Paid Members Statto Posted July 15, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted July 15, 2013 Yeah, it's pretty much "pick up and play" as the majority of storylines are relatively short & simple, as are the characters (simple, not necessarily short) However, if you've got a few hours to kill I'd say good drop-in points in terms of recent "major" happenings would be May 22nd (debut of Sami Zayn) or 12th June (Bo Dallas vs Big E Langston, NXT Championship match). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted July 15, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted July 15, 2013 However, if you've got a few hours to kill I'd say good drop-in points in terms of recent "major" happenings would be May 22nd (debut of Sami Zayn) I was going to recommend this as a starting point too as it's not too long ago, so shouldn't take you too long to get up to speed. NXT isn't really the sort of show you want to bother playing catch-up with, but Zayn was the most recent notable debut (of particular interest if you followed him as El Generico) and is quickly getting over as one of their hottest acts. All of his matches are good and it will be interesting to see if his progress results in a call up to the main roster over the coming year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted July 15, 2013 Moderators Share Posted July 15, 2013 (edited) Sami Zayn's relative success is such a shocker for me. I never thought I'd see the day that the WWE would get behind a small, ginger, Quebecois, heeb as a face and seemingly put a fair bit of stock in him. Edited July 15, 2013 by PowerButchi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cum Doctor Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 He's got a weird sort of goofyness about him, makes him near impossible to dislike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted July 15, 2013 Moderators Share Posted July 15, 2013 Yeah, he's pretty fucking great. Likeable is exactly what he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted July 15, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted July 15, 2013 (edited) His big appeal to me was always his Pac Man like face. He has great facial expressions. Likability is the word I'd use. Generico and Steen both had that nice lads in real life vibe about them. And to think Jim Cornette said young Sami and his mate Steen could have put ROH out of business due to their lack of appeal. Edited July 15, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ShortOrderCook Posted July 15, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted July 15, 2013 Already said it but I will again, Zayn is a trim Seth Rogen. That or his long lost brother. The way he looks and speaks reminds me so much of him it's ridiculous. Certainly a likeable chap. There's some awesome talent in NXT if you pretend Ohno, Graves and O'Brien aren't there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted July 15, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted July 15, 2013 (edited) Certainly a likeable chap. There's some awesome talent in NXT if you pretend Ohno, Graves and O'Brien aren't there. Explain the Graves hate, because I hate him as well. Just want to know your take on it. Is it his discount CM Punk act you dislike? I look at Graves and wonder how they can bring him up? He's an alright looking bloke, but I was never a fan of that episode of Roseanne with the two Beckys. I can just see people looking at him and thinking "why's he doing CM Punk's poses?" He is like a TNA version of CM Punk. Edited July 15, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted July 15, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted July 15, 2013 I can just see people looking at him and thinking "why'd he doing CM Punk's poses?" He is like a TNA version of CM Punk. Haha, I was going to say that he was a 'Poundland Punk', but that's a far better analogy! I want to like him, because I've followed his career ever since he came over here for 1PW, but he just doesn't seem to have what it takes for the big league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted July 16, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2013 The thing I dislike most about Graves is that when the bell rings he's boring as hell. The character is alright for me up to that point but doesn't carry over and his matches are utterly unremarkable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 You chaps who watch NXT, is it in any way a template for what Raw might become once HHH is fully in charge? I mean the simple stories, emphasis on wrestling, that kind of thing? Is it a dry run for a different sort of tv, or just one of those WWE anomalies that fly under the radar and manage to be quite good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggivizal_Version1.0 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 You chaps who watch NXT, is it in any way a template for what Raw might become once HHH is fully in charge? I mean the simple stories, emphasis on wrestling, that kind of thing? Is it a dry run for a different sort of tv, or just one of those WWE anomalies that fly under the radar and manage to be quite good? I think it's too simple to work in the mainstream. As a 1 hour show with a small roster it works, but with 3 hour (or 2, if it ever goes back), it'll be overkill. You'd need the Cena promos and Vickie Guerrero skits to just break it up a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted July 18, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted July 18, 2013 You chaps who watch NXT, is it in any way a template for what Raw might become once HHH is fully in charge? I mean the simple stories, emphasis on wrestling, that kind of thing? Is it a dry run for a different sort of tv, or just one of those WWE anomalies that fly under the radar and manage to be quite good? It's nothing to do with anything like that. NXT is a simple show because it's the developmental league, it's not considered a mainstream WWE TV show. NXT is never referenced on Raw or SmackDown. In that sense it is an anomaly yes, because it's only in the last year that WWE have actually televised a developmental league. It's on-the-job training and the set-up they have for that is fantastic. They aren't there to do big angles, build long term storylines, draw a rating or sell PPVs, they are there to prep their rookies for doing that when they get to the main roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted July 18, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted July 18, 2013 It's funny watching Sami Zayn wrestle because he has this super exaggerated and cartoonish body language that a lot of good masked wrestlers pick up because they need to be able to tell their story without using facial expressions. I think it works just as well for him without a mask, and he now has the added bonus of facial expressions and the rest to go with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted July 18, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted July 18, 2013 It's funny watching Sami Zayn wrestle because he has this super exaggerated and cartoonish body language that a lot of good masked wrestlers pick up because they need to be able to tell their story without using facial expressions. I think it works just as well for him without a mask, and he now has the added bonus of facial expressions and the rest to go with it. His almost-comedic overselling has always been a big part of his appeal. It works for me- I think big, exaggerated movements help to tell a story. However, it's not quite right that he never used to be able to sell his facial expressions- the El Generico mask revealed his eyes and his whole mouth/jaw. His facials have always been tremendous. It was only ever his gimmick of not speaking English which hindered him, now that's gone he's got a full set of tools to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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