3 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

Man, that Trevor Lee/Cameron Grimes promo was really shit, huh?

It's really unfortunate that they are doing whatever this is supposed to be.

His last few appearances in PWG before going to NXT, Trevor cut some of the best complete and total cocky douchebag, prick heel interviews of his career.

I don't know what this top hat shit is, just let him be a dickhead scumbag.

The top hat isn't even the worst part, but holy shit the delivery to the lines themselves were just... horrible. Did they do that in one take? Didn't they have any other ideas?

That Breakout Tournament will age really poorly and really fast. 

 

Also, it seems Scarlett Bordeaux was spotted at the PC. Who knows...

Hijo del Fantasma aka King Cuerno from Lucha Underground was officially announced as signed and will probably be the "hey it's that guy" in the crowd at the next Takeover. 

What makes that signing interesting is that he was famously getting a degree in International Relations and his dad is the head of the Lucha Commission so he's likely going to have a low tolerance for WWE nonsense since he has the wrestling equivalent of fuck-you money (they need him more than he needs to be in WWE).

Cannot believe I have a degree in the same field as a pro wrestler. That's really cool, to be honest. Just saw a Q&A session on Twitter and the dude seems really into diplomacy. Warms my heart.

1 hour ago, KawadaSmile said:

Also, it seems Scarlett Bordeaux was spotted at the PC. Who knows...

it was reported in this week's Observer that she had a tryout there this past week.

A try out... You don't give Scarlett a try-out, you give her a contract... 

El Hijo del Fantasma is certainly an interesting name to get into NXT. Watch him get wasted like every luchador before him. Well maybe not, since he can also speak english better than most I believe and has a good body for their standarts (that is, if he looks like he did in the first season of LU).

Two people I'd rather have in AEW, but oh well...

Looks like the era of Takeovers being part of Big 4 PPV weekends is officially over. Will they start being counter-programmed against AEW PPVs? Or will WWE try to undercut AEW by running them on USA? It's a lot harder to justify spending $50 on a PPV when there's a PPV-level card on TV every few months, to say nothing of the impact on AEW's ratings.

I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to counter AEW with the TakeOvers. Perhaps putting them back-to-back or the week before to try hurting their PPV buys.

On 9/7/2019 at 9:14 AM, El-P said:

A try out... You don't give Scarlett a try-out, you give her a contract... 

She did appear in WWE some time ago. She was stanning Sasha Banks before getting squashed by Nia, which is not too bad. Managed to give a decent promo even taking into consideration her situation.

On 9/9/2019 at 7:57 PM, SirEdger said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to counter AEW with the TakeOvers. Perhaps putting them back-to-back or the week before to try hurting their PPV buys.

Dave stated that was his first thought when he heard they weren't doing Takeovers on PPV weekends anymore. They haven't officially stated it, but since NXT has been turned into the counter to AEW I would be shocked if they didn't start running them on AEW PPV weekends instead. 

I know I am late to the party, but I finally got a chance to watch the entire NXT Takeover: Cardiff show.  I thought the show was very good, although if I never see another Triple Threat Tag Team Match which involves nothing but spots and dives, I would die a happy man.  The main thing that grabbed me from this show WALTER vs. Bate.  I am not a big WALTER fan.  NXT UK was my first exposure to him and I honestly didn't get him at first.  I saw the logic in putting him over Pete Dunne (especially since Dunne is reportedly moving to the US to join NXT) but the match where he won the title was okay at best, as far as I was concerned. It was my lack of enthusiasm about WALTER which kept me from watching this show live or making it a priority.

Before I saw WALTER vs. Bate, I had heard it was a very long match and I cringed because I was afraid it was another Shawn Michaels inspired "epic" with a million false finishes and needless melodrama, in the vein of the Cole/Gargano feud.  That was not the case at all with this match.  Firstly, they worked the classic old school "Big Man vs. Little Man" style match to near perfection.  Secondly, (and I know this is probably going to be considered a "hot take") this match to me was much more reminiscent of a 90's All Japan Style Main Event.  Long match yes, but a slow build, super hot crowd, with lots of hard hitting and high impact moves leading to a definitive finish. 

I said it elsewhere but I'll reiterate - WALTER vs. Bate supplanted Cody vs. Dustin as my 2019 Match of the Year.  If you haven't checked it out, I encourage you to do so.  Surprisingly and unexpectedly, NXT UK is becoming my favorite promotion.  I've pretty much given up on Impact, MLW is way too hit and miss for me, and I can't sit through Raw & Smackdown.  NXT seems to be stuck in a rut, but NXT UK really gives me a great old school vibe.  And as a major bonus, the commentary team is outstanding...especially the fact that there is NO Mauro Ranallo.

4 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

Secondly, (and I know this is probably going to be considered a "hot take") this match to me was much more reminiscent of a 90's All Japan Style Main Event. 

Definitely seen the King's Road comparisons around here and other parts of the net. I think that it probably did the best version of that style than most others have tried in the decades since. And oh BOY have many tried. 

I've long since stopped watching other than the Takeovers, but Malcolm Bivens' (the former Stokely Hathaway) Twitter-based search for his stolen CD player has been very amusing. Someone at Fightful helpfully collated the investigation for us.

31 minutes ago, ...TG said:

I've long since stopped watching other than the Takeovers, but Malcolm Bivens' (the former Stokely Hathaway) Twitter-based search for his stolen CD player has been very amusing. Someone at Fightful helpfully collated the investigation for us.

That's great stuff.  Now I'd like to think that Shayna greets everyone by pushing them down.

I know NXT is yesterday's news and the clear second best Wednesday night show, but holy shit Walter vs Kushida from the latest ep was freaking great 

13 hours ago, Ricky Jackson said:

I know NXT is yesterday's news and the clear second best Wednesday night show, but holy shit Walter vs Kushida from the latest ep was freaking great 

I haven't watched it yet. Thank you for reminding me though. I'm going to watch the show right now. This upcoming Wednesday will be the first time I'll be able to finish the shows too, without having to leave at 9:30 for work. 

I thought that NXT was a good show, had some good to great matches but you can only compare it to AEW since this is the self-proclaimed war and Dynamite was so much more vital, energetic and exciting. NXT put out a good show, AEW hit it out of the park but there’s a worrying feeling that “good” is all NXT can muster up at this point.

My first reaction: Yeah, Jordan, you got a crappy shirt like 99% of the WWE and NXT rosters. So what?

But then I had some had some coffee, stepped back, and realized what he was objecting to...

WWE gonna WWE...

 

This topic could probably go in the "Can WWE be redeemed?"  thread and filed under No. 

Not surprising given how they did that "Go Go Hideo" that ended up looking like an 88.

But then again, given how Trips is fascinated with Iron Crosses and all that, I don't expect him or the marketing team to be racially sensitive.

 

But props to Myles for speaking up on the matter.

When I think of ACH, I definitely think of the Stones.

More from the former ACH:

(Did he and PAC make a bet over who could have the shittier name?)

Is he trying to get fired at this point, or angling for the Luke Harper/Mike Kanellis "get paid to sit at home" package?

His anger about the design is justified, but wow, he really doesn't seem to give a fuck if he keeps his job or not. 

He's gonna get buried on NXT TV before they release him. If they release him.

He hasn't had a match in about a month which apparently lines up with when he first brought it up to someone in the company. If their response was to ice him out, no wonder he's going out guns blazing because that's some bullshit.

That sure puts a different perspective on "Putting smiles on faces".