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NXT In Review 05.27.15


Oh my god who let Mojo Rawley back on TV again?  Also, I feel like this Kevin Owens fellow might have a future in the business.  Hopefully John Cena takes a mentoring role with him.

Comments

  1. Also wanted to add outside of the classier confines of my corporate SN gig that HOLY FUCK ALEXA BLISS. My god. DAT ASS. She may have just surpassed Carmella, or at the very least gave the world the most awesome competition possible.

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  2. If Ric Flair says he's fit and able to wrestle, then why not let him wrestle in NXT?

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  3. Because there is already enough Flair on that program?

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  4. They've got to deal with wardrobe better, even in developmental. We can do the suspension of disbelief for breast cancer awareness in October, but heels shouldn't be wearing that stuff in May.


    Little things...

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  5. Someday your daughter is gonna go on the google and find this post. No BoD HoF for you!

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  6. If Alexa Bliss is still with the company in ten years when mini-Keith would do that, then good for Alexa Bliss.


    I'd be more concerned about how reduced his chances of getting a son to go along with a daughter.

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  7. This place is going to have a collective aneurism if John Cena beats Kevin Owens clean this Sunday. The explosion will be bigger than one of Dean Ambrose's TVs.

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  8. This is the first time in over ten years that I got Evil Trish vibes from a female wrestler.

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  9. Oh. Looking at Scott's post, I thought that was the logical extension.

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  10. How can we have a collective aneurism? Will all our brains fuse into one superbrain before exploding like that Eva movie?

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  11. I would love Cena to give Owens the rub and just lose clean to him.

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  12. And then what? You've made the US title look like shit again after months of building it up.

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  13. Loved the opening recap video. Also Tye Dillinger looks like he is improving a lot and I thought this was the best Crowe has been since showing up.

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  14. Flair still has a lot to teach the younger generation: how to wooo, how to chop, how to wooo again...

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  15. Her mom looks 25 and is smoking hot too. The Blisses are blessed with blissful genes.

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  16. I would imagine she's already fullfilled her sexual obligations part of the contact so he's got nothing to lose

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  17. Run a longer program with Cena having to make Owens defend the belt. Trying to uphold the belts honor, etc. Super Cena marching the belt out every week, when everyone assumes he's going to win anyway, isn't really building it up that much. It would go further to pass it to someone that can have a strong run with it. I think with Owens character he could be that guy.

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  18. Because the WWE doesn't need an old man keeling over in the ring.

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  19. Kevin Owens' ass is never the logical extension.

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  20. How to marry and divorce multiple times, rack up debt, get one's ass kicked by daughter's boyfriend...

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  21. I thought the EC match was nontitle?

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  22. But they would draw huge ratings for the RAW Memorial Show.

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  23. Here's an idea that wont happen. Why not go all Sting/Flair and have it be a draw?

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  24. The belt isn't being built up much.

    Some people truly are never happy.

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  25. He can still lose and be put over.

    See Kawada, Toshiaki

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  26. Flair is the favre of wrestling.

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  27. Doctor FunkopolisMay 28, 2015 at 3:44 AM

    If Cena wins, we Instrumentality!

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  28. You Can't See Me (because I've assimilated you all into pure energy) My Time Is Now (to achieve the next evolution of humanity)

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  29. Because the timekeeper was sacked in budget cuts.

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  30. Mojo Rawley: bad look, no moves, awful gimmick. Remember when he heard that they were really high on him?

    I do think that one of the only disconcerting things about NXT is when guys like Rawley and Dempsey go from "big push" to "given up" in a rather short span. It's probably where Corbin is headed, despite having the "look" thing down. Wish they'd get these guys a bit further in the wrestling department before putting them on TV.

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  31. Doctor FunkopolisMay 28, 2015 at 5:36 AM

    SeeleWinsLOL

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  32. I'll go a step farther on Crowe: I don't get the hacker gimmick at all. It's so mid-90's. Why should I care that this wrestler does this other thing that has nothing to do with wrestling? Take another gimmicky guy like Baron Corbin, a SAMCRO ripoff. That has nothing to do with wrestling either but as much as he sucks, at least it makes sense that this big, badass biker dude is here to beat the fuck out of some chumps. Or the Vaudevillians. It's even more campy, but it's fucking supposed to be. They're clearly going for a more serious, "Fuck yeah, that hacker guy is here to save the day!" thing with him, and it's the dumbest thing I've seen on NXT by far, I think.

    Also, I wouldn't lump the Dubstep Cowboys in with other WWE-created chumps like Corbon or Mojo. They don't exactly have worlds of character development but they can work. They're growing on me as a good choice for tag team champs, though that roof is melting if and when Enzo and Cass ever beat them for the titles.

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  33. Cena: Lemme give you some veteran advice.

    Owens: Fuck you.

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  34. Battle Kat LitterMay 28, 2015 at 6:01 AM

    I'm not sure what a hacker looks like. I'm struggling to come up with a mental image. Little help?

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  35. Angelina Jolie with a pixie cut.

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  36. I still think it's a hilarious rib that the guy with the worst conditioning on the roster got the gimmick where he's constantly running around and screaming at full throttle.

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  37. Emma and Alexa Bliss, damn.

    Rawley and Crowe are both awful, why is Crowe so orange?! Is he trying to be that colour? I don't get it.

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  38. They all wear those V or vendetta/Guy fawkes masks.

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  39. Yeah, I don't know. The only idea they seemed to have for it at house shows was "he turns off the lights," which is like a meme-level crutch the company uses for evil and mysterious heels.

    I think "hacker" is the kind of gimmick that sounds cool on paper, but is really hard to make happen on stage and nearly impossible to get across during matches.

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  40. So I'm watching the show right now. Why is the villain from The 5th Element challenging Owens for the belt?

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  41. Yeah that needs work. But I love tag teams that wear the same gear.

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  42. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 6:52 AM

    When you're developing all of your story lines for an 8-year-old mindset, stuff like that is ridiculously tough to pull off with the subtlety it would need to be effective. Of course, making Crowe a face doesn't really help. A hacker gimmick screams heel to me.

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  43. That all sounds suspiciously like the 2006 DX antics we all hated.

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  44. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 6:55 AM

    Finn Balor looks like he doesn't really know what to do with himself during his entrance when he's not painted like Venom.


    Chad Gable instantly became more interesting than a lot of the NXT roster with his quasi-dorky-Kurt Angle routine.


    "No, it's Gable, with a G" as he holds up his towel was GOLD, JERRY!

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  45. Yeah but this guy's a hacker in his 20s, not a 40 year old dude making dick jokes

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  46. I really like Blake and Murphy a lot. But I like them a little less now that I know "The Dubstep Cowboys" isn't their official team name.

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  47. On one hand, I want Bayley to get called up because I think she's hugely marketable. Especially for the young girl market, which as I've said before, is mostly an untapped market for the business.


    On the other hand, I don't trust WWE not to fuck her up.


    Speaking of fucking up Divas when called up, holy shit is Emma ever awesome as a heel.

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  48. I like them. Of the matches I've seen them in, they've really impressed me.

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  49. I don't get the 'WWE is going to fuck them up' argument that keeps coming up. Most of the NXT crew have done quite well on the main roster, haven't they?

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  50. Emma and Paige would say otherwise. When's the last time Paige had an NXT-length or quality match? Certainly not since being called up.

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  51. Oh are you talking just about the female talent? In that case fair enough.

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  52. This. They haven't really "fucked anybody up" in a while. Roman's the closest, and that was being TOO behind pushing him.

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  53. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 7:01 AM

    I like that they're less gimmicked than most people on either the main roster or the NXT roster. They're just two dudes who teamed up and won the tag straps. And who like dubstep.

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  54. Hack the planet!

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  55. Yeah, primarily the female talent is my point. The Divas division in comparison to NXT is like comparing motor oil to apples. Two entirely different things that I can't believe they're from the same company.

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  56. Speaking of the young girl market, I wonder who here had a little sister who watched WWF Superstars or RAW or whatever with them?

    Because I did and she was as hardcore into wrestling as I was (back when she was ages six to ten) and a huge mark for Miss Elizabeth. I'm sure young girls now watch with their brothers, too.

    And they have...sigh...Stephanie to look up to...

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  57. Or your pick of any catty bitches in the main product. Which, again, is so surprising given the dearth of unique characters in NXT.

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  58. I'm getting Sunny vibes from Alexa Bliss backing the Dubstep Cowboys. And I mean that in a good way.

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  59. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 7:13 AM

    Let's do the roll call:


    THE GOOD
    Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns - Main Eventers
    Adrian Neville - Upper midcard program with Wade Barrett
    Bo Dallas - transitioning into a feud with Neville; Bo-Lieve is a great gimmick
    Bray Wyatt - treated as a consistent threat, although rarely wins anything.
    Harper/Rowan - bouncing between main event and upper midcard; should have been put in the tag title EC match.
    Big E - New Day rocks.
    Paige - Near the top of the Diva division, not sure that's enough to merit a "good," but I'll be generous...
    Rusev - long reign as US Champ, let's see what he does now in his Ziggler feud.
    Lana - apparently primed to be the female face of the company


    THE MEH
    Kidd/Cesaro - So much more could be done with Cesaro.
    Adam Rose - bad gimmick that was never going to work on the main roster.
    Summer Rae - Once she left Fandango, there was no point.


    TOO SOON TO TELL
    Lucha Dragons
    Ascension (likely to end up meh)


    Am I missing anyone? (By the way, in looking at the alphabetical listing of WWE superstars, there's a roster slot listed for "VACANT" which to me is awesome.)

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  60. Ahem, bellkeeper sir.

    /Jamie Noble

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  61. Okay, agreeing with Extant: it looks like Balor is still trying to figure out what to do when he's not dressed up like The Predator or whatever. It's really weird how he comes out like he does on the big matches, but looks like just another plain dude in speedos otherwise. Still a great talent, don't get me wrong, but I think that's part of the problem with him. He's very plain when he's not going crazy with the make-up and such.

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  62. I don't think it's that complex for even 8 year olds to get? Then again I suppose Dean Ambrose squirting people with ketchup and mustard is more their speed

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  63. This is probably the one and only one instance where either ending will be satisfying: if Owens wins, it'll make HIS eventual title loss seem really special, and if Cena wins it doesn't really hurt Owens--he's still running roughshod over NXT

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  64. He's always done that, though.

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  65. I think someone on this Blog said a few months ago that as a hacker, Crowe should "hack" the titantron and have his entrance music play, distracting his opponent, and allowing him to win matches via rollup. That could work.

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  66. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 7:20 AM

    If he's not going to come out in face paint every time, they need an alternate entrance for him without it.

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  67. Always does what? Save the entrance for the big matches? I get that. But he needs to find something else to make himself less plain.

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  68. Well in NJPW he had the light up jacket during his "regular" entrances, but Jericho put an end to that real quick.


    They need to copy NJPW and give him a bodyguard to carry him out to the ring.

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  69. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 7:24 AM

    For a company that thought "wrestling race car driver," "wrestling plumber" and "wrestling on-strike baseball player" would work...

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  70. Sunny waa so bad on the mic. She would raise her voice up and down throughout a sentence with no thought on which words were important

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  71. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 7:25 AM

    But how do you get that over visually that the guy in the ring is the one that hacked the Tron? That's the problem with the gimmick, it doesn't lend itself to presentation.

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  72. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighMay 28, 2015 at 7:29 AM

    How did Jericho put an end to it? Thought it ended when he turned heel. Don't think Jericho had anything to do with it

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  73. Nope. Court Bauer was talking about this yesterday on Bauer & Pollock (an MLW podcast). WWE hasn't had "over the air" shows since their deal with CW was cancelled.

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  74. When you're a hot chick, no one cares what you are talking about anyways.

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  75. Belee_Matt!_INDEED!!!May 28, 2015 at 7:36 AM

    To be honest, I never once paid attention to what Sunny was saying.

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  76. "But, Dixie..."
    "EVERYTHING. IS. FINE."

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  77. How can Jericho, a WWE wrestler, "put an end" to Prince Devitt, an NJPW wrestler, wearing a light-up jacket?

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  78. Kevin Dunn has no idea what to do with her if she isn't going to be slutty.

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  79. He's a bully, and a coward, and a douchebag...but he can back it up, which makes the character really interesting.

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  80. Emma is still being punished for making WWE look stupid for the knee-jerk firing of her.

    Of course, WWE only has themselves to blame about that, but they'll blame Emma anyway.

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  81. Is he going to do that once he gets to the main roster I wonder? It looks cool, but seems like it would take a ton of prep time to get all that ready.

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  82. they talked about it on Jericho's podcast. Balor said he stopped wearing it when he turned heel.

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  83. One dog goes this way, one dog goes that way, and this guy's like "Whar do you want from me?"

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  84. I don't think Paige was ready to be called up to be honest. I love her to bits, but most of her matches are just bad.

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  85. When he came to WWE, Jericho probably told him not to wear them since that was "his" gimmick, and told the higher ups to not let him use it. I remember he tweeted something about it. After reading JTG's book, wrestlers are apparently very protective of their ring gear.

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  86. AverageJoeEverymanMay 28, 2015 at 7:52 AM

    but Abe Knuckleball Schwartz is the FUTURE PAL!!

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  87. You spelled Brie Bella wrong.

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  88. From the way you phrased it you made it sound like Jericho put a stop to it while they were in separate companies.

    Anyway, since the light-up jacket is associated with Jericho by WWE fans, it would be silly for Balor to "copy" it now.

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  89. 99.9% make "plain" entrances.

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  90. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 8:07 AM

    Sunny talked?

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  91. Enzo called them The Dubstep Cadets in a promo last week. That would be a good name for them.

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  92. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 8:15 AM

    There are a few things I would hope he ditches before he comes up to the main roster. His entrance, as it stands right now, is one of them.

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  93. My friend's little sister was obsessed with the Rockers. Had a poster of them on her wall and everything.

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  94. Haha. You're right she's awful too but people call her out on it today. There always seemed to be this "sunny was the best" mentality and I never agreed with it. They tried giving her commentary, ring announcing, interviewer, and manager, and she was terrible at all of them (although hot). Rosa Mendes gets just as many opportunities today for some reason

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  95. You want him to ditch his Demon entrance?!?!

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  96. See, I loved that. It totally fit her character that she doesn't care whether you're able to listen or not. She just wants to hear her own voice.

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  97. So, Balor immediately gets over as a star and has the live crowds going nuts for him (and everyone online talking about him), and he needs to change?


    Devil's advocate, but he doesn't need to "do" anything for his entrances. He can be the guy who comes out and kicks ass, and when that isn't enough, he psyches out his opponents with his awesome entrance. The fastest way to kill his entrance is to do it (or a lite version of it) every time he comes out.


    Side note: he also strikes me as a guy who should be wearing a full suit at all times that he isn't in wrestling gear.

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  98. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighMay 28, 2015 at 8:20 AM

    Jericho had nothing to do with it. Finn took it off when he turned heel for the bullet club. On jerichos podcast they talk about how neither one knew the other had the light up jacket until later.

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  99. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 8:20 AM

    By the time they made her a commentator, I think she had improved enough that she wasn't a complete embarrassment. But she was in no way hired for her speaking abilities, and I think everyone is aware of that.

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  100. Sunny had charisma.

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  101. I don't think anybody's proposing using the demon everytime or even tweaking it.

    He just needs something in normal Finn entrance besides awkwardly walking to the ring.

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  102. I think dearth means the opposite of what you mean (not trying to be a dick, just making sure you know).

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  103. How is what he does awkward?

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  104. I'd say so far Ascension belongs on a "SHIT" list. "MEH" would be a solid spot for them given what we've seen so far.

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  105. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 8:25 AM

    If they must keep it, it has to be adapted somehow. He already looks lost walking down the short NXT aisleway. Imagine that same thing on a Raw stage... He would look like a demon with Alzheimer's trying to figure out where he has to go.


    The combination of his entrance walk and the length of time within the music between poses is definitely off, IMO, and needs to be adjusted.

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  106. Because he saw Becky Lynch at Takeover and thought she was Milla Jovovich from the 5th Element and thought NXT was the place to be?

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  107. Something non-generic is a better way to put it. Even the finger guns would be good. It's like he's CAW entrance 1 in a Smackdown game.

    If he even has a hand symbol or something coming out it makes it even better when he powers up to being The Demon.

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  108. How does he look lost? He pauses and does the pose in tune with his music. It looks fucking awesome. Not to mention the atmosphere and the lights coming up with the fans doing it with him.

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  109. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 8:27 AM

    Did you watch last night's NXT? When I watched Balor's match, he looked lost for a majority of his entrance.

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  110. I personally think they should be the kind of guys to be like "WTF is dubstep?" while they drive around listening to nothing but dubstep.

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  111. Have him bail from the ring, grab a commentator's microphone and make modem noises into it, then the lights go down, and come up 5 seconds later with his opponent laid out.


    God, that's so dumb they might do it.

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  112. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 8:29 AM

    When the lights come on and he poses in tune with his music, yes it looks cool. But the lead up to that, especially as the cameras were close-up on him last night, it made it look awkward to me, like he hit his cue too soon and had to wait too long for the music to change.


    I think it was worse than it had ever been last night. Maybe pulling back the camera so it's not so close up would work better with that entrance.

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  113. Cosigned. I love it when heels don't realize why they piss people off. Like Honky not knowing who Elvis is.

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  114. Skinny, pale, Skrillex hair, gauged ears?

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  115. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 8:30 AM

    Don't give them ideas!

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  116. Ah, my mistake. I remember a website, I think it was Reddit, going crazy because some fan asked Jericho over Twitter if Balor would use the light up jacket in WWE and Jericho's response was something like "over my dead body."

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  117. So he needs to change what he's doing because you don't like how he goes from one part of the arena to another? That just seems like a really weird thing to complain about.

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  118. Favre is a cross between Flair and Rollins.

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  119. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMay 28, 2015 at 8:35 AM

    Welcome to the internet. People complain about a lot of things here. And then, people complain about other people disagreeing with their opinions. It's a vicious circle.


    I just don't happen to think his entrance will play once he gets to the main roster, because it already seems a bit clunky in NXT. I think it's a valid opinion, although I get that not everyone agrees with me.

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  120. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighMay 28, 2015 at 8:40 AM

    That's possible. Jericho can be a bit of a prick haha. But it was pretty light hearted on the podcast. I'm sure Jericho would in fact have an issue with someone doing it in WWE but from the way they talked, Jericho had no idea Devitt was even wearing it.

    I'm just upset they are wrestling on July 4th in Japan and it won't be televised anywhere

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  121. Paige was fine once she turned heel as she seemed way more comfortable in that role. Her initial face run was a disaster...not so great matches and she looked terrified.

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  122. That's not really being a prick. That's saying "I'm not going to allow some rookie to the company to use my exact same gimmick" which is perfectly reasonable.

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  123. I'm glad you highlighted her in your review - her promo was awesome and that was the biggest thing I took from this week's show. Her delivery and facial expressions are spot-on. $$$$$

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  124. I think part of why NXT engenders good will even in its lulls is because it hasn't had an oppressive oligarchy of sociopathic evil authority figures for nearly two decades. Since late 1997, the running narrative thread of main roster WWE has been, "This company is run by a family of evil assholes who hate you and everyone you like, and prefer to have appointed hand-picked champions rather than just whoever is the best at winning wrestling matches. Also sometimes the gross old man has sex slaves and the family members abuse each other from time to time. Oh and the 'reasonable voice' of all this is Michael Cole, a dickhead."


    Meanwhile, NXT is more like, "we have wrestlers in matches to hone their craft and see who is the best, and we put people in fairly-booked title matches based on the ongoing results of wrestling matches." It's a lot easier to get behind a promotion (or even a developmental sub-promotion) when the promotion itself is presented as a likable entity that respects and appreciates the fans (even when in reality they're part of the same corporate entity.)

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  125. And that's the real issue: they fired him but he kept the bell.

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  126. I had to look up Rawley because I have no memory of him besides the name. He looks like Mark Brendanawicz's jock brother.

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  127. Is that what happened?

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  128. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighMay 28, 2015 at 12:56 PM

    Jacket isn't a gimmick, and I just meant responding like that on Twitter would be Jericho being a prick.

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  129. They're as solid in the ring as you can get. Great tag moves, great bumpers, and they just naturally work very well together. People say they have no charisma.. shit, I'd rather watch these guys in the ring than the goddamn Usos any day of the week.

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