I am not very excited about this, to be honest. The Triple Threat felt differenty because after a long ass time you had the good (Black) , the bad (Ciampa) and the ugly (Gargano). To have ANOTHER 1-on-1 encounter between the latter two in such a short time kinda makes things lose impact, considering how their feud went.

1 hour ago, KawadaSmile said:

Keith Lee is destined to glory. Has a nice theme, can talk, his look is impressive, he can go in the ring and he uses THE POUNCE. Nice match with Marcel Barthel (who needs more TV time)

I really like Keith Lee & was pretty excited hearing he had signed with NXT. That being said, his NXT debut, for me, left a lot to be desired. I was expecting more of a showcase for him, honestly. 

I think Marcel Barthel showed me more in that match than Keith Lee did.

I agree that it wasn't a showcase, but I actually enjoyed the match more due to that. You don't want to give all what Lee has to offer (him busting a moonsault should be more appropriate for bigger matches and not for his debut, for instance), so having a nice, competent match that gives you a taste of his agility and also puts Barthel over was OK by me.

Yeah, I can agree with that. I'm definitely curious to see more of Barthel now. I already know what Lee can do, so mission accomplished I guess. Lee didn't have to eat him up. 

3 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

I am not very excited about this, to be honest. The Triple Threat felt differenty because after a long ass time you had the good (Black) , the bad (Ciampa) and the ugly (Gargano). To have ANOTHER 1-on-1 encounter between the latter two in such a short time kinda makes things lose impact, considering how their feud went.

I was also looking forward to the triple threat as a different chapter in the Gargano/Ciampa feud before doing the eventual final battle. I fantasy booked Almas as a one-night-only surprise replacement for Black, playing into what happened earlier in the year, and also because it would be a great match. I'm sure the Last Man Standing match will deliver and probably provide another wrinkle to keep this feud going, presumably ending at War Games in November 

Hideo Itami retweeted the news about Aleister Black being attacked with the words "Parking Lot Unsafe" added.

I'm sure creative didn't remember that, but a hilarious throwback to continuity by Kenta!

Wow, Johnny Gargano sure feels like a chump these days. I'm long done with that feud to be honest

9 hours ago, Badlittlekitten said:

Wow, Johnny Gargano sure feels like a chump these days. I'm long done with that feud to be honest

Amen to that. It's driven me away from NXT. Black losing the title was depressing to hear.

I’m sure Black’s injury threw a big monkey wrench in their plans. I’m also not sure that another no holds barred type match is the best thing to do right now. But you guys are being a little dramatic about how bad it is. 

They clearly had a plan and that plan was interrupted by an unfortunate event. They're trying to make the best of what they have and they've won enough good faith from me that I'll look forward to it. Ciampa and Gargano have yet to disappoint this year, for me at least, so this is just an extension of my favorite stuff going on in wrestling. 

This is why internet fans are looked at with such disdain and openly mocked and scorned...

In Johnny Gargano vs. Tomasso Ciampa, you have the best feud of the year, with the best matches of the year - and people are still finding a reason to complain. It's especially galling in this case because there are extenuating circumstances - Black's injury - so they're rightfully going back to what they know works.

IMO, it's a huge improvement. I have nothing against Black, and I'm sorry he's hurt, but I'm looking forward to Round 3 of Gargano-Ciampa far more than anything that would've involved Black.

 Yeah, Gargano vs Ciampa is epic long term storytelling with modern matches. It needed the title. For some reason a few people think that their first match was supposed to be the blow off, and I get it because of the amazing build. But it had to be brutal so they couldn't have a typical first match that's "scientific " or non gimmick, and I think that put off some folks. And to be honest, while I've come around on Black as a worker who can have great matches, I still think his gimmick is boring and it feels like all he does is kick people.

Gargano/ Ciampa has been my favorite story in wrestling in years.

I am catching up on NXT currently. EC3 does not look much better than Jinder in the "how-does-he-pass-drug-testing" territory. Was he that big in TNA as well?

I’d love to see Chiampa demand a straight-up title match. Then he’d know that if Johnny went too far, he’d keep the title. I’d bet he could pull off some great schtick trying to act like he’s very rule-abiding. 

On 8/11/2018 at 8:19 PM, C.S. said:

In Johnny Gargano vs. Tomasso Ciampa, you have the best feud of the year, with the best matches of the year - and people are still finding a reason to complain. It's especially galling in this case because there are extenuating circumstances - Black's injury - so they're rightfully going back to what they know works.

For me, I can't stand either guy. I think Ciampa is goofy as hell and always has been with his 'look at me be EVIL! on Twitter!" heel work, so I have zero interest in seeing him as champion. The first match fine, the 2nd match was overkill and I despised the finish, and after both of those went 35+ minutes.. yeah no thanks. I was sick of Gargano after that no sell spotfest with Ohno earlier in the year,  then admittedly really dug the Almas match but have no desire to see him and Ciampa over and over again. I understand most everyone loves this stuff but I see it the way most people felt about the HHH/Shawn feud with 30-40 minute matches (which conversely I do love)

On 8/12/2018 at 4:49 AM, Robert S said:

I am catching up on NXT currently. EC3 does not look much better than Jinder in the "how-does-he-pass-drug-testing" territory. Was he that big in TNA as well?

Actually he seems to be "smaller", as in shredded, in NXT. He looked bigger in TNA, almost as big as Lashley.

That botch by Aliyah where she forgot to bump for Kairi's headscissors was pretty funny. Strange that they did not bother to edit this one out.

What's the chance that Gargano turns out to be the guy behind the attack on Black? I mean they are going for Gargano losing his mind / going over the top for a couple of months and in some twisted way I would make sense for him to take Black out befoer TakeOver (to have Ciampa 1 vs. 1 one more time). Furthermore Gargano passes by Regal when Regal is going to look at the layed-out Black. (of course so does the Undisputed Era)

They've done it, lads. They managed to turn Gargano into a massive, massive loser

The booking of the main roster surely has its massive flaws, but they wouldn't ever put their top underdog babyface in a position where the crowd keeps chanting "Johnny Failure". Then, he loses to Velveteen Dream, and the crowd repeats the chant, adding insult to injury through "Na na na, hey hey hey goodbye" chants.

Thanks, H-man

I mean, it's totally going to end up being Gargano as the attacker right? It just seems to line up with the story they are telling. 

Could very well be the case. IIRC, in the video of the attack, when Regal's told by a staff member about the attack, the first guy you see casually walking the other way is Johnny Gargano.

I've been out of town and just got around to seeing it, but holy crap Gargano vs Dream was freakin' great. Where's the love PWO?

The Full Sail crowd is on the way to becoming the worst audience in pro wrestling. They have got me to the point where I have to mute them for portions of matches to not lose my mind. I could not come up with a worse thing than a "This is Awesome" vs. "Fight Forever" duelling chant if I had to.

Remember they were really upset about the first TakeOver Brooklyn being held outside of Full Sail, booing everytime there was a mention of the word "Brooklyn", to the point where KO had to cut a promo taking a massive dump on their heads?

Fun times.

Isn't the Full Sail crowd mostly just the old TNA-mutants that people have hated forever? Isn't NXT in the same city/area that iMPACT! used to tape in? The same fans that would chant for Lance Hoyt & take him out for beers after the show? The NXT crowd has been bad pretty much from the beginning, I thought. When they don't travel.