Breeze’s stalker is Marcus Louis. Remember how he got all butthurt when Breeze called him an uggo? He’s going to do the Phantom of the Opera thing: kidnap Breeze, chain him up, and serenade him with his organ.
Not *that *organ, T-Cups. 
I hope not, I thought he looked good and I’d be a fan. Although I kept thinking his last name was bagels, so he’s “bagels” to me.
Upthread I heard bald…and I thought of him. Sigh…who cares? No one even really liked the Leigonnaires when they were there
Dear Tyler:
We love you. Please don’t ever leave us again.
I’ll agree that this was more or less a filler episode, but it looks like they’ve got the card stacked for next week - the Zayn vs. Neville rematch, Tyson Kidd vs. Finn Balor, and the long-awaited Baron Corbin/Bull Dempsey showdown. I’m not sure if this thread will be able to handle having this show and Lucha Underground on the same night.
The big question after this episode is - where do the Lucha Dragons go from here? As great as the tag team wrestling in NXT has been, there aren’t really any more heel teams for them to feud with now that the Ascension has been called up and the Vaudevillians have been unable to do the deal. I foresee either a heel turn for Enzo and Big Cass, or the formation of a new heel team to take them on (Kevin Owens and Bull Dempsey, maybe? Or maybe the Tyson/Cesaro combo?)
I’m also curious where they’re going with Chad Gable. He got a jobber entrance tonight and lost to Tyler to give him a solid win for his debut, but he’s not just any ham-and-egger - he is, as the commentators mentioned, a bona fide Olympic wrestler, and I’ve been seeing his name in the news sites for quite some time. Between his style and his ring gear he looks like the bastard child of Kurt Angle and Ken Patera, and he showed some genuine style in the ring. He’ll probably never be a main-eventer, but I could see him as a solid midcarder down the road.
Hey, I liked Les Legionnaires! Not in the sense that I thought they were great workers or that I was cheering for them to win or anything, but as cartoon villains and foils for Enzo and Big Cass, they couldn’t be beat.
What’s more, I think Marcus Louis has been fantastically entertaining since the loss of his hair has driven him to MADNESS. He is genuinely off-putting–it’s fantastic. He should be loads of fun with Tyler.
That said, I don’t entirely understand how they’re going to book it. I don’t see any way you can make Tyler the face in this (last we saw of Marcus, Tyler delivered a spectacular heel promo on him that went right up to the line and crossed it), and I’m not sure the Hunchback of Notre Full Sail makes sense as a face. But it’s NXT–they’ve earned my trust, so I’m willing to sit back and see where they take it.
Honestly, I hope the answer to that is “to the main roster”. As you say, they’re pretty much out of things to do in NXT. Moreover, they don’t really fit NXT. I love flippy luchador shit as much as anybody, but the guys from Lucha Underground are the guys who seem like they’d be more at home on NXT; Kallisto and Sin Cara have main roster written all over them. With their kid-friendly look and moveset, they may be the guys on NXT (other than Finn Balor) most likely to succeed on the main shows. Send 'em off and let E & Big C feud with the VVs for the titles or something.
(Incidentally, could you imagine if the Lucha Dragons showed up on Lucha Underground? Poor guys. Big Ryck, Mil Muertes, Chavo, Pentagon, Sexy Star, Mascarita Sagrada, Pimpinela Escarlata–the Lucha Highlighters’d get eaten alive by those guys, and then Dario Cueto would scam them out of their masks.)
Nothing unusual in guys starting out jobbing in NXT–go back and watch the episode with the Zayn/Cesaro 2 out of 3 falls match. (What I just said should be enough to convince you. It’s on Hulu, not the network.) Before you get to the main event, you might recognize a certain Lone Wolf jobbing out to none other than CJ Parker. Gotta put in your dues, I guess.
Anyway, Gable was obviously pretty damn super over with the Full Sail crowd, so (unlike me) they obviously knew who he was. I assume he’s been working some house shows before his TV debut–I know that’s something they do to get guys ready. If he’s got a little bit of charisma (or negative charisma, as Angle tended to have when they tried to make him a babyface) and can handle himself on the stick, I’m sure he’ll do fine.
Read the wikipedia profiles of any hot NXT star, and you’ll see that they were enhancement talent a year or so earlier. They probably wouldn’t be recognizable either.
Sin Cara got a win over Wade Barrett on Smackdown… I don’t understand this convoluted booker logic. The IC champ loses more than he wins. Barrett beat him up after the match, and I expected Kane to come out and say “Oh, I forgot… it’s a best 2 out of 3 falls match.” Sin Cara’s NXT bona fides are never mentioned on the main roster shows. WWE is so bloody capricious about who they’re going to push. But who cares, Dean Ambrose is back to feuding with Seth Rollins! Fuck Yeah!
I was recapping this match to my girlfriend (she was out with friends instead of watching wrestling on a friday night…what a loser) and I said “BNB faced Sin Cara, so you can guess who won that…aaaaaaannnd you’d be wrong cuz Sin Cara won”
I’m guessing it’s to make BNB look more like a heel by beating SC up after the match
Just rumormongering, but some of the wrestling rags are pushing a story the last few days that for the past few months Vince has been personally rewriting every RAW around two hours before go live time. It’s apparently causing a lot of frustration with the writing staff (since they spend a week working out RAW before hand to have it all torn up at the last minute), and many of the performers as well.
So you know how everyone is saying “Daniel Bryan has to win the Rumble! If he doesn’t WWE is stupid for burying him! They can’t do what they did last time they can’t be that stupid”
You know what WWE needs to do
exactly what they did last time
How much would it piss off the IWC if The Authority buried him again? Besides, all you need to do is have him have a really great match at Mania (no idea against whom tho…Harper? off the top of my head…maybe RKO?) and everyone will be happy again. I noticed about, ohh…2 months ago? That I don’t really miss DB, so I think the best way to keep him relevant is to fight against his stereotype.
Might not work too, just spitballing here =)
Right now, my dream WrestleMania card (in terms of what’s currently plausible booking-wise, anyway) would look something like this;
Seth Rollins © vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose, triple threat for the world title
Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar, #1 contenders match
John Cena vs. Rusev ©, title vs. career
Sting vs. Triple H, the Authority is perma-fired forever and ever (no backsies this time) forever if Triple H loses
Luke Harper vs. Erik Rowan (special guest referee Bray Wyatt)
Sami Zayn © vs. Kevin Owens for the NXT title (yes, I’d put an NXT title match on 'Mania, great way to build the brand, make this the pre-show match if you must)
The Usos © vs. the Ascension for the tag titles
Nikki Bella © vs. Brie Bella for the Divas title
Dolph Ziggler vs. Bad News Barrett ©, 2 out of 3 falls for the title
If even half of those matches happened (or at least one of those inductions), I’d be happy. I’m assuming that the Undertaker won’t be back this year, since the end of the Streak was a pretty solid conclusion to his in-ring career (though an HoF induction would not be unwelcome).
Holy crap thats…good.
That’s really good.
The problem is you can’t have Cena beat Rusev for the streak because Cena isn’t about to hold the damn US title.
It’s gotta be Ryback vs Rusev streak vs career (he is kinda perpetually fired after all)
Well, if you actually wanted to elevate the US title, putting it on Cena wouldn’t be a bad move - he held it several times earlier in his career, and actually hada custom version of the belt during the Thuganomics era (and you could definitely wring some nostalgia value out of bringing that belt back).
From what I’ve heard, Ryback and the others are going to be un-fired within the next few weeks and they’ll be appearing in the Royal Rumble match.
Ryback vs. Rusev would make for a decent match at 'Mania if they didn’t want to put Cena up against him, but then you’re left with finding a suitable opponent for Cena since he has to be on the card one way or another. Kane, maybe.
The IC strap is a a curse. It’s become so predictable that it’s a bit of a joke with the reviewers I read–there is no better way to ensure you are gonna eat a bunch of non-title losses than getting the IC championship. It’s ridiculous, and devalues the belt.
So far as Sin Cara goes… well, this is a bit of a special instance. Sin Cara is technically a main roster guy; the work he’s doing up on NXT is, from a main roster perspective, kind of slumming it. That aside, main roster is stupid about NXT, and generally does its best to not mention it. See, recently, The Ascension–these guys were dominant tag champs for a year or so, during which year JBL was general fucking manager of NXT, and he acts like he’s never seen them before. It’s infuriating.
What do you mean, “the past few months”? There’ve been rumours of last-minute Vince re-writes going around for basically as long as the quality has slipped. You want some rumor, how about this one: Vince has been personally writing all of Roman’s promos, including the one on Friday’s SD, which from what I understand was spectacularly awful. Where’s Harrison Ford when you need him–“You can write this shit, Vince, but that doesn’t mean I can say it!”
Can we do Ryback/Rusev at the Rumble streak vs job. Have Ryback win and finally finally finally end this damn streak, get the us title (it’d look good on him) and then book Cena/Rusev for a winner takes Lana or something match?
ETA: Ya know, now that I think about it…why not do that for everyone? Enter everyone who was fired into the Rumble, and say that they have to finish in the top 5 or 6/eliminate 5 guys/stop the kofi shenanegans/something in order for them to keep their jobs? This would bring a bit more intrigue into the rumble itself other than who’s gonna win.
Eh, nevermind, typing it out it doesn’t really work. It would guarantee the top 6 people in the rumble and would take out a bit of the fun. Ok, just go back to my original thought
Put the three “fired” guys in the Rumble first, with the last remaining getting his job back. Turn them on each other.
Next, to create a top heel instantly, have that candidate be the one to heelishly eliminate Daniel Bryan. Best if it is an unexpected turn setting up a Wrestlemania match. Could it finally be…?
I love your idea of the three former Shield members duking it out for the WWE title Smapti, but I doubt Vince is going to let his golden boy Cena be anything less than a headliner. He’s certainly too big for the US title, and a match against Brrrrock is a more likely scenario if the above match takes place. Lesnar is playing WWE and UFC against each other for bidding rights, so his WM status is anybody’s guess. Maybe his match against Cena would be a “loser leaves WWE” type of contest?
Supposedly, Bray Wyatt is on the block as Undertaker’s next yearly opponent, and ordinarily I would think a Wyatt Family reunion would be in order for that occasion, but it appears they’re cementing Luke Harper as an Authority stooge, and further trying to make Erick Rowan a lovable face. I personally don’t think that works, but I don’t get paid for my opinions.
Daniel Bryan is a main eventer, but there’s nobody on that level left except for maybe Randy Orton and (choke) Kane. If Brrrock bails, Bryan vs Cena II would be ideal, as a way for the Authority to play two of its enemies against each other.
I like your ideas for Sami vs Kevin, Sting vs HHH, and Zig vs BNB. I’m still not impressed with The Ascension that much, and I think the tag match would involve a couple other teams such as the Dust brothers and Cesaro/Kidd to bring some gravitas. Rusev’s first loss would be a WM event, most likely against Ryback.
His 'Mania match last year (against Bray) was only fourth on the card out of seven matches, and most of the last few PPVs he’s been having his match in the middle of the show while Dean Ambrose main-events. He has to be on the show, but he doesn’t necessarily have to main-event, and I don’t see him being in the world title picture for awhile since another win would tie him with Ric Flair and I don’t think they want to pull that trigger.
Besides, Cena isn’t the golden boy anymore - Roman Reigns is, as evidenced by the fact that he’s reportedly personally scripting Roman’s promos (which, no doubt, explains why Roman suddenly talks like a Looney Tunes character.)
'Taker is done. I severely doubt he’ll be back this year - his 50th birthday is the week before 'Mania and he clearly hasn’t been making an effort to stay in or get back into ring shape any time soon, as you can see in this recent photo. The only real story angle he had going for the last few years was the Streak, and that’s over now. A Hall of Fame induction is more likely than an actual match.
I could get behind another Cena/Bryan match.
I really think it has to be Cena - he’s the only “American hero” type face that Rusev hasn’t fought yet, and Cena pinning him (or better yet, making him tap out) would be a fitting end to the whole “VLADAMEER POOOOOOOOTIN” thing.
So, the big rumor today is that on tonight’s Raw, they’ll be announcing the first inductee for the Hall Of Fame Class of 2015…
…Macho Man Randy Savage! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH YEAH!
Which, if true, is both well-deserved and long-overdue.
That would definitely be cool. I read an article a while ago that said he didn’t want to be inducted without his brother and father included. I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t induct the whole family. His brother was nowhere near as popular or successful, obviously, but I say it would be worth it.
It may or may not be true, but I was just reading an article on it, how Lannie was saying this, and I kept thinking “Sure buddy, YOU hold out until you get to go in the HOF too. Jackass.”