I hope Pat's not done with in-ring work now that's he's got one in. I know that it was a bucket list thing for him because he loves wrestling, but he's got more to offer. 

I wouldn't say the main event was "not good," but it certainly wasn't fantastic. As others pointed out during the build, it just seems like a rushed idea from the start.

I don't regularly watch NXT but, to me, you could've done Lee vs. Balor here. Lee should've been called up years ago, but once he became champ, he deserved at least one solid defense.

Kross could've gone over just about anyone else - they could've held off on Dijakovic or had him beat Thatcher (who was/is awesome, but again, if you're going to have him lose in an opening match, why not have it be the next NXT Champion?).

Keith Lee wasn't solidified enough as the NXT Champion to make the loss a meaningful, transcendent moment nor was Kross established enough to make him seem like a big deal that deserves to be the focus of the brand. 

I find that to be the case with nearly everying going on these days with NXT. The in-ring work is still consistently good, but there's nobody really "buzzing" so none of it has a "big fight feel" to it anymore. Even in front of a live crowd, even considering how great Shirai and Thatcher are, for example,  there doesn't seem to be any real emotional weight to what they're doing. Hopefully the women's division will improve with Ripley back and I"m guessing we'll get a Finn face turn sooner than later so he can challenge Kross (?), but yeah, there's just not much to get excited or invested in which means that really good matches (like the opener) will never actually feel like "great" matches. If I don't care about the characters involved, I can only care about good ring work so much. 

7 hours ago, Log said:

McAfee has been training with Rip Rogers for a few years now. That’s probably why he looked so good. 

I had no idea, that's awesome. I'm a big Rip Rogers fan. Maybe more NXT guys should train under Rogers, because several of the NXT house style guys looked like trash last night.  

Yeah my main takeaway was how exposed the PC got by how good Pat looked compared to folks who have been training there for years. 

It's almost as if doing football style drills and endless weightlifting routines designed to blow your shoulders out aren't conducive to making good wrestlers. 

52 minutes ago, EricR said:

I had no idea, that's awesome. I'm a big Rip Rogers fan. Maybe more NXT guys should train under Rogers, because several of the NXT house style guys looked like trash last night.  

There were hardly and PC guys/girls on the card yesterday anyway, which I guess is to the point as well. The only real PC trainee was Velveteen Dream. Gargano, Kai and Cole are there long enough that you also have to factor PC in for them. But apart from them? Kross, Reed and Grimes came in last year, Thatcher this year, Lee, Priest and Shirai in 2018. Looking at the NXT roster on Wikipedia, there are so few people who really came up from the PC.

Any reason why they don't bring Rip Rogers in for training? Perhaps is a Rip decision to run do his own form of training. Anyway I echo the praise for McAfee. His background leans into the athletic side of wrestling and he showed that in spades. 

1 hour ago, Robert S said:

There were hardly and PC guys/girls on the card yesterday anyway, which I guess is to the point as well. The only real PC trainee was Velveteen Dream. Gargano, Kai and Cole are there long enough that you also have to factor PC in for them. But apart from them? Kross, Reed and Grimes came in last year, Thatcher this year, Lee, Priest and Shirai in 2018. Looking at the NXT roster on Wikipedia, there are so few people who really came up from the PC.

Yeah I think it's more an indictment on the PC style bleeding into performers who have established themselves elsewhere. Thatcher obviously works the same way he's worked the past several years, but guys like Lee have played against some of their strengths and it feels like the PC style taking over. The PC feels like it took a major turn for the worst in 2018. They need to reboot and take a seriously look at who who is doing the training.  

1 hour ago, Makai Club #1 said:

Any reason why they don't bring Rip Rogers in for training? Perhaps is a Rip decision to run do his own form of training. Anyway I echo the praise for McAfee. His background leans into the athletic side of wrestling and he showed that in spades. 

Not Corporate in the slightest. Says non-PC things and is frankly a super eccentric weirdo. Rip likes to test people's attitude and resiliency early on and before a trainee gets to know him or realise once you pass that "test" he's your best friend and his process actually works. 

NXT is the opposite end to the scale too Corporate and a positivity cult to offer even constructive criticism. 

Maybe I'm a mark, but another thing I'm loving about Pat is that he's not breaking kayfabe on his podcast. 

On 8/23/2020 at 6:48 PM, rovert said:

NXT is the opposite end to the scale too Corporate and a positivity cult to offer even constructive criticism. 

The PC is basically like Amway or some other pyramid scheme,  except instead of useless home products they peddle the chance to be a WWE Superstar®