Loki Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 One of the problems is that Drew is a bit of a boring champ. Â Sure, he's very charismatic in person but he doesn't feel particularly involved with the rest of the show and it feels like the real interest is elsewhere (Dream/Black and Sanity/AoP/UE). Â The female side of things continues to be brilliantly booked. Â Lots of new talent, some established names, a title up in the air. Â And Nikki, who the crowd absolutely LOVE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted October 30, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted October 30, 2017 On 29/10/2017 at 1:42 PM, Loki said: One of the problems is that Drew is a bit of a boring champ.  Sure, he's very charismatic in person but he doesn't feel particularly involved with the rest of the show and it feels like the real interest is elsewhere (Dream/Black and Sanity/AoP/UE).  Yep, fully agree. I like drew, but he’s not the reason I tune in. Interestingly, his character is just him being him, a bit angry and Scottish. He doesn’t have that extra something about him. He’s just a better version of what he was before he left, but equally as interesting. NXT does characters well, there isn’t a huge amount of room for someone without one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Yeah I'm not really digging Drew as champ. I'd have had Roode go over as many as possible at Takeovers through heel antics (though NXT seems to always go with a clean finish, for better or worse) and then Black kicks his head off in 5 mins and goes on a Joe in ROH type long reign. I like Drew - good matches, great look - but I'm annoyed at his promos. So much "be a man", "grow a pair". It's grating, dated, outright lazy and he goes to that well far too often. Mockingly using Spanish words to Vega wasn't exactly endearing either. Kind of want Andrade to kick his arse. I'm not that fussed about a lot going on in NXT. The WarGames should be intriguing but I'm not particularly invested in anyone in the match. I'll be watching Takeover primarily for the Black/Velveteen match as that feud has been incredibly good value, and the women's match which seems like it could be a banger. Women's division is in very good shape, the next year or so should be a blast in that regard. Nikki Cross comes across as super cool when she's on her own, not as keen when she's with Sanity though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sexy Dad Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 I have enjoyed the work of Adam Cole and Redragon in ROH but they seriously look like a bunch of scrubs in NXT. When they walked out to speak to Strong this week, Strong was the most striking and looked like the biggest star in the ring which is quite something. I hope something clicks for those guys soon as I'm just not on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philjax Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 I honestly love everything about NXT as oppose to Smackdown which I can watch in about half the time it's meant to take, and Raw which I find totally unwatchable currently other than in 20 minute youtube form. It doesn't have to be 5 star matches everyweek. Sometimes it's nice when nothing happens but the action is still good and the booking in most cases is perfect. As long as they keep the Takeovers strong, squash matches, inexperienced women and a feud the magnitude of Black/Dream is utterly acceptable to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 The format of NXT is light years ahead of the other shows. Â You get intro, match, official Regal announcement, match, backstage interview, main event. Storylines are progressed in the ring whenever possible. Â Matches are a decent length and generally competitive. Â If they do have to do a "backstage skit" they find an interesting way of having the cameras there, like CCTV, or an interrupted interview. It feels like NXT has a large roster than either of the other two shows. Â Maybe it does, maybe it's the 1 hour format. Â But most episodes you think "oh cool, that guy/gal" rather than "fucking hell, not him again". I don't skip any of it, where I must skip 60/70 percent of Raw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted October 31, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted October 31, 2017 The 1 hour format allows for several different people to be the feature each week. You get a pretty varied month with several interesting storylines not shoved down your throat. Ultimately I usually get to the end of an episode and think, I could do with another 1/2 hour of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_gordo Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 14 hours ago, Loki said: If they do have to do a "backstage skit" they find an interesting way of having the cameras there, like CCTV, or an interrupted interview. Forced backstage stuff is the worst. I really liked the other week where they showed footage from the performance centre where they're filing a couple of guys training in the ring with Regal watching and giving advice and Ruby Riot pops over and asks if she can have a word and the cameras still roll and they happen to catch the conversation. It just seems way more natural, like it's an actual real work place and you have to occasionally catch the boss to have a word instead of him having an identical office in whichever arena they happen to be in that night, where he's always sat at his desk with some event posters on the wall behind him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted November 1, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 1, 2017 Yeah, the natural feel of backstage segments (or "here's something we filmed earlier in the week" segments) is something NXT does brilliantly, and which I've been frustrated by in wrestling forever; every WWE backstage segment is identical, or if it's not, it's a situation where you're left wondering why a camera crew was there in the first place. And it's been that way forever, and because WWE does it, everybody else has done it that way forever too. Regal is just the best as an authority figure too - he feels like he's legitimately in charge, rather than just a prop for storyline purposes. I love that he never gets physically involved, never tries to screw someone over, but there's still enough of the old William Regal there that you wouldn't want to piss him off, and you know he's capable of making someone's life hell if he wanted to. It feels like a far more natural character than any WWE GM has been in years. On top of that, him saying things like, "I won't give you a match, because there isn't time left on the card, but you can have one next week" just makes sense - compare that to the vast majority of episodes of RAW, where the main event is booked on the fly by an authority figure because someone interrupted someone else's promo at the top of the show; hang on, if The Miz hadn't got in Roman Reigns' face just now (or whatever), what was the main event going to be? Why have you gone live on a flagship TV show without even having booked all the matches yet, how unprofessional is that? Even something as simple as Regal having management textbooks in his office is a great touch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Weezenal Posted November 1, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 1, 2017 12 minutes ago, BomberPat said: On top of that, him saying things like, "I won't give you a match, because there isn't time left on the card, but you can have one next week" just makes sense - compare that to the vast majority of episodes of RAWÂ Unfortunately there's always time left on RAW as it's 700 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 1 hour ago, cobra_gordo said: Forced backstage stuff is the worst. I really liked the other week where they showed footage from the performance centre where they're filing a couple of guys training in the ring with Regal watching and giving advice and Ruby Riot pops over and asks if she can have a word and the cameras still roll and they happen to catch the conversation. It just seems way more natural, like it's an actual real work place and you have to occasionally catch the boss to have a word instead of him having an identical office in whichever arena they happen to be in that night, where he's always sat at his desk with some event posters on the wall behind him. That sounds just like what was being done in TNA during Bischoffs run there, wasn't Jason Hervey the man behind producing all those ace backstage segments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philjax Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Tessa Blanchard will apparently be debuting for Impact this weekend/next week. Seems a shame as she just got everything together for a proper NXT run after the MYC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted November 1, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 1, 2017 It says a lot about Impact when you think it's a shame she's joining them, what with you being one of their bigger fans on here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philjax Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 (edited) Oh yeah, i've found it as unwatchable in long form as I do Raw lately, just making do with 15 minute highlight videos. It's the match quality. I find it so uninspiring. Nothing wrong with the production, backstage stuff, Mexico and Japan highlights etc, I just can't stand the action. It just doesn't fit the promotion currently. Hoping for some improvement after the PPV, as I always do. EDIT: I should also note that my initial point is more to do with the fact the Impact Womens division is truly one of if not THE worst things I've ever seen in wrestling. Edited November 1, 2017 by Philjax Knockouts Are Shit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted November 1, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 1, 2017 4 hours ago, cobra_gordo said: instead of him having an identical office in whichever arena they happen to be in that night, where he's always sat at his desk with some event posters on the wall behind him. When the authority figure was Regal, that was never an issue though. Same with Foley the first time. There is a way to do that realistically. And they've done it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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