WWE launches new U.K. series - NXT UK

[DavidB6937]

5 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

But yeah, I used to have to travel to Milton Keynes regularly for work and it's probably one of the more boring places I've been to.

Unless you've got a concrete and roundabout fetish and then you'll be walking around aroused for days.

[Kfogg1991]

12 hours ago, Supremo said:

I saw on Twitter a quick rundown of all the accusations guys in NXT UK received during the Speaking Out movement. Some of which I hadn’t even heard at the time.

Marty Scurll’s probably weeks away, isn’t he? 

can you post a link I would be very interested too look at it

[Statto]

Regal's lad debuted last week, as an "already in the ring" opponent for Tyler Bate who ends up putting on a competitive showing.

He's decent, reminded me a lot of Timothy Thatcher in ring.

[dopper]

I really enjoyed last night’s Women’s Championship match between Kay Lee Ray & Meiko Satomura.

They main evented the show and went 20 minutes, worth checking out.

[Vamp]

I tried to watch that match today but fuck me the commentary is horrendous. 

[robinbobs]

On 3/5/2021 at 1:16 PM, dopper said:

I really enjoyed last night’s Women’s Championship match between Kay Lee Ray & Meiko Satomura.

They main evented the show and went 20 minutes, worth checking out.

Awful, awful match, take the no audience challenge out of it. It was a whole load of nothing, neither capable of telling a story, all the ‘wrestling’ looked faker than normal. Fair play each to their own but they aren’t very good.

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

WWE have announced tonight that they are adding an NXTUK special to an already stacked Wrestlemania week, subtitled Prelude and airing in its usual time slot on the same day as night two of Takeover. Two matches have already been announced for it on tonight’s episode 

Rampage Brown vs WALTER - NXT UK Title

Noam Dar vs Tyler Bate - Heritage Rules match for Number 1 Contender for NXTUK Heritage Cup

[WyattSheepMask]

So that’s Walter and Rampage are breaking the ring then, just like they did in Progress

[Statto]

Obviously I understand the reason for the name change, and in a way I'm glad they've confronted it head on rather than just pretending it's always been his name, but I think it'd be slightly less odd if they told us  why  Ben Carter now wants us to call him Nathan Frazer. Even if it's a fictional reason.

[CAREBEAR LUVVA]

He did a promo the week before last about how he's spent the last few years trying to get noticed, and now he's come "home" to NXT UK. "With a brand new start comes a brand new name". And he did that super-cheesy thing where he scrunched up his face with each syllable of "brand... new... name" to emphasise his point, which made him look like he was in a Steps video.

[BomberPat]

It's frustrating that they did it a couple of weeks in. Why have him work a couple of matches as Ben Carter, then have him decide that being in NXT UK warrants a new name? 

[Statto]

1 hour ago, CAREBEAR LUVVA said:

He did a promo the week before last about how he's spent the last few years trying to get noticed, and now he's come "home" to NXT UK. "With a brand new start comes a brand new name". 

Yeah, but why? And why Nathan Frazer?

I mean, I suppose people pick stage names for themselves, and indeed change their actual names, all the time. But doing a promo saying "my real name is Ben but I want you to call me Nathan" without any context is kinda jarring to me.

If he'd going on to say something like "I want to pay tribute to my two grandfathers, Nathan & Frazer, on this grand stage, because..." (I know it'd likely be Fraser for a given name, but...) then it all makes a bit more sense to me.

[CAREBEAR LUVVA]

They probably assume nobody's watching the show and nobody knows who Ben Carter is/was, so a name change at this early stage doesn't really matter.

Edited March 22, 2021 by CAREBEAR LUVVA

[Chris B]

It might make sense for them to take a Young Lions approach like in NJPW and tie it in to things like name changes.

In NJPW, when young talent are being transitioned to the main roster, they're stripped of pretty much everything - their hair is cut short, they wrestle in plain black trunks and boots and work prelims for a while. Once they're ready, they can start adding their own touches - their hairstyle and colour, their entrance gear, their ring gear, nickname, etc.

With some of the NXT brands, especially if they're going wider and earlier with talent, do a similar thing. No need to go to the lengths of dojos, haircuts and bland outfits - but at least, some element of acknowledging they're in development. And as part of that, they're literally figuring out who they're going to be as a wrestler, down to the name. That it's literally a new start and a beginning.  Some of them are going to decide to stick with what they've got. Others are doing to develop who they are, and take on a new name as a commitment to it.

[BomberPat]

The problem - and I say this as someone who's known Ben since he was 16 - I don't know who Nelson Frazer is, nor did I really know who Ben Carter was. He was the epitome of a "happy to be here" babyface. That's exactly who he is in real life, but it's not the most compelling wrestling gimmick. If Nelson Frazer was a step toward showing a bit more character, it would make sense, but as it is, it seems pointless.

It's something that WWE just do because they know the audience know they'll sometimes change wrestler's names (my understanding is that he's dropped "Carter" because there's already a Carter in NXT proper, and he's US-bound eventually), so they may as well just get on with it. But doing it after he's already debuted and not bothering to explain it because "eh, fans already get it" is lazy, even by NXT UK standards.