NXT

[Team Farrell]

I completely get feeling that way, but I think it might be the new norm in NXT if they've gone back to being truly developmental. We'll see a lot of new people introduced and pushed because by the time they're "main event ready", they're likely to be called up.

Bron Breakker won't be there fire three years simmerisimmering.

[PEN15v2]

The roster will rotate faster now, but ti won't be the pace we've seen seeing since the launch of 2.0. Last night's episode was already a better balance. Not everything works (Andre Chase, Lash Legend, Carmelo Hayes...etc), but most of what we saw elaborated on existing characters (the dark grave digging promo and the hype vid for Solo Sikoa being the exceptions).

Ivy Nile - Megastar. They keep using "pitbull" to describe her, and it's perfect. As long as she can work in the ring and on the mic, she's got everything else ready to go.

Joe Gacy - Not sure what to think of this. I love the potential of it, but I don't trust WWE to handle it well enough for this to reach where it should. That's also not a slight on WWE exactly: the PC world we live in will make it extraordinarily tough for this gimmick to work without major pushback. It'll be interesting to see where it goes from here, with Harland being his associate.

Von Wagner - I get why he's being used, as his look is one of the better ones in NXT. But I don't see this working out. Maybe he's got untapped charisma as a heel, but he's as bland as can be as a face, no charisma, and isn't all that great in the ring to make up for those detriments. In terms of look and size, I would think WWE would be better off scouting Dax Draper in ROH.

Lash Legend - Just awful. The humor, the production value, the character... Unless she's secretly a tremendous worker, this won't work.

Xyon Quinn - I keep being reminded of what Aleister Black was doing in NXT. Nowhere near identical, but that same dark ass kicker attitude.

Duke Hudson - I'm not sure about the poker gimmick aspect, but he's got the attitude down. His run on Raw for a couple of months wasn't bad, so I think NXT should be used to help him get this character over, and then move him on. That being said, he reminds me sooo much of the man at the desk praising him every week, and Stu Bennett/Wade Barrett didn't succeed in the way many (including myself) predicted in 2010. If that's the case, maybe Hudson's ceiling is the same.


Guys like O'Reilly, Ciampa, Dunne, Kushida... I think if we were honest, we'd had said as amazing as they can be, would never be main roster main eventers. My guess is most will stay in NXT to help develop the guys who can make it to Mondays or Fridays, with a few exceptions. Ciampa and Dunne are incredible in every aspect, but don't look like they could hang with Roman, McIntyre, Lashley, Big E...etc. I'm not a big Adam Cole fan, but moving to AEW might be the better move for these types of guys as they'll get to work with guys on their level. Dunne will still be active in NXT, but likely realizes he's reached his ceiling on Tuesday nights and will be used to get others over. We need people like that, but when you're young and talented like Dunne is, I bet he'll wonder if he'd be better off as a free agent one day.

But, it's not always about what the talent wants. And I think this new NXT model is better to serve finding the next generation of stars. I'm not sure if it's better for the viewer though.

[Powder]

This video I just found by playing around on youtbue watching some sports videos, and it was about a college QB taking an intentional safety. this was a result of the long snapper not being able to do his job. Watch the video to find out who the ling snapper is.

[PEN15v2]

For those that don't give a shit about American BS football, could you just say what you're trying to say?

[Team Farrell]

I think he's trying to say thing Parker Bordeaux wasn't a particularly good football player.

Guys like O'Reilly, Ciampa, Dunne, etc. are in an interesting situation. They're likely making good money to be top-ish guys in the developmental brand with a rotating crew of other guys ultimately going over them before moving up to the main show.

I think O'Reilly could do okay as an IC/US Title level guy on the main roster. He's not a big dude, but he's got height and size on most of the other UE guys.

So the question will always be there: do those smaller but better in-ring workers take the money they're making now with the comfortable spot, or do they go to AEW where they might have a better chance to succeed?

Dunne's still young, so maybe. But O'Reilly is older than I am and Ciampa is older still. Plus, if I were O'Reilly watching how my friend Adam Cole has gone from tippy top guy in NXT to just another one of the boys on the card with The Elite in NXT.

I made the point outside of here before he signed that if I were Cole I'd have thought really hard about staying with WWE and trying to get a one year extension rather than debut at a time when two, potentially three with Wyatt, much much bigger names than me were coming in at the exact same time.

EDIT:



What in the hell have they done to Parker Bordeaux!? They had this handsome, jacked up young blonde dude that women would have loved and made him look like fucking Powder (the movie character, not the poster on this board). He looks 10 years older and that shirt makes him look 30 baaaad lbs heavier than he is.

How could they whiff this badly this quickly?

[Powder]

All I was saying is that I came across that video and it was Parker Bordeaux of all people that could not long snap, and I found it amusing, and a coincidence. And it also explains why he left to go to the WWE so quickly.

[Oliver]

Yeah, I'm not sure about the Boudreaux hair cut, at the very least. Clothing etc, it sucks but they can change that up. But the hair cut is a weird choice - my guess is they wanted to move away from the Lesnar-esque look, which is a good idea given that comparison would be a massive burden on any other wrestler, let alone a complete rookie who's not (as far as I'm aware?) got the NCAA background like Lesnar had. While they only really need him to turn up and throw guys around, given his size against anybody else in NXT, getting away from that look makes sense - but making such a drastic change doesn't help. He looks like Lars Sullivan.

I don't think I realised that Gigi Dolin was Priscilla Kelly.

[Powder]

WWE officials are reportedly looking at getting more younger talents ready for the main roster.

A new report from Wrestling Observer Radio noted that WWE officials are very much aware of the idea that they have a lot of 40 year old Superstars on the main roster.

This is said to be the reason for the recent WWE NXT 2.0 brand changes as the company absolutely realizes they have to get wrestlers in their 20s ready for the main roster.

While there might be a feeling among some fans that WWE is in denial over the shape of the main roster, especially when it comes to the age of current talents and the lack of younger stars for the future, that is reportedly not the case as officials are “more than aware” of the problem, and are making changes to fix it.

WWE currently has 22 main roster Superstars who are 40 or older – Asuka (40), Cesaro (40), Finn Balor (40), Kofi Kingston (40), RAW Tag Team Champion Randy Orton (41), WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (41), Shayna Baszler (41), The Miz (41), Dolph Ziggler (41), John Morrison (42), Sheamus (43), Tamina Snuka (43), AJ Styles (44), Jeff Hardy (44), Titus O’Neil (44), Bobby Lashley (45), Robert Roode (45), Rey Mysterio (46), Shelton Benjamin (46), MVP (47), WWE Hall of Famer Edge (47), R-Truth (49). Furthermore, part-timers like Brock Lesnar (44), John Cena (44) and WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg (54) are also used. There are also dozens of Superstars in their mid-30s and who are pushing 40, such as Natalya (39) and WWE United States Champion Damian Priest (39).

With this report out there saying that the WWE is looking to go younger, and with the changes to NXT, obviously going younger, I have to say that of all the current NXT stars, there are 2 that I would bring up sooner than later.

Ivy Nile and Bron Breakker.

As Pen said, Ivy is a star. She has the look, the attitude and while, she only has a very limited amount of matches, she could be the next Women's star. BUT, and a huge BUT, her height might limit her. Nile is only 5'2", which is the basically the same height as Alexa Bliss. When Alexa faced off with Charlotte at Extreme Rules, and the build up to the match. Alexa looked like a little kid as compared to Charlotte. Nile has muscle mass and is considerable more intimidating than Alexa, but still, Charlotte is 8 inches taller and when she wears her heels, about a foot taller, so the optics are not good.

But, Nile vs Becky, Sasha, and Bayley could be a lot of fun.


Also Bron Breakker will be a big star. He has the pedigree with his family, but my personal concern is his name. While Bron is short for his given name, Bronson, the last name of Breakker is terrible. Could anyone really see the WWE having a guy named Bron Breakker, which is NOT a gimmick like the Fiend, being the WWE champion? I get why to an extent, but I also do not understand why they just do not call him Bron (or Bronson) Steiner. The WWE usually plays up the lineage and ties to their past.

The Rock, Roman, the Usos and the entire Anoa'i family, the Orton family, the Rhodes family, the DiBiasi family., the Mysterios, Charlotte, the Hart family, the Guerrero family, the Hennig family, etc.

So why not play up Bron's family with Rick, and subsequently Scott.

[PEN15v2]

In WWE, the Steiner lineage isn't as impressive as the others. Most of the comparisons have multiple generations, with multiple in each generation. Bron is only the second generation, totaling 3 people in the entire wrestling lineage. Steiners were not major WWE successes, and have had major beef with Scott since his failed run. That leaves Bron being the son of career midcard Rick.

Basically, they aren't comparable.

On top of that, there's always a way to change their mind. 4 years from now, they can admit he's Rick's son to start a new angle or push if needed. If they go with that right away, they can't ever attempt him to be someone else. So, try the non lineage version, and add lineage whenever you need to change directions and it seems fit. It's the better option creatively as it doesn't limit you from day one.

Think of it like Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt.

That being said, if the decision is to ignore his family history now, they really should do more to make him separate from Rick. He wears his style of trunks, and basically is a Steiner without the name.

All that being said, I think many are claiming him to be the future because NXT is claiming him to be the future. He's not been doing this for long and hasn't had a real stand out moment at all. No memorable promo, and nothing above an average TV match.


It's really early to say anyone is ready to move up. And if WWE is going to rush these people, I think many will stumble or fail because they lack the experience. Give Ivy and Bron a year in NXT, and somehow recreate the coconut loop of house shows, and things will be very different.

[Powder]

I get what you are saying about the Steiners in the WWF/E, but since Vince bought WCW, he does not shy away from the accomplishments in WCW, where the Steiners had significantly more success and notoriety.

The issues with Scott are legit, but the WCW history is fair game now.

[Team Farrell]

I think it's really silly not to embrace the Steiner name, if for no other reason than, issues with him or not, Scott Steiner is a legitimate name and big star from a time when 5-6x the number of people were watching wrestling. I'd be hammering home his "uncle Scott Steiner". Mention that his dad is Rick, but hammer home who his uncle is. It reminds me of Joe Hennig being Curtis Axel rather than embrace who his dad was.

I thought the Bo Dallas name was silly, too. Bray Wyatt is one thing, he's a gimmick. They've never acknowledged his family lineage. But for Bo, why not call him Rotunda?

[Powder]

100% agree.

Also in regards to Bo, when the Wyatt family was going strong, I always wanted Bray to recruit Bo and then use that to acknowledge that Bray was Bo's brother, and that Bray was bringing him back to the family.

[Powder]

I caught the last 10 minutes of NXT last night and I noticed 2 things about Bron.

1. His finisher is very cool and impressive. The Gorilla Press into a Power Slam, but he will need to find/use another "power" finisher on the main roster as he will not be able to Gorilla Press the much bigger guys.

2. He used a Camel Clutch, and immediately Wade Barrett called it a Recliner. A little homage to Uncle Scotty.

[Oliver]

So, I quite enjoyed Halloween Havoc, but the jolt of seeing someone who has been as highly pushed as O'Reilly was in the 'old' NXT reduced to doing a comedy skit in a halloween party backstage was a little bit weird to me,

There was a bit of sloppiness in almost every match, and while I don't want to suggest that it was exclusively due to the way they've reinvented NXT into version 2.0, it did feel like some of the matches exposed the limitations of NXT investing in these new talents and putting them in, ostensibly, big matches early on. The ladder match, the two short matches, and the women's title match, all had their issues. I know Mandy Rose has been around for quite a while now but I don't think there's much about her in ring work to suggest she could have had a good match without the smoke and mirrors of the street fight stipulation - and for that matter I'm not sure Gonzalez has really got the in ring skills to do that match without something to mask the in ring limitations of an opponent.

Fortunately the tag title match and main event between Ciampa and Breakker both delivered to lift the show up overall. Breakker is clearly set for big things, and last night was as much about him showing his ability as it was about him winning. I'm not surprised he didn't take the title from Ciampa, but do think he'll be NXT champion within 12 months.

[PEN15v2]

Of all the new ideas and character thrown into NXT 2.0. here are the ones that are working (based on last night's show):

• Mandy Rose/Toxic Attraction
• Dakota Kai going "crazy"
• Duke Hudson and the Poker Room
• Slow burn of Xyon Quinn
• MSK evolution
• Robert Stone bumping
• Trick and Melo
• Bron Breakker

What's not working

• Cora Jade and her skateboarding for 3 feet to 1998 era pop-punk music
• Von Wagner (and current use of Kyle O'Reilly, though I admit his ceiling has been reached)
• Andre Chase (unless his role is never meant to be a serious threat, then this is fine but forgettable)
• LASH LEGEND - this might be the worst thing I've seen regularly attempted since the Gooker
• Tony D'Angelo
• Brooks and Jensen