WWE NXT: The Gong Show

[D-Man]

Last week, Michael Cole started banging a gong whenever he (kayfabe) felt that the show was getting terrible.

Just so everyone knows, this is a play off the 1970's game show called "The Gong Show". It was very similar to a watered down version of America's Got Talent. Different variety acts would come onto the show and would be judged by the special-guest judges that would join the panel each week. If the act sucked, one of the judges would "gong" them. If they were good, they would be judged afterwards and ultimately there would be a winner.

So my questions for all of you are:

Do any of you feel this "gong" is going to play a bigger part in this show? Do you feel the WWE already knows that this NXT Diva idea has a better chance of failing than succeeding, so they're already thinking up methods to try and save the show at its lowest moments?

 

[Ferbian]

I didn't see the point of the gong from the very beginning, and I don't see the point of the gong right now. I mean was it not only featured for Cole to bang at it? Or was it used before that? Yep, that's how forgettable the moment was.

The gong shouldn't play a role in the promoting of NXT, or for that sake in anything related to NXT, because it's simply a prop, and the focus should be on the eye-candy.. I mean divas. It's a diva "season" and it should be promoted as that, not a gong show as your lovely thread title addresses it as D.

The gong won't be able to save the show at any low points, or ruin it at any high points (Well maybe it would be quite a ruiner if somehow we managed to get Kaitlyn for a strip-tease.. But that's for another time).

So, yeah it shouldn't really be anything of notice. I can only hope it's something to fade into obscurity, rather quickly, and rather permanently.

 

[Branden]

I hope with Cole "removing himself" from the show, the gong will go with him. Its obvious that the show is struggling, its being taken off TV before the season is over. So I'm sure that the announcer of the show bashing the programming isn't helping in the slightest. That'd be like Chris Collinsworth banging a gong in the middle of an NFL game when a QB throws an interception and standing up and bashing the game and how nobody should watch it.

I hope we never see the gong again. It can only hurt the show overall.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I didn't have high hopes for NXT Season 3, but I was hoping that the show would be taken seriously and we would see a revamp of the divas division. I realize now that there will be no revamp and WWE thinks that divas are a joke and they will continue to think that way. I'm not a huge fan of womens wrestling, and I understand that its more of a sideshow attraction then anything else. I just wish WWE wouldn't make the entire division a complete joke. What is the purpose of having this show now? Its just going to be a gong show or lame America's Got Talent? No one wants to see attractive girls tell lame jokes. They either want to see them fight or wear revealing clothing. People would rather see a swimsuit competition instead of a lame no talent contest. If the announcers on NXT think the show is a joke, then why should we think different?

 

[mister_b1LL]

They obviously didn't want "The Gong Show" to continue considering Cole didn't bring his gong with him when he returned (He even asked where his gong was when something came up that he didn't like). But it was a good thing as last week, virtually every single Diva got buried on that night. It's already hard enough to get people to watch NXT this season, but why make it appear like the company doesn't have faith in NXT in the first place?

Guys, this is NOT an NXT review thread. One of those already exists. Please only discuss Cole's gong in this thread otherwise you'll be off-topic and risk warning/infraction.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

I feel that the Gong on NXT is there for a couple of reasons:

1) To give Michael Cole cheap heat: We all know that every time Cole gets up on RAW and announces the General Manager's e-mails to the audience, the crowd begins to boo at the fact that Cole is representing/reading the notes. So, they can easily replicate this heat method by allowing Cole to do something more annoying by banging a gong.

2) Referring to the IWC's comments on Diva wrestling: With NXT breaking down the fourth wall many times and being more "realistic" where a lot of boundaries are crossed, I'm sure they include many references to how Diva wrestling is viewed as quite bad. The gong allows for Cole to symbolically represent these thoughts by hitting it, telling the girls they are taking up our precious time.

It's not necessarily burying all the girls considering that these girls aren't that bad of wrestlers, especially Naomi who has really impressed me. Having these girls showcase their abilities acts as a reason why they are on NXT for a reason and should be given a chance... it's funny how one small prop can do all the world of good.