Man, I remember hearing the stories from back in the OVW days about Randy Orton only sticking it out in training for his $600 a week.
When they paid Brock Lesnar $250,000 a year just to train and do shows, it just about broke the industry.
And now Ciampa wants to stay in the developmental league until he retires instead of making millions on the main roster. And that's an actual, valid option? Wild.
That’s Lesnar was though. Would take years for someone like Ciampa who’s no even the biggest guy so would make Main Event if he’s lucky to be called up.
Week 01: 1,179,000 viewers
Week 02: 1,006,000 viewers
Week 03: 891,000 viewers
Week 04: 790,000 viewers
Week 05: 714,000 viewers
Week 06: 698,000 viewers
Week 07: 580,000 viewers
Week 08: 813,000 viewers
Week 09: 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
Week 30: 693,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 31: 692,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 32: 665,000 viewers
Week 33: 637,000 viewers
Week 34: 663,000 viewers
Week 35: 604,000 viewers
Week 36: 592,000 viewers
Week 37: 731,000 viewers
Week 38: 715,000 viewers
Week 39: 673,000 viewers (four thousand behind AEW)
Week 40: 746,000 viewers (26,000 behind)
Week 41: 786,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 42: 792,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 43: 759,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 44: 631,000 viewers
Week 45: 615,000 viewers
- - - Updated - - -
I would say that trend is not promising.
Ooft quite a spanking. At the end of the day though apart from fickle fans changing over for big stuff, shame as it is NXT will always be seen as the third grade WWE show. Would have to take something drastic for them to beat AEW more consistently for three weeks.
It is what it is.
Quite enjoyed this week.
My feeling is that after 2 big defeats, Dijakovic comes out of TakeOver 30 with the North American Title. That, or a proper heel turn. And Lee’s run on top is short and Karrion takes the title. Lee to be ruined within a few months on the main roster.
Rumors were Dijakovic was main roster bound a few weeks back and what happened seems like a pretty decent way to end his NXT run. Big time match with his buddy Lee for both belts and then main eventing the next week to help add fuel to the fire of Lee's feud and help continue Kross' build. Fitting way to go out and move on.
We need to stop pretending this is 1997. Shit we need to stop pretending it's 2007. This is not the same era we grew up in where ratings were somewhat easy to understand and pinpoint actual fan appeal.
BG is talking about "the trend doesn't look promising" I'm sure he thought that same way looking at the downward trend of weeks 5-7 then week 8 outta nowhere blows the fuck up and gets almost 300k more viewers. What I'm seeing if we're just looking solely at these numbers is NXT has a very up and down viewing pattern with fans. I would bet the house that's simply because fans know they can watch NXT whenever and AEW they have what, the live airing and then the replay immediately after?
Factor in DVR over the last 10+ years. And the myth that back in the late 90's there was something like 14-15 million people watching Nitro and Raw when in reality it was about 9 million and channel flipping, plus the fans like me who one week might tape Raw while watching Nitro live.
Yeah, I don't see any reason for concern. The numbers have literally gone up and down and up and down and up and down since the beginning.
This is fun for what it is.
*See Below*
Last edited by Spudz Mackenzie; July 24th, 2020 at 1:22 AM.
We're well passed the late-90's peak, where a random "Star vs. Star" TV main event could pop a million and a half viewers.
In 1999, a pedestrian Steve Austin vs. Undertaker WWF Title match could beat any two weeks of NXT TV combined. We need to recalibrate our expectations to something reasonable.
I mean, in 1999, 1,500,000 viewers was amazing. Peak business. But compare that to the Dumont Network-era 1950's, where you had 10,000,000+ people watching wrestling every week, because there were only 3 channels.
We need to adjust for the times and stop comparing shit to the last "boom period", because no matter what, the "before times" were almost always better.
If it weren't for the big falloff between 1993 and 1995, The Attitude Era wouldn't look like shit. But because WWE has those sub-million viewer episodes of RAW and those terrible live gates to compare against, it makes the Attitude Era/Monday Night War era of wrestling seem like the last "big" "boom period" of wrestling.
But if you followed the linear path of arena gates and TV ratings from the territory era through to the end of the Attitude Era/Monday Night War era, those gates and numbers would barely be a blip on the radar.
Its all about context.
Last edited by Spudz Mackenzie; July 24th, 2020 at 1:23 AM.
When you say 1.5 million viewers in 1999=peak business are talking ppv buys? WWF in 1999 was getting on average, what, 6 million a week? WCW was even doing better than 1.5 million. ECW was probably getting 1.5 right?Originally Posted by Spudz Mackenzie
That 10 million number is so true which is why a lot of GRANDMOTHERS born during WW2 I think were such big fans. They were watching that shit in the 50's religiously because what else was there? My grandmothers on both sides of my family are/were (1 alive 1 dead) huge wrestling fans. My grandma who's been alive my entire life when I was kid was willing to watch WCW Saturday Night with me and my brother back in the early 90's, crazy.
The measure of the current popularity are the seats they weren't filling before lockdown. There has definitely been a steep decline in the wrestling fanbase. I think if you like wrestling now you're pretty much a hardcore, as it's either a product that has a heavy emphasis on the actual wrestling, or it's a promotion that requires a huge weekly commitment like WWE. It's not particularly accessible in it's TV or live event format. In terms of bite size snippets of shows they do well with youtube views and social media interaction, but as a full presentation there's fuck all interest in it anymore.
Although the product is noticeably worse, I still don't think that's the major factor. It's the evolution of media, with attention spans shorter and a gigantic scope of choice between cable and streaming services that have done it. So yeah, even 1999 wouldn't have hit those peaks if we could just watch the Stone Cold and Sable bits on youtube the Tuesday after while spending our Monday nights finding something to watch on Netflix.
Cole apologized today. Triple H was on McAfee's show today and said it felt like he was talking to his kids due to the matter but feels it's all miscommunication. Offered McAfee a trip down to Orlando for them to get into a room and hash it out or do so publicly with promotion. McAfee said they'll figure it out.
My money still goes on this being a work.
1000% a work
If you weren’t sure, Triple H inviting him to NXT should be a dead giveaway.
Oh my comment was facetious as it was always obvious but Twitter marks always eat that shit up and it's laughable.
I wasn’t commenting directly in relation to your comment, haha.
Just saying we knew anyway it was a giveway. We're smarter than the average wrestling bear....or fan.
That's booked for tomorrow night, so hell yeah.
I'd have Reed in a match against someone of decent value and have him win. Build off the big win and keep his momentum going towards Takeover.
Shotzi vs. Mercedes announced for tomorrow night.Hellz yeah.
Mercedes is great.
Shotzi just annoys me. The damn tank...
And she looks like a Guitar Hero Create-A-Character. Its an awful look.
Shotzi’s supposed to be a face yet is willingly running over a man’s legs (twice).
Stone’s comedy selling aside, don’t really see Shotzi’s appeal either tbh.
I've actively disliked her since I saw her in Impact.
WWE should have grabbed Kiera Hogan instead. Maybe change her last name.
Robert Stone is a weird, weird gimmick. He obviously wants to be that Bobby Heenan/Jim Cornette/Bill Alfonso-style comedy heel manager, but he still has the body of a wrestler. I mean, a year or so ago, he was a Jersey Shore Guido with a better body than half the guys wrestling in NXT right now. It doesn't fit. A manager should bump like a manager. But he bumps like a wrestler, because he obviously is.
Its not coming together for him.
The only thing that might save him, is if WWE lets Abyss be an on-air talent and they make him into Joseph Parks. Add a big, bumbling attorney into the group with Stone in a wheel chair and every week they're adding different babyfaces to a list of people they're planning on suing.
That could be really fun.
He’s eclectic, fancy word for past 3am here. Him being a big guy trying to be a big shot yet failing and getting bumped by all the women is more interesting now than if they made him super serious.
I get why Shotzi's not some folks' jam but I love her. Scrappy alternative underdog that's the antithesis of someone like Charlotte Flair (a dream feud I'd like to see her in) who is unashamedly herself and owns it no matter how cringe it may be (and is) to others. She's a dork. I'm a dork.
Stone gone from being generic and uninteresting as Green's manager to a highlight of the show since she dropped him. Any change that needed to happen with him already did. He's gold now.
Whatever happened to those two, big Indian dudes? Indus Sher?
They seemed like they had a good look, but they were so green they look like they'd have to stand out in the sun for an hour to get lunch.
Possibly in doghouse for one of them spoiling Lee/Cole?
Also announced for tonight:
Isaiah "Swerve" Scott vs. Jake Atlas
NXT Tag Champs Imperium back in action.
Also announced for tonight:
Io Shirai & Tegan Nox vs. Candace LaRae & Dakota Kai
So yep, they've announced the entire line-up for tonight's show.
It's not often I see a new move, so if it's been done before I apologize. But that reverse suplex from the top by Mercedes on Shotzi was fantastic. And the impact of poor Shotzi on the mat was terrifying. I can't imagine that not hurting in some way. Youch. I like that this Mercedes Martinez is a no nonsense competitor. Should contrast well with the more over the top gimmicks like a Shotzi. I can imagine Mercedes getting tired of the antics of the brand she aligned herself with rather quickly, though.
I always love the spider suplex. Bryan is someone on the main roster who will bust it out from time to time.
Not for nothing, going from The End is Here into Io's theme is a hell of an awesome transition. The players involved in the opening tag match made it seem like this should have had more advertising to hype the match. What we did see between them, the eventual match between Dakota and Io is going to be pretty strong. That lotus lock by Io looked really strong as a submission. Good subtle nod of respect to Kairi by Io prior to the stomp. Where is Raquel? She hasn't been around the last couple of appearances for Dakota. Hopefully she's alright. The No. 1 contenders match for Rhea/Dakota is a good way to prolong getting to inevitable strong matchups of Rhea/Io and Rhea/Dakota.
The edit of the stuff between McAfee and Cole was pretty sharp. Can't wait to see what they're actually building towards.
It was subtle how Phillips brought up the competitive nature of Gargano/Strong and how Reed was able to overcome them and secure a spot in the ladder match at Takeover. They've got to make sure the winners aren't an afterthought en route to Takeover. The mat grappling in the match was really good, as expected. No problem with Gargano winning, either.
Mercedes/Shotzi was a good showcase for both of them. Shotzi has the spunk and scrappiness to look like she could pull the upset but Mercedes put that in check when the time was right. I would have liked to see that match versus what we got for Lashley and Ali on Monday. You always make me a fan of a match when I see a spider suplex. Love it when people do that because it makes so much sense to have it in your arsenal.
Ridge Holland coming via NXT UK and competing right away for the NA title is pretty surprising on multiple levels. He reportedly lives in Florida so I guess that's the out for why he's able to get in the mix as a UK talent. He seemed alright as a big dude in NXT UK but he's probably not near the top of the list of guys from the UK or on NXT UK I'd want in NXT. Priest/Lorcan/Holland is a diverse trio without the same sizzle as the main event this week.
Looks like the NXT champ was in no mood for pleasantries. Good to see the fire from him when it came to calling out Kross. Aggressive Lee isn't something we've seen a lot of yet in NXT so that's a great wrinkle to his character. Hilarious to have Grimes come out simply to get murked. They're really setting the stage for Lee/Kross to be a huge match. I'm very interested to see how they play that out because neither guy is primed for a loss. I won't be surprised if Kross/Scarlett get even more dastardly and do something to Mia to try to rattle Lee's cage. That might be what's needed in order to get Regal's attention, based on what he said.
The tag division may be a bit skinny if Ever Rise jobbing is a weekly event. There might be a hidden third route but it feels like there's two routes for UE. Either their time on NXT is ending so they're giving the presence of one last push before they head out, or they're turning. The hidden third route might be that they reshape themselves without Cole, but I'm not really sure how likely/viable that actually is. Either way, it's good to see KOR in the PC and will be good to see him back in action next week.
Good profile on Reed. Pairing that with the one from Scott, NXT is doing the necessary work to add personality and motivation for the undercard guys. Atlas/Scott definitely didn't have the fanfare they deserved but they certainly delivered a banger. They were putting something together prior to the break but really took it to a higher level after. The top-rope Whale Hunt probably got a raised eyebrow from Buddy Murphy. The right guy won as they're slowly heading towards Scott and Escobar.
You hate to see it but they changed Lumis' theme. I guess the constant comparison to the Stranger Things theme did it in. Not so sure on that camera cut for Lumis as he attempted the Ricochet. It wasn't the cleanest match of the night but it was very effective as each guy was able to impose their will on the match at different points of the match. It was a pretty creative finish to get to the chaos of who actually was going to win the match. It's becoming clear that this NA ladder match is a remix of the breakout tournament.
Takeover XXX looks to be:
Lee/Cross
Io/Dakota or Io/Dakota/Rhea
NA Ladder Match
Tag Title Match
Escobar/Scott or something with McAfee and Cole
I really liked the dynamics of that main event. Balor seemed outshined at first, but his stuff fit in well. He's turned out to be a really cool, kinda stoic Kawada type badass ... Dexter's punches all seemed to land on the chin and his presence was always well, looming...and Thatch's stuff is fitting onto the main stage a lot better than I figured it would based on his indie work. He has his own stamp on everything he does. Who doesn't? But he does lumbering guy who likes it rough really well.
I liked that the opening tag started right out with an ambush and a fight. Just get right into it with a hot contest. I kind of expected Kai to get the pin on Io to earn her title shot but the champ getting the win is the right call and Kai having to earn it against Ripley next week (should be a banger) is A-OK with me.
Pretty sure UE are turning face with the McAfee stuff and their approach tonight. Not really fussed, doesn't change the way I feel about them.
Gargano/Strong delivered some wrestling goodness even if I gave no shits about the reasoning for it and wasn't invested in it personally. This match tied into why I'd say UE are turning.
Shotzi/Martinex delivered what I expected. Really want to see Mercedes tangle with Rhea and obviously Io eventually.
I saw one Youtube clip of Ridge Holland in NXTUK awhile back and liked what I saw (he did a front tiger suplex that I haven't seen done since Gangrel was around!) so I'm interested to see him next week.
Funny how Cornette was talking about Lee needing to show some aggression in his promos and this week we got exactly that and it was terrific. Grimes showing up to get handled was delightful. Grimes rules. It was kind of odd that Lee called out Kross and basically offered him a shot only for Kross to then appear and challenge him as though he hadn't just done that. Bit of a wonky promo exchange and then Regal saying he won't be bullied into signing title matches despite the fact that Lee told Kross he could come and get it and...yeah, just all a bit wonky.
Skipped the tag team match because I didn't care. i even called Ever-Rise being the jobbers for it. NXT's tag scene needs work.
Great video package for Big Bronson.
Scott vs. Atlas was a banger as I expected. Great stuff.
Loved Dexter looming in the background in the backstage stuff leading up to the main event. And yeah, I immediately noticed the change to his theme but hey, less likely to get sued by the Stranger Things folks and it still sounds good. Match-up could have stood to be a touch longer (maybe the ad break just made it feel that way). Massive fuck up missing Dexter sticking the landing on his dive (and no replay, either? C'mon!). Good dynamic to the match, everyone played their part well, and while I went into it rooting for Lumis, I did think any of them could win and they had me going as it got into the home stretch. Loved the finish and obviously geeked out for Dex getting the big win.
Part of me thinks it was a creative way to cover their ass if he didn't stick the landing. The sharp cut and lack of replay suggested to me they winged it and fixed in post because he didn't do it cleanly. If you haven't yet, I'm assuming you're running to shop dot com to buy his shirt after you read this.
Week 01: 1,179,000 viewers
Week 02: 1,006,000 viewers
Week 03: 891,000 viewers
Week 04: 790,000 viewers
Week 05: 714,000 viewers
Week 06: 698,000 viewers
Week 07: 580,000 viewers
Week 08: 813,000 viewers
Week 09: 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
Week 30: 693,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 31: 692,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 32: 665,000 viewers
Week 33: 637,000 viewers
Week 34: 663,000 viewers
Week 35: 604,000 viewers
Week 36: 592,000 viewers
Week 37: 731,000 viewers
Week 38: 715,000 viewers
Week 39: 673,000 viewers (four thousand behind AEW)
Week 40: 746,000 viewers (26,000 behind)
Week 41: 786,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 42: 792,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 43: 759,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 44: 631,000 viewers
Week 45: 615,000 viewers
Week 46: 707.000 viewers
Good bounce back...but what do I know?
To be fair, they've done a fair amount of shit camera angle changes that miss a lot of big spots (missing Edge's first spear back for example) so who knows. I know he can stick it 'cuz he did against Reed in the Breakout tourny. They definitely plugged the GIF of it on social media. Damn good edit if it was to cover a stumble.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1288653725200986112
Also, yeah, i saw the new shirt earlier today. If it weren't for the conversion rate and astronomical shipping rate to Canada, you know I'd have a lot more wrestling shirts...
Tonight:
Imperium vs. UE for the NXT Tag Titles
Keith Lee vs. Cameron Grimes
Dakota Kai vs. Rhea Ripley for #1 Contendership for the NXT Women's Title
Oney Lorcan vs. Damian Priest vs. Ridge Holland for a spot in the NXT NA Title Ladder match
Bronson Reed vs. Shane Thorne
----
Tag title match should be good though I'll admit I don't give a damn 'cuz I'm not into either team.
Lee/Grimes should be fun. They had a terrific match awhile back, love their clash of styles/character.
Kai/Ripley should be good. I'd expect Kai to win but it'll be interesting to see how if Raquel's still not around this week.
Triple threat mostly interests me to see what Holland can do (and I expect him to win).
Love Reed so always happy to see him in action.
Looks like, based on both of them on Twitter, McAfee has something taped for tonight's episode in regards to Cole and Cole is ready to listen.
Last edited by BGMaverick; August 5th, 2020 at 2:40 PM.
Yeah, they've announced he'll be heading to NXT to confront Cole tonight. I reckon this is all tying into the UE's face turn. Not really sure what UE turning face really accomplishes, though. Is McAfee secretly training for a match with Cole?
Making them face adds a fresh coat of paint if they're staying in NXT or a buffer that can be transitional if they are moved of NXT. As for McAfee, it hasn't been secret in regards to his training and his resources. He openly admits and has been for the last two or so months that he's really ramped up his workout regimen. It was due to him being "fat-shamed during his show." He also has a ring at his home and has had it for a while.Yeah, they've announced he'll be heading to NXT to confront Cole tonight. I reckon this is all tying into the UE's face turn. Not really sure what UE turning face really accomplishes, though. Is McAfee secretly training for a match with Cole?
Didn't know that about Pat. I reckon Cole vs. McAfee at TakeOver XXX then?
I'm just not sure who face UE feuds with if they stick around in NXT. Not much interesting/fresh left for them to do even with the switch. They were basically feuding with everyone already anyway since they were central to every championship division and honestly, were getting cheered and popped for as if they were faces bty the fans, as well. Just feels like changing a shade of beige to another shade of beige to me.
Pat McAfee has me watching NXT for the first time
It's taking time to get used to Rhea adopting her Super Saiyan style but I can see why they changed up her look. Really good match between Rhea and Dakota. The match went exactly how I thought it would, based on how they booked things. Continuity won the day as Dakota was the ideal No. 1 contender and they quickly re-established Mercedes and showed that the RSB isn't done with Rhea. Really good shirt worn by Mercedes, too.
I'm still going on die on the hill that Shane Thorne needs to be a thing. Good to see they did the right thing by having Reed gain some momentum en route to Takeover XXX. Aussies working and doing favors for each other. Nice stuff.
Lotta respect, lotta respect for Breezango but the tried and true theory shined again as they were attacked. The NXT parking lot continues to be a disaster area. Escobar/Scott could be really, really fun. I like how they're continuing to make Legado del Fantasma look legit and bad ass. That is a plan I can get behind.
Surface-level assessment: Holland is the lovechild of Zayn and Lesnar. That dude looked large and he looked good. The triple threats have shown that NXT has a wide array of guys who work different styles. It certainly says something that the meat is getting pushed (Big, meaty men slapping meat). Lee as the champ, Reed, Priest in the NA ladder match, and Holland being called up. I guess I get Priest getting the win but he seems like a guy that is kind of being wasted in NXT now and doesn't need to be in the NA title picture. Priest/Reed is definitely an interesting clash of styles. That will be fun to see. Sick Halloween Havoc shirt worn by Reed.
Unlike Priest, Grimes is a guy who needs to be in that NA title picture. It's going to be criminal if he isn't getting a dub next week and getting in that ladder match. We saw angry Lee on the mic last week and that transitioned into the ring. Good match between the two of them. If anything, the onus is really on them to put Grimes in as they used this week as a mini-showcase for him. Kross is really forcing the issue by wrecking the locker room. It feels kinda cheap but expected how they worked the rest of the competitors vying for the ladder match. Definitely a surprise to see Lumis out of the picture. Didn't see that coming. The tease of Bálor/Thatcher is certainly intriguing.
Burch versus Kross? Someone is certainly getting wrecked, whether intentional or not.
I can't imagine the current setup for NXT commentary is easy, so it has to be tough when someone like McAfee, who can improv/think on his fee quickly and can chat like crazy, is thrown into the mix with three other people. Seems like the plan was in place to push towards a turn with UE into faces and McAfee to be another conductor of that as he interfered as was seen as "disrespectful and disparaging" with his commentary. Guess it was clever for the communication issue by having Beth be put off by McAfee and stepping away from commentary. It's a shame that a tag title match with two great teams was an absolute afterthought but that's the story they wanted to tell. Pretty smart too them to have the punter use a punt as the move. Looks like McAfee/Cole is going dahn...
HBK tending to his adopted son was a nice closing shot for the episode.
A big thing, which is likely going to evolve later, is the fact that Cole was the emphasis of a match he wasn't involved in. He took a punt but where were KOR and Strong during that skirmish? Fish was pretty much laying in the ring but knocked out. We didn't see any of them checking on Cole. It was HBK and then Triple H pushing McAfee away. This might lead to a turn but maybe for only one of the members of UE.
Last edited by BGMaverick; August 6th, 2020 at 1:08 AM.
I figure UE will turn on Cole and back Pat. UE did carry Cole to a 403 day title reign...
Triple H announced this morning that he's got it lined up for Takeover XXX to have Cole fight McAfee, so it's up to McAfee to agree to the match.
You can imagine how I feel about the Lumis news (see above). Really halts the momentum he's been building. I assume it's legit because of that (and because of the convoluted scramble to replace him). Hopefully he's not out long. I'm going to be a fair bit less excited for NXT and the Ladder match/TakeOver now.Guess I'll be pulling my full support behind Reed or Grimes, if he qualifies. Curious who the mystery third man for next week is, too, maybe he'll be someone I dig and I can get hyped for that (or it'll be Tony Nese, heh)...
Ok, rest of the show:
Opening bout was real good and loved how intense it was. They just went full tilt aggressive. Figured Kai would win but did not expect it to be thanks to Mercedes. Also, Rhea/Mercedes has been a dream feud for me and they're going ti and I'm living for it.
Reed vs. Thorne was a solid little match. Love Reed but I was actually pretty impressed with Thorne here, too.
Triple threat was good full tilt hard hitting action. I liked what I saw from Holland and was a little surprised he didn't win as it seemed they were making the Ladder Match all "underdogs". Priest would've actually been the last guy I'd expect to win in that case but it's fine that he did. He's been riding a pretty good wave of momentum and is probably going to win the NA Title. I'm kind of surprised Lorcan's been a solo act for the past couple months after they showed/announced Danny Burch for next week unless he just sorted out getting Stateside.
I missed the first pre-commercial chunk of Grimes/Lee but the half I did see delivered just dandy. I still don't get why Kross is demanding a title match and having to attack folks to get it when Lee literally offered it to him first thing in that promo last week.
Good stuff with Legado this week. Scott/Escobar's gonna be dope.
Nox/Hartwell was fine but it was kind of annoying/disrespectful it was really just there to be a backdrop to McAfee in the booth talking about the Cole stuff. Should have just saved him coming out for the main event.
Speaking of the main event, I totally checked out and skipped most of it. I was already sour about the Lumis announcement and I've made no bones about how I feel about UE and that I've been ready for them to leave NXT any day now. I do not care about this shit with McAfee and as soon as he was going to be in the booth for this match, I knew it was so UE would lose and to get in a scuffle with Cole so there was no reason to sit through the match just to wait for that to happen. Cole vs. McAfee does nothing for me so yeah, show went pretty sharply downhill for me for the last bit.
Takeover XXX looks like:
Lee versus Kross
Io versus Dakota
NA Ladder Match
Cole versus McAfee
either Escobar versus Scott, Tag title match, or both.
Week 01: 1,179,000 viewers
Week 02: 1,006,000 viewers
Week 03: 891,000 viewers
Week 04: 790,000 viewers
Week 05: 714,000 viewers
Week 06: 698,000 viewers
Week 07: 580,000 viewers
Week 08: 813,000 viewers
Week 09: 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
Week 30: 693,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 31: 692,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 32: 665,000 viewers
Week 33: 637,000 viewers
Week 34: 663,000 viewers
Week 35: 604,000 viewers
Week 36: 592,000 viewers
Week 37: 731,000 viewers
Week 38: 715,000 viewers
Week 39: 673,000 viewers (four thousand behind AEW)
Week 40: 746,000 viewers (26,000 behind)
Week 41: 786,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 42: 792,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 43: 759,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 44: 631,000 viewers
Week 45: 615,000 viewers
Week 46: 707.000 viewers
Week 47: 753,000 viewers
Really could not give a shit about Cole taking on a punter over a fake argument, that’s beneath a Takeover and him given his long reign but the rest sounds lovely.
McAfee is a pretty big name in that world though. They are trying to get more viewers. I don't have an issue as long as Cole goes over.
Other than preference for some, I really don't see the issue of making this a Takeover match. Match on USA? Sure, but I don't really see the downside. McAfee is pretty popular in a demo NXT needs to make an impact in, it's an opportunity for crossover because McAfee is going to mention it multiple times a day every day during the week during his radio/youtube show. It's also a ringing endorsement of Cole. They're expecting him to carry McAfee to a match in a spotlight moment. To top it off, Cole is probably going to do that and then some, so he's going to look good in the process.
McAfee loves wrestling, particularly WWE (probably more NXT), so he's not going to half ass it. I think they're going to surprise a lot of people.
Not following American Football at all, it’s not a crossover I’m personally invested in but if his radio show is a hit over there then I guess I can see the business sense in it. Just hope we don’t get another Gronk lol.
He does relatively well with his radio/YouTube show and his subscribers are getting close to one million, but he's going to keep talking about it as it gets closer and the social media awareness will be extremely high.
Gronk is a dude who will talk the talk but clearly wasn't okay walking the walk. McAfee will do both and I'm willing to bet he will do both very, very well.
McAfee is a true showman and has been training for quite a while so I have no doubt that he'll be fine.
I think Gronk was willing to walk the walk when he signed on, but that was when he wasn't going to play football again. Then Brady left NE, and convinced him to come out of retirement to come play in Tampa, coupled with Wrestlemania not being in front of a live crowd, made wrestling just not as high a priority for him.
McAfee really does show the passion that Vince loves, and listening to him talk elsewhere, I do think he's smart enough to know his limitations, and he can help put on a good show. Who knows, he may bring a few more eyes with him.
Props to Cole on that sell. Again, this is one of those angles where you have Adam Cole, one of the main people over the years who have pretended nobody is a heel, nobody cares if it's fake, etc. So then they try to play some shit that COULD have been cool but we all know they're tight. For a split second I think 10-20 people believed the freak out by Cole on the show but it was too forced from both ends.
These angles are extremely difficult to sell and seem to only work if it's a mega celebrity. Think about the last time they put a wrestler v. celeb on "ppv" It was usually people on the cover of every mag, the topic of every shit TMZ-style show, etc. Adam Cole v. Pat the Punter....For some reason I just want to see them boot out Roderick and Pat could be the Mongo of the group.
Regal said last week (maybe the week before) that he's not going to be bullied into making title matches. Kross this week was saying to Lee "go and make it happen"
I like the McAfee stuff. He's become well known in Australia for embracing Aussie Rules, and if he goes into a match with Cole with the same enthusiasm he showed for footy then it'll be fun.
Laughed at his "this is very unprofessional line" as he walked out. Wrestling at its shithousery best.
Gronk though was a bit of a pussy about taking that bump at Mania to the point that 74 year old Vince had to show him it was safe. It seems to be he was using WWE as a platform to get noticed again plus making more money moreso than him being willing to work then changed his mind.
At least this McAfee seems to be more up for it.
He is absolutely going to down for anything and everything WWE will suggest. I kind of envision he's going to be turned down with his suggestions because he's pretty zany. I think Stephen Amell from AEW's All In is going to be a recent standard to work off of, and I think Cole/McAfee will be able to have it be no worse than that.
Gronk knew he had near 8 figures lined up for this year in Tampa Bay, he wasn't going to do shit. McAfee has no lucrative athletic endeavors so can probably do whatever he's willing and capable of doing. Gronk situation I guess was similar to The Rock post pec tear at Wrestlemania 29 - getting properly involved and taking bumps would risk future, larger business decisions, making it not worth the risk.
Pat showing off some training:
https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/st...242364929?s=19
I had no doubt Pat would take this seriously and train hard. I hope they show footage of just how long this rivalry has been building. They've been bickering for years.
Tonight:
* Karrion Kross vs. Danny Burch
* Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest
* Kushida vs. Cameron Grimes vs. TBD (TakeOver XXX Qualifier)
* Santos Escobar vs. Tyler Breeze (Non-Title)
* Adam Cole-Pat McAfee confrontation fallout
* Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae segment invite you to their home (both Tweeting that their dog wil be making its TV debut)
----
Can't say I'm overly excited about Kross' match this week but it should be a decent hard-hitting affair while it lasts.
Priest/Reed should be pretty dope.
Wondering if the TBD might be a main roster talent coming back to NXT or an NXT UK talent making the switch like Holland did? Otherwise, why the secrecy? Any guesses who it'll be?
Escobar/Breeze should be solid.
Don't care about Cole/McAfee stuff.
Garganos' stuff is always a good time.
- Easy for Kross.
- Intertesting because both guys seem to be on the cusp of face pushes.
- Grime Time at TakeOver after that. Yes please!
- Easy for Escobar but still match should be good.
- What mth said.
- Doggy Gargano.
Seems like a decent show. Looking forward to Cole/McAfee the most.
With Lumis out of action I'm fully backing Big Bronson Energy or Grime Time (if he qualifies) in the Ladder Match.
This would be fantastic.
Doggy Gargano’s got a better shot.
McAfee is doing his show from Orlando to start the week, so I'm pretty sure he'll be directly involved on TV. He said he was in town for taking full-blown physicals in preparation for his match.
It sounds like, from different reports, the ankle injury from Lumis is legit and came from that spot where he did the Ricochet. That might be another reason the spot was edited the way it was.
Damn shame 'cuz he's probably done it safely multiple times previously and the one time when the spotlight's on brightest and he gets the biggest win of his career and his ankle gets fucked. Wrestling the remainder of the match probably didn't help the injury, either. I did some brief research on the injury last week to see how long he might be out could be as little as 4-6 weeks if it's not bad and doesn't' need surgery otherwise, yeah, could be awhile...
why isn't Finn being utilized more? ever since the Priest feud, he was in two triple threats where he didn't take a pin and that;s it
I don't know if its deductive reasoning or just a guess, but my thought is that he was going to be primed to go to NXT UK. Covid came around and NXT UK is in flux and they just kept trying to find short-term fixes for him on NXT. He seems like he's just around to help elevate others or add eyeballs to ancillary feuds.
Well it's been 5 months now. I would've thought they would adjust by now considering he's a big name.
He really didn't put anyone over. I guess you can say he elevated Grimes and Priest even though he won both of those feuds. I think him vs Thatcher would be cool to see.
That's why I tend to think NXT UK was the move, meaning they don't want to start fresh with him because they want him over there and don't want to derail whatever other ideas they have for other people here. If the UK brand is ultimately done, then they'll probably reassess but I'm guessing that's not on the agenda if he hasn't really gotten a major direction here. I'd say he's 2-for-2 in getting people ultimately over whether they beat him or not. That's impressive for him and the others being able to step up when the time came. The stuff with Thatcher was kind of unexpected but I liked how they were when they were tussling together during the triple threat.
Speaking of Thatcher: The Raw Underground thing reminded me that the Fight Pit is probably a cooler gimmick to run with, with actual direction, compared to the Raw Underground shtick.
I was going to mention, I had a dream a couple nights back that Velveteen Dream returned to TV but they Fake Diesel'd him and had a different guy playing the character. Obviously a premonition for the triple threat's TBD participant...
I'm certainly curious to see who the third person is. I'd be surprised if it was him because he doesn't fit with cut of the current competitors for the ladder match but someone substantial is likely going to be in there since Gargano and Bálor are still options. I'm guessing Thatcher costs Bálor though, thus creating a need for them to hash it out over a match. That leaves Gargano, and he probably makes sense to be in the match because you'd want one guy in there who is a director and can keep everyone in check. Probably few better options than him.
Karrion Kross is incredibly dull in ring. Dude is nothing but an entrance. Too small to be a big guy. Not good enough to be the "great in ring" guy... I don't get him.
P.S. this is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated. R.I.P. Mitch Hedberg
I think at this point, I'm very interested to see how it all comes together for Kross in a fully laid out match. He's done squashes, faced some but not a lot of peril and back-and-forth action. That's going to make the match with Lee that much interesting. Lee is just outright fantastic with the added edge to his character. They were certainly letting the moment breath before Lee grabbed the contract but I didn't have a clue what they were going to. The fireball was an interesting touch. Just in case anyone has any doubt, Scarlett >>>>>>>.
I like the little added detail they had with the split-screen look with Lee getting medical attention during the intros of the next match. That doesn't seem like a big things but that actually treats this like a real deal. If you watch sports and something major happens, they're going to stay on the emerging story as long as they can. Montez Ford gets poisoned on Raw and they duck away and act like nothing is abnormal. Attention to detail.
Poor Maverick/Dain. They were like the third-least important thing going on within a segment based on commentary haha. Seems like Maverick got his push during the tournament but he might be fodder in NXT now. It might be a fine line to walk with UE. I can't see them being squeaky clean babyfaces so if there's a turn for them, I see it with a heavy, heavy shade of grey. If they lead next week to a talking segment between Cole and McAfee, it should be interesting.
Things have really changed for Breeze. He had epic-sounding seasonal residences but now it's dwindled down to Del Boca Vista. Pretty baller move by a heel to tell his minions to go to the back because he's got his opponent. Of course they were heels so they came out when it came time to go home. Good to see they've slowly built Scott up over the last few weeks and have a solid CW story brewing. I doubt it leads to a title change but it's not out of the realm of possibilities.
Indi seems to be getting quite a bit more time on TV over the last month. She needs some more seasoning in the ring (and a character) but she seems like she could be something.
It was silly but in a playful way how Bálor's industry term poked around at the demo talk. We missed out on an opportunity for The Demo God versus The DEMOn King.
Reed/Priest felt like a hybrid of an embryonic version of Lee/Dijakovic (two big dudes doing athletic stuff) and a Big E special (two beefy dudes bumping meat). That was a match that felt like it had the intention of saying Reed and Priest were evenly matched. I think that mission was accomplished, more or less, with Reed being resourceful to get a quick pin. That continues to build momentum for Reed and probably doesn't derail Priest all that much.
Good promos by the ladies to set up the women's championship match. It felt like they were going to get super corny by having Io so close to what seemed like a body of water to just jump in and do her underwater promo, haha. Io did seem to take Dakota to task quite a bit by making it seem Dakota is a parasite. Good stuff.
Kayden and Kacy could be a pretty useful tag team. You can tell those two are very good friends and enjoy being around each other. If they're going to be a thing, you've got to build some momentum. I doubt that's actually going to happen and this was just a matchup of convenience. The cutaways were crazy in the sense that Kacy is so flipping tiny! Goodness. Her size is tough to get acclimated to but she's an absolutely unique spitfire in the ring. Good callback to have Shotzi come in and help make the save for Rhea. This was a productive week of building up the RSB team and establishing another week to invest in a quasi-tag division.
Heck of a moniker by Gargano to call himself The Wednesday Knight. I like that. The "Thicc Boi Guy" line was good, too. Those segments with the weird cut and lighting are a little off-putting to me but they ultimately get to the point that the Gargano's are dweeb heels, so it works. Based on an early report, I'm curious to see how Gargano/Holland went due to one specific moment.
Good on mth for his premonition with Dream. I guess that bodes relatively well for his allegations not sticking on him. His return made the result very predictable to me based on what they're looking to accomplish with the stipulation they created. Grimes was the winner but Kushida was wrecking shop throughout the match. That seems to be a big trend in WWE triple threats: standouts getting a moment to shine but not getting the win. Good wrinkle to have Dream snap on Kushida after the match. That's probably the right way to play things with Dream at the moment. He failed in his moment and faded away, so he needed some kind of tweak.
I'm not sure if next week is ultra-stacked but there's some potential for solid TV next week. NXT needs to capitalize next week, with AEW preempted (despite them still airing a PPV replay on YouTube). Dream/Bálor was a match originally promised but never delivered upon. I think it lacks the sizzle they had originally but it could be something to illicit interest in the show next week.
Last edited by BGMaverick; August 12th, 2020 at 11:33 PM.
After all of the terrible shit that dream was accused of it's smart to make him a heel. There's still going to be a lot of people wanting clarification and transparency on that situation.
DAMN MY PSYCHIC POWERS. Gotta say, there's still all that shit hanging over Dream so I couldn't feel anything but uneasy about him being back. Figured he was on his way to being released but I guess they were just "letting things blow over" despite there never being any resolution with the accusations. Personally, he's tainted goods to me now. At least the seeming heel turn aligns with my negative feelings, heh. Anyway, yeah, not too thrilled about it and Dream's a guy that used to be a favorite of mine.
Kross hasn't really done it for me yet but I'm holding out hope that the match with Lee's going to deliver. Did not see that fireball coming, nicely done. Maverick/Dain got the same treatment as Nox's match last week, just something to fill the ring while more important things were going on.
Part of the problem for me getting into this Cole/McAfee stuff is the fact that UE have been heels all along and very unlikable ones at that and yet, they're meant to be the faces in this things seemingly...or at least, McAfee's definitely meant to be the heel, and suddenly I guess I'm supposed to be rooting for Cole repping the honor of the brand/business because the other guy says he's small...McAfee's being damned for showing the same personality traits that Cole's been showing for three years. Cole's the wrong guy for this is what I'm saying. McAfee going after a clearcut beloved babyface and it might be working for me.
Breeze/Escobar was solid. Legado's theme music slaps so hard.
I thought Indi might get another lucky win with Mia being distracted by her boyfriend's situation. Still think Indi should have joined Stone's crew after they helped her win a few weeks back.
I also thought Io was going to jump in the water to finish her promo, ha.
Loved that Kayden/Kacy had matching gear and I'd love to see them continue to be featured as a reguarl tag team. Mentioned elsewhere that they'd be an awesome options to take the belts off Bayley/Sasha in a shocker upset sometime down the line. Quite enjoy the dynamic with Martinez and Aliyah, I assume it's going to lead to an eventual implosion. I am SO GEEKED for Ripley/Martinez one-on-one, baby. Nice set up for a tag match for next week.
Love the Gargano's home promo, always entertaining. The goofy camera/lighting effects are exactly that, goofy, but I think it's a self-aware thing as they had Lee/Yim mock it previously and the joke seems to be that Johnny/Candace think they're being cool/intimidating when they're really just being dorks. Pretty interested to see Holland tear into Johnny next week, seems like it could be a really fun match.
I was actually pretty convinced Dream was going to win once he came out so I was pretty thrilled to see Grime Time get it done. Marked out for that. Man, I was actually stoked for Dream/Balor way back when they were fist gonna do it but now...yeah, too much stink on Dream now.
Last edited by mth; August 13th, 2020 at 12:46 AM.
Watch the video I posted. They've been bickering for years now. Personally I love it.
RE velveteen I hundred percent get why people say he shouldn't be on telly, And as a rule AEW do most things right, But wasn't Justin Roberts also accused of messaging a minor? I honestly don't know why he hasn't been taken off as well.
One major positive to the show: Retribution doesn't work Wednesdays.
I am assuming Balor and Gargano win their respective matches to give them a spot on the card. I know they are going for the newbies theme but it wouldn't hurt to have a little more star power to the match. I doubt they would win so it might help elevate the guy that does win.
I'm presuming it's Gargano and Dream. The easy out is that Thatcher costs Bálor.
or Thatcher can cost Balor the ladder match to extend the feud without them having a singles match right away.
Sure. I guess the first suggestion likely helps provide heat for Dream and Thatcher and I'm guessing that's most beneficial because I'm not sure they're probably open to giving Dream a clean win over Bálor. So if it's not a clean win, might as well opt to kill two birds with one stone. While it's open to chaos, I'm not sure if they'll opt to go that route in the actual ladder match. Just looking at the likely participants, it seems like one of two people are primed to win it. Maybe three. I guess that's not bad for more than half of your field to be actual favorites to win.
Week 01: 1,179,000 viewers
Week 02: 1,006,000 viewers
Week 03: 891,000 viewers
Week 04: 790,000 viewers
Week 05: 714,000 viewers
Week 06: 698,000 viewers
Week 07: 580,000 viewers
Week 08: 813,000 viewers
Week 09: 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
Week 30: 693,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 31: 692,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 32: 665,000 viewers
Week 33: 637,000 viewers
Week 34: 663,000 viewers
Week 35: 604,000 viewers
Week 36: 592,000 viewers
Week 37: 731,000 viewers
Week 38: 715,000 viewers
Week 39: 673,000 viewers (four thousand behind AEW)
Week 40: 746,000 viewers (26,000 behind)
Week 41: 786,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 42: 792,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 43: 759,000 viewers (higher than AEW)
Week 44: 631,000 viewers
Week 45: 615,000 viewers
Week 46: 707.000 viewers
Week 47: 753,000 viewers
Week 48: 619,000 viewers
The framed picture of Dok Hendrix in the Gargano home.
Uneasy seeing Dream out there, for sure.
Regarding Kross, I love his entrance, but Scarlett miming the words is quite cringe, to me. Otherwise though, she’s great.
My incredibly optimistic take is that us internet nerds that know about all that are still a very small percentage of NXT's audience, and an official WWE statement on the matter (or addressing it on air) would draw more attention to it than needed and create additional controversy.
Again being incredibly optimistic here, but I feel that him being back on the telly means that it's been quietly dealt with.
She's still young (23-24?) so bit of time ahead of her. Her gimmick in MCW was a manipulative IG influencer type and she was fucking h-a-t-e-d so her character work is already pretty good.
Her time will come, NXT does quick credible builds all the time - 3-4 wins in a row and boom, title contender.
https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/20...n-this-673564/
"The only things really pissing me off from social media are the people claiming that it was clearly investigated when there's no proof or statement that ever was the case. Myself or anyone else involved weren't contacted by anybody to my knowledge.
oh well there you go
https://rajah.com/node/triple-h-says...-found-nothing
So Triple H says the stuff with Dream was investigated and came up clean (despite the fact that one of the accusers said he was never contacted about it) and that Dream was off TV because of the car accident not the accusations.
Who do you think Nia is calling a clown here?
Shady as fuck. Really wouldn't put it past WWE to arrogantly think they can just sweep it under the rug and think that's the matter dealt with.
Remember when after the first allegations Dream said he had proof that he had been set up and would seek legal advice. Then there were more allegations from different people, he has a car accident and is taken off TV. Now they've looked into it and that's it sorted.
Last edited by Ringo; August 19th, 2020 at 4:53 AM.
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