NEWM

i like that the two blokes still clinging from Clive's Stag Do that have got in that shot. The others who were too knackered from paintballing will be gutted they missed out.

I was pretty critical of Punk at times but to be fair to him, the good stuff from his time at the top actually makes for pretty choice watching these days.

 

Like so many nearly-men, for better or worse his truly great moments were sharing the screen with Cena. The pre-MITB stuff with Vince and Cena was really, really gripping wrestling telly for the time (and it still watchable now), and as ColBol said, it can't be underestimated how much they did for his schtick.

 

His finest moment for me (and I think my favourite moment in his entire WWE run) was the promo when he'd gone full heel but hadn't hooked up with Heyman (I think?) and it was just him, Cena and Bret Hart yapping before a big singles match at Night of Champions. That was the best use of his shooty-shooty remarks but more within the context of a wrestling storyline, and Cena as he's so often able to do, talks arses into seats in response. Punk takes a swing for Bret at the end too, exactly like the proper snivelling self-riteous twat he was actually intending to play by then. It's a fucking magnificent segment.

Only one man could out charisma him

 

 

And could steal his nose

 

Bingo. He's got MMA previous as well, hasn't he? (not like I'm suggesting McGregor would lose to him because of it, obviously)

Please somebody who can post that green screen picture of Henry Godwinn's son. Poor fucker was NEVER gonna make it, his body was just all wrong.

Only could Nakamura slap a restrained (and genuinely fighting it) heel and be even more of a babyface for it. A spectacular closing segment. I'm almost worried there's no way the two of them can meet the lofty standards I've set in my head for them. But as is becoming the case with Takeover shows, it's absolutely the two proper top guys fighting for the belt, just as it always should be.

 

Buzzing as well over the Bayley/Asuka segment, which would have stolen the show any other week. A palpable tension between them was missing up until a couple of weeks back, but they've got zero to a hundred with it and it's worked a treat.

 

The rest of the takeover card is quite reflective of the roster adjustments NXT has had to undergo, but all three matches and the folks in them will be trying to steal the show from underneath the whopper main events, so it only promises a better show for us as a result.

 

A million out of ten for the weekly show, as per. Even the Authors of Pain who are usually terrible, looked better, and that powerbomb collision spot was tremendous! They need to ramp up the intensity in the spot and have commentators say how much pain one guy's back is in thanks to the impact with his own partner's. The collision immediately into to stereo hard powerbombs would be a perfect finish for the squashes and a great false finish once they're in something more competitive.

Damian Abraham shits up Review-A-Wai every now and then if you want a taster. He's a fucker for incredibly dull tangents and I think his taste in wrestling is mostly fucking rubbish, but i think this has potential for one of those 'depends who the guest is' podcasts.

Does anybody think they'll revisit Hideo's attacker as a comeback story, or is that dead in the water (a bit like Hideo himself unless he turns heel, probably).

 

Back when it happened, a babyface Joe or Balor seemed a great shout but those ships have sailed, and Owens being there was surely always a red herring anyway.

 

Joe could still be a shout (knocking off a top guy right as he came in, statement of intent, etc) but i just don't think a Joe/Itami feud has legs now, Joe's way way way too far above it and fresh of a feud with Nakamura, the obvious comparisons will just be laughable.

I think I might have to give up on the Tuesday Night Jaw podcast. I wasn't exactly buzzing for it to begin with but I've always been a big Scroobius Pip fan so was interested to listen to him talk wrestling in this forum. However, as well as the craic just being a bit dull and 2003ish (and way too drawn out), I think Jim Smallman is a really, really hard listen. I don't follow his promotion over here so apologies if I'm having a pop at a local deiety or something like that, but I can't get away with all the references to his own booking or his own standup when he's reviewing stuff. It's the type of thing that Jericho used to be an absolute nightmare for on his show before he drastically curbed it. His constant use of indy/jap/britwres references too, half of them fly over my head and they don't really make an effort to bring the listener in on them, so maybe it's partly because it's too niche for me.

 

Worst of all though, they just all sound like the exact people you'd end up stuck in a pub before a WWE show over here desperately hoping they don't talk to you. You know the sort. Which is the exact opposite reaction I have to John Pollock and Wai Ting, who I have no shame in admitting that I wish they were my mates in real life.

 

I've still got his interview with Regal downloaded to listen to, but the fact that it sounds like they might good friends anyway actually makes it worse, as it means he's more likely to project more of his actual personality than play the role of the interviewer.

Shame too, I think she'd be an ace part of their act on the main roster. I'm absolutely in favour of the direction they've taken with the women in the last year or so, but that almost adds value to the hot valet role again. She had natural chemistry with them both, did no damage to the act and would often benefit them for winning and losing outcomes (such as their matches with The Revival, or as a foil for a heel team with their own manager like Blake, Murphy and Bliss).

Really liked the show this week, just so easy to sit through, the hour flies by, logical easy to follow stuff.

 

NXT don't make too many errors but boy did they mess up putting Andrade in with Tye Dillinger on a live Takeover Special at full sail where Tye is mega over for his debut, It's left Andrade swimming upstream straight away, hopefully he can turn things around as I think he is brilliant in the ring, it was a bit flat for him this week again. 

 

Lovely little tag match between Hype Bros. and Gargano/Ciampa and a couple of decent sit down interviews. Enjoyable.

 

Exactly what I came in to post. I quite like Andrade (apart from the name, but even that isn't as bad as it was originally), his offense is way more impressive than I thought it would be, but they've proper knackered him with the crowd thanks to the Tye matches. The "Who is really a heel in NXT?" issue is the bigger problem, because what you need is a proper shitbag for him to feud with to get the fans onside but the Drifter isn't going to cut it and Austin Aries would only give them the same problem.

 

I like the Hype Bros enough as a team, but the more I think about it, you could have Mojo turn on Ryder and go all in as a bully heel. He'd be easy for the NXT crowd to dislike, he's nowt special in the ring, the motivation for his turn would be simple, and the internet generally thinks he's a cunt anyway. 

You know when you've watched a match a thousand times, know all the beats, twists, turns, and KNOW you love it, but still get a massive kick every time you sit through it? I just watched Bret/Owen from Mania X tonight (dunno why) and it was fucking brilliant. Particularly enjoyed a bit where Bret bollocked him (in character) for a sly cunt toe poke in the face. Wrestling's ace.

Anybody listened to JTG on JR's show. Nothing to write home about but has JR's face fell over again or was it just one of his drunker episodes? I'm not a regular listener to the show but his general craic veered more to the slurring side and not. Notably when not being sure how to react to his mate Cornette slapping Santino about, and when he is comparing Vince to Oprah and Michael Jackson (as slightly eccentric millionaires) and deems it neccesary to mention he didn't just pick them as examples because they were both black (!). He pulls a rant about Ryback's recent payment complaint out his arse too, just to be able to take the piss a bit. JTG doesn't bite so he switches off his "office" head and tries to stay more centrist on it.

 

JTG always seems like a lovely fella doesn't he. I haven't read those books hes released telling tales of his WWE days, but I assume that's sacked off his chances of ever coming back and making up the numbers in NXT. Fairs fair, he kept his job for yonks didn't he.

EDIT: posted tour craic by mistake. Off to the other thread.

Is Kevin Owens clearly too nice a person in real life (with no problem showing it) to be a legendarily great heel in wrestling? Does it subconsciously impact his performance, and/or our enjoyment of it? Or is the industry different enough that it just doesn't matter anymore?

Yeah, I was also in real shock following the Tag Switch, and Ellering rocking up with the big lads compounded that well.

 

Really enjoyed the show, but I had extremely measured expectations based on both the card and its placement at Full Sail, which is home to the b-Level Takeovers now. And that's fine. The two singles title matches were the weaker affairs for me, but Nia Jax is bollocks (and Asuka's mint, but not always as over as they want her to be yet), and Joe/Balor was clearly running out of juice as a story in front of our very eyes.

 

Was chuffed Tye got some real time to shine (quality waistcoat too), and the new Mexican fella was okay too, especially considering he had the look of a littler No Way Jose in his entrance.

 

I had some worries that Nakamura and Aries couldn't deliver on lofty hopes but they did with ease. They're both mint.

Summerslam '03 feels like it takes place on another planet. Older-than-now Undertaker vs Albert, partnering up with babyface blonde Stephanie McMahon in her war with Sable, Coach turning heel but not even retaining his heat long enough to see out the match with 03 Steve Austin loitering nearby, giant Vince and his haiwan shirt from a big-and-tall shop, and Punisher Nash having half a foot out the company and still main eventing. Nobody looks at all like the definitive version of themselves. Like on WWF Attitude on the PS1 where you put everybody in their fourth attire. It's dull chaos.

That is nuts! Almost seems like a wind-up, seems so un-WWF, of any time period.

Sorry if I'm treading on Pitcos' toes, but is that a Dem Wans contradiction thing? She was great fit for those two aesthetically and I don't think ever damaged the in-ring or presentation of the characters, especially once they dropped those tiny tiny teases she was causing problems between the two when they lost. But she wasn't a great worker, which was order of the day for all women in NXT (and hence why Eva Marie was the top heel in the universe down there), so the attitude was something daft like she didn't belong or didn't 'deserve' it.

 

As I said above, I want to like her much more than I do in truth, but I wish she'd been called up with them in hindsight. The best case now would be Enzo and Cass losing constantly to a heel team because of their valet endlessly cheating, and them bring her in as a surprise foil, like the Vaudvillans did with Blue Pants at Takeover: Brooklyn.

Just listening to Teddy Hart on AOW, had no idea he fell into the Escort world for a bit, threesomes with his wife, he'd even bring the cats along. He's got a mad tale to tell. Decent listen, regardless of how credible it all is.

 

EDIT: and Colt picked him up on using the word 'retard', even if it briefly derailed Teddy on anther one of his ludicrous tangents. I begrudgingly respected him for that.

 

 

I was way too distracted during the AJ/Cena segment by Gallows awful trousers.

Wrestling fans are weird. Can you imagine people commenting on the clothes in any other type of entertainment show (Gok Wan aside).

 

"The ending of Breaking Bad was great, but Walter Whites socks really ruined it for me."

Not to piss on your chips, but doesn't Breaking Bad specifically dress characters a certain way relating to little hidden characteristics? Blue for Skyler ('sky'-ler), as both the colour of Walter's two significant anchors within the show - his wife who he started doing everything for in his mind once the cancer took hold, and the sky blue meth that represented the financial escape but his personal ruin?

 

And Jesse had shit trousers when he would go through junkie stages. So yeah, bashing Gallows for his rotten clobber seems fair game.

 

EDITED: To apologise for being a boring dickhead. The AJ/Cena segment was top end, cannot express just how chuffed I am to see Styles so settled at the top end of the card in WWE. Likewise Enzo and Cass, with whom I feel relief if nothing else that they were allowed to just crack on as they had been in NXT. Enzo is like an old school pro wrestler, he knows how to get over. That sort of stuff is still so refreshing whilst we're dealing with the hangers on from the bland mid-00s era. John Lauranitis' run as talent development gaffer really isn't covered in glory when you consider JR before him and HHH (or the performance centre in general?) now.

"It's the LATTE!"

Tremendous.

Christ aye. I loved that 'Aint I a sight?' character, but only in the way the debuts of Adam Rose and Brodus Clay were curiously entertaining. The rest of it was a wash, but people REALLY wanted him to make it because...OVW or something? Same with how the Bashams should actually be working Iron Man matches AGAINST each other rather than as a team. Stupid Vince.

Regrettably true. I want Carmella to be more over than she is because she seemed decent on BG, she was a great part of Enzo and Cass' act, and she's Bayley's mate. With Beefcake I resented him as a hanger-on. But he got over anyway. Doesn't seem to be taking for her. Might be worth just getting her up to the main show with the lads.

THE ACTOR KEVIN ELDON.

 

Bye glory days of Game of Thrones, the only way is down from here. I hate this phrase, but i genuinely can't think of a better term - I completely marked out when he rocked up giving it the full Rod Hull. My favourite ever guest star playing my favourite ever character. There's no touching that for me now.

Well in Onyx, another superb pic too.