The NXT Discussion Thread

[d-d-d-dAz]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAoxSK4uRww/?igsh=dTh1djBjNG15bmoz

Ratings chat is going mainstream, baby.

[Snitsky's back acne]

13 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

I mean it opens up a lot of options rather than just sending Roxanne straight off to the main roster like most assumed would happen.

Plus I like the unpredictable nature of it. I get so bored of undefeated streaks for new wrestlers. It's not the only way to build someone up.

Good point. 

[JLM]

NXT 01/10/24

Had to tune in for the debut of NXT Black and Silver. 

Of the broadcast team, I still find Vic Joseph to be very bland, Booker T is having a lovely time and is amusing in the right doses, Mike Rome is a rubbish ring announcer.  

Typically boisterous and vocal Chicago crowd for the show, they sounded thunderous for Shawn and Hunter's opening schtick and stayed loud for most of the show. Shawn does indeed look rough. He is absolutely not anyone's boy toy. 

Giulia vs Perez had a bit of a sloppy start but was starting to get good when the screwy finish happened. They had some nice technical exchanges and some good scrappy brawling that got the crowd involved. Strange to watch Giulia hitting people about 50% softer than she did in Stardom. I never need to see her do the horrendous Shibata-esque shoot headbutts again, but her kicks and other strikes all looked like she was playing a bit too safe. Asuka ended up finding a good balance during her time in NXT, with strikes that looked better than everyone else's but not quite as stiff as they would be in a Japanese women's promotion. It'll no doubt take time to adjust to WWE house style and to work shorter TV matches. For a first outing in a featured match she did pretty well and there were glimpses of some good chemistry between her and Perez.

Scrappy, chaotic brawling is Giulia’s greatest strength and is why she's called "The Beautiful Madness". She looks stunning and she can do lovely submissions and fancy bridging suplexes and whatnot, but she is in her element in a ringside brawl throwing strikes and headbutts. A violent nutter with the face of an angel. The nickname doesn't make a lot of sense if she's only doing the "beautiful" part, so hoping she finds a way to keep that going in this new environment. 

She did lose her first high profile match but it was due to outside interference. She got DDT'd on the floor, it's not like she was outclassed by Perez. Keeping it short for a first meeting and with Giulia still finding her feet was a sensible move, though I can see why some would be disappointed after the build. 

Axiom and Nathan Frazer vignette had very very on the nose dialogue. Frazer needs to keep his cool against their annoying opponents. Waller and Theory are very annoying in fairness. 

Ava Raine unconvincingly said words at CM Punk. It is astounding how uncharismatic she is. I've seen her on screen many times at this point but it still somehow surprises me every time. Pillman Jr. is still not good I see. Lexis King is a worse name than Xander Klaxx. Sadly no Klaxx on the show this week. If I signed for NXT I'd be a fast talking gambler named Emulsion Pontoon. I'd be so cool. 

Lola Vice/Jaida Parker had even more on the nose dialogue. They're tag team partners tonight, but would you believe they're not quite on the same page? "No one tells me what to do. I'm taking the lead tonight". "That is not happening. "You need me." "No, you need me". Kelani Jordan tells them they need each other. They disagree and leave. Kelani says out loud to nobody "Good thing I have a back up plan". Media literacy difficulty setting set to "Bully Ray" for this one. Subtext truly is for cowards. 

Wentz vs Lee Street fight was a cracking spotfest/sprint. The aggression was there, the highspots were crazy and the crowd was hot. The bump Wentz took from the top rope into the aisle, missing the table completely, was very scary but he seemed to be OK. Other than that though this was good stuff. It's cool how this TNA cross over has allowed them to tell this branching wider universe story calling on all of the previous Rascals and MSK lore. `    

I find it very difficult to take Tony D'Angelo seriously. Oba Femi looks, sounds and carries himself like a star though. Can see why there's buzz around him. 

Women's tag match was OK-ish. Bit of a weird layout as the babyface team isolated one of the heels for the first half. The heels also did very little cheating or bullying of the babyfaces and only won because the babyface team imploded and Jaida seems to be kinda stupid. Post-match surprise Bianca and Jade appearance to help Kelani Jordan against the heels was cool. Great pop, great beatdown and some superstar endorsement for Jordan.

DELTA vignette was very cool. The NXT women's division they're putting together is outrageous. 

Je'Von Evans/Orton vignette was sweet. He sounded so chuffed to be facing one of his idols. Randy saying he wants to give a youngster an opportunity but also throwing in that he sees an opportunity to land an all-timer RKO was very on brand for him. He's a babyface right now but he's still a predator damn it. 

Solid main event from Ethan Page and Trick Williams. It didn't quite get into the high gear I'd want for main event world title match, but they worked well together and packed a lot into 10 minutes. They got the balance right with Punk's involvement. He was enough of a distraction that Ethan Page can complain about it, but he didn't intervene in any way that diminishes Williams' win. The main take away from this is how over Trick Williams is. He may not be able to have 500 this-is-awesome-a-thons against Andrade but he has all of the presence, charisma and star quality Carmelo Hayes hasn't shown on the main roster. He looked like a megastar coming out for his entrance here, and him getting his title back felt like a huge deal. The fast track job they've done on Ethan Page has worked too, really good heat for him here and he looks refreshed and remotivated after his time languishing in ROH hell 

Fun episode of TV that. The acting, the on the nose dialogue and some of the gimmicks and stable names still make me wince in that NXT 2.0 sort of way (The Fatal Influence is somehow worse than Toxic Attraction, but not as bad as Pure Fusion Collective) but other than that it was an entertaining watch.  Moved at a good pace, the overall presentation, branding and new titles were slick, the key players are over and the Street Fight and main event were thoroughly enjoyable TV matches. 

Edited October 4, 2024 by JLM

[DavidB6937]

Well this was upsetting to watch.

 

 

[Hannibal Scorch]

 

5 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

Well this was upsetting to watch.

 

Shawn saying this is so cringe brother can be clipped and used to describe that.

Anyway if you were wondering if NXT was still full of MAGA fans and Qanon-ers, it is 

 

Edited October 9, 2024 by Hannibal Scorch

[Supremo]

You can release Drake Younger from his contract, but you can’t take the Drake Younger out of NXT.

This would have looked mint if it worked. Such a shame. On the plus side, five years ago Randy would have threw a massive tantrum and stamped on his head, so progress is progress, I guess.

Edited October 9, 2024 by Supremo

[RedTwoster]

8 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Anyway if you were wondering if NXT was still full of MAGA fans and Qanon-ers, it is 

It’s only one person’s mad opinion, to be fair - although I’m sure all American wrestling companies have more than a handful of wrestlers who hold these views. 

I hope Oba Femi’s defeat means they’re considering moving him up to the main roster. Femi would give Smackdown in particular a massive boost, something they desperately need. 

[BomberPat]

47 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

It’s only one person’s mad opinion, to be fair

more than just one, NXT is fucking rife with this stuff. 

[DavidB6937]

49 minutes ago, Supremo said:

This would have looked mint if it worked. Such a shame. On the plus side, five years ago Randy would have threw a massive tantrum and stamped on his head, so progress is progress, I guess.

Yeah I felt really sorry for the guy as obviously the match was made for a spectacular RKO ending. But all credit to Randy for not calling him stupid or anything!

20 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

I hope Oba Femi’s defeat means they’re considering moving him up to the main roster. Femi would give Smackdown in particular a massive boost, something they desperately need. 

I blame myself for this. I went on about surprise title losses but I wanted Sami, not poor Oba! But yeah, definitely hope it means he's getting a main roster call up as he'd be an absolute beast on Smackdown.

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

more than just one, NXT is fucking rife with this stuff. 

I mean, wrestling in general is. 

1 hour ago, DavidB6937 said:

I blame myself for this. I went on about surprise title losses but I wanted Sami, not poor Oba! But yeah, definitely hope it means he's getting a main roster call up as he'd be an absolute beast on Smackdown.

It’s amazing that he’s wrestled such a small number of matches given how good he is. Between Breakker, Femi, Trick, Jacob Fatu and Gunther, you have the makings of a really fresh and exciting main event scene in the men’s division. If anything, the women’s division looks even more promising, given some of their recent signings. 

[Daaaaaad!]

2 hours ago, Supremo said:

On the plus side, five years ago Randy would have threw a massive tantrum and stamped on his head, so progress is progress, I guess.

The maturity and redemption of Randy Orton is one of my favourite non-storyline storylines in the last five years, no doubt. 

[Arch Stanton]

11 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Anyway if you were wondering if NXT was still full of MAGA fans and Qanon-ers, it is 

I really wasn't, and I'm not sure why you might have thought anyone would be?!

I watch NXT almost every week and I've no idea who Dani Palmer is. Who the fuck would care about this stuff?

[DavidB6937]

2 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

Who the fuck would care about this stuff?

AEW fans.

[Devon Malcolm]

NXT isn't any more rife with sex pests, QAnoners, climate change deniers, Covid sceptics, anti-vaxxers and general right-wing weirdos than anywhere else in wrestling. And do we really want to start a comparison debate?

[Jesse]

To jump to Scorcher's defense, I didn't get the vibe that this was a "NXT bad, others good" post. Laughing at wrestlers being thick is a long-historied joy of many an older wrestling fan, and the Performance Center seems to turn out a decent number willing to make their stupidity pretty public on a regular basis. All from the same fun bucket as asking Jericho where his wife was on Jan 6th