They’re doing a second hour of NXT on the Network? Kind of a cool idea, I guess.
They’re doing a second hour of NXT on the Network? Kind of a cool idea, I guess.
it's just this week because of the suits finale. from next week on its two hours live on USA.
Fair enough.Originally Posted by Tainted Eclipse
I know I’m going to sound like an asshole here, but fuck it; I can’t stand The Velveteen Dream. He’s not a bad wrestler bell to bell, but the fruity ass “Prince, But I’m A Wrestler” thing doesn’t do it for me. He’s just some goofy asshole who dresses like Grimace and he’s so far up his own ass he’s going to create his own black hole. He’d make a great egotistical prick heel, but I won’t cheer somebody who looks like he wants to ask me why his doves are crying.
Last edited by Spudz Mackenzie; September 18th, 2019 at 8:59 PM.
The Artist Formerly Known As North American Champion.
I thought it was this way next week, also?
To be faaaaiiiir
I think egotistical prick heel is the only future for him and if I had any faith at all that Vince would get it I'd say it's a bright one.
Originally I thought perhaps his gimmick was a little too weak and fluffy myself. Then they did the angle where all he wanted was for Aleister Black to just acknowledge him and say his name. That story and match were simply amazing. It pegged Dream as someone who, deep inside, needed very badly to earn respect. And that made his character work for me.
Some minor technical/production flubs but the show was fire. Really good mix of storytelling, character development, and in-ring work. I like the slight changes they made to the stage entrance, tron, and ramp. The lighting looked a little bit different, too, which was nice.
They're really going to be fine with the extra hour if they add 205 Live talent and the title on a regular basis, and sprinkle in the UK talent.
It was one episode, but this didn't feel like wholesale changes to the overall product and that should be comforting to those who had concerns going into this change. It would be nice if the advertising of the show, which promised a change from the norm (Raw and Smackdown), actually played out. One week...so far, so good.
The one changed I hoped for is that prick in the Everton football shirt wouldn't be there in the front row.
He was.
Wasn't in his usual same place, though.
That douche has been on more NXT episodes than any wrestler, commentator or chair. I worry about him when he's not visible.
I was somewhat surprised Ciampa's video that he tweeted wasn't used on the broadcast, but I could see that being something they save showing until they actually have a firm idea in mind on when he will be back.
*drum roll*
NXT drew just under 1.2 million viewers. To be exact, it was 1,179,000. I'd say that's a good start.
They should really factor in recordings and watching it later, cause I recorded that shit and watched it today, and I'm willing to beat there's at least 24 other people who've done the same.
They do. That's just the straight up numbers. They do +3 and +7 numbers but those aren't really talking point numbers unless you're grasping at straws to try to pump your show up.
Frickin' a, that's a pretty good debut.
A little more detail:
The show ranked as the fourth-most watched show on cable for the key 18-49 demo, ranking behind American Horror Story, Basketball Wives, and Black Ink Crew.
The show that preempted the second hour, Suits, recorded 955k viewers. That was the penultimate episode for the series.
USA aired a full hour of NXT back in 2017, a best-of, and that drew 841k viewers.
Raw for this week had 2.272 million viewers and Smackdown had 2.064 million viewers, meaning NXT recorded about 52 percent viewership of what Raw did and 57 percent viewership of what Smackdown did.
I would say this is definitely a positive note for NXT. I thought WWE did a rather bland job in terms of advertising the show. In terms of quantity of advertising, I'd say it was decent but I didn't think the actual quality of the advertising wasn't that good. This also tells me that USA is generally SOL without WWE. They just can't cut it for consistently churning out quality original programming.
So, I've been reading and seeing something about some sort of "production snafu" that happened on the show. I came in a bit late, caught the entire Four-Way Women's match after entrances and watched the whole show on TV. So, where was this big, bad production botch? Is Bucky Beaver Teeth Motherfucker slipping in his old age? Or do WWE use Full Sail's interns as their in-house production team for NXT?
I might have missed that article. I heard that were some issues with the switch over to the Network for the 2nd hour because of traffic, everyone logging in and trying to watch it but other than that I haven't heard anything....
The only thing I really noticed was that you could faintly hear someone on a mic signaling for people to do something during the last few seconds of the second hour's broadcast.
Loved that from start to finish, pretty much. Great way to open with the women and it was a great match. Loved Dunne and Ruas and also loved Lorcan and Rush. Surprised to see Lio pick up the win, but I’m pleased to see him back.
Dream and Strong was pretty good and the end was pretty wild. Big thumbs up on week one, but we shall see. I hope this continues, obviously.
I also see they’re back to announcing Belfast as being in Ireland, even though the commentators say Northern Ireland. Perhaps a slip by the ring announcer, but Finlay was announced as being from Ireland for years, so. Small point in the grand scheme of things.
Imperium "invading" "the real" NXT is a really cool idea.
Hopefully we get some Imperium vs. Undisputed Era action.
it will be Imperium vs. KUSHIDA, Matt Riddle, and Street Profits
Big tough badasses vs the "so-called silly shit"
Velveteen is obviously taking the NXT Title from Cole
Shame us UKers can’t realistically watch this every week until Friday night. And I tend to be busy at the weekends, so it’ll actually be Sunday for me. Still, can’t complain too much.
And I hope it is Velveteen who takes it from Cole.
Waět has a channel picked it up in the UK yet or are we just getting the second hour on the Network?
Sky's deal ends soon, so can't see them bothering.
We get the second hour on the Network live. If we want to watch the whole 2 hours, it's available 24 hours later, so at about 1am on the Friday morning. On the Network.
I’ll take that.
NxT is LIVE TONIGHT at 8PM ET at Full Sail University.
TV INFO: 1st hour on USA... 2nd hour on WWE Network
Featuring...
-Killian Dain vs. Matt Riddle (STREET FIGHT FOR #1 CONTENDERSHIP)
-Imperium vs. Kushida & ??? (6-MAN TAG)
-Dom Dijakovic vs. Keith Lee
-Dakota Kai vs. ???
Last edited by greebull; September 25th, 2019 at 2:44 PM.
Discount Bayley beats Miss Cunty... err... Contri.
Wild ass match between Riddle and Daine.
Loved that Joey Styles-esque “OH MY GOD!!!” at the wall spot.
Not feeling Grimes. Dude seems kind of flat.
do you honestly think you are funny?
Sure do.
Humor is subjective.
Not when its fucking shite.
okay, just making sure. at least this one wasn't hate speech like the rest of em.
Hey, I don’t use hate speech about anyone or anything.
- - - Updated - - -
See? Subjective.
It's fairly interesting they're going SO wrestling heavy in these first two episodes. I've heard suggestions it's because they don't think everyone (talent and production) could be ready for live promos or backstage segments but I'm not really buying that. It just seems like Triple H is trying to show this brand has amazing wrestling to provide.
Ripley is going star. To see where she was for the first MYC, the second, and the development between the second and now...very good stuff.
That street fight was not exactly what I was expecting but it was still entertaining. Riddle was selling his ass off for it.
It's going to be Takeover quality next week. Buckle up.
ya sure?
plus you got the post up there calling dream fruity, which isn't as bad, but, knowing your previous comments on homosexuals, says a lot.
...that's just this week
Week one 1,179,000 viewers.
Week two 1,006,000 viewers.
NXT is going “wrestling heavy” because they’re a wrestling show. Hard to believe, right?
They had that two week lead on AEW and they needed to get their guys hot for a national audience. And the best way to do that is to showcase some fantastic wrestling. Two weeks of solid one-hour TV’s. Now they need to convert that to a two-hour engagement.
He needs a monocle and he’d really pull of that full Mr. Peanut look.
Good breakdown of the night from a demographics perspective
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/0...ek-two-on-usa/
Holy shit
He's got the top hat already. And didn't he have a cane on the first episode of NXT?Holy shit
Kilian and Riddle was excellent.
Overall, 2 very solid weeks. Great start.
Lee winning about a minute after being hit with a second rope Canadian Destroyer was pretty bloody stupid though.
Agreed.
It's just a piledriver. In WWE, piledrivers never kill.
Funny how WWE banned piledrivers for years, but now their developmental guys do Canadian Destroyers. That’s like giving a student driver a damn helicopter before they have a driver’s license.
Meanwhile, in AEW, invisible hand grenade dumb fuck uses a regular, Jerry Lawler-style piledriver as a finish.
He gets it right.
I mean Keith Lee might be in NXT but he's no "rookie". Dudes been around for like 10+ years.
The Canadian destroyer is a plague on modern wrestling
nothing new from canada there
Naw the plague is the reverse frankensteiner. Candice did it to Mia Yim and it looked NASTY.
I will always love the Reverse Frankensteiner, no matter how dangerous. It just looks so badass.
It's a good move, it just seems like it's used too often.
I would classify unnecessary off the turnbuckle armdrags as a modern day scourge.
Shoulder into ringpost. Million times a week.
Correct me if I'm wrong but tossing the opponent into the barricade (which seems to happen pretty damn regularly now) used to not be a thing, right? The sort of hiptoss style thing they do where they back bump against it and crumple to the floor? Or the leg/hairgrab someone like Nia Jax does and repeatedly swings them into it? Seems like that's become a thing, or more of a thing, in the last few years...
NXT kicking off with Riddle vs Cole championship match..trying to get those itchy fingers away from AEW.
Ready for a hot start
Crazy
Shayna/Larae are killing it, and Rose/Riho are kinda... kinda of keeping the audience's attention.
That Riddle/Cole match was bananas
Haha they're actually using Burch. Awesome.
A tazplex!
Not a fan of the UE bs but i can't ask for more from a wrestling show. The StreetProfits are a really promising team.
i love ciampa's theme
Good show tonight. Everyone brought their A-game. Nice to see Ciampa back and a great way to end the show. Balor back in NXT is also a nice move.
Really good show which has me very excited for the future of the brand
Fish and OReilly really came off as a star tag team.
Just had a wild thought, but if WWE is sending former NXT guys down from the main roster, who else wants to see Asuka show up to work with Shayna Bayzler? They could go with the story that Shayna has turned away every challenger that NXT has, so they're bringing in girls from the main roster to give her better competition.
Feed her Natalya, Mickie James, and the like and then eventually, drop Asuka back there as a big surprise opponent on a Takeover special. Or even as a counter to something AEW is doing.
That'd be so damn cool.
Balor must be pumped up. He will probably get the same exact pay check but less travel, probably wrestle less, and be the top guy.
Really hot start for the show with the title match between Cole and Riddle. I'm interested to see where Riddle goes from here because he feels like the fourth most important person in the title picture, if he's still around. Really fun and exciting match. Good use of the cast by Cole and plays to his character really well. Wonderful surprise for Bálor's return. Crowd reacted appropriately and that's a great tease for what's moving forward.
The Io/Mia match was fine but it's pretty clear who has upward trajectory and who doesn't. Io looks like a star on this brand.
The Gargano/Thorne match fit perfectly for what it was supposed to be. It got your heart and soul guy on the show and it gave an opportunity for a heel you're looking to push. Thorne always had the look and upside in TM-61 but they never could get going. I think he's pretty damn solid in the ring and has heel charisma that works. They've got something there with him.
Candice and Shayna was a good match because it fit what works best for Shayna: a plucky, underdog babyface who has fire and strong comeback potential. Candice definitely broke through a glass ceiling with her Takeover match with Io and she's just carrying that over. It's going to be a big deal when she eventually wins the title. Curious to see if they transition back to Rhea and Shayna.
Dunne and Priest is going to be a very interesting contrast of styles and personalities. I think they've been showing that off with Dunne over the last three weeks, considering he's had three matches against three very different opponents. My early guess is that this is a program to move Priest up the card.
The tag title match was quite fun. It was a bit on the long side but I think they used the time in their favor. Commentary put over the fact that they were going to stay on until they got a winner, so that allowed them to run over and attempt to take viewers away from the end of Dynamite. Creative move but I'm not sure if it actually helped the match itself. The interference was almost as blatant for the referee to see as Dynamite but I think they made it possibly passable due to camera angles. It was your fairly standard high-quality tag match. I think you might as well move SP up to the main roster for good now. Ciampa's return was wonderful. It's cool to see multiple people gunning for Cole and the title.
They teased what's ahead for next week to an extent and did a little more to have talking and backstage segments. Pretty good episode. I'll be surprised if they're still in Full Sail by the start of 2020.
The best of both worlds: the money and less headaches with the main roster.
Last edited by BGMaverick; October 3rd, 2019 at 10:08 AM.
And down the line, if and when they decide to push him again as a top star on the main roster, he'll have been booked strong on NXT in front of great crowds rather than having gone 50/50 with Corbin for months. They'd be smart to keep all 4 brands separate in terms of TV, to make it feel like a mini territorial system. Gives everybody a hard reset once in a while as opposed to the rigidness of the draft.
I can't help but to think we're going to get a version of Balor Club vs. Undisputed Era and I'm here for it.
Week one: 1,179,000 viewers.
Week two: 1,006,000 viewers.
Week three: 891,000 viewers.
Great to see Balor back in NXT. Breath of fresh air for himself as well as the brand.
Take it with a grain of salt, but Meltzer had in his newsletter that Bálor's probably losing out on some money. He said that unless he got a raise, he will be missing out because talent on the main roster goes on house shows way more and they are paid a percentage of the house. He would also be missing out on bonuses from the big PPVs (Mania, Rumble, etc.) and merchandise profits might be lower. The downside guarantee is the same but that would make sense that he would lose out on those figures over the course of the year.
Meltzer's ratings from 10/2
Cole versus Riddle - 4.25
Shirai versus Yim - 3.5
Gargano versus Thorne - 2.75
Baszler versus LeRae - 3.5
Dunne versus Birch - 2.5
Street Profits versus Undisputed Era - 3.5
Which is strange because I read this
- On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that Finn Balor will be making main roster money but working exclusively in NXT from here on out.
I would read that as, his base contract is staying the same but he's working in NXT. That sounds great, as you expressed, and while he's making the same base money, there's details that could undercut the actual amount he could potentially make. Again by perceiving what Meltzer actually outlines, being an NXT performer, he's not's getting the access to incentives that increase off of his guaranteed downside. He's not going out on the road as much and it doesn't sound like NXT performers get a percentage of the gate because they do way smaller shows. The merchandising isn't as prominent in NXT so his cut of that would theoretically be smaller. Performers get bonuses for being on those big PPVs and NXT guys very rarely are on those.
Last edited by BGMaverick; October 4th, 2019 at 10:01 AM.
Yeah seems like an tough conversation to have with one of your top talent. hey, we are moving you to NXT but you are going to get less money in the process.
Maybe he would rather less money and less dates. who knows.
Different people want different things so I can believe that scenario playing out in a variety of ways. There's definitely positives and negatives to moving to NXT and it's not like he can never go back to getting all of those main roster benefits. He's a little older, now married, so maybe that works for what he needs now.
Whose to say that cause hes on NXT that he misses out on the big PPVs. If they want to write him into them they can quite easily.
Just saw the NXT UK special from a while back last night.
Dear god. That was the best wrestling show I've seen all year. The main event. Fucking outstanding. Easily my favorite match this year.
Super hot crowd
That was unexpected
“Dynamite in the distaff division”?
Uhh... okay.
I like everything about Damian Priest, until he opened his mouth for that pre-taped promo. Dude sounded like he’d rather be anywhere else.
Swerve/Roddy freaking fantastic.
He talks like a Native American...
I thought he was Hispanic..?
Either way, he doesn’t have a great deal of emotion in his voice.
Really good show tonight.
Three or four really good matches and I thought they used interview/promos really well this week to transition. They felt pretty smooth in that regard.
Can't believe Ciampa's timeline to where he's going to be ready to go next week. Unreal.
The last 8-9 months have just flown by and Ciampa coming back next week is immense. Hope he's fully healed and tones down his bumps. Guy has been through hell and back and hell again.
Week one: 1,179,000 viewers
Week two: 1,006,000 viewers
Week three: 891,000 viewers
Week four: 790,000 viewers
It is kinda false advertising that they say No BS and then have Undisputed Era interfering and cheating
How dare those heels cheat
Other than Ciampas lovely mug appearing i think AEW comfortably outshined NXT this week. I think the much bigger AEW crowds just give it that higher level of atmosphere.
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