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

[1234]

<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>What's really done it is the WWE Network. Ever since the announcement their stock has gone through the roof.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> While the network has probably helped, I think the biggest factor is the TV negotiations. No idea what the current expectations are, but in the past I have heard they were expecting to double (or more) their domestic TV rights.</p><p> </p><p> I am curious to see what happens to the stock price when something gets announced about their TV future.</p>

[bigtplaystew]

<p>"I will bury Daniel Bryan" lol.</p><p> </p><p>

Triple H is hilarious.</p>

[Guest codey]

<p>I'm not the biggest fan of Bo Dallas. In fact, I think he's one of the most mediocre guys to get a push in a while, even if it is only on NXT. That said, I love his character. Crowd chants boring at him? He responds with, "This is Bo's ring! This is Bo's ring!" No more Bo? "I think it's great that my fans want to know me more."</p><p> </p><p>

Keep him in developmental until he actually gets good and give him a decent haircut, and I can see him being a solid midcarder on the main roster, sort of like where Fandango's at right now.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

He's only 22 so he has time to grow into something amazing like his brother did after his initial main roster sting (Wyatt is only 26 I think) but I have no idea why they are hell bent on making him a big deal so soon.

[lazorbeak]

I'm not the biggest fan of Bo Dallas. In fact, I think he's one of the most mediocre guys to get a push in a while, even if it is only on NXT. That said, I love his character. Crowd chants boring at him? He responds with, "This is Bo's ring! This is Bo's ring!" No more Bo? "I think it's great that my fans want to know me more."

 

Keep him in developmental until he actually gets good and give him a decent haircut, and I can see him being a solid midcarder on the main roster, sort of like where Fandango's at right now.

 

He's got enough entertainment potential that I think he'd be better served being on the main roster and building experience with live crowds. They've got plenty of guys who can help train him in house show matches while he wrestles 3 minute matches on TV and gets his character over.

 

That said, this is a company that took a 6'7" dude who could work, talk, and was a natural heel and managed to turn him into a complete joke, so clearly their talent evaluations aren't the same as mine.

[milamber]

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

<strong>Triple H</strong> - Masterclass trolling and a promise to bury Bryan at WM30. He called out Sandow to apologize.</p><p>

<strong>Sandow vs Rollins</strong> - Solid match followed by a Shield beatdown. Shame the match was so short because they worked well together.</p><p>

<strong>Fandango vs Big E</strong> - Squash match won by Big E.</p><p>

<strong>Real Americans vs Rhodes Bros</strong> - Good match dominated by the Real Americans. Goldust never got tagged in. Cody got busted open. Cesaro was suprisingly in full heel mode. The audience chanted along to "We the People." Swagger and Cesaro were making unwanted tags and arguing at the end, much to Zeb's disgust. Cody rolled up Swagger for the win. The Real Americans assaulted the Rhodes Bros after the match. The Usos made the save (planting the seed for a future title feud). A+ booking.</p><p>

<strong>Bray vs Kofi</strong> - Good match. Kofi fought hard but Bray won clean.</p><p>

<strong>Ziggler vs Del Rio</strong> - Fast-paced MOTN with lots of exciting near-fall spots. Ziggler won and gave a passionate in-ring interview with Renee.</p><p>

<strong>Kane vs Show</strong> - OK because it was short. Show won and the Shield laid out Kane (who had tried to recruit them earlier).</p><p> </p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Verdict:</span></strong> Good show but ending with Show & Kane was a bad idea.</p>

[dpoolez]

<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>WWE's stock has basically tripled since 2012 which turned him back into a billionaire</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Youd think with the decline in ratings mixed with the fans/smark doom and gloom that hed still be just a millionaire. The WWE network mustve really been that big of a deal then, and in that case I expect him to exceed that when the fans start to really buy into the network the way that they potentially can.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="dpoolez" data-cite="dpoolez" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Youd think with the decline in ratings mixed with the fans/smark doom and gloom that hed still be just a millionaire. The WWE network mustve really been that big of a deal then, and in that case I expect him to exceed that when the fans start to really buy into the network the way that they potentially can.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Ratings in general beyond WWE have been declining for years. WWE has hovered around 3.0 for years and years now while their PPV buys in some cases are rising even.</p>

[Jaysin]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="lazorbeak" data-cite="lazorbeak" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>That said, this is a company that took a 6'7" dude who could work, talk, and was a natural heel and managed to turn him into a complete joke, so clearly their talent evaluations aren't the same as mine.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Which guy are you referring to? I'm guessing Drew McIntyre.</p>

[lazorbeak]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="dpoolez" data-cite="dpoolez" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Youd think with the decline in ratings mixed with the fans/smark doom and gloom that hed still be just a millionaire. The WWE network mustve really been that big of a deal then, and in that case I expect him to exceed that when the fans start to really buy into the network the way that they potentially can.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> The ratings haven't "declined," as mentioned; they're actually up proportionally from where they were 5-6 years ago. And it's a combination of the network and the new domestic TV deal they're negotiating for right now that's causing their stock to get a bit artificially inflated.</p><p> </p><p> </p><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>Which guy are you referring to? I'm guessing Drew McIntyre.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> WWE's use of talent is so bad it's hard to tell! I was actually referring to Wade Barrett!</p>

[milamber]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="lazorbeak" data-cite="lazorbeak" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>WWE's use of talent is so bad it's hard to tell! I was actually referring to Wade Barrett!</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Strangely enough, since the BNB gimmick I've enjoyed Barrett more than I ever have since his Nexus days. If they could find a way to make him as entertaining in the ring I'd be happy.</p>

[Jaysin]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="lazorbeak" data-cite="lazorbeak" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>WWE's use of talent is so bad it's hard to tell! I was actually referring to Wade Barrett!</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Ha! Definitely a dropped ball on Barrett. When NXT started I really thought "wow, this guy is going to be a star".</p><p> </p><p> Look how that turned out.</p>

[Target Practice]

<p>Seeing as it's all a bit quiet at the moment with WWE's bookers seemingly acting in a vaguely sensible manner and no signs of CM Punk on the horizon, I figured this might be an interesting discussion to have - it's one me and a couple of buddies were having a few nights ago:</p><p> </p><p>

If you could give one, and <em>only</em> one wrestler a guaranteed main-event push for a good period of time (let's say six months), who would it be?</p><p> </p><p>

When making your answer, take into consideration the current state of the roster (ie faces/heels, viable feuds etc), as well as how likely that wrestler would be to make the most of that push and establish themselves as a mainstay at the top.</p><p> </p><p>

(As an added debate-stirrer, we agreed to ban guys who are currently already being pushed reasonably well, eg: Reigns, Rollins, Wyatt, Bryan, Cesaro)</p><p> </p><p>

For my pick, I took the easy option - Dolph Ziggler. The guy just has something about him - he's very rarely in bad matches, he's passionate about what he does, he can work a mic, and the crowd love him. I'd love to see him given a proper heel run against someone like Cena (obviously the game implies that Ziggler would be getting pushed, so Cena can't bury him), because on the rare occasions he's had a chance to dial up the intensity, he's been very good. Even now, when he's just aimlessly darting from opponent to opponent in the midcard, he just seems like he's only a couple of lucky breaks away from really breaking out.</p>

[Jaysin]

So I read something about there being five WCW pay per views missing from WWE Network and after browsing the internet for awhile I found these. The first four were internet only pay per views and the fifth was a German only pay per view that I knew of anyway.

 

Boston Brawl

Malice at the Palace

Profiles in Pain

LA Melee

Millennium Final

 

I didn't even know internet pay per views were a thing in 1998, let alone something WCW did. Does anyone remember these shows even being acknowledged on WCW television? I was around 11 when the iPPVs occurred and don't really recall anything about them.

[Teh_Showtime]

Wasnt the LA one pretty big? I remember hearing about that around 98 stuff when rewatching it

[dpoolez]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Target Practice" data-cite="Target Practice" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Seeing as it's all a bit quiet at the moment with WWE's bookers seemingly acting in a vaguely sensible manner and no signs of CM Punk on the horizon, I figured this might be an interesting discussion to have - it's one me and a couple of buddies were having a few nights ago:<p> </p><p> If you could give one, and <em>only</em> one wrestler a guaranteed main-event push for a good period of time (let's say six months), who would it be?</p><p> </p><p> When making your answer, take into consideration the current state of the roster (ie faces/heels, viable feuds etc), as well as how likely that wrestler would be to make the most of that push and establish themselves as a mainstay at the top.</p><p> </p><p> (As an added debate-stirrer, we agreed to ban guys who are currently already being pushed reasonably well, eg: Reigns, Rollins, Wyatt, Bryan, Cesaro)</p><p> </p><p> For my pick, I took the easy option - Dolph Ziggler. The guy just has something about him - he's very rarely in bad matches, he's passionate about what he does, he can work a mic, and the crowd love him. I'd love to see him given a proper heel run against someone like Cena (obviously the game implies that Ziggler would be getting pushed, so Cena can't bury him), because on the rare occasions he's had a chance to dial up the intensity, he's been very good. Even now, when he's just aimlessly darting from opponent to opponent in the midcard, he just seems like he's only a couple of lucky breaks away from really breaking out.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I have a few:</p><p> </p><p> The Miz (this time booked as a non-joke)</p><p> Jack Swagger</p><p> Dolph Ziggler (mainly because of the reaction he gets from the crowd)</p><p> Christian (although its probably a few years too late for this)</p><p> Ryback</p><p> </p><p> Out of my list, Id go with Jack Swagger first. He was so good on ECW and even up until he won the WHC, then the Big Show feud happened and he was buried over time. Even his current push is doing more good for Cesaro currently than it is for him.</p><p> </p><p> If WWE just didnt screw with his ECW character, Swagger character wise would've been one of the best things going.</p>

[bigtplaystew]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Target Practice" data-cite="Target Practice" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Seeing as it's all a bit quiet at the moment with WWE's bookers seemingly acting in a vaguely sensible manner and no signs of CM Punk on the horizon, I figured this might be an interesting discussion to have - it's one me and a couple of buddies were having a few nights ago:<p> </p><p> If you could give one, and <em>only</em> one wrestler a guaranteed main-event push for a good period of time (let's say six months), who would it be?</p><p> </p><p> When making your answer, take into consideration the current state of the roster (ie faces/heels, viable feuds etc), as well as how likely that wrestler would be to make the most of that push and establish themselves as a mainstay at the top.</p><p> </p><p> (As an added debate-stirrer, we agreed to ban guys who are currently already being pushed reasonably well, eg: Reigns, Rollins, Wyatt, Bryan, Cesaro)</p><p> </p><p> For my pick, I took the easy option - Dolph Ziggler. The guy just has something about him - he's very rarely in bad matches, he's passionate about what he does, he can work a mic, and the crowd love him. I'd love to see him given a proper heel run against someone like Cena (obviously the game implies that Ziggler would be getting pushed, so Cena can't bury him), because on the rare occasions he's had a chance to dial up the intensity, he's been very good. Even now, when he's just aimlessly darting from opponent to opponent in the midcard, he just seems like he's only a couple of lucky breaks away from really breaking out.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> For Me? Kofi Kingston. I love the guy's in ring work and I simply feel he "deserves" it. He's traditionally the prototypical mid carder that puts on good matches. And they need guys at that level. But I wish he was mixing it up at the top of the card. I thought his matches with Orton were some of Randy's best work on regular TV. Kofi brings out good matches in people so I want to see him up against the best guys in the company. Will he sell PPVs? Probably not but I'd want to give him a solid shot to find out.</p>

[Jaysin]

<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>For Me? Kofi Kingston. I love the guy's in ring work and I simply feel he "deserves" it. He's traditionally the prototypical mid carder that puts on good matches. And they need guys at that level. But I wish he was mixing it up at the top of the card. I thought his matches with Orton were some of Randy's best work on regular TV. Kofi brings out good matches in people so I want to see him up against the best guys in the company. Will he sell PPVs? Probably not but I'd want to give him a solid shot to find out.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> The problem with Kofi is the only two things that have changed about him in the 7 years in the company are his accent and the switch to long tights. His character hasn't evolved in anyway at all and I doubt it will any time soon.</p>

[GhostDogg]

<p>I broke down and got the WWE Network. </p><p> </p><p>

First thing I watched? NXT arrival. and you know Cesaro vs Zayn (Generico)- 5 Star match. </p><p> </p><p>

My Dream Match: Adrian Nevelle (PAC) vs Evan Bourne .</p><p> </p><p>

the second thing I would watch.</p><p> </p><p>

Slamboree 98, and I watched Chris Jericho vs Ciclope (Which is later revealed to be Dean Malenko) and DDP vs Raven in Bowlery Death Match...</p><p> </p><p>

And then ECW One Night Stand. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Oh yeah... I guess I better get my divorce papers ready... because shes gonna divorce me after this...</p>

[Basmat01]

<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>So I read something about there being five WCW pay per views missing from WWE Network and after browsing the internet for awhile I found these. The first four were internet only pay per views and the fifth was a German only pay per view that I knew of anyway.<p> </p><p> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Brawl" rel="external nofollow">Boston Brawl</a></p><p> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCW_Malice_at_The_Palace" rel="external nofollow">Malice at the Palace</a></p><p> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profiles_in_Pain" rel="external nofollow">Profiles in Pain</a></p><p> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Melee" rel="external nofollow">LA Melee</a></p><p> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Final" rel="external nofollow">Millennium Final</a></p><p> </p><p> I didn't even know internet pay per views were a thing in 1998, let alone something WCW did. Does anyone remember these shows even being acknowledged on WCW television? I was around 11 when the iPPVs occurred and don't really recall anything about them.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> are we sure they arent just televised house shows? 3 had the same mainevent lol and most of the cards really just had a few changes but seemed pretty much the same.</p>

[Jaysin]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Basmat01" data-cite="Basmat01" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>are we sure they arent just televised house shows? 3 had the same mainevent lol and most of the cards really just had a few changes but seemed pretty much the same.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> They do look like house shows, but they're all listed as Internet pay per view</p>

[Basmat01]

<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>They do look like house shows, but they're all listed as Internet pay per view</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I didnt think Hogan got out of bed for crowds any less then 10,000</p>

[RKOwnage]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Target Practice" data-cite="Target Practice" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Seeing as it's all a bit quiet at the moment with WWE's bookers seemingly acting in a vaguely sensible manner and no signs of CM Punk on the horizon, I figured this might be an interesting discussion to have - it's one me and a couple of buddies were having a few nights ago:<p> </p><p> If you could give one, and <em>only</em> one wrestler a guaranteed main-event push for a good period of time (let's say six months), who would it be?</p><p> </p><p> When making your answer, take into consideration the current state of the roster (ie faces/heels, viable feuds etc), as well as how likely that wrestler would be to make the most of that push and establish themselves as a mainstay at the top.</p><p> </p><p> (As an added debate-stirrer, we agreed to ban guys who are currently already being pushed reasonably well, eg: Reigns, Rollins, Wyatt, Bryan, Cesaro)</p><p> </p><p> For my pick, I took the easy option - Dolph Ziggler. The guy just has something about him - he's very rarely in bad matches, he's passionate about what he does, he can work a mic, and the crowd love him. I'd love to see him given a proper heel run against someone like Cena (obviously the game implies that Ziggler would be getting pushed, so Cena can't bury him), because on the rare occasions he's had a chance to dial up the intensity, he's been very good. Even now, when he's just aimlessly darting from opponent to opponent in the midcard, he just seems like he's only a couple of lucky breaks away from really breaking out.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Damien Sandow in a heartbeat. He is my favorite type of heel and I think that with a bit more ferocity, he can actually become more than just a Genius clone. Dude went from MitB winner, pretty good feud with Cody, to jobbing to Khali... Sandow is awesome.</p><p> </p><p> Ziggler's a more realistic one though, for all the reasons you said.</p>

[djthefunkchris]

Swagger with his WWE/ECW character. He was mainly why I watched the show, I thought for sure he would have been something quite a bit more then he is now, by now. Don't get me wrong, I liked his whole run with Cesaro, and I am a fan of Cesaro since his debut, but Swagger's first character in WWE on ECW was just for lack of words, cool.

[RayW]

<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>So I read something about there being five WCW pay per views missing from WWE Network and after browsing the internet for awhile I found these. The first four were internet only pay per views and the fifth was a German only pay per view that I knew of anyway.<p> </p><p> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Brawl" rel="external nofollow">Boston Brawl</a></p><p> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCW_Malice_at_The_Palace" rel="external nofollow">Malice at the Palace</a></p><p> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profiles_in_Pain" rel="external nofollow">Profiles in Pain</a></p><p> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Melee" rel="external nofollow">LA Melee</a></p><p> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Final" rel="external nofollow">Millennium Final</a></p><p> </p><p> I didn't even know internet pay per views were a thing in 1998, let alone something WCW did. Does anyone remember these shows even being acknowledged on WCW television? I was around 11 when the iPPVs occurred and don't really recall anything about them.</p></div></blockquote><p> The first four were on line only, I believe only on AOL too, and they didn't include a live video feed, it was audio only. It was like listening to sport on the radio. I don't believe they sold very well, and in the end they stopped doing them. The Millineum Final was a German only PPV, and I don't even think they released it on VHS. I'm not sure why it's not on the Network but I wouldn't be surprised if the only feed they have of it is with German commentary.</p>