Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted September 8, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted September 8, 2018 Yeah, I'm sure when they showed the graphic Ranallo and/or Watson said both titles would be on the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator Onyx2 Posted September 9, 2018 Awards Moderator Share Posted September 9, 2018 NXT taping spoiler from last night. Some of us guessed right. Luke Harper has challenged Ricochet for the North American title. https://wrestletalk.com/luke-harper-challenges-for-nxt-championship/ Should do wonders for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Don’t think that’s a taping spoiler necessarily, he seems to have just worked that live event. Although if it does lead to him being on NXT TV, I wouldn’t be against it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dart Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Nor would I, but yes it was a house show and likely a one off as it was near his home. And it wasn’t last night, it was Thursday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 The Dream continues to get better and better, the match with Gargano was a belter. NXT's whole style of presentation and wrestling is so different from the rest of WWE nowadays, it's no wonder people struggle when they move up. The whole ending to this fight, with the split crowd egging Gargano on in different directions, and him reacting so emotionally and spontaneously to all of them - can you imagine that working even a tiny bit on Raw? NXT works by throwing defined characters at each other and allowing the differences to drive the stories. It's heavily scripted but not at a promo level, so people sound natural and act in understandable ways. The Dream taunting Gargano into a mistake, and his shit-eating grin afterwards was perfect. I honestly think this current crop will fall completely flat on their call-ups. NXT has created a universe in which they're all important and everyone gets to look good. The main roster just can't provide that, which is why so many NXT characters fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted September 10, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted September 10, 2018 A subtle thing that NXT has started doing in recent months that sets it apart is giving wrestlers more control over their outfits - Kassius Ohno's popped up wearing a Minoru Suzuki T-shirt, Dakota Kai did a backstage interview in PROGRESS merch, and this week we got Shayna Baszler in a Bad Religion T-shirt. It makes them feel like real people, rather than main roster WWE taking a guy like Shinsuke Nakamura - who, visually, is appealing because he's unlike anyone else - and making him wear his own shitty merch to the ring. Along similar lines, something I love about Velveteen Dream is that he has a real range of outfits, dresses up for big matches, basically looks different every time you see him, yet it's always identifiably the same guy doing the same gimmick. Conventional WWE wisdom is that you always dress the same, so the crowd always instantly recognise you, and you look like your action figure - but it shows what a strong handle Dream has on his character that he can change it up and it never feels out of place. It makes him feel far more like a real human being, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of Old School Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 15 hours ago, BomberPat said: Along similar lines, something I love about Velveteen Dream is that he has a real range of outfits, dresses up for big matches, basically looks different every time you see him, yet it's always identifiably the same guy doing the same gimmick. Conventional WWE wisdom is that you always dress the same, so the crowd always instantly recognise you, and you look like your action figure - but it shows what a strong handle Dream has on his character that he can change it up and it never feels out of place. It makes him feel far more like a real human being, too. A soon as Dream gets called up, he'll be wearing plain purple tights every week. Enjoy him whilst he is in NXT I say, such a shame that he'll go nowhere on the main roster, he has all the attributes to be the company's next megastar, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted September 11, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted September 11, 2018 15 hours ago, BomberPat said: Conventional WWE wisdom is that you always dress the same, so the crowd always instantly recognise you, and you look like your action figure - but it shows what a strong handle Dream has on his character that he can change it up and it never feels out of place. I'd love to know when this bullshit kicked in. Savage and Warrior used to dress in all manner of different get ups. Shawn had many different colour schemes, Razor never seemed to wear the same colour tights two ppv in a row. Even Bret had different styles - pink and black, black and pink, all black from 94 onwards and the seldom-seen all pink. Another reason the aesthetics become so boring on Raw is everyone always looking the same every week. I know some people will think it doesn't matter what people wear for storytelling and what happens in the matches, but when you feel "same old shit" about the content already then visuals that back that up really don't help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted September 11, 2018 Awards Moderator Share Posted September 11, 2018 4 minutes ago, air_raid said: I'd love to know when this bullshit kicked in. Savage and Warrior used to dress in all manner of different get ups. Shawn had many different colour schemes, Razor never seemed to wear the same colour tights two ppv in a row. Even Bret had different styles - pink and black, black and pink, all black from 94 onwards and the seldom-seen all pink. Another reason the aesthetics become so boring on Raw is everyone always looking the same every week. I know some people will think it doesn't matter what people wear for storytelling and what happens in the matches, but when you feel "same old shit" about the content already then visuals that back that up really don't help. Going into the 21st century, Rey Mysterio would wear different colours and outfits most weeks at least for some of his run. The ‘look the same as the action figure’ argument is a strange one - from a merchandising point of view isn’t it better to have people change things up a lot, because more looks = more figures you can make of them = more money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted September 11, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted September 11, 2018 28 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said: The ‘look the same as the action figure’ argument is a strange one - from a merchandising point of view isn’t it better to have people change things up a lot, because more looks = more figures you can make of them = more money? Basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted September 11, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted September 11, 2018 I think it was Sheamus who said he'd subtly change his look every now and then, to ensure that he got a new action figure made and could take in the royalties. But that's a more long-term thing; changing your gear once every few months, rather than having a range of looks at any given time. I agree on "same old shit". I find it a chore to get through WWE shows now, and I put a lot of that down to them feeling like there's no urgency, and nothing distinguishing them from the show before - the arena looks the same, the stage set-up looks the same, the on-screen graphics look the same, and all the wrestlers look the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Fatty Facesitter Posted September 11, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted September 11, 2018 I think the lack of urgency is probably the thing I miss most about the shows from when I first started watching as a little’un. I’m currently going back through some 2001 shows and although the quality varies you felt like you needed to tune in next, just like any good soap opera. Who will come over next from WCW? Who will Austin take out next? That type of thing. They did this to an extent on Raw last week with the Shield getting taken out, but that’s an exception rather than the rule. It’s funny to me because they harp on so much about having three hours of content to produce for Raw and how much of a challenge that is, and yet they spend so little of bit building to next week’s show or providing that crucial hook to tune in again. Even if it’s just booking a match or two the following week, that’s at least something. Raw and Smackdown used to do this easily in two hours. NXT does it now and they have one hour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Statto Posted September 11, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted September 11, 2018 2 hours ago, BomberPat said: I think it was Sheamus who said he'd subtly change his look every now and then, to ensure that he got a new action figure made and could take in the royalties. I've definitely heard that from Regal, I think on one of the early Table for Threes. He also said his goal as a heel was to be the one the little kids hated/feared the most, so when it came time to choosing a figure for their Stone Cold to kick the shit out of, he'd be the one they chose. I think there was an episode with the 3 most recent Kings of the Ring (Regal, Barrett & Sheamus) so if Sheamus has said it too, it's likely where he picked it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted September 11, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted September 11, 2018 28 minutes ago, Statto said: I've definitely heard that from Regal, I think on one of the early Table for Threes. He also said his goal as a heel was to be the one the little kids hated/feared the most, so when it came time to choosing a figure for their Stone Cold to kick the shit out of, he'd be the one they chose. I think there was an episode with the 3 most recent Kings of the Ring (Regal, Barrett & Sheamus) so if Sheamus has said it too, it's likely where he picked it up. I may have misremembered it as coming from that show, and just attributed it to the wrong bloke, in fairness. I love the idea of being such a baddy that kids would buy the figure to have their hero beat it up. Jim Cornette has said that when he and the Midnight Express met with Vince about going to the WWF in the '80s, Vince was going on about merchandising and dolls, and Cornette said, "why would anyone want to buy dolls of us, we're the heels!" - but every kid buying He-Man will want to buy Skeletor as well. On a similar note, there's a bit in Breaking Ground where Tyler Breeze tells someone to think about how, if a kid was playing at wrestling in the playground, what would they do to play at being you. I've always liked that approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambulance Chaser Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 The dress is a massive issue for me, has been for ages. When Reigns opens Raw with a promo wearing his exact ring gear it's absolutely stupid, even down to things like the gauntlets. Just have him wear jeans, a t-shirt and I see him in a Black leather jacket, similar to the Triple H look. If Rollins is into his music let him wear a band T-Shirt down to the ring, it's only a fucking 5 minute promo, instead we get incarnation number 14 of a "burn it down" Tee, what did Tonight's say - "came. stomped. burned it down". Fuck off. I used to love the Rock in his loud shirts, Austin in his jean shorts, Trips in his leather, it gives you a sense that when they inevitably come back out for a fight later that they have changed into their gear and sort of got into fight mode between the promo and the match. Last week, Gulak came down during the melee at the end, firstly why was he there, 205 don't have matches on Raw, secondly why was he in full fucking ring attire Astonishingly bad attention to detail for such a juggernaut of a company who could literally employ 10 people to ensure continuity and logic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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