NXT

[Team Farrell]

For an example of how size can matter, go back to Smackdown when the Saudi's kidnapped the roster.

Ciampa and Miz did a promo and match and Ciampa, arguably the guy with the most impressive physique in NXT, just sort of looked average standing there. He certainly looked like he was in better shape, and he always looks like a tough dude, but physically he didn't look imposing compared to Miz. I wonder what that match at Takeover with Kross is going to look like.

On that same show, Adam Cole wrestled Daniel Bryan. People, myself included, have questioned for years whether Bryan was big enough to be the top guy, and Adam Cole looked downright tiny in comparison to Bryan.

It's not a wonder guys like Ciampa and Gargano have said that they'd be okay staying in NXT. They can be top guys there. Can you imagine Gargano facing off with the current incarnation of Drew McIntyre? Or Ciampa and Braun Strowman?

[comfortablynumb]

The NXT Fight Pit was a good concept and the Riddle-Thatcher match was perfect for it. Violent match.

The Drake storyline is excellent. Hopefully he’s got a job no matter what happens at this point.

[PEN15v2]

numb, if you can find the GCW bloodsport events (there were 2 I believe), you'll enjoy them a lot. Matt Riddle actually organized the first one I believe, and the NXT match really felt like this WWE version of those events.

And agreed, awesome idea. Nothing that should be overdone, and I hope it don't become a gimmick PPV. But break that structure out once in a while for a true brawl, and go nuts.

[Team Farrell]

Thatcher was always a standout at Bloodsport. I wonder if this could be his "signature match", and break it out from time to time.

You definitely need two guys who could legitimately shoot in order for it to look good, though.

[PEN15v2]

Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, Kross, Ciampa, Dunne, Burch, Lorcan... all of them would be great in that setting.

[Powder]

The main page as well as other news/rumor sites are all speculating that Adam Cole might jump to AEW once his contact expires in August to be with his girlfriend, Britt Baker and his friends the Elite. Cole is probably fueling the fire to help him get a more lucrative contract and good for him if he does.

But question. I know that Adam Cole has been Adam Cole for his entire career, but does any one know if the WWE trademarked the name ‘Adam Cole’ and the ‘Baybay’ catchphrase?

[Prime Time]

I don't know about 'Baybay', but WWE filed to trademark the name 'Adam Cole' in September 2018.

[Powder]

I can’t believe that Cole would allow the WWE to trademark his name. But if they did they did.

[Prime Time]

Trademarks aren't some secretive thing, they are a matter of public record. Stick it into google you can see it clear as day.

[PEN15v2]

Adam Cole would like do better in AEW than NXT. I personally don't get the value of him, and feel he's a one trick pony. And I guess this is a slight on AEW, but I feel his act belongs better there. In NXT/WWE, he'll eventually have to do more than be a (small) chickenshit heel, and I really don't think he'll be able to do much. His single match style will eventually be exposed. In AEW, that's what I find 75% of the wrestling content to be, so if those fans like it, they can have it.

[The Cook]

I imagine Adam Cole 'let' WWE trademark his name because they were the only game in town at the time, and didn't envision another major American company to pop up almost out of nowhere. There'll be a slew of talents who signed in '15-'17 whose contracts will be coming up in the near future and it'll be very interesting to see how many jump ship to AEW.

[Powder]

Since all the Superstar cuts, rumors are swirling that Vince wants to fill out the RAW and SD rosters with NXT talent and due to some recent moves (Riddle, Djakovic, Green) may not be rumors at all. So the latest rumor is that Velveteen Dream is losing tonight so that he can get called up to the main roster.

God I hope no on all accounts. First he is not ready for the main roster, as I feel he needs much more seasoning. Win or lose tonight, he should feud with guys like Balor, Lee, Walter (if possible), Priest, Grimes to further develop his character AND to prove that he can work with guys of all sizes.

Secondly, I just do not see the very 1990s gimmick of the Velveteen Dream working on the main roster. He would have been a perfect foil for Goldust back in the day, but realistically, can you ever see him challenging a guy like Drew, Lesnar, Lashley, Reigns, or the Fiend? No, me either.

I think that Dream needs at least another year in NXT to evolve and become less gimmicky and more wrestler-y. Look to how every other NXT true gimmick has fared on the main roster. No Way Jose, Adam Rose, Ascension, The Vaudevillians, Tyler Breeze, Mojo Rawley all failed to make a dent in the main roster. Yes that could be due to Vince being Vince, but i think it has to do with the gimmick being way to gimmicky. Look to every NXT person who has succeeded on RAW or SD, they all are some version of a real person, without an over the top gimmick. Nikki Cross was even tamed from a wild member of Sanity to make her work. Let's look at the successes: The Four Horsewomen, Rusev, Wyatt Family (exception to the gimmick), Drew, The Shield, Andrade, Zelina and Garza, Black (he lives his gimmick like Punk did, and is an extension of him turned up to 11), Street Profits, Murphy, Balor, Joe, Asuka, Shayna, Corbin, Shinsuke, KO and Sami Zayn.

To be fair, the Viking Raiders are a gimmick, but they also have been that gimmick for years prior to WWE, and they both live a Viking Lifestye,

[PEN15v2]

You make valid points, but there are two major glaring differences between all the failed NXT examples and Dream.

First is that Patrick Clark is a 100% WWE product. Much like Braun Strowman before Dream, WWE will put more care and attention into him due to him being a true homegrown product.
Second, none of those failed examples were NXT main event guys. They were all jobbers or midcarders, and therefore were positioned in similar positions once on Raw or SD. This isn't to say WWE didn't fail them, but it also wasn't a major drop down from their NXT roles, and it was against much more credible competition.

This isn't to say Dream will succeed on Raw or SD, but merely that I believe his chances will fair much better than the other examples you gave.



InYourHouse thoughts.
I loved the presentation, from the beginning of the show with a different WWE "then now forever" segment with it replaced with the NXT logo doing the 1995 WWF New Generation intro. Then the fonts for the show starting video was all classic WWF 1995 stuff (though I feel like I saw some of this during the late 1996 run when Stone Cold was getting pushed into the main vs Bret, Sid, Shawn...etc.)

Opening match was fine. It's the style I'm caring less and less for, but it's always smart to open a show with a fast paced opener. Some good moments, and I'm liking the womens division getting exposure. That said, I still don't see the big deal of Tegan Nox. I like Shotzi a lot, but I think it's just that she does a lot to stand out. As a performer, she as average as them all, but at least her presentation is unique enough to make me care. I'm liking all the heels though, which is a standard reaction as heels always get more character development, and steal the show more often than not. Dakota is a great smaller heel with the bodyguard gimmick, and Candice is very good in this role as well.
Raquel will be the major star from this group though. She's not ready yet, as she still needs to learn how to use her size as a base for the smaller wrestlers. But she's getting a lot of things right, and is being well protected.

Balor vs Priest was fine. It started out pretty good, but eventually they went too choreographed for my liking, and I stopped caring. Plus that spot onto the steps was too much. I hope Priest is ok.

I liked the North American title match. It was standard, but Gargano is a great heel. I wish he had more of an imposing nature to go with it, but his heel work is tremendous. Some silly spots (mostly the Johnny attempting to escape into the house part), but Lee continues to move up and doing so in style.

I was surprised they aired the NXT title match next, especially as I looked out my Eastern Time Zone window and saw how sunny it still was. The other aspect was that with how much they hyped the length of Cole's reign, I knew once this was in the middle of the show that we wouldn't see a title change. It was a decent cinematic match, but the most interesting aspect is whatever is going on with Dexter Lumis. He's got such a natural heel gimmick, but is playing face in this story. I definitely want to find out what's next for Dream and Lumis (and really don't care about the UE at all).

I enjoyed Kross vs Ciampa, but I was shocked to essentially see Ciampa squashed. I'm not saying it's bad, but I hope there's a plan in place for both men going forward. That neck bump at the beginning of the match on the apron was the worst of the night. I'm not against bumps, but when they are so dangerous that I'm wondering if the performer is actually injured, it takes me out of the match.
A win like that would be a main event push, but I think it's more likely Kross is moving onto Keith Lee, and I have no issues with that whatsoever.

I really dug the main event. Powder and I were texting all night, and both he and I love the prospects of Rhea Ripley. That said, we both had different ideas about how this should play out. I didn't reply much during this match, but he wanted Rhea to win her title back and be the NXT champ. Understandable, but beating Charlotte and/or winning the title is really all she has as this point, so I don't see a need for either to happen, so while I didn't predict Io to win, that's what I was hoping for. Now that she did win, Charlotte can concentrate on Raw, while Rhea can chase Io. Likely Rhea will gain the title back at some point, but she can still confront Charlotte on Raw at any time for a huge rematch. Powder suggested Rhea win the Rumble to come full circle, which I definitely like the idea of, but that only works IF Rhea's NXT run has truly run dry.


I really enjoyed this Takeover because it didn't fit the format or formula I have grown accustomed to with Adam Cole/Gargano/Ciampa/tag matches. Finishers weren't spammed, psychology was in use, and I like to think HHH has been watching AEW and thought "we need to curb these aspects" that were found on every AEW show and in most recent Takeovers.

But maybe I'm just too hopeful.

[Powder]

The loss for Ripley gives us a a few possibilities.

1. Charlotte goes back to RAW full time and feuds with Asuka after she retains over Jax.
2. As I said to Pen, Ripley and Charlotte should have a full circle feud, where Ripley is the one to win the Rumble next year, and Challenge Charlotte for her RWT at next year's Mania, hopefully with fans.

And I think that Kross is being wasted in NXT. Out of everyone on the roster, he is ready for the main roster. I could see him walking into RAW and challenging Drew and not look out of place. Dream would be lost on the main roster, but not Kross.

[Team Farrell]

I hate pro wrestling slightly less.

I thought last night's show was so great. Maybe I'm grading on a curve these days?

It was just so nice to see an entire night of professional wrestling treated like professional wrestling with no unnecessarily goofy comedy, or intense angles suddenly being played for laughs. The cinematic match was my favourite I've seen them do yet because they played it straight. They treated it like a professional wrestling gimmick match taking place in a different location. They had the one little comedy spot with the Uber being called that I got a bit of a chuckle out of, but it didn't become a focal point whatsoever. It was just a moment of levity in an otherwise completely straight match.

I do wish they'd played a little more into Dream's desperation to win since that was his last shot, but that's a nitpick. And they used the cinematic style, but didn't do anything that they wouldn't have been able to pull off in front of a live crowd! The windshield spot was great, and something done in camera without the need to have a bunch of cuts. They could have done that in a live arena.

The main event was an excellent match and it just blows my mind to see the opener, and then see how much better the three women in the main event are. It's night and day. It's like there are two completely different women's divisions. Everything those three in a main do looks crisper and stiffer and like they mean it. A lot of times it seems like the girls in the opener are taking bumps to take bumps and flailing around a lot.

I didn't see a lot in Io before her heel turn last year, but I completely get it now. I would have placed her in the "other" women's division before last night. I think that working with talent the calibre of Rhea and Charlotte has done a lot to make her step up, and now I would put her on that level. Charlotte is still just on another level above all the other girls in the industry, but Rhea, Io and the top level girls on Raw and SmackDown are getting closer.