To be honest the timing and booking of this feud seems a bit off.Originally Posted by Nash Diesel
You got Gable not in an official match and Corbin going through (yes I know…anooother) character change. Would’ve been better off booking them in separate feuds to look strong but not against each other as someone has to lose straight off.
Meh, not really. Both can move forward with a loss. I imagine Corbin's losing and he goes further down the rabbit hole with whatever he's character is evolving into. In NXT, there's probably not many guys better than Corbin that will keep Steveson on track and make him look as best as possible within a match.
Last edited by BGMaverick; July 28th, 2023 at 7:19 PM.
Corbin’s essentially played the gatekeeper role for a few years so probably just a varied version of that lol. Same shit with a new paint job.
I’ll give the feud time but gonna be honest, low expectations. Corbin will smash him on the mic.
Last edited by Badger; July 28th, 2023 at 7:40 PM.
And there's nothing wrong with any of that. Putting a fresh coat on the paint is fine. Plays a role, does it well, and can help nurture a developing talent.
I know there’s nothing wrong with the role itself, I was just jokingly pointing out that every gimmick change hasn’t made a real difference to his progression.
I think broke Corbin had far more potential though but they cut it early.
Corbin's time passed a long time ago. They're putting some spotlight on him again, but at this point it's not about him anymore. This is who he is now and that makes more right in the world cuz golly I got tired of him ages ago.
I think they had something with broke Corbin but killed it too quick. Then it was same ole same ole after that. Adding JBL didn’t make a blind bit of difference either.
He should because one guy has barely been in the business for a drink of water the other is going on 10 years. It's an odd hill to die on, this whole Gable isn't that good on the mic. And? Most of NXT are not good on the mic and most don't usually get that good until they're on Raw/SD.
There’s likely higher expectations for Gable and he has been on the payroll for quite a while compared to others and not even debuted in the ring properly yet. Obviously there’s transition from amateur to pro-wrestling but it seems quite slow with him.
I'm happy they have enough faith in baron Corbin to make Chad gable look like a million bucks
- Gallus is good but a sustained reign by them has damped the vibe for the tag division, so it's good to see that we got a title change here. Match was fine for what it was.
- Roxanne's sister and mother deserve a ton of kudos for showing emotion that didn't come off as forced or cheesy. Thought both ladies in the match did well and the back-to-back big spots at the end looked effective and painful for Blair haha.
- Steveson was fine in his first match but the crowd instantly turned on him the second he applied the Ankle Lock. Based on that and the count out finish, the crowd really wasn't happy. You know things aren't trending well for you when the crowd is chanting for Corbin. The finish means that they want to do more here but the fan allegiance either saw a one-night aberration or a tricky set of circumstances to navigate through now.
- Triple Threat for the NA Championship was really good. Had tons of shenanigans but that's to be expected with a Judgment Day match. I didn't expect Rhea to hit a Riptide on anyone but the spot onto the table and the subsequent kick out by Lee was a really good touch. The three competitors worked really well together and Rhea was the added spice that made things better. Not a surprise that Mysterio retained, and you have to ride the hot hand as long as you can.
- Tiffany and Thea showed what you likely expected in this match: some nice glimpses of promise and a little bit of clunkiness. I figured we'd see something along the lines of what we did with the finish. Presumed Thea would have passed out but Chase throwing in the towel made sense. Both of those finishes ultimately protect Thea to some extent. The execution of the finish with the Boston Crab was painful to watch because it was locked in multiple and drawn out over a decent amount of time and it looked effective for a fraction of that time. The size disparity probably played a role in some of that but that should've been known when the match was laid out. Both ladies will be fine in the long run but this had some blemishes.
- The main event absolutely delivered in spades, my word. I absolutely love how the table was being set and then things absolutely went to a sudden higher gear in terms of physicality after Hayes delivered that first chop to the chest. The powerbomb counter and the top-rope cutter counter were just so incredibly good. Despite there not being a lot of doubt that Hayes would drop the championship, they tried to do everything they could within the match to make you believe Dragunov was going to win. I won't be surprised if they want to run this back immediately. On top of that, what felt like seeds that were planted somewhere around the feud between Hayes and Breakker feel like they might be ready to sprout in due time in relation to the fracture between Hayes and Williams. Feels a little too heavy handed as of late in terms of referencing the friendship/bond between the two of them. Regardless, that's for a later time. This match was killer.
Like I said, which I know for a fact you didn't, go read up on what he's been doing. He's been signed but he hasn't been training religiously and working on his mic skills. I just think it's weird how some of you are singling him out and using his mic skills as some big red flag that he's going to fail. It's developmental. Most of them suck on the mic. Most wrestlers these days in general suck on the mic. Took Roman 10 years to cut a promo that didn't suck balls lol.
Compared to others, Gable has barely been on the roster. Or even a wrestler. You have guys on there who have been wrestling for 15 years and have no upside, still can't cut promos or wrestle but again it's developmental.
Happy the tag belts are off boring-ass Gallus and on a team with some actual personality.
Roxy"s sister was the star of her match. Match itself was decent, too.
New Corbin aesthetic is good. Was not at ll expecting the crowd turning like they did. Wild stuff.
Triple threat was great and had some good false finishes. Thought Ali had it for a moment there. Rhea added a fun dynamic and the Riptide/table spot was dope.
Thea/Tiffany was pretty good overall. The finish was a little lackluster but makes for an interesting story.
Main event was an absolute humper. Excellent stuff. Coast to coast Codebreaker counter spot was fucking awesome. Was convinced Trick was gonna hit Melo with the belt.
Last edited by mth; July 31st, 2023 at 12:24 AM.
Gonna be interesting to see how they react to the backlash on Gable as so far the fans are rejecting Angle 2.0.
Was rather surprised they flipped like that on Texas of all places.
I'm fairly certain I heard chants of "Gable, Gable" towards the end of the match. At the beginning they were chanting for Baron but I think Gable got the fans on his side by the end.
When Gable was hitting everyone with the belly to belly on NXT the crowd was blowin up. The GAB crowd....Let's be honest, most WWE/NXT fans hate everyone that is perceived to be getting a mega push for whatever reason. We already have people who are expecting this kid to be just as good as Kurt Angle right now. I'm not too concerned and the WWE shouldn't be either because again, 2-3 weeks ago the crowd was hot loving the guy suplexing everyone. Who knows, maybe the NXT crowd wants Corbin to succeed. It was a lose-lose for both men. Corbin has become the new Jericho/Ziggler where all the new guys work with and beat. Steveson, despite Corbin not being much better, is not well rounded enough at this point and not to mention, he's going to be going to Tokyo in September so who knows what's next.
What is next for Carmello Hayes? I thought the match with Dragunov was very good. Is there a story there with Carmello v. Trick? Who is on deck right now?
I hope they bring Westley up to the main roster to help feud with the Judgment Day.
They were playing the rhyming game during the intro to the triple threat. Wes Lee, A-Li, Rip-ley, and then Dom lol
Wes Lee getting into the NXT title scene is cool with me. Potential for an absolute banger of a title match with Melo.
Had Santos" appearance spoiled but cool to see him back.
Seems like Lyra is being primed for another go at Tiffany and I am here for it.
Prefer Thorpe to Dijak so would've liked to see that one end differently.
Holy shit the Creed Bros are dorks and they undid any drama their "leaving" might've had.
I don't think I reviewed the pre-GAB episode but I wanted to mention I don't think Price/Nima should've been in that losing spot and they should've used a different team there.
I know I'm the only person who popped for the return of Dabba-Kato. Now get Oba Femi back on TV next, please, Mr. HBK.
Dabba Kato should've been something special by now. They really fumbled the bag with him getting destroyed by Braun Strowman in the Underground. That should've been Kato's launching pad into the main show. The guy looks like he should've been in Bloodsport.
I'm undecided on how I feel about him being pushed as a solo act. I feel like a main roster name would benefit having him in a role of bodyguard. But keep him off the same show Omos is on. One wobbling giant per show is enough.
I'm undecided on if I should continue not watching NXT because I can't get into Von Wagner. This guy getting a push makes me not want to watch NXT at all.
On the plus side at least his Boring To Death team with Kyle O'Reilly is a thing of the past
I hope you don’t mind the editing.
I can appreciate and very brave they have now opened up about Wagner’s story but would’ve much rather preferred if they opened with that when he debuted. NXT are great about giving backstory to debuting wrestlers (main roster should take a cue) but they debuted him with zero character, gave him Mr Stone to help him (nothing against Mr Stone here btw) but the point is they had tools to help him make a splash. He of course has to make his own luck and a loooong way to make it big but telling his childhood story would’ve been a better launching bad to get folks behind him at the start.
On one hand it's very much the same approach they took with Lars Sullivan. On the other hand, if they would've came out the gate with this backstory and had him go the heel route it would've been better than just showing up with the "I'm taller than some of these guys look at me!"
Ultimately I just think he sucks and I don't even know if he's a face or heel because I just haven't been watching much NXT lately. I just don't want to be forced to cheer for this guy because of his childhood. It fucking sucked, but it feels like this is one of those last hopes to get a behind the scenes favorite over somehow. It's like when people didn't really want to boo Roman when he came back from battling cancer. Suddenly that crowd that was quick to hate Roman were sitting on their hands, mouths had a padlock on them lol. But when they turned him heel all bets were off.
Heatwave was pretty good overall.
Trick/Dragunov was solid with Trick looking good in defeat. There's a turn on Melo coming, just not sure how soon.
Heritage Cup bout was good. Dar has grown on me thanks to MetaFour. Looking forward to Dabba-Kato having what will likely be his best match with Bate eventually though mixed feelings as I'm certain he'll lose.
Corbin's Bigelow tribute gear was dope. Shame commentary didn't recognize it.
Mixed tag match was good and I really hope we get Rhea/Lyra one on one again soon.
Don't really care for the Creed/Schism feud.
Holy gawd are a lot of the women atrocious on the mic.
NXT title match was good but a bit underwhelming. Could have killed it on PLE without an ad and a bit more time. Hope they do it again.
Trick Williams' theme is a banger.
Kiana was a weird choice/waste of time just to get to Becky.
Poor Dabba-Kato looking like a jobber yet again.
Happy Ali won but feel like he's just the midpoint before Dragon actually wins the NA Title.
Poor Tozawa seems like he's just in yhe tourny to job on the show no one watches. :/
I guess Breakker just murdered Wagner...wonder if the dude's gonna wear a mask like Kane now that his head got squashed?
NXT has been so good recently. I went off the brand so much after the ugly 2.0 rebrand. Even when something was recommended to me I could barely watch 5 minutes. Whilst the look of the show is still a bit bright for me, the show has improved so much that I forget about it. Good characters, good wrestling. Plenty of variety. I love Booker and Vic on commentary. Booker is completely insane and it rubs off on Vic who is more than just generic play by play guy. And the PC crowd is actually kind of endearing.
This past week's episode was excellent. Tiff continues to impress. Ilja is something else. Really fun little match between Bate and Dabba Kato. Great main event and an intriguing cliff hanger ending.
I've really needed to get back into NXT. Like Ringo, I also bailed after the whole 2.0 debacle... lord, that was such a tragic time. After gandering at some of the highlights on Youtube, it's evident that enough time has passed and I should really start paying attention again. Some quick thoughts on this week's episode:
- I'm ecstatic to see how much Stratton has progressed since I last saw her. She seems to have sharpened herself up and man she's perfected the moonsault. Thing of beauty.
- Ilja's a dude I'll be watching for quite heavily. He has big time player written all over him. Several years from now, I can't wait to see where he'll be.
- Duke Hudson really needs to ditch the Chase U stuff. It's better than his previous shit gimmicks (card player and womanizer?), but I'm hoping he gets to shine on his own.
- Nathan Frazer has inarguable skill, but he needs to find some identity otherwise he'll just be another high flyer w/ no hook.
- Tyler Bate, I'd nearly forgotten about this guy. It feels like he's been in NXT for 10 years. Huge potential still after all this time though.
- Dragon Lee sticks out to me, and I'm crossing my fingers that this is the one WWE doesn't give up on.
- Thea/Gigi was decent, glad Gigi is on her own and Thea... she still needs some work here and there, but she'll be fine.
- Booker on commentary sucks. Needs to be said.
- One last thing and this is something I can't break away from. The venue, the production, the color, the lights... it's all too much. The entire package looks way overproduced and above all... cluttered. do notice there is more space on the outside for wrestlers to brawl around in, but the audience area throws me off. It doesn't look like they have many fans in there, but they make it seem like there are more by fans painted on the walls. Also, they have this magnificently massive entrance way that looks too big for the venue. I wish they would change venues again and just simplify the presentation more so that things look more slick and not so busy.
NXT really feels like how it used to be before they started signing indie folks. It really is and should be the breeding ground for future stars.
To be honest I thought this whole thing was set up for Duke to turn on Chase ages ago. Suppose it could still happen but everything about still screams heel and I think it needs to happen soon.
Agree with mth that Tozawa is getting the short end of the stick and Wagner could end up under a mask after this.
I did miss the last couple of weeks and missed out on the whole Creeds getting back into NXT. I still think they’ll get called up soon.
Calling a dusty finish on Wes/Draganov to set up the triple threat. Also that Dragon Lee will probably be the one to end up dethroning Dom despite losing this week.
I really hope Stratton doesn’t lose next week just so they can say Becky’s held all the gold. Stratton’s not ready to lose yet as loving her reign. Calling shenanigans happening.
She can wrestle super well. I cannot stand her anytime she speaks. Stratton, that is.
Stratton is a good character but her reign hasn't really been anything to write home about. She has these little nothing "feuds" that last for 2 weeks and then it's on to the next. I wouldn't be negative to Becky winning but it just seems super rushed. It seems like a reverse KO-John Cena type feud. It would've worked better if Becky was out there saying she's beat everyone and then boom, NXT Women's champion Stratton comes out and says "you haven't beat me or won this title" We get a little back and forth and the next WWE ppv has this match on it. We just need more build.
Honestly what I see happening is whoever Becky is feuding with next will cost her the match and Tiffany goes over.
I guess the real question is do they think NXT needs Becky to push people for title runs at her leading up to maybe Stratton winning it back?
I haven't kept up with NXT the last month or so.
Honestly it's very strange. There wasn't much interaction between the two leading up to this. It feels like a quick ratings grab maybe but it still doesn't make sense to have Becky, arguably the top female in the company, to give a shit that she hasn't won the NXT title.
Honestly, there's nothing strange about it. Out of the ordinary, no doubt. They obviously they see something in Stratton, and they want to prep her for the future. But it's possible there's nobody on the NXT roster that can get her high enough to where they want her so... enter Becky Sandman. Becky's done everything she can on the main roster, and it just so happens Stratton is in need of a step up. Looking forward to how this plays out.
Then she is doing her job well as a heel. Welcome to heel wrestling class 101 bud.
It’s a simple premise really. Tiffany is upper-class, entitled and had this entitled to her whereas Becky has had to scratch and claw.
While I somewhat agree with Nash Tiffany’s feuds have been somewhat short, also agree with you that they seemingly have big plans for her and hope this continues after tonight. I call shenanigans on whoever the next opponent is for Becky interfering and letting Stratton grow.
I feel like Becky gave Tiffany her best match to date, and of course, Tiffany was able to showcase she could hang with a vet like Becky. I think it was the right decision, if not rushed a bit, as Tiffany's reign wasn't exactly setting the world on fire. Plus, Becky is incredibly giving in the ring, so I'm hoping she will be able to go against some other great up women in NXT who need "that match" to put them on the map. The NXT women's division is super oversaturated with green women (28 listed, which isn't including the 18 at the PC), and outside a select handful (Lyra, Tiffany, Roxanne, Cora, Jacy, Gigi, Blair, and Wendy), none of the women are near close enough ready to have the title. And I'm not counting Meiko cause she's not actually there lol.
It was a great main event, a feel good moment, showcased Tiffany, and sets up for some NXT star to get a huge rub when they take the title off of Becky.
I approve lol.
NxT HERITAGE GLOBAL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
Group Scenarios
GROUP A:
NxT Level Up spoiler:
GROUP B:
It all comes down to Duke Hudson vs. Joe Coffey next week.
If it's a tie, or if Coffey wins, Coffey wins the group.
If Hudson wins, we have a 3-way tie between Frazer, Coffey, and Hudson. They would all have gone 2-1 in the tournament, and would be 1-1 against each other. Therefore, they would presumably all advance to the finals (and it would be a fatal four way).
I don't agree with this. Sure it is one style of heel, but not every heel is like that at all. I don't hate most of them. I just dislike the character.Then she is doing her job well as a heel. Welcome to heel wrestling class 101 bud.
Either way, the match was great.
They seem to like bringing in main roster people for little runs here and there like New Day and their tag title run that gave them all the tag titles. And now Becky won the title she hasn't won and probably lose it later due to shenanigans.
That probably came across as patronising more than it mean to lol. I agree not every heel is like that but I think she acts and speaks that way like an entitled diva to gain heat and personally I like it. Agree to disagree on this one though.
Last edited by Badger; September 13th, 2023 at 1:10 PM.
And the heat seeker, Dom.
It's an attempt to get more eyeballs on the program and then good advertising on your Monday (or Friday) programming. Haven't watched the match yet but I don't hate the decision.
I hate it. Tiffany Stratton is the best.
Haven’t seen the match yet myself but would’ve preferred Stratton retaining as she was still cooking. However can also see the logic in getting more eyeballs on the show as well.
Stratton/Lynch was pretty damned good. Dragunov/Lee was a banger, interested how this Lee “quitting” angle will go. A call up or someone convinces him to come back?
Bate/Axiom was pretty good. Poor Tozawa though, after his recent win over Miz on Raw, thought he would’ve gotten more shine on NXT but not really the case. Reckon Duke wins next week to get the three way in that group so we get Bate vs Frazier in the final (or becomes a fatal 4 way).
I forgot all about New Day winning the NXT tag titles lol I've been so in and out of NXT over the last year or so it's been hard to keep up.
Had Becky's win spoiled before I watched unfortunately. Love Tiffany but not mad about the loss. She had a banger and lost to one of the biggest and best and will probably win it back. More eyes on NXT is good cuz it's underrated/overlooked.
Curious where things go for Wes but he is a bit of a sad sack too often. Poor Tozawa is getting shafted in the tournament. Corbin/Breakker is an odd choice.
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