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

[Makhai]

So like NXT used to be. I can't really explain why i stopped watching. I like Gargano.

 

I hardly know anyone from that release list (Martinez & Fish). MM was too old to get anywhere apart from a random 'indy dream match'.

 

I also wouldn't describe Vince as a genius. He was a visionary and a great businessman who took a risk. And it turned out right because he was surrounded well. I guess it might take a genius to pick the right staff. Let's just say he's succesfull.

 

Sometimes I forget you guys are European, by and large, and got to miss out on the Trump Era of American Iconoclast. I'm jealous.

[CQI13]

It will never happen but if NXT was streaming only I'd watch it again. As it is, I just watch the events like I do with the main roster. Even if they go the FCW model they need some vets, even if you just rotate them with different feuds.

[Jaysin]

Yeah, if NXT got off USA and back only on Peacock/Network I'd be more interested personally. There was a sizable drop in quality once they switched to USA and moved to two hours.

 

I understand they probably make bank off NXT on USA, but it almost feels over produced like Raw and Smackdown now.

[crownsy]

Yeah, if NXT got off USA and back only on Peacock/Network I'd be more interested personally. There was a sizable drop in quality once they switched to USA and moved to two hours.

 

I understand they probably make bank off NXT on USA, but it almost feels over produced like Raw and Smackdown now.

 

Yea, My wife and I were big NXT on the network fans.

 

The minute it got on TV and Vince started to care about if it was or was not beating AEW and everything started to get hot shot around, generally became another version of Raw/Smackdown, ect we were out.

 

Sucks, I loved the golden age of NXT.

 

It is what it is I guess, Vince is about to turn 76 and clearly has no interest in modern wrestling.

 

he wants roided up guys 6'2 and over, and young women with nice puppies.

 

Can't teach an old dog new tricks I suppose. Doesn't help he's now got Pritchard and Johnny Ace as his yes men.

[Woodsmeister]

I used to watch NXT every week back in the day and WWE ppvs when it was on the network but when Joe, Owens, American Alpha etc moved up I lost interest, got back into it when Ciampa, Gargano, Black and McIntyre were around but again when that wave moved on I stopped watching all together

 

I watch some AEW when I have time but other than Rumble to Mania I just read the results and YouTube clips now - no long term direction and people I feel deserve the push not getting used or made to look silly.

 

Reigns family fued did have me watch a few shows and PPVs but it seems to have flatlined again.

 

Triple H has that much money don’t see why he doesn’t leave and do his own thing. Nash, Hall, XPac and Michaels running a fed would be pretty sweet.

[Matt_Black]

I tried watching NXT when it was on the Network. It was either the week before or after the Evolution PPV (that was awesome, why haven't we done more of that?), and I was not impressed. The commentary did a poor job, and one of the matches was The Street Profits fighting The Mighty... over a plastic cup. I didn't finish the show.

[Jaysin]

So apparently 205 Live has been using heavyweights on the show? Why even bother with the show anymore at this point.

[crownsy]

So apparently 205 Live has been using heavyweights on the show? Why even bother with the show anymore at this point.

 

I didn't even know it was still a show TBH

[Jaysin]

SummerSlam is tonight and for like the third or fourth year in a row it doesn't remotely feel like the second biggest show of WWE's year.

 

Reigns vs Cena should be fun though regardless.

[CQI13]

So apparently 205 Live has been using heavyweights on the show? Why even bother with the show anymore at this point.

 

Should have gone away when it stopped being Live...at least rebrand it

[a0161613]

Reigns vs Cena should be fun though regardless.

Reigns is as hot as anyone right now & Cena is a legend. So I fully expect a top class match.

[Blodyxe]

Just looked at the Summerslam card, and nothing jumps out at me. Slightly interested in Joe/Kross for Takeover, but that's that. I guess you can me an AEW shill now

[Jaysin]

Reigns is as hot as anyone right now & Cena is a legend. So I fully expect a top class match.

 

Yeah, I have high hopes for it honestly. There's a few other promising matches on the show, but other than Reigns/Cena, nothing really feels must see at all.

 

 

Just looked at the Summerslam card, and nothing jumps out at me. Slightly interested in Joe/Kross for Takeover, but that's that. I guess you can me an AEW shill now

 

Like I said above, the only "must see" match is Reigns/Cena. Everything else sounds like matches from Raw or Smackdown. I do love me some RKBro though honestly. They're super fun. As for Takeover, the only match that sticks out to me for that is Dragunov vs Walter.

 

I will say though, I don't think there's anything WWE can do this weekend that will feel as special as CM Punk joining AEW yesterday.

[Blodyxe]

Like I said above, the only "must see" match is Reigns/Cena.

Maybe for someone who is invested into the current WWE product. I don't feel anything about that bout. Yeah they are two big stars, but I don't feel the hype, if there's any. Perhaps I've fully turned into the indy smark mark merchant B)

[Jaysin]

Maybe for someone who is invested into the current WWE product. I don't feel anything about that bout. Yeah they are two big stars, but I don't feel the hype, if there's any. Perhaps I've fully turned into the indy smark mark merchant B)

 

I'm not really invested in the current product. There are segments I watch, like RKBro stuff and the Cena/Roman stuff. But outside of that, I haven't watched a whole episode of Raw or Smackdown in months

[Jaysin]

AEW has an insane CM Punk debut and WWE follows it up with Becky Lynch's return.

 

It's not often that I give WWE props and I may care more about Punk/AEW, but Becky returning is huge. Good for them.

 

Squashing Bianca is horseshit though

[aXminster]

Apparently Fox was not very happy with Punk returning on AEW

 

They got Becky and Lesnar on SmackDown now lol

[Jaysin]

SummerSlam thoughts:

 

RK-Bro vs Styles/Omos was really fun. Limiting Omos to his spots is protecting him in a big way. Working with pros like Randy and Styles also elevates Riddle and Omos just by association. I'm obviously a massive Styles and Riddle fan, but Riddle and Orton have undeniable chemistry in and out of the ring and it makes for a really fun time. I think if given another 8-10 minutes, they could have had a show stealing match.

 

Alexa vs Eva was garbage plain and simple. Alexa's character is awful. Eva's character is awful. Everything about this is awful. Hopefully the rumors about ending the Lily/Female Fiend trash is true and this shit ends.

 

Priest beating Sheamus in a fun brawl was a treat. I find it funny that workers typically get worse by going to WWE, but somehow Damian Priest has turned into one of the better workers on the roster. I hated him as Punishment Martinez and when WWE signed him I was flabbergasted and now I love him. Crazy.

 

The Usos vs Mysterios was just there. There's talent involved, but it felt like a run of the mill tv match, not a big title defense. Rey's Macho Man gear was dope though.

 

Becky Lynch returning went from being super cool, to super dumb. There were 50,000+ fans, but somehow CM Punk in front of a Chicago audience of 15,000+ got a bigger reaction on Rampage. I'm excited Becky's back, but did they have to destroy what they've built with Bianca?

 

Drew vs Jinder was trash. I have zero interested in either guy and Drew waving around a sword is dumb as hell. It was dumb when it was part of his entrance and it's even dumber now that he's swinging it around. I think Jinder is a decent worker and Drew is obviously good, but this feud sucks and makes everyone involved look worse.

 

Charlotte vs Nikki vs Ripley was pretty good, but "lolCharlottewins" is beyond annoying at this point. I also despise Nikki's gimmick and hate that Ripley isn't even second fiddle, she's the third wheel to a dumb ass super hero and Super Charlotte.

 

Edge with the Brood entrance was one of the moments of the night. I had zero expectations from this because I can't stand Rollins, but ended up being very entertained. I still don't like Rollins, but the match was very good.

 

Lashley thankfully beat Goldberg in one of Oldberg's better matches in recent memory. Obviously not a technical masterclass or anything, but for Big Bill, it was a decent showing. Lashley looked like a beast destroying both Bill and Bill's teenage son. The crowd cheering for Lashley and MVP was mega cool. I love them together and Lashley has held the belt far longer than I expected. He's genuinely one of my favorite world champions in recent memory. Also, the crowd popped for Lashley putting a teenage boy in the Hurt Lock

 

Roman vs Cena was as good as expected. There was a nice callback to SummerSlam 2008 with the diving Fameasser/powerbomb spot. Great match that deserves as many views as possible.

 

Lesnar returning looking like a viking as a babyface is surprisingly refreshing. Not sure I want to see Lesnar and Roman tangle again, but the roles being reversed with Heyman being on the opposite side of the ring from Lesnar is a good hook.

 

Overall, SummerSlam was a surprisingly decent show. I went in with very low expectations for everything except the main event and had a good time for the most part. I do hate that we are going to see Goldberg vs Lashley again though. I'm a big fan of Goldberg's WCW run and his original WWE run, but I just don't want to see him at all these days.

[MightyDavidson]

Apparently Fox was not very happy with Punk returning on AEW

 

They got Becky and Lesnar on SmackDown now lol

 

They'll be even more upset when they realize Brock's contract means he doesn't actually have to appear on TV a lot.

[CQI13]

Admittedly I don't watch much of the weekly programming, but hopefully we get a tougher Bianca going forward. She's the "EST" but all I ever saw were clips of her being all "aww shucks so glad to be champ." Even the reaction to Lynch coming back was too "just glad to be here" when it should have been "if not Sasha tonight, you're a worthy opponent to beat." Forget the champ part, just on the "EST" part I am expecting a tougher character from her.

 

Goldberg apparently has one more match, so unless he signs for one more he isn't beating Lashley to then drop it to Cena or someone else. Turning off social media before/during the show does wonders for the enjoyment on my part.

 

I don't need great in ring work if the character/stories are entertaining. Drew hasn't done much for me in a while. Don't care so much about his story outside of WWE to care about the comeback/title win. Even with the botched execution of his run I find Mahalo to be more entertaining.

 

On the Lesnar front, happy he's back. I wonder if they are going to have a match down the line where Heyman turns on Reigns to align with Lesnar again - Reigns doesn't need a mouthpiece. Whatever way they go, I'll just enjoy the ride.

 

As for the Evolution PPV mentioned earlier, if it never comes back it would be too soon. There is not enough appeal for it or it would have been done again.

[Matt_Black]

See, this is EXACTLY why I wasn't buying it when they tried to peddle "Oh, Bray's release was purely due to budgetary concerns" nonsense.

[CQI13]

Unless Bray says and WWF confirms we will never know the real reason. One rumor was that he was out for a while, wasn't ready for Mania, asked for more time, and then made a fuss about his next program.

 

But I guess the main question would be...what difference does it make? (Not trying to be combative, just that it doesn't change anything. What if the reason reflects poorly on Bray and they are deciding to go with the generic "budget cuts"?)

[Matt_Black]

All I know is that it takes a lot of chutzpah to have Roman Reigns go out and say CM Punk wasn't a draw, then bring out the guy who was champion for some of the lowest rated episodes of Monday Night RAW in the show's history.

[eayragt]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Matt_Black" data-cite="Matt_Black" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>All I know is that it takes a lot of chutzpah to have Roman Reigns go out and say CM Punk wasn't a draw, then bring out the guy who was champion for some of the lowest rated episodes of Monday Night RAW in the show's history.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Although, as already pointed out in this thread, that's not what he said. He also never claimed that he was as big a draw as Cena / Orton.</p>

[Matt_Black]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="eayragt" data-cite="eayragt" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Although, as already pointed out in this thread, that's not what he said. He also never claimed that he was as big a draw as Cena / Orton.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> He also said CM Punk never moved the needle, and since reports suggest that The First Dance may have had as much as 57% increase over Rampage's debut episode, I think we can say that's categorically false. I have to wonder if RAW's ratings have had a 57% increase once Orton came back from injury....</p>