Don’t see Waller winning either tbh. Think it’s building to a Melo/Bron showdown at the Mania NXT show.
Wouldn’t rule out a Rumble appearance for Bron though.
Don’t see Waller winning either tbh. Think it’s building to a Melo/Bron showdown at the Mania NXT show.
Wouldn’t rule out a Rumble appearance for Bron though.
Last edited by Badger; January 5th, 2023 at 8:43 AM.
Carmello is just so vanilla. He's not a bad wrestler, he can hold his own with the flyers, but he doesn't stand out. Trick Williams helps but he's not the one in the ring for 15-20 minutes. The guy has been a champion in some form pretty much his entire NXT run and I think HBK and co. realized a long time ago he needs the accessories to make up for everything else. I mean, who wins a match with the John Cena legdrop??
If he beats Bronn I won't be shocked but you might as well have had Apollo win it they're almost identical in every aspect.
I don’t think as a Waller cowardly heel reign is a bad idea btw. I just think because Melo has made overtures towards going for the NXT title could mean they’re saving him for Bron and Waller vs Melo in that case would be difficult to pull off in that case unless Melo turned face but not certain if that’s the right call at this point.Originally Posted by Nash Diesel
I don’t know if I’d go as far as calling him as vanilla as Apollo. He can talk and has personality. Cena’s not done that move in a while (I can’t remember offhand if he did it in the tag match) but it’s hardly the first instance where a signature move for one is a finisher for another) so can live with that. I don’t mind it being used as the finisher for now.
What I think he may be missing though is a more aggressive dastardly edge to him, like how Theory’s finding that now. When he and Trick beat up Wes Lee backstage, more stuff like that would help to give him more heat.
MVP would be a great guy to get heat onto him and Trick and lend his experience. Omos is a lost cause at this point but he could partner well with them. They’ve got similar characters as well “Ballin…nuthin but net.” If MVP was added, that might help with the heat.
Unless things go awry, Theory and Hayes have a very good chance to be pillars for the main roster in the next generation. You could see the glimpses of it for Theory in NXT and he was even more diverse of a character back then than he is now, and Hayes is still finding his way as an all-around act. Theory got pushed/emphasized early in NXT and built off of that, and Hayes should do the same. I have very little concern for either of them in regard to their long-term prospects.
Yeah Hayes can only get stronger and bigger from here really. Hope Waller does too although considering the nuclear heat he had brutalising Johnny Gargano on his way out, he should be bigger than what he is already and I don’t think that’s all down to creative tbh. He has had muscle as back-up before but doesn’t last long. Other than the typical cowardly heel act who likes to draw attention to himself and generic look, what does Waller have that Melo doesn’t. Arguably he needs tuning up if not moreso than Melo does because Melo does. Melo delivers more in the ring all-around IMO.
Wish them both the best but can easily see Waller just being a stepping stone for Bron to step over until a showdown with Melo.
Found New Year’s Evil pretty underwhelming to be honest. Gallus return may be a boost to the tag division but Jinder return?..…meh.
Waller/Breakker with the rope shenanigans just ruined the match flow which is a shame as some of it was decent. I get they’re stretching the feud to Vengeance Day but would’ve preferred something like a double countout rather than a loss for Waller like that.
Dempsey/Hank…ehh.
Battle Royal was a bit meh too. Never really been a huge fan of those types of finishes.
Yeah, this show was loaded with some weird and underwhelming happenings.
Seems like Tony/Stacks are in the process of turning face. i guess that's fine though as I've said, I'm not a fan. Dijak vs. Lee should be good.
No Creeds/Indus Sher match and Jinder showing up was the firstmoment of the night. Odd left turn for the feud. I think I read Veer was injured and that's why they've been dragging this out? Just an odd left turn for this feud to take.
Tag gauntlet was the second
Tiffany being back was probably the highlight of the night for me. She's great. Glad she didn't drop the ditz gimmick. The promo was a little clunky, though.
Like Badger said, the rope break stuff really sucked the wind out of Breakker/Waller. I guess it was sort of a unique/creative way to go about it but eehh...another
The Walker/Dempsey stuff was fine.
And then you had the battle royal which was fine except TA basically spelled out the finish earlier in the night so I went into it assuming it was coming down to the two of them, only briefly felt some drama during the final four and when they sort of turned on each other, but then once they were on the corner I could see the finish coming so it wasn't particularly thrilling when it happened.
Business is about to pick up with the Big Strong Boi returning.
It's great how much focus the women of NXT get. Not only is there a strong scene for the singles title but now it seems like they're doing some pairing up to bolster the tag title scene, too. I was hoping Alba and Isla were going to become a thing and I think it's pretty obvious that's who'll partner with Fyre next week. Heel turn for Alba would be refreshing and I'm really looking forward to the Spooky Ladies. Big win for Ruca. The stuff with Electra and Valentina is intriguing, as well. I've liked Feroz for awhile so it's nice to see her finally doing something. Also nice to see Lyra going right into a high profile match to get some spotlight (even though she didn't do a whole hell of a lot in it) and getting something brewing with Cora. Seems like Gigi and Jacey are headed for splitsville come VD which is probably a good move.
I wish there was something in Gallus that would hook me but they look bland, seem to have no personality (rough mic work, too, and I'm not talking about the accents), and their wrestling seems fine but hasn't grabbed my attention, either. That's all only overshadowed more by the awesomeness that is Pretty Deadly and, of course, New Day.
Oof on the finish to Bate/Javi.
Yeah fuck knows what happened there.
Agree with you, the women's division for NXT is awesome at the moment. A lot of interesting things happening, getting different ones involved to see what works. I'm not feeling that creativity on display with the men's side of things. You got Briggs & Jensen and Fallon and whats-her-name in the mix.
I do like New Day being in NXT to work with these other teams but for the singles it feels like it's Bron, Melo and a bunch of meh right now.
Well, they did it again. Promos for Toxic Attraction earlier in the show absolutely telegraph the main event segment. Way to quick/easy of a turn on each other and "confirming" it in separate backstage interviews? Pretty sus, as the kids would say. Then they get out there for the summit and you could see it coming a mile away. Their mic work was pretty damn good, though, I will admit.
On the other hand, I didn't see Sol Ruca coming otu to help Alba coming and figured Isla was going to be there sooner. Nice to give Ruca that spotlight. Can't wait for Alba and Isla to become partners, champs, lovers, etc..
The crowd seemed to enjoy it but it was weird that the barrier was suddenly made of cardboard for Breakker's spear this week. We see a spear through the barricade just about once a month and it's clearly never been that material before. Feud's got some good heat on it, though.
Even with the setback due to injury and the meh promo last week, Tiffany Straton is trending extremely in the right direction. She's going to be something else.
Good for Stratton but no idea what they’re doing with Wendy. Not long ago they had her cut a promo where she was seemingly going to be more serious and got that big win over her. Now they’ve kept her with the gimmick and Stratton got her win back.
50/50 booking strikes again. Or maybe 60/40 as Stratton was beating her up to that.
Really the most current interesting woman singles-wise is Cora and she’s stuck in a silly angle with that hunter gimmick girl.
Last edited by Badger; January 25th, 2023 at 11:22 PM.
Not only did Wendy get the big win over Tiffany, she also got the big win over Cora more recently...and then the momentum just screeches to a hault.
I forgot to comment that Tiffany was absolutely on point in that match. Great moonsault. Stratton vs. Ruca when they're both polished could really be something.
In-freaking-deed. These two are going to be major players in the future.
Watching nxt live for the first time ever tonight
This should be a hard hitting match
Indi hartwell is awesome
Bate/Axiom >>>>>>>
That match was damn good.
Stevie intrigues me. Her intro for NXT didn't overstay its welcome, but I want to see a bit more.
McKenzie as a PI works for me lol.
Last edited by BGMaverick; January 31st, 2023 at 11:44 PM.
Scattered NXT thoughts...
Axiom/Bate was a banger. Get those boys in the NA Title scene.
Nicely done with all the suspects/witnesses in place for Nikkita going down.
Let's just get to Kiana revealing Zack was her brother after Fallon fucks everything up thinking it was a secret boyfriend so we can move on in the tag title scene and the SPOOKY WITCH GIRLS can challenge the champs.
Stevie's match was boring but I like the concept for her character.
Dijak's sunglasses are too small for his head.
Loved Stone telling Wagner what we've all been thinking for over a year: we know nothing about you, you're just a big man that growls. Get a character, you big bland-ass mofo.
Honestly didn't expect Chase U to get the win in the main event. A bit disappointed Schism have lost momentum after that clicking-on-all-cylendars performance a few weeks back, would've given it to them myself, but I suppose Chase U are gaining steam and the fans really dig their shit.
Probably needed another face team to balance it out as it would’ve been 3 heel teams against one otherwise. They’ll likely pull the trigger on a Hudson heel team afterwards.
I’m all for the witches too. Alba Fyre’s character has made for a terrible face like but would work much better as a heel.
I know it's a developmental show, but Grayson Waller vs. Bron Breakker has to be the least exciting championship program NXT has ever done.
I'd give that honor to Breakker vs. Crews.
At least they fished together first.
You say that like it's a good thing.
That segment needed one of them to catch a fish and they reel it in but they end up reeling in Shark Boy too.
“Shark Boy 3:16 says I just ate your bass!”
Did Apollo Crews say that he wanted to be the most boring wrestler in the world? If you don't want to see Black Panther Crews you are a negative to the fanbase.
Apollo Snooze is more like it.
If only Kyle O'Reilly was still around, he, Wagner and Crews could have formed a stable called the Boring Bros.
All in all, a good experience for NXT "back on the road" from a PLE standpoint.
That opener seriously brought back the Takeover vibes. Goodness. I would say that match, which was already expected to be pretty good, far exceeded expectations. Dijak is a guy who really has had his work cut out for him after having to really start back at square one. Outside of Stand and Deliver this last year, Takeover Portland was the last time we really saw Dijak be Dijak. Things seemed to be looking up for him after the match with Keith Lee there and we're here now. Crazy to think that with that perspective of time. Both guys come out of the match looking amazing. Lee will move on, but I'm hoping this really helps springboard Dijak (and supposedly his non-broken finger, per HBK).
I thought the other matches delivered but one of the more interesting things to me was to see the whole Chase U act was over for an audience not at the PC. That group is over at the PC but to see it click with a larger audience was cool too. I totally get the idea of New Day losing here, as it made sense, but now I'm wondering if we eventually see Chase and Hudson chase Gallus.
Waller confronted HBK during the post-show presser, so that's somewhat intriguing. Waller has really developed nicely over the last year-plus. He got the big heat with taking Gargano out and has rode it out to this PLE. I'm curious to see where he goes from here. Once we got 2.0 set up, I felt Breakker and Waller was the first premiere feud they'd go with and they eventually got there. We're getting to the second one now with Breakker and Hayes. This certainly feels like a moment where Breakker is taken out, is called up, and Hayes rules NXT until it's his time to go.
Opening bout was MOTN for me. Much as Dijak's gimmick is still not clicking for me, dude can go in the ring and Lee can too, so they tore it up.
Women's tag title match was alright but only thing that really mattered was the finish. Surprised Fallon/Kiara won but it does lead to the more interesting storyline, I suppose, especially if you add the SPOOKY WITCH GIRLS coming for the title next.
Crews/Hayes was good. Was surprised Hayes went 3-0 until I realized he going for Bron and I am A-OK with it. Agree with BG that it seems like Hayes'll win at S&D with Breakker moving up the main roster. Oh yeah, and fuck you, I marked out for the return of Dabba Kato, baby. Go on, big man.
Tag title match was good except for Gallus winning 'cuz they're boring AF. Surprised to see BG thinking Chase U were over as it seemed to me, and I was surprised by it,t hat they were getting booed from the get-go until Andre did the Chause U stomp bit.
Women's triple threat was good.
Cage match was good but maybe a little below what it could have been. Think I'd have had a couple more bits where Grayson looked like he might do the damn thing.
Overall, pretty good show.
Sol tho
Hard for me to get excited for Hayes/JD as JD really doesn't do anything for me. The match was good, though. Dragonov being back is a good move. Still think he should grow a beard, though.
Sol/Stark was good and sgould be revistied down the line. Sol's coming along and they seem to be investing in her move. That finisher's always rad.
Dabba-Kato rules. Squash was good. Let's go, big man.
Love the Spooky Witch Girls. Hope they're on their way to the tag titles soon. Ivy's kind of fell off as far as she used to seem like a threat and now she's just another woman on the roster.
The Feroz/Lopez stuff is interesting but they basically did the same bit once already so something should move along soon.
Was quite surprised Stacks beat OJ.
Pretty Deadly are some goddamn delightful. Excellent character work with the disheveled losers getting their groove back. Schism stuff with Thea is intriguing.
Main event segment was pretty lackluster. A lot of the impact was lost with how things have been going. They already faked turning on each other the one week and then they basically already turned at the PLE, so you go into this having essentially already felt/assumed they're split, then they had to sort of make up, only for the turn you pretty much were assured of already to happen. It was fine but there would have been move oomf if they'd stayed united for the past few weeks and not faked a split already.
With guys like JD, Hayes, Dragunov, Bate, Breakker, Waller, NXT is relatively rich in terms of guys who can go at the top of the card. That's really going to help as long as you have creative motivation for all of them. If it always needs a touchup, guys like Crews can help. Then you've got the next tier in Axiom, Lee, Dijak, Frazer.
I'll agree on Ivy but spin it as a positive as her threat has diminished at the expense of character development. The idea of adding color to a character is never a bad idea so I think her emphasis to try to center the Creeds helps keep everyone moving along but yes, she needs to be built back up.
PD is the best. As long as at attention to the tag division is paid on Mondays and Fridays, they're going to have a very easy lane to cook when they're called up. I'm curious to see if they try to go with House of Black/Julia Hart type stories with Thea or this is just a thing to help transition to a feud. Both are fine, but the former is more compelling.
I can see what you're saying about the finale but the motivations within the segment seemed to work, even if everyone knew what was coming. The crowd (even if it's an easy crowd) was down with the idea of them burying the hatchet and going after Damage CTRL. I think that works due to the fact that Jacy and Gigi have made improvements as characters from a sports entertainment perspective. I think they've made strides, particularly Jacy, in terms of emoting during promos. The swerve was well executed, too. Poor Gigi. It felt like that door was supposed to kind of swing open at some point but it didn't so she took an already-flush kick to the face tough and then got jammed into the door. She made it count more with the crying. Jacy will get her time to run free but I expect good things from Gigi. There's no Jannetty here, in my opinion.
I was there live, they were super over. It really surprised me as I just don't get that whole gimmick. I mean, I guess I do, but I'd be surprised if they keep it on the main roster because it just seems kinda corny to me. I haven't re-watched the show via Peacock, but maybe on TV it sounded like they were getting booed when the crowd would shout "U"? There was about a dozen people in the crowd wearing the Chase U shirts/sweaters that all left after that match. I didn't even notice any Chase U shirts at the merch booth.
Yeah, I must've been hearing things wrong.
Damn 11 years since your last post, hopefully we see more of you brother
I feel like NXT has lost something. That oomph. It's no longer must watch TV.
Excuse me? Dabba-Kato just came back. Problem solved.
Dabbo came back with that sweet moveset that hasn't changed since Adam Bomb/Wrath lol. Seriously you can almost tell a big man is going to never amount to shit if their moveset is the Wrath/Test/Albert moveset: Running Big Boot/Pump Kick, Chokebomb (sitting or kneeling), and the Meltdown/Pump Handle Powerslam.
I was sad that he attacked Crews. The whole ancestors gimmick was cool.
I like the guy but he's just another Lars Sullivan, another Braun Strowmnan, another Omos, won't amount to anything.
Strowman?? What happened to your boy?
He got rid of his cool hair, trimmed his beard down, got a stupid nose ring, and had a decent match with Omos.
I miss the old optimistic dreamer Donald who was certain folks like Tony Nese and Dana Brooke were going to win Rumbles and main event Mania. I don't know this sourpuss Donald that thinks all his faves are destined for failure...
Last edited by mth; February 9th, 2023 at 8:50 PM.
I'll do better.
Donald and that beef jerky guy were the only 2 people who were right about Strowman.
Donald-I'm not negative that he's bald now but yeah the nose ring, the red pants (now black), not feeling it lol.
For a minute it seemed like everyone's response to getting released was to get a septum piercing (Wyatt, Strowman, Nox...).
Well, shock of shocks, I was right, it WAS her brother. So glad they dragged that nonsense out with a bunch of awkward conversations that dodged around the obvious.
Bate/Waller was good. He's a good wrestler but I don't really connect with Bate at all, though. Waller going wild at HBK all the time cannot be leading to a match with him, can it?
Jacy's fine on the mic. You could have predicted every word of the promo, though.
Thea's stuff with Schism continues to intrigue while Tiffany continues to impress.
Axiom/Kemp was good. big win for Axiom, dude should really get an NA title match soon.
Odd promo segment between Breakker and Jinder. They really leaned hard into the fans turning on Bron which is something really I don't think has been happening at all and seemed to come out of nowhere. Add to that Jinder fumbling his lines a few times and it just feeling off and it was not very good. Crowd really likes Jider for some reason.
Lee basically squashing Wagner made me happy. Stone basically gave him the same verbal run down backstage as last week so where is this going? Dancing Von? Wagner turning face on Stone?
Speaking of surprised to see people get squashed, Walker gets steamrolled by Dempsey and actually did worse than previous after all this training with Gulak. Gulak leaving with Dempsey fits the narrative, though. Not sure how this ends, i guess Walker vs. Gulak.
Main event was good enough. I love Meiko and really hope she gets to be on the main roster and tears it up with folks like Asuka, Beck, Belair, etc., but I don['t know how realistic that is. Assumed she might turn on Roxanne to end the show but am fine with just a challenge and staying face/respectful. They'll have a banger for the belt for sure.
Last edited by mth; February 15th, 2023 at 12:55 PM.
I keep hoping they'll bring back Nash Carter. Maybe have him return and be jealous of Wes Lee's singles success and have them feud for the NA title.
Yeah, I was thinking last night that if Wes keeps doing open challenges, he could potentially answer it.
BTW, I had some time alone with my brain yesterday while putting stock away at work and fantasy booked a big-ass women's division angle for NXT, if anyone's interested...?
Last edited by mth; February 15th, 2023 at 1:57 PM.
Absolutely!
Nesetotheface is interested
I was noticing some boos toward Bronn but in that place you get 10 people booing and it sounds "loud".
Bronn's at a point where he's basically done it all for the most part. He could turn heel, maybe pair up with Cora Jade or get that Robbie E guy to be his mouthpiece. You just never know how someone will turn out post-NXT. About 30% of the fanbase watches NXT. I think he could debut on the main roster and as long as they don't cut his dick off in the first match by having him lose, he would be able to maintain the momentum he has in NXT.
Honestly he should've dropped the title to Waller. Keep him in NXT a little longer doing the comeback storyline, maybe he wins it back from Waller, maybe he doesn't and moves on to the main roster.
It's hard to connect with Bate because the talent is off the charts in the ring but we don't have a lot to go off character wise. It's like all the effort for him has gone to making himself one of the best wrestlers in the world, which he is, but now he's got to round it out with establishing charisma verbally. He might have smaller Cesaro trajectory for him but the big difference is that comparable figure was in his late 30s while he was trying to find his way and Bate is about to turn 26. Doesn't mean time with fix it all, but time is on his side to grow. I've been buying Bate stock since the initial UK tournament. I'm continuing to buy if people are selling.
Feels like we're seeing the write-off of Waller playing out. He's earned his stripes in NXT and he's ready to move on. To me, he's antagonizing HBK so that sets up for HBK to appoint someone to put Waller in his place and we see the arrival of Dragon Lee.
I'll disagree that we haven't seen angst in the crowd against Breakker. It was notable back in October when he was dealing with the UK boys in the triple threat. His overall stagnation was more palpable then, but there were a murmur of 'Bron Breakker Sucks' chants going on very early in the segment this week and then it just grew. We've just hit the point where unless you're turning him, he's done all he needs to do in NXT. The crowd is just ready for something new. There's no point wasting a turn in NXT, as well. People like Jinder because he's a main roster act appearing on the developmental program. That's exciting for a rather easily excitable crowd lol. It also helps that he's someone going up against someone the crowd is less than enthused with now.
If this dude loses to Jinder in any way shape or form I'm done with NXT. I barely watch it as it is but holy fucking shit I'm pretty sure WWE lost a good chunk of their audience worldwide when Jinder is on.
Don't hinder Jinder.
I bet you’d Tinder Jinder and swipe right.
I looked him up on Grinder, printed his profile out and put it in my binder, I'm a really good finder.
You must spread some reputation around before giving it to Donald again.
I agree that Bronn has been getting stale - I think a lot of folks expected him to show up in the Rumble. When that didn't happen, the sense has become "what are they doing with this guy?" A post mania call-up seems like the next step. If O-teese moves along to the male modeling gig, I would not mind it if Chad Gable invites Bronn to be his newest member of Alpha Academy. Gable and Maxxine can do all the talking, and it will give Man-soire and Ma-ce a chance to actually wrestle.
I hope this doesn't happen lol.
Ok, since a few people showed interest, here's the fantasy booking I came up with the other day...it doesn't really fit into things after this past episode but whatever. Enjoy...
Lyra Valkyria and Cora Jade have beef so they are going to have a match. The week prior, Cora says if Toxic Attraction weren't hogging the spotlight, she would've been champion but instead she's wasting time with Lyra. Roxanne hears this and the match is made for a title shot to have Cora put her money where her mouth is and to show respect to Lyra. During the match, Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre appear and help Lyra win. In a post-match encounter, they explain that she should join them because a raven is more dangerous under cover of darkness. Lyra faces Roxanne for the title and Alba/Isla appear to try to help but she demands they not get involved, and she loses the match. Another encounter afterward, another offer.
Alba/Isla have earned a tag title shot. It's also revealed they had put a hex on the champs, hence all the bullshit drama with Kiana/Brooks/Fallon/Zack, etc. lately. During the title match, Lyra appears and helps them win, thus joining the group. They become The Coven (The Witch, The Raven, & The Flame) with the Freebird/New Day rule in place for the titles.
Roxanne needs a new challenger for the title so HBK plans a tournament. However, The Coven put a hex on it and over the next couple weeks, thanks to injuries, illness, transportation issues, etc., it falls apart with only the three of them and a couple others left. Those two have a match but the ropes break and they get double counted out while The Coven watch from above. Thanks to her pride as a champion and her big heart, Roxanne tells HBK she's willing to face all three of them. At the PLE, she defends in a gauntlet match where she puts in a valiant and inspiring effort, beating Lyra and Alba but losing to Isla in the end, so Isla becomes champ and the other two are officially tag champs.
Roxanne gets called up. The Coven become like a new Toxic Attraction that run the women's scene with people trying to rise up to stop them. There are a couple angles where they try to seduce Ava Raine from Schism and Thea Hail from Chase U.
Somewhere in there, Yulisa Leon returns from injury to help Valentina Feroz overcome Electra Lopez and her attempts at corrupting her, reuniting them as their plucky, positive-energy team that is the perfect foil for the champs. They win the tag titles. Meanwhile, Sol Ruca who is also a bright, colorful, positive force rises up to be the one that dethrones Isla to become champ.
That was painful. Stick to the Lawler jokes.
Except that last part about Feroz and Leon. They're the future.
If Hayes' work rate rubs off on Williams, man, that's going to be a good performer. He can already talk so effortlessly, so he needs to round it all out. The interaction with Williams, Hayes, and Bate was good. They're trying something with spiritual guru Bate but I like the idea that there's a carrot there that he's motivated to tell a story with his journey. Depending on the timeline, this could be a means to serve multiple masters. Breakker isn't long for NXT but it's intriguing to think of the idea of Hayes also not being long for the brand, too. He deserves a run with the championship but if he gets hot shotted up to the main roster, then Bate feels like one of many logical choices to lead the brand. Either way, their match next week is going to be fantastic if it's given the proper treatment.
Roxanne is going to show her talent against a great worker in Meiko, but we need to see some advancement in terms of her character.
Tiffany epiphany is good wordplay.
I like the general idea of HBK's past life coming to bite him in the butt in the form of Waller. The Aussie is trying to play tricks like HBK did back in his day and HBK has to see how that's taken from the other side of the equation now. Still seems like HBK is going to get someone to do his bidding but you'd like to see Waller booked more favorably as a threat to help heat him and whoever he would face at S&D (presumably Dragon Lee). Waller's lost to Breakker and Bate and just been a nuisance on the mic, so that lack of in-ring momentum kind of hurts an otherwise alright story.
Waller's the best heel on the brand and arguably one of the top 5 in the entire company. He's fine. Those losses haven't hurt anything as his draw isn't what he does in the ring (although he does some Jeff Hardy stuff a lot more than he should). I can't name a single match The Miz has had that I thought "Man I really want to go watch The Miz v. ??? again!" but dude has been one of the most consistent heels in wrestling.
I can think of a few times where heel Miz has cheated to win, and has skirted a rematch and hidden from his opponent, to build up more anticipation for his eventually getting his butt kicked. Miz's ring work is never outstanding nor flashy, but he does sell very well, and he gives some of the best facial expressions in the business. Thinking of his feuds with Dean Ambrose or Daniel Bryan in particular - you have to admit that it's not just the earlier matches that make us want the rematch, but the rest of the build that is important.
Waller would be lucky to have a career half as good as the Miz.
yeah I'm not taking anything away from The Miz other than none of his matches are memorable. He's not a workrate guy and he's done just fine.
Waller sucks. But he's better than that idiot in chase university.
He is better than Duke, you're right.
Yes, I couldn't remember his name lol. Thanks.
Wrestling Observer is reporting that they've been planting anti-Bron Breakker fans and signs. No wonder it felt a bit out of nowhere when Jinder showed up and went on about it and they had a conveniently placed "Breakker Sucks" sign right by the entrance.
Last edited by mth; February 23rd, 2023 at 6:56 PM.
I didn't think it was necessarily out of nowhere but I assumed it was probably markish fans trying to be cool. Kind of like how that superfan Izzy's parents were trying to sabotage MSK by booing when they'd come out all because one of them criticized her parents for letting her start wrestling training. To the point where this group were talked to by NXT staff.
Why would they plant anti-Breakker signs and fans? That's odd. Sabotage a babyface that's getting over for what? To get over Carmelo cuz that boy sucks. He's not getting cheered and they seem to want him as the next top babyface. Reminds me of how they sabotaged Bryan leading into the 2015 Rumble.
They're hoping to find an opportunity for Bronn to cut a promo against them in the vein of the infamous "Die Rocky Die" signs
Which is stupid. Shawn Michaels of all people should know that things forming organically are much better for business. He's a product of that failed way of booking where the fans start to lose interest but the man still puts you as the top babyface. Once Shawn was able to be his natural self he was a much better babyface and heel. So why force a reaction and sabotage a guy? Do people WANT to boo him? I don't think so. If you want him to turn heel just have him turn heel. Don't go above and beyond.
Although I think if they turn him heel out of nowhere it'll be like when they turned Strowman heel and paired him up with Dolph and Drew. Made no sense and he suffered greatly for it.
Last week's episode was pretty meh so I didn't bother saying anything but this week was significantly better. Lee/Frazer, Axiom/Walker, and Hayes/Bate were all bangers. Stark/Meiko was good but it sucked that a big chunk was during an ad. The other women's bouts were also worthwhile. A good amount of storyline progression and intrigue throughout the show, as well.
- Gacy saying "Chase U is nothing but a unaccredited school" popped me way more than it should have.
- They really like Sol. I get it but what a wild change of opponents, going from Zoey to Elektra haha.
- Wasn't overwhelmed or underwhelmed with Tiffany/Katana. It was just kind of there but that finish was less than ideal, but the moonsaults aren't always going to be perfect. There's redundancy in some ways with Tiffany's character versus what's on the main roster but I think she's doing a nice job differentiating herself.
- Man, give me an Iron Man Match of Bate/Hayes. They meshed so incredibly well together. You'd like to think top-tier talent can have great chemistry but they always don't, so it's special when you see that they actually do. I do think it's a tad interesting that Williams got involved on his own and not at the request of Hayes. I think that leaves the door slightly open if they want to turn Hayes. Give me more Bate/Hayes, please and thank you.
- Roadblock looks like a decent enough card.
Tony/Dijak was solid enough.
I'm starting to think Briggs is actually Kiana's sidepiece and it'll lead to Briggs/Jensen feuding.
Six-man tag was good if a bit clunky at a few points. Lots of heavy hitting beef.
Waller Effect was top notch. Genuinely thought HBK was going to accept a match. Gargano didn't come to mind at all, I thought maybe Dragon Lee would come out of the crowd. Glad the crowd popped so hard for Johnny as it does seem like a bit of a let down after teasing it being Shawn himself.
Jayne/Dolan was significantly underwhelming but it seems it's not the end so their next bout should hopefully have the intensity/emotion this one was lacking.
Gacy/Chase was fine for advancing the story with Chase U.
Perez/Meiko was a banger, as expected. Not a big fan of this sort of injury angle, though.
That's what I figured the swerve would be, but it seems like a high probability that's it now. It's not Bloodline good by any means, but there's enough decent storytelling there.
Think it's a solid that they got Gargano (and plays off long-term history. Good to see that's not forgotten) in here for the story but again, seems like it's stacking up Ls for Waller haha. The back and forth between Waller and HBK was good.
Tiffany's epiphanies to start the show was fun.
Last edited by BGMaverick; March 8th, 2023 at 1:19 PM.
I think Grayson Waller is dreadful. Most annoying person in WWE at the moment.
So did Shawn Michaels just know that Waller was going to challenge him to a match, and that's why he called in Johnny Gargano? What if Waller didn't challenge him to a match, would HBK have gone back and said to Gargano "Gee, though he was going to challenge me to a match, sorry for bringing you here."
- Between Roxanne, Tiffany, and Sol, the high-end upside in the women's division is quite remarkable.
- I'm going to take back my comment a while back about Bate's charisma. I think seeing this incarnation of Bate and seeing where we're at with Dragunov, Bate is farther along charisma wise and isn't in bad standing. Dragunov can go but it feels like you've got a really hard time connecting with him when it comes to the promo segments.
- We need to cut our losses, ditch the NXT women's tag team championships and go back to the original idea of having the championships on the main roster defended across all brands. WWE has no interest in creating tag divisions for the women so they just need to recalibrate.
- Pretty promising start with Dragon Lee and his promo.
- I like Gigi's finisher.
- The idea of making it hashtag personal is all the rage for WWE right now and it's fine for Gargano/Waller but Candice probably could have put Quill in the crib lol.
- The mutual admiration society approach between Breakker and Hayes feels like it does more towards getting Hayes shined up as a face. It also showed that there's levels to promo work. Breakker still has a way to go in that department and Hayes is super smooth there.
A good point on possible direction of Hayes if he comes away with the win. I feel like there is more upside for the heels in NXT than the faces. Just the quantity of them, as well as the depth of the roster too will make it interesting to watch... just as long as the title match doesn't end with Breakker winning only to be ambushed by his next opponent or confronted on the entrance by next opponent to close the show. We've seen that about seven times so far.
- Indi is dying on the vine.
- Dragon Lee is holding his own right now on the mic and that's promising for his upside.
- Imagine we're seeing Melo get his win, maybe see him break off from Williams potentially as a first championship feud, and Breakker moves on to the main roster.
Did the Nikkita getting attacked storyline vanish? I know she'll be out for awhile again, didn't notice anything the last couple weeks. Hoping it's Ava was responsible so she can say she did it for The Rock.
Watched this week's NXT a day late so I had the obvious battle royal winner, Indi's win, and the obvious addition of Roxy to the match spoiled ahead of time. And Kiana kissing Jenson. Anyway, last few minutes of the battle royal were killer. The NA title match is the one I'm most looking forward to at S&D. Thorpe didn't do much to impress me in ring but I liked his entrance/gear/vibe. Hank Walker's really starting to impress in ring, though.
Not going to get to watch S&D until Monday night thanks to having to work all weekend and a 2 night Mania taking up the evenings, so hopefully I can avoid having anything spoiled before then.
S&D predictions:
Wes retains.
Spooky Witch Girls win the tag titles.
Schism beats Chase U when Hudson turns
Roxy retains (Stratton steals the show in the match, though)
Tony/Stacks win the tag titles.
Gargano beats Waller (Waller follows him to the main roster post-Mania)
Hayes beats Breakker (Breakker to the main roster post-Mania, as well)
That 5 man match was insanity. Holy fuck
- A bummer that Tyler Bate was on the preshow but he could've been off the card altogether, so there's that. It was a pretty paint-by-the-numbers approach for the match. The ladies didn't do a ton but I think in their respective stages of working, they're trending in a good direction. The swerve with Hudson seemed obvious but they spun it in a good way to turn the tide in the match. Still pleased to see Chase U as an act taking with different audiences.
- I thought the ladies exceeded expectations in the opener. It didn't really feel like they were lost or anything along the way. Really surprised to see that Indi won. It certainly comes out of nowhere to see her as the champ now. If Triple H gets the women going in terms of textured storytelling on the main roster, I would pull Tiffany and Roxanne up there ASAP.
- The tag division has no heat, so it made sense that the crowd wasn't really into the triple threat. It wasn't bad, minus the cannonball attempt by Brutus, but the crowd just didn't have anything to sink their teeth into once the bell rang. Julius Creed is a monster, though. I'm really looking forward to see what comes for him in the future.
- The fatal-5way was bonkers. Man, oh man. It really seemed like they overproduced Dragon Lee's entrance and there's a hell of an entrance somewhere in there, but the production of it didn't come off like they likely wanted it to. I did dig the story that Wes Lee was ready for the stage and the opposition. It's also great that McDonagh and Dragunov just hate each other where it didn't matter that there were three others there, they were just there to wreck each other. I think it's an inspired choice to have Lee retain. He's been doing great in the role. Just makes it matter that much more when someone rises up and takes him down.
- Gargano just hits a different level in NXT. The match wasn't disgustingly violent but it had its share of brutality to it. Gargano got his pound of flesh and Waller got his comeuppance. I still think Waller should bypass another token chance at the championship and should just go up to the main roster. As for Gargano, part of me really thinks the booking has halted to wait for Ciampa to get back into the swing so they can go back to DIY.
- The Women's tag championship match was filler. The story will continue Wednesday and I imagine we'll figure out who Sebastian is and the team will fracture. Spooky Girlz will get their time now but the division is still troublesome.
- The main event delivered. Wasn't the best match on the show but the two guys brought the goods. I thought they protected Breakker by showing the visual submission by Hayes while the ref was out, then he ate a belt shot and eventually lost. It's time for him to move on. Hayes is way over with the crowd and he's ready to sit at the top of the card. I will be interested to see if they continue playing up the idea of him playing more of a babyface or this was just a means to an end. Makes sense for it to be the former with Breakker handing him the championship and making it look like a passing of the torch. Still think the execution of things leaves the door open for Trick Williams to turn on Hayes and be an initial championship feud.
Good show.
Last edited by BGMaverick; Yesterday at 7:15 PM.
Bron dropping the belt combined with the post match show of respect means he’s getting promoted, yeah?
My wholly uneducated opinion leads me to believe that SmackDown would be the better landing spot for him.
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