NXT

[Powder]

It appears that the Fight Pit was too much of a logistical nightmare to do with the other matches scheduled, so they gave Thatcher a storyline injury to postpone the match. The match will happen, but in the upcoming weeks. No date set.

[Powder]

Thoughts on NXT

• The live audience in NXT start chanting 'Too Sweet Whoop Whoop' to Finn. Bad form since AEW is doing a Bullet Club reunion
• I do not get Shotzi Blackheart at all, and her howling is always a WTF is she doing? Everyone who is near her in an interview (like Ember last night) give her a WTF look when she howls
• Austin Theory went from the Blue Chip prospect who was on RAW and WM to a goof and Gargano's dumb lackey
• Gargano is way too far over the top in his acting

EDIT: Cornette's latest, but about Candace and Gargano:

I can’t explain putting these f*cking two on the show constantly. Even if he’s a good… her aside? She’s just a run of the mill girl wrestler, who gives a sh*t — he technically is a good performer.”

“Sure if it wouldn’t be for his size, his lack of personality and his obnoxiously phoney interview style and everything else about him he’d be great. Give him a contract and make him a trainer, you know? He can do all the moves. Let him do motion capture for the video game

This is exactly how I feel about both of them.

• Thatcher vs Ciampa sit down was a good segment, but as Pen likes to call out Kenny Omega for 'acting like a professional wrestler' instead of being a professional wrestler. That is exactly how I felt about everything Thatcher said last night. He has the glare down, but his delivery is off, and when he spoke, I felt less scared of him, unlike Ciampa.
• Xia Li is awesome and HOT

The Xia Li faction (for lack of a better name) is a pseudo copy of the Wyatt Family

• The group is introduced and a series of well produced and informative vignettes building up the group
• The group has a unique and good entrance
• The leader of the group is mysterious who sits in a chair at the top of the ramp
• The leader sends out the minions to destroy the opponents
• The leader of the group has complete control over the underlings

[PEN15v2]

Thatcher seems very genuine to me. He's just not a good speaker. It's honestly opposite to Omega in that regard. Omega is a very good speaker, but more in a press conference style. I never watched the AEW official announcement where Jericho made his shocking first appearance to sign with them, but I suspect Omega was very good in that role. Or in any of the AEW games press roles.

Thatcher on the other hand feels uncomfortable speaking, but it's genuine. He's a genuinely tough guy (hoooooooooooooooo!).

[Powder]

Just throwing this out there, and I know I'm in the NXT thread, but Jordynne Grace's contract expires in May. I think that the WWE should throw money at her to get her to come to the WWE. She will be 25 when her contract expires and I believe that she could be one of the few people who could skip NXT all together and debut on RAW or SD, but probably RAW. But in all likelihood, she will debut in NXT and have a short run and then be called up.

Regardless. If Grace does sign with the WWE then look at the talent in the Women's division for the next few years:
Charlotte
Asuka
Sasha
Bayley
Nia
Shayna
Belair
Ripley
Raquel
Toni Storm
Io Shirai
Mia Yim (revert to old persona)
Sonya Deville
Mercedes Martinez
Xia Li
Ember Moon

Then Add Jordynne Grace to that list, and she immediately jumps about 8 names in the rankings, but my list is NOT ranked.

[PEN15v2]

There's no denying that WWE has the deepest women's roster. That said, AEW desperately needs to sign more women if they want to build their division, so I expect Khan to back the Brinks truck up to Grace. So we shall see.

[CoLD]

Pretty sure Taya is gonna sign with the WWE very soon also. Grace i see going to AEW as long as her Husband has such a big role in ROH.

[Oliver]

There was talk recently of Marty Scurll coming in to NXT as well, appreciate he's not going to do much in the women's division unless they're barely legal but would probably be as big a 'get' as NXT could make right now.

[PEN15v2]

I was discussing with Cult recently that with the way WWE has pushed forward with other SpeakingOut controversial talents like Velveteen Dream, Matt Riddle, and Jordan Devlin, I wouldn't be surprised if they hired Tessa Blanchard as a Rumble debut. Marty being hired to NXT follows the same line of thinking.

I'm not saying it's a good idea, but I don't hate it either.

[Oliver]

Oh, I 100% don't think WWE care, or if not exactly 'care' then think that as long as things haven't resulted in any charges or/and convictions they don't really matter. For all that Speaking Out as a movement was surely much needed in wrestling circles when you look at the events shared at the time, unless something is proven or followed up in courts I think WWE will view them as allegations and little more than an inconvenience.

Smaller companies seem to have taken definitive action, but for them if fans are turning on them they need to protect whatever small profit margin they might have I guess and cut their losses. But for WWE one guy having allegations against him isn't going to harm them financially. Same as Saudi stuff, for all that a few fans have taken a stand and boycott as a result, I suspect the impact on WWE is very limited financially and only really them getting some bubbles of negativity online once or twice a year.

[Powder]

The Women's Tag team brackets have been released:

LEFT SIDE
* The Way (Candice LeRae, Indi Hartwell) vs. Gigi Dolin and Cora Jade

* Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon vs. Marina Shafir and Zoey Stark

RIGHT SIDE
* Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm vs. Team Ninja (Kacy Catanzaro, Kayden Carter)

* Aliyah and Jessi Kamea vs. Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez

Can they be anymore obvious?

The Way Wins, Shotzi and Ember win, Mercedes and Storm win, and Dakota and Raquel win.

Then in the semis, I am predicting: Shotzi and Ember over the Way and Dakota and Raquel over Mercedes and Storm.

Finals: Shotzi and Ember win the tourney, as Raquel will be gunning for Io soon.

[Oliver]

Well, your bracket's already busted, Powder.

I love the Fight Pit. I love how different it feels, how lethal the cage itself is played up as being, and the type of matches it has led to so far.

[Powder]

Which is why I NEVER do the NCAA tourney....

Agreed on the Fight Pit, but the Riddle match was better.

But the main question I have is, why does NXT get WarGames and the Fight Pit and not the main roster?

[Oliver]

Complete guess work, but I wonder if it's to do with the atypical setup that both need in place and the will on the main roster shows to have as many fans as possible attending. My understanding is that NXT largely runs at a loss, especially when on the road - perhaps it's viewed that they can deal with the loss of ticket revenue on an NXT live show, but on the main roster ones they don't want to take that hit?

I should also say, I think NXT has something great in Kacy Catanzaro. I'm not sure there's another woman that could execute that finishing move, and there's a lot of little things I like when I see her wrestle. They could really build her into something very unique and different.

[meandi]

Which is why I NEVER do the NCAA tourney....

Agreed on the Fight Pit, but the Riddle match was better.

But the main question I have is, why does NXT get WarGames and the Fight Pit and not the main roster?

Main roster gets multiple Elimination Chamber and HIaC matches every year, on top of other gimmick matches.

[Powder]

Then I would change some things up. We do not always need annual HIAC, and EC matches. let them be special events, or as HIAC was initially brought in for...the blow off match in a blood feud.