It was reported over the weekend that they’d be doing so from now on. (Guess I should’ve warned ya.)
I believe the idea is that they want more people to have a chance to get into the TV tapings instead of it just being the same faces in the hot seats month after month. (Izzy will probably keep getting her seat for awhile, since apparently WWE is eyeing her for a commentary role on an NXT-based kids’ show.)
Child exploitation lol!!!
The last thing we need is for kids like Izzy to get themselves overly involved in the story in the hopes of getting something out of it. Call me old-fashioned or disillusioned or whatever, but I see no good coming from this because they’re kids and they don’t know what they want and they don’t know what they’re doing Plus now some parent that’s not as good/supportive/whatever as Izzy’s parents are can try to use their child to be famous.
ETA: Also that’s a good reason for making the tickets the time they are. I imagine the regulars will still all be there (Izzy obs, suit guy, way-too-into-it black girl and her horrible friends) but this should really help
Yeah, between this and Stephen Amell, WWE is definitely sending some mixed messages about the consequences of fan behavior. Still, WWE doesn’t have a show on right now that’s primarily targeted at kids, and if they’re going to have one, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t want to get Izzy involved. If nothing else, it’ll give her something fun to reminisce/brag about later in life - and if she actually aspires to wrestle herself one day, it’ll give her a foot in the door.
Speaking of the regulars, there’s this one pudgy guy who’s always in the second or third row opposite the hard cam, with a short haircut and a mustache that doesn’t grow in the middle who I swear is me ten years from now. I take this to mean that my childhood dreams of inventing a time machine will one day be fulfilled.
House show of the month report: We got to see some newbies, had some surprises, and one fun-ass main event!
Newbies: We’ve seen these guys job out, but this is the first time some of them have had actual matches. Tucker Knight made a good showing partnering with a now-featuring-hair Marcus Louis. Speaking of “Louis’s…” Louis Valenzuela Jr. wrestled for us for the first time. His gimmick is he is Venezuelan and likes to party/dance. He wrestled an obvious heel in Riddick Moss (formerly Mike Rawlins) and surprisingly lost the match. Long shitshow of a match that was Sawyer Fulton and Hugo Knox. Sawyer kept getting chants of “You’re not Sheamus” and basically making fun of him for looking like a not pale Sheamus and, seriously, he looks JUST LIKE SHEAMUS. Hugo Knox is…different. Dude is jacked to all getout, but his character is like a gay english party-boy. He does Fandango like dance moves and wears polka dots and it’s…off. Knox wins.
Final newbies get their own paragraph. 2 girls came out early in the night for a promo and this is the first I’ve seen either of them. A hot, blonde, athletic (hot athletic, not Dana) girl named Yanno(?) Daddio. She was wearing a half shirt, loose pants, and hat that said “JER-Z”, so she’s kind of Carmella adjace. She came out with an Indian (from India) girl named Alliya (a-LEE-ya). Each talked for a while. Daddio sounded jersey-y and Alliya sounded like she had a wicked head cold. They talked about how they were the youngest divas ever in the roster and said some stuff until Evil Emma and Eva Marie came out and made fun of them.
After intermission Daddio comes out and calls out EE and EM, both come out and hardy har we outnumber you until Daddio says “nope I have some one…” out comes, of all people, Asuka. Daddio is in the match for ever teasing us until Asuka gets the hot tag and eventually wins. Asuka was REAL sloppy. Missing moves, confusing spots, and it’s obvious she pulls her punches and kicks. But it was still a surprise to see her at a lowly house show.
Regulars: JJ and Bagels were fabulous as always, Apollo continues his winning streak and had a new finisher, Hype bros were funny because Mojo had a Go Pro on for his entrance. The Mechanics were neat and Elias Sampson’s gimmick is still “The Drifter” and it’s not terrible.
Best of the Best: So the main event is announced and it’s a 6-man tag. The SuperHappys come out with Alexa and they’re partnered with The Perfect 10 Tye Dillinger. Then it’s the Vaudevillians who are paired with Finn. Vaudes come out and do manly stuff and I’m standing (in the back row) and saying they’re manly. Alexa Bliss turns around and looks right at me and tells me to sit down and that she’s watching me. I want to tell her I’ll watch her aaaallllll night…
So the match is going on as usual with great spots and hilarious moments because The Superhappys make these smart little comments all throughout the match that are the funniest damn things. Finally the inevitable happens and Alexa comes in and slaps a Vaude. The ref says that “you…are…ouuuuutttttaaaa…” before being stopped by the Good Guys, they all point in unison and out runs Bayley! Dasha then says she’s been told (by…Jesus?) that this is now an 8-person match!
I can’t even describe the hilarity and chaos that was this match. One guy would get another into a hold, so a partner would come in and do the same hold, then the other, and eventually there’s a train of holds across the whole ring, the ref is saying “WHAT IS GOING ON!?” the women and running around weirdly…it was just a clusterfuck of hilarity. Surprised to no one the match ends when Bayley comes in and gives a stunner (the second time we’ve seen her do this) to a Superhappy, to which then Finn does the Coup and end the match. I have a really cool picture of all 4 champs posing with their belts.
Hands down the most fun Show yet and we’re all set to go again in mid November!
I forgot to mention that there were cameras EVERYWHERE and an obvious interview section backstage, so I asked one of the WWE security Godzillas if they were all there for Breaking Ground and he told me they were.
Aliyah (who, BTW, is Arab-Canadian, not Indian) is the former Jasmin Areebi, who you may recall got into some N-word related misadventures awhile ago but managed to keep her job.
In other news, it appears that WWE may have signed Tommaso Ciampa after all - he’s got a match in a British Indy promotion next month that is apparently being promoted as his farewell. I hope they let him keep his name.
Good for Tomaso. In his last RoH match, the fans were chanting “Please don’t go. Please don’t go.” He’s upper mid card for NXT now, but he can work main event level matches.
I just know Bailey is going to take on Blake or Murphy or possibly both, and it’s going to be awesome.
Break that kayfabe!
Is that Primo or Epico giving the finger?
Either way, the chances of Los Matadores ever winning the titles just became even smaller than they already were.
As long as we’re breaking kayfabe, here’s Prince Puma with his mask off, chilling with Natalya, Tyson Kidd, and Tully Blanchard’s daughter.
Interesting side fact; apparently, Puma and Apollo Crews are actual roommates.
Doesn’t matter. I fully expect Los Matadores to be released whenever Vince gets the itch to do another round. They’re not really being used and have no upside.
Well, someone’s gotta be the fourth team in those four-way tag title matches they insist on doing every couple months. Do you want Enzo & Cass stuck in that role? Do you?
No, The Ascension is great for that.
Prince Pretty is rumored to move to the main roster soon, most likely after HIAC. They’re getting Selfie Sticks ready for merchandising. I’m guessing Zack Ryder will be his first win.
Is Prince Puma the one who’s from Indiana?
About time Breeze is called up. While I don’t see him in WWE Champ territory at any point in his career, he can have a solid mid-card run with occasional IC or US title runs. It’s just a variation of a gimmick that has been money for 70+ years.
I’m not really a fan of Summer Rae, but if they’re going to continue to showcase her, this would be a moderately safe bet.
In LU, he’s from Los Angeles. IRL, he’s from Illinois.
Randy’s out with an injury, but what happened to Harper?
Watched a bit of the Stone Cold Podcast last night, after missing Raw.
Austin always bugs the crap out of me. I get that his gimmick was ‘the toughest SOB around’, but I find that personality annoying as fuck. I don’t respect it, I don’t respect him when he’s throwing it around.
Lesner seemed amiable enough and almost seemed like a guy you could have a beer with, but listening to his answers, NO. I’d have fuck-all-nothing in common with him.
Watched the whole thing and thought Lesnar was an interesting cat.
His life boils down to he wants to do something, he does it, then on to the next thing.
As for Breeze, I’m fine with him being called up because he does literally nothing for me and I would rather NXT showcase some other people than him. He’ll toil away in obscurity in WWE, but it’s no different than what he’d doing now really