After a year of redemption points, dog barks, love triangles, and cast changes, William Regal has become the new match-maker for NXT. What will he have in store for the WWE undercard today? The main event pits two best friends turned rivals against each other, as Titus O'Neil goes one-on-one with Percy Watson. Plenty more will be on tap, including the latest in Derrick Bateman's love life. Read on for my thoughts on the show as it happens.
How would you explain NXT:Redemption to a new fan, given the show's lack of focus now.
Wow. A Laurinaitis sign. And some for JTG!? A unique place.
Didn't Maryse co-host for a while? Why does that not count?
What's the ratio of interrupted to uninterrupted authority figure promos?
Maxine's perfect in her role.
I enjoy Regal in just about everything he does. I honestly can't think of something he was involved with that he didn't put on an enjoyable performance in.
I like the "reboot" Tamina's undergone in the past number of months. She's doing well in her father's role, and I'm impressed that she's showed so much range in her career thus far.
I'm getting some kind of vibe from Maxine. I want to say Sensational Sherri, but that might not be quite right.
Maxine and Tamina are getting the crowd into their match. Both are doing their jobs by that standard.
WWE's got something with Tamina emulating her father judging by the reactions she's getting. Nothing amazing, but they were definitely in her corner.
Not a bad match at all. I hope both ladies perform well in the future.
I mostly missed out on the Nation of Domination. I wonder what I would have thought of it back then, and how I would have viewed The Rock's rise from the Maivia character up to becoming WWF Champion.
I wonder how much more free time I'd have if I didn't have to watch recap/video packages.
I'd like to see where Hawkins and Reks will be in a couple years' time as competitors.
This seems a little heelish on Regal's part. I guess he's just more of a firm babyface.
I'm getting a bit worn out with Yoshi Tatsu. They teased something different with him as the more serious "Darkside" Yoshi, but he's pretty much reverted back to "smiling Japanese babyface" with not much character depth. There are other people I'd rather see on this show. Derrick Bateman hasn't had a match in a while for instance.
Johnny Curtis is a kid with a bright future I think. It might take him a while, but he's getting some good work under his belt.
I like Curtis working over the hand and arm. He's a real student of the game apparently.
I wish I knew the significance of the skeletal tights. I like them either way.
Good suplex from Curtis.
Tatsu seems a little off in the ring. He can do some good moves, and he throws in some gestures, but it doesn't feel like a coherent performance at times.
I like the concept that every match matters. It should be pushed on the TV shows more.
The right man won here as far as the man with the bigger future.
Good next step in Kidd vs. McGillicutty. I'm liking what I've seen from these guys lately.
This Twitter obsession... I swear.
Good segment with Bateman/Curtis/Maxine. They all play their parts so well. Was that an nWo shirt?
That was kind of weird. I hope this is leading to something.
I got tired of Rock's stuff on Monday. Why do I have to watch it again?
There's actually a Rock lawn gnome as well by WWE. I wonder how those sell...
They better have a good game plan for Mania as far as Cena's concerned. A loss could hurt him in the eyes of some fans.
I hope the people complaining about "PG Cena" liked Monday's promo.
We don't get to hear much from the Usos.
This will be interesting...
Nice stuff early from Uso.
Young can move. I'll give him that.
He can also wrestle from a technical standpoint.
This gets so old. Even the commentators are mostly ignoring his taunts.
Supposedly one Uso is about 10-15 lbs. heavier than the other.
Not a bad match. I just don't see anything amazing about Young. He's just a guy who wrestles and brags.
Young's doing some "standing out" with the taunts and stuff, but he's not an entertaining character in either a cheerable or booable way. If it wasn't for the "No Days Off" moniker and bragging, he wouldn't have much personality as a character at all.
This could be good if both men are on their A-games.
Titus is good at the raw power game.
Titus' taunts mirror Young's. If your match is good, there's no need to taunt so much. People will react regardless.
Titus is getting more proficient with his ring work, as Regal is talking about.
I think Percy might have the brighter future.
While I think he's really overdoing it, I like Titus' taunts here.
Good comeback by Percy. He's got some good potential.
Not a bad match. Not an amazing one, though, either.
I guess we're building to Reks/Hawkins vs. Regal/Striker? I think I'd be ok with that. All of them are doing pretty well in their roles.
Rookie evaluation time. The evaluations are slightly different this go 'round, as I continue to look for a good definition for what I'm looking for and seeing with each person. A 5 is someone I think should get a shot to "be someone" on the main roster sooner rather than later. Maybe not immediately, but they've got some good skills and should be commended for that. A 4 is someone who is not at that level yet, but closer to there than to the "back to the drawing board" level. A 3 is someone who is neither incredibly good nor incredibly bad at what they do. They're ok, but not someone who should be a focal point. A 2 is someone who may one day be someone to look out for, but it's a LONG way off and there's a lot more bad than good. A 1 is someone who shouldn't be anywhere near a wrestling ring right now.
Derrick Bateman- 5 (Last week: 5). While the lack of a match is starting to affect him and could drop him to a 4 soon, I have no complaints about Bateman. Given more time and opportunities, I think he'll be someone who puts his skills to use. He stands out as a character and competitor, etc.. His angle's starting to run long in the tooth, but I'm far from being tired of him. (Grade: low A range since he hasn't done all that much from an in-ring standpoint lately).
Titus O'Neil- 4 (Last week: 4). Titus is kind of slipping. While he's getting better with the "nuts and bolts" in the ring (wearing his opponent down and using his size and power to his advantage), I think there's still a good way to go before he's someone the company should be considering for the main roster. He needs some more flavor as a competitor and a character beyond being a big, aggressive guy. There's some potential in an "Ezekiel Jackson" role, but I'm not expecting huge things from him. It wouldn't be a huge stretch to see him drop to a 3 someday if we keep seeing the same thing every week. (Grade: B-ish).
Darren Young- 3 (Last week: 3). Same thing as always: great at the in-ring work as far as moves and technique and all that jazz, but such a generic character that's not going anywhere or doing anything. He doesn't stand out from the pack in any huge way (compared to say, Santino, Slater, Gabriel, Swagger, Ziggler, Ryder, etc..) and the longer he goes without doing that, the longer it's going to be before I can get behind him. A talented athlete, but that's only part of the job description. (Grade: B-/C+. If this were the SAT, he'd have a pretty good score in one department, but would only do so-so in the other.)
If I had to eliminate someone, it would be: Darren Young. Here's my main issue about all this: Darren Young, who's not particularly charismatic or interesting, is getting a regular on-screen slot and ring time. You know who didn't get that chance with a match this week? Alex Riley, who at one point was one of the most talked about babyfaces in the company. Brodus Clay, who crowds were eating up not too long ago. Camacho, who has yet to have a one-on-one match. Husky Harris, who's been stuck in FCW despite being amazingly agile for someone his size. Kaitlyn, who's improved drastically since winning Season 3. Ricardo Rodriguez, who could almost certainly entertain as a wrestler given how great he is as a character. Skip Sheffield, who's been plowing through people on live events and on dark matches. Trent Barreta, who is one-of-a-kind with his offense and willingness to put his body on the line in WWE. And that's not counting the talent making waves in FCW. I don't hate Darren Young. I don't even especially dislike him. He just doesn't work well enough as a sports entertainer for me to be able to justify him getting this big of a slot on the show. That's really all it boils down to. Maybe some day he'll surprise me and become one of the most entertaining superstars of the generation, but I don't see that day coming up any time soon.
That's all for this week's NXT. I'll be back for Superstars and Impact Wrestling tomorrow and a news post is on the way. Thanks for reading!
One thing I can agree with is your stance on Titus. I honestly think if you believe Young is getting a little over-the-top, then Titus this week may have made Young look about as natural as Otunga. I actually was semi-entertained from his in-ring work this week, but Titus was WAY overdoing it this week with his taunts and mannerisms in the ring. Half of them didn't even make any sense, and were kind of forced. To me, Titus is doing horrible right now.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think everything you're saying about Young murrors my opinion of Titus right now. I do think Young has gotten more accustomed to his role, because his mannerisms have not changed in the last couple of months to create more identification, whereas Titus is about as instable as a mental patient lol.
Though Young could switch it up, I do think he has just enough identification and stability in his role to stand out, personally and don't consider him over-doing it. I mean, if Titus wasn't a big guy that WWE is, let's face it, biased towards, I honestly don't know who would be behind him.
Though Young can be a little over-the-top, I personally don't see it affecting my opinion of his progression, unless it's going WAY over the line like Titus was this week.
I honestly see a VERY big gap between Young and Titus right now. If you combine all of the intangibles and tangibles together, I don't see Young getting getting up-winded by Titus any time soon.
On nnother note, we usually see Barreta and Kidd virtually every week on NXT or Superstars, but haven't seen much of them in like three weeks. Any idea what is going on there?
Let me rephrase that...haven't seen much of Barreta lately.
ReplyDeleteYoung's been over-the-top for a while now. Titus did really overdo it this week , but in general it's not a weekly thing for him to blurt out things every couple of moves like Young seems to.
ReplyDeleteWhat about them didn't make sense? Some of them were references to Percy's catchphrases.
My whole argument about Young has kind of been miscast (partially by my own doing): even if he does stand out and perform consistently, the character isn't good enough to resonate on a big level.
I alluded to this this past week on Smackdown: While Daniel Bryan's a vegan and doesn't own a TV, those things aren't inherently "bad guy things" to do. The fact that he's using those things as reasons for being better than the crowd and why he's so great are what makes him a good heel.
Young on the other hand doesn't have much of a character at all. Sure, he doesn't take any days off, but what of it? What does he DO on those days and why does he not take any off? Why should we care one way or another (in a way that makes us boo him, since he's supposed to be a bad guy)? He hasn't done a good job of connecting that beyond the fact itself.
They've mentioned his determination and that he goes to the gym and all that kind of stuff, but that could apply to a good number of people on the roster, face and heel. The last thing you want to do is have a character that fans can't resonate with strongly one way or another. Young's gimmick is definitely in that category.
Intangibles to me are what you do beyond the nuts and bolts of moves. It's a lot more than just adding in some catchphrases and taunts. They need to feel like a natural part of the match instead of just "the crowd's not reacting. I'm going to taunt now". Why I have Young so low is that he feels like he's going through the motions to some degree. While some of the top guys do have "moves of doom" they do that stand out, they can do that because they're already top guys and they're using them as part of a bigger story.
With so few spots for screen-time, I'd like to see someone who can shake things up more beyond just being a good wrestler. I know there are a number of talents waiting in the wings (face and heel) who have the personality and ability to read the crowd that it takes to go further in WWE.
Titus, on the other hand, while not amazing, seems to be getting better in his role as a big guy (outside of overdoing the taunting which was a notable step back). He and Percy played off of each other better than Young and Uso. There was more of a story there than Young's match (which would have been on the boring side without Uso's energy).
Intangibles and performances matter SO much more than the tangibles of "good technical wrestling matches" Young has. Titus doesn't have to do all that much to be "better" than Young since they're doing such different things.
As for Barreta, they're playing like he's hurt but I haven't seen anything. They might just want to focus on Kidd as a singles star for a bit instead of just throwing them together as a regular team given how different they are.
Short version of the Young-Titus argument: Young's doing things more in the "matches and actual competition" sense, and Titus seems to be trying to do things more in the "story of good guy vs. bad guy" sense. WWE's biased towards the latter, and it's generally what the fans respond to on a larger level. There's a reason Cena's a lot more successful than, say, Charlie Haas. Titus isn't great, but I think he's getting better at the WWE way of doing things.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I really just keep going back and forth on the same points here. I don't really know what else to say on things, because we kind of keep going back to the same issue. I think it would help if I understood more of what you're trying to argue other than who's "good" and "bad" (since I see my argument as more along the lines of "who's more likely to be successful"). Could you go into more about the whole general "idea" of how you see things?
I think to bottom-line everything for the most part, I don't see what you see in Titus, and though you don't dislike Young as a wrestler, you don't see in Young what I see in Young (for the most part). Everything you're saying about Young flaw-wise is what I see in Titus to a larger degree and in Bateman to a smaller degree, I guess you could say.
ReplyDeleteMost of everyone's stances are based on own opinions and not the general norm, so it's always up for interpretation. Personally, I look for more of a "complete-package" in someone more than developing as a character, and everyone has their own opinions on the criteria that makes that up. Though you could argue that Young doesn't have that "entertainer bill", I personally think he does. I look for in-ring talent, aggression, will, drive and determination being all parts of the whole package. If I see someone who has that (I view Young having all of those and Titus, for example, having just one or bits of each) I tend to think they have what it takes- that "it" factor.
I guess I'm not as much for the "entertainer" bill you mentioned or character development and how much of an entertainer as I am just having all of those attributes I mentioned. I personally look at and care more about some of the things you don't view as "standing out" and do view them as standing out. Young indeed is standing out to me (the tron pointing to show some personality, the nickname, the confidence week after week, the aggression he's shown since Week 1, and overall will) as things required to make that "complete star" in my mind. I don't see too much sense of that stability and attributes in Titus, and Bateman to some extent, and that's what I look at.
With Titus, I think he has been just as instable as Young, if not more. I've seen such an erratic character since he turned heel, and that's where we're getting crossed up I guess. I view Young's character flaws as more manageable and minor, I guess you could say, because I feel he stands out and has less flaws than Titus at the moment.
It was hard for me to understand what he was saying when he kept mouthing off during that match. That kind if illudes to Reks calling him "Buttermouth" lol. When I watched the match, it just seemed forced, a lot more so than Young in his matches.
I wouldn't necessary say fans are more responsive to Titus (if he indeed is more of a good guy vs. bad guy sense in his feuds), because at least from what I've seen from all of the sites, comments and opinions, he is very mixed in terms of reactions, and that's putting it nicely. I know Regal made a good point this week when he said a lot of people (himself included) that many thought Titus was kind of a joke. I don't think he's terrible, but I don't think he's that close to the main roster, either, though.
ReplyDeleteTo be a little clearer, when I talk about Young "as a wrestler", I mean the technical moves and strategies and that kind of thing. I think maybe I'll differentiate that from "as a Superstar", which would be the whole deal with wrestling and character and so on.
ReplyDeleteThank you for explaining that. I can see where we're differing because I'm not grading them on the same things. While those things are important, I don't see them as the complete package for being a successful performer. Someone could have all of those things and (justifyingly) be released for not connecting with the crowd in a big enough way (that draws money). The majority of the audience isn't tuning in to see aggressive wrestlers work hard. If so, Ring Of Honor would be doing HUGE business right now, because that's pretty much their whole shtick. They tune in for stories and characters. One of the few PPVs that got more business in 2011 than 2010 was Money In The Bank, which was really boosted by the C.M. Punk angle. People didn't pay to see Punk taunt all the time and do aggressive moves. They wanted to see whether he'd leave the company with the title. Buyrates for later PPVs weren't as big, since the angle had died down.
I think there's a big difference between "showing personality" and having it. Just having a nickname and being confident (or seeming to play someone confident in his case) isn't enough. Edge didn't have a catchphrase and didn't talk about his nickname all the time, but I'd argue he had a good deal of personality. With Young, it feels like he's TRYING to show personality instead of naturally having it like Otunga, Ryder, Santino, etc.. How well do you think he did as his original gimmick with the big hair?
Titus hasn't been consistent as a heel in some places (bailing out of the ring one week/being aggressive one weak, being calm one week/ yelling one week, etc), but I at least think he's going in the right direction. He has a lot less experience than Young, so the fact that he's not getting it as quickly isn't a shock. Young, with years and years of experience, still not connecting with a personality beyond the very basic "aggressive wrestler with a chip on his shoulder" looks worse to me.
It did seem forced, and he is hard to understand sometimes when he yells. I pretty much equate "a lot of yelling and taunting" with forced performances, and while Young hasn't been as loud and erratic as Titus was this week, he does go heavy on the taunts. He's been doing that a lot longer than Titus, so it affects my opinion more.
I'm not considering the opinions of internet critics at all, since that's not the audience he (or WWE) should be concerned with. They're only a small part of the audience. He needs to get over with the viewers at large, and the paying fans in the arena. Whether he's accepted by the hardcore, internet-centric fans or not means little for his success as a performer. He doesn't have to be "good" in a quality sense, just someone fans ("customers") are into cheering or booing. That's what I'm grading on.
Who are some other performers you feel strongly one way or another about?
Oh, and Smackdown's going to be fairly late (maybe a day or more) this week since my computer battery went kaput.
Yeah, I tend to have the tendency (especially online) to be a little vague, which is fairly common. My apologies there.
ReplyDeleteI was kind of on the fence with Young's gimmick in Season 1. I didn't think he was really comfortable in his role and just wanted to try to standout moreso than be himself. I noticed when he was close to elimination was when he really buckled down and got serious, but by then it was too late. I believe he finished fifth out of eight, so I'm interested to see how he would do in his current gimmick placed in the same situation two years back. It's hard to say, but how do you think he would rank with just the pro's poll if he had his current persona and if this was Season 1's competition?
I liked it from a standpoint that no one looked like him, and it was kind of a way to stand out, but if I was a pro on Season 1, it would have been hard to rank him with him changing his persona late in the season. I like his persona more now, because in my opinion anyway, it seems he knows that being a serious, take-charge character is a way to be himself and not "try" to be someone he's entirely not. You can tell he has a serious side along with a charismatic side, but it is kind of a fine line between the two, because you want to stay in character.
Fair point on the "showing" versus "having" personality. I agree from the standpoint that it may not be COMING OFF as natural, but I think there is some natural personality that Young has; he just hasn't completely made it natural. He could do a better job with that.
Also decent point about Young being more experienced in that it should have a better chance of correlating into being more of an entertainer and personality showing. Though I see an adequate amount, that is a good point that he should find ways to make it more natural and to just flow the way Otunga and some of those other guys are.
Otunga and Young are the main one's I feel strongly about on a "high" level to the point where I would get offended if they were to get lack of a push or any sense of disincentives from the company. I really like Ryder and Kane, but to a little of a lesser extent. I know you're big into Bateman and call it down the middle with the blog, but what are some performers you are more into?
In regards to the "entertainer" value, I guess you would say I would look at things differently if I was a WWE employee, for example. Being a fan, I'm not as big into the "entertainer" bill than just having the straight-up attributes I mentioned. I know if I worked for the company, I would basically have to change my tune, so it just shows how subjective opinions are in that sense as a fan, but I can see your point there as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm not the best interpreter, so it's ok.
ReplyDeleteYoung had that gimmick ahead of NXT, but I don't know if it was his idea or not. He teamed with Percy Watson in FCW (who had the glasses then). He's apparently had a number of varied gimmicks pre-WWE, which is why it's so disappointing to me that he's fairly basic now.
There's the theory that he's standing out by not having an obvious gimmick and just being a regular tough guy, but that seems counter-productive to me and I don't know if that's what he's really going for.
Keeping in mind that Tarver and Bryan "eliminated themselves" on Season 1, I think he'd still have an uphill battle. With all the gimmicks (and stars as Pros) on that show, I don't think he'd do so great. He didn't have all the screen time he has now (with regular eliminations and such), and that was 2 years less experience ago. I think he'd get lost in the shuffle with a fairly basic look and gimmick.
It's really hard to say, not remembering much about what each Pro was looking for. I definitely don't think he would have gotten past Barrett, Bryan, or Otunga. Gabriel and Slater might have had the edge too but it's tough to remember exactly the climate then. Tarver and Sheffield are kind of toss-ups since they were affected by the "self-eliminations" changing how things would have played out. I hope they'd call out the point about how a lot of people don't take days off.
Someone can be serious and charismatic at the same time, but I get your point.
As I alluded to, he had some different gimmicks earlier in his career. Two I know of were "Bonecrusher" and Frederick of Hollywood (which might have just been really early in his career). I'll try to find out more by next week's show (since it looks like it'll be a few days before I can catch up with the whole battery issue).
Bateman's not one of my absolute top favorites, but I do like his stuff. Curtis is good, too. Some of my favorites in the "they'd be stupid to release them category" are Punk, Rhodes, Bryan in his current gimmick, Ziggler to a degree as he's getting a little over-the-top, Jinder's growing on me, Mark Henry pre-injury, R-Truth, Sheamus, Santino, Christian, and Barrett. There are very few performers I outright dislike.
Some of my feelings on the entertainer thing are looking from the WWE perspective, but I do generally prefer someone with a strong character. After 13 1/2 years watching wrestling, the in-ring stuff alone has gotten kind of tiring.
I see what you're saying. My counter to that, though, would be that Daniel Bryan had no gimmick, lacked natural personality, charisma, and lacked many of the aspects Young lacks on top of being 0-10. However, he was still in the good graces of the Pros to be ranked No. 1. And this was coming from seasoned Pros who know the ins and outs of what it takes to make it in the company. Therefore, I know it's hard to predict what would happen with Young if this was two years ago, but I'd think he may have been top three. I have no problems with him now, but looking at how he was then compared to now is a huge positive difference.
ReplyDeleteAgain, it is up for interpretation and subjective, but Young was AT LEAST in the top two this season (before this season turned into less of a competition) and he lacked some of the elements he has now at the beginning of the season. He's kind of has more of a "fire" and added more determination and drive to his game along with the in-ring talent, so there is that point existing that he could have been near the top.
I think it boils down to what the Pros look for. I know guys like Kidd and some others who are third or second generation stars have been raised to be more in favor of a "wrestler" and if someone lacks some "entertainer" aspects, they wouldn't penalize them, as well as they're at least "decent". I noticed through these months of NXT that Regal really looks for that aggression and skill and kind of shrugs off the attempts at "entertainer" humor, like the Redemption Point throwing bit Titus did before, for example. Then again, some guys like The Miz seem to be the exact opposite. To test that theory, I would be curious to see how Young would fare against Otunga.
I think easily being ahead of Tarver or Sheffield is a given. I think Gabriel and Slater kind of got dry and tiring after a little while in my eyes. Honestly, many disagree, but like I mentioned, I'm not high on Gabriel. While Young isn't "great" on the mic, I feel he is efficient and probably near "average" compared to the rets of the WWE. In compasion, I feel Gabriel is kind of at the "lower" level when it comes to promos compared to the rest of the WWE.
Some of the guys you mentioned I am also a fairly big fan of. I like Christian and Bryan more than the others you mentioned. I'm not huge on Ziggler. I can see why Santino is the champ and see the upside of Barrett.
I mentioned this before: Regal had a big hand in training Bryan (Bryan wearing maroon tights was a tribute to what Regal used to wear), and he and Punk had an extensive history before WWE. Jericho might have known about him beforehand, too. Bryan was legitimately considered one of the best talents on the indie scene when he was signed (if not THE best), and it was a fairly big deal that he got picked up. He'd wrestled all over the world for a number of years, and the Pros knew about that. I've heard that he had something similar to his current gimmick before WWE, which at least Punk would have known about. So, I think he had a sizable edge from Day 1.
ReplyDeleteI can see how you'd put him in the top 2 with your criteria, but I think I only saw that level of performance in him early in the season. As the months wore on, it got tiring and I've wanted something different.
Regal could be at least partially in-character with his comments. Years ago, he was a pretty dastardly character who hurt people, so it would make sense that his character would want that. If anyone knows that in-ring talent alone won't cut it in the WWE, it's Regal given his own history in the company (the "Real Man's Man" gimmick, Jericho "peeing in his tea", joining the Kiss My Ass club, working with Eugene, the Brady Bunch parody, dressing as a "buxom wench" and a Vegas showgirl, etc.). I don't think they'd have kept him this long just because of his wrestling skill.
Fortunately for Gabriel he doesn't "need to talk much" because his offense and look go in his favor. Slater's similarly not good on the mic, but the crowd responds to him.
Christian has the advantage of me watching him for so long and seeing him grow as a character and performer (he played some less-than-ideal characters early in his career incredibly well and I respect that). Mark Henry similarly connects with me because I know the truth about the things he talked about in regards to being injury prone and "a waste of money". Seeing him finally make it after so many years adds to his claims of being frustrated, so I can buy into his character very easily. Ziggler's gained a lot from Zack Ryder's show I think. If I just saw his yelling in the ring, I wouldn't be as high on him.
I've actually almost always preferred entertainment to wrestling come to think of it, though I did recognize the strong work ethics in-ring of a lot of performers.
Fair point there. I would like to see where Bryan would have stood if the other pros didn't know much about him beforehand, because he didn't really stand out anywhere besides in the ring; a lot like some opinions of Young. I think that really caught him a break, because outside of his ability, he didn't have much else going for him in terms of the other attributes I look for. I think all eight pros (with the exception of two or so) knew who he was, so hypothetically, if they didn't I'd like to see where he'd stand with all the negatives going against him in Season 1.
ReplyDeleteI try to keep everyone on a level playing field (I can be a little biased), but I try not to consider to give Gabriel a free pass based on his offense and look. I really think he lack of charisma and promo skills are so mediocre that I don't see him being a champion unless he somehow cultivates those skills. Even with the level of competing increasing (Big Show was W.H. Champion two months ago and now is competing for the I.C.title), that adds fuel to the fire a bit.
I agree about Christian. I think he really branched out and proved a lot of naysayers wrong in becoming a formidable bad guy. I think he's not perfect in terms of the transformation, but I like what I see. He was a good guy for soooo long, so I liked the idea to change his persona a bit.
That is where a lot of people get crossed up in terms of "entertainer" versus "in-ring performer/talent". I agree from the perspective of WWE's point-of-view that having natural personality and "it" is more important, but being a fan, I like the more ruthless character, personally. You can't go wrong with either, I guess.
Do you mean if Bryan didn't have his extensive background, or just that the Pros didn't know about it? There was also a good deal of buzz about him from online fans (and fans in certain cities where he'd competed a lot) that helped him get a better break (though some of that didn't come into play until he was fired).
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't really give him a free pass as much as think that he'll be able to be somewhat successful if he continues on the path he's on. Evan Bourne did pretty well before his suspensions caught up with him. It just took several years of sticking through it.
Christian's played both sides of the coin over his time in both WWE and TNA (where he spent some time between WWE runs). He's had a lot of range in that time. He's a little like Zack Ryder on a larger scale: he had some characters that were goofy and limited him from being a main eventer early in his career, but got over so well in them that he was able to stick around for the more serious stuff once spots opened up. He was really written off as "buried", "not cut out for the main event", etc. for a lot of his career but is doing pretty well for himself now. Had Young killed it in the Party Boy character, I'd probably hold him in higher regard (as perhaps would WWE).
I really wonder what Punk thinks about his former Rookie. In all the interviews I've seen with him, I haven't seen him bring him up. I know he's really behind Bryan, Ryder, Kidd, and Beth Pheonix, and he thinks the company could have done more with Luke Gallows and Colt Cabana (Scotty Goldman in WWE). It's not like he's shy about some of the people he's behind, and the fact that he worked with Young but hasn't mentioned him (that I know of) is interesting to say the least. The suspension could have something to do with it, given Punk's drug-free lifestyle, but I don't remember Punk mentioning him before that either.
I do like some ruthless characters. Benoit and Finlay for instance (and Regal in his prime with the brass knuckles). One of my favorite performers of all time is Samoa Joe, who basically ran roughshod through TNA for 18 months. Where I stopped liking him was when they had him talk and yell a bunch. He was intense without all of that, and the fans were really behind him beforehand. He just showed up and beat people up. His later character carried a "Samoan tribal knife", talked about the Nation of Violence and yelled about how he was going to kill people. It was kind of desperate.
Oh, another thing about Young on Season 1, he wouldn't have had nearly as much ring time as he does now under his gimmick, sharing the screen with that many other Pros and Rookies. I think you had to stand out pretty quickly on that show, and don't know how well a fairly basic character would have done amidst the really crazy big looks and characters others had.
I do think Management might like Young a little more now. In addition to his wins, they seem to be putting the camera on him more. They're REALLY particular about which shot they go to, or at least they are with the main shows. I don't know who directs things on the show now given how low it is on their agenda.
Also, fair warning that NXT might not be up on Wednesday. It depends on how much news comes out that I have to cover. I'm not OCD, but I do think the posts should be done "in order".
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