Re: The NXT Thread
Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 7:37 pm
Takeover Brooklyn 2 was really damn great overall.
NXT for promotion of the year for 2016.
NXT for promotion of the year for 2016.
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There is talk of doing a Takeover show before the end of the year at the Theater in Madison Square Garden, as well as a Boston show
(Candice LeRae) has been mentioned as possibly getting a tryout
Shayna Baszler will be getting a tryout at the next camp in Orlando, which takes place 9/29 and 9/30. Baszler has been to the Performance Center previously, but not for an official tryout camp, working with several of the women, most notably Natalya, Charlotte and Nikki Bella on submission training.
Ella Kolciuba, 23, who competed in bodybuilding figures competition and Spartan races, is also scheduled for the camp. Besides being a massage therapist, fitness and endurance athlete, she wrote a book called “All Things Ella,” talking about her battles with bulimia at a young age
Elias Samson returns this week after being out since June with a broken ankle
NXT Ticket
Freeman Coliseum
Seating – Rows 1-2
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Big Damo starts at the Performance Center this week
Another name that surfaced from last week’s WWE tryouts was Zeuxis from CMLL
HHH was in Australia on 10/11 for a press conference to promote the 12/5 to 12/15 NXT tour of Australia and New Zealand, the first time the brand will be there. This comes right after a 12/3 show in Osaka built around Nakamura, Itami and Asuka. The 12/8 show in Melbourne at Margaret Court Arena (set up for about 5,000) will be taped for the WWE Network but not be a Takeover special or air live. Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe in a cage match for the title will headline. It’ll be Nakamura’s first career cage match. He never even did cage matches when he did MMA, as all his fights were in a ring
While not officially announced, although the show itself has been announced, the plan right now if for a Takeover special on 1/28 in San Antonio at the Freeman Coliseum, the night before Rumble. That’s the new general idea is the Takeovers will be the same weekend as the major PPVs and in the same city, with the idea of copying the Brooklyn success and try to draw more travelers to the shows. There will also be Evolve shows on 1/27 and 1/28 in San Antonio
Early reaction to Strong is that they love him. That doesn’t always mean a major push, but it does mean they were impressed. He is one of the best workers in the business and his work translated into New Japan which is a different and usually tougher standard, definitely tougher than NXT although getting main roster over in WWE is the hardest of anything because of the booking and political land mines
Hideo Itami is looking right now like he’ll be out of action for about two months from the neck injury when Riddick Moss dropped him on his head with a twisting powerslam off the ropes. That’s good news because with surgery he’d be looking at another six plus months off
Right now there are no plans for bringing Nakamura to the main roster. At least for now, he’s pegged to be the flagship star of the NXT brand.
The 12/8 NXT show in Melbourne, Australia is being taped for the WWE Network. Exactly what form it will air in is not yet determined.
In following in the recent tradition of everyone we praise internationally getting the phone call, both Io Shirai and Kairi Hojo have gotten offers to start in WWE in 2017 in the last week or two. Both told Stardom management about it this week. Shirai said she was going, and said that she was called by Shoichi Funaki. Hojo was contacted by Shinsuke Nakamura and Simon Inoki. Hojo at first didn’t make a final decision and there is some question if she can pass the physical because she’s had two major concussions in the last two years. In July, when WWE ran at Sumo Hall, Hojo was introduced to Nakamura through Simon Inoki, who knew her because they had worked together when Hojo did an IGF tour. Nakamura pushed to Hojo that she’d do great in WWE. Hojo most recently told the Stardom office that she’s interested in going to WWE. Stardom officials believe Shirai is gone for sure, but they are working to keep Hojo and Hojo then said she’s not sure what she’s going to do.
There is a belief that Hojo doesn’t want to go to WWE so much as prove she’s better than Shirai. Among the fans, Hojo has always been No. 2 to Shirai because Shirai is considered the better wrestler of the two, even their hardcore Stardom fans like Hojo more. It’s been pushed to Hojo that if she stays, she’ll be the No. 1 female wrestler in Japan, but if she goes to WWE, that will never happen, and that because Shirai is the “bigger star” and better looking in WWE’s eyes along with being a better wrestler, that she would never surpass her going there. A big part of this also is the marketing success of Asuka, as the prior mentality that American fans would never care for Japanese women workers (and for a long time the belief was the same regarding men, even after Great Muta became a big star in 1989, because nobody from Japan had become a top star in WWE) no matter how great they are in the ring has had to die when she got over. Plus there’s the reality of Asuka’s age (she just turned 35 and Vince has age-phobia on guys, so imagine the mentality on women and you can pretty much see it given Asuka is the oldest woman wrestler in the promotion) while Shirai is 26 and Hojo is 28. The one thing about them that people who see them against each other or with the other Japanese women don’t realize is they are really short, both about 5-foot-1.