Dijak/Lee let's go.
Dijak/Lee let's go.
These guys can wrestle every week and it'll still blow me away.
They've had a very different match every timeOriginally Posted by VHS
Another great episode tonight. Main event was dope and I'm loving the women's division stuff. They're killing it with great matches, great character establishing, great build to the future episodes. I think I'm gonna be watching NXT every week going forward now.
They're doing a very good job building contenders for Shayna. It's been a few weeks but you can make compelling cases for Rhea, Io, Bianca, Teagan, and Dakota being threats. They're all viable, and Shayna is oozing confidence right now. She's really come a long way since she started in NXT.
Still really amazed we're where we are with Ciampa. There was a nice tease with Gargano with his taped interview in terms of ambiguity with how Gargano and Ciampa are going to interact. Certainly builds towards that moment where it happens and what actually happens. Also a nice job just sweeping over that quick run on the main roster, lol.
Dijakovic and Lee are absolutely magical together.
The Bálor promo was short but fun. Definitely teasing the return of The Demon but enough ambiguity there to suggest he's going with a rougher approach this time around.
Holy hell, what a main event. There wasn't a lot of time to build that match but they delivered and then some. "Ballseye" I see you, Mauro.
I think it's pretty close when comparing the two but when looking strictly at in-ring action, I feel like NXT has AEW beat to this point. It's not a wide margin but I feel they've got the edge there.
Last edited by BGMaverick; October 16th, 2019 at 11:52 PM.
Week one: 1,179,000 viewers
Week two: 1,006,000 viewers
Week three: 891,000 viewers
Week four: 790,000 viewers
Week five: 714,000 viewers
I can’t wait until Matt Riddle turns heel and it’s “okay” for me to boo this massive stoner cunt.
Aw I think he's got something. Probably will work better as a d-bag heel though.
Oh, he’s a fine wrestler. I just hate everything about him.
Oh he just looks like he reeks of Axe body spray and hemp oil. I bet he eats lots of fish and drives a jeep.
Grimes has been pretty meh since his debut, but him and Riddle are tearing it up holy frick.
They should move Grimes to NXT: UK and have him team with Mandrews again.
Riddle wrestles like a heel Ultimate Warrior
And his feet are small so his kicks look small
Goldberg called him out for calling him a "bro" at Summerslam. That was cool.
Hooooly shit, I thought somebody was dead there w/ that superplex, but they saved that big time. WOW.
That was the bees knee.
Roderick Strong always was the best big man.
Balor finally gives in to his demons.
Good shit
NXT isn't messing around. Damn.
HOLY SHIT. I did not see that Balor heel turn coming. Well fucking done. I am so hooked. Damn good show overall, as well. Women's division is on fire, super stoked for the Women's tag match next week, and just all around dope action and continued stuff to keep me wanting to come back for more. Main event was terrific.
They wove everything they've got within two hours. Well, almost. You can say they really didn't feature the men's tag division in great form but they manufactured a logical women's tag team and are bringing back beloved NXT alumni as champions for what should be an entertaining match. Cruiserweight story was put into place, solid midcard match with Riddle and Grimes, and Tyler Bate is on the scene.
Haven’t seen the whole show yet but saw the heel turn clip on Facebook. Now that’s how to use a Pele kick, nicely done!
Wish I hadn't come in here before watching NXT.
Will watch this on Sunday night.
My guess for Wargames:
Undisputed Era versus Ciampa, Dream, Dijakovic, and Lee
Bálor versus Gargano
Baszler versus Ripley
Dunne versus Dain
Rush versus Garza (this could easily change to something else but nothing else major is cooking)
I don't like having all of the titles in one match not for any of the titles
You could spice it up where all belts are on the line or the person pinned on UE has to relinquish their belt to the person that pinned them.
So Lee could pin Fish and would be a tag team champ with Kyle?
I don't like that either, feels very WCW and hopefully SOMEONE loses their title before then if that's the plan
You would presume Lee and Dijakovic become a team or Lee could pick a partner of his choosing. It just puts more at stake and UE is more invested in making sure they win, the opposing team is even more motivated but potentially causes angst within the match at a point where Ciampa or Dream stop a pin attempt on Cole or Strong because they want those titles. It's very trick to navigate but it could lead to some interesting storytelling.
I'm just trying to appease you because you don't like the titles not being involved on the rest of the card (lol) but...I don't see it as that big of a deal because they're being defended on TV more regularly and it's Wargames and UE has been involved in both of those so far.
I am not mad at the card, it's just weird that two titles would be on the line but I guess I should expect that here. That would be a very solid card. I've just never been a fan of multiple title holders involved in one match with no title implications. The match will still certainly be killer.
I guess I don't see what's wrong with my thinking being that way.
There's nothing wrong with it. I think there's just ways to circumvent your cause for concern, whether it be in the context of that Takeover or leading up to it or after. USA and NXT are going to want to bring audiences in so title matches are going to be on that show a lot. There's nothing wrong with your concern, but it's not that big of a hang up to me. There's more confusion that crops up if all of the titles were on the line so if that were the case, I'm fine with none and just building it as a grudge match. There's another angle to look at when it comes to the titles...
The women's division has been carrying the water for the brand for the last two weeks, they were the first match on USA three weeks ago, too. With that, I see nothing wrong with putting an emphasis on that title being the top title on the line for this show.
Week one: 1,179,000 viewers
Week two: 1,006,000 viewers
Week three: 891,000 viewers
Week four: 790,000 viewers
Week five: 714,000 viewers
Week six: 698,000 viewers
It’s probably getting to the plateau stage by now.
Mauro Ranallo calling Bronson Reed "NXT's resident "thicc boi"" made me cringe so hard I nearly collapsed into myself like a dying star.
I was hoping Asuka and Sane would clear the ring there. They're badass enough to do it the way they've been working lately...
Apropos of nothing, but has anyone else noticed that Asuka started using the poison mist right when Paul Heyman started booking RAW? And then she started winning with a straight karate kick to the dome? There's some Tajiri influence there.
missed the first half of NXT, but why wasn't Dijak in the main event tonight?
They said Lee chose Riddle as his partner.
No mention of Dijakovic
Why would Keith Lee want to team with a guy who he's had like three wars with in the past three weeks?
Because that's very WWE, so it goes to show NXT isn't always going to go the route the main roster takes.
Looks like we've got none of the titles on the line at War Games unless you consider one possible match they can run with.
UE versus Ciampa, Lee, Riddle and (Dream/Dijakovic) - WarGames
Baszler, Belair, Shirai, Duke, and Shafir versus Ripley, LeRae, Kai, Nox, and (guessing) Yim - WarGames
Bálor versus Gargano
Bate and Dunne versus Grimes and Dain (or Dunne versus Dain)
Garza versus Rush - Cruiserweight Title
Last edited by BGMaverick; October 31st, 2019 at 12:13 AM.
I could be down for two War Games.
Though replace Yim with Toni Storm and I am set
Another great episode. Women's tag title match was real good, loving heel Kabuki Warriors so much. Loving NXT's women's scene altogether, more excited for their WarGames match than anything on Crown Jewel. Nice promo from Finn. Great match with Bate/Grimes. Keith Lee is growing on me and as much as I dislike Riddle for everything else, he's very enjoyable in the ring. NXT is the place to be, baby.
They did mention Dijakovic, they said Lee didn't want to team with him because he didn't trust him.
Bálor's promo was the best one he's had in WWE. The grin is gone, and the charisma is shining through.
Agreed. Needs to say more stuff that'll get him booed, though. Should have said "with these idiots" instead of "with these people" or something.
Ok good. I was worried maybe he'd gotten hurt or they were writing him out for some reason.
It's going to be hard for him to be booed when he talks. I think he's going to have to use his physicality to draw heat. I get what you're saying about the comment but I think that's tricky and they navigated the fine line of avoiding the obvious trope of a beloved face turning by going the "You people" route.
The spotlight was a nice touch, adding the Broadway element he brought up, but it brings up a hint of egotism. Some people noted that it was kind of cool that you can see a P inside of his logo. That would be a nice new callback to Prince but he's always had that in there or he's had it for a while. It works either way, haha.
The same reason they had Natalya and Lacey Evans wrestle for 2 months straight ending in a LWS match on Raw only for them to fucking team the next week like nothing happened. WWE 1010 right there and NXT isn't free from that shit booking themselves.
Balor will never get full blown heel heat. He might get some boo's against certain wrestlers like Gargano and Ciampa, maybe Riddle, maybe Keith Lee. Outside of that....Good luck. But that's been wrestling for about 25 years almost. A guy or girl might be getting booked a certain way wrestling babyfaces, but ultimately there are going to fans cheering them. Look at Io Shirai. I swear to God her pops got bigger when she turned heel lol.
That "P" has been in there for a long time and I always figured it was a C for Balor Club. But yeah, changing the entrance so the crowd can't do the arm raise thing is a good move. It'll be interesting to see if Balor Club actually sticks around now since it's always been the term for his fanbase but now that "it's all about Finn" maybe they'll move away from it?
Just to be clear, I'm not expecting him to get full-blown heat. I was just saying if that's going to be the intent, it's likely not coming through promos. Especially if they're going to be like the one he cut. He'll get it through physically attacking people or taking a powder when the opportunity to fight is there.
They certainly didn't do any favors for LeRae to get a pop when she had to come out after a live intro performance for Shirai.
I'm digging that he wants AOP part of his crew if he starts one. He recognizes A-they're the shit and B-they're not being used at all which is fucking corny when you think of the corny ass teams the main roster uses. Like Heavy Machinery and Roode-Dolph.
A - true
B - they are, but it's in backstage/taped promos. Guessing your hulu version isn't showing that. It's establishing them as guys that are straight up ready to kill people lol.
Oh yeah I'm just building off what you were saying about the trickiness of Balor being a heel. Especially with that crowd, or really any crowd I guess. Shit, The Bullet Club was supposed to be a heel faction, yet it's one of the most over entities in wrestling. Arguably one of the most over in the last 20 years no doubt.
Sorry when I say "not being used at all" I mean they're not wrestling. How many matches has AOP been in this year? Yeah they have those cool backstage vignettes they don't really show consistently, and that's a problem for me. Just like with Black. Cool, a bunch of the same vignettes over and over and over and what he's done since doing that? Not a damn thing that matters.
AOP deserves much, much better. If that means going back to NXT, which they shouldn't have even left in the first place, I'm 140% down lol.
You know what grinds my gears about AOP and Black's vignettes is who the fuck are they to try to convince us that they call the shots? You mean to tell me that Vince and co. give a fuck who wants to wrestle these men? You either fight or get fired. Let's keep it 100 because I can't believe in the idea that Vince is like "Ok, Daniel Bryan wants to fight Brock Lesnar but haha, no fucking way does he want anything to do with Alistair Black!"
That's why these promos suck after awhile, because it's complete bullshit lol. It's almost as unbelievable as the snake charmer in Chikara.
Yup, agree on the philosophy with the BC stuff. I think there's going to be ways to draw heat if they really want to but I doubt it's going to be verbally. Unlike the main roster, NXT is pretty solid at building faces and ones that the audience loves so that's promising for his potential if they really want him to be dastardly in some ways. Babatunde could always be a cheap lackey so he gets his old entrance back.
Probably not many, in terms of matches for AoP. I know injuries derailed one of them for a while and they were then stuck in creative limbo. I can see the frustration of not getting matches or different kinds of TV time but I appreciate the motivation to get them TV time and do it in a unique way. Think about the Viking Raiders. They had to go through a mess of a name change, then not being portrayed as faces or heels and just being there, then they got on track with squash matches. You could do that again with AoP but I see the merit of doing something different than that while you're placing an emphasis on different singles acts within a given show. Variety is good. Humberto is getting spotlight matches, Ricochet is getting quality matches, Murphy is being on TV, Andrade has a small feud, so that leaves Black...who is doing something different. Stale? Probably, but it's different and still keeping him on TV. Just have to execute when the next step comes. Same for AoP. They're getting built up and if they're smart, it's going to lead to a really great series of matches between VR and AoP.
How can you have this much "wait and see" mentality for AOP and Black but not when it comes to whether or not Bayley was going to ever address Sasha shitting on their tag run lol?
For me it just comes down to the vignettes are cool but it's the same thing so the cool factor drops considerably each time. Yes, it's different, but it's stale now and it's not that believable when we all know in 2019 that these dudes have no say in who they wrestle. It wouldn't be so bad if we hadn't already seen these with Black. AOP are the shit, and again, I LIKE THE VIGNETTES, I just think the more you do it the same fucking way the worse it gets for the majority of fans who watch and know the deal.
It was just a minor quibble and I addressed that commentary didn't mention it either...regardless, I say it was a good route to take and they just needed to address it, which they did. I thought it was a simple bar to cross in week 1 of an obvious multi-week story.
And yeah, they're getting stale, but that's why it matters what they do next. You've established the two different situations and now it's time to move on. It's more intriguing what they do for AoP compared to Black just due to available resources. There's not a lot of tag teams to bounce off of. What would be cool is if they were heating them up only to be moved to NXT but that doesn't make a lot of sense.
Week one: 1,179,000 viewers
Week two: 1,006,000 viewers
Week three: 891,000 viewers
Week four: 790,000 viewers
Week five: 714,000 viewers
Week six: 698,000 viewers
Week seven: 580,000 viewers
with the world series being over, let's see what happens next week.
That drew 23,013,000 viewers.
I'm sure there'll be a handegg game, or a basketball game or something on that people will use to defend the declining ratings.
So Dexter Lumis is the only guy from the Breakout tourny that hasn't reappeared on TV since, yeah? Curious why that is. I guess he's not ready or they're waiting for the right time/feud. Either way, I have to say, it's one of the reasons I keep tuning in. I've heard good things about his TNA work and am very intrigued by the guy. Absolutely grabbed my attention in his tourny match.
Maybe he’s experimenting on himself in the lab but Deedee blows those experiments to smithereens.
A note I forgot about Bálor's segment: it was a nice touch where he still did his pose with the entrance but that's when they immediately cut out the lights and went to the spotlight. Really can show he's putting an emphasis just on himself.
Yes game 7 did well. However, the series in general didn't have great ratings. But freeing up 10-15 million should help a little bit
Dexter Lumis, Killian Daine, and Cameron Grimes would make a great stable of unstable, insane killer heels. Call them "Underbelly". They represent the dark and seedy underbelly of NXT's roster. They're the guys who your heroes are afraid of, and the guys NXT doesn't want to admit are the next big things in wrestling.
Hot start with The OC laying the Undisputed Era out and setting up a big main event
Would have been nice if they had Adam Cole in another title match tonight. First person to ever main event Raw, Smackdown and NXT in a 7 day period and defend the title in all those matches.
Riddle vs AJ would be a great match
- - - Updated - - -
Put that shit in a museum.
Why is it always 50/50 booking. Like Damien Priest wins a couple weeks ago, now Pete Dunne has to get his win back. Just baffling.
Maybe it will lead to a best of series.
I got goosebumps when that happened!
- - - Updated - - -
Put that shit in a museum.
The OC going to NXT was cool in a lot of ways. All three of them went straight to the main roster so they had no sentimental feelings that could have been in play for them running roughshod. It does seem like a wasted opportunity in some ways for them not to promote this on Raw but whatever.
Angel Garza is certainly an interesting prospect for them. He's extremely over with that audience and he has great flexibility where he could easily get over as a face and get some heat as a heel.
The way they portrayed Kai after the match was weird. Sure, you announced Yim but it felt like the larger reaction was sympathy for Kai. I think this works out in the end because I'm guessing the heels try to cheat at Takeover and she evens the odds and saves the faces, thus proving her worth.
Was hoping for a Tony Nese win there...he was great as the Cruiserweight Champion and I would have loved to seen him win it again.
Was hoping for a Yim heel turn myself
Conti has really shown she's learned a ton since her debut. She's found her look, she's become immensely comfortable in front of the crowds, and her offense looks fantastic. Happy she got the win. She looked really happy.
I was kind of hoping The OC would bring up that all three of them skipped NXT and use it to take a dig at them in their promo. Missed opportunity for a bit of heat there.
Yeah, Taynara's really coming along.
As for Dakota, I was thinking a heel turn might be what's coming. Would be cooler to get a swerve where it looks like she's turning heel but instead she helps the faces get it done.
Week one: 1,179,000 viewers
Week two: 1,006,000 viewers
Week three: 891,000 viewers
Week four: 790,000 viewers
Week five: 714,000 viewers
Week six: 698,000 viewers
Week seven: 580,000 viewers
Week eight: 813,000 (just 9k behind AEW)
No doubt improved by the invasion type storylines they've been having. Good news
Glad to see a jump up. Each show has been good to outstanding so far.
What a time to be alive.
Oddly enough this was the first NXT show I did not watch
Which do you think it is more of:
- The audience of the main roster being exposed to NXT talent for the first time and being intrigued by them?
- The audience of the main roster being exposed to NXT talent for the first time and being intrigued at who goes to NXT?
They just announced on their Backstage show that Gargano is not cleared to compete during Survivor Series week due to a neck injury, thus it appears the idea of Bálor/Gargano for Takeover is a no go.
Damn, salute to Mia Yim for taking it to the face and that finishing bump. Ladder match was a little rough in spots but it's a ladder match so that's not out of the ordinary. i was very much expecting Kai to turn heel so it was a nice surprise she didn't.
Rush/Garza was very good.
Happy to see Xia Li back on TV, shame she caved in Alliyah's face but that also kind of puts her over as a lady not to fuck with.
Swerve/Reed was good, really like both guys.
Figured the Dain/Dunne/Priest triple threat would be set up but I was kind of expecting the two would have had a bit of a match before Priest showed up.
Real curious who's going to round out the men's WarGames team after a bit of a shuffle. Nice to hear Finn getting booed this week.
Last edited by mth; November 13th, 2019 at 11:55 PM.
Mia Yim sold out like hell in the main event. The match was clearly leading to that big bump but she took that nasty cut prior. Major props to her. Kay Lee Ray was a nice surprise, and good that they didn't lean into a turn with Kai yet, but good on Bayley to be the finishing touch to the last segment. She's clearly the third wheel in the women's match with the champions at Survivor Series so it was good that she made an impact. You can make a viable case for any of the three of them to win.
Bálor/Riddle is a heck of a substitute with Gargano out. I really enjoyed the seamlessness of the transitions when Bálor originally started his promo. I think it was subtle but I liked how Undisputed Era showed up as Bálor was running. They were opportunistic to try to pounce on Riddle but it was also a potential suggestion to Bálor that they have his back.
I'm interested to see how they plan to fill out the rest of the Takeover card. They could circle back to Garza/Rush because there was a potential disputed finish there. Those two had a good match tonight.
Every Mia Yimm match I've seen since she's showed up in NXT looks like it could have happened in an iron lung. But damn, she looked good tonight. Ton of respect for Mia getting hard wayed and then going through the ladder. That was wild and crazy shit.
Week one: 1,179,000 viewers
Week two: 1,006,000 viewers
Week three: 891,000 viewers
Week four: 790,000 viewers
Week five: 714,000 viewers
Week six: 698,000 viewers
Week seven: 580,000 viewers
Week eight: 813,000 viewers
Week nine: 750,000 viewers
I think by the end of the year, NXT will be winning this ratings battle. It's just too good to be second place. Especially the women's division. Leaps and bounds better than AEW.
The women’s division is indeed leaps and bounds better. As far as the men go, there are some things that are quite captivating but at the same time try to be too different and go for crazy spot monkey shit rather than psychology and things that makes sense.
AEW has some things over the main shows as far as craziness and unpredictability is concerned, but as far as quality, talent and match quality goes, NXT I think is the best thing going even if the ratings don’t always show it.
I don't know. Lots of people still watching NXT on the network. If they get closer in traditional ratings, they're probably actually winning total viewership.
So apparently Alliyah's broken nose was a work because she needed to get legit nasal surgery. Ok, that's cool, not a bad way to do it to make Xia Li look deadly AF.
However, in that case, Vanessa Borne's tweet "Let's give it up for the sloppiest person in the locker room. Bravo you've outdone yourself" just makes her come off as a real life asshole. Instead of keeping it kayfabe and putting over Xia as a dangerous striker, she's making it sound like she's an unsafe worker and now has fans shitting on Xia and hoping she gets fired, etc..
Xia definitely has her moments where the seams start to come off when she tries to do her flashy flips and high risk moves. She's still green as frick, but also showing promise - unlike Vanessa and Alliyah who have been there for years and still haven't found their groove yet. Those two are bottom of the barrel.
Xia had that spot against the jobber girl a few weeks ago where she tried to do her “spring to the top rope- spinning heel kick” move and just lost her balance and fell off the top flat on her face. She looked like a gargoyle falling off the side of a building and smashing on the sidewalk.
With Aliyah rushing into the corner, it looks like maybe she was supposed to springboard up and then jump over but lost her balance. Surprised they kept it in the video. Pretty standard stumble, though. When i saw it as it happened, i thought she was going to go for a missile dropkick but Aliyah wasn't supposed to come towards the corner and it threw her off.
Last edited by mth; November 18th, 2019 at 5:08 PM.
Lio Rush title defense v. Angel Garza was terrific. I don't regularly watch NXT so I hadn't seen much of Lio since Lashley ditched him for being more entertaining than the Almighty.
Rhea Ripley is magnificent
Revival/UE did not disappoint. I miss the Revival in NXT, they'd fit right in again.
That was a great match
One of my favorite tag matches of the last couple of years
The ending of that tag was great. UE are such hyenas ... and The Revival fought valiantly...
Who is the 4th for team Ciampa?
The run-ins were fun as hell for the show. The invasion really felt like it was clicking in better fashion than it has over the last week or two. Like, they hit the nail on the head when they had to fly the NXT people up after Crown Jewel, meandered, and then came across well tonight. This didn't make me overly excited about Survivor Series though, because there's nothing on the line. If there's nothing on the line, just do what they teased with their Worlds Collide Network shows. Tell me you wouldn't be stoked to see Nakamura versus Riddle, or more Revival versus Undisputed Era and Becky versus Rhea?
New week, same answer with Ripley. She's going to be a star. She held her own and didn't look scared in the moment with Becky and the two of them in the ring was fun.
Revival/UE was a beautiful tag match. So fun.
Rollns is absolutely the worst lol. He went back to NXT, got the pop, and then got the "Seth's not cool" chant. Damn.
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