The NXT Thread Is Like Ring of Honor's Bay-Bay!

[Mighty NorCal]

And he's from(and was trained to wrestle in) Chicago. He speaks perfect English and he is one hundred percent comfortable with the American style of wrestling.


This.

Kalisto will never mean on an overall scale what Rey did. Rey's too big of an icon in Mexico. But as far as just being able to be marketable to kids in America, he checks every box that Rey did. He's got a cool mask, the flashy lucha moves, and the charismatic presence in a tiny package that made Rey such a breakout hit with the PG era WWE preteen fanbase. He will make the WWE money. Lot's of it. And depending on just how much, the sky's the limit on where they could someday push him. He's only 28. Plus he has the indie-darling support too, which will only help.

Believe it or not, when it's on said and done, Kalisto may just end up with a career further up the main roster card than anyone currently in NXT.

If we are going this route, it makes more sense to me to keep them as a tag team, since the mask designs differ, and the "LUCHA!" is so emphasized in their entrance.


As for the last sentance, it will be fun to look back on these threads.....Personally, my money is on either Zayne or Balor.


Zayne truly has it all.....He may be better overall than Bryan. And if a troll like Bryan can do it (I say that lovingly) then Zayne can surely do it.

Owens has a MESS of potential as well, but I just forsee a million different ways for them to fuck him up over the years. His character and direction are far too simple for WWE to simply leave it alone and let him be awesome.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

It will all take time, he'll need to find himself down in NXT just like the call-ups will need to on the main stage. Apparently he's having awesome matches with Solomon Crowe and Tyler Breeze at live events, when we'll see things like that on the Network who knows but he'll be fine in the long run.

I was just wondering the other day if Crowe still existed. Wasn't he of similar profile to Tyler Black when he was brought in? The fuck happened?

Oh yea, a fucking evil Hacker gimmick.


Glad to see they are putting him with Breeze. That would be my second suggestion behind Cesaro for him to put on lengthy clinics with.

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

You know I still think the Hacker Gimmick (from the photos released at the time) wasn't such a bad idea.

I say they at least give it a try on one set of tapings and see what happens.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Bray Wyatt, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, Wade Barrett, Harper, Cesaro, Bo Dallas, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Sami Zayn & Hideo Itami are all looking to take a spot at the top of the card within the next few years.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Dallas was the best heel in wrestling for a solid two months or so, both from a character and an in-ring standpoint.



Unfortunately, WWE doesn't allow people to do all that "wrestling" stuff on the main roster. The only people who get time are Ziggler and Rollins, and in Ziggler's case its only to allow more time to do absolutley ridiculous shit.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I was just wondering the other day if Crowe still existed. Wasn't he of similar profile to Tyler Black when he was brought in? The fuck happened?

Oh yea, a fucking evil Hacker gimmick.

They decided to drop the hacker gimmick sometime in the summer, then in like August he broke his shin. I think he's only been back for like a month.

Apparently his new gimmick is mostly just hitting himself in the head with the microphone. Seriously.

But I think the plan is to get him on TV as soon as they figure out how they want to present him. And if whatever that is gets over I suppose they could always fast track his NXT run a little, but there is really no reason to hurry, he's only 27.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Speaking of allowing people to wrestle


were THE FUCK is the Kidd/Cesaro (The Uppercats) Vs Lucha Dragons feud?


Good god, the spooge-worthy matches that would come of that.


Lucha Dragons could have fantastic matches with all the main tag teams on the main roster, IE Dust brothers, Usos, Los Matadores.


Come on.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Apparently his new gimmick is mostly just hitting himself in the head with the microphone. Seriously.

Still better than an evil hacker gimmick.


He could be on the Bo Dallas plan, down in developmental for the better part of a decade.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Maybe Kidd/Cesaro could come down and work Itami/Balor at the next live special.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Personally, I feel they should break those two away from one another post-haste (Itami and Balor) but it certainley would not be a bad match.

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

Best they could do is just silently have them go separate ways and do their own thing. Not sure where Balor goes in the next month or so, but I'm sure it'll be great.

 

[nightmare]

Dallas was the best heel in wrestling for a solid two months or so, both from a character and an in-ring standpoint.

He should continue being just that when he comes back. Bo has got the ability to irritate the shit out of people with his gimmick & can easily feud with anyone by firing off one of those well placed patronizing comments.

Best they could do is just silently have them go separate ways and do their own thing. Not sure where Balor goes in the next month or so, but I'm sure it'll be great.

With Devitt I am sure they will have someone interrupt a backstage segment\interview & that will be the start of his next program. With Neville on his way out & Sami\Kevin starting up something, he will likely just smash his way through some random folks for a bit. Fine by me. I know that he will cross paths with someone worthy soon & its just a matter of time before he is called up. Pretty sure Sami is first in line for that, but I dont see Devitt taking the NXT title stepping stone to get there. I think the plan from the get go with him was to spend minimal time in NXT before going on the main roster anyway, if I am not mistaken.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

He should continue being just that when he comes back. Bo has got the ability to irritate the shit out of people with his gimmick & can easily feud with anyone by firing off one of those well placed patronizing comments.

We far from differ on this opinion, but unfortunately, apprently the WWE brass were already bored with him when he got hurt, and even when he was on tv weekly, he never got a chance to really work anyways.


All this despite being fairly over.



Damn shame.

 

[nightmare]

We far from differ on this opinion, but unfortunately, apprently the WWE brass were already bored with him when he got hurt, and even when he was on tv weekly, he never got a chance to really work anyways.


All this despite being fairly over.



Damn shame.

It really is. I was excited for him to get called up, but also knew that Vince\Creative has a problem with being impatient or pulling the plug on good things if they do not skyrocket in a week's time. I think Vince has convinced himself that every idea he has is lightning in a bottle & will shove the worst things down our throats for months, but when something real good comes along, he is hesitant to let it shine. Especially if the response is organic or comes from someone else's creativity.

 

[Stormtrooper]

Personally, I feel they should break those two away from one another post-haste (Itami and Balor) but it certainley would not be a bad match.

Best they could do is just silently have them go separate ways and do their own thing. Not sure where Balor goes in the next month or so, but I'm sure it'll be great.

Itami needs to turn on Balor ASAP. Be the badass in-ring competitor that he can be but do it as a heel not a face (have him be pissed that Balor is more revered by the fans than himself). In fact, I'd keep teasing the GTS and when he first hits the GTS it's on Balor. They then have a match at the next Live special sending Balor off to the main roster.


Doing that should get Itami ready for the main roster for the day after Mania 31.

Oh, and please please PLEASE get him a mouthpiece to do his talking. If it can be Heyman all the better.

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

If they turn him heel that's probably the best way to do it, Heyman would be an awesome mouthpiece considering the circumstances.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

I agree and I would do it with the exact same reasons stated above. Itami as a babyface isn't really working so far, as he doesn't seem to be able to show a badass personality as expected I guess. Also, Balor vs. Itami is kinda of a dream match for me.

 

[justinsayne]

Not sure Heyman is the right guy to be his mouthpiece, the pairing with Heyman didn't work so well for Cesaro, Ryback, or Axel, I don't see why it would with Itami. That pairing only really ever seems to work with guys that Heyman is buds with outside of the business.

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

That was solely a bad booking problem though, which you can never predict for anyone in the business.

 

[A11oftheLights]

Itami needs to turn on Balor ASAP. Be the badass in-ring competitor that he can be but do it as a heel not a face (have him be pissed that Balor is more revered by the fans than himself). In fact, I'd keep teasing the GTS and when he first hits the GTS it's on Balor. They then have a match at the next Live special sending Balor off to the main roster.


Doing that should get Itami ready for the main roster for the day after Mania 31.

Oh, and please please PLEASE get him a mouthpiece to do his talking. If it can be Heyman all the better.

What are you smoking because I want some. Look at how long Zayn, Neville, Ascension and co. have been down in NXT for and you want to bring up Balor who has had one feud that wasnt that great and Itami who has looked worse than Balor. You have to remember everyone's credentials are reset when they get to NXT and Balor & Itami are nowhere near having a case to being called up when compared to the likes of Zayn and Neville

 

[nightmare]

The Heyman & Cesaro pairing was fucking great & was setting the stage for Cesaro vs Lesnar that would have been amazing. Leave it to WWE to completely shit on something with potential to be fantastic. Im sure it had to do with the hot\cold feelings on pushing Cesaro and the way Brock has been scheduled. If Lesnar was around more, I am sure the possibility of this happening would have gone up a bit.



Cesaro dead-lifting Lesnar for a superplex would have been the stuff of legends. Highlight reel material for the next decade.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Uh, yea, one of those things no one really looks at impartially...


The whole put him with Paul heyman thing has failed miserabley more times that it has succeeded.



And this is allowing that his pairings with Lesnar and Punk were "successful"....Not sure I would, since neither of them really need him. (Lesnar perhaps does, Punk not at all)

 

[Stormtrooper]

Not sure Heyman is the right guy to be his mouthpiece, the pairing with Heyman didn't work so well for Cesaro, Ryback, or Axel, I don't see why it would with Itami. That pairing only really ever seems to work with guys that Heyman is buds with outside of the business.

The timing was terrible for Cesaro. The crowd wanted to turn him and they refused, then never really did anything.

Axel sucks, and Ryback was never a long-term thing, it was done just as a mechanism for Punk to get his hands on Heyman.

What are you smoking because I want some. Look at how long Zayn, Neville, Ascension and co. have been down in NXT for and you want to bring up Balor who has had one feud that wasnt that great and Itami who has looked worse than Balor. You have to remember everyone's credentials are reset when they get to NXT and Balor & Itami are nowhere near having a case to being called up when compared to the likes of Zayn and Neville

The difference is that Balor was all but guaranteed to have a very short stint in NXT so he can get accustomed to the WWE style, and Itami was the same way. Balor has proven himself capable of working the WWE style, and Itami would be ready sooner rather than later.

They didn't come in like the other guys. Why do you think Balor took so damn long to sign? He didn't want to toil away in NXT for years, he wanted to be on the big show. He's proven to be ready already so he'll be there soon.

Uh, yea, one of those things no one really looks at impartially...

The whole put him with Paul heyman thing has failed miserabley more times that it has succeeded.

And this is allowing that his pairings with Lesnar and Punk were "successful"....Not sure I would, since neither of them really need him. (Lesnar perhaps does, Punk not at all)

Punk needed Heyman. He was getting cheered too much and Heyman helped prevent that. Managers aren't just about having someone talk for you. They're there to generate heat. That's what Heyman did for Punk.

And if you don't use Heyman (who by that time will be without a client, since Lesnar is likely done after Mania), who are you using? There isn't anyone else.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Punk needed Heyman. He was getting cheered too much and Heyman helped prevent that. Managers aren't just about having someone talk for you. They're there to generate heat. That's what Heyman did for Punk.

And if you don't use Heyman (who by that time will be without a client, since Lesnar is likely done after Mania), who are you using? There isn't anyone else.

Punk is the best heel of the modern era, and has generated plenty of heat before, could have done it again. By the end of the run, he was getting cheered even WITH Heyman, so Heyman was just the cherry on top of the sunday, really.


As far as the who to use question, well, no one, in my estimation. A manager isn't the one definitive thing Itami needs. Any number of things could help the situation. Getting him far as fuck away from Balor, being foremost among them(unless its within the confines of a larger group than just the two of them, side-by-side).


The thing I would most entertain is Heyman unleashing an elite group of hand picked smark monsters, say a stable of Itami, Balor, annnnnnd...Neville? FUCKIN OWENS?? Hmmmm.

That would actually make the most sense, since they all came at once, with a decent level of fanfare.

 

[Stormtrooper]

Punk is the best heel of the modern era, and has generated plenty of heat before, could have done it again. By the end of the run, he was getting cheered even WITH Heyman, so Heyman was just the cherry on top of the sunday, really.

He's more than the cherry, he's the whip cream too, and everyone loves some whip cream on their sundae...

The thing with Punk though is that he was at the point where he was heeling it up and getting cheered, so Heyman helped prevent that for a while. Ultimately it came to the point where he was still getting cheered (thanks to him taking a month off and them starting to turn him). That's when they broke him away from Heyman.

As far as the who to use question, well, no one, in my estimation. A manager isn't the one definitive thing Itami needs. Any number of things could help the situation. Getting him far as fuck away from Balor, being foremost among them(unless its within the confines of a larger group than just the two of them, side-by-side).

He needs someone so that they can have someone talk for him. He can't talk for himself, as witness by his debut, where he struggled mightily to get a few sentences in English.

The thing I would most entertain is Heyman unleashing an elite group of hand picked smark monsters, say a stable of Itami, Balor, annnnnnd...Neville? FUCKIN OWENS?? Hmmmm.

That would actually make the most sense, since they all came at once, with a decent level of fanfare.

as a short term thing I'd love to see Itami/Balor/Owens come up together a la The Shield and run roughshod over the entire roster. Unlike The Shield let them keep their current attire and entrances, just have them be 3 guys with similar belief that they are ready and let them destroy the WWE.

Neville doesn't fit with them. At the very least he'd have to change his finish if he was a heel, because his finish itself generates a decent pop. Change his finish and it hurts his value. I'd rather see Itami/Balor/Owens come up, then a few months later Neville/Zayn/someone else come up to feud with the new guys.