Booker T is taking Lawler's spot on Raw permanently, alongside Cole and JBL. Smackdown will be called by Cole, King, and Byron Saxton. PPVs will continue to be called by Cole, JBL, and King.
That's not...good or anything, but it's nice to see some new blood in Byron Saxton. No Alex Riley is a plus.
(edited by SchippeWreck on 8.1.15 1452) Everything is awesome.
I didn't even realize Byron Saxton was still with the company. That means Jacob Novak is the only participant of NXT Season 4 not currently on television.
Random data: All but one of the NXT Season One competitors are currently wrestling in the WWE. (Well, Otunga isn't wrestling but he's still employed.)
Five of the eight competitors from Season Two have been on TV recently. Three of the six participants from the Greatest Television Show In The History of Wrestling (aka Season 3) have recently appeared on TV.
Season five was such a clusterfuck that I'm not even going to attempt to process it.
Of the four people to win a season of NXT, two of them are currently secondary champions in either WWE or TNA. One of them has never been pinned or submitted at Wrestlemania, having only lost a battle royal, and the other retired from wrestling.
That puts NXT slightly above Tough Enough. Of the eight people to win Tough Enough, only two of them (John Morrison and Andy Leavine) are still actively competing.
Originally posted by GreymarchWhat is Otunga doing now anyway?
According to Wikipedia, he hasn't appeared since Wrestlemania "due to outside ventures", but he's still on the roster. I also just learned that he's actually still with to Jennifer Hudson, which I didn't realize. According to this article, he's doing stand-up comedy but has recently been training at the NXT performance center and hopes to get back in the ring soon.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLoco"Aww man, Let me tell you somethin' ... "
Booker T getting to talk for three straight hours is such a curious choice for a company that is so big on someone's ability to cut promos.
Booker was beyond horrendous when he first started, way back during that period I was recapping SmackDown. I tuned in on Monday and YOWZA, he's shown almost zero improvement.
Would it kill them to give Regal any kind of shot? Or should I just be grateful that Raw won't drag him down to the typical level of crap?
"Playing guitars. It's hard to sing while playing...guitars."
Originally posted by InVerse Random data: All but one of the NXT Season One competitors are currently wrestling in the WWE. (Well, Otunga isn't wrestling but he's still employed.)
Five of the eight competitors from Season Two have been on TV recently. Three of the six participants from the Greatest Television Show In The History of Wrestling (aka Season 3) have recently appeared on TV.
The WWE's desire to stick with as many NXT guys as possible seemed evident during last year's cuts because they were almost all pre-NXT guys, while most of the NXT guys stuck around. The most obvious example was keeping Slater and ditching the other two members of 3MB. That could be good news for guys like Otunga, Gabriel, Curtis Axel and Titus O'Neil come next cuts. Maybe bad news for Zach Ryder and R-Truth?
Dislike Tom Phillips being demoted...would have liked to see different PBP guys on Raw and SD. He wasn't much more than a punching bag for Maggle and JBL on Smackdown, though...
A change in the announce teams was necessary, but this is a zero-sum adjustment. Nothing bold. Nothing fresh.
Lawler would work much better as a GM for either show. His talking would be limited, and he'd remain onscreen and he could carry a weak speaker through an angle. I think his style can work when it's not stretched to fill every ten seconds of a two-hour (or more) show.
The lack of desire of recent retirees to become announcers is deflating. Edge and Jericho are doing too well outside the WWE to stick around. I like Christian, for instance. Talking was his strength. Booker T's talking was never a strong component.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by Matt TrackerLawler would work much better as a GM for either show. His talking would be limited, and he'd remain onscreen and he could carry a weak speaker through an angle. I think his style can work when it's not stretched to fill every ten seconds of a two-hour (or more) show.
The lack of desire of recent retirees to become announcers is deflating. Edge and Jericho are doing too well outside the WWE to stick around. I like Christian, for instance. Talking was his strength. Booker T's talking was never a strong component.
Corey Graves is filling the "retiree as announcer" role on NXT really well, I think.
Never understood the need for a three-man booth, personally...it can get kinda crowded with everyone trying to get a word in edgewise. They have enough shows and enough commentators that they could spread everyone out across the separate shows without a lot of overlap.
True, they're pretty heavy on color commentators as opposed to play-by-play people(there's Cole, Tom Phillips...and then Rich Brennan on NXT).
Originally posted by Matt TrackerLawler would work much better as a GM for either show. His talking would be limited, and he'd remain onscreen and he could carry a weak speaker through an angle. I think his style can work when it's not stretched to fill every ten seconds of a two-hour (or more) show.
I don't want Lawler in a position of power when it comes to the Diva division, thank you very much. It's bad enough we have to listen to his juvenile remarks calling matches. :\
Originally posted by Matt TrackerThe lack of desire of recent retirees to become announcers is deflating. Edge and Jericho are doing too well outside the WWE to stick around. I like Christian, for instance. Talking was his strength. Booker T's talking was never a strong component.
Is it a lack of desire or more of the fact that they know they'd be controlled on what to say instead of being able to effectively commentate as they want to?
Originally posted by wannaberockstar Is it a lack of desire or more of the fact that they know they'd be controlled on what to say instead of being able to effectively commentate as they want to?
I think both. The constant parroting is there, but also the booking might be something they're unwilling to sell for hours on end.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
The women have main evented a few times since Trish-Lita, mainly a few Sasha-Charlotte matches. Speaking of which, it's about time Sasha is back in the title picture. Hope they keep here there for a while. Poor Bayley.