Monty “Kip” Sopp, better known as Billy Gunn, was fired today as a trainer by WWE due to testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone in a powerlifting meet from July 25.
Gunn’s drug test at the meet came up with a 37-1 testosterone/epitestosterone ratio, well over the 4-1 limit, and he was suspended from powerlifting for four years.
Billy Gunn, 52, had returned to WWE as a trainer in 2012 after several years away from the organization. He worked as an agent and a trainer, and had a New Age Outlaws nostalgia run in recent years, winning the tag team titles with Road Dogg in early 2014.
He had done occasional run-ins at the end of some NXT shows with he and the babyface wrestlers ending shows doing DX crotch chops. Most recently, he had appeared on television as one of the trainers on Tough Enough and Breaking Ground.
WWE officials were not aware of him competing as a powerlifter until a few weeks ago or his suspension from that sport.
The WWE has confirmed that all tickets are gone for the 2016 Royal Rumble, set for Sunday, January 24th at the Amway Arena in Orlando, FL.
After an Internet pre-sale in August and another pre-sale this past week, most of the arena was sold out for a configuration of 13,000. The on-sale to the public, which started this morning, sold out in less than 30 minutes.
The Rumble is traditionally the company’s second biggest event of the year. The winner of the Royal Rumble by stipulation is supposed to challenge for the WWE title at WrestleMania.
Some other fun facts:
– This is the second Rumble event in Orlando, and the first there since January 21, 1990 — the 3rd Rumble in company history. Hulk Hogan won the event that night, his first of back-to-back Rumble wins.
– This will be the fifth Rumble held in Florida, and the 29th overall.
– Roman Reigns will look to become the first back-to-back winner of the Rumble since “Stone Cold” Steve Austin did it in 1997-98. If he does it, he joins Hogan, Austin, and Shawn Michaels as the only men to do it.
The future of a WWE Superstar, or any pro wrestler for that matter, is no certain thing. So many factors, some controllable, some not, can determine the fate of a wrestler’s career. Only the smallest percent of WWE talents make it to the absolute top: the Shawn Michaels, The Rocks, the Austins, The Undertakers, the John Cenas. In the current era, the majority float around the middle. Some get close to breaking through the glass ceiling and separating themselves from the mid-card pack, while others spiral down into obscurity.
What is it that creates the divide and that differentiates a major star from an enhancement talent? Is it one’s work rate? Look? Mic skills? Charisma? Who one is or is not in a relationship with behind the scenes? That elusive and abstract “it” factor? Plain old dumb luck? Some wrestlers come along who seem to be the complete package, but wind up floundering, while another guy who throws the worst punches known to man and can’t take a bump to save his life gets pushed to the moon and becomes the face of the company for an entire generation. Sometimes, it almost feels like the decision to push or not push a performer is made completely at random.
This unpredictability is especially relevant for the “rookies” of WWE’s NXT for whom the future holds many different paths. Some will never make it past the developmental phase. Some will be promoted to the main roster only to be sent back after failing to get over like they had in NXT. The fortunate will go on to have a successful WWE career. One NXT wrestler who looks destined for big things in the WWE is Chad Gable.
Gable is at an exciting point in his pro wrestling career. He’s currently one of NXT’s most over talents, and has (almost) all the tools needed to become major star. While getting over with the fastidious NXT audience is a worthy accomplishment, they are a comparatively small sample size compared with the larger WWE fanbase. We’ve already seen acts that have gone over like gangbusters in NXT, but fall flat with the larger audience when brought up to the main roster.
To Gable’s credit, he has got over in NXT with his charisma and ability alone, as opposed to some outlandish gimmick, that, while initially entertaining, comes with a limited shelf life. This is a positive sign that Gable will be (G)able to connect with the wider WWE fanbase when he’s brought up to the main roster.
With that said, getting over with the audience is only part of the battle. Fortunately, Gable is a natural when it comes to actual wrestling. Before his arrival at NXT, Gable had trained and competed in folkstyle, freestyle, and Greco-Roman wrestling. He particularly excelled in the latter, winning a number of national championships, and placing ninth at the 2012 London Olympics. Gable has impressively transitioned from amateur to professional wrestling, creating a beautiful blend of sports entertainment and amateur wrestling styles in the process.
He has also shown himself to be very competent on the microphone. Mic work is often the downfall of even the most skilled wrestlers, and the saving grace of some of the less naturally gifted athletes. Do you think the Miz would have ever won the WWE Championship if he wasn’t such a good talker? Gable’s charisma and comedic timing come through not only in his wrestling, but more importantly (in sports entertainment) on the microphone. He’s a naturally gifted wrestler, he can talk, he’s charismatic, and he connects with audience. Gable has just about everything one needs to be top star in the WWE. Well, almost everything.
The only thing, at this point, that might stop Gable from making it to the tippy top is the dreaded size aspect. Gable is billed at 5’8” (173cm). In most professions, that would be irrelevant, but in WWE, admitted or not, size matters. The number of WWE champions under six feet tall can be counted on one hand (with a few extra fingers left over). Guys like Daniel Bryan and Rey Mysterio have proven that smaller wrestlers can reach the top, but in both cases, they were never really considered the top guys of the company like Cena has been.
With any luck, and if there’s any justice in the world, Chad Gable’s aforementioned attributes will be enough to overcome his sole drawback.
Only the most pessimistic of pessimists would doubt that Gable will make something of himself in the WWE. The real argument is to what extent will he make it. Will he become a top guy, a mid carder, a comedy act, a tag team lifer? Gable draws comparisons to a range of WWE wrestlers, past and present, who fill(ed) those various roles. Gable’s destiny might be to emerge as the second coming, but of who?
The Next Kurt Angle?
Like Angle, Gable is a champion amateur wrestler. Like Angle, Gable represented his country in the Olympic Games, admittedly not faring quite as well despite not even having a broken frickin’ neck. Still, he wrestled in the Olympics. That’s probably, like, super hard to do. Like Angle, Gable transitioned into professional wrestling seemingly effortlessly. Like Angle, Gable’s a good talker with a knack for humour. It’s hard not to argue that Gable is Kurt Angle 2.0. The only real difference is height, and even there, the disparity is minor with Angle billed at 6-0”, four inches taller than Gable. Besides, don’t even try to tell me Gable couldn’t pull off an adorable little cowboy hat. Don’t. Even. Try.
The Next Daniel Bryan?
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Gable is a fan favourite at Full Sail Arena. Gable and tag partner Jason Jordan were the highlight of the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, getting some of the best reactions at NXT TakeOver: Respect despite failing to make the finals. Someone else who is (was?) good at getting the crowd behind him is Daniel Bryan. An argument could also be made for Gable becoming Bryan’s successor. They both have the distinction of being ”smaller guys” in the pro wrestling sense. Yet, it’s that smaller stature among the sea of ex-football playing, bodybuilding gladiators that helps make them such endearing underdogs. It might be the rabid support of the fans that ends up pushing Gable to that next level.
The Next Cesaro?
Of all Cesaro’s skills and attributes one could wish to share, like his amazing work in the ring and charming Swissness, Gable could end up sharing Cesaro’s one main undesirable attribute: being a super talented wrestler whom the fans clearly want to see succeed, but is never given any serious push because of the decision of one man based on vague, shaky reasons. Lamentably, that man is the one who decides who gets pushed and who gets to join the mid-card club. (Side note: nobody steal my Bullet Club Parody shirt #436: Mid Card Club.) Of course, if Chad Gable does become the next Cesaro, his first name will have to join Antonio, Adrian, and Wade up in first name heaven. First name heaven is, by the way, is conveniently located next to last name heaven, where Langston is currently residing.
The Next Santino Marella?
Here’s where that gift for great comedic timing and mic work might come back to bite Chad Gable in the behind. There’s nothing wrong with being the comedy guy. I love the comedy guy. Some of my best friends are comedy guys (I mean, they would be if I had friends). Sometimes you just want more for some wrestlers, especially one this early into his career. Having said that, WWE is missing that reliable comedy guy right now, and nobody, besides perhaps Damien Sandow, has really embraced that role since Santino’s departure from our TV screens. Gable does have a bit of a Les Kellett vibe about him in the ring. There are worse things than being the comedy guy; just ask Curtis Axel. Wait, on second thought…
If anything has been made clear from this exercise in comparisons, it’s that Chad Gable is a talented, well-rounded professional wrestler with the tools to make a name for himself in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world. But wrestling is wrestling and nothing is guaranteed.
Gable could blow out his knee like Seth Rollins before getting called up to the main roster. He could get a concussion that puts him on the shelf indefinitely like Daniel Bryan. Or, he could go on to become the next Kurt Angle and have a HOF worthy career. As flattering as it may be to be compared to such talented peers like Bryan and Cesaro, I don’t really want Gable to become the somebody.
Instead, what I truly hope is Chad Gable becomes the first Chad Gable, and that he makes his own mark on the wrestling world. And there’s no better time than now. He’s ready, willing, and Gable, after all.
WWE officially announced that the next live NXT Network special will air on Wednesday, December 16th from London’s SSE Wembley Arena at 3 p.m. Eastern time and 12 PM Pacific, featuring a 30-minute pre-game show.
While the lineup has not been announced, it appears the key matches will be NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe, Baron Corbin vs. Apollo Crews, and Asuka vs. Emma. Joe turned heel on Balor on NXT TV two weeks ago after Corbin cost Crews the NXT title in his match with Balor. Asuka vs. Emma is a continuation of a storyline that began at the last TakeOver event where Asuka destroyed Emma’s partner Dana Brooke.
The December 16th Wembley show will likely also include both tag team title matches (champs are Dash & Dawson) and a women’s title match (Bayley is the champ). That should become clear on November 19th when the final TVs leading to the show are taped at Orlando’s Full Sail University.
The most recent NXT TakeOver show, titled Respect, took place on October 7th at Full Sail and featured Finn Balor & Samoa Joe beating Rhino & Baron Corbin to win the Dusty Rhodes Invitational Tag Team Tournament, as well as an outstanding main event Bayley beating Sasha Banks to win the NXT women’s title in a 30-minute Iron Man Match.
The Big News: Samoa Joe not only explained why he laid out Finn Balor last week, but he did it again this week.
The Medium Sized News: Dash & Dawson became either the 8th or 9th NXT Tag Team Champions (more on the number confusion below)
The Little Beaver Sized News: Eva Marie and Nia Jax may be forming the oddest pairing in wrestling history.
— The match between Tye Dillinger and Baron Corbin never got started.
It is time for NXT and it is time for the Perfect 10! Tye Dillinger to kick things off this week in singles competition. I hope Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins are sitting somewhere, realize that Tye Dillinger is not better off once he broke up with Jason Jordan and find a way to keep the team together. Baron Corbin was introduced as from Kansas City. I don’t know if he has always been announced from Kansas City, but it doesn’t sound appropriate.
Before the match could even start Apollo Crews ran in and attacked Baron! Crews is quite upset that Corbin cost him the championship last week and tore apart Baron! Corbin tried to make a comeback, but Apollo tore him apart and Corbin fled.
It’s time for a nice, random, 6-person tag team match. Bayley got a healthy reaction coming out, but not quite the same level she had a month ago. It didn’t help that the Hype Bros got some pity applause, which is at least better than silence. It’s hard to believe that it was almost a year ago when Blake and Murphy were the designated jobber tag team on NXT.
Just as the match began a fire got lit under the butts of the audience as they got very loud in their chants for the babyfaces. The babyfaces ran wild for quite a while until the heels cut off Zack Ryder and got the heat. Mojo got the hot tag and went crazy on both Blake and Murphy. He had the match won, but Alexa broke up the pin, so Bayley attacked her. Alexa then stole the NXT Women’s Championship and ran off with it. Blake and Murphy tried cheating and using the ropes for leverage, but Bayley kicked their hands apart. Murphy had a problem with this, so Bayley gave him the Bayley to Belly and the faces won with the Assisted Rough Ryder.
-The Ascension were backstage and accepted Jason Jordan & Chad Gable’s challenge to a tag team match.
-Nia Jax was walking backstage when Eva Marie walked up and pulled her aside for a meeting.
-They showed the cover of Weekly Pro Wrestling in Japan, which had Asuka on the cover.
-Apollo Crews cut a promo and was quite irate about what happened. He wants to get his hands on Baron Corbin and vows to break him.
— Nia Jax destroyed Deonna
Deonna is one of those girls that looks exactly the same, so they are completely interchangeable. You could tell me it’s the same girl every single week doing jobs with different names and I would believe you. Nia Jax got to NXT for the third time in six weeks after being unable to find the arena for 2 months.
Nia destroyed Deonna with a bodyslam into a Samoan Drop, which would make a much better finisher than her actual finisher. Deonna then got destroyed with a corner splash and a running hip attack before being beaten with the standing spinebuster and legdrop. Seriously why does Nia Jax use set up moves that are much cooler than her actual finish?
During the commercial break, I assume someone came out with a shovel to get Deonna off the mat.
-Next week: Nia Jax vs Carmella. Poor Carmella.
-They made note of the neck surgery of Mr. Regal. I hope he gets better.
-Bayley caught up with Alexa Bliss, who was taking photos with her championship. Alexa ran away, so Bayley got her belt back. However when Bayley left the area she walked into Nia Jax. Nia just stared at her, which gave Alexa the chance to attack Bayley from behind and lay her out!
Alexa bent over to take the championship, but instead Nia picked it up. Alexa ran away and Nia…dropped the belt on Bayley and walked away smiling.
— Dash & Dawson became the 8th NXT Tag Team Champions by defeating The Vaudevillians.
To be fair, Dash & Dawson is either the 8th or 9th Tag Team Champions depending on if you consider Adrian Neville & Bo Dallas a different title reign than Neville & Oliver Grey. What happened was Grey got injured (credited to the Wyatt Family) and Bo took over as champion for about 2 weeks, before they lost the belts. This was also only the second title change on a “normal” NXT show since the Network started.
So about two weeks ago I was reading the results of an NXT house show and it not only listed Samoa Joe as a heel, but Dash & Dawson as champions. Since this was before this match was even booked I was all “What the what is this person talking about?”
The challengers scored an upset win in the 2nd round of the Dusty Rhodes Classic back in September and they were poised to win 2 in a row. They got the heat on Aiden English by working on the knee, including slamming the knee into the ring post.
English went to the Ricky Steamboat School where he kept doing something to show he was still in it, but he just couldn’t drag himself to the corner for the tag. Dawson hit a really nice Slingshot Suplex, but it was just for a 2 count. Somewhere Tully Blanchard is smiling.
Gotch got the hot tag and went all gentlemanly on his foes. He made the foolish move of tagging English in too quickly, but Aiden got chop blocked and sending Gotch out of the ring and into the steps. Dash & Dawson Pillmanized Aiden’s knee just without a chair. Finally Gotch slapped on a kneebar. Aiden scratched and clawed to get to the ropes….but he just couldn’t get there and he had to tap out!
The kings are dead! Long live the new kings of NXT!
-After a commercial break. Dash & Dawson cut a promo saying they have been fighting for this for 12 years. Interesting since they have been teammates for barely a year.
-Next week is the Jordan & Gable vs The Ascension match, as is Bayley vs Alexa for the Women’s Championship.
-The actual main event of the show was a Samoa Joe promo!
Last week, Joe appeared to make the save for Finn Balor, but instead he stabbed the NXT Champion in the back! Joe said that he did things like a man. He had earned a title match for being undefeated for 3 months, but instead of going for the belt, he agreed to be Finn Balor’s partner in the Dusty Rhodes Classic. Joe proved he was a man of action by destroying the competition by winning the tournament.
Joe then asked for a title match and he was insulted by being put in a battle royal. Finn had agreed to the match, but allowed Mr. Regal to make a battle royal and, thus, put no action behind his words. Samoa Joe stated that when he entered NXT he was such a star that he should have been automatically given a title shot.
This brought out Finn Balor and a bunch of referees. The refs kept them apart until Joe literally threw one of the referees into Finn and in the confusion Joe got through and choked Finn out with the Koquina Clutch. Joe dropped the NXT Championship belt on his foe before walking out.
That does it from NXT — another good show on the way to London. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
– Night begins with guest General Manager Ric Flair. Crowd predictably went nuts for Flair.
– WWE Tag Team Titles Elimination Match: New Day def Dudleys, New Day, and Prime Time Players
Prime Time eliminated first. New Day win with a pin on Devon. Very little actual wrestling. Poor match. Woods put through a table with a power bomb after the win.
– Zack Ryder def. The Miz
Ryder gets the pin in uneventful match.
– Sheamus def. Cesaro
Good reactions for both. Sheamus wins with brogue kick in an entertaining match.
– WWE Divas Champion Charlotte vs. Paige vs. Alicia Fox
Charlotte made Fox tap out to retain title. Paige was noteworthy for generating good heat with crowd.
– Kane def. Big Show in a no-DQ match
Kane wins by chokeslam through a table after Show tried coming off the turnbuckle.
– Curtis Axel def. Bo Dallas
Axel pins Dallas in less than a minute. Dallas protests he wasn’t ready, challenges anyone in the back to a match. R-Truth answers. After some stalling and a pointless dance-off, Truth pins Dallas in the less than a minute. Crowd less than impressed.
– Dolph Ziggler def. Tyler Breeze with Summer Rae
Decent match with quite a few back and forth pin attempts. Summer Rae banished from ringside by referee. Ziggler gets pin with a superkick.
– WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose
Decent enough match. Owens gets himself disqualified with a chair shot. Attacks Ambrose with chair after the bell. Ziggler runs in and makes the save, Sheamus comes in attacks Ziggler. Cesaro runs in and gets Sheamus with Cesaro Swing, New Day run in to attack Cesaro, closely followed by Dudleys who join the melee. Dudleys, Ambrose and Cesaro corner Owens and Ambrose exacts revenge.
Finn Balor beat Viktor of the Ascension. Good match. Balor also cleaned house on Conor at ringside. Fans knew who Balor was and popped big for him. They also loudly chanted NXT.
WWE Main Event —
– Jack Swagger beat Adam Rose with the ankle lock. Before the match, Rose cut a promo blaming all the fans for nearly killing his career, by making him believe the Exotic Express gimmick was a good idea.
– Damian Sandow beat Heath Slater
– Sasha Banks beat Becky Lynch with the Banks Statement. Okay match.
WWE Smackdown —
— It opened with a Wyatt Family promo. Bray challenged the Undertaker & Kane to a 2-on-2 match at the Survivor Series, with Bray’s two being any of his choosing. He demanded an answer by the end of the night.
— Braun Strowman squashed Fandango, defeating him with his sleeper finisher in 90 seconds.
— Neville beat King Barrett in a WWE title tournament match. Good match. Neville had some great spots, including walking the ringside barricade and doing a somersault senton on to Barrett. Neville win with the Red Arrow.
— Next came a dark segment, just for the fans in arena. This was the highlight of the show. Barrett remained in the ring and said the last 48 hours had not gone to plan. He said he normally would’ve beat Neville without breaking a sweat but had Wayne Rooney on his mind. He said he will go to Stamford to see Vince at the end of the week and implore him never to return to Manchester ever again. Undertaker came out to a huge reaction. He did his big entrance and entered the ring. Barrett was hilarious here. He said, to much crowd laughter, “Can I help you mate? Are you lost? You’re not in Death Valley now you know, you’re in the mean streets of north west England. You’re on the wrong side of the tracks mate. They don’t call me the Preston Panther for nothing! I’m sick of outsiders coming into my yard. You’re not even worth my time!” Barrett went up walk out, then attacked Taker. Taker then laid him out with a choke slam & two Tombstones. This was all great.
— Kalisto beat Ryback in an upset in the WWE title tournament. Surprisingly decent match. Kalisto used Ryback as a base to do all his flying around. Crowd popped big for the upset.
— Alberto Del Rio & Zeb Colter did a promo. Usual stuff about the English being hated and how Manchester had two soccer teams that divided the city, and it would be better if we were all ‘united in humanity’.
– WWE U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio beat Stardust in the WWE title tournament. Not much heat, given it was heel vs heel. Del Rio won after a double foot stomp on Stardust in the corner.
— Roman Reigns did a backstage promo, vowing to beat Cesaro in the quarter finals next week on Raw and then win the title at Survivor Series. He once again said he wasn’t interested in shortcuts or selling out.
— In the main event, the Usos beat Luke Harper & Erick Rowan via DQ, when Bray Wyatt & Strowman interfered.
— The Undertaker’s music played, and then audio of Taker’s voice played over the PA system, accepting Wyatt’s challenge for the Survivor Series.
Post-Show —
– After the show, in a dark main event, Roman Reigns beat Bray Wyatt in a short match. This was an abridged version of their Liverpool house show match a few days ago. They exchanged Kendo stick shots and Reigns won with a spear.
– Overall, a fun show. Nothing outstanding or spectacular but everyone went home happy. The Barrett/Undertaker exchange was the highlight of the show. I think with Reigns continually vowing not to sellout or take a shortcut, I really think a swerve, with him winning the title with the Authority’s help and turning heel (on Ambrose) would be for the best. That would set up a years worth of programmes – first with Ambrose, then maybe Lesnar at WM32, and perhaps Rollins as a babyface next summer. Throw in a programme with Cena too at some point. Seems the best direction to me.
Key Takeaway: NXT heads down to Texas for a sold-out three city tour, while Josh tries to parlay his Tough Enough win into a WWE career.
Show Recap: The NXT tour of Texas provided the framework for an unusually focused edition of Breaking Ground this week. The entirety of the episode was split between getting to know Josh, who won Tough Enough this summer, and following the NXT veterans on their three-city Texas trip.
We meet Josh in the gym, where Jason Albert tells him he needs to take yoga because he’s in the rookie class. His big-money contract is briefly mentioned, and Albert tells him to get his banking and living situation set up and then it’s time to get to work. Later, Josh helps set up the ring at Full Sail for the NXT tapings and talks about having a huge desire to get in the ring. He says he has to trust in the coaches and their plan for him.
Later on, we join Josh at the grocery store. His wife and daughter call (via Facetime) and he talks about uprooting his family from Colorado so he can follow his dreams and how much it motivates him. He’s in the process of finding a place for them all to live so he can move them down to Florida. Later, we join Josh in promo class. He kind-of sucks, and delivers an awkward, meandering promo, trying to use his Tough Enough persona “the Yeti.” William Regal’s obviously disappointed (after 10 weeks on the mic in Tough Enough), advising him to be flexible and to ditch the Yeti thing. The coaches discuss Josh’s lack of progress in a meeting. At the end of the episode, Josh delivers a slightly better version of the same bad promo. Regal looks displeased. Josh doesn’t come across well, despite having a cute daughter.
The other two-thirds of the episode, focusing on the NXT shows in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, was really good. In Houston, they spent some time with Tyler Breeze and his history – he grew up on WWE and wanted to be a wrestler, but nearly got cut after years in developmental before falling into the Tyler Breeze character. He’s been in NXT for five years, and we get a montage of the 50+ wrestlers who have been called up from developmental since he’s been there. He’s hoping his call-up is coming soon and he seems really into his character, even staying in his persona backstage in Austin when Jason Jordan ribs him about wearing amateur wrestling boots. We hang out backstage as Sara Amato and Adam Pearce produce a show, paying a lot of attention to the Tyler Breeze/Samoa Joe match. Everyone praises Breeze’s match afterwards. There’s some downtime afterwards in Austin for the talent, so Baron Corbin goes to a bar to unwind and watch a band (but he has to deal with fans taking photos with him). Breeze and Tye Dillinger go looking for bats and find some under a bridge.
The segment in San Antonio spends a lot more time out of the ring. Breeze and Corbin argue about specific details of Texas history at the Alamo. Carmella and Colin Cassady, who seem to be a couple though it’s never stated, go to buy cowboy boots and cowboy hats. Apollo Crews’ sister visits him backstage and marvels at how far he’s come in his career – she says the last time she saw him, he was in Japan. Corbin’s cousin and nephew also visit. At the show, Carmella’s a little blown away that people cheer for her. Corbin loses to Joe (as Breeze did the previous night), and tells a story about his cousin texting him after the show to say his nephew wanted to beat up Samoa Joe because he was mad that he lost. After the show, everyone flies home – including Carmella with a spectacular (and complete in-character) leopard-print neck pillow.
Final Thoughts: If the goal of the first few episodes of Breaking Ground was to convince you that the NXT wrestlers that make it on TV are hard-working and that the Tough Enough guys are lazy and terrible, mission accomplished. The more time they spend on the up-and-coming NXT television performers – particularly Dana Brooke, Tyler Breeze and Apollo Crews – the more they come across as really likeable, enjoyable personas. Heck, Baron Corbin even seems like a relatable human even though he seems pretty obnoxious at times. But the time spent with ZZ (last week) and Josh (this week) seems wasted by comparison, and it waters the show down quite a bit.
If only the whole 30-ish minutes were solely devoted to the main NXT crew.
I attended the WWE Raw TV taping in Manchester, England, Monday. Here’s some notes on some things you didn’t see on tv, and some overall thoughts. This was a completely different show in so many ways from the lacklustre WWE house show that I attended in Liverpool last night.
– Crowd make up was completely different. There were still some kids there, but there were far more adults, and it seemed much more like a Wrestlemania weekend crowd, in that it was the hardcores, with people travelling from different parts of the country to attend the taping. The arena looked full, with no areas curtained off.
– The crowd was very hot all night and made it seem like a hot product. They only went into ‘business for themselves’ during the opening RAW match featuring Reigns vs Big Show, doing the wave, and chanting ‘we are awesome’. Thankfully they got it out of their system and from that point forward, they were a really good traditional-style wrestling crowd. It was really clear who was over and who was not.
– For Superstars, it opened with Fandango pinning Bo Dallas with a top rope legdrop. Fandango got a great crowd reaction, with virtually everyone doing the dance – a complete 180 from the previous day in Liverpool. Bo’s goofy gimmick was also cheered.
– Dudleys & Ryback beat Stardust & the Ascension. This was so funny. The Dudleys got a huge reaction coming out. Then when it was announced to be a six man tag and their partner Ryback was introduced, everyone booed Ryback. People just wanted to see the Dudleys on their own and not team with a ‘new generation’ babyface. Fun match, Dudleys won with the 3D on one of the Ascension, I think Viktor.
– They showed lots of WWE corporate promotional videos pre-RAW, including the Wrestlemania 31 recap video. Hilariously, every single shot of Hulk Hogan was edited out of the Triple H vs Sting recap. It was unbelievably skilfully done.
– The opening RAW segment with Triple H and Roman Reigns, I thought, was really good. Triple H did a great promo, and they made the storyline clear going forward. Crowd desperately wanted Reigns to accept Triple H’s offer of becoming the Authority’s guy and booed heavily when he turned it down. The funny thing was, as much as Reigns was booed, I saw tons and tons of adult males buying and wearing the new Reigns t-shirt, which was by far the top seller at the merch stands. My perception is, at least amongst the crowd I was with tonight, he doesn’t have the same negative stigma that Cena has, but people don’t want to like him as a babyface, they want to like him as a heel (if that makes sense). It’s such a weird dichotomy that the best way to get him over as a babyface is to turn him heel (a throwback to that old Steve Austin/Rock ‘Rebel’ thing, I think).
– Owens got a big babyface reaction, even though he ripped on the Royal Family in his pre-match promo.
– Crowd chanted ‘We want Sasha’ loudly throughout Natalya vs Naomi, with Sasha at ringside. There were tons of ‘Sasha Section’ and ‘Cesaro Section’ signs.
– Crowd loudly chanted NXT throughout the show.
– Wayne Rooney of Manchester United was introduced early on in the show. Ryan Giggs (Man Utd legend and current assistant manager) and Darren Fletcher (a former United player) were all sat together. Rooney was the only one name-checked on-screen. I’m sure Rooney is at least known in the U.S., but it cannot be underestimated how big a star this guy is in the U.K. at this time. He’s arguably one of the 3 most famous sportspersons in the UK right now (and has been for many years), and is an A-list mainstream celebrity in his own right. There was a 1 hour documentary on his life shown in prime time on BBC1 just a few weeks ago. I will be shocked if his angle with Wade Barrett doesn’t make U.K. sports and news headlines tomorrow. People were massively into Rooney being there, chanting ‘Let’s go Rooney/Rooney sucks’.
– Barrett has had a good natured Twitter war with him for months, so as soon as Barrett and Sheamus came out, people knew something was going down with Rooney, as soon as Barrett had the mic. It was similar to the Ronda Rousey thing at WM31 when people sensed it. Barrett cut a scathing promo on him, mocking him, saying he’ll never be a champion again, that he’s finished and washed up, and that if he wants a piece of him, to get in the ring. Rooney did the ‘Bring It’ hand gesture to a big reaction. I think the Barrett promo on Rooney took place during a commercial, but they show a replay of it after the commercial break.
– Cesaro vs Sheamus was excellent, by the way. Crowd chanted ‘This is awesome’, justified in this case. The conclusion saw Sheamus arguing with Rooney at ringside, and Barrett pulled Sheamus away. Barrett then argued with Rooney, and Rooney slapped him, sending Barrett down. Crowd went nuts. Cesaro then pinned Sheamus. Crowd were 100% behind Rooney after the slap, after the earlier mixed reaction.
– Dean Ambrose vs. Tyler Breeze was pretty good. Crowd were heavily into both guys. It’s a shame Breeze had to lose his first tv match, although he wasn’t portrayed as a joke. I suspect he’ll cost Ziggler his tournament match with Ambrose.
– New Day came out and were the second most over act on the entire show, besides Undertaker and Kane. Just ridiculously over as babyfaces. Everyone was singing and dancing, singing along to New Day’s theme and chanting along with Big E’s introduction. New Day vs Neville & the Usos was another really good match. Neville did a tremendous Red Arrow to the outside on all the guys in the match.
– Ric Flair came out in a surprise cameo, for a quick promo. This won’t air on tv and was solely for the live crowd. He joked he was annoyed that Triple H had kept him in the back so long, and put over what a fantastic crowd we were. He plugged that Undertaker would be appearing at the following night’s Smackdown taping in the same building. Flair said the show was sold out, but I don’t think that’s the case. People booed when he mentioned Undertaker would be at the following night’s show, as they thought it meant he wouldn’t be at tonight’s show.
– The Undertaker and Kane entrance during the closing Bray Wyatt segment got over HUGE. The place went NUTS when Taker and Kane came out. I was surprised to see them clean house on all 4 guys. Not sure how this sets up Survivor Series given they already beat up 4 guys in a 2 on 4, but the live crowd ate it up.
– People were chanting ‘That was awesome’ after Taker and Kane had exited and the show had ended.
– Overall, I think that was one of the better RAW tapings in the UK that I have ever attended. Some really good/very good matches, the Rooney angle and Taker/Kane stuff was very well done. The crowd atmosphere was fantastic.
