Paid Members BomberPat Posted October 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 19, 2020 As a little broader context, because he was in the US on a student visa, AEW weren't able to hire him to a contract, and he actually worked unpaid in the few appearances with them, and I would assume for his match in Impact as well. It's his lifelong dream to work for WWE and, under normal circumstances, my advice to him would have been that he should stick with it on the independent scene a little while longer and get more experience - he's only recently got to the point where he's getting booked with "names", and against people with significantly more experience than him, and that's the sort of match he needs to really grow as a performer. Under current circumstances, indie wrestling probably shouldn't even be happening for the foreseeable future, so I can hardly begrudge him taking the guaranteed money. He's almost certainly going to start out with NXT:UK, which is an odd fit for him as he's never actually worked the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Linus Posted October 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 19, 2020 10 minutes ago, BomberPat said: He's almost certainly going to start out with NXT:UK, which is an odd fit for him as he's never actually worked the UK. Oof, that's a massive step back. NXT-UK has less eyes on it than a random indy on IWTV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted October 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 19, 2020 Oh yeah, I totally get why someone would sign with WWE. Especially a young guy who doesn't currently have the option of being able to develop on the indie scene. I just think it's a bit of a shame for the fans who won't get to see much of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted October 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 19, 2020 3 minutes ago, Linus said: Oof, that's a massive step back. NXT-UK has less eyes on it than a random indy on IWTV. I don't know how official it is, but my understanding is that it's with an eventual view to relocate to NXT proper once visa issues etc. are resolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted October 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 19, 2020 Thank fuck there’s a reason AEW couldn’t sign him. I wouldn’t have been able to live with the idea that they didn’t sign Ben Carter but they did sign Ivelisse. Good luck to him in WWE. The lad has some serious potential if they don’t beat it out of him and mould him into another melodramatic finisher spammer. Had Ben and Pac ever had matches together? The little I saw of him in AEW, he seemed the perfect opponent for Pac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 I don't think NXT:UK is a bad place for him. The show's pretty decent and it's not nearly as bad for spammy finisher stuff as NXT is - well, not from what I've seen anyway. I think he could learn a lot and grow there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted October 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 19, 2020 (edited) 51 minutes ago, Supremo said: Had Ben and Pac ever had matches together? Nope. This is the sort of thing I was talking about earlier in terms of him benefiting from working with people with considerably more experience than him; if you look on his Cagematch profile, there's a smattering of matches with more recent indie darlings, but mostly he spent two years wrestling people of his experience level or less. Other than his match with B-Boy last year, it's only really in the last couple of months, with matches against Scorpio Sky, Brian Cage, and Chris Sabin, that he's been getting those opportunities. He was diagnosed with Covid shortly after his last AEW appearance, so probably missed out on some short-term opportunities for that kind of match. I'd have loved for him to have had the opportunity to work with guys with more experience than him, with a range of different styles, and from different countries and backgrounds, before signing, but it is what it is. Even when he was wrestling in Jersey, knowing that he was going to really try and have a stab at it in the US, we always tried to book him in matches with experienced imports, where we hoped he would learn something.  3 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said: I don't think NXT:UK is a bad place for him. The show's pretty decent and it's not nearly as bad for spammy finisher stuff as NXT is - well, not from what I've seen anyway. I think he could learn a lot and grow there. My worries around NXT UK, aside from it being a bit of a holding cell, are twofold: 1) With increased Covid restrictions, I'm not sure when they're next going to be in the position to do another taping, and coupled with them presumably having a decent amount of footage taped already, it could be months before he actually debuts, killing whatever momentum he has 2) He's not a "UK guy", which could go either way - pre-Covid, and pre-Ben picking up steam in the US, I'd met him for a drink and talked about helping him get UK bookings when he finished his studies in the US. We discussed a run of 4 or 5 matches designed to introduce him to UK audiences, with the idea that he came in as a relative unknown and would wow people by showing up basically "fully formed" as a talent to people who had never heard of him, and then build on that with the right series of opponents. Obviously everything about that is out of the window now, but there's still that sense of where he will fit in a show that's really a glorified extension of a couple of UK indie promotions that he's never been part of, and that he's a relatively unknown quantity in. It could mean him looking like a big deal immediately, or just as easily getting lost in the shuffle, depending on what Smallman et al's priorities are. He'll definitely learn there, though, and I think the time training with top UK talent will do him the world of good and help fill in some gaps in his repertoire and make him a better rounded wrestler. My other half was asking if I thought he'd be commuting to NXT UK from Jersey, or if WWE would try and put him up somewhere in England. There's absolutely no way they've even approached that, and I'm just quietly amused at the mental image of WWE higher ups having to learn the constitutional status of a crown dependency. Edited October 19, 2020 by BomberPat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted October 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 19, 2020 Or they've signed him thinking the visa issue is no problem because he was born in Atlantic City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavemanLynn Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Fair fucks to the lad for taking the opportunity to keep working in some fashion while the wider industry is basically on hiatus. Keeps his hand in, gets him under the eyes of the higher-ups, and, as much as a lot of us will bemoan him not satisfying our fantasy booking dreams by getting out there amongst the indies and other TV promotions, there's definitely a skillset the PC imparts on guys that ups the game of those that go through it. I think he'll have a more difficult choice in a few years, provided shows are back on elsewhere, where he'll need to decide whether to stick with the security of a WWE deal or take what he's learned and choose to go elsewhere. Even on a 5 year deal, that still puts him at late-mid-20s, which could mean he's a devastating talent, adding the WWE polish to his high-energy natural skill, and well worth a decent wedge from any of the big promotions across the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 I know people generally see signing with WWE as a terrible idea these days but I think it's just as tough signing with AEW at the moment. A newbie would really need to stand out to get a decent spot at the moment. I think both companies are quite bloated at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted October 21, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted October 21, 2020 Vice has renewed Dark Side of the Ring for an extended 3rd season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsurutagun Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 (edited) 15 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said: Vice has renewed Dark Side of the Ring for an extended 3rd season One of the episodes is on Pillman. You think you're going to get a call from the producers @Liam O'Rourke Edited October 21, 2020 by Tsurutagun Stupid autocorrect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Your Fight Site Posted October 21, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 21, 2020 2 hours ago, Tsurutagun said: One of the episodes is in Pillman. How are they planning to retrieve that…? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 I'd ask where exactly, but perhaps the title gives it away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsfromlee Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 They’ve probably extended the season so they can do a few extra episodes on Del Rio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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