NXT

[Team Farrell]

My mistake.

A few things that gnawed on me a little bit on NXT when I watched it last night.

First, the matches are waaaaay too long. Devlin vs Breeze didn't need to go a fraction of the time it went and I was nodding off during it. Not that it was a bad match, it just meant nothing but because they had two strong workers they felt the need to have them out there forever in a cold match that meant nothing.

Devlin could have gone over in a quarter of the time and it wouldn't have killed Breeze, but instead they wrestled a match where they countered each other's shit (something I'd rather see in a second or third meeting) and busted out everything. Plus, Devlin's finish looks a lot less impressive and impactful than half of the stuff Breeze kicked out of earlier in the match.

Swerve vs Garza was a similar situation. There were some suuuuuper sloppy exchanges early on (namely a weird capoeira kick thing to nowhere near Garza) and one point in about the middle of the match where it looked like Garza was wrestling himself, Swerve was just along for the ride. I couldn't stand the spot where Garza begged off on his knees and put himself perfectly into position for Swerve's big flying kick thing.

A tiny little thing that just kind of made me raise an eyebrow: I understand that Matt Riddle's a bro (no pun intended), but O'Reilly shouldn't be on his level in terms of the MMA side of things. Mauro was marking out for the two of them as some big MMA confrontation, but legitimate UFC fighter MMA winning record Riddle vs rec league BJJ O'Reilly probably isn't a fair fight.

One final note, I am sick with a cold so maybe it's making me cranky, but Mauro needs to shut his fucking trap. He crams so many words into so few seconds, that it gave me a headache. I invite you to go back and listen to his open of last week's show as an example.

Corey was right. The guy needs to shut up. At one point, Beth is making a point and he straight up cuts her off to pop over a move that was barely a transition spot.

EDIT: Oh yeah, the German Suplex is the Canadian Destroyer of NXT.

[comfortablynumb]

I agree on Riddle. Although it’s hard to hype Riddle’s UFC success because many of his wins got overturned for pot use. I’d have no problem if WWE still treated them as wins though and say he left UFC on a five fight win streak.

And I wouldn’t mind Mauro cutting off Beth more. She adds nothing. Get back in the ring.

[Oliver]

I see The Rock's daughter has joined the PC.

I like Mauro, but there's this weird thong he does when someone's talking about something and he'll suddenly cut across them to call a move or pinfall. It grinds against me a bit. But largely I don't dislike him as much as others seem to

[PEN15v2]

I really like NXT, and this week's show showed some "innovation" (at least for the USA version of the show)...

But I'm kind of bored of it. I'll be honest, match quality really is the least interesting part of a wrestling show for me. I know, it's blasphemous. But in my opinion, whether it's Raw, Dynamite, NXT, Fusion, ROH, or Impact (I can't include SD right now), I can find matches I enjoy. It really isn't hard to find good wrestling matches.

So what becomes interesting to me is how they get to the matches. And while I appreciated seeing another Dream promo that stands out from the rest of NXT, and the somewhat funny clips of the BroSerWeights trying to get to Portland, and the Ciampa promo in the auditorium, and Mark Henry hyping Lee vs Dijak, and the Robert Stone Brand promo in the boardroom... every feud really seems to be about simple athlete vs athlete competitiveness. Obviously, this needs to be the focal point of every wrestling show. But when it's the same idea over and over, it wears itself thin. Bronson was looking to fight Strong because of a backstage confrontation last week. Kushida got his match with Cole because... of a backstage confrontation last week. Dakota vs Candice took place because of a confrontation between them (I can't remember if it was backstage or last week, but it still fits the pattern).

Right now, Raw is a more enjoyable show for me than NXT. Or maybe I look forward to Raw more, because it shows more variety overall. And that seems very very strange.

[Powder]

I tend to agree with Pen's statement. The matches are good, and entertaining, but outside of Cole/Ciampa, Dream/Strong, Gargano/Balor and Kai/Nox, why is everyone else feuding? There is no real story there.

This Sunday with Ripley and Belair, feels like a formality because we all know the Story is Charlotte vs Ripley at Mania, unless they are going with a Triple Threat, as there is history between Belair and Charlotte. The Rumble elimination, and if Charlotte costs Belair the match on Sunday.

But why are Lee and Djakovic fighting for the title? Lee just came out last week and offered him a NA title shot. Henry's video segment was great, but it seemed to be just...hey these guys has a great series of matches, so let's give them one more. Why couldn't NXT have Dijakovic cut a promo to why he should get a title shot?

NXT has great wrestlers and they clearly have the Sports side down, but now they need to develop the Entertainment side of the Sports Entertainment.

[comfortablynumb]

Dijakovic beat Dain in a No. 1 contenders match last week.

[Powder]

That was a #1 contender's match? I completely forgot. I guess that shows even more how there is no build to that match.

[Oliver]

Yeah, that was a #1 contenders match.

I don't disagree with the comments from Pen - I think this is what NXT has 'lost' in recent times. and why I'll often say the peak of NXT was when they had Sami pursuing and then winning the title because they actually told main event level stories. That run of events from Arrival to Unstoppable was great for the men's title, and then into Brooklyn and respect you had the run to finish off telling Bayley's story, which they had built with really soft hands throughout the couple of years before.

The Balor/Joe stuff you could argue was a strongish story, but I also think it was around this time that the men's main event side became really stagnant and reliant on number one contender matches or backstage attacks and so on. Even the good stuff - DIY vs Revival, Almas vs Gargano etc - has come from a place of athletic superiority rather than actual stories being told.

[PEN15v2]

Powder, you're way in the wrong here. The story isn't elaborate, but it's one of the rivalries that's been around the longest. Lee vs Dijakovic has been mostly a competition based feud, with them trading wins and looking even. Now that a title is on the line and Dijak earned a title shot, it's an easy match to book. Other than Ciampa vs Cole, it's the best story of the PPV.

But all the stories are the same.

[Powder]

I get that they have a long history, but is that enough justification for a title match? IMHO, no. When they feuded on the beginnings of NXT on USA, it was clear that Keith Lee was the breakout star of the pairing, and Dijakovic was going to be a good worker who just got passed over. I still see that happening, BTW. But with that said, I think what would have been better would have been:

Hold off on Velveteen Dream's return until Takeover,

Then give Roderick Strong a rematch for the NA Title against Lee, during the ending of the match, Velveteen Dream either makes his return and costs Strong the title, or makes his return after Strong loses to Lee.

During the weekly broadcasts NXT holds a #1 contender's tourney for the NA Title shot with the culmination match being at Takeover, where you get Dijakovic vs Dain on the PPV where Dijakovic wins and gets the title shot. Then that title match is set for the Takeover on April 4th. The match is then built around Lee and Dijakovic's long history. That would make people more invested, and long term planning. Not just Lee beat Strong, have a match the next week, and then fight for the title because you guys used to wrestle.

[PEN15v2]

You're again doing the "here's why it's wrong, and here's how my idea is better for me"

But no one cares about you except you. You're not considering the entire roster or the entire fanbase with your idea.

Dream returning on TV is more important right now. As much as HHH and WWE downplay their concerns about losing ratings to AEW, they will be making changes to Wednesday nights. And making more story beats happen on TV will be part of it. Dream returning was more important overall to happen on TV and not on PPV.

Also, I'm confident Dream and Strong will have some screen time on Sunday.
Plus, you don't know the plan for April 4th. Maybe they have an even bigger match in mind for Lee. You're taking a single decision, and ignoring the fact that there was 7 weeks between Takeovers, and deciding they've done it wrong.


There's no need for long term planning with Lee vs Dijak. It wrote itself, and the fans are interested. The idea that these stories are all the same does not mean none of them should be this way. Lee vs Dijak has a great existing story, and that is enough.

[comfortablynumb]

I see Mansoor will be on the Takeover preshow. I guess it’s time to defrost him for the next Saudi show.

[Oliver]

I just read that Queen Cathy is leaving WWE after Takeover Portland. It's funny, but I feel like she's become an essential part of the show for me just as a regular backstage interviewer, in much the way Renee was in the early stages. Hopefully she gets one last segment with Dream before she goes.

Is anybody else hoping that Finn just destroys Gargano this weekend? I don't really like Finn much, but feel like that's the best route for that match to take right now.

[PEN15v2]

Welp, another NXT event with an increasing amount of spots, insane kickouts that ruin "believability", and general wrestling silliness. IT wasn't bad in any way, but despite the online RAVE REVIEWS!!!!, I found myself getting bored as the show went on. Again, none of it was bad, but it felt like the same formula was used in most of the matches. The women were a little different, though still had their own kickouts and excessive setting up for spots. But I can't stress enough how little I care for Adam Cole. Whenever I'm not watching live, I skip his matches because they are the most formulaic of the bunch. And the Panama Sunrise is the silliest version of the already ridiculous Destroyer. Doing it on the floor, and it leading to a kickout when they get back in... I was done. Gargano's heel turn fell flat for me because I was disinterested in the match by the time he was ringside.

Takeover went from the best WWE had to offer, to "meh" in about a year. And it truly feels like Adam Cole is the center of that (though the entire roster seems to be wrestling the style Cole brought to NXT main events about a year ago).

[Oliver]

Cole...I've never liked Adam Cole. And he's never proved my dislike wrong.

Takeover has become this thing where nearly every match goes five minutes beyond what it needs to. Last night, I would say the Lee/Dijakovic, Gargon/Balor, and Cole/Ciampa all outstayed their welcome by that long - with those last two possible nearing ten minutes too long.

I think this is a shift from around about the time of the Gargano/Ciampa matches where they went out and started putting together 30+ minute matches. The difference is that they all worked together really well and told a thorough, detailed story in their execution. Gargano/Almas might be the true genesis of that theme. Before that match there had been only one match over 30 minutes in the history of Takeover, which was WarGames - and I'd argue you could make an exception around that. Sasha/Bayley obviously lasted exactly 30 minutes. Then there were only two matches in the 25-30 minute range, both Roode vs Nakamura matches.

Since the start of 2018? 10 over 30 minutes (2 WarGames, plus the ridiculous 50 minute Cole/Gargano), and 4 between 25 and 30.

The brevity of Takeover used to be the thing that really made it function for me, and I think they've started to take that away with these longer matches. Used to be in and done in a couple of hours - last night was up over three.

EDIT: One of things I thought really popped last night, along a similar theme to the above, were the two women's matches. Both around the 14 minute mark, and both got their shit in and then left. Nox/Kai was excellent, I thought, and really hit the storyline beats that it needed to. Rhea/Bianca worked well in terms of character, Rhea getting to look like an absolute beast when on the attack and Belair getting to show off that she has great power and athleticism.

I kind of hope that the Charlotte/Belair interactions lead somewhere - even if it's an NXT TV blow off bout. It probably has an obvious outcome, but I think that would be a good mini-feud to tell between now and Mania.

Do we assume that there's isn't going to be a women's title match on the Takeover: Tampa Bay card if Ripley is defending on the Mania card? More than anything to avoid them having the difficulty of building to a match that will have an obvious winner at Takeover - going into Portland I felt like they did enough to build a little bit of heat between Belair and Flair to make it possible that they'd switch the title. I can't see that happening in the run up to Mania.