Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston & Big E: Nation Of Domination 2.0?

[Slash-LN]

To be fair it's going to take longer than a week to see how effective Xavier Woods will be in this role. 3 years ago I might would have advocated R. Truth, but now he's irrelevant and old. Woods has a lot of untapped potential and is younger.

This is a point I was going to make.

Ron Killings is 42. There's no upside to making him the voice of this stable.
This stable is 3 relatively young guys taking a stand.

Kofi is the elder in the group at 32. He's hitting his prime.
Big E is only 28.
Xavier Woods is only 27.

This could benefit all three guys if done right. I would guess that there's a possibility that at least one of these guys can make it into the main event at some point.

 

[Planet_Velvet]

Even ifthis is a revamp of the Nation, it's gonna take a major overhaul to get me on board. Looking at the original Nation, they were all pretty big guys in terms of height and weight. I've been on shows with Woods and he's a little shorter than me and I'm 6' tall. Kingston and Big E aren't giants in terms of height. If they wanted to do a Nation revamp, I would have chosen Titus O'Neal, R-Truth, Big E, brought back Ezekiel Jackson, and maybe made Xavier Woods the mouthpiece. If these guys get in the ring with the 6'5" Randy Orton or nearly 7' Kane, they are gonna look like angry midgets.

 

[MartialHorror]

To be fair it's going to take longer than a week to see how effective Xavier Woods will be in this role. 3 years ago I might would have advocated R. Truth, but now he's irrelevant and old. Woods has a lot of untapped potential and is younger.

Yeah you guys beat me there. I didn't realize how much older R-Truth was.

 

[hollowpoint]

It's hard for me to believe this group for the simple fact that the last two times I saw Woods perform before this was him being the 1st superstar thrown out in the battle royal, and him getting beaten by a peace loving hippie on NXT. The Nation of Domination were believable due to their sheer size alone. Someone mentioned Titus O'Neil and I second that. He's a presence needed in that group. O'Neil, Big E, Kingston, Truth with Woods as a manager/speaker/brains of the group could have a chance, but not Woods as a competitor.

 

[DB2CMPUNK]

Actually Woods would be that former employee who scream "Like Kobe Bryant at a hotel in Colorado... he's unstoppable".

 

[MartialHorror]

Titus O'Neil needs to be a part of this. While I can't say anything on his in-ring skills as EVERY match I have seen from him tends to be short and designed to put over who he's fighting, he's got the right look, physique and has charisma.

 

[Soulblazed]

Even though the true Nation Of Domination from late 1996 was much more controversial than this rehash could ever hope to be, I'll still say this-IF this group truly forms, they need to have both Faarooq and Mark Henry in there otherwise there's absolutely no point in reforming The Nation Of Domination at all..

Faarooq and Henry will add believability to it and they should show old footage of both of them in The Nation in the late 90s to get their point across and go from there..That's IF this rehashed Nation ever forms…

Hell, it's a good idea on 1 hand to reform the Nation but ya'll are forgetting 1 important thing-How is The Nation Of Domination going to be controversial when they're on a PG wrestling show? If someone can give me a few valid reasons, then I'll be happy.

As the Nation Of Domination's mouthpiece, Slick The Doctor Of Style should return, if The Nation Of Domination ever reforms, by the way.

 

[Soulblazed]

I was hoping I could find 1996 clips of The Nation Of Domination but all Youtube could offer me is this..So here's a clip from mid 1997 where The Nation Of Domination 2.0 talks blatantly about racism.

Now keep in mind that the ORIGINAL Nation Of Domination was a play off of The Black Panther Party..

So how can this "Nation Of Domination 2014" say anything close to this on PG tv?

Mid 1997 Raw promo about racism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-aDi4fT5Ac

 

[kadroan]

I'm just glad SOMETHING is finally being done with Kofi. Even if this fails miserably, at least they're putting him in a storyline and investing some time into him. He'll probably have a good run with Big E as a tag team, God knows WWE needs some of those. As soon as I read Henry is likely to join, I was sold. If Woods was the leader, this would go nowhere fast. With Henry, it gets interesting and becomes legitimate right away. I'm interested to see where this goes.

Same here. I'm so glad they're working with Kofi. I was tired of him being just an attraction for battle royal matches and winning the IC/US title for no reason.

I hate he's back in the tag division, I would have rather for him to be a bad guy while being a solo wrestler. However, being a bad guy period I hope will freshen his character.

Henry joining the group adds credibility. Hopefully, they got somebody in mind within the group to turn on Henry to become a bigger star, whether that's Big E or Kofi.

I'm hoping Titus joins. He's not as talented in the ring as Big E or Kofi but he isn't getting any younger.

 

[MartialHorror]

Farooq wouldn't be able to add anything because he wouldn't be able to do anything. He's retired. Mark Henry on the other hand would be a good choice, since he technically is still wrestling...although where is Mark Henry? I can't remember the last time I saw him...was it when he lost to Roman Reigns?

 

[J.J.]

I'm hoping Titus joins. He's not as talented in the ring as Big E or Kofi but he isn't getting any younger.

What? Lol. I fail to latch to the logic there. If that's the case bring back Ron Simmons, D'Lo Brown, The Godfather and Savio Vega. In that case add me! I am not as talented as them but,I'm certainly getting no younger.

Unless they plan on pushing him as a dominate mid card stud, no point in adding him. The "just because" factor doesn't add credibility to the group.

If they're going to add another guy to the fold, let it be a young talent. Someone that is capable of doing more than repping his fraternity in the ring by barking.(I'm a fellow Q as well, no disrespect)

I believe people need to look up some Xavier Wood clips. TNA and NWA clips - the guy is full of untapped potential.

Making this a NOD type group does nothing but make the fans of yesteryear feel good. But many tend to weed out the minimal individual success afterwards. I loved D'Lo Brown, especially during his days of wearing the chest protector as his own leverage. Perhaps he was the one that found success after the breakup the quickest. A lot of that being he was a Russo guy. But when he returned a few years ago briefly, nobody remembered him.

Ron Simmons was successful as Ron Simmons, that run as leader of NOD done nothing for him. He was more over in APA and in the latter stages of his career than as the leader of the faction.

Kama/Godfather. Probably the most popular, but that came after being completely repackaged and having some character control.

Mark Henry was still green and I can't honestly say being in NOD elevated him in anyway. Sexual Chocolate, tagging with D'Lo, stint in OVW, bounce around mid card till finally getting his token title run.

I left out The Rock because he was destined to be a star with or without being in NOD.

I don't see any sense in making this about a group of the past just because 3 African-American wrestlers joined forces. I say if you're going to make them like NOD, don't water them down, go all out.

I guess many want to see Big E doing something he doesn't seem forced into and it come off extremely awkward. I believe he can benefit the most from this and they can groom him slowly to becoming a bigger force. Let's face it, Rusev made him look like a rag doll.

I guess many want to see what becomes of Kofi Kingston. I was hoping for a character refresh. But if this group is a face group and Xavier Woods is predominately the mouthpiece, then we still have the same ol Kofi. How do you push a guy with the arsenal Kofi has as a heel, I wonder.

As for those that want the Kofi during the Orton feud, realize we see that Kofi every Monday. Just he isn't smashing someone's car. Kofi beat Orton clean a few months ago and Cesaro twice recently.

Again no new NOD. But if you're going to have them like NOD, push the envelope.

 

[JoeGuar]

I don't get why people are viewing this as a new NOD. Sure, they're a group of all black superstars, but do we associate every new group of white superstars as a new DX or a new Hart Foundation? No. I understand why people are making the connection, but I think the majority here is looking too far into the racial aspects. The similarities between the two aren't at all plentiful. NOD was a bigger stable both in number and physical size (which this group doesn't have), and I doubt in this day and age we'll see the racial emphasis of the NOD in this new group.

On another note, after seeing them form last week and catching the Main Event tag match replay on the Network, I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of this. I do think they'd benefit from adding two guys and a Diva, though. Aside from the Authority, if we're counting that as a stable, we haven't had a faction with more than 3 people since the Nexus right? It'll be refreshing to see a faction that forms and is in pursuit of multiple titles at once, just like the old days.

 

[lil steroid meat]

Hope they do this and actually go extra hard with the racial overtones. Really blur the lines between face and heel by referencing the Trayvon case and all the other racial cases over the past few years and how "they" are getting too comfortable. Maybe even have them feud with Zeb and Swagger, or even better yet, have them feud with the backwoods redneck Wyatts. Both feuds would be gold and are great TV waiting to happen. Maybe even have them take on Rusev (because I remember there was like a month where he just beat up black dudes lol).

I hope at least someone out of Woods, Kofi and Big E is made into a major player because of this faction. Titus definitely needs to join. Titus and Big E are gold on the mic and Kofi is decent, haven't really heard Woods but in the promo he did in the white suit, he seemed good.

This could be gold but they have to go full throttle with it and not worry about being politically correct. Do it all the way or don't do it at all.

Also, no need to even reference the NOD. A radical, militant black pride group is enough of a push. Call them NWA: Now We Attack. If it was Mark, Big E and Kofi, you could do MLK: Mark, Langston, Kingston.

 

[J.J.]

Society is very sensitive these days. The African-American community is settling down from the Zimmerman outcome. So I don't think Trayvon Martin should be referenced on WWE TV. Referencing that on entertainment TV could receive bad publicity.

Referencing past situations doesn't put them over but could draw backlash from organizations like NAACP. Again it's just not necessary. Society is far more sensitive in this day and age and the shock value wouldn't be there.

I still feel it's best to leave out the racial overtones because honestly it's not necessary. There are other ways of getting this group of talent over workout making this about pro-race.

They're not even referencing race(at least not yet). Majority of the people that have commented in this thread have wanted a NOD type group or believe they'll turn out that way. But the group dressed up in casual attire does not scream black militia. NOD was a group that pushed the envelope but that was in a day in age when shock value put you over. It doesn't and if it did Vince Russo's writing style would still work today.

Maybe even have them feud with Zeb and Swagger, or even better yet, have them feud with the backwoods redneck Wyatts. Both feuds would be gold and are great TV waiting to happen.

I'm curious to know what makes this gold if you're trying to make it about patriotism and race?

 

[hollowpoint]

I'm not sure to this point what their agenda is. From the sound of it, neither do they. as educated as Woods is, he's not great on the mic. Last night on Main Event, he kept repeating himself and didn't make real sense about why they were out there during the Uso's/Rybaxel matchup. Although it's pretty obvious, it was never stated, nor did they enter the ring to approach the Uso's.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

I'm not sure to this point what their agenda is. From the sound of it, neither do they. as educated as Woods is, he's not great on the mic. Last night on Main Event, he kept repeating himself and didn't make real sense about why they were out there during the Uso's/Rybaxel matchup. Although it's pretty obvious, it was never stated, nor did they enter the ring to approach the Uso's.

Alex Riley made him look foolish. Woods said something like "why are you trying to make me out to be the spokesperson?" and Riley replied with the obvious, "I'm not trying to do anything, it's just that you're the only one talking". lol.

 

[lil steroid meat]

I'm curious to know what makes this gold if you're trying to make it about patriotism and race?

Simple. The two drastically different ideals and personalities would clash.

In a feud against Zeb, they could call out the racist undertones of his ideals (the immigrant stuff he used to do when he was a heel). It would be similar to when NOD went up against The Hart Foundation. Obviously it depends on how much they are trying to blur the line between face and heel as far as Swagger.

Same thing with the Wyatts, it's just the militant blacks going up against the backwoods rednecks. Two drastically different personalities clashing.

Both of these feuds would allow a guy like Big E to shine on the mic and it's more interesting than them fighting RybAxel forever.

 

[J.J.]

Simple. The two drastically different ideals and personalities would clash.

In a feud against Zeb, they could call out the racist undertones of his ideals (the immigrant stuff he used to do when he was a heel). It would be similar to when NOD went up against The Hart Foundation. Obviously it depends on how much they are trying to blur the line between face and heel as far as Swagger.

Same thing with the Wyatts, it's just the militant blacks going up against the backwoods rednecks. Two drastically different personalities clashing.

Both of these feuds would allow a guy like Big E to shine on the mic and it's more interesting than them fighting RybAxel forever.

Come on man, this isn't 1998. You have a different audience now, the shock value isn't there for that anymore. While I admit, WWE has been straddling the fence in recent months(more vulgar language, advertising alcoholic beverages). Something like this would have went over well two decades ago.

 

[lil steroid meat]

Come on man, this isn't 1998. You have a different audience now, the shock value isn't there for that anymore. While I admit, WWE has been straddling the fence in recent months(more vulgar language, advertising alcoholic beverages). Something like this would have went over well two decades ago.

Not even about shock value, it's just good storytelling. Would be entertaining angles and aside from The Wyatts, it's not like these guys are doing anything better.

 

[KBeef]

I just finished watching Smackdown and I noticed Big E got squashed by Rusev.

He was also by himself, no Xavier woods or Kofi, there was no presence on Raw or Main event from them either.
Arent they also supposed to be heels? So why would he face Rusev?

I had a high hope for this as it would've benefited all 3 men and if they just cut it for reason, then that makes no sense and whoever is booking is just lost.

 

[TheDrix]

Maybe I'll say bull**** now but, aren't Woods and Kofi in Australia?
I just can't find where yesterday's Smackdown took place, but if it wasn't in Australia, I think this would be the answer.

//
Oh yes, so SmackDown took place at Laredo, Texas. So this can be the answer, but maybe I'm completely wrong.

 

[TheDrix]

Again just "maybe" but..maybe they didn't have anyone left for the match against Rusev/Big E so they put them against each other. I think it was tough for WWE to fill card when some of the superstars left for Australia.

 

[Brushfire]

I dunno. With the other two not present it makes the stable look stronger and drives home the idea that they are much better together than apart. Losing matches when they aren't together as a stable but dominate when they are.

 

[wrestler36]

It's still just a rumor so take it for what it's worth. I did think it was odd that E was by himself though. Who knows, maybe the angle is just being saved for after Summerslam

 

[GeneralKarim]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand it's gone.

Seems like the angle was scrapped. The moment I saw face Big E have the match he had on smackdown I was sure something was wrong.

Very bad decision by the WWE. We had a very promosing new tag team ( that already had their own team-finisher ) that was desperately needed. This is just sad. An entertaining angle getting killed off like this is brutal for everyone. Kofi and Big E will now be relegated to being smiley babyfaces once again. Feel more sorry for Kofi as he has been stuck in a rut for so long. Xavier Woods was very good as this fired up heel manager. Now? He's on NXT being irrelevant.

Well then, let's hope the Ascension make their debut cause we need a new team NOW!