Rhea Ripley is THE MAN.

 

It's kind of amazing how three different promotions are doing homages to Dusty right now. Obviously AEW, then NXT brought back the Dusty Classic, and the NWA named their next PPV "Hard Times".

5 hours ago, El-P said:

They sound even lamer when you write them. Crazy that when this whole Wednesday deal started, I was interested in checking out NXT and Mauro drove me the fuck away in like two weeks. And that's with people I really like on the roster (as opposed to say, NWA which I watched for a whole 9 weeks). BTW, has Scarlett Bordeaux done anything yet ? 

Seems like she hinted at Killer Kross coming in on Instagram because this company needs even more people to be lost in the shuffle.

5 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

In his Rage Against the Machine, if he wins he'll pull the strings like Tom Morello

 

4 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

What the fuck was that Carmelo Anthony reference.

 

4 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

Santana will have to morph into a Black Magic Woman.

Fuck Mauro.

LMAO. I stopped watching NXT after the first 2 USA episodes, but the references has been what I missed the most, although I had heard in the weeks that followed he was way toned down. Judging from this thread, it sounds like Mauro really returned to form tonight!

Say what you will, when Uncle Paul wants to get someone over, he fuckin' gets them over. Rhea was like everything they were trying to do to with Brock on the main roster except they actually pulled the trigger on beating the unstoppable monster without any kneecapping bullshit booking. 

Triple H knows how a big-time star should be put over. Unfortunately, he was never good enough to truly feel like a megastar no matter how many times he was coronated. 

Rhea Ripley does not have that problem. She is an absolute superstar. I am so glad they pulled the trigger on her. If NXT 2020 features badass Rhea Ripley and Keith Lee title runs, it will be my favourite show to watch. 

4 hours ago, Stiva said:

Seems like she hinted at Killer Kross coming in on Instagram because this company needs even more people to be lost in the shuffle.

Hey, good for them if that happens, and by them I mean Kross & Scarlett for staying together.

But Kross has no chance in hell in WWE, because as much as he looks like a monster in AAA or IMPACT or the indies, next to guys like Roman Reigns or Randy Orton or the Fiend, Kross is gonna look average size at best. When I see what they did to Ricochet, who looked like a can't miss prospect and has been reduced to a goof in a stupid outfit talking about superheroes, a guy like Kross is gonna be lost instantly. Maybe in NXT he can shine, and it's not even a given. Plus there's always the "let's humiliate this guy because his gf is too hot for him" aspect of working for these sociopaths… Yeah, good luck with that. IMPACT fucked up royally by not keeping these two for a while at least. AEW should have jumped on them too.

4 hours ago, Stiva said:

Seems like she hinted at Killer Kross coming in on Instagram because this company needs even more people to be lost in the shuffle.

Killer Kross been pushing and supporting all options on his social media this past year. Retweeting and replying to fan "go to promotion x" requests with emojis and Youtube videos. Painting the broadest brush possible.  

Both Kross and NXT were afraid of being caught up in contract tampering or being seen to be doing that. But yeah it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that he is NXT bound.

I don't think he'll be lost in the shuffle he (and Scarlett) are a hell of an act, he's big and there's a huge groundswell of sympathy towards both given how badly both were treated in IMPACT. He handled it with a lot of restraint, professionalism and class. Earned a lot of respect. 

4 minutes ago, rovert said:

I don't think he'll be lost in the shuffle he (and Scarlett) are a hell of an act, he's big 

He's not that big by WWE standarts. And yeah, they are an hell of an act. Like Rusev & Lana. Like Andrade & Zelina. The precedent set by the company is godawful. Very selfishly, I wish they had gone pretty much anywhere else, as even those two together can't make me watch a show announced by Mauro.

23 minutes ago, El-P said:

He's not that big by WWE standarts. And yeah, they are an hell of an act. Like Rusev & Lana. Like Andrade & Zelina. The precedent set by the company is godawful. Very selfishly, I wish they had gone pretty much anywhere else, as even those two together can't make me watch a show announced by Mauro.

I can't really argue. Kross is 34 and made his name it is time for him to sign THE contract. Did his art it is now time to do his money work.

Kross signing with WWE would pretty well confirm that calling out Batista at Bloodsport was just a lame attempt at booking his own angle and GCW did not, in fact, have the match worked out.

Rhea's such a star. I loved every bit of that main event. 

Great show elsewhere, also. NXT has definitely overtaken Dynamite for me as the first of the Wednesday shows I'll seek out. And whilst Mauro's constant forced references are annoying, I prefer his passion, knowledge and play-by-play to JR's apathy, mistakes and repetitive stock phrases at the moment. Either way, I enjoy both Nigel and Schiavone so the commentary on both shows is still more listenable than main roster WWE.

2 hours ago, El-P said:

Hey, good for them if that happens, and by them I mean Kross & Scarlett for staying together.

But Kross has no chance in hell in WWE, because as much as he looks like a monster in AAA or IMPACT or the indies, next to guys like Roman Reigns or Randy Orton or the Fiend, Kross is gonna look average size at best. When I see what they did to Ricochet, who looked like a can't miss prospect and has been reduced to a goof in a stupid outfit talking about superheroes, a guy like Kross is gonna be lost instantly. Maybe in NXT he can shine, and it's not even a given. Plus there's always the "let's humiliate this guy because his gf is too hot for him" aspect of working for these sociopaths… Yeah, good luck with that. IMPACT fucked up royally by not keeping these two for a while at least. AEW should have jumped on them too.

I don't have enough experience with Kross to compare, but he's the same height as Reigns (6'3") and almost the same weight. I don't think he'll look like a giant but he won't look average/small considering the actual depth of the roster.

Rewatching the main event, and Rhea grabbing the referee with a maniacal look on her face so he doesn't ring the bell was incredible. Shawn Michaels being in charge in developmental means a lot of melodramatic contrived bullshit, but it also means brilliance when they do get it right.

Killer Kross is a big dude. But he's in a place where there are tons of big dudes. 

He does have a good look though, and if his pairing with Scarlett clicks in WWE, they are going to be huge. On the other hand, the odds they'd book them as Mike/Maria 2.0 are considerable.

I totally trust WWE to not understand Scarlett's act at all and make her another dumb/catty blonde (or redhead, whatever). And they have fucked over every great duo/couple act they ever had. Also, Scarlett shines at doing intergender stuff, which they won't do, so that goes out the window.

Yeah, that's me speaking sad because I just wanted them so bad in AEW...

Scarlett will get every chance to succeed because...come on. If this was 2006, she'd be programmed in some seedy program with Vince almost immediately. They should just let Kross talk, give him a stable of aimless dudes with he and Scarlett at the top and go from there. The guy is a really solid talker in a place where there isn't too many.

The Kushida/Grimes match on NXT was a ton of fun. Trevor Lee was always one of my favorite guys on the indies, I really hope this is some indication they plan to do more with him!

Seems Ronda's confirmed to return. 

Kross will probably be okay in NXT since he's probably bigger than everyone there other than Keith Lee and Damian Priest. I'm fairly certain he'd be just another dude on the main roster though. 

43 minutes ago, Rah said:

Seems Ronda's confirmed to return. 

Ronda winning the Rumble to face Becky at Mania seems like the likely direction

I'm only about halfway through last night's episode of NXT and holy shit...Mauro Ranallo is fucking insufferable on this show tonight, he's at his all time stupid forced pop culture spouting, broadcast partner interrupting worst.  Where are Corey Graves and JBL when you need them?

clapback straight into splits

io, man...

Some NXT fans chanted "happy ending" and "Pearl Harbor" at Kairi Sane last year. And one caused Marcel Barthel to break character by giving him a Nazi salute a few months ago. They really need to get the hell out of Florida.

28 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said:

And one caused Marcel Barthel to break character by giving him a Nazi salute a few months ago. 

Wait, what the fuck?