NXT Takeover: The End of the Beginning - Review

As the title says, here is my review of Takeover.  Let's go match by match shall we.

- Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Tye Dillinger

 

This match was more competitive then I thought they would make it.  With a few interesting spots like Dillinger hitting with a superkick while Almas was doing a head stand on the second turnbuckle.  But as predicted Almas picks up the win with a running double knee in the corner.

 

- American Alpha vs. The Revival

 

This might be my favorite match of the night.  These two teams just have an insane amount of in ring chemistry.  While not as good as the first match between these teams it is still packed with things to love.  Gable reversing a move while up on someones shoulder (sorry I can never remember who is who on the revival) into a belly to belly.  There was a spot of chain wrestling that led into a double ankle lock by Gable and Jordan on the Revival, which hit me as a nod to Kurt Angle, who is rumored to want to come in as a manager for American Alpha, a double drop kick that brought back memories of the Rock'n Roll Express and a direct tribute to the Steiner Brothers with Jordan playing the roll or Rick.  However I got this one wrong.  The Revival winning the titles back with the Shatter Machine.

 

However after the match a new team debuted.  We don't know who they are yet.  But they seem to be managed by Paul Elluring.  For anyone that doesn't know the name he managed The Road Warriors also known as the Legion of Doom.  If you don't know them look them up ... seriously go now, do it.  What a rush!!

 

- Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries

 

This match was solid, but didn't live up to my hopes for it.  But then I felt the same way the firs time I watched Nakamura and Sami Zayne.  It was only on a second viewing that I really started to appreciate it.  Maybe this one will be the same.  Either way a notable spot in it was a nice death valley driver (DVD) on the apron.  It was an even match Aries seemed to have a counter for everything Nakamura did.  But in the end it was Nakamura with the keisansha (or whatever the spelling is) for the win.

 

- Auska vs. Nia Jax 

 

They played this match perfectly.  Nia dominated and looked strong, but arrogant.  Auska had to give it everything she had.  In the end Auska found a way to slay the beast with a running kick to the head.

 

- Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe

 

I was a little surprised that the cage didn't come more into play here.  It was a solid match.  I have nothing negative to say about it.  It ended with a muscle buster from the second rope onto Finn Balor.  Samoa Joe retains the title.

 

I'd rate the show a solid B maybe a B+.  American Alpha v. the Revival gets match of the night.

NXT Takeover: The End Preview

Wednesday will be the latest take over event.  So I thought I would take this week to do a preview of the event.  So lets take a look at each match and I'll give my predictions.

- Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Tye Dillinger

Almas has been getting intro packages for that last few weeks.  Couple that with unless someone is coming in and taking on a champion chances are they win their debut match.  I think Almas goes over on the Perfect 10.

- Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries

Both of these guys have been getting a nice push since debuting.  I expect to see a great match and Nakamura going over Aries.  Just based on the fact that I don't think Nakamura will be in NXT for very long.  I think he is just there to get some promo time with the English language and to get used to the American style of wrestling.  Besides tell me you don't want to see Nakamura against Joe or Finn for the title next.

- American Alpha (c) vs. The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championships.

These guys tore the house down at the last event and had the best tag match I've seen in years.  I don't know how they can top it.  But I think they'll try.  American Alpha goes over here.  I say this in part because I think the Revival is being called up soon.  They are starting to do the favors for other tag teams on the show, just like the Vaudevillians and Enzo & Cass did before being called up.

- Auska vs. Nia Jax Woman's Championship

Nia and Auska have been booked as monsters since debuting.  I'm thinking Auska goes over, because it's too soon for them to have her loose the belt.  And someone like Auska isn't a transitional champ.  At the contract signing they made a point of making Nia look strong, making Auska look like the underdog here.  Giving her that mountain to climb.  I think this will be a lasting fued with Auska getting the first win.

- Samoa Joe (c) vs. Finn Bálor  NXT Championship.

So here we are the big one.  Finn trying to become the first two time NXT champ.  On top of that the word is that the looser of the match will be called up to the main roster after Takeover.  For this reason I think Joe keeps the belt and Finn goes up.  Maybe he takes the final spot in the MITB ladder match or can you say Balor "Club."  Either of these guys can hang on the main roster.  So I'll be happy with either turn out. 

What do you think happens at Takeover?

Tag teams and the brand split.

If you're like me you like some good tag team wrestling.  But this week on Raw Xavier Woods brought up an interesting questions.  How will the brand split affect the tag team division.  In response Shane pulled a Donald Trump and said that every aspect will be "very well thought through."  Very well thought through.  What the hell is that.  So this week I want to take a closer look at what the brand split could mean for the WWE Tag Team Division.

For the past couple years the tag team division has been going though a renaissance of sorts and with teams like American Alpha and the Revival in NXT, while it isn't the tag divisions of the late 80's and early 90's it is stronger then it has been in years.  However the brand split could put that in jeopardy, just when it is starting to really pick up some steam again.  There two possible problems that could occur.

Possible problem 1:  The splitting up of tag teams.

It's always possible that they will split up tag teams.  While there are some teams that could probably make it as singles guys, like Enzo and Cass, or maybe the Vaudevillains.  Most teams don't have that luxury.  Remember when Jimmy (or was it Jay) Usso went out with an injury.  What did the other do?  He was put on commentary just so that he has something to do.  Split those two up and they are done.  They barely have enough charisma between the two of them to get one guy over.  We've seen what happens when you split the Dudleys up, nothing good.  On top of that this lowers the number of tag teams which will just lead to a stale division.

This leads us to problem 2:  Not having enough teams.

As things stand today I'm not sure that they have enough teams to split them to two shows.  Especially if they want to have a title for each show rather then having one set of champions.  Let's list the tag teams active today and you'll see what I mean.

New Day
VaudeVillains
Enzo and Cass
Dudleys
Ussos
The Club (Anderson and Gallows)
The Social Outcasts
Golden Truth
Breezango
The Shining Stars

I'm assuming the Revival will be called to the main roster after Takeover, and American Alpha might be shortly after.  So in total that is 10 teams, 12 if you include the two coming NXT teams.  Plenty of teams right, but how many of them are likely to get any kind or real push?  Count the outcasts out, the Dudleys aren't doing anything but getting over the younger talent (nor should they be), Breezango will likely be done come the end of the Golden Truth feud.  Speaking of the Golden Truth they are a comedy team so count them out.  The Shinning Stars are fine wrestlers more then deserving of a push, but with the gimmick they have it wont happen.  The Ussos are just too bland for another real push without an overhaul.  That leaves us with four viable teams.  Split them between two shows and it will run it's course real quick.

How can we avoid this?  First off don't split anyone up, let all the teams stay together.  Secondly have only one set of tag champs, like I talked about in my last post.  This will let the champs flow from show to show and keep it at least somewhat fresh.  Thinking outside the box a little you could move all the tag teams to one show.  Maybe Smackdown is the tag team show.  Lastly, with the tag teams it might be best just to rotate the teams between the shows somehow.  Even if it is just the jobber or middle of the road teams.  This will keep us from seeing the same old matches week after week.

What are your thoughts?  Do you like tag team wrestling or would you rather see it fade into the background?  What would you do to keep the division intact?

Brand split redux

Big news hit yesterday for the land of WWE.  The brand split will be returning in July.  To read the official announcement from WWE.com click here.

Here's what we know: 

- The split will start on July 19th. 
- Smackdown will move from Thursday to Tuesday and be live.  That's right no more pre-tapped Smackdown's.  This means that there will be 5 hours of live TV each week.  Of course this will be on the USA network. 
- Stephanie will likely be in charge of one, while Shane gets the other. 
- Lastly each show will have it's own roster.  I assume there will be a draft a week or two before the split officially begins.

Here's what we don't know yet:

- How will this affect the title pictures?  My guess is that one show will get the Intercontinental title (likely Raw) while the other gets the US title (likely Smackdown).  But what about the world, tag and women's championships?  Will each show get their own?  Or will these titles appear on both shows?

Personally I think that these titles should be divided between the two shows.  I don't think the tag or women's divisions are large enough at this point to host two separate titles.  The world title is supposed to be the big one, so naturally there should be only one.  Not to mention potential logistic problems with separating the WWE and World Heavyweight belts again.  Because when you do that one title inevitably gets devalued.  Which was one of the problems with the original brand split in my opinion.  This can also be used to elevate the IC and US titles.  But that is a topic for another day.

- What does this mean for PPV's?  Will the PPV's be split up between Raw and Smackdown with the rosters coming together for the big 4(Survivor Series, Summer Slam, Royal Rumble and WrestleMania)?  Will there be two PPV's a month (on for each show) plus the occasional NXT takeover?  Or will all the PPV's host matches from each show?

Please don't add more PPV's.  There are already too many.  It hurts the story telling element of the product, giving less time to build stories, and let's face it they are already hurting in this department.  I think the best bet would be to split up the existing PPV's between the two shows, bringing the brands together for the big 4.  This would mean that the world, tag and women's champs would work most if not all the PPV's.  Maybe have a triple threat match as a special attraction on one shows PPV or the other.

How exclusive will the rosters be?  One of the problems with the original brand split was that towards the end the rosters merged back together making the split mean nothing.  So please keep the rosters exclusive.  If you want to have a big name like Lesnar, or the Rock when does a return to push a movie be a wild card that could show up on either fine.  But there can't be more then one or two of them for this to work.

Final thoughts:

I think the split has potential.  Last time around I don't think they really had enough big names to make it work.  But there are lots of quality wrestlers on the roster today who are getting lost in the shuffle.  This could be a chance for guys like Ziggler, Ryder, Breeze and Neville to shine somewhere if handled right.  But it could just as easily be a disaster.  For now I'm going to choose to be optimistic and hope that they'll do right by the fans and right by the talent.

So what are your thoughts, hopes and concerns about the brand split?  Is there anything I missed?  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

The Reigns conundrum

So let's start this blog out by addressing the elephant in the room with the WWE.  The current champion Roman Reigns.

It's safe to say and honestly accepted as fact at this point that Roman has been groomed to be the next guy John Cena 2.0.  With a few notable acceptations the WWE has always had an uber babyface that the company is based around.  Bruno Sanmartino, Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior.  Then the attitude era gave rise to the time of the anti-hero's Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, HHH, Shawn Micheals.  Followed by the Cena era and now they are trying to make it to Reigns era.

This isn't a good thing, it isn't a bad thing.  It is just a thing ... they do.  The problem is that the fans today aren't as willing to be spoon fed heroes as in past eras.  In fact more and more as time has gone on fans have been rejecting people "chosen" my management.

WWE creative seems to be genuinely flummoxed about why this is.  Or they just don't care, either way they are going full speed ahead letting Roman take the Reigns.  Well maybe that isn't a very good analogy, rather then being the driver.  Roman is more like the child who's father is letting him sit on his lap pretending to drive.  We have to remember that Roman is being told how to act, what to say and to a point, how to wrestle.  Even so Roman is constantly being booed out of the building.

But what does WWE expect.  Ever since the attitude era they have been conditioning the fans to think of the people in charge as being the bad guy.  Everyone the authority ever backed, the fans were supposed to boo.  After decades of these types of stories it has finally gotten to the point where the fans do it on instinct.  It is the one thing that has been constant in the WWE.  Corporate suits equals villains. 

Rather then choosing a guy and running with them come hell or high water, the WWE should be letting things happen more organically.  Yes have your plans, craft strong stories (please start crafting strong stories).  With Cena things happened organically, he was over with the crowd at one point.  With Danial Bryan the fans just fell in love with him and made the WWE change their plans.  If they want a champ the fans love that moves merch (and make no mistake it's all about merch these days).  They need to find people who connect with the fans and push them when they are hot.  They missed their chance with Roman, there was a short period right after the shield broke up that the fans loved him. 

Speaking of the Shield, let's talk about them for a minute.  Dean Ambrose went on to become the unhinged Denis the Menace of the WWE.  Seth Rollins went on to forge his own path as the Guy.  While he was booed.  It wasn't anti Rollins heat.  It was boo the heel heat, meaning he was doing his job perfectly.  Roman however never moved on from the shield.  Same shield music, until recently same shield entrance.  No character growth ... or much character to speak of in general for that matter.  While the others have gone on to do their own things and being able to get over on their own.  Roman can't seem to get over with a crowd if he isn't either teaming with Dean or fighting Rollins.  Which just goes to show how much being in the shield protected him.

When you are one of three it is easy to get away with being a heat vacuum who doesn't have a ton of personality.  This lack of personality isn't an unbeatable obstacle, look at Bret Hart.  Now I love Bret Hart, don't get me wrong.  But he was never a great talker.  But he was great in the ring ... well his punches weren't the best, however that's getting a little nitpicky.  Bret however was never given the obnoxious dialog Roman was during a pivotal time in his career.  "Sniveling pile of suffering succotash son" I'm looking at you.  In that creative really dropped the ball with him.  Even without the poor writing, Roman seems to have trouble sounding natural on the mic.  It's unlikely his mouth was ever going to get him over with a crowd.

Let's be honest to be a top guy you have to be able to make people love you like Dean Ambrose, hate you like Seth Rollins or fear you like Brock Lesner.  Roman hasn't been able to make people love him.  He hasn't done much to make people fear him.  But he has managed to get people to hate him, be it intentional or not.  To the point where people chant "You still suck."  They are that determined to boo him that they wont cheer when he does something awesome.

So if he isn't that great on the mic, maybe he's great in the ring.  I mean there has to be a reason he's the top guy right?  Well he isn't terrible in the ring.  But he isn't anything special either.  His big matches are all the same.  He takes tons of damage, then hits one big spear and it's over.  All this manages to do is make all of his opponents weak.  Take his last two PPV matches with AJ Styles for instance.  They fallowed this formula and all it did was make AJ (who really is phenomenal that isn't just a catch phrase) weak.  He beat on Roman, through everything at him, two styles clashes (one on a chair in the last match) and all it took to beat him was on spear.  So in other words AJ's offense must not hurt too much.  It's basically a Hulk Hogan match with a superman punch and spear rather then a big boot and leg drop.

The trick to wrestling is to make both champion and challenger look strong.  Roman hasn't been able to do that with any regularity.  Bret Hart told stories in the ring, Dean Ambrose tells stories in the ring, Seth Rollins tells stories.  Roman hasn't been able to do that yet, at least not in the roll he's been given.

Is it hopeless for Roman?  No, I don't think so.  But if you want him to actually draw anyone in he will need a repackaging.  If it was up to me here is how I would do it.  The fans want to boo him, so give them a reason too.  I'd turn him heel.  The whole program with AJ would have been the perfect opportunity.  I wouldn't let him talk.  Maybe he gets a manager to talk for him like Paul E does for Brock.  Roman would show up destroy someone and leave.  I would make the man a monster heel.  Something for the hero to overcome.  Make him a mountain to climb.  Make him an ass kicker who's destroys the babyfaces.  Make him brutal.  They showed glimpses of this with his feud with HHH.

If they can do that I think it would get him over.  Then if down the line you want to have a redemption story for him, great.  But sometimes the fans need to hate you, before they can love you. 

My final thoughts on Reigns.  He's not a good wrestler, he's not a bad wrestler.  He's just another wrestler.

Why I'm here.

Hello,

I'm starting this blog because I'm a fan of wrestling.  I have been since I started watching with my Dad in the mid to late 80's.  Having been a fan for so long I have a variety of opinions about the current and past product.  My goal is for this blog to be a place I can post my thoughts, ideas, criticisms and praise for any and everything surrounding this unique medium of entertainment.  I welcome comments and discussion on my posts.