NXT

[205 Clive]

Another strong offering from NXT TV last night. Points to take it from it for me are:

- Dream and Ricochet is already looking like a money feud

- Although it was awkwardly executed, I'm over the moon to see Nikki Cross make her intentions known as far as Baszler is concerned

- Unfortunately, with Lars Sullivan being Black's next challenger, the NXT Men's title picture is low down the totem pole of what's hot in NXT right now. That's a real shame. I'm sure Lars will be a success, but this feud doesn't feel right for me.

[mizfan]

I think Bo could have gotten over more than he did on the main roster, but there was no real effort behind his gimmick. They just replanted it wholesale without doing any of the legwork they did in NXT that made it work. Ah well.

Is it bad that I hope Lars annihilates Black and wins the title?

[comfortablynumb]

That's a common theme for most NXT stars and sometimes I think the main roster should repeat NXT storylines. All of the legwork on character is done in NXT, not the main roster.

If Bayley and Sasha repeated their NXT program (featuring a MOTY candidate) on the main roster, their characters would be so much different right now and Bayley would probably be that female John Cena.

[Macho Mourn]

I think Bo could have gotten over more than he did on the main roster, but there was no real effort behind his gimmick. They just replanted it wholesale without doing any of the legwork they did in NXT that made it work. Ah well.

Is it bad that I hope Lars annihilates Black and wins the title?

Only if it leads to a promotion for Black.

[mizfan]

If you say so! I'm not really a fan of the guy but I know many are.

That's a common theme for most NXT stars and sometimes I think the main roster should repeat NXT storylines. All of the legwork on character is done in NXT, not the main roster.

If Bayley and Sasha repeated their NXT program (featuring a MOTY candidate) on the main roster, their characters would be so much different right now and Bayley would probably be that female John Cena.

Strongly agree with this, losing out on what makes the character special is one thing that makes me worry about each and every call up.

[205 Clive]

The wider WWE Universe losing out on a female John Cena is a big loss in my book. There are few (if any) other storylines in NXT's history where I was deeply emotionally invested in a storyline to the point where I was genuinely kayfabe ecstatic that Bayley won their Brooklyn match.

Mizfan, why are you not a fan of Black? I'm not getting on at you, just curious.

With Lars, I guess his title shot is okay because the rest of the big guns are busy with other programs. But this title match is probably the one I'm looking forward to the least on the card so far.

I get Lars' gimmick is not bad, and it will probably appeal to Vince on the main roster, but I'm afraid he and Black will fail to mesh well on quite a big scale.

[mizfan]

He's just never clicked with me. I saw him plenty back when he was Tommy End and he always had this satanist (or whatever) thing in the background, but he never seemed to make any effort to do any character work. That's changed a bit with NXT but still I just feel like he doesn't have much personality to speak of. Putting that aside, all he really has is kicks. Tons and tons of kicks. I'm a kick guy, honestly, so on paper that should work for me, but something about his execution is off to me. I don't know if it's something about the kicks themselves, or just that sometimes he throws so many they seem to lose any real meaning, but they just never stood out to me. I get why some like him (to a point), but he's just not my cup of tea, so far anyway. I also think his thigh tattoo looks stupid.

A guy like Lars is more up my alley, because (at least from what I've seen) he really knows how to give off a monstrous aura and work that character into his matches. I actually think on paper there's a great opportunity to tell a world class story with this match up. Lars should be able to eat a LOT of kicks and keep coming, so to see Black pushed up against the wall, not exactly panicked but desperate to either chop through the monster's massive health bar or find a different tactic to win could be a fantastic bit of psychology if they pull it off right.

[205 Clive]

I actually had the same reservations about Black upon his NXT debut. All those kicks on a wiry frame seemed a touch one dimensional. But I'm very much on board with him now, for two reasons.

1) I think the Velveteen Dream program really helped Black come out his shell. The impact of that storyline and benefit to character was reciprocal in my opinion.

2) I think it was Takeover Brooklyn 3(?). Black had a love band play his entrance and he walked through the band. His music is chaos. The band headbanging was chaos. But Black seemed unphased by it all and showed no reaction. He seems at home in such a world and it was such a striking visual that it blew me away.

As for Lars, I see where you're coming from for sure. He does have those traits you mention and I believe Vince will lap it up. Maybe that will be the story for the match, where Black tries to deplete Lars' health bar but it's taking a long time. However even with this fresh approach to the story lg the match, it's still low down my list of excitement in this card.

[mizfan]

I will say, the best thing Black's been involved with (to me) is when Oliver shipped him together with Dream for DOA.

Haha, I can get behind the idea that WWE has found a way to turn his lack of personality into some kind of cool iceman, like Dean Malenko but evil(ish).

[205 Clive]

So. Did anyone see that video package for Dream vs Ricochet? My my my, what a showcase this match has become. Easily surpasses Gargano Ciampa in terms of personal anticipation.

[comfortablynumb]

That opening tag match was decent but needed more time. Just as it was starting to heat up, it ended.

Dream with the Hogan-themed gear. He’s got character work down. Dream’s gear is kind of a nod to Prince Puna too I just noticed.

[XanMan]

Best tag match I've seen live and a great second match, too!

[comfortablynumb]

The handcuffed guy doesn’t win very often. Will they go Hell in a Cell for Summerslam weekend?

[XanMan]

I want 3 Stages of Hell.

[LK3185]

I really liked Ciampa/Gargano but hated how the referee just happened to disappear towards the end especially after Ciampa was taken off the stretcher. it took me out of the whole thing quite a bit.