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NXT a Draw?

Hey Scott- In a follow up to the "why is NXT a better show" question, do you think that if NXT was in the spot Raw as in now (with the current existing Raw talent but booked the same way as NXT with the more concentrated show) would it be more successful? The same? Do you think your enjoyment of NXT comes from a place as a longtime wrestling enthusiast or do you think given the same level of promotion and star power as Raw that NXT could be the a suitable replacement for the current product?

Oh no, no, no.  Most of the charm of the show is that the characters and workers are NOWHERE near ready for prime time and you're watching them learn and improve as they go along.  Tyler Breeze has been turning into a standout character as we've watched, for instance.  But the show is so great because it's simply booked and basically just exists in their own little side-dimension.  Were you to do the same thing with the people on RAW, the ratings would crater because the audience has been trained to react to a totally different type of SPORTZ ENTERTAINMENT.  NXT is for us cranky old farts who long for the return of World Championship Wrestling at 8:05 EST on TBS.  

Comments

  1. Bring back the brand split! Give Smackdown to a booker and see what happens.

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  2. While I really enjoy NXT, I don't think that formula could work for RAW. The kiddies and regular audience would find it boring. Let it and it's formula just stay there and we can enjoy the rookies do their thing.

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  3. Or he was talking about watching Leave it to Beaver or whatever was on TBS at 8:05.

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  4. Don't forget "... on the Superstation."

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  5. Give the mid-card to a booker and see what happens, heaven knows Stephanie and her soap opera rejects couldn't give a shit less about it.


    Paul Heyman,Dusty Rhodes,Arn Anderson,Ricky Steamboat,Dean Malenko they don't have a shortage of guys to turn to.

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  6. NXT is Global. The only thing missing is John Tatum in the ring, and Craig Johnson sitting next to Scott Levy on commentary.

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  7. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryNovember 11, 2013 at 2:14 AM

    I believe Scott lives in the Mountain Time Zone.

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  8. I can dig this. Some of us remember.

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  9. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryNovember 11, 2013 at 2:20 AM

    OK is there any way to watch this in the U.S. without getting Hulu? Because this seems like my dream promotion, an indy company that actually has money and is isn't booked by idiots.

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  10. You don't have to "get Hulu".. It's FREE if you just go to their little website and watch it.. It'll be fine, it's how I used to watch The Office, when it was still relevant..

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  11. AJ Lee is getting pretty close to them in terms of merch. Surprising for a Diva...

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  12. Pat Patterson Prolapsed!November 11, 2013 at 3:41 AM

    Piss is never wrong.

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  13. I may get drunk and call her when hammered at 2 in the morning, and leave her an answerphone message telling her what a callous bitch she has been to ruin a 5 year+ friendship for no fucking reason.

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  14. That's one approach.

    Hindsight being twenty-twenty, I would write her a short letter saying something like, "You're absolutely right. I was totally selfish and I apologize. You have my word as a man and as a friend that I will not approach you again. However, if you do decide to someday give me one more chance, I promise to that I will give you all the respect that you deserve."

    Then, you wait, until one day when she hits rock bottom, and she remembers what a great friend you were, and comes running back to rekindle your relationship!

    THEN you tear into that no-good bitch and give her what she's got coming.

    It's MUCH more satisfying that way.

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  15. In high school, you have a very small circle of acquaintances, all crammed under one roof.

    So the worst that could happen is that she tells everyone what a geek you are, and you become an untouchable until graduation.

    There is MUCH less pressure from college onwards, when the world opens up for you.

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  16. 6:04PM:

    "I'm gone fishin' again...
    I'm gone fishin' again..."

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  17. Ha. That would be great. Problem is, i'm angry now. In a few months/years time, if i'm still angry and bitter, it probably wouldn't be a good thing.

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  18. So how do you fill 3 hours of RAW with only half of the guys there? Because they are already using all of the RAW and SD wrestlers.


    IMO the ratings and buyrates are only so low today, because of the split in 2002. The ratings went down then from 4/5 to 3 and never went up again.

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  19. Well, it seems like you need to learn some patience anyway. No time like the present!

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  20. I think the main difference is the fact that they are trying to get everyone over. They have jobbers of course but it's obvious who they are, and on the whole they are trying to make everyone look good.

    There is no obvious campaign to put one guy on top and keep him there they allow the characters to develop and the wrestlers to get themselves over. I think this is one aspect the main roster could benefit from.

    Why bother watching say del Rio vs Kingston from raw last week? We all know it existed solely to give del Rio a win. And it will have been forgotten the next week.

    People say that wins mean nothing, but it's actually the fact that losses mean nothing that is harming the current product more.

    When you watch nxt you know that the matches mean something. And that's refreshing in this day and age.

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  21. I think one difference is, that the NXT roster is fresh and changes. In the main roster you have guys like Del Rio or Ziggler or Miz who are there forever. When you think about the 90s, how many guys where there for more than 3 or 4 years in a row? With the same gimmick? Today many guys are the same since 2008 or so. The Main Event guys are there even longer. Orton since 2002, Cena since 2002, Big Show since 99, Triple H since 96, CM Punk since 2006...

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  22. Holy crap, that's the best thing ever.

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  23. You didn't mention the part about Shawn helping the top heel in the company get what he wanted less then 24 hours before. That was pretty heel is and helped Bryan get over on Shawn.

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  24. How dare you talk ill of the McRib!! I'll kill you!

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  25. Are you like afraid someone is going to steal your job?

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  26. There are a lot of guys who only show up once a month on Superstars, or once every couple of months (JTG, Yoshi, Hawkins, and more) or who just appear on Superstars/main Event every week. They would just need to book stories for more people to fill time.

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  27. Off topic but why does WWE hold onto so many jobbers nowadays that they never use and will probably never use frequently. Not up and comers, but guys they just trot out to Superstars or NXT every couple months to job?


    Guys like JTG, Curt Hawkins, and Yoshi Tatsu aren't ever going to be used as anything more than cannon fodder. They at least are using Alex Riley on commentary, so he's getting paid to do something, but the other guys I mentioned are really getting paid to work once every couple months.

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  28. Just go to hulu.com. You can watch shows a few weeks behind for free. Try from a desktop or laptop PC, it's difficult to search for the free stuff from the mobile version of the site.

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  29. No, Kaitlyn's #1.

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  30. If I was to be given hundreds of millions of dollars and could attempt to start a new wrestling promotion, I would make it very much like NXT. I like the stripped down format, where the show is presented more like a sport than a soap opera. This is why it was so sad TNA tried to be WWE light. My guess is that there are many fans who would come back for some good old school wrestling on TV.

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  31. I really hate the self-fulfilling prophecy that is "Daniel Bryan isn't a draw" - of COURSE he's not a draw when you purposely book him not to be a draw. As soon as Trips was named the Special Ref at "Summerslam", not only did it show that they didn't have enough faith in Cena/Bryan on its own, but everyone also knew something wonky was going to happen. And then the two months of crap after that? Ugh.


    I'm not saying that Bryan is a draw; it may very well turn out that, even when booked as well as can be, he doesn't move the needle (or even causes drops). I'm just saying that it's not fair to judge his completely mismanaged last few months against those of guys that have been completely protected for years.

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  32. But who cares about those guys? On the other side: They could always use them as jobbers for the Rybacks or Cenas. Or send them to NXT.

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  33. NXT is pretty deep with guys who are ready to come up, so I think not enough wrestlers for a brand split isn't an issue really. Zayn, Neville, Dallas, The Ascension, Bailey, Emma, Paige, Breeze are all ready to come up right now, and some guys are ready enough to come up like Aiden English, Enzo Amore, Colin Cassady, Mojo Rawley, and Xavier Woods.

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  34. I'd say its worth a shot nowadays to try a wrestling show that looks and feels like an MMA show.

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  35. 0-30: HHH promo.
    30 - 35: Divas match.
    35 - 45: HHH backstage segment.
    45 - 60: CM Punk versus Daniel Bryan.
    60 - 70: HHH stops match abruptly and makes a tag match.
    70 - 71: SHIELD squash Punk/Bryan.
    71 - 90: John Cena promo about Smackdown.
    91 - 100: Big Show vs. Ryback.
    100 - 110: Paul Heyman promo from his Swiss Euthanasia Clinic.
    111 - 130: Wrestlemania Highlights.
    130 - 150: Curtis Axel attempts to cut a promo.
    160 - 180: HHH, Cena and Big Show promo.


    There!

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  36. Part of this is HBK's willingness to play a heel *properly.* Trips can seem to help being the hipster heel.

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  37. When I was in high school, I was pretty much a fat fuck. I wasn't one of the kids who got picked on all the time, as I was pretty well-liked by everyone, but I was still probably in the "undateable" category with any of the chicks I would have wanted to date. I knew this, too, but it doesn't mean you suck it up and accept it.


    My senior year, I made a point of asking one of the most popular girls in my class , recently single, out to one of the school's formals. I knew I had no shot but decided that having a chick say "no" was far from the worst thing that could happen to me. Obviously, she said no, but it was something that helped my confidence levels a lot going forward.

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  38. I love shoot comments that aren't...well, wait. I guess that was *supposed* to be a shoot comment. Sort of.

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