NXTweet 04.09.14

There won’t be a tweet-up next week. Instead there’ll be a more traditional review of Takeover 2. And that’s this week’s hastily written intro!

Intro

Tweet 1: Alright, strap in. I'm about to spend an hour tweeting about NXT.

Tweet 2: Didn't enjoy that preview opening. Probably because it's not the NXT norm. And I think the NXT norm is pretty much perfect.

Alexa Bliss v Charlotte

Tweet 3: If Alexa Bliss is wrestling and the four title match guys are wrestling this is going to be one busy show.

Tweet 4: Does Charlotte have the most convoluted ring entrance in WWE? I think yes.
Tweet 5: What is Alexa's gimmick? Cheerleader? Fairy? Cheerleader fairy? The latter's a winner...
Tweet 6: That kneebuster Charlotte did was in no way a botch. IN NO WAY.
Tweet 7: I've knocked her for it, but Charlotte's Ric Flair tribute act is growing on me. The impersonation could be a lot worse. Woooooooooo!
Tweet 8: Dat Bayley's gonna hug you chant.
Tweet 9: I like her but Bayley's character would die a horrible death on RAW without some pretty severe tinkering.

Would 'Naitch' have covered people like this? 

Tyler Breeze vignette

Tweet 10: "Do they look like this?" - Tyler Breeze, sitting there in a purple furry coat

Tweet 11: Breeze's work getting that character over in thirty seconds was sensational. Easily one of the best things in NXT.
Tweet 12: The NXT title match at Takeover could realistically be won by any of the four guys in the match. Good job getting everyone over.
Tweet 13: That said I really want it to be Tyler Breeze. A change is needed after Neville's six month reign and he's the strongest character-wise.

Sin Cara and Kalisto talk to Devin Taylor

Tweet 14: Anyway... we now have Sin Cara and Kalisto chatting to Devin Taylor. Cara chatted in Spanish. Kalisto translated. Kind of a dick move.

Tweet 15: Kalisto there, saying he and Cara are a strong tag team. Nah. Not as strong as The Ascension.

Tye Dillinger v Tyler Breeze

Tweet 16: Tye Dillinger's lack of charisma would be best off in a tag team.

Tweet 17: Tyler Breeze. The third Young Buck.
Tweet 18: Tye played several seasons of "semi-professional" ice hockey, did he? Well that... that's certainly something.
Tweet 19: Lot of hip action from Breeze on that choke. #justsaying

Tyson Kidd vignette

Tweet 20: Tyson Kidd giving a heel promo his best shot there. In fairness it could've been a lot worse.

Enzo Amore and Big Cass hang out at a hairdresser’s called HAIR

Tweet 21: I reckon Enzo is based on a young Paul Heyman. But less arrogant.

Tweet 22: "You got that camera rollin'?" - Enzo Amore on an iPhone
Tweet 23: Hair removal cream spilled on a poodle. A clump of hair comes off in Enzo's hand. This is like Russo era WCW.
Tweet 24: That entire thing was designed to get over hair removal cream? I expect that kind of nonsense from TNA, not NXT.

Tyson Kidd v Adam Rose

Tweet 25: Guy in Rose's entourage looks like Shelton Benjamin.

Tweet 26: Tom Phillips just plugged the Takeover pre-show and promised plenty of surprises. How does he know there'll be surprises?
Tweet 27: That match was good but Rose hugn on in the Sharpshooter a bit too long for my liking.
Tweet 28: Had he tapped a bit quicker it would have gotten over Kidd's application of the hold. Would've made sense to establish he's good with it.

Crisp Sharpshooter application from Kidd.

Sami Zayn vignette

Tweet 29: Sami Zayn being a stand up babyface and saying he wants to pin the champ for the belt.

Sami Zayn v Marcus Louis

Tweet 30: Marcus Louis's music is incredibly lol.

Tweet 31: As is Sly Lefort's chest hair.
Tweet 32: NXT fans chanting “Canada” in support of Zayn is why I love that audience.
Tweet 33: I wish Sylvester Lefort was still an ineffectual manager. He was great as an ineffectual manager.
Tweet 34: Zayn wins via Koji Clutch. Marcus Louis tapped out almost immediately and so the hold's a little more over going into Takeover. See?!
Tweet 35: Enzo and Cass show up. Sly and Marcus run off. Enzo freaks out. Cass tries not to laugh. Standard sequence.

Don't be bullies. Be stars.

Adrian Neville vignette

Tweet 36: Adrian Neville looks like an orc.

Tweet 37: He did a promo about being bullied at school for looking like an orc. I think.

CJ Parker v Adrian Neville

Tweet 38: CJ 'The Truth' Parker.

Tweet 39: Want to know about the first time I was made aware of Adrian Neville? Course you do!
Tweet 40: Someone rang in to the old Talksport radio show and berated Alex Shane for not booking Neville (then PAC) for the FWA.
Tweet 41: Pretty sure the caller claimed that Shane had a southern bias. They definitely said PAC was the future of wrestling.
Tweet 42: First time I saw him wrestle? Some Dragon Gate show I watched online I think.
Tweet 43: Anyway... they're wrestling right now. CJ does some good shaky leg selling.

Sin Cara and Kalisto v The Vaudevillains

Tweet 44: Sin Cara's fist pumping is so halfhearted. I kind of respect him for very obviously not caring.

Tweet 45: #Vaudevillainspop
Tweet 46: Code of Honor status: followed.
Tweet 47: "Flipping into the attack there" - Tom Phillips, a man paid to be a commentator
Tweet 48: Decent match. Wrong team won though. People don't care about Sin Cara and Kalisto like they do the Vaudevillains.
Tweet 49: Plus Kalisto and El Local were the challengers on the last NXT spesh. Gotch and English would've given a fresher match.

The shirt always makes me think The Ascension should have a conspiracy theorist gimmick.

Tweet 50: Closing shot is The Ascension standing very still and holding their belts over their heads. Classic stuff.
Tweet 51: Best episode in a few weeks. I enjoyed that a lot. Every match did something for Takeover 2 and they trailed KENTA's debut just enough.

NXTweet 07.02.13

Since the last time I did an NXT recap there have been a few changes on the show. Seth Rollins has dropped the NXT championship and joined the main roster as part of The Shield. The man he lost his prize to, Big E Langston, has also joined the main roster, working as a bodyguard for World Heavyweight champ in waiting Dolph Ziggler.

Where Rollins has switched from face to heel in his promotion Langston has done the reverse. Except that in the bubble universe that is NXT he remains as popular as ever. He’s still the developmental league’s number one good guy, obsessed with the number five.

Former indy standout PAC has signed a WWE developmental deal and debuted under the decidedly pedestrian name of Adrian Neville. Perhaps the name is supposed to provoke an image of a nondescript footballer. It certainly doesn’t conjure up an image of a WWE sports entertainer. Nor, for that matter, does it conjure an image of a man capable of the impressive flying manoeuvres the man from Newcastle is known for. Hopefully he’ll get a gimmick overhaul before hitting RAW.

Oh, and on the subject of RAW let’s hope Neville has started getting rid of his accent before he turns up there. The British have a hard enough time understanding Geordies. I dread to think how the Americans will cope.

Another newcomer since my last recap is Oliver Grey. He’s another product of the British wrestling scene, although he’s not had anywhere near the international exposure and success of Neville. The two have formed a tag team based, apparently, solely on the fact that they’re both British. It’s as good a reason as any, I suppose.

Speaking of tag teams probably the biggest change since my last NXTweet is the introduction of NXT tag team championships. My personal tastes for any wrestling promotion (and to all intents and purposes NXT is a promotion that stands alone form WWE) are to see a singles championship and a tag team championship. I can take or leave a mid-card belt, usually only thinking they’re worthwhile if there’s a particularly deep roster in place (ROH, for example, definitely doesn’t need a TV title right now).

The thing with NXT is that there aren’t really that many teams available, which means some had to be tossed together to make the tournament work. Kassius Ohno and Leo Kruger are a perfect example. Had they reunited the Kings of Wrestling I would (naturally and predictably) have been all for it. Cesaro and Ohno have a history together. Even if it hadn’t been acknowledged a fair number of viewers would have been aware of it. Kruger and Ohno are two singles guys who hadn’t had any interaction with one another before the tournament started. Yet they’re deemed worthy of wrestling to become the first ever tag team champions.

Basically there was no need for the tag belts. With The Ascension gone (there’s another change: Conor O’Bria has gone solo after Kenneth Cameron (another Brit) was released from his contract last year) and the likes of Epico and Primo, former WWE tag champs but basically jobbers, roped in to make up the numbers alongside random units like Ohno and Kruger, there just isn’t a desperate need for doubles gold in NXT.

That said I don’t think it’s a bad idea. It could indicate that WWE have a long term plan to reintroduce tag team wrestling as a serious part of their programming again. Considering the likes of Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Edge, and Jeff Hardy all got their starts in tag teams. That should be indication enough that keeping the doubles ranks nicely stocked is a good move.

Recap video

Tweet 1: NXTweet.

Tweet 2: Tag team title tournament semi-finals on tonight's show! For the record I think it's a GREAT idea to get tag belts for developmental...
Tweet 3: ... Especially when the main roster has, like, three teams. It's brilliance! #sarcasm

NXT Tag team championship tournament semi-final – Leo Kruger and Kassius Ohno v Oliver Grey and Adrian Neville

Tweet 4: It's Kassius... OHNO!!

Tweet 5: Did he just do a moonwalk? Whatevs. Even if he did this team is no KOW.
Tweet 6: And their opponents: two British blokes.
Tweet 7: Yeah, good luck with making the Americans undertand your promos there, Adrian.
Tweet 8: Another note for the record: I like Ohno's blue trunks.
Tweet 9: Something I don't like is this bland commentator pronouncing Kassius as "Cash-ee-us."
Tweet 10: Kruger dresses like a member of The Shield. He's secretly a member. Leo 'The Secret' Kruger.
Tweet 11: 'South Africa's Best Kept Secret' Leo Kruger. 'Mr Secrecy' Leo Kruger.
Tweet 12: WWE management go out of their way to portray themselves as the only wrestling company in the world most of the time.
Tweet 13: Which means it feels odd when they have their commentators talk about wrestlers having travelled the world.
Tweet 14: Why does it matter? They're finally in WWE, competing on the prestigious NXT! Surely this is the highlight of their career?
Tweet 15: They're signing British guys now so where the HELL is James Tighe? Does he still work? I've not seen anything on him for years.
Tweet 16: Triple H and Shawn Michaels weren't a great team. They did some funny promos and were good singles guys. As a team? Average.
Tweet 17: "He just looks proper mental... He is" - William Regal on Leo Kruger
Tweet 18: I've not tweeted much about the content of this match. It's slow but very good, the kind of match you the main roster would avoid.
Tweet 19: "Regal, do you see this?!" - Kassius Ohno as he grabbed Adrian Neville's mouth guard
Tweet 20: I want to see Regal v Ohno.
Tweet 21: Good match. It didn't get particularly quick but it was satisfying.

Adrian Neville is practising his singing

Summer Rae is interviewed backstage

Tweet 22: Summer Rae thinks she's the prettiest Diva so she attacked Paige. Yeah, that's right. This feud is about prettiness.

Tweet 23: "Summer school's always in session" - Summer Rae with a comment that played on her name but did little else

Conor O’Brian v Mike Dalton

Tweet 24: Here's Conor O'Brian. Didn't he used to have a tag team partner?

Tweet 25: The crowd seem unenthused by O'Brian's "ruthlessly efficient" squash.
Tweet 26: Heel on the main roster, babyface in NXT, it's Big... E... LANGSTON!!
Tweet 27: Big E has a weird haircut.
Tweet 28: Langston hits his torso cutter and leaves. Conor O'Brian glowers in the ring. Langston shouts five. I feel upset.

They stared

Paige, Sasha Banks and Dusty Rhodes backstage… baybeh!

Tweet 29: Paige is telling Dusty Rhodes that she wants to rip Summer Rae's lips off. Dusty is clearly aroused... eef yoo weel!!

Tweet 30: Dusty looks like a partially melted waxwork of a failed American author.
Tweet 31: Anyway, 'The Dream' just flirted with Sasha Banks and now he's shouting for Rob. #dementia

NXT Royal Rumble tournament video package

Tweet 32: The NXT tournament at Fan Fest looks pretty good. The crowd's larger than I'd expected.

Tweet 33: Does Xavier Woods sleep rough?
Tweet 34: Was Conor O'Brian just described as a jolly beast?
Tweet 35: Kruger using the London Dungeon there. That's one of my favourite submission holds, fact fans.

Someone's happy

Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas backstage

Tweet 36: Bray and Bo backstage. BrayBo.

Tweet 37: Hmmm... these two looks similar. #theyrebrothers
Tweet 38: I strongly dislike Bo and strongly like Bray. Interesting? Nope. True though.

NXT Tag team championship tournament semi-final – The Wyatt Family v Bo Dallas and Michael McGillicutty

Tweet 39: The Wyatt Family clearly have membership cards at Beards R Us.

Tweet 40: For those who missed the memo Michael McGillicutty is now a face.
Tweet 41: The Wyatt Family remind me a little bit of the DOA. They were on Metal practically every week in the late 90s. They bored me.
Tweet 42: The Wyatt Family don't bore me though. I'm generally a fan of cult gimmicks in wrestling.
Tweet 43: Remember Raven's Serotonin group in TNA? I thought that had loads of potential.

Tweet 44: Post-match beating from Bray Wyatt to Bo Dallas there. Husky stuff.

Tweet 45: The show ends with Bray Wyatt sitting in a rocking chair and his boys staring listlessly into the camera. Darn enjoyable show.

Cruiser-vision

A show focusing exclusively on cruiserweights has long been rumoured for the upcoming WWE Network. Can a company that famously favours tall, muscular workers over smaller, more athletic men really produce a worthwhile programme that only features lightweights? I think they can, as long as the right people are put in charge.

In order for a cruiserweight show to work Vince McMahon and Triple H would need to limit their involvement. Both men are driving forces behind WWE’s bigger is better attitude and while I’m sure they appreciate the skill and athleticism required to work the style synonymous with smaller wrestlers they don’t enjoy watching it themselves. That means they don’t promote it in the correct way.

The company should look to hire two or three writers to work exclusively on the cruiserweight programme, ideally people who actually appreciate the style. The hiring policy they have used for the past decade or so is to look for writers who have television experience, with an interest in wrestling said to be a disadvantage for the position.

Personally I don’t like this approach but it’s unlikely the company will change the habit for a show focusing on smaller guys. However, it’s not too much to hope that WWE brings in a keen, knowledgeable fan or someone with wrestling and TV experience to work on the show. A cruiserweight show is something completely different for WWE viewers and should have a different feel to RAW, SmackDown and the rest of the promotion’s output. The best way to do that is to have someone working on the show that would not usually be considered for a writing gig.

The format of the new NXT would actually be perfect for a cruiserweight show. The smaller venue of Full Sail University promotes a more intimate atmosphere and attracts a knowledgeable and respectful crowd. I think those fans would be very appreciative of an all cruisers TV taping.

Even if WWE didn’t want to use Full Sail (which would be understandable, too many shows in one market would risk burning the audience out) I’m sure a similar venue could be found somewhere in the United States. Universities seem a good idea for WWE tapings. There must be dozens who would be willing to enter into a similar partnership with a company that can offer what WWE does (revenue, TV experience for students, etc.).

Rey Mystterio could benefit an all cruiserweights show with sporadic appearances

Not having any backstage segments (or at least keeping them to a bare minimum) at all allows for the action to take centre stage, exactly what a cruiserweight show should be about. Storylines on NXT are based around winning and losing. Simple and effective. That approach would benefit this hypothetical show (and RAW and SmackDown as well for that matter, but that won’t be happening anytime soon).

As far as announcers go I think WWE would be wise to go with a three man unit. One veteran announcer who can keep up with the action and lead the trio, one colour commentator, and one fresh hire who can be groomed for a larger role within the promotion at some point in the future. The obvious candidate for the veteran position is Jim Ross. He always does an outstanding job and has helped make NXT a phenomenal viewing experience.

Personally I wouldn’t pick him though. WWE has the ideal commentator already under contract: Joey Styles. He is wasted toiling on the company’s website, is well versed at calling fast paced matches and would be able to pass his own experience and wisdom onto the crew. Styles, more than JR, is perfect for calling faster matches featuring a plethora of moves rarely seen on RAW and SmackDown.

The new hire obviously isn’t someone that can predicted, but they should be keen on a career in the wrestling business and passionate about making the best show possible. That may seem an obvious thing to say but we’re discussing the company that happily promotes Michael Cole as its lead broadcaster.

The colour commentator could be almost anybody on the roster who would be interested in a commentary spot. Wade Barrett has worked in the role during his time in FCW. Christian seems a natural choice for a commentary gig too. WWE could even reach out to Rey Mysterio, easily the most successful small guy to ever work for the promotion, and see if he would be interested in a broadcasting job. His involvement could really enhance the show.

Something I think that should be avoided is the reinstatement of the cruiserweight title. Introducing a championship as soon as the show starts would take at least some of the focus off the wrestlers. We should get to know the men (and perhaps women) wrestling on the show long before we start caring about which of them has a championship.

Give it six months or a year and then think about a tournament to crown a champion. By then the best workers will have risen to the top and the audience will have chosen their favourites. Those are the wrestlers who should be at the top of the card and they can only get there with time.

The roster is obviously something that people are going to be very interested in, but we won’t know who’s going to be appearing on our screens until closer to the show’s (and the Network’s) launch. A hefty portion should be newcomers though, wrestlers signed from the independents based on their ability to work a fast, entertaining match.

Inevitably the show will need big, established names. I mentioned Rey Mysterio above in relation to a commentary spot. I don’t think he should be a regular wrestler on the show, but the occasional match here and there, such as on the debut episode, would help draw ratings and expose the less famous talent to the audience.

Alex Shelley is expected to join the show. He’ll be a good hire. Other names that could be considered are Jimmy Rave, Jack Evans, Homicide, PAC, Akira Tozawa, El Generico and most of the members of Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, and Ring of Honor’s locker rooms. WWE is not above scouting those companies for talent to use on its new shows.

If and when a WWE cruiserweight show rolls around it will have the potential to be great. There’s a lot that can go wrong with the venture (mainly because, as stated above, the promotion has a long history of dismissing smaller guys) but if done right I think it could help WWE create plenty of new stars and encourage a healthy viewership. Follow the outline above and it could be a highlight of the WWE Network.