NXTweet 16.09.15

When three of NXT's Four Horsewomen got promoted to the main WWE roster in July it seemed as though the developmental league's women's division had taken a big hit. Three of its main performers gone in one fell swoop. Pleasingly that hasn't been the case. All three have made appearances on NXT since their promotions, with Banks remaining a regular and continuing to wrestle for the brand.

The main event segment of this show went to a Banks and Bayley promo, the purpose of which was for the pair to agree to a rematch at the next Takeover event. And not just any rematch, it's to be an Iron (Wo)man match headlining the show. It's a slot that 'The Boss' and Bayley, not to mention the division they represent, fully deserve. They have a long-running feud, they're wrestling for a championship that means something to them and fans, and they outperformed everyone else at the last Takeover in August.

All of which is great but slightly surprising. The booking of the post-match at Takeover: Brooklyn seemed as though it was a goodbye from Charlotte, Becky and Sasha to the NXT audience, and a see-you-on-the-main-roster-soon to 'The Hugster'. The announcement of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Classic on the same night made it seem as though tag teams would become a bigger focus for NXT. Like competitive women's wrestling it's something that's not on offer with WWE's main roster product and it seemed like the obvious thing to fill the void left by the departing trio, rather than expecting Bayley to carry the remnants of a division.

While the Dusty Classic has seen a greater focus on the NXT doubles ranks it's actually come at the expense of time dedicated to the men's main event scene (handily disguising the fact that it's a little thin there once you're past Samoa Joe and Finn Bálor). Dana Brooke and Eva Marie have continued to receive strong booking with Nia Jax's debut also being tightly hyped up. This week's episode showed us that Asuka (formerly Kana) will debut next week. While it's a little surprising that her introduction is not being held off until after Nia Jax has arrived it demonstrates that the NXT writing team (which I'm convinced can't just consist of Triple H and Jimmy Jacobs) are keen not to let the women's division they've worked hard to establish suffer with the departures.

Intro

Tweet 1: NXT is rated TV PG. Because it includes violence. NXT is rated TV PG. Because it includes violence.

Tweet 2: If only WWE could get rid of the pesky violent overtones to their wrestling shows they could get the U rating they dream of.

Tyler Breeze, Adam Rose and Bull Dempsey segment

Tweet 3: Such a fan of the Breeze entrance. Such a non-fan of Byron Saxton's return to NXT commentary.

Tweet 4: Adam Rose, sans party people.
Tweet 5: This new party pooper gimmick is my kinda thing. Mid-card in its purest form.
Tweet 6: Not going to get into Bull Fit until Simon Dean returns to manage him.
Tweet 7: Imagine if they'd given Adam Rose a multiple personality gimmick, featuring the much anticipated return of Leo Kruger.

Best facial expression in this picture? The referee.

Tweet 8: "Tubby". Crying.
Tweet 9: What even is this opening segment?
Tweet 10: Hyped for that Rose-Breeze-Bull three-way at the next Takeover. That'll definitely get Breeze prepped for his match with Doug Williams.
Tweet 11: Doug Williams: LEGEND.
Tweet 12: Interesting to Adrian Neville in that UK tour ad.

Tye Dillinger v Danny Burch

Tweet 13: We are witnessing the height of Tye Dillinger's career with this 'Perfect 10' thing. #justsaying

Tweet 14: Dillinger facing one half of the Stixx and Stone tag team, Martin Stone. He's back under the Danny Burch name because why not?

Sticking with the good facial expressions theme...

Tweet 15: I want Dillinger to start cutting pun laden promos. Tendency. Tenacity. Tenable. Tenure. Tenant... Get on this, writers.

Rhyno and Baron Corbin discuss Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa

Tweet 16: Rhyno and Barry respect each other. That makes them a solid tag team, apparently.

Tweet 17: To clarify neither Rhyno nor Barry Corbin are worried by Johnny Gargano or Tommaso Ciampa.

Asuka vignette

Tweet 18: So Kana signs, becomes Asuka, and debuts before Nia Jax? What's the rush? Debut Jax then bring in Asuka. Excite us, Trips.

Solomon Crowe v Apollo Crews

Tweet 19: So tired by Solomon Crowe. I hope he loses and goes nuts after the match.

Tweet 20: Then he can turn up in a few weeks in the suit he should have been wearing all along.
Tweet 21: Kicking away a handshake. Mate, that's SO bad guy behaviour.

Luger could do that too.

Tweet 22: 'The Total Package' Apollo Luger.
Tweet 23: I want the Uhaa Combination renamed the Luger Combination as a nod to Apollo's mentor Lex Luger.

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa discuss Rhyno and Baron Corbin

Tweet 24: "You get one life and you get one chance" - Johnny Gargano

Dana Brooke and Emma announce they're tired of being overlooked

Tweet 25: Big fan of Dana Brooke doing the Bellas' grizzled vet gimmick.

Sasha Banks arrives at Full Sail

Tweet 26: Shot of Sasha Banks getting out of a car there. Apparently Russo's taken over the booking.

Tweet 27: Actually, had Russo booked that we wouldn't have found out who was in the car until after a break. He's convinced car contents is a hook.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano v Rhyno and Baron Corbin

Tweet 28: The four spotlights aren't lined up properly. I bet Barry's well annoyed at that.

Tweet 29: Tasty bit of matching gear on Ciampa and Gargano. They're winning. #sarcasm
Tweet 30: Ciampa knows WWE aren't keen on signing overly stiff guys, right?
Tweet 31: "Tommaso Ciampa is my favourite wrestler" - Nobody
Tweet 32: Please note that Barry Corbin is wearing some basic tights from No Mercy on the N64.
Tweet 33: Barry was signed because he's good at life. Credit to Corey Graves for that belter.
Tweet 34: I want a feud based around use of the tag rope.

Naff tights on Corbin here. Shameful.

Tweet 35: Barry pins Gargano, putting himself into contention for the Open the Freedom Gate and EVOLVE championships.
Tweet 36: I hope Jody Kristofferson is one of the EVOLVE lads to get brought in for job duty. That lad is money.

The Vaudevillains discuss their rematch with BAMF next week, then BAMF show up

Tweet 37: #Vaudevillainspop

Tweet 38: Heel Alexa Bliss. Good. Lord.

Bayley v Sarah Dobson

Tweet 39: That Bayley entrance got me.

Tweet 40: The Izzy heel turn is going to get nuclear heat when it comes...
Tweet 41: Didn't even hear Sarah Dobson announced. That's got to make her crazy.
Tweet 42: Imagine not enjoying Bayley.
Tweet 43: Banks versus Bayley was really good but match of the year is a bit strong.
Tweet 44: Not sure I'd stretch to "best women's match in WWE history" either tbh.

A pair of great characters here.

Tweet 45: Liking Banks and Bayley making this about being the best and winning.
Tweet 46: "I am the best female wrestler in this company" - Sasha Banks, who was doing so well
Tweet 47: #Regalpop
Tweet 48: Eff this crowd for booing Regal's music.
Tweet 49: That segment was flawless.

WWE Night of Champions 2015 preview

Do you like title defences? If so you'll love Night of Champions. It's the WWE B level pay-per-view where every championship is defended in a match, which somehow sets it apart from all those other WWE pay-per-views where all titles are defended. Plus there are bonus matches that don't even involve titles at all! WWE is truly spoiling us.

With every title being defended double champion Seth Rollins will make two appearances at this event. He'll defend the WWE championship against Sting and the United States championship against John Cena. The US title match is expected to go on last. Considering the respective ability of Sting and Cena I think that's the right call. 'Big Match John' is clearly more capable of delivering a satisfying main while having Rollins face 'The Icon' first will ensure he's fresher, all the better to carry the ageing former WCW headliner to something passable.

I'm fully expecting Cena to regain the US belt. Keeping Rollins a double champ doesn't seem feasible long term and it's tough to envisage Sting wandering out on RAW with the world gold. It's by no means impossible, there's ample time for Rollins to drop the belt to someone and give them a short reign before he regains it and drops it to Reigns. That someone could easily be Sting. Rollins versus Reigns is the obvious big match for WWE to be building to but there's time for them to surprise us before they get there, basically.

There's a way for all three guys to come out of this show looking good. If Sting v Rollins took the semi-main spot then Rollins could cheat to win a fifteen minute match and sell exhaustion as his US defence kicks off. This would keep heat on 'The Future' for cheating in another title defence, protect Sting by not having him lose clean, and make Cena look strong for giving the heel his comeuppance, with Rollins being protected in his second match because he's wrestled back to back defences. Instead of this I suspect Rollins and 'The Stinger' will open the show and that WWE will go with the same story suggested above, though it won't work anywhere near as well with Rollins having a few hours to recuperate between bouts. 

The other gents' single strap will be defended by Ryback against Kevin Owens. It's a match that has the potential to be hossy excellence. It's quality will ultimately be determined by whether or not Ryback's on form. As a character he's always gold, face or heel, but his ring work can vary. Owens will definitely carry his end of things. Expect his usual big match arsenal of fishermanbusters and double jump moonsaults. I'll be surprised if 'The Big Guy' doesn't get to kick out of at least one of Owens' power bomb variants too.

I'm torn on a winner for this match. Ryback is still very much one of the company's projects, a lad they're determined to get over. It's the reason he got the IC strap in the first place. But Owens very clearly has top line potential himself and is a better worker with (seemingly) a more passionate following than big Ry'.

I'm leaning towards an Owens win. I've been predicting Ryback wins since he won the belt on the basis of it not feeling like time for a change. Now it's beginning to. If WWE are serious about wanting their championships to mean more (and the booking of the US title since WrestleMania indicates that they do) then Owens would be a good man to put it on. Of course, successfully defending against Owens could really help to legitimise Ryback's title reign. So there's that.

Over in the tag division New Day will defend the titles against the Dudley Boyz. Given the New Day's table-themed protest against the Dudleys immediately after their return and the lack of gimmick matches on this show it's surprising that this isn't a tables match. I suppose that could change before the event or even on the night. If it does I expect Bubba and Devon will leave as ten time (WWE) doubles champs. If it doesn't then I could see New Day winning in order to set up a rematch for the MSG special or Hell in a Cell in October.

The match will be great. Because New Day. In fact it'll be great because of the Dudleys too. They've been great since their return to the company last month. Bubba has proven he was entirely wasted as Bully Ray in TNA. Not that that's news to anyone.

The evening's other tag match will be a six man. Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, the two man Shield, will once again pair up to tangle with the Wyatt Family. It's the stables rivalry that will never end, which, in a way, is part of why it's so special. The guys involved can always slip into a programme based on their allegiances to these groups. It's the sort of thing that works so well in wrestling.

The Wyatts will be represented by Bray, Luke Harper and new boy Braun Strowman. A mystery partner has been teased for Ambrose and Reigns. The list of potential partners seems pretty short. Randy Orton was attacked by Bray and co on the 7 September RAW and was shown talking to Reigns and Ambrose later in the evening so he'd be a logical choice. Erick Rowan had reunited with Luke Harper before he suffered an injury in June but it's possible he could return to oppose them citing jealousy over Braun Strowman bring brought in. That sounds an underwhelming and slightly silly reason for a face turn but WWE have offered far less in the past. Personally I'd like to see Cesaro as the mystery partner. It wouldn't make much sense but he's not booked and he can wrestle his socks off (possibly literally).

I suspect we'll get 'The Viper' as the third man though. Although he's boring a lot of the time he'd be perfectly watchable here. Sharing the ring with five other men would limit his screen time and allow him to hit his key spots without doing much else. That's pretty much ideal for him.

The current incarnation of the feud (which started back at Money in the Bank in June) is tied at one win each. 'The Eater of Worlds' defeated Reigns at Battleground. Reigns and Ambrose picked up a tag win over Wyatt and Harper at SummerSlam. Assuming this is the final match in the series I'm predicting a Reigns, Ambrose and mystery partner victory here. Reigns needs to be kept strong for the WWE title win he's getting sooner or later. That said I'd love to see the Wyatt Family win after interference from a returning Rowan or, better yet, a debuting Sister Abigail.

Also announced for the show are Dolph Ziggler v Rusev and Adrian Neville and the Lucha Dragons v The Cosmic Wasteland. I've got little to say regarding Ziggler, Rusev, Lana and Summer Rae. The story seems to be deliberately emulating a trashy soap plot. This is fine and something wrestling can parody very well. Sadly nobody involved is going as crazy with their material as they need to to make it work. I'll hope Lana swerve turns on 'The Show Off' to reunite with Rusev.

The six man match will be on the pre-show. I don't usually cover those but I love this Cosmic Wasteland thing so much that I just wanted an excuse to mention it. Stardust has been a highlight of WWE since his issue with Stephen Amell became A Thing and casting The Ascension as his henchmen was a stroke genius. They look good together, it gives a previously aimless team something to do, and it helps 'The Prince of Dark Matter' seem that bit more of a threat. No logical analysing here, I want them to win.

Finally there's Nikki Bella's Divas title match with Charlotte. This match originally took place on the September 14 episode of RAW with the story on that night being that Charlotte wanted to win not just to become the Divas champion but to stop Nikki becoming the longest reigning champ in history. We got a Dusty finish. Charlotte was announced as the victor and new champ, Ric Flair nigh on teleported down to ringside to get in some celebrating with his daughter, then it was revealed that Charlotte had pinned Brie. The match was restarted and Nikki got in a pin to retain her title and shatter a record.

The reasoning behind this sequence was beyond reproach. Nikki cheating to win in the manner she did is a long established character trait. Stealing the title from Charlotte's grasp is the perfect way to get heat on a heel. The trouble is that so much leading up to the match had been haphazard. Nikki had flitted back and forth between face and heel. The Divas Revolution story, while entertaining and definitely movement in the right direction, had not produced that many truly memorable or meaningful matches.

The good news is that the NOC rematch has been announced with stipulations that favour a fair fight. Nikki can lose by DQ, ruling out any heelish shenanigans. Things are set up for a Charlotte victory and Sasha Banks has been surreptitiously readied as her first challenger with clean TV wins over former champion Paige and a subtle restructuring of BAD to make it clear that 'The Boss' is... well, the boss. Nikki is unlikely to regain the title after losing it to Charlotte but she can float around near the top of the division as a perennial challenger, her longest reign ever giving her something to crow about and helping portray her as a legitimate contender.

If Charlotte doesn't win at Night of Champions WWE will have to go back to square one with their Divas division. I don't think they want to. I'm confident enough people backstage understand that Sunday needs to be Charlotte's night.

***

Predictions summary:

John Cena to defeat Seth Rollins to win the United States championship
Seth Rollins to defeat Sting to retain the WWE championship
Kevin Owens to defeat Ryback for the Intercontinental championship
Charlotte to defeat Nikki Bella to win the Divas championship
Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and their mystery partner to defeat The Wyatt Family
New Day to defeat the Dudley Boyz to retain the tag team championship
Rusev to defeat Dolph Ziggler
The Cosmic Wasteland to defeat Adrian Neville and the Lucha Dragons

The Steve Austin Show

For a long time after retiring from in-ring activity 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin struggled to find a new calling. He hung around in WWE for a few years in a variety of authority figure roles but it never felt quite right. As a wrestler one of his defining characteristics had been his anti-authority bent. Seeing him laying down the law felt odd. On top of that it was clear that Austin missed actually wrestling. He was fun in these roles but they were never truly Steve Austin.

Eventually he left those roles behind in favour of chasing acting work in Hollywood. The high point of that endeavour was his appearances as lead goon Paine in The Expendables. When it became clear that acting wasn't going to pan out for him as it did The Rock (or even Hulk Hogan), Austin took a sidestep into hosting. Specifically he headed up WWE's initial, pre-Network, revival of Tough Enough and Country Music Television's Redneck Island. When those were received well he launched a podcast and got himself another TV show, Broken Skull Challenge¹.

Austin looking massively unimpressed there. Great stuff.

A combination of Austin being a likeable host and having a mostly sensible, respectable view on the wrestling business made his podcast a success. That in turn lead to WWE offering Austin a slot on the Network to interview Vince McMahon on 1 December 2014. No official ratings are available for the Network but it's hard to imagine this didn't do well: it was Vince's first appearance on a podcast answering questions from someone he'd had a close working relationship with for a number of years. It clearly did well enough to make someone in WWE decide that it should be a frequent thing as Austin has since returned to interview Triple H, Paul Heyman, Paige, and Edge and Christian.

It's possible that reading that list one name stands out over the others. Paige is not the first person who springs to mind when you think of potential interviewees for 'The Rattlesnake'. The common belief is that she was an emergency replacement for Hulk Hogan, who had been revealed as a bit of a racist a week or so earlier. If we assume that Hogan was the initially scheduled guest² we end up with a list of top level talent who would have worked with Austin during his run as an active wrestler (with all but Heyman being around him at his peak).

With an impressive pedigree established for Austin's Network shows it will be interesting to see who else gets lined up as a guest. There are a number of names I'd like to see, with Eric Bischoff being at the top of the list. They have an interesting history together. An injured Austin was released from his WCW contract by a cost-cutting Bischoff and he went on, via some angry anti-WCW promos in ECW, to be the biggest star in wrestling. When Bischoff rocked up in WWE years later he would end up working closely with Austin. Any heat between them will have long since been resolved but it still be interesting to see the pair discuss Austin's WCW firing and their later working relationship.

Both Mick Foley and The Rock would also be good guests. They worked with Austin at his hottest. Foley was his first feud after winning the WWF championship at WrestleMania XIV and would go on to work as a transitional champion getting the strap from Austin to Triple H in summer 1999. These periods of work, along with the fact that Foley has known Austin since the early nineties, give Foley an insight into Austin's journey to the top and his behaviour while he was there that few others could have. It's unlikely Ausitn would bring up his difficult behaviour once he was established as a top star on his own show but Foley could allude to it. Even if he didn't they're two of the biggest stars of the Attitude Era who respect one another's work and it would be nice to see them reminiscing about their time on top.

This is podcast material right here.

The appeal with The Rock is slightly different. Both he and Austin have mentioned over the years that they didn't get on when they first met but they went on to have the defining rivalry of wrestling's hottest period. If their secret handshake-heavy appearances in recent years (see WrestleMania XXX) are anything to go by they're very good pals now. As with Foley a large part of the appeal is seeing the pair chatting about their work together, although it feels like there's more chance of Austin acknowledging his early dislike of 'The Great One' than of his '99 paranoia.

The Undertaker was also around Austin at the same time as Foley and Rock but as he's had a WWE career that's lasted for well over two decades it's safe to assume that, rather than his late nineties dealing with Austin, would be the focus. Austin's mentioned on previous shows, as well as his regular podcast, that he was unhappy that The Streak ended. Seeing him discuss that topic with 'The Phenom' could fill a substantial amount of time by itself, especially if they looked back on The Streak as a whole. Even leaving The Streak aside 'Taker's worked with such a wide variety of WWE names and had so many bizarre periods of his career (who doesn't want to see Austin discuss Ministry of Darkness era 'Taker or 'Big Evil' era 'Taker?) that he'd be a natural choice for guest. Though somehow I don't think we'll see this happen until 'The Dead Man' is ready to call it a day on his career. WWE are, rightfully, protective of the character's mystique and appearing on a podcast would be damaging to that.

As the breakout star of the last year or so Seth Rollins would be a cool interview. Even though he's only been on the main roster for less than three years 'The Future' has accomplished a lot. He participated in a revival of trios matches (which I'm convinced would prompt Austin to drop a Freebirds reference), had a cracking singles feud with Dean Ambrose in which they headlined a PPV over John Cena, and he won the WWE championship in a WrestleMania main event. He'll be on top of WWE for years to come and I'd like to see Austin passing on some pointers with that in mind.

Talk, Owens, talk.

A breakout star of lesser status right now is Kevin Owens. I think he'd be a good addition to the show's line-up because he's such a fan of Austin. He's spoken before about happening to run into Austin at an airport when he was first starting out as a wrestler, where Austin told him to never stop running his mouth. Anyone who's seen Owens wrestle knows that's advice he took on board and it's likely advice that ultimately helped him to get signed by WWE. Seeing the pair discuss that aspect of KO's act would be fun, as would Austin delving into Owens' other career influences and his status as one of WWE's hottest heels, and one of the few to have motives beyond being bad because they're bad. I'd also like to see Austin speak to someone who's been in NXT since it became the "hot brand" it currently is, and Owens fits the bill perfectly.

Perhaps a slightly odd choice would be Cesaro. Not because he doesn't have anything interesting to say (he does) but because he's not the big name that everyone else on this list is. Austin is an outspoken fan of 'The King of Swing' so it's easy to imagine him wanting to have him on the show to give him a platform to promote himself. On top of that Cesaro's had an interesting journey to WWE, winning a green card lottery and all, and always comes across as an affable, humble lad in interviews.

Finally, there's John Cena. He's one of only a handful of men to have ever been positioned as the centrepiece of WWE. Austin is one of the others. He's one of the few people who can understand the pressure of Cena's spot. He's a fan of Cena's work too, which seems to be the case for a lot of WWE veterans. I'd like to see him discuss Cena's ring work with Cena to see if his claims are genuine and, if they are, what it is he specifically enjoys. Plus the subject of the springboard Stunner could be fun.

***

¹ This sounds less painful than it is. Though, to be clear, it is still a very painful show for those who appear on it.

² For the record I think it's a real shame Hogan is now unlikely to ever appear on Austin's Network show. It would have been fascinating to see Austin and Hogan discuss Hogan's WCW politicking (which Austin believes held him down there), Austin's ECW parodies of Hogan, and which of them is the bigger, more important name in WWE history.

John Cena's Sweet Sixteen

Over the last year much has been made of the fact that John Cena's next world title win will tie him with Ric Flair's record of sixteen. Ever since he lost his fifteenth world championship at SummerSlam 2014 we've been hearing rumour through The Dirt Sheets™ that WWE wants to have Cena's next win and the reign it kicks off be big deals. We heard it mentioned on-screen leading up to SummerSlam this year, Cena's first title shot since January's Royal Rumble, with him specifically name-dropping Flair and announcing that he wants to reach that milestone.

This makes sense. With only one man having been as prolific as Cena when it comes to winning world titles it's entirely understandable that WWE would want to focus on that journey as a story. Cena equalling a record tally is a logical, understandable plot for wrestling because it focuses on wins and losses and the importance of titles. It's also something that has never really been done before in wrestling, at least not in the exact circumstance of someone tying Flair.

The thing is that Cena's world title win won't see him equal Flair's actual record. It will see him equal the WWE approved record, the one that discounts a number of 'Naitch's' early NWA world championship victories. For what it's worth Flair is said to privately consider himself something like a twenty-one time world champ. Not that Flair's private feelings or the legitimate number of title reigns he's had actually matters. What matters is that Flair is known as a sixteen time world champion and Cena's next win will see tie this.

The once and future champ.

When it comes (and it will come) Cena's next WWE championship reign needs to be something memorable¹. Running through standard issue title defences against Rollins, Kane and Orton won't cut it if WWE wants to do the story they're going for justice. What is the story they're going (or will be going) for? That in winning sixteen world championships Cena, who is frequently lambasted as a poor wrestler with little understanding of selling and ring psychology, is every bit as good as Ric Flair, who is frequently held up as the greatest professional wrestler ever.

A long title reign will be needed to do this story justice and for a long title reign WWE will need plenty of challengers. Right now there are very few people who could believably defeat Cena on pay-per-view. The number who could defeat him for a world title is even smaller, especially such an importantly numbered title. And if a long Cena title reign is to work in 2015 or beyond then the audience should be able to feel that Cena could lose in any defence, adding to the drama of each match, therefore heightening reactions and making the achievement of each successful retention seem greater.

Had one of Cena's allegedly star-making feuds against Bray Wyatt, Rusev or Kevin Owens gone differently over the last eighteen months things could be different. Had Cena left any one of those feuds without getting a victory then the opponent in question would be perfectly positioned as a title challenger for 'Big Match John' come his next world title reign. They could have been presented as the only man of the last decade Cena had failed to defeat and a favourite in a title match against him. Basically, Cena losing more in these programmes would have made a victory for him at a later point a bigger deal.

Rusev in particular could have been great in this role. Had WWE thought enough about it 'The Bulgarian Brute' could have been built up as Cena's gateway to a sixteenth world title. Had Rusev dropped Cena on three or four straight pay-per-views he would have been established as a juggernaut and a natural contender to the WWE world title. He could have won that from Rollins, either in a singles match (in the right city Rollins could have played the face) or a three-way including someone like Ambrose, Lesnar or Reigns to give people a face to get behind, and gone on to have a few months as a dominant world champion. Cena could have gone on his undercard quest to find himself (the Open Challenge thing could have worked as Cena testing himself instead of as a US title reign) before challenging Rusev to a world title match and beating him. This would have seen Cena finally getting the victory that had eluded him, ending Rusev's undefeated streak, and equalling the sixteen title reigns record in one match.

But, sadly, nobody in WWE seems to think that far ahead.

The good news is that Cena's next world title win is unlikely to roll around until next year.  Roman Reigns seems like the natural choice to take the belt from current champ Seth Rollins, likely at WrestleMania 32 Star in Texas next April. It's unlikely Reigns' inaugural world title run would last less than four months, which would take him through to SummerSlam, a fitting stage for Cena's big win. Next August gives WWE plenty of time to rebuild Rusev, Owens and Wyatt, along with preparing other acts like Cesaro, Stardust and Ryback, giving Cena the stacked roster he needs to make his sixteenth world title reign the success it deserves to be.

***

¹ The irony here is that Flair's final WCW world title reigns were massively underwhelming. The fifteenth world title reign of Ric Flair began on an episode of Nitro and lasted seven days, ending when he was stripped of the belt by Vince Russo. Jeff Jarrett then won the title later on the same show and lost it the following evening to Kevin Nash at a Thunder taping. 'Big Sexy' then handed the title back to Flair on the following Nitro², with Flair going on to lose the title back to Jarrett later on in the show.

Yes, that means Flair's famed sixteenth world title reign began with Kevin Nash handing him the belt and lasted less than two hours. Woooooo!

NXTweet 09.09.15

One NXT this week: Australian women, more Dusty Tag Classic action, and NXT being recorded at WWE TV tapings! What a time to be alive, as they say.

Intro

Tweet 1: Just put on the Network to find an Orton v Cena match. The people in charge of schedules really know how to grab people.

Tweet 2: I'm switching over to NXT... now.
Tweet 3: NXT could totes do its own opening tag thing. It would go against the point though, failing to celebrate the history of WWE.

Peyton Royce v Carmella

Tweet 4: You're not a princess, Carmella. Nor are you fabulous.

Tweet 5: Can't wait until Peyton Royce and Emma form a pro-Australia stable.
Tweet 6: Fist bump of Honor.
Tweet 7: The usually solid Rich Brennan just calling a fisherman suplex a suplex there.

A fisherman suplex.

Tweet 8: Imagine if someone won off a cross body in 2015.
Tweet 9: Carmella won by tap out. In WWE that qualifies her as a submission specialist.

Samoa Joe and Finn Bálor backstage

Tweet 10: Joe handing Bálor the title belt was utterly cringe and I can't say why.

Tweet 11: I did like Joe pronouncing Bálor as "bailer" though.

Recap of Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic house show matches

Tweet 12: Other than a Dawkins and Fulton appearance it doesn't look like we missed much with these round one house show matches.

Tweet 13: Wouldn't have minded seeing Wilder and Dawson wrestling though. Those lads are #enjoyable

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey v Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano

Tweet 14: *Looks at Tyler*

Tweet 15: Where's Bull's robe?
Tweet 16: Bull Dempsey is the kind of guy who'd be booked as a monster if he was in EVOLVE. Just bear that I'm mind.
Tweet 17: Really liking Gargano and Ciampa running through some generic tag team posing.
Tweet 18: That slap though.
Tweet 19: Honestly, seemed a dick move from Ciampa. Breeze sold it so well though.
Tweet 20: Why is Bull being booked as the more competent member of his team?
Tweet 21: I wish Ciampa was wrestling as Tommy Penmanship.

This is where Bull Fit gets you.

Tweet 22: Half-arsed tag work to get the pin aside that match was pretty good. Could've done with more 'Prince Pretty' though.
Tweet 23: Lol at this vicious post-match kicking from Breeze to Bull. Bit of a comedown for Breeze if Bull's his next Takeover opponent though.

The Lucha Dragons talk about the DRTTC backstage

Tweet 24: Sin Cara having a little chat in Spanish here. Got to keep the luchador gimmick strong, brother.

Tweet 25: I don't speak Spanish but I'm assuming he botched something. Because he's Sin Cara.
Tweet 26: Backstage "Lucha!" fist pumping. #cringe

Dana Brooke talks to Devin Taylor

Tweet 27: Excellent mid-promo pauses from Dana Brooke here.

Tweet 28: 'The Total Diva' needs to learn how to talk to the total correct camera.

Dana Brooke v Billie Kay

Tweet 29: Billie Kay, Peyton Royce and Emma form a new trio and join in the main roster feud. #bookit

Tweet 30: Their motivation is that they're angry at being left out of The Greatest Women's Feud of All Time. Like the Sontarans with the Time War.
Tweet 31: Y'know, like in The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky.

RIP Dana's silver and pink motif.

Tweet 32: Really liking Dana Brooke's work here. She has the potential to be a solid trash-talker.
Tweet 33: Dana spamming a handstand into an elbow drop like some sort of n00b fighting game player.
Tweet 34: Or, if you prefer, character.
Tweet 35: When is Dana's finisher going to be acknowledged as the Alex Shane tribute it CLEARLY is?

Apollo Crews talks to Devin Taylor

Tweet 36: Apollo Crews there, saying he can't put into words how great it is to be in NXT then putting it into words anyway.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: The Lucha Dragons v Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe

Tweet 37: Jimmy Uso and Tom Phillips on commentary for the main event. Lower your expectations.

The latest addition to the Finn Bálor package: a jacket. Exciting times.

Tweet 38: Finn Bálor's jacket is verging on Chris Jericho territory. Not somewhere you should want to be these days. Because Jericho's a mess.
Tweet 39: Providence, Rhode Island does not seem like NXT country. Hopefully the lads can win them over.
Tweet 40: "This is awesome!" chant for a wrist lock. That's why I hate that chant.
Tweet 41: Kalisto running into the ring like a weaselish little heel there.
Tweet 42: Maybe he thought it was Lucha rules and Cara had left the ring. That'd be a good gimmick for the Dragons: they wrestle under lucha rules.
Tweet 43: Looking forward to Joe tagging in and beasting Kalisto.

Fingers crossed they start calling themselves
The New Mega Powers.

Tweet 44: Bálor gets worked over by the Dragons. Joe gives both of them a kicking. I hope Joe handling them better leads to Joe's title shot.
Tweet 45: Because the Lucha Dragons should definitely be booked as the gateway to the NXT championship.
Tweet 46: Celebrating with a too sweet because teasing some sort of New Kliq is a thing that's happening.
Tweet 47: Good show. Good hustle.