2016 Pro Wrestling Thread

The Nakamura-Zayn match was insanely great, an all-time classic. Every match was great, though.

I think Finn with the Balor Club ends up being a part of Shane's win at 'Mania, and he comes out Monday with the NXT title as part of a stable behind Shane. Owens still had the NXT belt when he was called up, and I think that gave him some cred with the audience that didn't know him, so I could see them doing the same thing with Balor. That or Samoa Joe gets brought up instead and Finn stays down in NXT for another few weeks. After the way Styles went over, they have to be thinking Joe would get a hell of a pop on the main roster, too.

Speaking of Joe, my nightmares will be haunted by the image of a bloody Samoa Joe. A couple of times, he looked damn frightening with blood covering his face.

I saw Bayley dropping the belt mainly because I think she'll get called up to the main roster pretty quick after 'Mania, too, and there's no way they call up both champions at the same time. They may hold off and let her get her rematch with Asuka, though, so that Sasha and Charlotte can do their rematch before Bayley is in the picture. Then you bring Bayley up to face Sasha for the women's belt. That or you bring her up and let her feud with Becky in a No. 1 contenders match with the winner getting the Sasha-Charlotte winner. (BTW, it's almost to the point that I could see them adding another women's title. They're about to have too many talented women's wrestlers for one belt. Could see them adding tag belts or a women's equivalent of the IC belt.)

I honestly kinda hope they let Bayley win the belt back and then do Bayley-Asuka 3 as a 2-out-of-3 falls match. Could be epic, and they're on the verge of having a very weak women's division in NXT, or at least one that needs to prove itself more than it did six months ago.

 

NXT TakeOver Dallas was fuck-nuts wild in person. Sami and Nakamura tore down the house, but Joe and Balor provided most of the non-wrestling entertainment. We kind of made our displeasure known at the amount of "time outs." I watched it back after I got back to the hotel, lot of our F-bomb chants dubbed out.

"Fuck PG." And now you know.

Got to the Superstore before the show to get some shit for my nephew and niece, and maybe a few things for myself. The program is jaw-dropping. Got my nephew a MitB lunch box and niece a Bayley shirt.

Got a Becky poster, hoping I can meet her on Saturday at Axxess and get a pic and autograph. Later I'm heading to the Cheap Heat guys' party before HoF. Also, Edge is supposed to be there Sunday morning for my other Axxess time. Hope that works out, too.

And sweah ta gahd, bro, they can't keep Booty-Os on the gahddamn shelves. That's a shoot. New Day is over as fuck here. One cosplayer brought a trombone.

 

They might be better off with Bayley in NXT for a while. There's no one for Asuska to fight. There's plenty of juice left in the Sasha/Charlotte/Becky triad. It sounds really dumb because we just got done with some awful teams, but when Bayley comes they should just break off into Team Bae again and let Bayley do the hugger thing with Charlotte. That 6 month story in NXT was so good and 80% of the Raw audience hasn't seen it. Just do it again. I don't think anyone that saw in NXT would mind seeing it again.

 

The more I think about it, the more I think Bayley stays in NXT until the summer. Like you said, they need her to feud with Asuka because the rest of the women's division needs time to build up. They've got plenty to work with in the main roster for now, and Bayley will help sell tickets to NXT house shows.

 

They can have Sasha win tomorrow, beat out Charlotte and Becky through the summer, then have Bayley come in after Summerslam. The timing would be good, too, because it would be the one-year anniversary of the Brooklyn win.

 

I actually think Bayley and Balor could both spend some more time in NXT, and I'd rather see Samoa Joe up on the main roster. I think the (credible) heel side is a bit light, and he could be an enforcer / bad ass type, kind of similar to how Kevin Owens is.

 

Takeover was incredible, as always, and the bar has definitely been set pretty high for Mania to try and top -- or at least meet -- tomorrow night. Not holding my breath that Vince and Co. can exceed that, but we'll see.

Kinda surprised they kept the belt on Finn last night. I figured they'd at least let Joe win it once before he makes the jump to the main roster. And I agree with JRoyal -- seeing Joe's bloody face gave me a nightmare or two last night. I get that they had to stop the match to check on him just because of where the cut was, but it just added to the match. -- 4 stars

Bayley-Asuka was great, but not as good as Bayley-Sasha at Brooklyn. I don't think any NXT women's match will top that one for a while. I'm guessing Bayley sticks around in NXT for a while and gets a rematch not just because the former champion typically gets a return match, but she can say Asuka never really beat her since she passed out and didn't tap out. Had some nice spots, too. -- 3 1/2 stars

Corbin vs. Aries might have been the card's weakest match, and it wasn't because of Aries. That man can work. Corbin's gotten better, but I'm just not impressed by anything he does anymore. -- 3 stars

The tag match to start the night was fucking awesome. From Dash and Dawson feeding off the crowd chanting "You Fucked Up!" to the double-German suplex to Alpha's ending move, everything in that match was fantastic. -- 3 3/4 stars

Nakamura and Zayn was simply incredible. I hadn't watched many of Nakamura's matches but had heard/read all kinds of stories about him and his style. This was, by far, the match of the night and WWE's first entrant for match of the year. These two tore the house down. -- 4 1/2 stars

 

Haven't had time to watch back all the NXT matches from a TV POV, just Sami/Nakamura and Joe/Finn. So, that said, not sure how bad the botch in the tag match looked on TV, but it was really bad in person.

Anyway, had a productive day in Dallas. Got the train routes down, so the day is much easier to plan. I've never lived anywhere with public transportation, so I'm greener than goose shit when it comes to getting around Dallas.

I MET BECKY!

She was the only one I just had to meet of all the Axxess signings. AJ was second, but his line was fucking crazy. I got in, overheard the staff saying there was no way to get through it all, and left. An hour later, the woman in line ahead of me had moved 20 feet. Not sure why it was so slow.

There are 3 sessions a day, up to 8 signing stations. A session is 4 hours, and the window for a talent is 2 hours. The WWE app had updated times and tables for the talent. Not everyone knew this, so many folks asked staff who had no clue. So, while it looked like I was in line for Ryback, his time was drawing to a close and I was really in line for Becky. Some folks left, which helped, but I still waited 90 minutes. Well worth it.

It's no secret I have problems with my back and knees. I'm in a good bit of pain to do a trip this intense. But when I got close to the table and realized I had made it, nothing hurt anymore. Endorphins flooded my system. But I didn't completely mark out. This is one smokin' hot lass in person. Gorgeous. I played it cool, got her to sign my poster, got a picture .... Then I totally blew my cred by sounding like a real dork: "I'm really excited for Becks-leMania tomorrow!"

Ugh.

Oh my god.

But she smiled so wide and said thanks and that she's excited too. Later, I tweeted my pic and it was one of a few she "liked."

I think I got a shot with her.

I also got to see a bunch of great memorabilia, including a lot of Sting's old gear, Surfer and Crow. I loved his red, white, and blue jacket.

Also got to see Rowdy Roddy Piper's gear: First was his boxing gloves from WrestleMania 2. Then ... And I might have shed just a tear when I saw it ... His custom leather jacket, his white and red ringer shirt, his kilt.

Damn, I miss Roddy.

Anyway, I hightailed it to the Baylor Med School bar scene to join the Cheap Heat party. I didn't get to stay long. Place was crowded, as there was some kind of small music fest going on as well. Hipsters and smarks, occupying the same space at the same time.

Then I met David Shoemaker. Dude is completely fuckin' maj. Again, I turn into a cool dork, as we spent 5 minutes talking about journalism, the state of longform writing, and our favorite writers (Rick Bragg being a shared favorite). Didn't once mention wrestling, but he was cool with it because so many guys were just asking what he thought of this match or that wrestler. He enjoyed our chat, as did I.

I forgot to bring my copy of his book to sign, but I got a selfie, which is the new autograph. Fuck it, it was maj.

Then the Hall of Fame. I missed the Godfather as there were problems with the trains. I got there near the end of Stan Hansen, who seemed great.

The guy next to me was really offended that the New Day inducted the Freebirds. He didn't like Snoop in the Hall either. Or that Slick inducted .... Shit, did I sit next to a racist?

Is it me or is Cena looking a little rougher than I remembered. Face was really lined, and his neck seemed thin and his collar loose. How much of a toll has this injury taken at his age?

And Sting. He retired. Maybe? I love how he's a humble enough cat to poke fun at himself, joking about RoboCop and Joker Sting.

Lastly, the crowd seemed somewhat behaved. No What? chants. The room didn't clear out when Joan Lunden came out, and I think she survived because she gave a good speech and didn't overstay her welcome.

That's it for me. I'm tapping out for the night. Tommorow I have another Axxess in the morning (might stand in line for Edge). Then some other show at night.

 

This is cool. The guy who had that shocked, eyes bulging look on his face when Undertaker lost to Lesnar finally got to meet him at Axxess, and the photo they took was great.

'Shocked Undertaker guy' finally met The Undertaker

 

That's awesome Bradley. Just awesome.

 

The new Women's Championship is really nice.