NXT Thread III

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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#281 » by RonMexico915 » Fri Feb 19, 2021 8:58 pm

Ruzious wrote:
RonMexico915 wrote:
Ruzious wrote:
It's become much more than just a feeder league. It's a separate brand of the WWE - like Raw and Smackdown. It's probably bigger than any other pro wrestling organization outside of the WWE.


If you believe that, how many stars go to NXT and stay there? Why didn’t AJ Styles go to NXT with Nakamura and Samoa Joe? Has the Undertaker or Randy Orton spent a year in NXT then go to Raw or Smackdown?

Key words - "IT'S BECOME". Look at their roster. The Undisputed Era is one of the great factions in Pro Wrestling. They've been in NXT to stay. They may at some point go to Raw or Smackdown, but I think they were signed up to boost NXT and stay there. Adam Cole is a superstar for NXT. Finn Balor is a superstar for NXT. Johnny Gargano is a superstar for NXT. Granted, some are being developed for Raw and Smackdown - like I assume Karrion Kross and Rhea Rippley are, but there's no doubt that NXT is a major brand outside of just developing people for Raw and Smackdown. This ain't Ohio Valley Wrestling, my friend.


If Jericho, Kenny Omega, Okada signed with WWE, would they agree to be put in NXT?
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#282 » by Ruzious » Fri Feb 19, 2021 9:26 pm

RonMexico915 wrote:
Ruzious wrote:
RonMexico915 wrote:
If you believe that, how many stars go to NXT and stay there? Why didn’t AJ Styles go to NXT with Nakamura and Samoa Joe? Has the Undertaker or Randy Orton spent a year in NXT then go to Raw or Smackdown?

Key words - "IT'S BECOME". Look at their roster. The Undisputed Era is one of the great factions in Pro Wrestling. They've been in NXT to stay. They may at some point go to Raw or Smackdown, but I think they were signed up to boost NXT and stay there. Adam Cole is a superstar for NXT. Finn Balor is a superstar for NXT. Johnny Gargano is a superstar for NXT. Granted, some are being developed for Raw and Smackdown - like I assume Karrion Kross and Rhea Rippley are, but there's no doubt that NXT is a major brand outside of just developing people for Raw and Smackdown. This ain't Ohio Valley Wrestling, my friend.


If Jericho, Kenny Omega, Okada signed with WWE, would they agree to be put in NXT?

Possibly not - but as great as Okada is in Japan... I wouldn't say for sure. Heck, he wasn't even a star in Impact. And in the shape that Jericho is in - I don't know if the WWE would want him as a wrestler in any of their brands - not to mention Jericho wasn't happy in WWE when he left a few years ago. I could picture a great series between Omega and Adam Cole.

I watch AEW - they have acquired a lot of good wrestlers, but they also have a lot of wrestlers not good enough for NXT. I think MJF is going to be their biggest draw, and he would be in NXT if he was signed by WWE. The NXT women's division is dramatically better than AEW's. Impact is below AEW in quality. And Ring of Honor is a shell of what it used to be. Japanese wrestling is great, but it's also a different product in the opposite part of the planet.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#283 » by Scott Hall » Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:02 pm

improper wrote:
Scott Hall wrote:I know HHH is "protecting" Gargano from Vince by keeping him safe in NXT but I think he can be the next great
little man in the mold of Rey Mysterio, AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan all little guys are almost always great workers
but even if they have average looks they can over come it by being extremely entertaining and/or charismatic.

And I find Gargano to be one of the few entertaining guys in the entire company right now. With Mysterio and Styles
in their mid 40's and Daniel Bryan talking about retirement soon they should start grooming him to be the next great
little guy and I think Vince would like him or he would grow on him fast as I think he could get some of the garbage
the writers give him over.

Also good to see Eli Drake in a major promotion he's not gonna be the best worker but he doesn't need to be he'll
bring some much needed mic skills and entertainment to the "wrestling" show.


I think Gargano is absolutely one of the best overall talents in the world. He's small, but he's still got a decent look because he stays in great shape, and he's shown he can seamlessly transition from being the most beloved babyface in wrestling to a weaselly little sh*theel. He also wrestles great matches like it's his job and knows how to naturally connect with a crowd.

It wouldn't surprise me if he were the next Kevin Owens on the main roster. Owens was another guy with a look Vince isn't normally into who found main roster success simply by being really good at everything else.


Yeah and what separates Kevin Owens (who also isn't very tall) from most of the pack is he's extremely entertaining.
In this era pretty much everybody is athletic and can have good matches with a few exceptions being entertaining and a
great mic worker is gonna be what makes you stand out.

Eddie Guerrero was another small guy and yeah he started juicing like crazy but he kind of had a bad look with the mullet
and mustache and was always a good worker but he never really caught on till he became extremely entertaining
and found a character that connected with the crowd.

Gargano might be my favorite performer in the entire company right now he's pretty consistent in having high level
matches and I find him more entertaining and a better in ring performer then Daniel Bryan has ever been. The only
thing I kind of worry about is a lot of guys have great matches in NXT but for some reason that doesn't translate to the
main roster for some reason.

They really should call him up and give him a major push I'd ditch Candice LeRae and whoever that other new chick
is with them and maybe keep Austin Theory with him but he should be absolutely be a major player at this point.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#284 » by Scott Hall » Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:10 pm

RonMexico915 wrote:
Scott Hall wrote:I know HHH is "protecting" Gargano from Vince by keeping him safe in NXT but I think he can be the next great
little man in the mold of Rey Mysterio, AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan all little guys are almost always great workers
but even if they have average looks they can over come it by being extremely entertaining and/or charismatic.

And I find Gargano to be one of the few entertaining guys in the entire company right now. With Mysterio and Styles
in their mid 40's and Daniel Bryan talking about retirement soon they should start grooming him to be the next great
little guy and I think Vince would like him or he would grow on him fast as I think he could get some of the garbage
the writers give him over.

Also good to see Eli Drake in a major promotion he's not gonna be the best worker but he doesn't need to be he'll
bring some much needed mic skills and entertainment to the "wrestling" show.


NXT isn’t a major promotion. It’s a feeder league to Raw and Smackdown. NXT is like AAA baseball or the GLeague.


When I say "major promotion" I'm talking about the WWE in general... As for NXT it makes sense to start him off there
because a lot of the WWE audience doesn't watch Impact Wrestling or NWA or some of these other Indy promotions he's
been a part of so it's a good way to introduce him to the audience and possibly test out a new gimmick on him if they
go that route.

Also even though he trained in NXT during the Bill DeMott scandal years he could probably use some "Titan Training"
and learn their "playbook" which is a little different then Impact and the Indys.

As for why AJ Styles immediately went to the main roster and not NXT I'm guessing because at that time he was considered
one of the best workers in the world, was a long time vet of the business and they felt has the name value that most
fans would know who he is that it would be a waste of time to start off in NXT. What he was then is pretty much what
Omega is now.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#285 » by improper » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:28 pm

Scott Hall wrote:As for why AJ Styles immediately went to the main roster and not NXT I'm guessing because at that time he was considered one of the best workers in the world, was a long time vet of the business and they felt has the name value that most
fans would know who he is that it would be a waste of time to start off in NXT. What he was then is pretty much what
Omega is now.


Styles was also right around forty years old when he signed with WWE, and didn't have the language barrier to overcome like Nakamura. I assume that if Omega signed with WWE he'd probably go straight to Raw or Smackdown at this point too, but now that NXT is on actual TV, who knows?

It's much more of a legit third brand now rather than it was when Styles debuted. A
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#286 » by RonMexico915 » Sat Feb 20, 2021 2:04 am

Point is, the next time the WWE has a draft, Kevin Owens and other top guys aren’t going to go to NXT. It’s a minor league. You don’t think Adam Cole wants to wrestle on Raw or Smackdown? He’s just content with wrestling all the other ex-ROH guys in NXT for the next 10 years?
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#287 » by WRau1 » Sat Feb 20, 2021 5:09 am

RonMexico915 wrote:Point is, the next time the WWE has a draft, Kevin Owens and other top guys aren’t going to go to NXT. It’s a minor league. You don’t think Adam Cole wants to wrestle on Raw or Smackdown? He’s just content with wrestling all the other ex-ROH guys in NXT for the next 10 years?


Your flat out wrong. Gargano and Ciampa threatened to walk if they got put on RAW/Smackdown. Balor begged to go back, KO & Zayn also wanted to. Black currently wants to. Cole has said many times that's he's absolutely happy where he is now. NXT is it's own brand now. Sure, there is talent sharing between all 3 brands but that's exactly what should be happening just like in the days of different territories. NXT is far from a "minor league" now.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#288 » by tugs » Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:52 am

Just watch Edge's promo when he "went down" there. Clearly night and day in terms of product when you compare SD and RAW to NXT - Entertainment vs Wrestling
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#289 » by RonMexico915 » Sat Feb 20, 2021 3:49 pm

WRau1 wrote:
RonMexico915 wrote:Point is, the next time the WWE has a draft, Kevin Owens and other top guys aren’t going to go to NXT. It’s a minor league. You don’t think Adam Cole wants to wrestle on Raw or Smackdown? He’s just content with wrestling all the other ex-ROH guys in NXT for the next 10 years?


Your flat out wrong. Gargano and Ciampa threatened to walk if they got put on RAW/Smackdown. Balor begged to go back, KO & Zayn also wanted to. Black currently wants to. Cole has said many times that's he's absolutely happy where he is now. NXT is it's own brand now. Sure, there is talent sharing between all 3 brands but that's exactly what should be happening just like in the days of different territories. NXT is far from a "minor league" now.


What’s Adam Cole supposed to say? He hates where he’s at? Everyone wants to headline WrestleMania or Royal Rumble, nobody dreams about headlining NXT Takeover over WrestleMania. Guys that have been on the main roster like Owens might want to go back, but they’ve already tasted success in the big leagues. You’re fooling yourself if you think Adam Cole doesn’t want to be a top guy. You’ll never be a top guy just wrestling in NXT.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#290 » by WRau1 » Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:37 pm

RonMexico915 wrote:
WRau1 wrote:
RonMexico915 wrote:Point is, the next time the WWE has a draft, Kevin Owens and other top guys aren’t going to go to NXT. It’s a minor league. You don’t think Adam Cole wants to wrestle on Raw or Smackdown? He’s just content with wrestling all the other ex-ROH guys in NXT for the next 10 years?


Your flat out wrong. Gargano and Ciampa threatened to walk if they got put on RAW/Smackdown. Balor begged to go back, KO & Zayn also wanted to. Black currently wants to. Cole has said many times that's he's absolutely happy where he is now. NXT is it's own brand now. Sure, there is talent sharing between all 3 brands but that's exactly what should be happening just like in the days of different territories. NXT is far from a "minor league" now.


What’s Adam Cole supposed to say? He hates where he’s at? Everyone wants to headline WrestleMania or Royal Rumble, nobody dreams about headlining NXT Takeover over WrestleMania. Guys that have been on the main roster like Owens might want to go back, but they’ve already tasted success in the big leagues. You’re fooling yourself if you think Adam Cole doesn’t want to be a top guy. You’ll never be a top guy just wrestling in NXT.


By your logic, every professional wrestling company in the world is a feeder league for RAW and Smackdown, then. Cole could've been on either now if that's what he wanted. McMahon wanted the NXT title to he defended at WM but HHH and the top talent vehemently disagreed. You can absolutely be a top guy in NXT, Balor, Nakamura and KO are prime examples. As soon as they stepped foot on RAW/Smackdown, they were booked as top guys.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#291 » by RonMexico915 » Sat Feb 20, 2021 7:01 pm

WRau1 wrote:
RonMexico915 wrote:
WRau1 wrote:
Your flat out wrong. Gargano and Ciampa threatened to walk if they got put on RAW/Smackdown. Balor begged to go back, KO & Zayn also wanted to. Black currently wants to. Cole has said many times that's he's absolutely happy where he is now. NXT is it's own brand now. Sure, there is talent sharing between all 3 brands but that's exactly what should be happening just like in the days of different territories. NXT is far from a "minor league" now.


What’s Adam Cole supposed to say? He hates where he’s at? Everyone wants to headline WrestleMania or Royal Rumble, nobody dreams about headlining NXT Takeover over WrestleMania. Guys that have been on the main roster like Owens might want to go back, but they’ve already tasted success in the big leagues. You’re fooling yourself if you think Adam Cole doesn’t want to be a top guy. You’ll never be a top guy just wrestling in NXT.


By your logic, every professional wrestling company in the world is a feeder league for RAW and Smackdown, then. Cole could've been on either now if that's what he wanted. McMahon wanted the NXT title to he defended at WM but HHH and the top talent vehemently disagreed. You can absolutely be a top guy in NXT, Balor, Nakamura and KO are prime examples. As soon as they stepped foot on RAW/Smackdown, they were booked as top guys.


That’s pretty much the case. WWE is professional wrestling and has been for 20 years. They were booked as top guys because they proved themselves in the minor league. If they were already top guys like AJ Styles, they wouldn’t have had to start in NXT.

Anyone who thinks NXT isn’t a minor league is just a mark and spends their whole day reading dirt sheets. Mainstream America doesn’t know what NXT is or would be able to associate anyone with it. Orton, Cena, Austin, Flair, Hogan, and every mainstream popular wrestler ever will never be associated with NXT.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#292 » by WRau1 » Sat Feb 20, 2021 7:24 pm

RonMexico915 wrote:
WRau1 wrote:
RonMexico915 wrote:
What’s Adam Cole supposed to say? He hates where he’s at? Everyone wants to headline WrestleMania or Royal Rumble, nobody dreams about headlining NXT Takeover over WrestleMania. Guys that have been on the main roster like Owens might want to go back, but they’ve already tasted success in the big leagues. You’re fooling yourself if you think Adam Cole doesn’t want to be a top guy. You’ll never be a top guy just wrestling in NXT.


By your logic, every professional wrestling company in the world is a feeder league for RAW and Smackdown, then. Cole could've been on either now if that's what he wanted. McMahon wanted the NXT title to he defended at WM but HHH and the top talent vehemently disagreed. You can absolutely be a top guy in NXT, Balor, Nakamura and KO are prime examples. As soon as they stepped foot on RAW/Smackdown, they were booked as top guys.


That’s pretty much the case. WWE is professional wrestling and has been for 20 years. They were booked as top guys because they proved themselves in the minor league. If they were already top guys like AJ Styles, they wouldn’t have had to start in NXT.

Anyone who thinks NXT isn’t a minor league is just a mark and spends their whole day reading dirt sheets. Mainstream America doesn’t know what NXT is or would be able to associate anyone with it. Orton, Cena, Austin, Flair, Hogan, and every mainstream popular wrestler ever will never be associated with NXT.


Your logic is insanely flawed. Styles coming in straight to mainevent status proves your minor league theory wrong. Top guys exist outside of RAW & Smackdown. Professional wrestling exists outside of mainstream America and there is far more than WWE. Your spoken like a true fanboi.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#293 » by improper » Sun Feb 21, 2021 5:26 pm

RonMexico915 wrote:What’s Adam Cole supposed to say? He hates where he’s at? Everyone wants to headline WrestleMania or Royal Rumble, nobody dreams about headlining NXT Takeover over WrestleMania. Guys that have been on the main roster like Owens might want to go back, but they’ve already tasted success in the big leagues. You’re fooling yourself if you think Adam Cole doesn’t want to be a top guy. You’ll never be a top guy just wrestling in NXT.


Or course every wrestler wants to headline Wrestlemania. It's the biggest wrestling event in the world.

That doesn't mean NXT is the minor leagues, though. I'd argue the NXT Title is more prestigious than the Universal Title right now, given the names that have held both and the strengths of their respective title reigns. And headlining a Takeover when there were actually fans in the crowd was probably more satisfying for a performer than headlining most WWE shows outside of Mania.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#294 » by WRau1 » Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:01 am

improper wrote:
RonMexico915 wrote:What’s Adam Cole supposed to say? He hates where he’s at? Everyone wants to headline WrestleMania or Royal Rumble, nobody dreams about headlining NXT Takeover over WrestleMania. Guys that have been on the main roster like Owens might want to go back, but they’ve already tasted success in the big leagues. You’re fooling yourself if you think Adam Cole doesn’t want to be a top guy. You’ll never be a top guy just wrestling in NXT.


Or course every wrestler wants to headline Wrestlemania. It's the biggest wrestling event in the world.

That doesn't mean NXT is the minor leagues, though. I'd argue the NXT Title is more prestigious than the Universal Title right now, given the names that have held both and the strengths of their respective title reigns. And headlining a Takeover when there were actually fans in the crowd was probably more satisfying for a performer than headlining most WWE shows outside of Mania.


Not to mention that NXT Takeovers have unanimously been the best PPVs since it's debut..
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#295 » by Ruzious » Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:05 am

Ron, put it this way; the quality of minor league baseball to Major League Baseball is in no way equivalent to the quality of NXT to Smackdown and Raw. OVW was a minor league. When NXT first started, it was a minor league. NXT now is not a minor league. It's the 3rd top brand in the US. In fact, the WWE is working on a minor league system For NXT.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#296 » by Celtsfan1980 » Sat Mar 13, 2021 5:22 pm

Given Deonna Purrazzo's success in Impact Wrestling, should NXT have kept her?
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#297 » by Ruzious » Sat Mar 13, 2021 11:06 pm

Celtsfan1980 wrote:Given Deonna Purrazzo's success in Impact Wrestling, should NXT have kept her?

I don't know, but I think it's an indication that the talent level at NXT is greater than Impact's level.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#298 » by Scott Hall » Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:21 pm

Right now I would say Deonna Purrazzo is a big fish in a small pond. If you put her in the NXT or RAW or Smackdown
Womens division she would most likely get lost in the shuffle. But go to Impact with a smaller division get a gimmick
and a push and all of a sudden you look like a hot commodity by getting consistent TV Time and being presented as
important. She's actually now making a name for herself and watch when her contract is up there is interest from AEW
and WWE because of it.

In the ring she's solid, not great on the mic (I think it's her high pitched voice) her acting isn't good and her look is kind
of generic.

I can only imagine if someone like Aaliyah went to Impact and got a push by default she would all of a sudden stand out
more and after a few years fans would clamor for her to sign with a major promotion.
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#299 » by Celtsfan1980 » Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:14 pm

I think most would agree 1998-2000 Monday Night Raw and 2002 Smackdown were better than NXT today, but how do NXT's show and Nitro at its peak compare?
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Re: NXT Thread III 

Post#300 » by tugs » Thu Apr 22, 2021 2:47 am

Sarray is like Festus, transforming from Kairi Sane pre match then to a hybrid of Io and Asuka during. Lol the anology's not the best but you get it

Loved whatever it is she was saying during her match

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