NXTweet 27.05.15

Kevin Owens solidifies his spot as one of WWE's prime bad guys, has words with William Regal, then trounces Solly Crowe. Emma, Bayley and Becky Lynch all get attention, possibly preparing them for title shots. Alexa Bliss gives us a shockingly good new character. Corey Graves continues to be WWE's best commentator. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable do... something. All this plus...

MOJO RAWLEY IS BACK ON NXT!!

Intro

Tweet 1: I'm going to tweet about NXT for as long as my internet holds up.

Tweet 2: Loving the slow motion recap of Takeover. Particularly Rhyno v Barry Corbin. Saddened there was no slowmo of Finn's entrance though.
Tweet 3: Banks being put over as "the elite." Great stuff.
Tweet 4: Then the only Samoan in WWE history not somehow related to Rikishi turned up. The end.

Kevin Owens promo, featuring William Regal and Solomon Crowe

Tweet 5: Kevin Owens trolling a Zayn entrance while wearing a Cena shirt. Lolishness.

Tweet 6: This is one of the few times I'm happy to see a RAW recap interrupting another show. Makes sense here.
Tweet 7: "I am a good man" - Kevin Owens
Tweet 8: Remember all those times Mick Foley said a heel has to believe he's the good guy and feel completely justified in his actions? That.

Owens is great and the championship means
something but that belt's still ugly.

Tweet 9: That Owens promo was better than anything I can remember from RAW this year.
Tweet 10: #Regalpop
Tweet 11: Awful music playing? It has to raspy-voiced piratical baked potato 'Solid' Solly Crowe.
Tweet 12: Loving the blank look on Byron's face.

Zack Ryder tells Renee Young that he's mates with Mojo Rawley and that he likes NXT

Tweet 13: Reading between the lines it's safe to say that Itami said he's going to murder whoever attacked him when he comes back. What a #man

Tweet 14: No, not Zack Ryder...
Tweet 15: MOJO IS BACK. #STAYHYPED
Tweet 16: Bring Zack Ryder in fresh from late 2011 to give the rub to Mojo. Smart booking.

Bayley v Emma

Tweet 17: Emma has completed her turn to the dark side with the implementation of new beach bum style entrance music.

Tweet 18: Emma looks shorter as a heel.
Tweet 19: "Beautiful suplex by Bayley!" - Rich Brennan on a rough suplex

The Emma Lock.

Tweet 20: Liking the blending of two singles feuds with this Bayley and Charlotte v Dana and Emma stuff. Subtly done.

Baron Corbin and Rhyno backstage

Tweet 21: How did Barry Corbin feel about beating Rhyno? He felt it proved he was the only unstoppable force in NXT.

Tweet 22: Then Rhyno rocked up and suggested a rematch. Winner becomes the most unstoppable force in the world.

Becky Lynch vignette

Tweet 23: This Becky video again. They won me over on her at Takeover. I don't need to see this again.

Tweet 24: Although in fairness this is the first time I've noticed Nikita (or Katie Lee Burchill) in that picture with Becky and Natalya.
Tweet 25: I hope Fifth Element steampunk lass is Lynch's permanent gimmick from now on.

Blake and Murphy v Elias Sampson and Mike Rawlis

Tweet 26: Heel Alexa Bliss. My word.

Tweet 27: So this is a Blake and Murphy match against two newcomers? *Looks at watch, waits for Enzo and Cass run-in*
Tweet 28: Devastating elevated punch from Blake there.
Tweet 29: Rumour is that the next Takeover will be headlined by Blake and Murphy v Enzo and Cass in a no-ropes barbed wire match.

Absolutely devastating sparkle splash.

Tweet 30: I hope Bliss still calls that the sparkle splash even though she's a heel now.
Tweet 31: Corey explaining that Alexa joined B&M because she likes sparkly things. No words. Solid gold commentary that.

Devin Tayor interviews Alexa Bliss while Blake and Murphy stand around like idiots

Tweet 32: Love this gimmick of all female wrestlers in NXT taking digs at Devin Taylor whenever they get the chance.

Finn Bálor v Tye Dillinger

Tweet 33: 'The Tyke' Tye Dillinger.

Tweet 34: How do you showcase your number one contender? Put him against a talented young gun like the Dillinger.

This is Tye Dillinger's ti- Oh, never mind.

Tweet 35: Dillinger has been around forever. If the next repackage job doesn't work we'll probably be seeing him in EVOLVE.
Tweet 36: Still gutted Team Jordillinger is no longer a thing.
Tweet 37: Note to Rich Brennan: don't describe one of your lead babyfaces as crafty. Craftiness carries distinctly heelish connotations.

Greg Hamilton interviews Jason Jordan then Chad Gable rocks up

Tweet 38: Earlier today Greg Hamilton caught up with 'The Real Double J' Jason Jordan.

Tweet 39: I hope Chad Gable starts using the phrase "Gable's able!" in his promos.
Tweet 40: Teasing us with a mystery tag partner for Jason Jordan? I can get with that. Especially if Jordan turns on whoever it is in favour of Gable.

Solomon Crowe v Kevin Owens

Tweet 41: I wish Crowe was still king of the hackers.

Tweet 42: Imagine the heat if Crowe was interfering in matches, channelling Paul E Dangerously and smashing iPads over people's heads.
Tweet 43: That's main event material.

What is Solomon Crowe's character?

Tweet 44: Remember when Owens would call his own matches using a microphone? Hoping he revives that on SmackDown or something at some point.
Tweet 45: Owens v Truth with Owens on commentary would be great fun. Maybe get Truth on too. Bickering commentary between opponents. Book it.
Tweet 46: The show should have cut to black when Owens pinned Crowe, revealing that Crowe's consciousness powers the internet.
Tweet 47: SAMOA JOE SO * CAL
Tweet 48: That star is a thing for some reason.
Tweet 49: Joe's here. We're meant to remember earlier when Owens said he'd KO Joe when he next saw him.
Tweet 50: Didn't happen. Owens ran off. He did make a comment about how Joe should have stayed in "oblivion" though. #TNAwful
Tweet 51: Great show, everyone. Good hustle.

NXTweet 08.04.15

Wish you'd seen some of the NXT matches held over WrestleMania weekend? WWE's got you covered with the semi-finals and finals of the tournament held for a spot in the 'Mania battle royal.

Intro

Tweet 1: NXT! NXT! NXT!

Tweet 2: I am watching NXT. I am informed it's not a filler episode.

Shots of WrestleMania Weekend festivities

Tweet 3: Crowd chanting. Graphic for the eight man tournament. Then into some tasty filler.

Tweet 4: Randy Orton telling us WWE takes over towns. Bad. Tyler Breeze playing golf. Good.
Tweet 5: Owens, Enzo and Cass saved that. Those lads can talk.
Tweet 6: Round one "highlights". Can anything involving Barry Corbin be considered a highlight?
Tweet 7: Wouldn't have minded seeing Kalisto versus Neville.
Tweet 8: Corey Graves' use of the name Adrian was dubbed out just then. Vince, you're a rascal.

Andre Battle Royal qualifying tournament semi-final: Adrian Neville v Hideo Itami

Tweet 9: This crowd needs to shut up with its "This is awesome!" chant before anything's happened.

Genuinely been haunted by this Sheamus poster for years. I can't forget it exists.

Tweet 10: Rich Brennan referring to being the GHC champ as a measure of success in a belittling manner there.
Tweet 11: This crowd is getting on Neville. It's like when ECW guys were leaving for the WWF or WCW and the fans turned on them.
Tweet 12: Because how dare guys want better pay and bigger crowds, am I right?
Tweet 13: Sexy knee to Neville's face from Itami. It's stuff like that that got him signed.
Tweet 14: Bring back Punk's "Knees 2 Faces" shirt as Hideo merch, innit.
Tweet 15: Lots of strikes going on here. Started a sequence of thoughts that reminded me that Da Undertaker is WWE's Best Striker Ever™.
Tweet 16: "Hideo is the embodiment of the Japanese fighting spirit" - Corey Graves on the Japanese fighting spirit
Tweet 17: Sleeper! Sleeper! Bah Gawd, the sleeper!!
Tweet 18: Itami ran in for a corner drop kick. Nev kipped up into a super kick. Perfick.

Well done, Adrian. That was textbook.

Tweet 19: Great finish to that. When Itami finally gets the G2S on someone the building's going to explode.
Tweet 20: Maybe the world will even end. Who knows?

Andre Battle Royal qualifying tournament semi-final: Finn Bálor v Tyler Breeze

Tweet 21: Just noticed this is a bit like a TNA taping where there's one side of the ring completely empty of fans.

Tweet 22: Unlike TNA this will be to do with some sort of tech issue as opposed to lack of interest.
Tweet 23: Mate, Breeze is bringing his A game in this match.

Nippiness.

Tweet 24: Breeze's boots always remind me of CJ Parker's hair.
Tweet 25: Why is there never a Zoolander chant during Breeze matches?
Tweet 26: Liking Graves and Brennan as a two man announce team, for the record.
Tweet 27: "Bálor looked like he was going for that reverse lifting DDT!" - Corey Graves, demonstrating that Bloody Sunday was a far catchier name

Consider the similarities to Okada's Rainmaker pose noted.

Tweet 28: I liked that match. Why can't RAW be like this? Said everyone.
Tweet 29: Up next: more filler.

More WrestleMania Weekend festivities

Tweet 30: Good work on these Dana Brooke vignettes, guys.

Tweet 31: Triple H playing hype man. Probably his second greatest skill behind booking NXT, tbh.
Tweet 32: "It's the hottest wrestling show on TV" - Scott Hall on a show that isn't on TV... mang
Tweet 33: Corey Graves rocking an Indiana Jones look there.
Tweet 34: Next week: Sami Zayn versus Rhyno, ROH versus SCUM.

Andre Battle Royal qualifying tournament semi-final: Finn Bálor v Hideo Itami

Tweet 35: How long until Bálor stops getting announced from Bray, County Wicklow on the grounds that it features another rassler's name?

Tweet 36: Commentary team being instructed to talk up Erick Rowan, Jack Swagger, Kane and Big Show, my word.
Tweet 37: Hideo Itami chinlocks > Randy Orton chinlocks
Tweet 38: "C'mon, Finn! Get up!" - Some kid
Tweet 39: Big fan of Itami Hulking up.

Hideo Hogan.

Tweet 40: He should reverse the trend and nick someone else's move for once. Hogan's leg drop is wide open, brother.
Tweet 41: This match though. It's excellent.
Tweet 42: Hideo's such a tease. #G2S
Tweet 43: Itami is celebrating his win by pointing at the WrestleMania sign. He gets it. He'll go far.

Hideo Itami's journey to WrestleMania 31

Tweet 44: WrestleMania 31 weekend was the most important weekend in Itami's career, apparently.

Tweet 45: Not sure he realises that by saying the crowd got louder when KENTA entered Hogan's admitting KENTA got a bigger pop than him.
Tweet 46: Hillbilly Jim sighting.
Tweet 47: Reigns was good with Itami's kids but, if it came to it, he'd beat them to stay looking strong.
Tweet 48: OMG KENTA HIT A G2S!!
Tweet 49: Even Big E was impressed. And Big E is not a man easily impressed.
Tweet 50: Dean Ambrose outrageously flouting the company's dress code with a leather jacket and T-shirt combo. Who does he think he is? Orton?!
Tweet 51: *Compulsory shot of documentary subject sitting in the stands looking thoughtful*

Let's not overlook the fact that that's a former NXT champion Itami's eliminating.

Tweet 52: Still depressed by the bloody Big Show win. At least Itami went out to the winner though.
Tweet 53: Really good documentary that. NXT just found yet another way to upstage main roster WWE.

The Debutants' Ball 2014

So Adam Rose, Paige and Bo Dallas are leaving NXT behind and joining the WWE main roster. With three performers being called up at the same time, as well as Alexander Rusev finally starting to wrestle on the main roster following months of hanging about looking fearsome, there’s a nice swathe of fresh talent for viewers to enjoy. We’re unlikely to see anyone else promoted for a while. But that doesn’t mean we can’t speculate on the next performers who’ll graduate from the developmental system.

Top of the list of potential call-ups for many will be Adrian Neville. Not only is he one of the most dazzling aerial wrestlers working anywhere in the world, with a nice line in crisp kicks and basic wrestling exchanges when he’s not in the air, but he’s also the NXT champion. This is significant. The previous three holders of that title (Seth Rollins, Big E and Bo Dallas) have all been called to the main roster either while they held the belt or shortly after they dropped it.

NXT champions haven’t been the only people graduating from the training system in the last few years but the prize has been built up to be something that indicates its holder is amongst the top candidates to move up the ranks at any given time. The likelihood is that ‘The Man That Gravity Forgot’ will follow in their footsteps and grace RAW with his presence sooner than later. He could, if used well, become a big hit on the main stage. His ability to string together sequences of flying moves is jaw-dropping.

Another man towards the top of any list drawn up is Sami Zayn. Since debuting on the May 22 2013 episode of NXT Zayn has become one of the most popular performers on the show and has been consistently depicted as one of its biggest stars. He has frequently entered sparkling performances and has worked lengthy, well-received programmes with Bo Dallas (for the NXT championship) and Antonio Cesaro. The latter in particular stood out as a highlight not just of NXT but of the entirety of WWE programming, an impressive feat when you consider the calibre of the current WWE roster and the matches the company presented last year.

He slaps hands! What a likeable fella!

I think Zayn’s great. He can wrestle a variety of styles against opponents of all sizes and make his performances believable. Like Neville his aerial moves stand out as being particularly worthy of praise: always on target and crisply performed. His verbal skills are good (surprising when you consider how much of his career he spent avoiding talking) and he’s created a likeable, everyman character that people genuinely want to see succeed.

The way in which he’s been used in NXT, and his ability in general, makes me think that WWE recognises he could be a top star. As such I expect his debut on the main roster to be tied to a long term plan, something that will give him the chance to make an immediate impression and avoid treading water after a few weeks. With WWE currently having just set up a bundle of plots that could go on for some time I would be surprised if we saw Zayn moved up before the autumn. Which is a good thing. As one of the most promising names they have in NXT he should be held back as a big deal.

A man I think could be called up before then is Tyler Breeze. As much as I like and enjoy his act I don’t think a Zoolander-inspired male model gimmick has quite the same long term potential that Sami Zayn (or others on this list) does. I think when ‘Prince Pretty’ does get called up he’ll be working as a mid-card guy with no plans for him to go higher.

Since the call-up-heavy April 7 RAW Breeze has tweeted that SmackDown may need some gorgeous. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him called up to the ol’ blue brand some time in the next few months. The Friday show can afford to be a little more experimental with the wrestlers used because it’s not as high a priority as RAW. In fact making a name for himself there would probably be ‘The Gorgeous One’s’ best route to Monday nights. Not that he appear on both, of course, but I think an unofficial exclusive period on SmackDown would help to phase his introduction and work out the kinks in his gimmick interacting with the rest of the roster.

Pretty much the same can be said for Mojo Rawley. Although I wish that wasn’t the case. I’ve not enjoyed the hyped shtick so far, and nothing about Rawley makes me think that’s going to change. But he’s popular within NXT and could easily be transferred to the main roster to work in a mid-card spot for a while.

Something he has over Tyler Breeze is that he’s pretty big. That means WWE are more inclined to push him, because of the age old belief that size matters in wrestling (and to an extent it does). A heel turn for a man his size would be beneficial because there are plenty of smaller men for him to knock around these days, although I don’t think that will come any time soon. It would have more impact after years of knowing of Rawley as one of the good guys.

Dapper gentleman.

Corey Graves is someone I think we should be expecting on the main roster within the next year. He has the look, verbal skills and wrestling ability to make it to the top of WWE. That he’s currently involved in a feud with Sami Zayn indicates that the decision makers at NXT value him as one of their top guys and see him as someone who can be relied on to deliver exhilarating matches and promos that draw people in. I think that’s an accurate assessment of Graves and see him as the one of the most likely guys in NXT to succeed, along with Neville and Zayn.

On the Divas side of things I think Sasha Banks is almost a dead cert to be the next woman promoted. She’s currently showing that she can play an obnoxious it girl bully and has previously done good things as a likeable babyface. She has range, and she’s talented between the ropes. A Divas division featuring her, AJ Lee, Emma and Paige could see the women’s hit heights it’s not reached since the days of Trish Stratus, Victoria, Mickie James and Lita.

Over in the doubles ranks Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady would be a good addition to the main roster. There’s a certain strange charisma to Enzo’s muttering promos, and he has the look and promo skills to take him far (plus those leopard print tights). ‘Big’ Cass has the height. Each covers the other’s weakness nicely, Cassady making up for Enzo’s unimposing size and Enzo keeping Cassady covered with his verbals.

They could work very nicely in the tag team division. WWE doesn’t really do big man-little man combos anymore, so there’s a niche available for them. They have proven that they can build a rapport with fans having started out as bad guys but being turned face because they were so entertaining. While that’s mainly down to Enzo and his “realest guys in the room” chat Cass has brought the audience on side too.

With Enzo’s leg currently broken it doesn’t look like the pair will move up anytime soon. My guess would be that they’ll win the NXT tag titles before heading up to the main roster. I like their characters (particularly Enzo’s) but they are not the kind of act WWE seem desperate to get to the main stage.

Finally, I don’t feel I can write something like this without mentioning The Ascension. Thanks to call-ups and injuries they’ve been NXT’s only regular tag team for quite a while now. They’ve spent their time squashing random NXT undercarders and specially hired jobbers (such as TNA’s Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards). They’ve developed into a unit that seems intended to invoke hardcase units of the past such as The Road Warriors and The Eliminators. They even use a version of the latter team’s Total Elimination finish.

The Ascension are, in my view, certainties to get a call-up. The prioritisation of the tag team division rises and falls on a month by month basis, but even at its low ebbs it’s doing better than it was five years ago. For it to continue to be something that WWE shows an occasional interest in it will need fresh units at some point. As the only prepped pairing in NXT The Ascension will be first in line when WWE wants a new duo.

If nothing else they at least look like a unit.

Helping Konor and Viktor’s (the letter K is a heel letter) chances is their shedding of the fantasy trappings a few months ago. I liked their Game of Thrones-inspired entrance and act but I can’t imagine many viewers would have agreed with me. Unless WWE were going to embrace the fantasy aspects fully (which was never going to happen even though fantasy’s been pretty big in the TV drama world in recent years) it was best to drop them and concentrate on recasting the pair as bruisers. They’re easier to slot into the grander scheme that way.



There are also some NXT debuts for us to look forward to. The high-flying masked Kalisto (formerly Samuray del Sol) and suit-clad, iPad wielding hacker Solomon Crowe (formerly Sami Callihan) both made their first appearances at NXT live events last year but have yet to make it to TV. With Rose and Dallas likely about to become less of a presence on the NXT show there are spots available for both men.

I’ll be interested to see who’s next to progress from NXT. The system is becoming one that can be relied on to create characters that will slot into WWE programming, so it could be almost anyone based there. And that’s one of the most satisfying things about these progressions: seeing the tweaks that are made to fit these characters into the bigger picture of WWE and watching the guys and girls succeed.

Developing Chemistry

It's a good sign for the future but I don't understand how the NXT roster has a better tag team division than the WWE roster. The latter's meant to be the main stage, the big time, and it has access not only to the established guys we’re all familiar with but also to anyone and everyone on the developmental roster. NXT has to make do with those guys not deemed ready for the main stage.

It’s not a situation that should have come about. But it has. NXT’s doubles scene is the superior.

The main roster has just three tag teams of real note. The Shield tandem of Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and Kane's Team Hell No, and the Prime Time Players. Of those three double acts it can only be said that two are genuinely cared about by the majority of the audience (the odd ones out being, of course, the PTPs). Of those two teams only one appears to have a future beyond the next month or so. WWE have begun teasing the split of Bryan and Kane in favour of utilising ‘The World’s Toughest Vegan’ as a singles act.

So that's one team, The Shield, in WWE with a secure long term future that are over to a significant degree. They're backed up by Jimmy and Jey Uso, 3MB, Tons of Funk  and (possibly) the Rhodes Scholars. It's not what you'd call a thriving division.

Meanwhile the developmental system has multiple teams of note. It's fitting that the Wyatt Family, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, are the current NXT tag champs because they're the best unit in the league. They look different to everyone else, they wrestle well, have a fascinating gimmick, and a captivating manager in Bray Wyatt.

 

Can the Wyatt Family help to breathe life back into the WWE tag team division?

 

If the main roster's tag scene was taken seriously I’d predict immediate success for them upon their debut. I don’t think it’s a sure thing though. There’s obviously a plan in place for their debut, because that’s been a priority for all call-ups over the last year, but any debuting tandem needs a division with some teams that can be sacrificed. That’s not the WWE roster.

Debuting as heels (which is almost guaranteed to happen) could harm the Wyatt Family’s chances of creating a stir in the division, because The Shield have carved out a niche for themselves as the heel team of note. It won’t be impossible for the Wyatts to get over, but it will limit WWE’s options with them.

The Wyatts are backed up by the recent alliance of Kassius Ohno and Corey Graves, Scott Dawson and Garrett Dylan, Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey (well, when Grey’s healthy again), and what looks like a reformed Ascension team of Conor O’Brian and Rick Victor. That's an impressive talent list by anybody's reckoning.

Ohno and Graves may not have been together long but they gel well as a unit. I don't just mean they're chemistry in the ring, it's their look as much as anything else. They seem right as a unit. That's a very important first step. Like most people I’d prefer to see the Kings of Wrestling reformed but it’s not going to happen. Ohno and Graves could be a decent substitute.

Dawson and Dylan both look very nondescript but showed a lot of promise as characters in their recent debut. They’re doing a gimmick comparable to Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch or America’s Most Wanted. They’re country boys who like to wear baseball caps and drink beer. In this case they also like to carry BBQ sauce to the ring with them. As a signature foreign object choice it’s pretty interesting.

Also in Dawson and Dylan’s favour is the fact that they’ve been given a manager: the easy-to-dislike Sylvester Lefort. His charisma will help to mask their apparent lack in the area. If the unit can come up with a name they could do well for themselves in WWE.

 

Keep these guys with Sylvester Lefort and they could go far

 

It’s too early in the story of the apparent new Ascension to decide whether or not the two will work as a team. Based on looks alone Victor’s a good choice for Conor’s new playmate. His previous matches have been uninspiring but technically fine. Maybe they’ll be able to recapture the success the original Ascension managed to have.

Grey’s almost guaranteed a call-up alongside Neville when he’s healthy again, assuming Neville isn’t promoted first of course. An exciting babyface combo is exactly what the WWE roster needs to combat the likes of The Shield and The Wyatt Family. If WWE wanted to put Neville into a team before Grey’s return they could always stick him with Sami Zayn. I think they’d be great together.

I've written at length before now about WWE's lack of interest in their tag team division and why it would benefit them to reverse the stance. It's finally coming back to bite them here. Not only is their developmental league showing up their international roster of Superstars but The Shield's standing is at risk.

By putting the tag team championships on 'The Hounds of Justice' WWE have drawn attention to them as a unit. They're now in a position where fans will expect them to wrestle in tag team matches regularly. It will become apparent very quickly if they keep getting cycled through the same opponents because they've been such a heavily pushed act. Constant rematches will only make people bored of them.

The title defence against the new combo of Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan will be a nice change and the rumoured match against the Undertaker and Kane at SummerSlam could be very exciting but they’re one off matches. The Shield need regular units to oppose.

The answer to these troubles, as I've written before, is for WWE to take tag teams seriously. Call up the Wyatt Family and Neville and Zayn and create some regular teams from the guys on the roster who're currently treading water. Oh, and promote whoever's been scripting NXT for the last year. They're great at their job.

The Debutants' Ball

At the moment most WWE viewers are scrutinising the headline matches, and distinct lack of mid-card matches, of WrestleMania XXIX. That's understandable. It will be the biggest and most financially successful wrestling event of 2013. That doesn’t mean it will be a creative success, but you can’t have everything.

The attention being paid to the April 7^th card is the main reason nobody's really thinking about what WWE will be doing on April 8^th. It's likely that all the part timers who have matches at WrestleMania (that's The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, and Brock Lesnar) will be on the April 8^th RAW. That show will be about long term story plans involving those guys, timed to catch the viewers who generally only tune in around 'Mania time.

While The Rock will apparently be appearing at Extreme Rules it seems unlikely that Lesnar will join him and even more unlikely that 'The Game' and 'The Dead Man' will. From the April 15^th RAW onwards it's likely to be business as usual for WWE. Which may pose a problem, because they have a distinct lack of full time stars that can be given something fresh to do.

It's likely WWE are going to promote a few NXT guys to the main roster, giving themselves a year to create some big new stars for next year's WrestleMania XXX (the most adult of all the WrestleManias). Last year I posted a list of five guys (read it here) that I thought stood a chance of graduating from NXT and being the next batch of WWE Superstars™. Two of those five, Seth Rollins and Big E Langston, have made the leap.

The remaining three, Kassius Ohno, Richie Steamboat and Bray Wyatt, remain stationed in developmental. Ohno and Wyatt still both seem likely to follow in the footsteps of NXT’s first two champions. Sadly Steamboat has dropped off the radar and hasn’t had a televised appearance on NXT in quite a while. I still think he’d be a good addition to the roster but his lack of exposure indicates that that’s not likely anytime soon.

Going on current form both Ohno and Wyatt would perform similar functions: mid-card antagonists who would tangle with the likes of Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. WWE isn’t in desperate need of guys to do that though, they have enough interchangeable heels as it is. What could be done is to change the roles they play.

 

This man deserves a chance to make it in WWE. I'm talking about Bray Wyatt, not Yoshi Tatsu

 

I’ve never seen Bray Wyatt work as a babyface so I don’t know how good he is in the role. I do know how good he is at playing the disturbed southern preacher though. It’s a persona that deserves the chance to succeed on the big stage of WWE. Whether he gets called up alongside Erick Rowan and Luke Harper or not (and for the record I think they should all go up together) Wyatt would be best served playing his current character, perhaps recruiting one or two current members of the roster to swell the ranks of the Family.

Ohno could work as a babyface. WWE seems short on bankable good guys right now. Alberto Del Rio’s worked out nicely but The Miz is considered a flop and Sheamus has been a disaster as a top line performer. Ohno’s been around long enough to be able to start out as a good guy.

The trouble there is that it’s tricky to introduce good guys as anything other than underdogs. That works when the wrestler in question is the size of Kofi Kingston or Bo Dallas but it’s a trickier proposition with someone of Ohno’s build. He looks like he can take care of himself as is roughly the same size as most of the other guys under contract. If he’s going to start out as a good guy the underdog approach wouldn’t be available.

They’re not the only guys who could find themselves on the main roster come late April. Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey, the current NXT tag champs, would make an excellent addition to the tag team division. That would depend on WWE wanting to make their doubles scene watchable once WrestleMania’s out of the way, of course.

Conor O’Brian’s puzzling Ascension gimmick is not the sort of thing that would be a natural fit for WWE right now. It could work (for a while anyway) if he continued to play the character as he has in NXT while the commentary team, backstage interviewers and other wrestlers acknowledged how strange the character is. A joke that everyone except the performer is in on, if you like.

Gimmick aside O’Brian’s as ready as he’s going to get. He could find a role with a more straight-laced character but doing is current act for laughs would help him stand out.

 

The potential for comedy is staggering

 

Corey Graves is another guy who would be a nice fit for RAW and SmackDown. He looks and wrestles the part, though he has the same problem as Ohno in that he’d be another heel on the books. He may be headed towards a babyface turn in NXT thanks to his recent dispute with The Shield, so that could work to his advantage.

What may go against Graves more than anything else are his visual similarities to CM Punk. Anything that could be perceived as harmful to Punk (and sadly that includes Graves also having a torso full of tattoos) is going to be treated carefully by WWE’s writing and marketing teams. What may help to nullify this is Punk taking time off after WrestleMania. That seems likely because of various injuries he’s been working through and his busy schedule for the last couple of years. If Punk’s off TV by the end of April then Graves could be called up and established as his own man long before ‘The Second City Saint’ returns.

I mentioned Leo Kruger in my NXT recap on Saturday (available here). He’s ready to play a larger role in my view, but I think he’d need a character tweak. The South African walkabout nut doesn’t seem like something WWE would get behind.

There’s a strong chance some of the NXT Divas will get a call-up too. The Divas division is paper thin and requires some fresh blood. Bringing back old names is all well and good but new names are just as important. Paige, Sasha Banks, and Audrey Marie would be my top picks. Summer Rae’s still a little too wooden and generic when cutting promos.

WWE could surprise us with some promotions for guys who’ve yet to play an important role on NXT’s TV show. That’s what they did with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. Xavier Woods has a fun 90s-centric character that many of WWE’s younger viewers could relate to. Sammy Sane (the former El Generico) would be an interesting choice too.

It’s going to be interesting to see who gets the nod to move up. We’ll know who the chosen ones are, if there are any, by early May. Hopefully there are more than one or two. The greater the number of people given an opportunity the greater chance there is of a new star being made.

NXTweet 13.03.13

Last week’s NXT felt sparse. This week’s show more than made up for it with matches featuring Kassius (or Kass-yus, as Tony Dawson likes to call him) and Bray Wyatt. Even Big E Langston had a match. That’s become something of a novelty since he got called up to the main roster to work as Dolph Ziggler’s enforcer.

The NXT champ worked a competitive main event against the United States champion Antonio Cesaro. That came about when ‘The Swiss Superman’ interrupted an address by World Heavyweight champion Alberto Del Rio. It was a strange segment. The World champ essentially showed up to be interrupted and provide the impetus for a match featuring two men he usually has nothing to do with. It would have been more interesting to see him wrestle someone like Corey Graves or Conor O’Brian.

The Big E v Cesaro match was good. WWE has a peculiar habit of booking guys that start out winning via squash in longer and longer matches. Look at what happened with Ryback and Brodus Clay last year. I suppose it makes sense to do this on NXT: it’s supposed to be somewhere guys improve and they’ll improve far quicker if they’re given longer matches.

Ohno wrestled against Derrick Bateman. Oddly it was Daniel Bryan’s former on-screen protégé that dominated the majority of the match. Ohno, by far the man with the higher standing, got what amounted to a fluke victory after booting Bateman in the chops. The booking wasn’t bad, but it was surprising.

Following his win Ohno slapped his STF kravat hold onto Bateman. William Regal made the save. I’ve written before that a televised collision between them would be A Good Thing. If announced a week or two in advance and built up as a meaningful match it would make a very worthwhile main event.

 

Ohno channelling Thor in preparation for his upcoming showdown with William Regal

 

Bray Wyatt lost to Bo Dallas. It was a relatively uninspiring showing. Bray’s good in the ring, but he’s far more interesting as a character than as a wrestler. His opposition didn’t help. I’m not a fan of Dallas: everything from his long, stringy hair to his generic wrestling style put me off him.

Wyatt puts me in mind of Raven during his ECW heyday heading up the Flock. The Wyatt Family isn’t as impressive as that iconic and eclectic stable but Bray has many similarities with Raven. They both work a brawling style, wear street clothes for their matches, and are excellent promos. There’s a hint of the old Raven trait of being a cult leader in Bray too. I like the similarity. Raven was underappreciated everywhere outside of ECW. I’d like it if Bray could succeed in WWE with a similar gimmick.

Opening video

Tweet 1: NXTweet.

Tweet 2: Alberto Del Rio's going to appear. That'll be... well, it'll be something.

Derrick Bateman v Kassius Ohno

Tweet 3: It’s Kassius… OHNO!

Tweet 4: This has been on my mind for a while now: what's going on with Bateman's hair. Looks like he's asked for the "Elaine from Seinfeld" look.
Tweet 5: Dawson is still saying "Kass-yus". Weird fella.
Tweet 6: Bateman was on offence for most of that. Ohno pulled out a win with a boot to the face. Booking Bateman like a job: good stuff!
Tweet 7: Regal saved Bateman from a devastating kravat. The fans gave him a token, brief, chant.

Emma v Summer Rae

Tweet 8: It's Emma. She still seems drunk. I don't understand this act at all.

Tweet 9: "If you thought she was talented with the microphone..." - Tony Dawson on Summer Rae (he tailed off and didn't finish the sentence)
Tweet 10: Regal says Summer's wrestled like a veteran in the women's division.
Tweet 11: She's been wrestling for about a month. With the division the way it is that qualifies her as a veteran.

Is that Summer Rae or Kelly Kelly? It's difficult to tell...

Tweet 12: According to Regal Summer just performed a "headmare".
Tweet 13: Spinning heel kick there. It would be more accurate to say spinning thigh kick but never mind.
Tweet 14: Paige's return was greeted with apathy. Probably because the fans forget she was supposed to be "injured".

Renee Young interviews Adrian Neville

Tweet 15: Adrian Neville promo. #Geordievision

Tweet 16: Neville looks like an imp.

Matt Striker interviews Big E Langston

Tweet 17: You know Big E Langston's a star because Matt Striker's been called in to interview him.

Tweet 18: Big E's defense against Conor O'Brian will be delicious. I hope that match features Langston licking O'Brian several times.

Bo Dallas v Bray Wyatt

Tweet 19: When Bray Wyatt is given the chance to cut promos on people that matter he'll become a star.

Tweet 20: Bo Dallas does not matter.
Tweet 21: Was Wyatt just singing a song from The Lion King?
Tweet 22: The Wyatt Family should recruit more members. Stick Justin Gabriel in and have him dress in a giraffe outfit. It'd be a refreshing change.
Tweet 23: Bo Dallas beating Bray is apparently a shock, even though he's the one who won a slot in the Rumble and beat Wade Barrett.
Tweet 24: Bray's finisher should be called the Husky DDT.

Not dissimilar to Raven

Renee Young interviews Justin Gabriel

Tweet 25: Justin Gabriel's going to tell us all about his problems with Leo Kruger. Oh good.

Tweet 26: Gabriel told us NOTHING about his problems with Kruger there. He just explained that Kruger was in the South African militia.

Alberto Del Rio promo, featuring Ricardo Rodriguez, Antonio Cesaro and Dusty Rhodes

Tweet 27: Albertooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Dellllllllllllllllllllll Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiooooooooooooooooo!!

Tweet 28: "'Viva Del Rio' they shout everywhere he goes!" - Tony Dawson, lying
Tweet 29: Nice of Del Rio to dress for the occasion.
Tweet 30: To say he's the new WHC is stretching it a bit. He won it over two months ago.
Tweet 31: Antonio Cesaro... Heeeey!!
Tweet 32: If Cesaro thinks he can beat Del Rio why not challenge him to a title match?
Tweet 33: It's 'The Dream'... baybee!

Big E Langston v Antonio Cesaro

Tweet 34: Big E Langston, walking to the ring through an explosion of powder. What a man! What a MACHINE!

Tweet 35: I'd like Dawson to say that Langston is "285 pounds of pure Big E goodness."
Tweet 36: Cesaro doesn't wear kneepads. He doesn't wear elbow pads. You're lucky he's wearing trunks!
Tweet 37: That uppercut was very European.
Tweet 38: Cesaro deadlifting Langston is the highlight of this show. His expression was priceless.
Tweet 39: E Train? Good name for a move. Ridiculous, but good.
Tweet 40: Conor O'Brian and Corey Graves do run-ins. This qualifies as chaos according to Dawson.
Tweet 41: Langston is clearly not popular with the locker room. Nobody made the save. Not even ADR.

NXTweet 06.03.13

The fact that NXT airs weeks after being recorded can sometimes lead to strange situations. Like on this week's show, where Corey Graves, Conor O'Brian and Bo Dallas were to clash for the second week in a row and it wasn't mentioned by the commentary team. The two shows had been recorded weeks apart rather than on the same night, which presumably led to the forgotten emphasis.
 
Things like this don't happen often on NXT, and they're not major problems when they do. It remains jarring though.
 
The triple threat match was to decide on the next challenger to Big E Langston's NXT championship. Annoyingly Conor O'Brian won. He faced Big E a few weeks ago in a decent match that went to a no contest. I'd have preferred one of the other two men to win to give us something fresh. Graves in particular would have been a far more interesting choice than 'The Ascension'.

All three-way matches should have a spot like this

 
In a way this illustrates one of the good things about NXT. There is a distinct lack of an upper tier, which places everyone on the same level and creates an atmosphere where anyone could realistically win the title if given the chance. This makes it an unpredictable watch, and unpredictability in wrestling is rarely a bad thing.
 
Will O'Brian defeat Ziggler's bodyguard? It's possible but I wouldn't say it's likely. Big E is doing very well on NXT and a loss could harm him.
 
Elsewhere on the show six Divas fumbled their way through a six (wo)man tag team match. The heel team of Alicia Fox, Aksana and Audrey Marie were on target for most of the bout. On the opposite side of the ring Sasha Banks looked good, Cameron looked decent, and Naomi looked horrendous.
 
Leo Kruger beat Yoshi Tatsu with the London Dungeon in a brief outing. And lastly (in the opener, ironically) Adrian Neville won a handicap match against two nondescript villains, both of whom were larger than him, after Oliver Grey was assaulted backstage by the Wyatt Family. The fiends!
 
Speaking of the Wyatts the saga of Bray attempting to recruit Bo Dallas continued during this show. First Dallas was approached during a backstage interview (in which he was bragging about winning a Rumble slot, which happened well over a month ago and made me wonder if I was accidentally watching an old episode) and then Bray sauntered to ringside during the main event. It was the Family leader pulling Corey Graves out of the ring that distracted Dallas and allowed 'The Ascension' to get his win.
 
Will Bo end up joining the villainous Family? Stay tuned, grapple fans!

Dusty Rhodes promo

Tweet 1: Be warned: I am watching NXT.

Tweet 2: NXTweet.
Tweet 3: Here comes the living turnip Dusty Rhodes. #eefyooweel
Tweet 4: He just said it! #eefyooweel
Tweet 5: Want to know what this beefed up security consists of? Arn Anderson patrolling corridors wielding a sack of doorknobs.

Adrian Neville v Judas Devlin and Scott Dawson

Tweet 6: Who are these jabronis in the generic gear?

Tweet 7: PAC's lost Oliver Grey. He's going to wrestle a handicap match. This is known as Ryback Syndrome.
Tweet 8: I don't think I want to know what the Wyatt Family got up to with an unconscious Grey.
Tweet 9: Pretty shoddy medics over there at the NXT Arena.

Where were the medics?

Leo Kruger v Yoshi Tatsu

Tweet 10: What happened to that face paint or half mask or whatever it was that Yoshi was wearing?

Tweet 11: I've not actually seen much of him since last year so he probably dropped it a while ago.
Tweet 12: Is South Africa on Twitter?
Tweet 13: London Dungeon there. Lovely to see.

Cameron, Naomi and Sasha Banks v Audrey Marie, Aksana and Alicia Fox

Tweet 14: Six Diva tag match. Expect botches.

Tweet 15: The Funkadactyls' aren’t troubling 'Taker for Best Ring Entrance Ever.
Tweet 16: Alicia Fox is a heel again? Why? Why not?
Tweet 17: Naomi is breathtakingly sloppy here. It's no wonder they don't let her wrestle on important shows.
Tweet 18: It's over. I can say that that was certainly a wrestling match.
Tweet 19: The winning Divas hug one another to celebrate. Why are Kane and Bryan the only male team that does that?

Bo Dallas talks about his Rumble win backstage

Tweet 20: Didn't Bo Dallas get attacked last week? Why isn't that being mentioned?

Tweet 21: Bray Wyatt saved that segment via boundless charisma.

Summer Rae witters

Tweet 22: Here's Summer Rae. Generic interview ahoy!

Tweet 23: Summer Rae is the argument in favour of scripted promos. Imagine how bad she'd be if she could do what she wanted.
Tweet 24: #Shieldvision
Tweet 25: Basically, The Shield are going to carry on doing run-ins and nobody's going to stop them. Not even the mighty Dusty Rhodes.

Number One Contendership match – Conor O’Brian v Corey Graves v Bo Dallas

Tweet 26: The commentators don't seem too bothered with reminding us that this match was due to happen last week. It's peculiar.

Tweet 27: I don't know this referee's name but for what it's worth I don't care for him.
Tweet 28: "I truly believe that size does matter" - William Regal
Tweet 29: I can't imagine Bo Dallas or Conor O'Brian anywhere except WWE. They don't look like guys that would succeed in ROH or TNA.
Tweet 30: O'Brian's gimmick would work in CHIKARA though. Probably.
Tweet 31: Why isn't Corey Graves billed as being from "The Dumpsters of New York City"?
Tweet 32: For the record I want Graves to win this. Best wrestler in the match. I think him versus Big E would be good.
Tweet 33: Bray update: he is stood at ringside dressed, as usual, like someone who handles alligators for a living.
Tweet 34: 'The Ascension' wins. It's the worst possible scenario: an uninspiring challenger that we've seen wrestle the champ before.
Tweet 35: In twenty years O'Brian will be held in the same regard as the Undertaker.