NXT

[SirSam]

Thought it was time everyone's favourite indy fed got a place for some discussion.

Just saw the main event 6 man tag match between The Undisputed Era & Oney Lorcan, Danny Birch and Pete Dunne. Such a gritty awesome match, had a very raw and realistic feel to it. I think the biggest spot was Oney kind of flipping himself over the ropes onto Strong and Cole but there were still lots of moments where there were a lot of bodies in motion without it feeling set up. Really cool match.

Right now I really like the NXT roster too, it feels a bit more like an actual developmental territory that has had to make the most out of what they have after the bigger shows have cherry picked the cream of the talent.

[mizfan]

I admit I only really watch the Takeovers most of the time, but it's good to hear they're doing well. The six guys you mentioned are all well established indy talent with many years under their belts so I'm still not sure they are particularly developmental, but they do have a few homegrown success stories, with Velveteen Dream being the most obvious right now.

[comfortablynumb]

I was thinking about current homegrown talent on NXT last night. Other than Dream, who did have a tiny amount of experience, Lars Sullivan is the only one I can think of currently in a top position. A few tag teams are homegrown guys but they aren't very successful (Heavy Machinery, the now broken-up Sabatelli and Moss, Street Profits).

[mizfan]

I think Bianca Belair will also be on that list, if she's not already, but yeah it's pretty sparse. Almost entirely already-developed guys cherry picked from other promotions. Doesn't make it less fun, just not very developmental.

[comfortablynumb]

I had no idea she was homegrown. She has a lot of potential. For some reason I just figured the hair thing was something she did on the indies that made her a name.

[mizfan]

I was surprised too but she's never had a match outside the WWE. She seems like a hell of a natural talent, to be this good with less than 100 total matches under your belt is very impressive.

[LK3185]

I think what WWE performance center shows is that if you have the natural ability, it will come out quickly but if you're just a guy who doesn't have that personality or drive, its not gonna just show up and the more you're in that system, the less you'll experience new ways of doing things.

Like I think Juice Robinson is really good now but as CJ Parker he had peaked as a character.. he wasn't that good and knew if he stayed there, it would have only gotten worse.

Don't think EC3 would become the performer he is without going elsewhere.

Wish more talents realized that before they became damaged goods

[mizfan]

For sure, but I'm sure it's also tough as hell to walk away from that guaranteed WWE paycheck with no guarantee you'll get to come back or succeed elsewhere. Much respect to those who take the risk.

[LK3185]

More people have to bet on themselves cause really once WWE defines a role for you, its hard to overcome. If that's the role you want, great.. but if not..

[SirSam]

Yeah, the fact so many big indy names have gone to the wwe shows the upside of working for the biggest wrestling organisations in the world.

To my original point about them feeling like they are made up of people left after the bigger shows cherry picked the talent. To me even though guys like Birch, Lorcon, the Undisputed Era, Gargano, Ciampa and even Black can get it done and had big names outside the wwe, I don't feel like they have the natural presence of a Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Finn Balor or Bobby Roode (to name a few recent guys). There is something rougher and b-grade about it all that I like.

[205 Clive]

Ok guys. Hot topic time.

Kona Reeves. Discuss!

[mizfan]

I haven't seen him wrestle but I've seen the gimmick. Haven't heard very good things but obviously I'd like to see more for myself. What's your take on the guy, Clive?

[205 Clive]

Well, it's a double edged sword.

On one hand, his gimmick stinks to high heaven. He reminds me of a coked up low-level boss you defeat in GTA: Vice City. Or a loser in Scarface or something. His wrestling is nothing to write home about. At all, really.

On the other hand, there has been a notable in provoke men in his 2 TV appearances so far; something I hope genuine haters take into account. And as jarring as his gimmick is, he his the vitriol and bile of the ever reliable Full Sail University crowd united against him. Bad wrestler or not, that nuclear heat can work wonders for characters (look at how successful and frequently utilised Elias had become on main roster).

So if Reeves owns the gimmick (like he showed signs of second time around), then his wrestling prowess won't matter if he becomes a genuine mid-card heat magnet.

[mizfan]

Interesting... I remember Bo Dallas was an amazing heat magnet too, so I wonder if it will translate when he gets called up (assuming he does with the gimmick).

[205 Clive]

Yes Dallas had some crazy heat. Sadly it didn't work out so well for him on the main roster. There is a different mindset between the Full Sail crowd and the more mainstream crowd.