Best NXT special so far? I enjoyed everything on this one. I thought Corbin and Dempsey was booked, but they wouldn't have had time anyway and it would have sucked, so who cares! That shoot CJ Parker palm strike was amazing. I'm not surprised Owens would turn on NXT in general after that!
NXT Takeover: (R)Evolution - If you hate the WWE, watch this
- Status
There is no Palm B.
Holy shit! I don't think that's how hands work.
The earliest use of the cage lowering music I've seen is before the Sid/Michaels match at Royal Rumble 1997. That also was not a cage match.
Biggu Bosu
Banned
Only WMXXX was a better show that I've seen this year. The main event celebrating had a real old school vibe to it. Loved it
Well, when you let Regal and Dusty book your territory, of course you'll get an old school feel and you know, some actual wrestling logic in the show.
But that's entirely beside the point, I suppose.
reptilescorpio
Member
Just laughed my arse off when I remembered this.
Holy shit. I have no idea how I'm going to be able to sit through TLC&S now.
mechashiva
Member
Any other year but not this year's. Other than Bray's loss and the diva Royal this year's Mania was incredible.
The Bookerman
Member
Dusty was a great wrestler, he has always been bad as a booker.
Not really true, the problem with Dusty was that when he was booking he fell into the same trap most bookers fell, he pushed himself and his friends over other people.
That's not a problem anymore, obviously.
It's a fact he, Byron Saxton and William Regal book NXT in some capacity. He probably got better at it.
Biggu Bosu
Banned
Nothing happens without HHH approval though
I honestly think REvolution was better than Mania barely, but still better. Mania's big hangups were the Divas Battle Royal, Cena Wins LOL, and in my opinion Taker laying down for Brock (which also absolutely murdered the crowd for most of the night after)
Plus while the finale of the Daniel Bryan storyline gave us an amazing Bryan vs HHH match and a great moment to close the show, it was the final chapter in a storyline that was very inconsitently portrayed leading up to it. The road to Sami's championship win was a lot more natural and well though out than Bryan's.
And HHH needs props, I mean they book NXT under his direction, so what NXT is, is what HHH wants. He has said more than once he wants NXT to be more of a "pure" wrestling show.
And that it is.
I hope you guys are wrong about HHH backseat booking NXT, to be honest. The biggest problem in WWE right now is that Vince is too involved with booking, micromanaging creative so much that Creative is pretty much dead and just booking for what they know Vince wants to see, instead of booking to make the show as good as it can be.
In my mind HHH is a guy that doesn't do that and lets the guys that know what they're doing just do what they do without much interference. Maybe consult on who should be champion and challenger, but that's about as much as he should be involved as head of the "brand"
In my mind HHH is a guy that doesn't do that and lets the guys that know what they're doing just do what they do without much interference. Maybe consult on who should be champion and challenger, but that's about as much as he should be involved as head of the "brand"
That's what I meant. HHH controls the direction of NXT, he doesn't micromanage like Vince does. He appears happy to hire people to work under him, and to, shock, let said people do their job that he hired them for.
Whereas Vince seems to want to do everyone's jobs for them.
I mean HHH is there in gorilla running the show at every taping and special, but he's doing what he should be doing and running the show, not "controlling" the show.
Whereas Vince seems to want to do everyone's jobs for them.
I mean HHH is there in gorilla running the show at every taping and special, but he's doing what he should be doing and running the show, not "controlling" the show.
This was so good. SO GOOD.
It had everything I want from a wrestling show. Great action, great stories and great moments.
That main-event was just something else. Loved how Neville was an asshole the whole match but then redeemed himself in the end and how Zayn almost turned bad but won doing the right thing.
The rest of the show was also great, Charlotte vs Banks delivered, Kevin Owens debut was brutal, Ballor's entrance was amazing and the match was good and the tag team bout wasn't espectacular but delivered. I could live without Baron Corbin and the other dude but whatever.
And that ending, fuck. I was hoping they would wait a little until they pulled the trigger on this feud (maybe make them tag like in ROH) but I guess they don't have as much time since they can get called up any time. Still, great ending and the feud will deliver for sure.
I don't know how WWE can have a show of this quality and then deliver boring and by the number RAWs every week. NXT is the proof that less is more and is the best thing the WWE has going for them.
It had everything I want from a wrestling show. Great action, great stories and great moments.
That main-event was just something else. Loved how Neville was an asshole the whole match but then redeemed himself in the end and how Zayn almost turned bad but won doing the right thing.
The rest of the show was also great, Charlotte vs Banks delivered, Kevin Owens debut was brutal, Ballor's entrance was amazing and the match was good and the tag team bout wasn't espectacular but delivered. I could live without Baron Corbin and the other dude but whatever.
And that ending, fuck. I was hoping they would wait a little until they pulled the trigger on this feud (maybe make them tag like in ROH) but I guess they don't have as much time since they can get called up any time. Still, great ending and the feud will deliver for sure.
I don't know how WWE can have a show of this quality and then deliver boring and by the number RAWs every week. NXT is the proof that less is more and is the best thing the WWE has going for them.
Probably buried somewhere.
Mighty Chin
Banned
Needs the HHH shovel gif with the Brass Rings in the grave.
Andrew Johnson wrote a great piece on the history between Zayn and Owens: http://tjrwrestling.com/articles/blood-feud-the-history-of-sami-zayn-and-kevin-owens
funkystudent
Member
Not sure I would put NXT being so good all on Triple H as much as I would put 99% of why RAW sucks on Vince.
Vince has always been a control freak but it just seems like in the last 5 years he has gone a little senile.
Maybe the market crash in 08 made him completely risk averse so he will milk that Cena cow until the dude is in a wheelchair. Triple H just seems to not be a complete crazy person (when he stays away from booking his own stories anyway).
NXT just seems to be the ideal blue print of what a wrestling show should be.
Its not all about the main event and then just some filler. The show needs layers. It needs mid card feuds that you can legitimately care about. RAW hasnt had that stuff for so long. Outside of whatever Cena is doing it is basically a random match generator every week and a endless cycle of false starts.
NXT fixes basically all that stuff. It reminds me of the best of the Attitude era in that regard. Everyone has a place and it feels like they have a plan.
The creative drive for the show is "that is a good idea. Lets do that" whereas on RAW it feels like "That is a good idea. But how do we change it to make Cena go over?"
Also Sasha Banks sure is great.
Vince has always been a control freak but it just seems like in the last 5 years he has gone a little senile.
Maybe the market crash in 08 made him completely risk averse so he will milk that Cena cow until the dude is in a wheelchair. Triple H just seems to not be a complete crazy person (when he stays away from booking his own stories anyway).
NXT just seems to be the ideal blue print of what a wrestling show should be.
Its not all about the main event and then just some filler. The show needs layers. It needs mid card feuds that you can legitimately care about. RAW hasnt had that stuff for so long. Outside of whatever Cena is doing it is basically a random match generator every week and a endless cycle of false starts.
NXT fixes basically all that stuff. It reminds me of the best of the Attitude era in that regard. Everyone has a place and it feels like they have a plan.
The creative drive for the show is "that is a good idea. Lets do that" whereas on RAW it feels like "That is a good idea. But how do we change it to make Cena go over?"
Also Sasha Banks sure is great.
NXT is pretty much everything good about wrestling. Hour long show, which is perfect. They brought back squashes and jobber matches, so you don't have all of your top guys constantly facing each other and getting bored with it. People have characters and get to explore them in the ring and find an in ring style suited towards the character. Or the other way around in some cases. Young dudes wanting to be as impressive as they can at all times. Young women actually get to wrestle and wrestle well. 2 of the best NXT matches this year are women matches.
It's a perfect blend of modern day indie and WWE styles with 80s style booking and format. It likely wouldn't be as good if it was 2 hours long every week. Because they have so much less time to fill, the angles get more time to breathe and you don't get bored seeing the same match over and over and over (Usos vs Wyatts, Usos vs Rhodes Brothers, Harper vs Ziggler, Kofi vs Ziggler, Rusev vs black people) . With the quarterly specials instead of monthly, it makes the big matches actually matter when you get to see them. There is very little backstage stuff besides interviews. Most everything in a story takes place in front of the audience and in the ring.
It's basic but not boring. It's rad all around, basically. Even with having some shitty people that come along with technically being a developmental territory.
It's a perfect blend of modern day indie and WWE styles with 80s style booking and format. It likely wouldn't be as good if it was 2 hours long every week. Because they have so much less time to fill, the angles get more time to breathe and you don't get bored seeing the same match over and over and over (Usos vs Wyatts, Usos vs Rhodes Brothers, Harper vs Ziggler, Kofi vs Ziggler, Rusev vs black people) . With the quarterly specials instead of monthly, it makes the big matches actually matter when you get to see them. There is very little backstage stuff besides interviews. Most everything in a story takes place in front of the audience and in the ring.
It's basic but not boring. It's rad all around, basically. Even with having some shitty people that come along with technically being a developmental territory.
SomedayTheFire
Member
I enjoyed seeing Devitt at that. Great to see a decent Irish wrestler I can get behind, shame about his awful name.
Biggu Bosu
Banned
Hahahaha, sad but true
WWE has never and will never be able to look beyond the skin color of a black talent
brain_stew
Member
Just finished watching the show. Fantastic. Outside of Wrestlemania, no other WWE PPV can match that.
So true. If WWE adopted this format for Raws/PPVs it would be some incredible shit.
I just finished watching the PPV. So damn good. That GTS tease... good lord.
There is literally no reason to watch Raw live. Ever. Except on the night after WM. There are maybe 15-20 minutes of something decent per 3 hours of any given Raw. The rest of the time is a brutal slog of frustration and being insulted.
BoboBrazil
Member
You are being kind of generous with that 15-20 minute remark.
Biggu Bosu
Banned
USA made them do the 3 hours and by going back to 2 hours they'd be giving up too much money. 3 hour RAW's are here to stay
Also, I barely watch RAW, maybe 1-2 every couple months. I just watch the PPVs and the recaps before the matches is good enough for me
Uno Venova
Banned
I saw the Raw after WM and about 10 minutes of the last PPV.
The last time I was optimistic about Raw ever being good was during the 'who sent the text' storyline
..yeah
The last time I was optimistic about Raw ever being good was during the 'who sent the text' storyline
..yeah
vas_a_morir
Banned
I totally forgot about Jobbers. when I was a kid, you'd see the top 10 guys fight eachother only at Wrestlemania or Royal Rumble. You'd never see it every damn week. It really took away from the experience when I watched it again in 1998.
USA didn't make them do 3 hours. Vince thought it would be an easy way to get more money.
Its why the crowds are so dead. They film WWE Superstars there before raw.
Imagine sitting down to 4 hours of this crap.
Funny huh? I guarantee that it will be crap in comparison to it. I bet right now that the women match that involved Sasha Banks (who I absolutely have new respect for as she IS that good) will be better than 85% of all the matches that will be shown at TLC.
I hate how these guys have to change their names. Kenta, Devitt and Steen in particular. Fight Owens Fight just doesn't have the same impact as Kill Steen Kill does.
Frustrated_Grunt
Member
Holy crap that show was awesome. So awesome I had to buy a Sami Zayn and Finn Baylor shirt immediately afterwards.
UberTag
Member
You would have to pay me to subject myself to that level of torture.
Is it any wonder why any decent fans have the good sense to stay away and why all of the TV crowds now suck complete ass?
Anyone with a brain knows how unbearable that experience is and won't pay money for it.
I went to a Raw last year in the build up to WM and the Raw after Survivor Series because I thought Sting would be there. I can tell you why it sucks and why crowds are dead.
Any and all surprises are ruined as the "TV show" aspect is much more apparent when you see stage hands scurrying around setting up props/speakers for promo segments, and when you see camera men scurrying up the ramp 10 seconds before a run in. Entrances that look cool on TV don't look as cool when there is a camera man 3 feet in front of a guy the whole way to the ring.
During commercial breaks, NOTHING happens in the arena. If a match is going on, they just dick around for a couple of minutes to fill time. Usually some brawling on the floor that goes no where or a chin lock. If there isn't a match going on, the arena goes dark and you get to watch ads for the Network/video game/latest WWE Studios movie/K-Mart/toys. Over and over. The same 5 all night long. Sometimes twice in a row. WHen you have breaks that start in the middle of an entrance and they come back with the music playing and guy in the ring, what happens in the arena is the music cuts out and the ads play while the dudes just stand around awkwardly in the dark. Then the music comes back on when they come back from break. When they do the announcers talking spots, the live crowd gets nothing. The audio isn't played over the PA and the screens don't even focus on the announcers. It's just dead time. By the top of the 10PM hour, you've had 20-25 minutes of dead time in the arena, usually watching those same 5 ads over and over. If you showed up at 7:30, you had 2 short Superstars matches and an additional 7-10 minutes of dead time.
Top of the 10PM hour usually has a long segment or match, and then a long break. By the time the main event starts, you've been there 3 hours, with close to 40 minutes of dead time. Then the show ends and there is an additional 10-30 minutes of either a dark match or general fucking around. Also, all the replays shown on TV are shown in the arena as well. To the people who literally just saw it in front of their faces. All while sitting in uncomfortable seats, having a headache from the insanely loud pyro, a bad attitude due to the show being awful for all but 15-20 minutes, and people getting tired because it is getting late. A large chunk of the audience leaves around 10:30 because people have to work or get their kids to school in the morning. By the time the main event comes, it doesn't matter who is in it, the fans are going to be dead. You aren't keeping a crowd hot for 3-3 1/2 hours with the garbage Raw has been putting out this year. It makes no sense to me to have a PG show with the alleged main demographic being kids under 15 going on until at least 11 on TV and closer to 12 in the arena. On a school night.
Any and all surprises are ruined as the "TV show" aspect is much more apparent when you see stage hands scurrying around setting up props/speakers for promo segments, and when you see camera men scurrying up the ramp 10 seconds before a run in. Entrances that look cool on TV don't look as cool when there is a camera man 3 feet in front of a guy the whole way to the ring.
During commercial breaks, NOTHING happens in the arena. If a match is going on, they just dick around for a couple of minutes to fill time. Usually some brawling on the floor that goes no where or a chin lock. If there isn't a match going on, the arena goes dark and you get to watch ads for the Network/video game/latest WWE Studios movie/K-Mart/toys. Over and over. The same 5 all night long. Sometimes twice in a row. WHen you have breaks that start in the middle of an entrance and they come back with the music playing and guy in the ring, what happens in the arena is the music cuts out and the ads play while the dudes just stand around awkwardly in the dark. Then the music comes back on when they come back from break. When they do the announcers talking spots, the live crowd gets nothing. The audio isn't played over the PA and the screens don't even focus on the announcers. It's just dead time. By the top of the 10PM hour, you've had 20-25 minutes of dead time in the arena, usually watching those same 5 ads over and over. If you showed up at 7:30, you had 2 short Superstars matches and an additional 7-10 minutes of dead time.
Top of the 10PM hour usually has a long segment or match, and then a long break. By the time the main event starts, you've been there 3 hours, with close to 40 minutes of dead time. Then the show ends and there is an additional 10-30 minutes of either a dark match or general fucking around. Also, all the replays shown on TV are shown in the arena as well. To the people who literally just saw it in front of their faces. All while sitting in uncomfortable seats, having a headache from the insanely loud pyro, a bad attitude due to the show being awful for all but 15-20 minutes, and people getting tired because it is getting late. A large chunk of the audience leaves around 10:30 because people have to work or get their kids to school in the morning. By the time the main event comes, it doesn't matter who is in it, the fans are going to be dead. You aren't keeping a crowd hot for 3-3 1/2 hours with the garbage Raw has been putting out this year. It makes no sense to me to have a PG show with the alleged main demographic being kids under 15 going on until at least 11 on TV and closer to 12 in the arena. On a school night.
DUFFMCWALIN
Member
Just watched this. First time watching nxt all the way through and not for five minutes. Unfucking believable. So damn good.
This is what has always fucked with me the most. The peak of my wrasslin fandom was 2000-2003, and during that time I was 8-10 years old. My parents only let me watch half of Raw and forced me to go to bed at 10PM during this time. Now I was probably in the minority at that time, since the product was aimed at an older audience anyways, but now that Raw is written squarely for little jimmy decked in green john cener fan, it blows my mind that the show airs from 8-11PM + overrun + WATCH THE NETWORK AFTER THE SHOW ENDS KIDS on a fucking Monday night. I'm pretty sure ratings drop pretty significantly hour to hour as the show goes on, too.
Ranger Taffles
Member
This what PPVs are supposed to bring about. It's like I can't miss NXT shows anymore because of how good they're doing consistently. The feuds seem like they have depth and every match they put up delivers. I'm really excited to see what the NXT talent brings to the WWE in the future, but NXT is the place to be for wrestling and it has been spectacular so far.
Bull was in the pre-show dark match against Steve Cutler (I think that was his name). The crowd just shat on him the whole match. They started with the count, started booing after 40,then just did nonstop "Let's go jobber" and "Corbin's better" chants until Bull won.
- Status