Charlotte is on the Smackdown roster, so unless she moves over, that ain’t happening.
And I doubt they’d throw that bone to Nia, although I wouldn’t mind seeing it.
Frankly, I doubt they’ll go with Bayley either, as much as I and some fans would like to see that.
Fucking WWE will probably have Sasha Banks win it, then lose the title the next day on RAW.
I don’t think WWE should have had a 30-woman Royal Rumble. Jeez, do we really need two full-length Royal Rumble matches on the same show? The crowd will fall asleep.
So, for the benefit of anyone who didn’t stay up for Wrestle Kingdom; this show has been amazing. I don’t have a complaint about any of these matches. Jericho vs. Omega is an all-time classic, and we may as well stop the voting for “best match of 2018” right now because I don’t think it’s possible to top what those two put on.
So you’re actually antisemitic. (insert hasidic smiley)
So is the Mixed Challenge an actual wrestling event? At first I thought they’d be playing a video game or something, but it looks to be actual matches. They have Braun & Alexa and Bobby & Charlotte so far.
This needs some real oddball pairings, like Baron Corbin & Ruby Riott.
Is anyone planning on actually watching it?
I certainly am not. Not to mention I fully believe this is just the WWE testing to see if people will watch the product on Facebook and using that as leverage in their next contract negotiation with USA.
USA’s response: “Well, if you think you can make more money putting your product on Facebook instead of cable TV, we’re not going to stop you. Good Luck!”
For a three-hour show, you’re probably right, but Royal Rumble will be one of the four-hour ones; almost certainly, the women’s Rumble will open the show (which has the added “advantage” of people with tickets who don’t want to watch it can arrive after it starts and “not miss anything” as far as they are concerned), and the men’s Rumble will close it (or be the next-to-last match, but that runs the risk of either having the two too close to each other, or not give the main event the time it deserves).
If they put the Women’s Royal Rumble on the pre-show, we riot!
*Riott
NXT January 6 Grady Cole Center Charlotte NC
Nice little venue, about the size of a regular high school gym. We got the cheap seats in the upper deck, but were still close enough to see. Mike Rome, the one Christ Jericho put on The List because he looked too much like Tom Phillips, was the master of ceremonies and got the crowd going. My friends Tom and Darin weren’t familiar with NXT, but they had a blast. I told them they had to squeal “Three” whenever the referee did the count and the pinned guy kicked out, and they also had to shout “Ten” for every number the referee counted when somebody was getting counted out. I created new smarks. I took some pics, but my camera lens was broken and they looked grainy and washed out. Nothing you haven’seen before anyways.
No Way Jose vs Fabian Aichner
NWJ spent about 10 minutes with his entrance, roaming among the crowd with his iPad. He is the modern-day Jimmy Boogie Woogie Man Valiant. Fabian Aichner played the surly heel OK, but he’s kind of like Dean Malenko in that he knows what he’s doing, but doesn’t really project much personality. NWJ wins with the drop-down European Uppercut.
Lacey Evans vs Nikki Cross
Lacey came out as the Madonna Marine, looking all stylish in her camo dominatrix duds. When Nikki came out, I screamed MARRY ME NIKKI! I started a chant of “Nikki’s gonna kill you.” She took a couple bumps and didn’t disappoint. She’s a lot like Dean Ambrose in her unhingedness. Nikki wins with the Spinning Neckbreaker.
Mike introduced a video of what happened between the Street Profits and Moss & Sabatelli the night before in Spartanburg SC. Moss & Sabatelli put their Mazerati up as a bet they would win, and of course they lost it. This time they proposed a “double or nothing” bet to where they would put up their Minivan! With Spinners! SP accepted the challenge.
Roderick Strong vs Lars Sullivan
Much like their contender match on NXT a few weeks back, Strong unloaded quick offense on Lars but was unable to take him off his feet. Lars retaliated with monster heel gorilla slams and bearhugs. We kept shouting “Lars Smash” and “Urrrrr.” Lars won with the Urinagi.
Undisputed Era vs Kassius Ohno and Aleister Black
I was surprised Black would be Ohno’s partner. He came out to his death metal music with the Norse runes and menacing aura. I yelled “We are not worthy!” I told Tom & Darin Ohno’s probably going to get pinned. They thought his outfit looked weird and he was copying the Minnesota Vikings uniform. I said he’s got some kind of medical condition, but couldn’t really explain to any degree of credibility.
Mike said on the mike “William Regal has informed me this will be for the NXT tag team championship!” O’Reilly and Fish acted like they were going to leave so the kids in audience could call them chicken. Unexpectedly, Black acted as the abused victim of reDDragon’s assault, until Ohno got the hot tag and played the all-destroying big man. I thought Adam Cole Baybay would do a run-in, but he didn’t show. O’Reilly rolled up Ohno for the 3-count. Intermission ensued.
Street Profits vs Riddick Moss & Tino Sabatelli for the Minivan! With Spinners!
We were yelling tasteless things about minivan stalkers kidnapping children, such as “Did you black out the windows?” The audience chanted “Mi-ni-van!” and “We want spinners!” Montez Ford acted as the abused face and Angelo Dawkins got the hot tag and cleaned house. In homage to being in Flair country, Street Profits won with a double Figure 4. The backdrop showed a picture of a minivan with flames on the sides as the SPs showed excitement over their new lootage.
Bianca Belair and Shayna Baizler vs Aliyah and Ember Moon
Didn’t expect Moon to be part of a tag team, but it looked like the purpose was to showcase the badassedness that is Shayna Baizler. She dominated most of the match. Belair got in a little time, and we chanted “Hair whip! Hair whip!” Belair acted like she would do it, but then shook her head no. Tease. Baizler made Aliyah submit with the Kokina Clutch. Aliyah looked fiiiiine.
Velveteen Dream vs Johnny Gargano
VD came out first and strutted around, then perched on the upper turnbuckle and removed his jacket. Underneath he was wearing a Patriots shirt, which the pro-Panthers crowd booed. VD channeled Rick Rude’s stripper dance. Gargano came out as the super babyface he is. He took VD’s shirt from him and wiped his ass with it, then elbow dropped it several times as VD sold shock and astonishment.
We called VD “Velveeta” and Gargano “Gorganzola,” then went into discourse as to which cheese would be dominant. VD eventually jumped Gargano and the match started, but Mike forgot to ring the bell. We chanted “Ring the bell” and Gargano eventually rolled out of the ring and did so. Gargano makes me feel like I’m 5 when he wrestles. He’s so good at being the abused face and coming up with killer moves out of nowhere. VD did a super job as well, and the crowd cheered for both. Johnny won with the Benoit Cross-face submission.
As we left, a lady usher came up to us and said we were hilarious. It was tons better than any WWE show I’ve seen live. The smaller venue makes it a more intimate experience, and the WWE promotion was kept to a minimum.
Addenda: I wore my Jim Cornette shirt and got a few leers. Fuck you bitches, I got better wrestling nerd cred.
More than a few fans resembled WWE stars. Saw one dude with the same hairstyle as Corey Graves, but no neck tattoo. Saw a few Roman Reigns and Luke Harper knockoffs, but that might just be the usual look for that part of NC.
When Velveteen Dream was about to jump on Johnny Gargano from the top rope, Darin yelled “Sweep the legs Johnny!” It took a few seconds until I realized he was quoting Karate Kid. When the same move set came up later, more people yelled “Sweep the legs Johnny!” and he did so to a nice pop.
I was pleasantly surprised they didn’t have any no-names in the opening matches. I was hoping to be able to make the claim that “I saw them first” in case one of them was the future Brock Lesnar, but the quality of the matches more than made up for it.
They don’t let the nobodies out of Florida very much, and I suspect never. As a touring brand, they want NXT to sell tickets and make money, so they are only going to send their stars.
All the new people need to know how to work in front of a crowd before they do anything else, so while the good people are touring, they leave the no-names for us in Orlando.
Glad you had fun though! That definitely sounds like how the house shows for NXT work. Great matches with weird pairings, but then you can be sure you see everyone you know?
So are we really thinking the Balor Club is a thing?
Cuz a heel Balor and an actual Club would be reeeeeeaaalllyyy cool
Well, now Samoa Joe is “injured” and won’t be a part of the Mixed challenge thing.
I wonder if part of that ‘injury’ was his ridiculous fucking tweet about the challenge, where he said he needed someone to hold his towel while he fought. :rolleyes:
The only thing worse than the tweet was all the white knighters who piled on to defend him and attack any woman who objected to it. :smack:
I’m more inclined to believe the tweet was a work, and WWE got cold feet and underwent damage control over the Twitter drama.
The tweet might have been a work, but all indications are that the injury is legit. Most likely it is a plantar fascia rupture.
As someone with plantar fasciitis, I can’t imagine a complete rupture. Eesh.
Dang. I don’t want him out injured! I wanna see him in a strong program. He’s earned it with his work.
Natalya’s husband still hasn’t returned from the booboo Samoa Joe gave him a couple of years ago, but it’d be a good time for him to do so now and act like it’s karmic justice.
Royal Rumble looks like it’s going to be around 5 hours: 2 rumbles at at least an hour each, 1 2/3 falls tag match, and at least 4 more. This is potential burnout for me.
Cody’s launched a Twitter feed for his indy supershow. It’s taking place on September 1st in a location yet to be named (rumored to be Chicago) and, in addition to himself, he’s promoting Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, Marty Scurll, Hangman Page, and Stephen Amell for the event.
If I can scrounge up a grand or so for a ticket, a flight, and a hotel, this just might be my vacation for the year.
Did I hear that this thread was desperate for some Impact Wrestling news?
I think I did!
Tapings are back home for me (maybe for the last time?) and while I’m only able to go one day (MAYBE two if I go tonight). Brian Cage is apparently new to the roster, there’s a rumor that Rey Jr. might be added as well and, oh yeah, THE 4-SIDED RING IS BACK!
Crazy.