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August Wrasslin' |OT| Make a.. make a good...uh...a good wrestling thread

Most people are Takeover events are game for just about anything. Even Finn. Finn's feet are being held to the flame on the main roster right now. The jury is still out and will be for some time.

Hey, I have no doubt that Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura would have a good match. Nakamura is a talented wrestler who knows his limits and doesn't push himself past them unless he thinks it's something special, for better or worse. But it's still a Greatest Hits match. Everything about Nakamura feels inconsequential because WWE isn't going to fuck with his character, and they likely aren't going to keep him there for long.

You know of know what Shinsuke is very quickly. Now imagine seeing that every single week. I got worn out on it only seeing him every couple of months and his ability and his charisma kept me ok with it for the most part. But he had to bust out a match like Ibushi/Nakamura for me to remember that he's a great wrestler. Because a ton of the matches leading up to that WK match were very formulaic by Nakamura standards.

A little bit of Shinsuke goes a long way. Possibly more than any other wrestler. That's the problem when your character is a charisma overload and you've been doing it for that long. Brightest flame and all that. I've said it before, but the idea of dream matches alone don't appeal to me anymore. Maybe it does to some people. But inconsequential dream matches are a waste with no real build and no real risk. It's the same criticism I've given PWG.

I guess I was judging Finn based on him being over with the Full Sail crowd which isn't the best litmus test. Though you can look at people like Cena who haven't changed in over a decade and are still over. My point was that repetition isn't going to stand in the way of people doing well in the WWE. Nak could pull the same act for a decade and still work in the WWE if he manages to draw the crowd to his side initially.

As for tonight's match I think it comes down to you having seen more Nak matches than me. I only really watch Wrestlekingdoms and G1s so his match with Ibushi stands out to me as one of my favourite matches of all time and tonight's was the opposite of that. It might feel like a greatest hits matcg for you but for me him being schooled and having to take advantage of a simple slip was the polar opposite of what happened in his Ibushi match.

As for the rest I can see why you'd get bored of it and how I'd probably get bored of it but the same can't be said of the WWE Universe. Fuck, them not treating a Japanese talent like shit on the main show's would probably have me glued even if he just remained nothing more than the confident projection of all of my anxious ticks.

tumblr_nvqu69eWC21snhdpvo4_400.gif

Wearing a lucha mask and dressing like a dick makes you look like the coolest motherfucker imaginable. Lose the mask and you just look like a dick.
 
Another great part of being their live was watching Sasha and Becky marking out.

Also the Dillinger did a pre show match(which was taped I think) and was super over
 

Wagram

Member
Some thoughts on Takeover:

- MOTN for me was Jose v. Aries. They threw down as equals and put on a nice show.
- Ember Moon gets WTF moment of the night with that amazing finisher. Billie Kay is also a guaranteed future women's champion. Excellent in the ring.
- Bobby Roode's finisher is absolute shite. Also, Almas shined brighter in the ring than he did despite fans loving the hell out of Roode.
- The tag match started slow, but came into its own well.
- Don't fuck with Asuka. Bayley is headed to the main roster where she belongs.
- Slow main event, but brutal. Shinsuke will be a star for sure.
 

Mengetsu

Member
Bayley with the rub to Ember Moon!

https://youtu.be/Znie0xHt0WQ

In the video above, Bayley talks about her loss to WWE NXT Women's Champion Asuka at "Takeover: Brooklyn II" on Saturday night. Bayley thought she had an advantage due to the magic from 2015 and said she was prepared for this rematch but is just really disappointed that it didn't work out like she figured.


Ember Moon then approached and gave Bayley props for taking Asuka to the limit, saying she should be proud for that. Ember said she's here in NXT to be like Bayley. Bayley congratulated her on her debut and believes Ember has a bright future ahead. Bayley also comments on her post-match moment with Becky Lynch, Charlotte and WWE Women's Champion Sasha Banks, saying it was nerve-wracking having them out. She called it a full-circle moment for her.
 

Raw64life

Member
Just got back from seeing Takeover live. Section 107 first row. Probably best seats I've ever had to a WWE show. It was awesome. I went into it thinking it was going to be a one match show, but the undercard ended up being way better than I thought it was going to be. Glad I was able to cross off NXT on my list.

And yea, Bobby Roode needs something other than a pump handle slam as his finisher. Didn't think that was going to end the match at all. Not sure why La Sombra was put in this spot.
 

MG310

Member

I don't even need the mask...just burn those suspenders.

I'm still not even sure what he's supposed to be. It seemed like the "Making A Difference" thing in the initial promos meant that he was supposed to be the evolution of the traditional Mexican wrestler but they never gave us anything else. Maybe he should be wearing the mask and taking it off before matches or something. Those promo videos were not enough.

He probably would have been great as the villain on the side opposite Kendrick in the CWC brackets.

And yea, Bobby Roode needs something other than a pump handle slam as his finisher. Didn't think that was going to end the match at all. Not sure why La Sombra was put in this spot.

It felt like he was put into the spot Dillinger would normally have but they couldn't really do that after Dillinger/Almas.
 
Just got back from seeing Takeover live. Section 107 first row. Probably best seats I've ever had to a WWE show. It was awesome. I went into it thinking it was going to be a one match show, but the undercard ended up being way better than I thought it was going to be. Glad I was able to cross off NXT on my list.

And yea, Bobby Roode needs something other than a pump handle slam as his finisher. Didn't think that was going to end the match at all. Not sure why La Sombra was put in this spot.

I was in section 122 and the seats were great.

Sombra's booking has been so weird. They should stop booking him against crowd favorites l they should put him in a tag team
 

Ithil

Member
You need the mask you shit.

It just amasses me that they're not willing to let anybody wear a mask unless their gimmick is generic face.

Problem with WWE is they think a mask is only to hide your face. So if you look like an elementary school student like Rey, you get to keep it (or get it back, as such), but if you look good like Almas, not a chance of a mask.

They don't get the bigger meaning a mask can have at all.
 
I was in lower section 6, fantastic seats. Glad I picked NXT to be my first live show, can barely talk about match quality as I had a shit ton of fun with almost every single match.

I have no idea if this came off on TV, but some asshole in a Stone Cold shirt screamed Nakamura fans are idiots.

In response the surrounding sections booed him, then started chanting "DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!" in his direction.

I was dying of laughter.
 
I was in lower section 6, fantastic seats. Glad I picked NXT to be my first live show, can barely talk about match quality as I had a shit ton of fun with almost every single match.

I have no idea if this came off on TV, but some asshole in a Stone Cold shirt screamed Nakamura fans are idiots.

In response the surrounding sections booed him, then started chanting "DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!" in his direction.

I was dying of laughter.

I didn't know Data West went to live shows.
 
Problem with WWE is they think a mask is only to hide your face. So if you look like an elementary school student like Rey, you get to keep it (or get it back, as such), but if you look good like Almas, not a chance of a mask.

They don't get the bigger meaning a mask can have at all.

It's akin to how Nia was a plus sized model before she joined the company but then has to be a monster despite being terrible in that role. They have folks that appeal to a wide audience then go out of their way to make them conform to their shitty old school standards.
 
Does it seem to anyone else like Nia Jax doesn't buy into her own gimmick?

It's akin to how Nia was a plus sized model before she joined the company but then has to be a monster despite being terrible in that role. They have folks that appeal to a wide audience then go out of their way to make them conform to their shitty old school standards.

lol totally didn't see your post before I just made mine. But yeah she cannot pull off the monster thing at all. Without knowing her at all something about her demeanor makes me think she's really just a big teddy bear.
 

Ithil

Member
It's akin to how Nia was a plus sized model before she joined the company but then has to be a monster despite being terrible in that role. They have folks that appeal to a wide audience then go out of their way to make them conform to their shitty old school standards.

But then they won't even commit to Jax being a monster either. They're like "What a beast...but also she's glamourous and beautiful too!". Trying to have it both ways.
Pick one.

Bull Nakano was pretty too, but no one ever said that because she was meant to be a monster heel.
 
The other thing I noticed with Nia Jax, and I've noticed it a lot with the women's division but a lot of the younger/newer wrestlers in general, is how choreographed to a tee everything they do is. Their entrances are exactly the same every single time. Does anyone else think that is stupid? Nia Jax comes into the ring, stands on her mark, finds the camera and does that dumb "hand in the fist" thing every single time. It makes them look so robotic and inauthentic as characters to me. It makes me wonder if NXT is in a way the best and worst thing to happen. Getting guys/girls into the "WWE style" earlier in their development than they did before seems to kill any natural charisma or originality they might have.
 
I mean, there's a reason Trips has gone from saying "this is a place where we get all the bad indie habits out of them and create new stars" to "this isn't developmental, this is its own brand"

He must've picked it up when Mania was in Silicon Valley

raw
 
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