Tag: Nxt Stand & Deliver 2022

Editor’s Note: The following is an opinion-based preview and reflects that of the writer and not of our website.

13 Conversations About One Thing is a movie and one that I like very much. It’s also something you can say at work that makes you sound smarter than you are. If you are in a meeting and find the room talking in circles quite a bit, just say ‘It sounds like we’re having 13 conversations about one thing here’ and watch people tilt their heads to the side and nod. So wise, so well said.

The movie tells the story of a handful of individual characters that all wind up intersecting in some way. I’m a sucker for both vignette films and Alan Arkin so this is right up my alley. NXT 2.0 reminds me of that movie.

Individual stories are being told, but they aren’t completely isolated into themselves like they used to be. Characters interact with each other in ways other than to set up matches. It feels more like an organic and a more natural environment. It’s more aligned with how the real world works. I don’t just work with or see the same two people for three months. Other people float into and out of our lives all the time. I guess I just like the ‘art’ I consume to imitate my life.

All of this is a long-winded way to say I am trying on a very special, very new format for this preview. Since this is the weekend of The Most Stupendous™ WrestleMania of all time, I decided to bust out a different format that I have been sitting on for a while.

Instead of the usual predictions and match write-ups, I’m going to write 13 observations with the ‘One Thing’ being NXT. Everything is going to relate to the current landscape of the now technicolor brand. I know change can be scary, but I do hope you’ll indulge a man looking to spice up his Internet words a bit.

Welcome to your NXT Stand & Deliver preview: 13 Observations About One Thing.

1. NXT 2.0 is…really good.

It took some time to get there, but NXT is once again a good wrestling product. The days of a card full of 25+ minute epics are probably over…which isn’t a bad thing. Those cards and matches were still good (and often great, but the product had become homogenized to a certain extent. A lot of things looked and felt the same. Other than charisma, what was the real difference between Rod Strong and Adam Cole matches?

I loved the black and gold era of NXT more than anything. It brought back my love for wrestling and got me this gig (for which I am deeply grateful), but where else did it have to go? It had reached its ceiling.

NXT 2.0 is nothing like that, but it’s probably a better springboard for main roster success. It feels a lot like the wrestling of yesteryear where the wrestlers were characters first. Heck, a bunch of them even had an occupation. Let’s not pretend we didn’t grow up watching a tax man, a prison guard, and a truck driver on our screens. Surely a school teacher, a woman who loves to relax, and mean Europeans aren’t a bridge too far. There’s still a segment or two each week that makes me suck in through my teeth with second-hand embarrassment, but those are fewer and further between these days.

The product is different and it might not be for everyone but nothing ever is. I was as sad as anyone when the switch happened, but as each week passes, I find myself drawn to it more. Before I was drawn to the show and the brand itself. I knew that no matter what, I was going to see good wrestling. Now I’m more drawn to individual segments and characters. Every Diamond Mine segment is a must-watch and nothing is funnier on any wrestling program than Andre Chase. Our attention spans have never been shorter and getting people to fall in love with the characters lets them tune in and out as they see fit which is how we consume content anyway.

2. NXT 2.0 is…really horny.

Other than Finn Balor and like six months of Scarlett, the previous version of NXT had zero sex appeal. It was borderline puritanical. Even the Quaker Oats guy thought they were a bit chaste. 

But now? Goodness gracious, sakes alive. Nikkita Lyons seems to only exist to cause the Internet to explode with thirst. Toxic Attraction? Sheesh. Tiffany Stratton. The Persia Pirotta/Duke Hudson and Indi Hartwell/Dexter Lumis pseudo makeout contest. Everything, all of that. Just outrageously horny. And, in a way, it makes sense. Who is more sexually repressed than pro wrestling fans? Look at how many grown men buy Alexa Bliss merch and tell me it’s not the thirstiest (and problematic) corner of the internet. To whoever edits this, please leave this in. I feel am very passionate about this and am also very correct.

3. This timeslot stinks!

It’s a beautiful spring day. The world is ready to come out of *sigh* another long Covid winter and WWE wants us to watch 7+ hours of wrestling on a Saturday. It’s an awfully big ask. WrestleMania moving to two nights means either NXT or the Hall of Fame has to give. With such a big deal being made about this being in Texas and The Undertaker being inducted, it makes a fair bit of sense to punt NXT to Saturday morning but i still stinks and I hate it.

4. LA Knight is shockingly over, but Gunther is comin’.

I don’t quite understand how Knight became a face the audience loves so much, but that’s where we are. It goes completely against his natural alignment. He’s someone you just really, really want to loathe. That’s probably where he ultimately winds up, but it speaks to his talents on the mic that he could flip a crowd as he did. He’s a ready made heel for Raw or SmackDown, but has shown the versatility to be more than that.

Unfortunately, however, he is running into inevitability. Not to overuse what has become a very overused Marvel term, but that is what Gunther nee WALTER is. No one hits harder and there are very few better. He’s still one of the best things going, of any name, anywhere. Knight is probably gone as soon as next week and NXT should be built around Gunther and Imperium for at least through the end of the year.

5. Carmelo Hayes feels like the biggest star on the brand.

Bron Breakker is going to ruin my Grammarly plug-in and be WWE Champion one day. Mandy Rose is a star outside of wrestling. But no one does a better job making themselves seem like the biggest deal on the planet than Hayes. He can do comedy, he can do standard pre-tapes, he can do live promos, and oh yeah, he’s sensational in the ring. Do I have a soft spot from watching this dude in the Northeast indies? Yes, of course. Has he done everything he possibly can to make the North American Championship be the A-Championship? Also, yes. The character doesn’t feel forced and he does one of the hardest things a wrestler can do: speak naturally. Melo really doesn’t miss.

6. Trick Williams might be just as good.

I have no idea what Trick can do in the ring, but as Carmelo’s second, he’s been a revelation. The chemistry these two have is off the charts. They play off each other so well and seem to genuinely enjoy working with each other. There is nothing better than two pals yukkin’ it up and having a time on our nationally televised wrestling programs. 

I have no idea if he can go in the ring, but it almost doesn’t matter at this point. Everything else is so good and so fun that if there is even a modicum of ability in the ring – and there probably is considering the dude was a wide receiver at South Carolina – then, well, you’re looking at a star, baby.

7. Tomasso Ciampa.

The story of NXT can’t be told without Ciampa.

Recency bias might have soured opinions on him, but let’s not forget just how big a moment his turning heel on Johnny Gargano was. His catchphrase became ‘This is my moment’ and before Keith Lee took on the unofficial nickname of ‘moment maker,’ that’s what Ciampa was. From the classic match with The Revival in Toronto, the already mentioned heel turn, blasting Gargano with a crutch in Philadelphia, the unsanctioned match in New Orleans, etc., etc., etc. The man created MOMENTS for us.

He’s not the best NXT Champion of all time, but he might be the most memorable because of his relationship with the belt itself. He was obsessed with it. He personified it, gave it a name, and loved it. It fueled his entire existence. Every champion wants to be champion forever, but he needed to be champion. When he didn’t have the belt, it consumed him. He was by far the more interesting player in the Gargano/Ciampa endless feud and was one of the more compelling characters of the black and gold era.

8. The Women’s title match could steal the show.

I absolutely love how we got here. Kay Lee Ray and Io Shirai saying ‘Nah, we’re good’ when it comes to the NXT Women’s Tag Titles was so unexpected and set up what should be a really fun four-way. Granted, this says a lot of things about those tag titles and none of them are good! Nevertheless, it brought us to a very good title match. Hopefully, a four-way match spares Shirai from doing something truly insane but knowing her, that is super not happening. 

A match like this is perfect for someone like Mandy Rose: someone who isn’t at her best when she’s responsible for carrying the match, but can more than hold her own when others are leading the way. And once again, I am reminding you that she has the best knee strike in the biz. KLR is as good as anyon and it’s great that she’s on a much bigger stage. That leaves Cora Jade, who gets her own section just below. This is going to be a fun one.

9. The Internet needs to take a deep, calming breath when it comes to Cora Jade.

Wrestling Internet people, as always, seem to have curiously strong opinions about Jade. The Internet stays undefeated at being remarkably unnecessary. It outright refuses to have a regular one and insists on dialing it up as high as possible on absolutely everything. Having a Twitter account does not make anyone contractually obligated to have an opinion on everything. Seems exhausting!

Jade does not need to be reminded of how young she appears. She was born in this millennium, which seems like an impossible thing to write, but it’s true. Not everything should be a referendum on how someone looks. It’s a shame that’s what gets all the focus because Jade kind of has ‘it.’ She’s got that unteachable ability to connect with the audience as a babyface. They just love her, man. She’s not quite there from an in-ring standpoint, but who is at 21? Who’s doing anything at a high level at 21? You can teach people who love wrestling to get better at actual wrestling and Cora loves wrestling. You can’t teach this kind of connection. If they book this right, her eventually winning the title will be a huge moment for the brand.

10. The Creed Brothers shouldn’t be here very long.

If there wasn’t an actual Steiner on NXT, these two would feel like the closest things to just that. For being so young, it is downright frightening how good they are. And they are actual brothers! We love a good set of wrestling bros, don’t we folks? They move so suddenly and so smoothly that it’s incredible to watch…and they have only been on TV since August. That seems impossible for how good they already are.

These two are exactly what NXT is after: legitimate athletes that they can turn into pro wrestlers. Great athleticism isn’t a prerequisite to being a great wrestler, but being a great athlete is a prerequisite for being the next Brock Lesnar which is clearly what WWE is after. They might not be ready now, but they aren’t far off. We shouldn’t get used to seeing Brutus and Julius (LOL) on Tuesdays, because Mondays or Fridays are calling very soon.

11. Malcolm Bivens is simply the best.

A famous and egregiously overused anecdote in wrestling is the one about Ric Flair wrestling a broomstick and getting it over. In the same vein, there is nothing on God’s green that Bivens could not get over given mic time. The man is hilariously perfect. He has essentially remade Catch Point in NXT and guess what? It’s great. I love the idea of him having a rotating stable of real-ass wrestlers to build up and send on their way. The best on the microphone, the best facials and reactions this side of Paul Heyman, and the best Twitter account in pro wrestling. There is not enough time in the world to appropriately praise Bivens, but I’ll take every opportunity I can to do just that.

12. Dolph Ziggler winning the NXT title was a good thing.

Ziggler has been great since he’s been in NXT. He’s hitting exactly the right notes to build this match. Talking about how he has to do the media because no one knows who Bron Breakker is. And he’s totally right. If you’re reading this, it’s too late because you already know who Bron is. You know his talent, you know his superstar ceiling. 

But for everyone else, they have probably don’t know who he is. They couldn’t tell him from Adam. 626,000 people watched NXT this week. Raw had almost two million viewers this week. Dolph’s reach is just greater and being in a program with someone like Dolph is going to do wonders for Bron’s future. He’s not going to have to carry the main event on his own. He’s getting more exposure both on NXT and a taste of the main roster. These are all good things made possible just by Ziggler being around.

By Dolph’s own admission, he was stale. He wasn’t doing a whole lot. He has the Dirty Dawgz with Bob Roode which is fine. But that’s all it’s ever going to be. This immediately freshened up his character. Do you know what happened when he won the NXT title? I searched his name on Twitter. (When is the last time any of you have searched for Dolph Ziggler on the bird app?) This whole plot twist has served the dual purposes of making it feel like anything can happen on NXT and adding some much-needed life into a character that wasn’t doing all that much.

If people from the main roster are going to pop in and out of NXT, things like this need to happen to keep interest high. We need to believe something can happen when people from Monday and Friday come to Florida on Tuesday.

13. Bron Breakker is too big and too good to fail.

The big strong boy gets saved for last. He’s just so good. He has only had FIFTEEN televised matches. AP style says not to write out numbers over ten, but I had to write that out just so I could put it in all caps. If he is this good this fast, it’s frightening to imagine what his actual ceiling is. Does it even exist? With a bit of seasoning, this is a no doubt, top-of-the-card main eventer.

Everything I said about the Creed Brothers above goes double here. He’s got all the bonafides plus the Hall of Fame legacy. This isn’t a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when.

It’s call-up season szn and I think this is it for Bron in NXT. Their SVP of Global Talent said the following earlier this week: “The second you enter our developmental program and then potentially end up on NXT TV and then onto Smackdown or Raw, you want that number to be 25, not 30 or 35.” 

The days of years-long NXT runs for people with superstar ceilings are over. As soon as they show they can do it, they are gonna go up and get finished there. I mean, Bron was already the NXT Champion, so what else is left for him to do? If you’re already scratching at the top, there isn’t much room to grow. It’s going to be weird seeing Dolph Ziggler with his hand raised closing out a not-so-TakeOver but that’s where we’re going. Okay, I lied. I made one prediction.