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NXT Thoughts

Don’t really want to do a full review, but this week’s show was another good’un. 

- Sadly, Carmella is probably going to make the main roster before Enzo & Cass by virtue of being smoking fucking hot.  But it’s just the Divas division anyway, so good on her.  Because, you know, LOOK AT HER. 

- I enjoyed the surprise appearance of Rhyno, but I really wish they wouldn’t hang a lampshade on it by declaring “NXT is where superstars go to revitalize their career!”  It kind of loses the cool factor if you don’t let fans figure that out for themselves, ya know?

- So that’s Solomon Crowe.  OK then.

- Blake and Murphy developing into douchebag heels is a nice touch.  Let them have some personality and see where it goes!  I approve.

- I had actually never seen Ol’ Blue Pants until this show.  Just a fun idea, like something out of ECW.

- Kevin Owens v. Adrian Neville was REALLY, really good.  Neville is on a pretty amazing roll lately.  I also liked that they made sure to note that it was a non-title match because Neville hadn’t earned another title shot, and they didn’t job out the champion just because it was a non-title match!  And Neville didn’t look any weaker for losing clean.  Great stuff. 

Comments

  1. Carmella is also totally turning on Enzo and Cass when they get their shot against Blake and Murphy (are they really calling themselves the Dubstep Cowboys?). I like Neville a lot, but that match was the first time I saw him as a main roster guy. He pulled out some Cesaro-like power moves... and that reverse hurricanrana is NASTY. Tremendous match.

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  2. Speaking of ECW, this show is what the relaunch should have been.

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  3. I approve of a weekly NXT Thoughts Thread.

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  4. Biff Kensington Has a PosseFebruary 20, 2015 at 5:12 PM

    Carmella isn't any hotter than Charlotte, so I don't get the love that people seem to have for her.

    On that note, fuck you Kevin Dunn, you buck-toothed motherfucker.

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  5. I love Blue Pants. It would never work on the main roster, but in NXT it's just a fun goofy sort of thing. If Carmella turns on Enzo and Cass to side with the tag champs you could get a nice 6 person match with Blue Pants, Enzo, Cass vs Carmella, Blake, Murphy.

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  6. I don't know...Carmella is hot as hell, and you Can't. Teach. That.

    Also yeah to hell with Kevin Dunn.

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  7. I'd never seen any of Crowe before this debut, and I didn't really know what to think. In my head, the guy I pictured playing a 'computer hacker' character looked a lot different than an overtanned Crash Holly/Joey Mercury-type dude with Darren Young's haircut and a smoker's voice.

    Kind of think WWE missed a trick by not having Rhyno as a mystery entrant in the Rumble, if they were going to bring him in on a short deal anyway. The Philly crowd would've loved it.

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  8. Agreed on this. Same with the Vaudevillains... extremely fun in NXT but on the main roster Dunn would probably shit on it and they'd go the way of Adam Rose...

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  9. Enzo is a personal HHH project, so I suspect he'll make the main roster ASAP, unless he has no real wrestling ability, which sad to say, seems like a real possibility. He'll be a golden manager, though. I know that's a dirty word in today's WWE, but I suspect HHH feels differently.

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  10. I love Gotch and his ridiculous mustache and the whole black and white intro.

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  11. The main event was great. I'm not as down on Neville's main roster chances as some. The guy can do stuff only one or two others in the world can. Probably the most impressive athlete since Shelton Benjamin. In an alternate universe, I'd love for the guy to be Jushin Liger II, and I mean that literally.

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  12. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 20, 2015 at 5:43 PM

    I bet it was for no other reason than that he would have been "stealing" Roman Reigns' spear

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  13. Crowe looked embarrassingly low rent. Really bad gear.

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  14. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 20, 2015 at 5:46 PM

    Only more people can wrestle in this version.

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  15. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 20, 2015 at 5:46 PM

    Enzo & Cass may just have, dare I say, Edge & Christian type charisma

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  16. That German Neville threw was nuts. Owens is a big dude. Carmella though. .. jeebus

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  17. English could get over with his singing gimmick and he has a unique look. TAKE A BOW!

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  18. The stuff that he can do is frowned upon by main eventers on the main roster because they can't do them.

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  19. Cass is in some poor shape. Like a big Chris Hero. He'd be juiced to the gills in days gone by.

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  20. I can't see him as being much more successful than other high flyers like Justin Gabriel or Evan Bourne. And if Vince McMahon thought Christian was too ugly to be a star, I fear what he must think of poor Neville.

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  21. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 20, 2015 at 5:54 PM

    Rather than candidates for call-up to the main roster, who do you guys think would benefit the most from moving "down" to NXT from Raw? Ziggler? Big E? Kofi?

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  22. Well, Rollins can do a phoenix splash, but it's also near impossible to regularly do all the flying stuff on the WWE schedule.

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  23. Crowe reminded me of one of the goth kids I went to high school with in the late '90s. Not a good look at all.

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  24. Big E and Cesaro.

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  25. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 20, 2015 at 5:55 PM

    Cesaro for sure, if the tag team with Kidd doesn't get the chance to do anything.

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  26. Aiden English also has "connections" as he's engaged to Eddie Guerrero's daughter.

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  27. He's way stronger and more ripped than those guys, and a better all round wrestler. Mind you, the fucked up a 6'4" beast like Cesaro...

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  28. Because Cesaro is too swiss.

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  29. I saw a clip of New Day facing the Dusts and Big E looks he's carrying a gut. Can't say I'd blame him if he stopped caring.

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  30. I think/hope Cesaro is done when his contract expires. Cesaro vs Nakamura has to happen.

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  31. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 20, 2015 at 5:59 PM

    Maybe Fandango or Bo Dallas could salvage something back in NXT

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  32. Spoony's Royal Rumble review is hilarious.

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  33. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 20, 2015 at 6:00 PM

    Rhyno is a perfectly acceptable candidate to put Kevin Owens over clean as a sheet

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  34. Cannonball, pumphandle neckbreaker, powerbomb and Package Piledriver....done.

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  35. I wonder how quickly the NXT crew will be buried and fed to Cena once they move up to the main roster.

    I'm enjoying my time watching them in NXT as the moment they get "promoted" is the moment I became far more cynical.

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  36. Still dont get how they screwed up Big E. Easily could be a monster babyface.

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  37. Agree.

    I don't follow the Indies, so this was the first I've seen of him. I said "That's it?"

    Of course, there's far more to wrestling than just a look, but his predictable one-liner and poor delivery of that line weren't good either.

    Love his "Mega Man" theme, though.

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  38. Admittedly I don't watch much more than a few Raws a year but how often does he pull that out? I've seen every PPV match he's done and I can only remember twice at most (did he do it in the HitC?).

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  39. Height is a big issue. How is he gonna look inside the main roster ring? I remember Taz looked jacked in the smaller ECW ring and then when he jumped he looked super small.

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  40. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 20, 2015 at 6:13 PM

    Remember just before Wrestlemania last year we kept hearing Big E was in line for some monster push? He ended up losing a lot and never mattered again. I wonder what changed

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  41. Vince got bored.

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  42. I don't think she is hot. Of course being from Queens and her looking like every single Howard Beach girl might be the reason why

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  43. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 20, 2015 at 6:14 PM

    Kind of a butter face, but that's OK

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  44. I still think this basically WAS the same as the relaunched "WWECW". Not as good, of course, but it was a place that mixed workers, respected veterans, and repackaged midcarders.

    If only we didn't have to deal with Lashley, Test, and ol' Spark plug. We could have had something with RVD, Punk, Christian, Morrison, The Major Bros, Burke, Swagger, etc. interacting with guys like Sabu and Sandman.

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  45. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 20, 2015 at 6:16 PM

    Yeah, Tazz lost any and all cred when he got in the ring with Crash Holly in 2000. He looked like an actual midget

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  46. How awesome is this: http://i.imgur.com/pDs9Ytj.jpg

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  47. It was his first appearance (as Crowe), so I'll cut him some slack. Plenty of time to improve and buy new gear.

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  48. One advantage he has over Gabriel and Bourne, though, is even if he isn't much (or at all) taller than him, he's noticeably bigger and more jacked than they were.

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  49. Oh My Holy God Jesus is that AWESOME~!

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  50. The ring's the same size as far as I'm aware.

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  51. I only discovered them this past weekend but I LOVE ENZO and BIG CASS~! They are legit LOL! "HOW YOU DOING?" Enzo managing Cass on the big stage would be awesome .... except those writers ...

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  52. I think only once actually.

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  53. Now that NXT is touring a little I would kill to see them come to Philly. I swear I'm more invested in the goings on there than I am in the main roster.

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  54. That doesn't bode well for Pac. The popularity of his in ring work is predicated on several high risk maneuvers.

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  55. It's been said before, but if NXT's tours end up as a success, Vince will just want to kill it off. He hated when Smackdown! was beating RAW and he'll hate NXT getting better press than the WWE brand.

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  56. Yup, kinda misspoke there. Full Sail makes him look a little bigger than he actually is, traveling to big arenas is gonna be a detriment.

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  57. Must've refused to dance....

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  58. ECW would cut to the camera man on the outside of ring on the floor when Taz was in the ring a lot of times (which is Paul once again working to ones strengths) and it made Taz seem taller. Not sure I agree that he lost of cred standing next to Crash but it was standing next to Rock or Hunter or Show or guys like that that hurt him. If WWF was a fed full of Austin size guys he could have flourished IMO.

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  59. I think they should maybe add a secondary title. Like a TV belt that could be defended on most of the shows.

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  60. A solid idea. I think the WWE needs a clear line between belts and dropping one 2nd level title for a NWA style TV belt would work for them.

    Not sure what to call the NXT belt....

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  61. Since the Intercontinental title has been so devalued, have someone like Dolph win it and get demoted by the Authority.

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  62. "FUCKING NEUTRAL MILLENNIAL!!"

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  63. "WHEN DID WE REHIRE SHELTON?"

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  64. But how much of that was Vince hating that he was losing to Heyman?

    Also, if NXT tours, I imagine it'll be in smaller venues than the ones the main roster runs. No matter how good NXT is, they can't beat RAW if they play a 500-seat armory and Raw's in the United Center.

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  65. I'm an unapologetic Adrian Neville guy. There should always be a place in wrestling for a high-flying babyface who doesn't mind getting the shit kicked out of him. And unlike most high flyers, his ground offense is believable. His ceiling is lower than Balor's or Zayn's because of his height (ha ha ha), but I think they'll find a role for him.

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  66. Uh....Carmella is not that hot.

    As for Neville they really need to stop having him interviewed by that tall ass announcer.

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  67. NXT is Triple H's baby right? Vince isn't going to kill them off.

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  68. I've been in the Cass camp for a long time.

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  69. It's bad that he's not?

    He's probably the classic ectomorph. Can't gain weight for shit.

    BTW, I'd LOVE to be in poor shape like that.

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  70. BUT BRING BACK THE OLD THEME MUSIC!

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  71. In the spirit of the NWA TV Title, it could be NXT Network Championship...
    Or just bring back the Western States Heritage Championship

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  72. I don't get though. Why do they allow that and not Paul Orndorf style piledrivers?

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  73. I worry about Nevillle, Calisto and even Itami (although he has HHH in his corner) because I think Vince can only accept one headliner under 6'0 at a time and he already has had to eat on in Bryan..
    I fear that at some point we will see a "faction" of the three mired in the mid-card, making everyone else look good, doing "wacky" skits based on "hilarious" foreign hi-jinks and never being allowed to move up the card despite being inordinately over in relation to their position on the card.

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  74. I know nothing about her other than her few appearances on NXT and a quick Google search - but I wish they would let her do the "Cos Play gimmick- it is kid friendly, cheap heat and appeals to a demographic....they seem to love guys doing imitations- why not have her do a mix of comic characters and female wrestling personalities...
    But I call "not it" on explaining to Vince what Cos Play is

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  75. I know nothing about Blue Pants other than her few appearances on NXT and a quick Google search - but I wish they would let her do the "Cos Play" gimmick- it is kid friendly, cheap heat and appeals to a demographic....they seem to love guys doing imitations- why not have her do a mix of comic characters and female wrestling personalities...
    But I call "not it" on explaining to Vince what Cos Play is

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  76. "WHO THE FUCK REHIRED MR HUGHES?"

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  77. Or have Neville stand on a milk crate like they did with Andre and Vince.

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  78. You know what I would love for them to bring back for NXT: The FCW 15 Championship. For those that didn't watch FCW, it was a title (I don't think it had an official belt but like a medal) that would be put on the line in 15 minute iron man matches. I think once or twice they even did a 30 minute match for the title. That would be a great addition to NXT I think.

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  79. Carmella is hot enough that I can ignore her Jersey Hood Rat look.

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  80. I really don't understand how somebody could think that Christian is ugly.

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  81. I think it's just her expression.


    She's totally playing as a heel.

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  82. The biggest benefit to NXT over WWECW is taping at Full Sail rather than having to go into the big arenas that Smackdown is held at--for audiences that were either waiting for Smackdown or tired after having just seen Smackdown.

    Because it was cheaper.

    Whatever it takes to keep NXT its own thing...either at Full Sail or on limited tours not associated with Raw/Smackdown...is what is best for business.

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  83. I approve of team names whatever they are. I much preferred The Colossal Connection to Andre the Giant and Haku, or The Twin Towers to Akeem and Bossman. Cesaro and Kidd need a name, and Blake and Murphy seriously do.

    This probably all stems from the era I grew up in to be fair.

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  84. I'm sure I read that Kalisto debuted this week on Main Event with Sin Cara. If so, I don't expect much higher for him than to be included in a few tag title matches, at least not for another couple of years. It doesn't look to me like Itami will be ready for the main roster for at least another year or so, whereas Neville does have physique, strength and language on his side.

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  85. No, just an observation. Maybe he's gaining weight before he cuts again, but he looked flabby to me on Wednesday. Still better shape than I've ever been in, but y'know, I don't take my top off in public for a living.

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  86. I get the sense that it was Stephanie who more upset about her show being beaten in the ratings than Vince. There's no danger of that happening here, and if nothing else, good press for NXT is effectively good press for the Network - which the absolutely need.

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  87. Kevin Owens is possibly the wrestler of 2015 so far. More Owens is a good thing.

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  88. Watched the show last night and holy hell that was one of the best hours of simple wrestling TV in forever. Entertaining characters & angles, and a pretty great TV main event. That Owens/Zayn match might be better than anything on Fastlane this Sunday.

    And yes, Carmella is ridiculously skanky hot. I'm assuming she'll turn on Enzo & Cass and join Blake & Murphy, then Blue Pants ends up with Enzo & Cass?

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  89. That's a really good idea and it more original than just adding another title

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