The NXT Thread

[mth]

Good show. Felt really chaotic with all the interruptions. NXT feels the most like Attitude Era stuff as far as unpredictability and chaos and folks feeling like they could step up for a belt at any time. Add that to the fact that they are always building to and hyping matches a week or two ahead and it easily feels like the only real "can't miss" show in WWE and the vibe that folks have been clamoring for for years.

Devlin's solid in the ring but doesn't thrill me otherwise. Really think Rush was killing it with the title and wish he'd get back to being champ.

The Ciampa/Theory thing was a nice way to set up a match between them. Loser leaves NXT seems like a good idea for Ciampa/Gargano.

Both tag team matches were fine. Not really into anyone in the first, Broserwieghts are fun though and the Wellness Violation about the cup was pretty great.

Not too thrilled to see Lee against Dijakovic yet again, I'm sure it'll be good, but I'd like to see some fresh faces and feuds.

Carter vs. Green II was just as clunky and meh as the first. Chelsea's not doing much for me, I think Carter's the brighter prospect and I'd rather have seen them run with Green continue to not live up to her hype and get undermined by the underdog.

Dream vs. Strong was ok but I'll agree with BGM that it felt a bit off most of the time. Happy Dream is back regardless and surprised no one came to help during the attack considering all the guys on UE's bad side.

WHERE IS DEXTER?!

[BGMaverick]

Good show. Felt really chaotic with all the interruptions. NXT feels the most like Attitude Era stuff as far as unpredictability and chaos and folks feeling like they could step up for a belt at any time. Add that to the fact that they are always building to and hyping matches a week or two ahead and it easily feels like the only real "can't miss" show in WWE and the vibe that folks have been clamoring for for years.

Devlin's solid in the ring but doesn't thrill me otherwise. Really think Rush was killing it with the title and wish he'd get back to being champ.

The Ciampa/Theory thing was a nice way to set up a match between them. Loser leaves NXT seems like a good idea for Ciampa/Gargano.

Both tag team matches were fine. Not really into anyone in the first, Broserwieghts are fun though and the Wellness Violation about the cup was pretty great.

Not too thrilled to see Lee against Dijakovic yet again, I'm sure it'll be good, but I'd like to see some fresh faces and feuds.

Carter vs. Green II was just as clunky and meh as the first. Chelsea's not doing much for me, I think Carter's the brighter prospect and I'd rather have seen them run with Green continue to not live up to her hype and get undermined by the underdog.

Dream vs. Strong was ok but I'll agree with BGM that it felt a bit off most of the time. Happy Dream is back regardless and surprised no one came to help during the attack considering all the guys on UE's bad side.

WHERE IS DEXTER?!

Next day thoughts:
Devlin hasn't had enough time to connect with the audience but he's been in the ring for a combined 25-35 minutes worth of wrestling over the last month. He's got personality, so they've got to present it.

There's some underrated stakes with the idea of Loser Leaves NXT because it's not likely that either will thrive on Raw or Smackdown. I guess there's always bailout option of screwing up the stipulation in the future, but that doesn't feel like NXT's style.

The disharmony of the motives with the characters for Dream and Strong made it a very confusing aspect of the match, too. To me, it's troubling if you can't have a good match with Strong. Dream gets the benefit of the doubt right now since he just came back after a long absence but the concerned antennae now has to be monitored.

[BGMaverick]

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
Week 10: 916,000 (first week to beat AEW)
Week 11: 810,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 12: 845,000 viewers
Week 13: 778,000 viewers (tie)
Week 14: 795,000 viewers (win and win all the demos)
Week 15: 831,000 viewers (unopposed and Christmas Day)
Week 16: 548,000 viewers (review and awards show)
Week 17: 721,000 viewers (not in the top 50 for cable programming for the 18-49 demographic)
Week 18: 700,000 viewers
Week 19: 769,000 viewers
Week 20: 712,000 viewers
Week 21: 770,000 viewers
Week 22: 757,000 viewers
Week 23: 794,000 viewers

[BGMaverick]

Meltzer's Takeover Ratings:

Lee versus Dijakovic: 4.25
Kai versus Nox: 3.00
Bálor versus Gargano: 4.50
Ripley versus Belair: 3.50
Broserweights versus Undisputed Era: 4.75
Cole versus Ciampa: 4.75

[Fanny Batter]

That main event being rated that is comical. For context, Daniel Bryan has never had a 5 star match. Was that match as good or better than anything Bryan has ever done? Behave.

[Nash Diesel]

That main event being rated that is comical. For context, Daniel Bryan has never had a 5 star match. Was that match as good or better than anything Bryan has ever done? Behave.

Fuck no and I'm not even one to soak myself in what Meltzer thinks of a match. Surprising he's never thought DB had a 5 star match though as he pretty embodies everything Meltzer seems to really enjoy. But yeah it's just Meltzer and his love for Adam Cole.

[Fanny Batter]

Different strokes I guess, it's getting to the point where he may as well not watch the matches, plug his favourites into EWR and go by that rating. I just find the obsession over some of the modern wrestling tropes odd to be honest. Kurt Angle and Edge had these kind of matches a couple of decades ago, and you didn't need to dedicate nearly an hour to the whole package.

[Donald]

Too many false finishes. Also kicking out of someone's finisher is really, really dumb. That should be saved for really special moments. Like I think it was Orton who kicked out of the Pedigree and it was like holy shit no one's ever done that except for the Ultimate Warrior.

[Ringo]

I thought Cole/Ciampa was an excessive moves festival with too many 2.999 nearfalls and some quite frankly dreadful no-selling and disregard for recovery time between spots but it doesn't particularly surprise me that Meltzer loved it and gave it a 4.75.

For the record, I enjoyed the match more than Balor/Gargano which I really struggled to get into at all. Neither are my kind of thing and unfortunately the NXT main event style has been this way for a while now. The influence of the likes of Owens, Zayn, Joe and Nakamura has waned and the PWG-style spotfest style has prevailed but hey, I at least found the Cole/Ciampa match pretty engaging. I liked the TUE/Broserweights match the best of any on the show (and would probably rate both women's matches in second and third position) but even that doesn't hold a candle to the best NXT tags involving the Revival or DIY imo.

[Badger]

If there's one thing that NXT do too much of on TV and Raw/SD too, it's too many near-falls after finishers. If the occasion is grand, then it's acceptable unless they take the absolute piss like Rollins/Fiend and Lesnar/Reigns.

Finishers should be finishers!

As far as Balor/Gargano goes, yes it could have been better given the quality of the men but Gargano losing a bit handily after the sequence by Balor did accomplish the fact that it caused Johnny to snap again costing Ciampa refuelling their feud mirroring what Ciampa did to him so from a story perspective it did work a bit.

[Kdestiny]

I really dug Kai/Nox other than the random run in at the end

[mth]

Bianca Belair vs. Charlotte Flair has been announced for the upcoming episode...

[BGMaverick]

Bianca Belair vs. Charlotte Flair has been announced for the upcoming episode...

I could go either way, but I think it would have been good to flip the order of the next two weeks. They could have run the cage match this coming Wednesday with Nox and Kai, and used this Wednesday to hype Belair versus Flair and have the match in two weeks. Two weeks of solid wrestling for the women is good though.

[Horatio]

Grimes vs Dijakovic and Theory vs Ciampa have also been announced for this week.
Hopefully Grimes gets to come up a little...

[Horatio]

Balor vs Walter for WM would be awesome. Neither is my favorite (Lio Rush) but those two are over like rover.

[BGMaverick]

Grimes is really good. He's been in there with different guys/styles/sizes and he always looks good. They really need to develop his character and he'll be a bigger factor. Not really enthused with the route between Priest presenting a road block for Dijakovic and wanting Lee. I think the biggest issue for me is the fact we've already seen these three involved within the course of the week and Dijakovic handled Priest. I guess Priest wanted to get revenge for the previous loss but it feels a bit redundant.

Bálor/Walter is going to be a banger. They were going to go one of two routes with Bálor going into Mania weekend: NXT Title or something UK related. I guess it's still ambiguous on what's happening because this could be for Takeover Tampa or Takeover Dublin. Bálor would be an unquestionable face in Dublin. Not sure I am fully enthused with the idea of using Bálor again to elevate a brand (NXT UK) but the match is going to be fantastic. I think the next steps with the numbers game discrepancy will be telling for the end game with Bálor. If NXT UK dudes like Gallus opt to help him, it looks like Bálor will be leaving NXT proper. If not, this feels like just a one-off scenario. If it is a one-off, I know three good brothers who could be helpful in the interim...

Looks like we got the first tease of Killer Kross.

Still confused with the Dream/Strong stuff. Yes there was a beatdown by UE but Dream won the match last week so he wants a cage match? This thing lacks clarity.

Theory is definitely an intriguing prospect. He's had two big matches on TV against former singles champions and he didn't look out of place. Last portion of the match was pretty good, too. It's pretty wild that over time Gargano was able to get booed the way he was and Ciampa has been turned into such a beloved figure for the audience. The extended time in NXT worked to allow for the turn for Gargano.

You turn Forgotten Sons and guess what happens? They're still not interesting.

Flair/Belair had a ton of heat behind it. I didn't have a problem with the match until the finishing stretch with the no-sell by Charlotte. It just wasn't necessary. Seems like Belair is getting an injury angle to be written off through Mania. She's clearly not going to be the No. 1 contender again so she's either going to be a quick out due to the injury in this series of qualifying matches for the women or out of the picture entirely (possibly to go to Raw after Mania to get revenge on Charlotte).

[Badger]

I giggled at how Rhea decided to waste a bit of time and pose before running to save Belair.

[PurePlayer]

Balor/WALTER has me stoked!

[mth]

Damn, Belair/Charlotte seemed like it got rushed at the end. Never felt like it got to that next gear and then it ended awkwardly and abruptly (with a no sell as mentioned), Charlotte had to rush through the post-match attack stuff WHILE Ripley was coming out, Ripley took time to pose for some reason (probably because the original timing allowed for it), and then soon as she got the ring, the show ended. Really took away from the whole thing and left me pretty disappointed with the match. Bummer. I would've trimmed down Ciampa/Thoery and its post-match stuff and/or the pointless tag match that I skipped to give this more time.

Rest of the show was pretty good but I am getting a little bored with seeing the same folks getting spotlight and hope to see a shift post-Mania when hopefully a good chunk get called up.

[BGMaverick]

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
Week 10: 916,000 (first week to beat AEW)
Week 11: 810,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 12: 845,000 viewers
Week 13: 778,000 viewers (tie)
Week 14: 795,000 viewers (win and win all the demos)
Week 15: 831,000 viewers (unopposed and Christmas Day)
Week 16: 548,000 viewers (review and awards show)
Week 17: 721,000 viewers (not in the top 50 for cable programming for the 18-49 demographic)
Week 18: 700,000 viewers
Week 19: 769,000 viewers
Week 20: 712,000 viewers
Week 21: 770,000 viewers
Week 22: 757,000 viewers
Week 23: 794,000 viewers
Week 24: 717,000 viewers

[Horatio]

I thought the Forgotten Sons did a good job last night but I also liked Shelley and Kushida the other day. Rockers-type tag teams not over these days?

I blinked and missed the end of Charlotte/Belair. Not really impressed with the outcome but I guess WM is a tight squeeze?
The aftermath was equally wtf...

Theory reminds me of the Power Plant guys who lost the main event push to Orton and Batista. He's so good for his age but guys like Tomasso and Gargano have some sort of tenure so I'd be surprised if he ever makes it to the top on his ring skills alone.
I kind of see him going nowhere and that seems wrong.

[Ringo]

Are the Forgotten Sons a Rockers like tag team?

Not sure what to make of them really. Gunner was alright in TNA and has an excellent look. I never saw much difference in Blake and Murphy when they were a team but they're so far apart now. Maybe their gulf in talent was clear all along, idk. When they first started out I thought the idea of three US military vets with a chip on their shoulders had potential but they never seemed to develop it much.

[Horatio]

Are the Forgotten Sons a Rockers like tag team?

Not like the Timesplitters are a Rockers but I thought they were totally a throwback as faces.

[Simmo Fortyone]

Still confused with the Dream/Strong stuff. Yes there was a beatdown by UE but Dream won the match last week so he wants a cage match? This thing lacks clarity.

He wants Strong alone where UE can't interfere. There was a promo from him on the show this week where he said that.

[mth]

They broke his back and shelved him for 5 months and then beat him down last week, I don't see how winning one match is enough to even the score. Wanting a bit more than that makes complete sense. At most, he should want to eye-for-an-eye it and put Roddy on the shelf. Hence the cage demand.

[BGMaverick]

He wants Strong alone where UE can't interfere. There was a promo from him on the show this week where he said that.

They broke his back and shelved him for 5 months and then beat him down last week, I don't see how winning one match is enough to even the score. Wanting a bit more than that makes complete sense. At most, he should want to eye-for-an-eye it and put Roddy on the shelf. Hence the cage demand.

I watched the show but he's already beaten Strong. The need for a cage match would have made sense if he was in the match with Strong two weeks ago, was about to win, and UE interfered. I do appreciate the fact that the family angle was somewhat dropped in Dream's promo this past week. That shows a sense of course correction because Dream doing that made it confusing as to why a fan favorite would be doing things a heel would do. He can show angst and want revenge for the back injury but that was a weird way of going about it.

Also, the cage match as a means to keep people out is a tired trope because we know that won't happen lol. They'll have to be careful/mindful of that with two cage matches set for the same show next week.

[Badger]

Ditch the escaping through the door rule. Either climb, pin or submission but that's another rant dor another time lol.

[VHS]

Ditch the escaping through the door rule. Either climb, pin or submission but that's another rant dor another time lol.

Totally, and I'd even add on ditch the escaping part altogether.

[Damien]

Totally, and I'd even add on ditch the escaping part altogether.

Might as well make it a Hell in a Cell match then.

[Murphy]

I laughed out loud at the ref giving Rhea a little shove into the ring at the end because they were clearly about to go off the air.

Was distracted watching this week, but found myself really enjoying the GYV/Forgotten Sons match. Didn’t see that coming.

I’m liking Grimes and really like the presentation etc of Damian Priest. He has great potential. A real ‘it factor’ to him.

[Nash Diesel]

I wasn't really high on this week's show other than the Charlotte-Bianca match and the set up for Balor v. Walter. Imperium is fucking awesome. Balor taking the NXT Uk title off Walter screams amazing. I want to believe that Dream is betting set up to take the NXT title from Cole. UE had a nice burst, but I'm completely bored with them as characters. I can watch men and women put on great performances in the ring but if I don't give a shit about who is in the match then who cares how good they are?

Dream v. Roderick is like Stone Cold feuding with Triple H leading up to WM 14 so I can kind of deal with it since it seems like we're about over that hump and into the real shit. And by real shit I mean another Adam Cole match where he does 90 Canadian Destroyers and 400 superkicks just to do the proper job to a real superstar.

[Horatio]

Nox was killing it out there tonight. Really good performance from her.
Seems like this isn't the first time we've seen Kai no-selling high end offense though. I want to like her but I do not see why they have to sprint through everything to tell their story.
Raquel is like a less attractive Sonya. Are they sisters?

[VHS]

So that’s Chelsea Green? First I’ve seen her wrestle but she seems pretty uninteresting

[Horatio]

Glad Austin Theory got the win on Scott. Swerve sucks.

[Horatio]

Johnny Gargano is an awesomely bad heel promo.
Randy Orton can suck it.

Mauro was great in that, too.

[VHS]

Happy to see Theory get that win, he needed a hot W. Swerve I feel like has really started to get comfortable, and can't wait to see him continue to progress.

[Horatio]

Swerve is too ruthless to be a babyface. That man is cold...

[BGMaverick]

Even though Beth is a wrestler, I don't hate the fact that they sold her appearance on Monday to the extent she wasn't doing commentary Wednesday. Sell it and make the moments matter.

I've gotta say, they pretty much gave a pretty definitive, though not sensible finish several weeks ago between Kai and Nox yet they've delivered two very entertaining and different finishes between them after the fact. The Takeover match was good, and this cage match was good. Those two click very well and Gonzalez interfering in a clever way to create the finish was a good touch. I just really dislike the trope of promoting cage matches as a means to keep people from interfering in the finish. The right woman won, and hopefully they have something of value for both of them going forward.

Good, threatening promo by Bálor. Still ambiguous on when the match will take place, but it's apparent they're going to do what they can to draw more viewers to NXT UK.

Really smart utilization of a strong division by creating qualifying matches with women to create an epic ladder match. Based on her gimmick, whoever decided the name of Chelsea Green's finisher (I'm Prettier) deserves a bonus.

I don't know what Grimes did so much to create heat with that audience but it added more intensity with the promo with Lee. That match next week is going to be fantastic.

Austin Theory looks like if someone took the genes of Ricochet and John Cena and made a wrestler. They're moving at a quicker pace than I anticipated with him, but I do like the approach that they're presenting his lack of experience not being a factor because he's (arrogantly) confident in himself. Sweve and Theory had a hell of a match together. I wouldn't be mad at seeing those two duking it out some more.

"No Mama Mia's" lol. I was skeptical with how this sit-down interview was going to go, especially with how effective AEW's recent version was, but this was very solid. Gargano isn't the best promo (though he has improved) but I thought he performed well here. Mauro looking scared was a solid touch as the interview continued to dissolve. Going after Mauro is a good way to ensure Gargano gets heat. They're beating around the bush but it's coming across that Gargano reached a sudden (convenient for the story to tell) boiling point with Ciampa being loved after returning from his injury after he ruined Gargano's life before Ciampa was injured.

The second cage match helped alleviate some concerns in regards to Dream's rust factor being a bigger factor two weeks ago. It was extremely subtle but they definitely played it out that Dream was playing a high-level game of chess with Undisputed Era, ultimately willing to take whatever was coming tonight in order to get to Cole and the championship. Seeing a face actually portrayed as smart is refreshing. I'm skeptical at the prospects of a Cole/Dream match but we'll see what they can do.

[Donald]

I wonder if dream is going to put Cole and Brit Baker on his pants.

[mth]

The opening cage match was very good and that finish was creative as hell.

Grimes getting that Vickie Guerrero heat was damn impressive considering Full Sail's usually popping/cheering for heels just as much as faces.

Chelsea Green does nothing for me. Shotzi is dope, though.

Theory also doesn't do much for me. Swerve is also dope, though.

I skipped the tag team match because I don't care.

The Gargano/Mauro interview was terrific. I was very impressed with Johnny and Mauro was the perfect guy for him to intimidate.

Main event cage match was pretty fun and OMG YES finally Dream's going after the NXT Championship. I figured he was heading that direction soon but wasn't expecting it to be laid down so definitively already. Hell yeah.

Was there another possible Killer Kross vignette this week?

WHERE IS DEXTER?

[BGMaverick]

Was there another possible Killer Kross vignette this week?

WHERE IS DEXTER?

Two.

Better question is, will Io be back soon?

[mth]

Two.

Better question is, will Io be back soon?

I assume he'll debut at TakeOver.

Is Io out injured? If so, I must've missed it or forgot. Hopefully. i want Io vs. Mercedes Martinez for that ladder match.

[BGMaverick]

I assume he'll debut at TakeOver.

Is Io out injured? If so, I must've missed it or forgot. Hopefully. i want Io vs. Mercedes Martinez for that ladder match.

The quickest of cuts in both teasers had "Tick Tock" in them and then ending with a clock moving.

She apparently was injured in the post-match scrum from the Toni Storm match. It was reportedly a tweaked knee that was supposed to have her out about two months.

[mth]

I do recall that about Io now.

EDIT: Apparently I misunderstood the ladder match and didn't realize it was a multi-person match. I thought they were doing an elimination tourny thing leaving two women to be in it (hence my Io vs. Mercedes hopes) but ok, it's muliple women in it. That's cool.

[BGMaverick]

I do recall that about Io now.

EDIT: Apparently I misunderstood the ladder match and didn't realize it was a multi-person match. I thought they were doing an elimination tourny thing leaving two women to be in it (hence my Io vs. Mercedes hopes) but ok, it's muliple women in it. That's cool.

Yeah they've got a lot of depth in that division so weeding it out to get the top of the top in there for a bonkers ladder match is going to be good and adds steam each week with the qualifiers. I'm curious who they decide to make the No. 1 contender.

I think NXT rebounded nicely last night after two weeks of sub par (for them and their standards) episodes.

[BGMaverick]

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
Week 10: 916,000 (first week to beat AEW)
Week 11: 810,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 12: 845,000 viewers
Week 13: 778,000 viewers (tie)
Week 14: 795,000 viewers (win and win all the demos)
Week 15: 831,000 viewers (unopposed and Christmas Day)
Week 16: 548,000 viewers (review and awards show)
Week 17: 721,000 viewers (not in the top 50 for cable programming for the 18-49 demographic)
Week 18: 700,000 viewers
Week 19: 769,000 viewers
Week 20: 712,000 viewers
Week 21: 770,000 viewers
Week 22: 757,000 viewers
Week 23: 794,000 viewers
Week 24: 717,000 viewers
Week 25: 718,000 viewers

[Nash Diesel]

Stallion Regal needs to be a thing. I think we only have another week before Stallion Cup's suspension is up, correct?

[VHS]

Really digging the change in layout. Cool seeing the PC logo on the background.

it hasn’t always been like this has it?

[Horatio]

K Lee should always lose to Cameron Grimes.

It really is in the Performance Cneter this week

[Horatio]

Dijakovic should grow a mustache. Just sayin...

[Horatio]

Kai is such a scummy heel.
Yim vs Gonzalez could be a cool feud.

[Kdestiny]

Yim still feels like she's moving at half speed.

[Horatio]

If they worked faster the matches would be shorter.

[Horatio]

Kushida is so charismatic but why isn't he going for the CW title?

[Horatio]

On Flair/Ripley, 3 more weeks of this catty shit seems arduous. Glad it's over with the fans at this point.

[Kdestiny]

Mendoza abducted?

Interesting

[Horatio]

Hella interesting and out of left field...

Tegan Nox looks like she learned her Shiniest Wizard from B-BOY~!

I don't like Velveteen Dream but I'm interested in the prospect of an actual heavyweight holding the NXT World title.

[Kdestiny]

Hot ending there with a call back to their previous feud by Gargano/Ciampa

[BGMaverick]

Good scaling for the PC. Smaller, obviously, but they did a good job making that look and sound like a good venue with the crowd.

NA title match was entertaining, as expected. I haven't seen a bad Grimes match in NXT. The post-match stuff seems to suggest they're willing to go the triple threat rout between Lee, Dijakovic, and Priest for the title. I prefer that rather than Priest versus Lee. The stuff with Lee attacking Dijakovic didn't make a lot of sense, but it's ambiguous enough to suggest it's not a turn.

Kind of surprised they zagged with the result for Yim and Kai. Seems a bit odd to cool off Kai but it showed that her utilization of Gonzalez can backfire. Nox getting in makes sense, but I wouldn't be surprised if Kai and Gonzalez cost her the win if they don't find a way to get Kai outright into the match. It's interesting that the first two entrants into the title match probably weren't the likely choices, as well. I'm thinking the winner isn't one of these first three and it's one of the remaining three. Candice LeRae and Mercedes Martines is going to be a damn good match next week.

Raul Mendoza is a really good hand for NXT. I'm really curious to see what their agenda is with the kidnapping angle with the masked guys. They've got guys waiting in the pipeline for debuts so they've got options. One thing is for certain: NXT-related parking lots are a danger zone for activity.

They were in danger of spinning their wheels creatively with Flair and Ripley so this was a good advancement with the aggression by Flair. Charlotte did great, too, in terms of reacting to the crowd.

It seems like they were implementing a rotating cast of characters for backstage interviewers since Cathy Kelly left. I think McKenzie Mitchell got the "full" slate of work for this episode and she seemed like a good fit.

The spirit of Eddie Guerrero had to be having a laugh with what went down in the tag title match. It was extra hilarious to see Strong re-enact what happened to the official. The match was good for what it was but it relied much more on the chaos happening outside of the ring rather than inside. I imagine it's still set for a triple threat tag match with the Broserweights, Grizzled Young Vets, and Undsiputed Era.

That last segment with Gargano and Ciampa was a big one, no doubt. I like how they used the space of the PC to extend the brawling. I think Regal coming out sooner, while being unable to stop the chaos would have been solid, but having him there at the end was alright. They had to be aggressive to get those on the fence with this story to be on board again and I think they hit the nail on the head.

[mth]

Damn good show. Really cool having it in the PC this week, added a nice vibe and gave them stuff to work with for the last segment.

NA Title match was very good, I really liked how they worked the contrast of styles and both played their parts perfectly. Again gotta give props to Grimes for being one of the few heels that actually gets booed.

Was not expecting the Yim win but am not complaining 'cuz I like her.

Mendoza getting abducted is pretty interesting, curious where this will lead. Have a feeling it might involve Jorge Bolly and maybe they're starting a faction.

Flair showing up was a nice surprise and the confrontation went well. Ripley getting her legs worked can take her out for a week or two to prevent them having to tread more water. Charlotte did a great job responding to the crowd at the top, too.

Tag title match was solid as expected but I don't give a damn about GYV getting in the mix so meh.

Main event brawl was pretty damn good. Johnny's explanation made a lot of sense but got a bit lost while Ciampa was heading back there. Really cool to see them brawl all over the PC and utilize the environment in various ways. Was actually a bit surprised by how much damage they did particularly shattering the mirrors. The perch spot was well built with some fakeouts, i thought they might actually end it on the GargaNo Escape which would have been anticlimactic but then we got the real drop which was pretty banana.

WHERE IS DEXTER?

[BGMaverick]

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
Week 10: 916,000 (first week to beat AEW)
Week 11: 810,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 12: 845,000 viewers
Week 13: 778,000 viewers (tie)
Week 14: 795,000 viewers (win and win all the demos)
Week 15: 831,000 viewers (unopposed and Christmas Day)
Week 16: 548,000 viewers (review and awards show)
Week 17: 721,000 viewers (not in the top 50 for cable programming for the 18-49 demographic)
Week 18: 700,000 viewers
Week 19: 769,000 viewers
Week 20: 712,000 viewers
Week 21: 770,000 viewers
Week 22: 757,000 viewers
Week 23: 794,000 viewers
Week 24: 717,000 viewers
Week 25: 718,000 viewers
Week 26: 697,000 viewers

[Donald]

That's a small drop.

[BGMaverick]

Per Meltzer, zero live matches on NXT tomorrow. Will have interviews, vignettes, and old matches.

[BGMaverick]

The mini-documentary episode.

That had to be a Network special's worth of exposition for Gargano and Ciampa. It told the story of them in thorough detail.

Bálor's tale did a subtle job of burying Mahal, Corbin, and Lashley lol. Seemed like a stretch to suggest the match with Lesnar was the crux for Bálor feeling rejuvenated in a storyline sense but it could be the case in reality. I was digging his confidence over the course of his promo. The last stretch of it essentially pushed pause on the feud with Walter, which makes sense.

Ripley's time was good to show her transformation. The specific section of Ripley in NXT UK is exactly what they need to do on Monday for Baszler. They need to expose the bigger audience to what makes Baszler tick and why she is a legit threat to Lynch. Ripley's final portion harkened back to the advantage Owens feels like he's going to have over Rollins. Owens delivered it better but I thought Ripley did good enough.

[BGMaverick]

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
Week 10: 916,000 (first week to beat AEW)
Week 11: 810,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 12: 845,000 viewers
Week 13: 778,000 viewers (tie)
Week 14: 795,000 viewers (win and win all the demos)
Week 15: 831,000 viewers (unopposed and Christmas Day)
Week 16: 548,000 viewers (review and awards show)
Week 17: 721,000 viewers (not in the top 50 for cable programming for the 18-49 demographic)
Week 18: 700,000 viewers
Week 19: 769,000 viewers
Week 20: 712,000 viewers
Week 21: 770,000 viewers
Week 22: 757,000 viewers
Week 23: 794,000 viewers
Week 24: 717,000 viewers
Week 25: 718,000 viewers
Week 26: 697,000 viewers
Week 27: 542,000 viewers

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Seems weird, with people trapped in their homes with not much else to watch that NXT could pull such a shitty number.

I guess people really don't like package shows, regardless of whether the plague's knocking at their door or not?

[Spudz Mackenzie]

It'll be interesting to see what WWE does with Takeover.

It could be any random Wednesday, but it'll make for some good counter programming against whatever the next big AEW gimmick match is.

[mth]

I'd say they space it out and do a couple of the matches a week for 3 weeks or whatever it takes.

[Donald]

Seems weird, with people trapped in their homes with not much else to watch that NXT could pull such a shitty number.

I guess people really don't like package shows, regardless of whether the plague's knocking at their door or not?

AEW hooked people with the Exalted One angle, I'm sure it did with many others as the AEW number grew significantly.

[BGMaverick]

Though a lot of the matches hadn't been formally announced, the matches that were set to take place at Takeover: Tampa are going to air on NXT throughout April. I presume most of the matches were taped when they filmed NXT on Sunday.

[BGMaverick]

WHERE IS DEXTER?

Signal the alarm.

[Horatio]

Just when I start watching AEW! They give LORCAN and BURCH a win to boost ratings!
God bless WWE? They've always been great under pressure.

[BGMaverick]

Seems like NXT was even willing to deviate from the Raw/Smackdown approach to the presentation by having no seats at all for the crowd at Full Sail.

It was interesting to see that they started the show with Theory and Breeze. The approach to the trash talk by Theory was weird because Breeze is 32, so he's not old lol. I guess I get the fact Theory is 10 years younger but commentary didn't need to double down on the fact Breeze could be old. That said, the trash talk concept was good for maximizing the need for sound within the match. Somewhat surprising result but I think it's good for Theory and Breeze to continue because Breeze is a solid worker for Theory to learn from.

What a great swerve to bring Io back in the mix. The pop for her coming back would have been huge. Happy to have her back. I realized when they put the graphic up originally that it was supposed to be LeRae versus Martinez in the qualifying match. Definitely a bummer that we didn't get to see that. A lingering thought I've had about LeRae is wondering if they view her as a suped-up, more over version of Natayla for NXT: someone who likely won't be near the top of the title picture and is just there to be the stabilizing force for any given scenario. They found their chance to get Kai back in the picture and I imagine she'll win the gauntlet next week.

After being AWOL for nearly five months, Shane Thorne hit WWE TV twice in three days. Good for him.

Riddle was pretty funny for his and Strong's entrance. I could watch those two guys wrestle and never get tired of it because they're so damn good. I was extremely curious to see how they were planning to play out the tag title picture as Grizzled Young Vets and Pete Dunne likely aren't in the country...and O'Reilly having diabetes. Not sure I dig the two randos who came out but Malcolm Bivens is finally on NXT TV so I'm here for it.

Papa Haitch had to sternly talk to the kiddos. Fantastic callback by Gargano to Heenan by saying Ciampa dove through the window to try to escape. Triple H teased like a handful of different things that could have happened and we still really don't know what's on the line, if it's something more than a brutal grudge match, in two weeks. Hell of a finish with the tease of Killer Kross.

After the triple threat for the NA title next week, it looks like the first series of Takeover matches come in two weeks: the women's ladder match, Gargano/Ciampa

[mth]

Signal the alarm.

OHMYGODYEEESSSSSS. It's hilarious how hard I marked out for a vignette for a guy I've literally only seen in one match. So happy to see the (excellent) vignette for him. Cannot wait for him to get in the mix. Very curious what he'll be doing.

First of all, this was the first crowd-free show I've watched so far. it was pretty interesting. It's weird but I kind of dig it, puts more focus on the talent and what's going on in the ring, added a certain intensity of sorts.

I was quite pleased with a lot of new face surprises this week. Bivens and the two dudes showing up (hopefully it's not going to feel like a 'boo the foreign guys' thing), DEXTER VIGNETTE, Tahuti appearing, Killer Kross vignette to close things out. Thought they might just focus on the "TakeOver" matches and not really do anything else but they did and it's exciting.

Quite happy to see Breeze's win. Really appreciated the trash talk during the match.

Bummed to see Xia out of her match (glad to see she'll get another chance) but Io's return was a pleasant surprise. Both women's bouts were good enough. Really looking forward to the ladder match.

Skipped the tag match, Grimes/Nese, and Riddle/Strong. Sorry, don't care enough about some folks.

Gargano was starting to get pretty good as a heel during the closer. Nice confrontation, liked how Trips seemed to want it at Mania and then it swerved into being a post-Mania fight in some building somewhere. That's going to be interesting. And closing with the Kross vignette was cool, seems like it means he's going to be high on the bill.

[BGMaverick]

OHMYGODYEEESSSSSS. It's hilarious how hard I marked out for a vignette for a guy I've literally only seen in one match. So happy to see the (excellent) vignette for him. Cannot wait for him to get in the mix. Very curious what he'll be doing.

First of all, this was the first crowd-free show I've watched so far. it was pretty interesting. It's weird but I kind of dig it, puts more focus on the talent and what's going on in the ring, added a certain intensity of sorts.

I thought of you the second he popped onto the screen.

I looked it up, this two-hour episode of NXT had seven matches. We've had two full week's worth of Raw and Smackdown (10 hours) and they had a total of nine actual matches. They showed five replays, as well. NXT was cranking them out on this episode.

[Murphy]

Is NXT worth a watch this week? Normally I'd just watch it, but I've just signed up for Disney+, so.

[Peter Griffin]

Is NXT worth a watch this week? Normally I'd just watch it, but I've just signed up for Disney+, so.

Couple of decent matches plus a debut of sorts at the end.

[mth]

I hope Killer Kross gets a name change. At least drop 'Killer' and give him a solid first name. Too corny otherwise.

Is NXT worth a watch this week? Normally I'd just watch it, but I've just signed up for Disney+, so.

Couple of decent matches plus a debut of sorts at the end.

Plus a debut of a tag team/manager, plus a vignette for a more or less debut/return. Some nice surprises overall.

[BGMaverick]

I would say NXT had more direction this week than AEW. I think it was more in the framework of what we usually come to expect from NXT in terms of the weekly show, even with some implied setbacks that are to be expected now. My biggest negative was the commentary. They (mainly Saxton) didn't come across that well. It wasn't dreadful but it wasn't effective.

[Kdestiny]

I hope Killer Kross gets a name change. At least drop 'Killer' and give him a solid first name. Too corny otherwise.





Plus a debut of a tag team/manager, plus a vignette for a more or less debut/return. Some nice surprises overall.

Krusher considering they didn't like the calf killer name

[Murphy]

Couple of decent matches plus a debut of sorts at the end.

I hope Killer Kross gets a name change. At least drop 'Killer' and give him a solid first name. Too corny otherwise.


Plus a debut of a tag team/manager, plus a vignette for a more or less debut/return. Some nice surprises overall.

I'll give it an whirl then. Thanks chaps.

[BGMaverick]

Some day after thoughts:

- Theory has an atrocious beard lol.
- Will be interested to see how they try to present Io this time around. It felt like they were leaning into a subtle turn to be more badass in a face way prior to the injury.
- Vink seems to be a pet project for them but I don't know if he's actually remotely close to ready. If it gets Thorne on TV more, that's probably a plus.
- I found it somewhat curious that Ciampa and Gargano initially looked at the screen once the Kross teaser popped up but they quickly looked back at each other for the rest of it but Triple H, I think now dubbed 'The Creator', kept his eyes locked on the screen.

[BGMaverick]

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
Week 10: 916,000 (first week to beat AEW)
Week 11: 810,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 12: 845,000 viewers
Week 13: 778,000 viewers (tie)
Week 14: 795,000 viewers (win and win all the demos)
Week 15: 831,000 viewers (unopposed and Christmas Day)
Week 16: 548,000 viewers (review and awards show)
Week 17: 721,000 viewers (not in the top 50 for cable programming for the 18-49 demographic)
Week 18: 700,000 viewers
Week 19: 769,000 viewers
Week 20: 712,000 viewers
Week 21: 770,000 viewers
Week 22: 757,000 viewers
Week 23: 794,000 viewers
Week 24: 717,000 viewers
Week 25: 718,000 viewers
Week 26: 697,000 viewers
Week 27: 542,000 viewers
Week 28: 669,000 viewers

[mth]

Krusher considering they didn't like the calf killer name

And yet Gallows & Anderson still do the Magic Killer and NXT UK has Killer Kelly...

[Kdestiny]

And yet Gallows & Anderson still do the Magic Killer and NXT UK has Killer Kelly...

Isn't that weird?

[mth]

Isn't that weird?

It's like the Viking Raiders allegedly couldn't have 'War' in their name and yet, Kabuki Warriors are a thing and Ember Moon's 'The War Goddess', so...

[Horatio]

Some day after thoughts:

- Theory has an atrocious beard lol.

The beard doesn't offend me none but I always think he's the cruiserweight champion (who?) who I always see as a Finn Balor look alike. They need some sort of stylist or to fire the one they have. Or more hair vs beard matches.

[BGMaverick]

The beard doesn't offend me none but I always think he's the cruiserweight champion (who?) who I always see as a Finn Balor look alike. They need some sort of stylist or to fire the one they have. Or more hair vs beard matches.

Jordan Devlin.

[Horatio]

Devlin, right. He rocks, but all I see these days is Theory.

[BGMaverick]

Sam Roberts was fine but it really didn't feel like a fit for the vibe of the show. He was acting like a throwback to a heel commentator in the early 90s but that doesn't really fit now. I'm pretty sure Roberts is based in NYC so I wouldn't be surprised if they recorded their commentary away from Full Sail. Anyway...he's nowhere near available due to other commitments but Pat McAfee would be the answer to a fill-in commentator. Not Roberts.

The match between Dream and Fish was decent enough. It was really odd that they went to a commercial, came back for about 2.5 minutes and then went right to another commercial. It was weird to see such a clean finish for the match but I guess that helped hammer the point home that Dream is a top contender.

Bivens has a lot of work ahead of him to get that tag team over but I'm sure he's up to the task. Looking forward to seeing more development to Bivens Enterprises.

Dexter Lumis had a Stranger Things-like theme lol. I was very surprised to see Jake Atlas get some run right now but it was welcomed. Lumis has a really nice spinebuster and his sliding approach to moves can be a cool, unique hook to him. Atlas definitely has some promise and I'm interested to see how he can evolve over time.

It's crazy to think that Gargano/Ciampa beatdown throughout the PC was the last time we saw a crowd for a WWE event. I like the billing of Black Heart versus Rebel Heart. I'm sure those two are tear it down.

The booking of the Gauntlet Match made a lot of sense. Shotzi hasn't really been booked to take advantage of that moment she had where she eliminated Shayna from the battle royal so this was good to get her to stack up some wins and put over what she can do in the ring. It also made sense that she did most of the damage to get to the finish but Dakota got to secure the spot due to the opportunistic placement of her in the gauntlet. Good group of six for the ladder match. I think Teagan will have her moment to get close but Dakota will rob her of the moment and secure the win.

Shame circumstances took away from the build for Charlotte and Rhea. The two of them aren't the best in terms of building a match but I imagine it was going to get a lot of shine on NXT in the lead up to Mania. I'll be surprised if Rhea doesn't win and the plan was to get Bianca up to Raw to feud with Charlotte.

Bless you, Raul "wherever the hell you are" Mendoza...Whoever the actual kidnapper is has interesting taste in their targets.

Different graphic presentations for the intros with the title match. I kinda liked it. Feels like it's an NXT move to have dudes beating the shit out of each other with another dude in triple threat matches. It's a shame that match didn't have a crowd because it would have come across bigger with the crowd. Creative finish with the nightstick causing the doom for two of the guys.

[Horatio]

Dexter has the coolest finisher.

I opted to watch AEW mostly, but I did notice that Shotzi is easily the most charismatic young superstar in WWE. That girl can work~

[mth]

Very good show tonight. I don't really notice the lack of crowd except at the end of matches when there's no reaction for the finish or the quiet pauses when they were introducing the guys in the triple threat. During the matches, the commentary, the wrestlers' trash talk and selling, and my own investment mask the silence pretty well. I rather enjoyed Sam Roberts on commentary, never heard him do it before but I liked his heel approach and thought he did well.

Dream/Fish was ok enough. Dream seems to frequently wear tights that are about to slide off his ass.

Still not sure about the approach with Bivens' tag team but new talent is nice to see.

DEXTER MATCH! Thought maybe there'd be more vignettes first but this was a great surprise. Atlas making his TV debut was also pretty cool, have heard very good things about him and am excited to see more of him, as well. but obviously, I've been eagerly/anxiously awaiting Dexter for nine months so this was like Christmas morning. LOVE the theme music, the slide out to attack was dope, the finisher was rad, all in all, I liked what I saw. Dexter's shaping up to be my favorite wrestler in a hurry. Looking forward to see what direction he goes from here.

Really enjoyed seeing Shotzi get to shine in the gauntlet. She looked really good here and is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Booking went as I expected and I'm fine with it. Ladder match has me hyped.

Kushida/Wilde was fine but obviously more about the post-match abduction. Interesting angle but funny how little anyone seems to care that talent are being kidnapped. Could be getting a cool-ass stable out of this, I'm thinking.

My stream fucked up a little during the main event so I might've lost a little bit of the flow of the match but overall, it was pretty decent. I'm really ready for Lee to get some fresher opposition, no more Dijakovic in particular would be nice.

[BGMaverick]

Kushida/Wilde was fine but obviously more about the post-match abduction. Interesting angle but funny how little anyone seems to care that talent are being kidnapped. Could be getting a cool-ass stable out of this, I'm thinking.

This virus is messing with potentially a fantastic match: Kushida/Devlin.

Dexter has the coolest finisher.

The triangle choke is getting a lot of love:
Hager's submission, Edge using it on MVP when he returned, and Lumis' submission.

A good way to differentiate for Lumis would be if he looked stoic (basically as he did after the bell rang to end the match) as he applied the triangle. Hager and Edge really sold it by looking maniacal, and it'd probably fits the character for Lumis if he just looks like he's in a trance as he applies it.

[Horatio]

The triangle choke is getting a lot of love:
Hager's submission, Edge using it on MVP when he returned, and Lumis' submission.

A good way to differentiate for Lumis would be if he looked stoic (basically as he did after the bell rang to end the match) as he applied the triangle. Hager and Edge really sold it by looking maniacal, and it'd probably fits the character for Lumis if he just looks like he's in a trance as he applies it.

Lumis hooks it in like Tamon Honda, the Japanese Olympian. He called the move Olympic Hell.

[Ringo]

Happy for mth that Dexter is back.

[Badger]

Happy for mth that Dexter is back.

Though also unlucky for him if it's confirmed the whole of WWE are taking a break once Mania airs.

[BGMaverick]

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
Week 10: 916,000 (first week to beat AEW)
Week 11: 810,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 12: 845,000 viewers
Week 13: 778,000 viewers (tie)
Week 14: 795,000 viewers (win and win all the demos)
Week 15: 831,000 viewers (unopposed and Christmas Day)
Week 16: 548,000 viewers (review and awards show)
Week 17: 721,000 viewers (not in the top 50 for cable programming for the 18-49 demographic)
Week 18: 700,000 viewers
Week 19: 769,000 viewers
Week 20: 712,000 viewers
Week 21: 770,000 viewers
Week 22: 757,000 viewers
Week 23: 794,000 viewers
Week 24: 717,000 viewers
Week 25: 718,000 viewers
Week 26: 697,000 viewers
Week 27: 542,000 viewers
Week 28: 669,000 viewers
Week 29: 590,000 viewers

[BGMaverick]

Regal has announced that in light of Jordan Devlin being overseas and being unable to come back, they will be holding a tournament to crown an interim CW champion...presumably leading to a unification match. He said they are still determining what to do with the tag title picture.

[mth]

I guess that makes sense since no one knows how long this situation's gonna last and you wouldn't want to just have an absent champion forever.

Very excited for tonight's show.

Gragano/Ciampa ought to deliver (Kross to debut?) and the Women's Ladder match should be killer, as well. Wouldn't be surprised if they top a good chunk of the Mania matches. Hoping for another Dexter Lumis match to ice the cake. Honestly, nice to feel hyped about it after feeling fairly sour after night 2 of Mania.

[VHS]

Thoroughly stoked for NXT today. First time in weeks where I'm feeling some legit hype for wrestling again