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The W - Pro Wrestling - NXT #330 4/13/16
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Tenken347
Knackwurst








Since: 27.2.03
From: Parts Unknown

Since last post: 41 days
Last activity: 3 days
#1 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.44
Ooooh, you guys are going to have to bear with me here, because I am sick, bro. Nevertheless, I am committed to bringing you the very best of NXT, and I won't let a little thing like my own impending mortality distract me from bringing you the recaps you deserve.

The show opens with GM Regal thanking us for supporting Takeover. That's unnecessarily kind of him. He runs down tonight's show for us - we're getting the Vaudvillains, in what is likely to be their very last NXT match, the former women's champ Bayley, and in our main event, Shinsuke Nakamura. They seem pretty high on that guy.

Our first match of the night, however, is Austin Aries making his TV debut against...Angelo Dawkins. Super. Dawkins is shooting for a LeBron James gimmick, but all I'm getting is MVP. He's also doing this...stirring(?) motion with his hands. Is he whisking up an invisible batch of brownies? Anhyoo, Dawkins actually gets a mild early advantage, until Aries does a cool handstand into a dropkick move to escape a leg scissors. Aries stays on top for a little while, until Dawkins gets his token jobber offense. He once again starts making that stirring motion. Is he drawing a perfect circle to demonstrate his artistic proficiency, a la Giotto? Boom! Pre-Renaissance Italian art joke! Whoops, while I was congratulating myself, Aries took advantage with some forearm shots, then a rope-assisted neckbreaker. He goes up top for a missile dropkick, then a corner dropkick (are they trying to get those to replace superkicks? Everyone's doing them now). Finally, he hits a Rolling Elbow to pick up the pin.
Match Rating: I Had To Listen Really Hard To Corey Graves To Know If He Said "Rolling" Or "Roaring." It's A Mild Point Of Contention.

We go backstage for comments from Samoa Joe. He' finally cooled down enough from TO to actually give us something. He says that nothing's changed (damn right - he lost again), he's still gunning for the title, and his war will continue. Next week, it continues against Apollo Crews. Ah, so that's who AC is laying down for on his way out.

No Way Jose! Next Week!

Alexa Bliss has a match with Some Jo....no, wait, that's Tully Blanchard's daughter Tessa. She doesn't get an entrance or chyron or anything, so that's a little weird. They start with NXT main event style, and after a couple reversals, Tessa knocks Bliss down with a shoulder block. She starts throwing hands, and her punches are generally solid. She hits a body slam, but that seems to fire Bliss up. She comes back with hard forearms, a rope choke, and then her spot where she stands on Tessa's lower back. She clamps on a headlock, but Tessa is able to eventually counter that with a rollup. After they break the pin attempt, Tessa hits a knee strike to the head which is the best, and most brutal-looking, thing that she does for this entire match. Tessa goes for some forearms (lot of those in this match) and clotheslines (which could honestly be a lot better), but Bliss no-sells the last one and hits a choke-shove. She follows that up with the Bliss Flip, and surprisingly, that's enough for the pin.
Match Rating: Yeah, Okay, I'll Take More Of Tessa Blanchard.
Afterwards, the ref goes to check on Tessa, but Bliss insists that he raise her hand instead. Good stuff!

Finn's got comments, specifically on Nakamura. See, he'll fight anyone - that's his job, after all. But he's ready for, and looking forward to, meeting Nakamura in an NXT ring.

The Indy Guys are out. They're to be the opponents for the Vaudvillains, so this should be pretty great. Vaudvillains take early advantage with an armbar into a quick rollup, and when they come out English pops Johnny Wrestling with a nasty European uppercut. He brings in Gotch, who winds up eating a kick that sends him into the far corner, enabling the Indy Guys to set up their double kick spot. Johnny Wrestling puts a knee into the side of Gotches head, which sends him out to the floor. English goes to check on his partner, and they are both recipients of a Danger Zone dive. When we come back, the Vaudvillains have somehow regained the advantage. They go back to working the arm with another armbar, into a wristlock, and then English just starts hyperextending the fingertips. Ouch. A bodyslam sets up a parade of knee and elbow drops, but a sunset flip buys enough time for the hot tag to (sigh)Tomasso Ciampa. He hooks Gotch up on the ropes for that thing he does, where he starts off like an urinage, but then it's kind of a facebuster? You know the thing I mean. That's enough to set up his armbar, which, because both that move and his name are terrible, I am christening the "Tomato Champion." That draws the submission.
Match Rating: Farewell Vaudvillains. You Are Forever First In My Heart.

You know, we never got that Vaudvillains/Hype Bros blow-off.

Spoiler, that match was the real "main event" of the evening, because the actual, scheduled main event is simply the *existence* of Shinsuke Nakamura. His opponent will be Tye Dillinger, who's got some words for us. He does a fun bit with his number cards, but all I'm going to say here is that he is unreasonably optimistic about his chances this evening.

Tucker Knight is out! Okay! He's fighting Baron Corbin, who is evidently not quite done down here. Knight looks better than the last time I remember seeing him. He's faster and sells better, and he eats the End of Days.
Match Rating: Duh.

American Alpha are still chillin' in the empty arena in Dallas, soaking in their victory, when Enzo and Cass come up. They offer congratulations, but they also want a non-title match. Yeah, I'm pretty down with that. It'll be happening next week alongside Joe/Crews, so you probably want to catch that show.

Bayley's fighting Liv Morgan this evening, who's got a new look that I would describe as a lateral move from her last one, but at least she's not wearing a jersey that says "Jersey." Anyhoo, Morgan's clearly been putting in time in the PC, but Bayley hits all of her signature offense anyways. Morgan's highlight is probably hitting a Matrix spot really cleanly, but she also does a pretty cool springboard headscissors takeover bit. It's good stuff, but this match was never going anywhere except straight into a Belly-to-Bayley.
Match Rating: Fine For A Squash.
Afterwards, Bayley wants us to know that even though she feels like she let a lot of people down, a true champion is measured not by how many times they get knocked down, but by how often they get back up. Incidentally, they show the lil'est Bayley fan out in the crowd, and it is mega-adorable. Bayley tells us that she'll keep fighting, and she will be the champion again.

You know, this is the part of John Cena that they always mess up.

Finally Perfect 10 is out to get his face mashed in by Shinsuke Nakamura. I'm certainly not the first to mention it, but Nakamura's theme is amazing. Instantly my favorite theme song in the company. It sounds like a song they play in an anime, right before the big fight while the hero talks about whatever motivating power is going to give him the strength to win. Let's say friendship. It's usually friendship. C'mon, I know you guys know what I'm talking about, you can't fool me. Anyhoo, I guess there's a match here. P10 does some comedy bits and some stalling, even gets in a little token offense (including his superkick, which is Great), but then Here Come The Knees. Ouch. P10 tries for another superkick to counter, but that one misses, then it's some forearms (again!) followed by an enzuigiri, the turnbuckle knee to the stomach, and the Kinshasa.
Match Rating: No, Nakamura's Great, And His Mere Existence Probably Does Qualify As The Main Event.

Some fun stuff this week, but the big matches are coming next time. I'm off to rest my weary, congested brow, so I'll see you all then.
Promote this thread!
InVerse
Boudin blanc








Since: 26.8.02

Since last post: 2046 days
Last activity: 2009 days
#2 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.12
    Originally posted by Tenken347
    (sigh)Tomasso Ciampa. He hooks Gotch up on the ropes for that thing he does, where he starts off like an urinage, but then it's kind of a facebuster? You know the thing I mean. That's enough to set up his armbar, which, because both that move and his name are terrible, I am christening the "Tomato Champion." That draws the submission.


Would you prefer he go back to his original WWE name of Thomas Whitney?

Dr Unlikely
Liverwurst








Since: 2.1.02

Since last post: 2171 days
Last activity: 1778 days
#3 Posted on | Instant Rating: 9.61
Move Nakamura up. He's ready now, the fans are ready, and he already feels too "big" for NXT. Something about that match and how evident his presence was made the whole thing feel smaller, in a weird way. Don't sit on this.
Spiraling_Shape
Bierwurst








Since: 2.1.02
From: PA

Since last post: 33 days
Last activity: 11 days
#4 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.36
    Originally posted by Dr Unlikely
    Move Nakamura up. He's ready now, the fans are ready, and he already feels too "big" for NXT. Something about that match and how evident his presence was made the whole thing feel smaller, in a weird way. Don't sit on this.


I read that he & Joe main evented the NXT Orlando house show last night... I was at one of those shows last fall and it seems crazy that Nakamura was headlining an armory that fits a few hundred people in it. After his match with Sami, it feels like any show he's on that ISN'T PPV level feels "beneath" him, which is an amazing thing to say.
J. Kyle
Banger








Since: 21.2.02
From: The Land of Aloha

Since last post: 1561 days
Last activity: 1341 days
#5 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.21
Nous ne nous pouvons pas sortir.
I enjoyed the start of the new NXT Era quite a bit but am sad that when I came to read the recap I was robbed of the glorious return of Toyota Camry.




This is a picture of Dean Ambrose in a Cobra Kai Gi.
Tenken347
Knackwurst








Since: 27.2.03
From: Parts Unknown

Since last post: 41 days
Last activity: 3 days
#6 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.44
    Originally posted by Dr Unlikely
    Move Nakamura up. He's ready now, the fans are ready, and he already feels too "big" for NXT. Something about that match and how evident his presence was made the whole thing feel smaller, in a weird way. Don't sit on this.


Dr. U, I like you, I think you're a smart guy, but that suggestion is, uh, hmm, how do I put this? Stupid. There is literally no part of RAW that plays to Nakamura's strengths. There's no platform on RAW or it's Special Events where he's ever going to be able to do something like the match he had with Zayn at Takeover, and frankly, Nakamura "brand awareness" on RAW is not what we'd like to think it is. More of their audience is watching NXT than they think, but most of the RAW crowd needs to be introduced to these guys they're bringing in. For instance, most of the RAW crowd, I guarantee you, had no idea who Kevin Steen was. But just about 8 months down in NXT made everyone aware of who Kevin Owens was, and so when he showed up to fight Cena it was a big deal. Guys need this. Right now, Nakamura is "some Japanese guy with a great look" to the kids and dads of the RAW audience. Give them a chance to know this guy before he comes up.

Also, while I'm on the subject, I really think everybody should do at least a quick tour through the PC before coming to RAW, because AJ Styles' promos have not improved over the last several years he spent in a country that does not speak English.
SKLOKAZOID
Bierwurst








Since: 20.3.02
From: California

Since last post: 1692 days
Last activity: 822 days
#7 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.66
    Originally posted by Tenken347
    Also, while I'm on the subject, I really think everybody should do at least a quick tour through the PC before coming to RAW, because AJ Styles' promos have not improved over the last several years he spent in a country that does not speak English.


Promos aren't AJ's strength, but he has what matters: he's likeable, he comes off as genuine, he's fun to watch, he has cool merchandise, and most importantly, he's connecting with the fans.

I don't mind Nakamura debuting in NXT, but the second he steps foot into a WWE arena, whether the audience is familiar with him or not, the crowd will go ape shit. It's not just a look. It's complete and total magnetism. Nakamura spent years mastering his current persona and, he has what most wrestlers lack, in that he gets it and is totally aware of what he's doing.
used2bcool
Merguez








Since: 5.11.08
From: Ashland, MA

Since last post: 2099 days
Last activity: 1773 days
#8 Posted on | Instant Rating: 9.11
    Originally posted by SKLOKAZOID
    Promos aren't AJ's strength, but he has what matters: he's likeable, he comes off as genuine, he's fun to watch, he has cool merchandise, and most importantly, he's connecting with the fans.


Don't forget glorious entrance music with nonsensical lyrics. Nope, they don't want none.



In a coat of gold or a coat of red, a lion still has claws
And mine are long and sharp, my lord, as long and sharp as yours!
Tenken347
Knackwurst








Since: 27.2.03
From: Parts Unknown

Since last post: 41 days
Last activity: 3 days
#9 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.44
    Originally posted by SKLOKAZOID
      Originally posted by Tenken347
      Also, while I'm on the subject, I really think everybody should do at least a quick tour through the PC before coming to RAW, because AJ Styles' promos have not improved over the last several years he spent in a country that does not speak English.


    Promos aren't AJ's strength, but he has what matters: he's likeable, he comes off as genuine, he's fun to watch, he has cool merchandise, and most importantly, he's connecting with the fans.


That's kind of my point. It's not like AJ's garbage or anything. He's got all the necessarily tools to be a decent promo, but he really could have used some coaching. As it stands, when he talks he keeps coming off kind of amateurish compared to the other guys.
Dr Unlikely
Liverwurst








Since: 2.1.02

Since last post: 2171 days
Last activity: 1778 days
#10 Posted on | Instant Rating: 9.61
    Originally posted by Tenken347
    There is literally no part of RAW that plays to Nakamura's strengths. There's no platform on RAW or it's Special Events

What I'm arguing is that the platform is exactly what Raw and its shows offer and the only thing he needs. Nakamura is a big deal and it is and has been immediately evident to almost everyone who sees him as soon as they see him. I saw him and Hiroshi Tanahashi for the first time at practically the same time, and while it was clear that Tanahashi was presented as and could carry himself as The Man, he still didn't have it in the way that Nakamura does.

I've been trying to go back and find the most recent guy who is truly comparable...a guy who, upon debuting somewhere as an almost entirely new entity, had that quality of being a megastar and everybody feels it. I knew CM Punk was a big deal before he showed up, but had I not known that about him, I would have never been able to guess that the Mixed Martial Arts Master CM Punk who arrived in WWE had the potential to be the guy he turned out to be. Cena, Batista and Orton certainly didn't scream megastar when they showed up. Brock might be it, though even at his debut, it wasn't clear yet that he had all that (largely non-verbal) charisma that he would develop. Mankind weirdly seems like the best comparison I could think of, because Foley had a body of work and wasn't "new", but Mankind was essentially a completely new character and, as weird a character as it was, I think most people could tell right away that there was something else there, something big. (Honestly, I think the debuting Undertaker is the best comparison for Nakamura, only there should be no danger of accidentally debuting him as The Eggman instead of The Undertaker since he's arrived with his own gimmick and style and is already light years ahead of Mean Mark Callous; that said, they didn't waste any time pushing the button on The Undertaker when they realized what they had, putting him over the #1 guy of all time a year after he arrived.)

Anyway, I'm getting off track here. What I'm saying is, there are reasons to keep guys down in NXT: because they're missing something in the ring, or they need to learn promos, or the gimmick isn't there yet (Corbin is a perfect example of needing those extra months to finally click into something), or booking necessitates it (Balor still being down there, though I feel like they've drifted off with him and need to snap him back into focus, too). Nakamura is missing nothing in the ring, won't get over because of promos, has arrived fully formed and only becomes a booking necessity if you leave him there long enough to be one.

What he's missing, the only thing he's missing, is a stage big enough to handle him. Maybe the Dillinger match was an anomaly (and I like Dillinger, so I'm not blaming him), but that match last week felt small. The entrance, the theme, the presentation, it's all dying for a bigger stage. It's already worked on bigger stages.

    Originally posted by Tenken347
    More of their audience is watching NXT than they think, but most of the RAW crowd needs to be introduced to these guys they're bringing in. For instance, most of the RAW crowd, I guarantee you, had no idea who Kevin Steen was. But just about 8 months down in NXT made everyone aware of who Kevin Owens was, and so when he showed up to fight Cena it was a big deal. Guys need this. Right now, Nakamura is "some Japanese guy with a great look" to the kids and dads of the RAW audience.

Owens was on NXT TV for about five months from his debut to when he showed up on Raw, as NXT Champion, clowning John Cena and trucking him in his debut match. I think, for that particular angle/debut, he needed some kind of belt over his shoulder to answer the US Title Challenge, but I'd wager that what he said in his debut, the match he put on, and the fact that he beat Cena clean in his debut meant far more than his five months of NXT TV as far as connecting with the Raw audience. (To be fair, he did have an equally great NXT debut, and was and will be asked to do more on the mic than I assume Nakamura will/should so probably did appreciate his time down there, especially since he got to work with Dusty.)

But has all that time down in NXT, and nearly a year with the belt, helped Finn Balor? Or has he lost some of his shine by being down there still? Does Nakamura not already feel like a bigger and deal and more complete package than Apollo Crews, who still seems to be in search of a character despite the promotion?

Owens is a good comparison, because however and whenever they debut Nakamura, it'll be what they do with him after the debut that determine his fate. They dumped multiple buckets of water on Owens by having Cena get his win back twice over, and only through sheer skill and charisma has made himself feel like he's still above the mid-card glut. If Nakamura debuts tonight and is treated as something special, he'll get over as something special. If he debuts in a multi-man match at SummerSlam and becomes the afterthought that 75% of the NXT call-ups have been treated like, three months of a feud with Austin Aries in NXT won't help build any brand awareness.

    Originally posted by SKLOKAZOID
    Promos aren't AJ's strength, but he has what matters: he's likeable, he comes off as genuine, he's fun to watch, he has cool merchandise, and most importantly, he's connecting with the fans.
I agree with this, unless they had a machine to transplant Dusty's personality into him, AJ wasn't going to improve as a promo guy in NXT. He'll sink or swim on the mic as he gets thrown in with guys like Owens (and eventually, hopefully, Cena) who will force him to hang. But the leap in charisma and presence from TNA AJ Styles to the guy who left New Japan was massive. NASCAR makes millions off guys who are dry paint when they talk, and if WWE can't figure out how to push "wrestling NASCAR driver who basically transforms into his awesome super racecar in the ring when he wrestles", that's on them and no time in developmental would have helped the company.
thecubsfan
Scrapple
Moderator








Since: 10.12.01
From: Aurora, IL

Since last post: 947 days
Last activity: 327 days
#11 Posted on | Instant Rating: 9.43

    It's not like AJ's garbage or anything. He's got all the necessarily tools to be a decent promo, but he really could have used some coaching. As it stands, when he talks he keeps coming off kind of amateurish compared to the other guys.


The counterpoint is NXT hasn't been much good at helping established people improve their promos. They might be able to take credit for Sami Zayn (since he wasn't doing very many promos before hand.) Kevin Owens is essentially the PG version of himself. Samoa Joe is the same. Neville got more reps but didn't get really that much better. Apolo hasn't been helped to develop a stronger personality. Finn has been there for eons now and (face?) promos are still really obviously the worst part of his act. Those guys are adapting to the WWE system, but it doesn't come off as if it's benefiting them. I think they've done better with those who are coming in new or unknown, but the people who already come in to NXT formed, it doesn't seem to do much for them in that area.



thecubsfan.com - luchablog
Mr Shh
Lap cheong








Since: 9.1.02
From: Monmouth County, NJ

Since last post: 1295 days
Last activity: 1294 days
#12 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.02
Improved promo delivery skills mean very little if you're material includes "Y-2-Jackass." If Styles can get and stay over because of his other, stronger traits, and in spite of stupid writing, then Nakamura will be just fine saying absolutely nothing.

I want Nakamura on the main roster yesterday, but I don't want him trading wins with other guys for the next year plus. He appears to be the real deal, and I buy into it, but it's possible he could be a victim of his own hype. I'd want him making Lesnar appearances and getting Lesnar booking.



You askew my mirror. I askew yours.

Behold, my plunger.

http://twitter.com/theWWEwordsmith
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I don't know, Vince has a point here. Even in this thread, Vince and Hunter are the only ones getting any amount of heel heat.
- Kei Posiskunk, Heels (2003)
Related threads: NXT #329 4/6/16 - NXT #327 3/30/16 - NXT #326 3/23/16 - More...
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