edited the audio for that spot during the event and made it sound like they booed Hogan's elimination. This continued for the next year or so and you can guess why Hogan left when WCW offered a ridiculous guaranteed contract in 1994.</p><p> </p><p> Hogan actually drew pretty well for his initial first few months in WCW. Hogan vs Flair at BATB1994 drew a 1.02 PPV buyrate which was their highest PPV buyrate for 3 years until Halloween Havoc 1997(Piper vs Hogan WHC) and Hogan's WCW merchandise was popular among children. However once Hogan started facing non-threats like the Dungeon of Doom buyrates soured on Hogan.</p><p> </p><p> So yes, Hogan was the face of WCW. If it wasn't, ratings would've plummeted in 1996/1997 when the nWo was destroying every top babyface the company had, while Sting stayed in the rafters for a 40 second spot.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

Hogan drew monstrous numbers for WCW even in 1995 the average buyrates for Hogan in a singles match compared to the ones without were 131% higher

[Jaysin]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="delv213" data-cite="delv213" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So people payed money to see Sting in the Rafters for 40 seconds each night from 1996-1997? You know how ridiculous that sounds, right? Hogan was the man in WCW and to say anything else is just uninformed, Sting may have been the most popular guy in WCW. However, once Hogan signed that 4 million dollar per year guarantee contract(+$250,000 per appearance) in 1994 he instantly became the focal point of the WCW brand. Sting admitted recently in an interview he was insanely jealous of Hogan taking his spot in WCW, so I'm not the only one who believed the company changed focus.<p> </p><p> Hogan was getting rejected for years even prior to him signing with WCW, a huge example of him getting booed was at the Royal Rumble in 1992 when Sid Vicious eliminated him to a thunderous positive response. What's funny about that spot is that the WWE did so much editing back then to make sure people didn't know Hogan was getting booed, they actually edited the audio for that spot during the event and made it sound like they booed Hogan's elimination. This continued for the next year or so and you can guess why Hogan left when WCW offered a ridiculous guaranteed contract in 1994.</p><p> </p><p> Hogan actually drew pretty well for his initial first few months in WCW. Hogan vs Flair at BATB1994 drew a 1.02 PPV buyrate which was their highest PPV buyrate for 3 years until Halloween Havoc 1997(Piper vs Hogan WHC) and Hogan's WCW merchandise was popular among children. However once Hogan started facing non-threats like the Dungeon of Doom buyrates soured on Hogan.</p><p> </p><p> So yes, Hogan was the face of WCW. If it wasn't, ratings would've plummeted in 1996/1997 when the nWo was destroying every top babyface the company had, while Sting stayed in the rafters for a 40 second spot.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> You're really underestimating how over Sting was. It has to be because you're too young to have actually watched Sting and Hogan's feud occur, but the 18 Month build between Sting and Hogan is one of the coolest and hottest things in wrestling ever and Sting didn't even have to open his mouth or wrestle. He stood in the rafters, sent Sting armies to the ring, sent vultures to the ring, and single handedly manhandled the entire nWo numerous times. I'm not taking anything away from Hogan's drawing power and spot in WCW, but to write off Sting as an afterthought is just ludicrous.</p>

[delv213]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Teh_Showtime" data-cite="Teh_Showtime" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Hogan drew monstrous numbers for WCW even in 1995 the average buyrates for Hogan in a singles match compared to the ones without were 131% higher</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I still doubt they did good enough business to warrant the contract they gave him during that time. Hogan was a draw, no doubt about it. However BATB1994 was one of the few PPV's prior to 1997 that they actually made money on as the company didn't turn a profit until 1997/1998 when they had the Monday Night Wars on their side.</p>

[delv213]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Jaysin" data-cite="Jaysin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>You're really underestimating how over Sting was. It has to be because you're too young to have actually watched Sting and Hogan's feud occur, but the 18 Month build between Sting and Hogan is one of the coolest and hottest things in wrestling ever and Sting didn't even have to open his mouth or wrestle. He stood in the rafters, sent Sting armies to the ring, sent vultures to the ring, and single handedly manhandled the entire nWo numerous times. I'm not taking anything away from Hogan's drawing power and spot in WCW, but to write off Sting as an afterthought is just ludicrous.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I'm too young? I'm 21 and I'm fully aware Sting was massively over with the WCW crowd as I was a huge Sting mark going back to as early as 1998 when TSN got it on at a reasonable hour. I know his surfer gimmick was gigantically over prior to the gimmick change but PPV buyrates and TV ratings don't lie, before Hogan came in the WWF had Bret Hart and Kevin Nash outdrawing Sting. Those guys are not elite draws by all means, but that tells you the perception of Sting not being an elite draw until the Crow gimmick. He's not an afterthought at all, however he didn't wrestle a single match for an entire year from 1996/1997 and ratings seemed to increase in that span. Ratings jumped and Hogan/the nWo were all over those shows.</p><p> </p><p> Of course ratings were climbing at an insane point when Sting began to wrestle again in extremely late 1997/1998, the argument could easily be made that WCW changed focus for a few months until Hogan got greedy and wanted to be champion again. Go look up WCW's ratings post Starrcade 1997 until April 20/1998 when Vince vs Austin was teased.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="delv213" data-cite="delv213" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I still doubt they did good enough business to warrant the contract they gave him during that time. Hogan was a draw, no doubt about it. However BATB1994 was one of the few PPV's prior to 1997 that they actually made money on as the company didn't turn a profit until 1997/1998 when they had the Monday Night Wars on their side.</div></blockquote><p> So you think that Hogan's contract was so big that it was the only thing responsible for them not being able to turn a profit (allegedly)</p><p> </p><p> Please do explain</p>

[delv213]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Teh_Showtime" data-cite="Teh_Showtime" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So you think that Hogan's contract was so big that it was the only thing responsible for them not being able to turn a profit (allegedly)<p> </p><p> Please do explain</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Bishoff admits to WCW only pulling a profit in 1997/1998. Both his book and the WWE DVD reiterate this. </p><p> </p><p> Plus Hogan getting paid $250,000 per appearance. This is included along with his $4,000,000 guaranteed contract. Which is why WCW told Russo to stop booking Hogan in 2000.</p>

[Jaysin]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="delv213" data-cite="delv213" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I'm too young? I'm 21 and I'm fully aware Sting was massively over with the WCW crowd as I was a huge Sting mark going back to as early as 1998 when TSN got it on at a reasonable hour. I know his surfer gimmick was gigantically over prior to the gimmick change but PPV buyrates and TV ratings don't lie, before Hogan came in the WWF had Bret Hart and Kevin Nash outdrawing Sting. Those guys are not elite draws by all means, but that tells you the perception of Sting not being an elite draw until the Crow gimmick. He's not an afterthought at all, however he didn't wrestle a single match for an entire year from 1996/1997 and ratings seemed to increase in that span. Ratings jumped and Hogan/the nWo were all over those shows.<p> </p><p> Of course ratings were climbing at an insane point when Sting began to wrestle again in extremely late 1997/1998, the argument could easily be made that WCW changed focus for a few months until Hogan got greedy and wanted to be champion again. Go look up WCW's ratings post Starrcade 1997 until April 20/1998 when Vince vs Austin was teased.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Sting didn't need to wrestle to garner heat for the storyline and it's one of the finest examples of a slow burn storyline there is. Fans nowadays would never go for it. I was strictly talking about the Sting/Hogan feud and Sting more than carried his weight in the storyline. Sting not wrestling was actually part of the storyline itself. Him prodding people with his bat to test allegiance and the things I previously mentioned were insanely over.</p>

[delv213]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Jaysin" data-cite="Jaysin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Sting didn't need to wrestle to garner heat for the storyline and it's one of the finest examples of a slow burn storyline there is. Fans nowadays would never go for it. I was strictly talking about the Sting/Hogan feud and Sting more than carried his weight in the storyline. Sting not wrestling was actually part of the storyline itself. Him prodding people with his bat to test allegiance and the things I previously mentioned were insanely over.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> We're talking about two different things then. I'm fully aware that Sting vs Hogan may have been the best built feud in history and Starrcade 1997 should've been the WWF's ultimate demise because of that feud alone. I mean a 1.90 buyrate from Starrcade 1997 is up there with Domestic Wrestlemania buyrates of today. However, WCW was built in 1997 around the nWo and specifically Hogan getting heat over whomever he was feuding with at that particular time. It was him getting heat usually by underhand cheating that lead him to beating Piper, Luger, The Giant or whoever he was feuding with at the time and the ending of said match was to lead into a usual "Sting" chant for the save. He was the top babyface, no doubt, WCW however was all about building up the nWo to be that second brand until it's test run flopped the week prior to Starrcade.</p><p> </p><p> Usually when Sting did make the save, he'd immediately attack Virgil sorry "Vincent" as Hogan fled. That's how they built up the Hogan vs Sting feud for nearly a year. And trust me, that happened a lot more then him getting his hands on Hogan. That was Hogan's secondary feud for the majority of the year that intensified after Hogan no longer had any opponents to beat, specifically after his Luger feud ended. That's when we'd see Hogan flee as Sting sent his masked Stingers in there only to be fed a beating. Or as Sting hailed from the rafters with a vulture as Hogan and the rest of the nWo peed their pants. Until then, Hogan had the Nitro show built around his waste and they were ready to give him a separate show to carry which would've been the exclusive nWo themed show but like I wrote in my other paragraph above, that test nWo themed Nitro show bombed hard.</p><p> </p><p> And my main point from my previous post was that Sting wasn't much of a draw as the Surfer Sting and that WCW buyrates weren't that impressive before Hogan came into the fold. Like I said, Bret Hart and Diesel were the main attractions for the WWF that were outdrawing the Sting led WCW. Both Bret and Diesel were far from elite draws. It wasn't until Sting changed his gimmick in late 1996 that he became a elite draw. And that didn't happen over night as Sting had a year of build up before people wanted to see Sting takeout Hogan as Hogan had the brand built around him for years until then.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

<p>You do realize that was the EXACT thing that made Sting/Hogan so anticipated right?</p><p> </p><p>

If two guys fight every week who cares enough to pay money to see it happen? Hogan always getting away just barely made people thirsty to see Sting get to him in an actual match where he would be forced to fight him.</p>

[Arrows]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Teh_Showtime" data-cite="Teh_Showtime" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>You do realize that was the EXACT thing that made Sting/Hogan so anticipated right?<p> </p><p> If two guys fight every week who cares enough to pay money to see it happen? Hogan always getting away just barely made people thirsty to see Sting get to him in an actual match where he would be forced to fight him.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> /nod</p><p> </p><p> Basic theory, worked to perfection. Of course, I honestly believe this is the only way it would have worked. Let's be honest, had Sting not gone Crow when he did, he would've been lost in the shuffle and dropped out of importance as the nWo rose and new faces flooded the scene.</p><p> </p><p> He would've been a midcard act by the end of the second year, and there was no way WCW could let that happen and still have any identity for itself outside of former WWF guys. Just happened to be one great idea, booked almost flawlessly, that saved Sting's career.</p>

[delv213]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Teh_Showtime" data-cite="Teh_Showtime" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>You do realize that was the EXACT thing that made Sting/Hogan so anticipated right?<p> </p><p> If two guys fight every week who cares enough to pay money to see it happen? Hogan always getting away just barely made people thirsty to see Sting get to him in an actual match where he would be forced to fight him.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> That's not what I meant, the show wasn't built around Sting killing Hogan until After Luger/Hogan finished their feud. That's when Bishoff started teasing the crowd that Hogan vs Sting would end in Hogan winning which led to one of Sting's many beatdowns of Bishoff. Until then it had been Luger being built up as the top babyface while he was fed to Hogan.</p><p> </p><p> Sting was a backdrop to whatever the nWo/Hogan was doing until then. Sting wasn't the guy, Hogan was and Hogan was the guy since he walked into WCW. Sting seems to think so aswell.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

<p>It had to be like that. Sting, the capable former hero in the background for the entire year while Hogan runs through the entire roster leaving only Sting as the last hope for WCW.</p><p> </p><p>

Hogan WAS the star of the show both in and out of kayfabe. It's hard to tell a story of a heel dominating the roster at will if the heel isn't really doing that. Nobody will question that Hogan (who at the time was the biggest draw ever) was a bigger draw than Sting but trying to prove that point by pointing out necessities in storylines doesn't work.</p>

[Hive]

<p>Speaking of Sting vs. Hogan, does anyone remember in late 1995 when WCW were testing the waters for a Hogan heel turn... and had the two fight (possibly for Sting's US title, can't recall) a singles match on Nitro? Sting, being the crowd favorite, had Hogan in a Scorpion Deathlock, teasing him winning, when the Dungeon of Doom attacked both and made it a no-contest...</p><p> </p><p>

It's an often overlooked match, with the Starrcade 1997 match being perceived as their first encounter.</p>

[The Swanton825]

I think this is starting to get out of hand, so let's all make our closing arguments before something current gets lost in the shuffle of all our arguing.

 

I guess I did exaggerate a bit by saying he was never the top guy. Hogan was the man to audiences outside the south and booking team treated him as such. But, at least in my opinion, he wasn't nearly as loved in the south aka: WCW's home turf. I didn't even say that his heel turn hurt business, in fact it helped WCW because of how the southern fans hated him, they didn't just hate Hogan himself, they hated what he embodied at the time, Vince's takeover in the 80's.

 

Because a lot of the people in the crowd were raised on nothing but old school wrestling, and Hogan was the man who, in their eyes, helped nearly take all of it away from them. In essence, to many people in the WCW audience anytime they were anywhere between DC and Jacksonville, Hogan was the WWF in human form.So when they turned him heel, it did mega (that still feels like an understatement) business because not only did they have the usual "Betrayal!" cries from his fans, they had the "I knew he was an ass!" cries from his detractors. It, either intentionally or unintentionally, took advantage of nearly every way a heel turn could go well, all at once.

 

My point was that, while doing all this, they had a safety net in Sting (alongside Luger, who I forgot about) as a top guy, perhaps not the top guy, but close enough to it that the fans upset about Hogan had a guy they could reasonably believe in to fight him and in doing so, buy enough merch to supplant what they (initially) lost with Hogan's turn. And I personally don't think WWE has anyone remotely close to Cena's enduring popularity, as much as I hope Bryan can prove me wrong.

[RayW]

Speaking of Sting vs. Hogan, does anyone remember in late 1995 when WCW were testing the waters for a Hogan heel turn... and had the two fight (possibly for Sting's US title, can't recall) a singles match on Nitro? Sting, being the crowd favorite, had Hogan in a Scorpion Deathlock, teasing him winning, when the Dungeon of Doom attacked both and made it a no-contest...

 

It's an often overlooked match, with the Starrcade 1997 match being perceived as their first encounter.

Was this just after Hogan lost the title to The Giant, and Hogan wore all black for a few weeks? Or am I thinking something else?

[Hive]

Was this just after Hogan lost the title to The Giant, and Hogan wore all black for a few weeks? Or am I thinking something else?

 

Yeah, that's the time. He was convinced everyone around him had betrayed him because Jimmy Hart had, iirc.

[Blackman]

Didn't realise the A-train is commenting on NXT. Awesome.

[The Swanton825]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blackman" data-cite="Blackman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Didn't realise the A-train is commenting on NXT. Awesome.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I love A-Train's commentary, he's the fun uncle of NXT.</p>

[milamber]

<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>NXT Review:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Paige</strong> - Backstage, JBL forced her to give up the NXT Womens Title. A tournament will crown the new Champion. This was filmed especially for this pre-taped episode and they had to edit out her entrance later.</p><p> <strong>Rusev vs Tyler</strong> - Pointless squash. The crowd were singing Adam Rose's theme song.</p><p> <strong>Charlotte & Sasha vs Emma & Paige</strong> - Good match. Charlotte pinned Paige. Charlotte has improved more than any diva in the last few months.</p><p> <strong>Kidd vs Ryan</strong> - Solid match. Kidd got the pin after a neckbreaker from the turnbuckle. He even cut a promo, putting over himself and NXT. I hope he sticks around.</p><p> <strong>Dawkins vs Breeze</strong> - Squash match to give Breeze another win. They need to build him up for a title shot.</p><p> <strong>Graves & The Ascension vs Zayn & The Usos</strong> - Good match. Jey pinned Graves. First time I've seen The Ascension dominated like this. The best spot was the Usos no-selling Victor cracking their heads together, Samoan-style.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Verdict:</strong> An overdue return to form after the post-Arrival slump.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Swanton825" data-cite="The Swanton825" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I love A-Train's commentary, he's the fun uncle of NXT.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Jason Albert is pretty funny. Screaming "bubbles" and dancing during Emma's entrance. Calling Rusev's language "Bulgarese".</p><p> </p><p> I finally found out who the 3 women were in Triple H's WM30 entrance -- Sasha Banks, Charlotte & Alexa Bliss. Almost unrecognisable at the time.</p><p> </p><p> <span>http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/milamber/10178954_10154005724390106_621109194_o_zps6e6da33e.jpg~original</span></p><p> <span>http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/milamber/00243_zps88fd611e.jpg~original</span><span>http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/milamber/00143_zpsb7396a0a.jpg~original</span></p>