Last week, Johnny Curtis manipulated his ex-girlfriend Maxine into attacking her long-time rival (and possible love interest of her boyfriend), Kaitlyn. What will befall Derrick Bateman's complicated love life this week? Also this week continues the fall from grace of former fan-favorite Titus O'Neil. What's on his agenda now? As always, cameos from the other brands will be prevalent. Read on for my thoughts on the show as it happens.
I had to get video of the international version of this, since it actually aired on TV elsewhere before WWE uploaded it. I have no idea why they're taking so long to put it up lately. This week, it could have had something to do with them doing Smackdown live throwing everything out of whack, but I don't remember that being a problem last time. All in all, they're treating the show like just another video on the site and it's getting quite frustrating.
Another important disclaimer is that due to Smackdown being live, they didn't have as much time to tape NXT and Superstars beforehand. So, this week's edition might be a little more "bare bones" as far as wrestling goes.
Those points out of the way, onto the show:
They're jumping right into things.
Reks and Hawkins are growing on me. Not as future main eventers or anything, but they're at least not "future endeavors" level.
Pretty good promo from Tyson Kidd. He's not a great speaker, but he did well enough.
Fans are behind Kidd here. That's good.
Making it to the main event is generally a step-by-step process. Del Rio, Sheamus, and Barrett are anomalies.
Tyson's got some very impressive offense.
I like Tyler Reks ok, but outside of the dreadlocks and his finishing move I don't think he has much that makes him special. Nothing "wrong" with him, but not someone must-see who looks like he can move up the card any time soon.
If WWE moves towards performers the likes of Punk and Bryan on a more permanent basis, Tyson could have a pretty bright future.
Unique fall-away slam variation. I swear I was typing that before Regal said it.
If Tyson can get some pizzazz (as far as personality and ring gear), he could really be someone to look out for in the future.
That looked pretty painful on the ropes.
Good sharpshooter counter. Keep your eye on Tyson.
Pretty cool look for Bateman.
Getting off of NXT might end up meaning getting released.
This is like something from a quirky sitcom. In a good way. Bateman, Kaitlyn, and Curtis play off of each other very well. All three should be on the "to watch" list.
It's been kind of a running gag since Season 3 that Striker has a crush on Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn's great. One of the most, if not the most, natural-sounding Diva in segments.
Good seeing Maxine and Kaitlyn again next week. They've generally been a good deal more hit than miss this season.
It took me a while to figure out who Tyson would be talking to.
Perfect record. That was a GREAT subtle reference.
Tyson vs. McGillicutty works for me. Both men were a little "off" here, but they weren't terrible.
Oh Jesus. This could be scary. Not someone I want to hear commentate a match.
The Darren/Titus teaming just doesn't work for me from a character perspective, unless Young's just setting up for a double-cross or something.
Not bad lines from Young.
Nice cheers for A-Ry. He should be someone the company looks at for the future.
Regal's really someone Young should study. I'd love to see him be more like the former King of the Ring.
Heh. Titus' mocking was good.
Young's commentary sounds kind of forced.
It's really weird that they bring up the heel's charity work.
Regal referred to Sting on a WWE show. Just... not the one people wanted him to.
Titus seems to be getting more comfortable with the mannerisms and actions of a heel.
Wow. That fake dog bark was bad. I REALLY hope he's just setting Titus up to turn on him from a character standpoint (though I don't want to see them face off any time soon).
I like Titus showing off what he's doing to the commentators and to Percy.
While he's not the most varied performer by any stretch, the basic power moves from Titus are effective and fitting for him.
It's like they're going back and forth with who they're focusing on at the commentary booth instead of it being a natural thing.
That was actually pretty clever from Young to say that he's the only superstar with his own show. But Percy's right that he hasn't dominated this show in quite some time.
Four commentators is at least one too many.
Classic heel move to get the win.
Darren seems really disingenuous praising Titus. Either that's by design or he's not acting well.
Hmm... what could he be hinting at for next week? Maybe the season's finally getting some kind of closure (or a more official transition into something not about the Rookies)?
That's a wrap. Evaluations time. 5 is without major flaws (someone who's pretty "must-see"), 4 is either good in most areas but missing something, or all around above average, 3 is neither extraordinarily good nor extraordinarily bad, 2 is missing a LOT and is more likely to fail than succeed, and 1 is embarrassingly bad.
Derrick Bateman- 5 (Last week: 5). No stopping Bateman. The competition has a lot of catching up to do if they want this to be close to even again. As long as he keeps things up on the in-ring end, he's got my pick to be the person to watch out of these three. I think it's just a matter of time and experience before he's getting a shot on Raw or Smackdown. (Grade: A).
Titus O'Neil - 4 (Last week: 4). Titus still has a ways to grow before getting out of 4 territory. I think he can do it, but he's not polished or experienced enough for me to recommend him going to the main roster yet. He seems to be getting there, but you can tell he's gotten kind of a "late start" in the wrestling business compared to Bateman and in some ways Young. (Grade: B).
Darren Young - 4 (Last time: 4). I'm not going to sugar-coat this one. Young was more miss than hit for me this week. His delivery and tone of voice just weren't what I wanted to see. As the weeks go on, he's looking less and less likely to be someone I can get behind. If it wasn't for some great ring performances earlier in the season (and his showing in Friday's battle royal), he'd almost certainly be at a 3 right now. He needs to get back to doing good ring work, and fast. (Grade: B-, or at least pretty close to it).
If I had to eliminate someone this week, it would be: Darren Young. If I was WWE, I'd give him a few more weeks before strongly considering giving someone else a shot. He could really use some refreshing.
That's it for NXT this week. If Superstars isn't on the website today, I'll combine it with Smackdown tomorrow. Either way, Impact Wrestling will be up tonight, as will a news post. Thanks for reading!
Fair points this week. I think there is some grey area between Young's true abilities and the opportunities he gets. From that standpoint, I definitely think if you did move him to a "3", it wouldn't be fair. I think he is trying, but it's kind of like the McIntyre situation: It doesn't change his abilities inside the ring. I try not to penalize him too much based on what just a number of other people think when I've seen a lot of good qualities from him.
ReplyDeleteI agree Young wasn't as fresh and is getting a little tiring with the "this is my show" line. However, I don't see Titus being any more efficient or entertaining on commentary or on promos, and don't see Bateman entertaining in the ring. I respect your stance, but basically the main justification towards you having Titus over Young is the push aspect, which I understand and then again don't understand because of it having no jurisdiction of his true abilities.
It's kind of like Daniel Bryan in Season 1: He was given SUCH a hold-back by Management to the point where he was 0-10 and lacked some of the same attributes Young does, but yet the pros still voted him No. 1. That is how it is with me. I know Young is different from Bryan, but it's similar situations in terms of pushes, and I like to look at it from more of an "ability" standpoint with grading than a "lack of push" standpoint.
To be honest, and it's expected, I would have Bateman at a low 4 right now, and same with Titus at best. I guess it's just different preferences for different people, but I don't entirely see what you see in Bateman to give him a consistent "A". Given, he has charisma, but as Regal and a lot of the pros in earlier seasons harped on, you really need intensity along with the in-ring talent. That is where I see Young having "it" and Bateman not.
I'm more of a "complete package" guy rather than being a character development guy, so that may be where we differ.
I think he has gotten a lot of opportunities this season as far as screen-time. Not so much lately, obviously, but he had a consistent spot for quite some time. That's something some performers didn't and don't have. Every little second counts. I think if you have a lot of ability, you can make the most out of even small opportunities. Young did that to some degree on Smackdown, and I applaud him for that. But the impressions he's made outside of ringwork haven't been positive to me.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't an issue of repetitive verbiage or anything this week. He just hasn't seemed as comfortable since the loss to Titus. Some of it can be that he's in a weird place character-wise (going from hating Titus to teaming with him, and applauding him), but a good enough performer can make just about any role believable. It feels like he's over-acting to some degree.
Where he differs from McIntyre is that pretty much anytime I've seen McIntyre, I've been impressed. While they've dropped the ball on him, I don't think he got the same chances Darren got. Darren got to work alongside C.M. Punk in Season 1, and got to be part of the hottest angle of 2010 with Nexus. He got to be a heel and a babyface (both as the Party Boy gimmick from Season 1 and post-Nexus). The fact that he's not getting the same chances as the other ex-Nexus members that are still with the company is really telling to me. The main times he's impressed me have been in the ring, and he needs to be able to go beyond that to be someone who catches on long-term.
It's not just a push thing about Titus. I see them as being in different roles. Titus pretty much just needs to be a powerhouse, and I think he's doing that fairly well. Darren's kind of swinging for the fences and seemingly trying to be a top guy. I don't think he can do that without good speaking ability.
At least some of the pros from Season 1 knew what Bryan could do if given a good character to work with. Regal trained Bryan, and Punk worked with him a lot on the indie scene. Bryan was legitimately being considered one of the best wrestlers in the world before he signed with WWE. They knew what kind of background he had and that if given the right situations, he could get over. The crowd was really into him playing off of Miz and Cole as well. It's telling that fans rallied to get him reinstated after he was legitimately fired in 2010. I don't see that happening with Young. Despite the chances he got and the very talented people he worked with, there's not that same connection.
"It" to me is being able to get the crowd to react to you, and having them hanging on what you're saying/doing. People with "it" could probably work one of the worst matches in history and the fans would still come back to see them. I don't see Young having "it" right now. Intensity can be important, but I don't think it's as necessary to be able to be successful. The crowd's pretty behind Santino Marella and Zack Ryder and they're not particularly intense competitors. Mick Foley's finishing move involved a sock, and the fans cheered like crazy for it.
I definitely think I'm looking at the complete package and ability. I just see character abilities and intangibles ahead of technical in-ring ability. I think the crowd does for the most part as well. WWE's a business about merchandise and promos more so than technical, intense wrestling. If you can't sell tickets and connect with a crowd, you're not going to last long.
I truly think it's coming time to replace Young with someone who stands out more and can do the "character" aspect of things better. He's spinning his tires and I don't see that changing soon.
I guess it's just different preferences, which is common. I agree that Young is spinning his tires a bit from the intangibles standpoint with always saying "this is my show" and not really backing up WHY this is his show. I did scratch my head a bit on commentary with him not capitalizing on that opportunity when Percy Watson called him out on that. It seems a lot of his promos and with commentary this week that he wasn't a "villian" as much as he should be. People like Miz always back up with details why he thinks he's champion-material, and Young doesn't do that. I do like the mannerisms (pointing to the tron and the nickname), because it creates more identificaion, though.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to what we talked about before with Otunga, what do you think he needs to do to get to that next level besides getting a little better in the ring? I like the look, gimmick, charisma and "entertainer" value he brings to the table that some others don't.
I don't like how (though he's winning) his matches have been like three minutes or so. To gain more credibility with him from naysayers, I definitely think you need to show his abilities more and give him longer matches to show he can cut it in the ring. I've seen good things from him in the ring, but even in a win, he isn't gaining as much favors when he's booked in a three-minute match with three or so moves. You get what I mean there?
I do agree with your statement before about how even the I.C. title is really gaining more credibility with Rhodes (who has been in World title matches and pinned World Champions) has the title now. It's no longer as much of a "mid-level" title now, as it has more credibility, so that doesn't go in Otunga's favor there. The steeper competition and the more credibility even the U.S. or I.C. titles have now are some ways I can mention that don't go in his favor.
Sorry that I got kind of frustrated there. I left out that since we see more of Bateman as a character, that's going to bias my opinion of him that way. It's like how some students are bad test-takers but good at homework. Ignoring the "weighting" thing, if they have a lot more homework than tests, that's what's going to impact their grade the most. And I think Bateman's good enough at "tests"/ringwork for it to not knock him lower than a 5. Remember that I pretty much view a 5 as not having a lot of mistakes more so than someone being phenomenal.
ReplyDeleteAlso important is that I'm not grading them as far as being a breakout star or future main eventer, because it's so rare that someone shows that kind of thing early in their careers. Right now they're pretty much just fighting for roster spots. THEN I look at them becoming potential champions, then potential main eventers, etc.. It's a step-by-step thing.
Intangibles to me are even more than that. Basically everything that's not technical ring prowess. If at any point it seems like someone's "trying to be a wrestler" and "trying to get a reaction", going through motions instead of it seeming like a match, I don't think they have intangibles. It needs to look like someone's really trying to win, is really out there "as themselves", etc..
His mannerisms this week were some of the most forced-looking I've seen in quite some time. It looked like he wasn't being genuine in his support of Titus, since he was so over-the-top with the laughs and pats on the back and such. The things like pointing to the Tron and nickname seem kind of "tacked on" instead of a natural extension of himself. Instead of just saying he's No Days Off, he needs to push WHY that is. That he trains every day in the ring, etc. He did that on commentary this week (once prompted), but I want to see more of that. Heath Slater's the One Man Rock Band, and his look, attire, mannerisms, etc. reflect that. He had a lot of character going for him in Season 1 (though I felt that it didn't fit him), and the lack of it now is really jarring. He was the South Beach Party Boy, and you could tell by looking at him and by how he acted.
Otunga's actually a good comparison to Young: he's a Harvard-educated lawyer and his ring attire (and "casual" out-of-ring attire) reflects that. His mannerisms seem like they're coming from himself instead of someone trying to get reactions, etc.. His ring work isn't especially flashy or technical, but the crowd's into what he's doing. He's someone I would say has "it".
Getting better in the ring over time and experience are probably the main things he can work on. They could be keeping him in fairly short matches because they're not confident that he can do things longer. WWE isn't worried about naysayers of his in-ring abilities. At least, they probably shouldn't be. If 3-minute matches are where he's best for now, I don't mind them going that route. TV matches, to me, should be tools to move stories towards longer matches on PPVs, special events (3-hour Raws, live Smackdowns) and live events. That's what they used to be, and that's what's been successful I think. If you give away all your tricks in a short timespan, there's no reason for us to want to see you work longer matches. (By "us" I mean the average fan. People who are watching WWE for more technical matches are almost certainly a minority).
It used to be a while before someone held a title. It means more when they do get there, because it's like they earned their way up there more so than them being given it for story purposes (see the tag division for instance). When there's more prestige to a title and more credible challengers to it, it means more when someone holds it. I think Otunga can get there, but I don't want another case of someone holding a title and it only being downhill from there. Swagger and (somewhat less so) Ziggler for instance look like they've "fallen" from when they were headlining PPVs on the Smackdown brand. He can still have a good spot before holding a singles title.
ReplyDeleteI can see what you mean with Otunga not having to hold a title to move up in the company. I certainly think it would help, because a lot of the fans view a title as a symbol of power and prestige in the company. A lot of critics may look at it down the line as "you haven't held any tangible titles to back up your success", so I kind of mirror that a bit, too.
ReplyDeleteI kind of see where you are coming from with the shorter match not being a big deal, but for the most part I have to respectfully disagree. I mean, even the low-level guys have had longer matches, and I think it would prove a lot for Otunga to last in a longer match. Given, you may be right that he may not have the skill YET to pull it off, but I have seen pretty good things from him.
I personally think he could pull off a six or seven-minute match, and also think it would be a good idea. I say that because, hypothetically, if he does make it into the title picture, he isn't earning any favors by having shorter matches.
I know being an entertainment business, a lot of fans are pathological in that they have tunnel-vision in terms that some only care about wrestling ability. I agree it is the "whole entertainer" like you mentioned that counts, but a lot of fans are pathological, and won't buy into merchandise or hype of someone like Otunga until he proves himself more in the ring. That is a decent amount of why Cena gets booed: Many don't buy into his in-ring style and look at his 12 titles or so and think "He doesn't have the in-ring skill to be that prestigious".
Who do you think Otunga could feud with to not only help his cause, but would make sense?
I forgot to add..Do you buy into this article?
ReplyDeletehttp://bleacherreport.com/articles/1080272-wwe-why-daniel-bryans-world-title-run-is-nearing-an-end
Titles can kind of go either way. MOST of the time they are a big deal, but if you have too many of them or they're not treated as important, they can be somewhat meaningless. WWE is mostly good with this right now. The tag team titles are the only real exception, since the division's not pushed as hard as it used to be and there are only a few teams pushed as title contenders.
ReplyDeleteI personally think it looks good from a character standpoint for him to be able to beat Ezekiel fairly quickly. He's "so good", he can win without it taking long. Over time, it will be imperative for him to work longer, but right now he's still kind of gaining steam.
The only real problem I'd have with testing him out in longer matches at the moment would be how crowded the shows are right now. Once the part-timers are gone, we'll see.
From personal experience, and I don't want to color all fans like that with the same brush, but a lot of people who are solely into the wrestling aspect don't spend a lot on merchandise, even for people they like (at least compared to the entertainment-fans).
I do think that that many World Titles for Cena is too many. Hard working guy and all, but that's quite a lot (and only a few people in wrestling history have gotten more). As for why people boo him, I think they're misguided if that's the reason. Early in his career, he was really impressive from a technical standpoint and can still pull that out. It's just not as successful for him to do so. Supposedly he was actually getting close to being on the chopping block years back before the rapping gimmick. I can actually kind of see some parallels to Young, as he did the whole "ruthless aggression", intense route but without much more of a character.
Part of me wants to see Otunga feud with Santino given that it'd fit into the Laurinaitis/Long feud. From a "longer matches" standpoint, possibly Riley or McGillicutty (if they pull the trigger on him as a face taking from his father's moves).
As for the article, I can definitely see Sheamus winning the title. He's very much a company face and it's a natural story for him to be the guy who finally catches the weaselly champion.
ReplyDeleteI think they have gotten behind Bryan, though, given how much TV time they've put in him and that his character has evolved since winning the title. His character's more interesting now, and I think it'd be REALLY unbelievable for him to convincingly beat some of the top guys via submission given how stuck in the midcard he was for so long, and how strong they pushed guys like Big Show and Orton. The story's that success has gone to his head, and he's doing anything to keep the title (even putting his girlfriend in danger).
BUT a lot of people said that Edge would have taken the title from Chris Jericho at WM26, that Cole/Lawler would have been a one-time thing, Del Rio would have "fulfilled his destiny", etc. so I wouldn't completely rule out Bryan retaining.
It actually might work better for him to sneak out a victory to add fire to the rematch. They've got to be careful with how they present Bryan to avoid him losing momentum and falling back to where he was pre-MITB win. He's got a character that people are really starting to connect with, so I hope they don't blow it just to spotlight Sheamus. I like both competitors a good deal and hope they become successful so we can finally move on from some of the names they keep going back to.
All valid points there. Three weeks ago, if you were to mention the Otunga/Marella feud being a logical one, I probably wouldn't have agreed. But, now I agree that it seems logical with Santino being pushed a bit more and with this GM feud going on. I like it when charismatic stars feud, because it's more "entertainment-based" than just a one-dimensional feud inside the ring like some past feuds have gone in the company.
ReplyDeleteI also agree about your stance on the article. With the way Sheamus has been booked, you can make the argument that is will seem inevitable that he will win the championship, but with Bryan's success lately, it makes it a good matchup. Sheamus has been all over talk shows, has had a lot of air time, and I can barely remember more than one circumstance where he's actually LOST A MATCH lol. I could see Sheamus winning it from that standpoint.
Two things going against Bryan are that he hasn't actually had a pinfall victory since he won his championship, so you're right in that it doesn't help his credibility with being able to pin or submit Sheamus with the role Sheamus has been on. Also, the Bryan's history of being midcard and Sheamus being higher-level for years now definitely doesn't help Bryan's cause.
I also agree that Bryan needs to be booked cautiously. To me, he has progressively became more credible and better in his character, and I think that is something the company can hold onto. He definitely proved me wrong in that he can make a good bad guy. We will see what happens, but Management should note that Bryan has proven a lot in the past two months or so.
That being said, who are you picking in the matchup at Wrestlemania between the two?
I definitely think most feuds need more than just ring ability to resonate. I got kind of tired of Kidd vs. Tatsu months back because they didn't have enough in the intangibles department to make that as big as it could have been. Tatsu's character direction has been confusing, since he didn't go too far into the more serious stuff in the ring. One thing I will give Titus vs. Young credit for over Bateman vs. Curtis is that their street fights felt more like fights.
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about it, maybe Bryan should win. It seems like fans are starting to really get into both of them. The story as I see it is Sheamus going for the title and Bryan doing everything to keep it. If Sheamus wins at Mania, the story's pretty much over outside of the rematch. I can see the argument that the Rumble winner hasn't gotten the title in a while and that kind of cheapens the Rumble, but I might have to go that way.
As for what will actually happen, they might just take that risk and have Bryan retain. They've got enough "big" moments with HHH, Taker, HBK, Rock, and Cena later in the card to where I don't think it would leave a bad taste in people's mouths for the heel to keep the title.