*Official* Pro-Wrestling Thread II

[OverratedSanity]

Orton sold that pedigree absolutely terribly. Looked weak as piss.

 

[Manee]

* Adrian Neville

2 years ago, sorry.

 

[King Pietersen]

I do as well.

It's strange. When I first saw it I thought it really sucked as a finisher, because it was one of those moves you kind of look at and think "well, he could do that pretty much any time...most matches involve lots of stomping on people". But he really ended up making it work somehow.

Shame they decided to nix it. Pedigree is way better than whatever that other crap thing he used for about a week was called though, even if his pedigree looks a bit meh atm.

It's going to make a comeback apparently. They're going through a concussion lawsuit, and apparently they feel like the curb stomp will make them look bad. Once that is out of the way, Rollins will get the move back.

RAW was awesome. One of the best of the year, and definitely the best since WM. Loved Owens appearance. He's going to be the most successful of the NXT graduates. He's a fantastic all-round talent. Great in the ring, tells great stories, has great ring psychology, is superb on the mic and is such a believable character. Also has Hunter's backing, which will definitely help him go far. I also feel like he has the sort of character which creative couldn't **** up. He's not going to become a comedy jobber, he's unlikely to get some weird name, he's just going to come in and kick ass as Kevin Owens. He did make a mistake in what he said to Cena though. Said he'd been doing it longer than Cena, when in actual fact, Cena started in 99, Steen in 2000. He's been doing it for a larger portion of his life, but he made his debut after Cena. Doesn't really matter though, made him sound like a bad-ass, and then the powerbomb that followed looked awesome. Great debut!

I wish Neville was awesome on the mic, he'd be guaranteed to be a superstar. He's so over ATM, and is unbelievably amazing in the ring, just doesn't have that connection on the mic. Comes across as awkward, and never says anything unique or interesting. Hopefully it's something that will develop and improve as he gains experience, but I don't see him having a long-term career in the WWE unless he improves that aspect of his character. Least he's not playing Mighty Mouse though, as rumoured.

 

[Spikey]

Also, thoughts on Rollins' new finisher (seemingly) being the pedigree?

i'd be a bit disappointed if he only used the pedigree (he used the RKO in extreme rules, of course). Some rotation would be nice, but I think stealing somebody's finisher is definitely the right way to go while they're in this "heel with his actual finisher banned" phrase. Has to work on it mind.

 

[Shri]

You know who else made this whole 'stealing opponents finishers' a thing? Eugene.

 

[OverratedSanity]

I wish Neville was awesome on the mic, he'd be guaranteed to be a superstar. He's so over ATM, and is unbelievably amazing in the ring, just doesn't have that connection on the mic. Comes across as awkward, and never says anything unique or interesting. Hopefully it's something that will develop and improve as he gains experience, but I don't see him having a long-term career in the WWE unless he improves that aspect of his character.

Sometimes that just isn't necessary though. He's sort of like Bryan and Mysterio. So exciting and fun to watch that the crowd can't help but be on his side. He doesn't need to really do anything spectacular on the mic at all. Just hope he's booked decently.

 

[King Pietersen]

Sometimes that just isn't necessary though. He's sort of like Bryan and Mysterio. So exciting and fun to watch that the crowd can't help but be on his side. He doesn't need to really do anything spectacular on the mic at all. Just hope he's booked decently.

Bryan's better on the mic than Neville though by some distance, and Bryan managed to develop a character. He did some great work as part of Team Hell-No, and managed to connect with the audience in a major way. The crowd just sounds bored when Neville's on the mic. All his promos/interviews have been identical, no connection, no personality, doesn't really say anything. I really like Neville, he's the best in-ring worker in the WWE right now in my opinion, but if he's going to make that step-up to the upper-midcard, and get beyond the midcard high-flyer spot-monkey position, he needs to develop a character, and find a connection with the audience. The crowd are digging the Red Arrow for now, but they'll soon get bored if that's all he offers. Then, if he doesn't step up and make that connection he's at the mercy of the writers, and that could end real bad! I hope that doesn't happen though, I really want him to succeed.

 

[sledger]

He's at the mercy of the writers anyway. Kevin Dunn dislikes people with "funny accents" apparently, so his mic work may end up being neither here nor there.

Don't really buy the argument that it's a prerequisite to building a character/connection with the fans though, especially if there's something particularly interesting about their in ring style.

Also, what evidence is there to suggest that Neville is a spot monkey and that all he has in his repertoire is the red arrow? Sounds like a massive generalisation/assumption to me.

 

[duffer]

If someone as bland as "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" could get over and stay over then Neville can as well. As OS says, it's all about how he's booked.

 

[GIMH]

You know who else made this whole 'stealing opponents finishers' a thing? Eugene.

Has happened for many, many years. Eugene most certainly didn't make it a thing.

 

[King Pietersen]

Don't really buy the argument that it's a prerequisite to building a character/connection with the fans though, especially if there's something particularly interesting about their in ring style.

Also, what evidence is there to suggest that Neville is a spot monkey and that all he has in his repertoire is the red arrow? Sounds like a massive generalisation/assumption to me.

I disagree, but guess it's a personal thing. I don't see him getting over big, or maintaining a top spot in the company without showing a bit more character and personality. He's phenomenal in the ring, but that will only get him so far, and won't be enough to propel him into the main event spots, which is a position a guy with his talent should be in.

I know he's not a spot monkey, as do people who've seen a lot of him. I've seen a lot of Neville, from his Pac days where he had epic matches with Devitt in Japan, tag matches with El Generico, to his awesome string of matches with Sami in NXT. He tells great stories (as he started to show on RAW), has great in-ring psychology and has much more to offer beyond the high-flying theatrics. He hasn't been given the opportunity to showcase those talents to the casual fan though, the WWE-only fan who has only seen him as Neville. To them, he has been pushed as a spot monkey. He gets beaten-down, then comes back with a flurry of high-flying moves. He isn't bringing anything else to the table for the casual fan, so I'm worried that they'll quickly get bored of him, and when they get bored of him, it'll give Vince the excuse to bury him. They need to invest more time in Neville, let him tell a story, let him have a long PPV match and build him into a serious feud, where he can express his personality and build a character. If that doesn't happen, (and it might, it's very early days), Neville's popularity will soon dwindle. I really like Neville, but I just can't see him going beyond the mid-card if he continues to get booked the way he's been booked so far. Hopefully that'll change!

 

[Dan]

Neville isn't just a flippy dude, the guy can seriously work in a variety of styles and is pretty strong on the ring psychology side of things too. The biggest danger for him is that he gets booked exclusively as the flippy dude.

They've done it well so far IMO.

 

[sledger]

I disagree, but guess it's a personal thing. I don't see him getting over big, or maintaining a top spot in the company without showing a bit more character and personality. He's phenomenal in the ring, but that will only get him so far, and won't be enough to propel him into the main event spots, which is a position a guy with his talent should be in.

Well not really, because as others have alluded to, there are plenty of examples which categorically demonstrate that limited mic skills do not preclude reaching the top.

I know he's not a spot monkey, as do people who've seen a lot of him. I've seen a lot of Neville, from his Pac days where he had epic matches with Devitt in Japan, tag matches with El Generico, to his awesome string of matches with Sami in NXT. He tells great stories (as he started to show on RAW), has great in-ring psychology and has much more to offer beyond the high-flying theatrics. He hasn't been given the opportunity to showcase those talents to the casual fan though, the WWE-only fan who has only seen him as Neville. To them, he has been pushed as a spot monkey. He gets beaten-down, then comes back with a flurry of high-flying moves. He isn't bringing anything else to the table for the casual fan, so I'm worried that they'll quickly get bored of him, and when they get bored of him, it'll give Vince the excuse to bury him. They need to invest more time in Neville, let him tell a story, let him have a long PPV match and build him into a serious feud, where he can express his personality and build a character. If that doesn't happen, (and it might, it's very early days), Neville's popularity will soon dwindle. I really like Neville, but I just can't see him going beyond the mid-card if he continues to get booked the way he's been booked so far. Hopefully that'll change!

Yeah this just isn't true either.

 

[Shri]

Has happened for many, many years. Eugene most certainly didn't make it a thing.

Happened rarely with Austin/Rock and once that I remember with Y2J/HBK. Eugene made it a part of his gimmick.

 

[GIMH]

Takeover tonight but may not get to watch until weekend. Outside possibility I could watch with the kids tomorrow night I guess

so do I need to avoid this thread until I've watched?

 

[Spikey]

yeah. we'll probably only talk about zayn-owens though

 

[Spikey]

ok woman's match was pretty great so we might talk about that too

 

[sledger]

Is Itami off the show with injury? Heard it reported that he was, but then thought I saw it mentioned that he was on NXT the other night.

 

[King Pietersen]

SAMOA JOE! Such an awesome show. The women's match was great, Corbin looked really good, Balor's entrance and performance was awesome and if Enzo Amore had a dime for every time he looked good in the ring, he'd now have 1 big shiny dime. He looked good out of nowhere, either he's been hiding his talents so far, or he's improved ridiculously quickly!

 

[Shri]

Love Joe's chant from the fans. First time I have seen the guy. So not hyped as much as everyone else .