Jump to content

WWE launches new U.K. series - NXT UK


wordsfromlee

Recommended Posts

I agree with accident prone in the sense that the devlin/balor match wasnt anything special. I assumed these 2 would have a blinder considering their relationship. Maybe they held a bit back for a future meeting? Although i cant imagine that coming any time soon. 

They did have a hell of a task following that tag match though. 

 

Edited by rollthedice
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

The question I was left asking myself after that Devlin match was: do WWE have anything for Travis Banks other than his opponents injuring him before matches? The UK tournament had a mini-story around his arm/shoulder being injured, then Devlin injures his knee in a pre-match attack and he doesn’t even make the match. Like, what now for Travis?

Edited by Your Fight Site
Had, not has.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
29 minutes ago, BrodyGraham said:

He looked good working a main roster guy in a main roster style match. Plenty of people have praised his work, not least of which his bosses, who have more to say on the matter than any of us.

Yeah, he looked so good that no one is talking about him. People are chatting about Balor being there and "Whoa, what a moment!" but that doesn't do anything for Devlin. He's a star in his native OTT promotion as the proud, fiery, home grown babyface champion. Yet here he is staring at the ceiling for a main roster mid-carder. If this leads to a Devlin push, then great. Right now though he hasn't left much of an impression on those unfamiliar with him. Won't be too long now before he has that 'Balor Jr' and 'Big head stink permanently attached to him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me they've got plenty of time to build more guys at the top level. Travis Banks for example. Same with Devlin. Working with Finn isn't going to hurt him whatsoever. Im far more interested in him now than I ever have been and certainly don't see him as a lesser talent for losing to Balor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Awards Moderator
1 hour ago, Accident Prone said:

Yeah, he looked so good that no one is talking about him. People are chatting about Balor being there and "Whoa, what a moment!" but that doesn't do anything for Devlin. He's a star in his native OTT promotion as the proud, fiery, home grown babyface champion. Yet here he is staring at the ceiling for a main roster mid-carder. If this leads to a Devlin push, then great. Right now though he hasn't left much of an impression on those unfamiliar with him. Won't be too long now before he has that 'Balor Jr' and 'Big head stink permanently attached to him.

He has got quite a big head though.

I actually did think he looked good in defeat and hope that this does lead to something for him. You can have him brag about almost beating the first Universal champion, you can have him complain about having an opponent sprung on him, you could have him mentored by someone so he counters to Balor’s moves if they meet again... there’s no reason he won’t do fine out of this. And he got a featured match on Takeover which is more than a lot of the roster did.

Edited by HarmonicGenerator
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
1 hour ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

He has got quite a big head though.

I actually did think he looked good in defeat and hope that this does lead to something for him. You can have him brag about almost beating the first Universal champion, you can have him complain about having an opponent sprung on him, you could have him mentored by someone so he counters to Balor’s moves if they meet again... there’s no reason he won’t do fine out of this. And he got a featured match on Takeover which is more than a lot of the roster did.

See, I'm not seeing it that positively. I feel like him and Travis had the rug pulled out from under them. They were in the spot on the card where they could've stolen the show, akin to Bate and Dunne at Takeover Brooklyn but instead we got the old swithceroo in favour of Balor, just so WWE can have one of their 'moments', We'll see where it leads but I've not got high hopes in WWE following up on this. As I mentioned in my first post, Devlin and Banks left Takeover looking worse than they did going in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before the show I said to my brother I'd be surprised if Banks and Devlin had a match because it felt like too early in their feud for a proper Takeover match. I think that's all that happened here. They progressed an embryonic feud in a completely serviceable way, they gave the fans a big moment and they gave Devlin the spotlight that comes with being the guy who gets to wrestle the big import star. Honestly, I feel pretty positive about what they've done with Devlin so far. On day one in UK tournaments Devlin reeked of Balor Clone. On TV over the past couple of months, though, I feel like he's come into his own and stepped out of that, delivering solid enough promos and having decent matches. Through his performances he's far higher up the NXT:UK pecking order than I'd have guessed based on the tournament shows and it looks like there'll be more opportunities for him. It's hard for me to imagine that he wouldn't be pleased with how things are going for him.

Good show overall anyway. Great opener, enjoyable gimmick match, decent women's match and a reasonable main event. NXT:UK is obviously still finding its feet and I thought this was a good enough showcase to convince people there's a lot to work with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Accident Prone said:

just so WWE can have one of their 'moments'

You keep saying this like it was a random thing, with no backstory or reasoning. Balor wasn’t just randomly thrown out there for a pop, it made all the sense you could possibly ask for. 

The guy who helped make Takeover what it is, returning home for our first Takeover to compete against his former protege. It was the perfect surprise appearance.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

Sorry to deviate from the subject of this event for a minute, but could someone clear something up regarding names.

I notice that everyone on this WWE UK thing is just using their usual name from UK promotions. If they get called up to NXT or Smackdown / Raw, will they keep those names and / or be repackaged, seeing as though this seems to be presented as legit WWE canon? And if that's the case, are we seeing the end of guys and girls getting different names when they get WWE contracts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
1 hour ago, UK Kat Von D said:

You keep saying this like it was a random thing, with no backstory or reasoning. Balor wasn’t just randomly thrown out there for a pop, it made all the sense you could possibly ask for. 

The guy who helped make Takeover what it is, returning home for our first Takeover to compete against his former protege. It was the perfect surprise appearance.

 

I would've much preferred an actual prior build to a match like that than what we actually got. Feel bad for Travis too, he was just shunted off whilst being made to look like a right Sam Gradwell.

I'm obviously in the minority on here, my expectations were obviously way too high for what NXT-UK has set out to delver so far, and that's savagely standard wrestling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
30 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Sorry to deviate from the subject of this event for a minute, but could someone clear something up regarding names.

I notice that everyone on this WWE UK thing is just using their usual name from UK promotions. If they get called up to NXT or Smackdown / Raw, will they keep those names and / or be repackaged, seeing as though this seems to be presented as legit WWE canon? And if that's the case, are we seeing the end of guys and girls getting different names when they get WWE contracts?

They'll probably keep them, WWE have almost given up renaming indy guys now. I'm surprised they haven't changed some of the shit names though. They've tweaked a couple, like dropping 'El' from Ligero and I don't think T-Bone was ever Tyson T-Bone before, was he?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Devon Malcolm said:

And if that's the case, are we seeing the end of guys and girls getting different names when they get WWE contracts?

 I think we’re sort of seeing that anyway to be honest. Ricochet is Ricochet in NXT, we’ve got EC3 and others in the same situation too (all of Undisputed Era kept their indy names) and with the type of crowds they are trying to attract with things like NXT UK, ultimately they want the recognition from the fans that these are the names they are used to. I assume if they ever signed someone with a name like Cocky McWankbox they may exercise their right, but I feel like they’re over the Dolph Ziggler phase now.

i was there last night. It was brilliant fun. Definitely looking to go to another Takeover. 

Edited by Daaaaaad!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...