NXT Takeover: Orlando

[Robert S]

Has there ever been a more useless WWE announcer than Percy Watson? He is hardly saying anything (during matches he would literally shut-up for minutes) and when he is talking he is either mumbling unintelligibly or he is saying nothing of worth (either just agreeing with Phillips/Nigel or just playing captain obvious).

[El-P]

Why do they NEED to say satanist? Just like there's no NEED to say Shinsuke Nakamura is a wacky coke head who also takes ecstasy. You get their characters without having to have everything spelled out. And if you don't get it, then you're watching the wrong form of entertainment since WWE is about the least subtle company there is.

 

I don't think you get my point. Of course *I* get that he's supposed to be a satanist. It took me about three seconds. But it's obvious they won't use the term "satanist". And since like you say, the WWE is the least subtle company there is, if they don't spell it out, then, well, I guess he's not really a satanist. He's just "dark". Just say it Nigel ! He's a fucking Satanist ! You said Ring of Honor, you can say whatever you feel like saying after that screw-up.

 

Talking about screw-ups, I noticed a pretty awful one toward the end of the tag match. The camera missed the (I guess) DVD in the barricades outside, then pretty much missed the same spot on the ring corner too when they cut back in the ring. I felt like I was still watching a TNA PPV. Odd.

[stro]

Who cares if they call him a satanist or not, though? That's my point. Why does it matter if they say it or not?

[Edwin]

Well, I did watch it.

 

And now I'm gonna give my two cents.

 

I don't know some of these guys name because I don't watch the TV. So, be offended if you will.

 

Hey, Trip fellating himself in the intro. Nice. Doesn't need Steph anymore.

 

Sanity. Hey, I like freaks, so these guys are okay with me. The robotic intro are ridiculous though, especially when you're supposed to be some crazy weirdos. Fun, as I'm deep into TNA 2006 these days, and Roderick Strong looks exactly as he did back then. Eric Young, not so much. Fun opener. I like the fat bearded hairy guy. The one dressed like Mo, I dunno. The girls are kinda cool, especially the punkette with tatoos, but from what they do here, no way to know if they are any good. Young still bumps like a freak, nice to know. Hey, who's that fat guy in the shirt ? So yes, that's my very first look at Chris Hero/Cassius Ohno. And yes, he's fat. He's got a Barry Windham 93 kinda look, with a beard, because every guy has to have a beard. It's like the tribal tatoo of the 2010's. Hey, I loved Barry Windham, so it's all ok for me. The announcers, one of which sounds eerily like Michael Cole, say that he's "deceptively agile". He's not implying that Cassius Ohno is fat, is he ? Well he is. And that's cool, I love agile fat workers. His last name's only purpose seems to do awful puns though. Well, this was fun.

 

I hate to quote Johnny but :

 

So is Black their CM Punk replacement?

 

 

Glad I'm not the only one. Except he's kinda like a lame CM Punk replacement. The intro is so forced. Is he supposed to be a satanist ? I mean, the kabalistic symbols, Aleister... Just say it, he's a satanist follower of Aleister Crowley. Of course they won't because Bray Wyatt is in the house, so he's just *dark*. With *tatoos that symbolizes his beliefs and life experiences*. Fuck, he's totally a satanist version of CM Punk. Not impressed though. He looks like every hipster tatoo parlor employee from the 11th arrondissement in Paris. Who practice yoga. I'm not afraid. The kind of guy you order a vegan burger from. Anyway, he kicks a whole lot. La Som... Almas does a Naito big up. Cool. Match was kinda there. Almas is just not working. Jury's out on Crowley, he looks to have some potential, but nothing special. Might as well give him some Deefheaven track for his intro though.

 

Three-way dance is already overrated as fuck in this thread. It was good. Not great. Way too long. Too much cutesy spots which come with the 3-way style (and are why I don't usually care for this gimmick). Whenever the AOP are in control, the match drags a whole lot as they just aren't very good. The samoan guy especially looks lost at points. The other four look great, so I longed for those great, classic matches they delivered the previous year. AOP aren't bad, but they are like the worst Head Hunters ever. Or the best Master Blasters ever. Ellering is useless. Anticlimatic finish.

 

Hey, I'd totally have a drink with Asuka at the swimming pool and talk shit. This girl seems like the coolest. Okay, so this is the best match on the show thus far. Like Ember Moon quite a bit from what I see here. The look, the work, the attitude. Too bad she gets your typical generic bad WWE music. She needs to come to Princess Nokia's "Kitana". Not sure those "I don't give a fuck" and "you can suck my dick" would sit well with the PG bullshit, but it would be so bad-ass and fitting. Anyway, this felt like two girls beating the shit out of each other. Kinda rough in spots, but at least this didn't look like a dance or manufactured "epic" (see later). Got better as it went, with a nice escalation in the violence and bitchiness. Hell, Asuka cheated to win ! That was cool ! I'm totally there for a rematch, this was very good/excellent.

 

Nakamura is nothing special anymore. His entrance is verging on self-parody, because he's always the exact same. The less said the better about Roode's, which is forced as all hell. The Glorious bit is awful and doesn't even get boos from these idiots in the crowd. Pandering-to-smart-audience theme song to get a sing-along reaction is the worst. And I don't buy Roode's Rude/Orndorff cosplay for one minute. He's just not a main event player. Never has been, even in TNA. Super solid undercard worker, but not a top guy. He's so Triple H/Jeff Jarrett in 2000. This is dull. And long. Nak is soooo cruising. Oh man, the worst NJ elbow exchange ever now... Ends in a very obvious "look at us having an epic" mode... I fear the exact same stuff for every big Mania match.

 

Mixed bag. Opener was fine. Tag match was pretty good but too long and cutesy. Women's match was really good. Main event was boring.

I've never seen a review about a show I could agree with more than this one.

 

Nothing really I'd add, except the fact that I enjoyed the 8 person tag the most on the card.

 

And yeah, I'm glad they kept the women's title match simple. No need to overdue and spam finishers for 2.9 counts so fans can get erections chanting "This is awesome!" and "This is wrestling!"

 

Bobby Roode is just horrible. I have a co-worker who always tells me how he's a "good wrestler," but I ask him what makes him good and he just says he's a "good wrestler," i don't even know anymore what a "good wrestler" actually is as he's told me Kurt Angle is a "good wrestler" because he knows all the moves and what not which is something I guess... Anyway, that's not the case here nor there.

[rzombie1988]

If you really need them to outright say he's a satanist after changing his name to Aleister and coming out of a coffin like Dracula, maybe wrestling is too high brow for you.

Since everyone and their mother has tattoos now, he truly does just kind of look like anyone else. Not having shitty tattoos make you a rebel now.

 

For what it's worth, I thought he was one of Sanity.

 

I also do like Sanity.

[cowboy hats]

Has there ever been a more useless WWE announcer than Percy Watson? He is hardly saying anything (during matches he would literally shut-up for minutes) and when he is talking he is either mumbling unintelligibly or he is saying nothing of worth (either just agreeing with Phillips/Nigel or just playing captain obvious).

I don't watch NXT, but watched the tag triple threat and the main event and I had no idea there was a third announcer

[Herodes]

I exclusively watch nothing after the mid 90s other than a once a year foray over mania weekend. I don't know when it happened but the indy influenced style up and down the card is awful, everything is worked for applause rather than cheers, fans shouldn't be applauding at wrestling shows. Every match has these endless cutesey intricate sequences, set ups, reversals, near falls and kick outs etc. There was nothing in anyone's work displaying baby face or heel traits or nuance, even supposed fiery comebacks feature the same intricate bullshit and close near falls. This was the fucking worst.

[C.S.]

Shinsuke Nakamura is a wacky coke head who also takes ecstasy.

 

He is?!

[stro]

I mean, obviously

[The Thread Killer]

I love Sanity. I'm a sucker for a mid card level heel group full of weirdos and misfits who feud with a mid card crowd favorite and his loose confederation of pals.

 

I agree. They remind me a bit of Raven's Flock in WCW. It's not like any of the guys in that stable are being held back or would be better served in another role. They're being used pretty much perfectly based on their level of skill and ability. I thought that opener was fun, although the girl on the face team struck me as green.

[The Thread Killer]

Has there ever been a more useless WWE announcer than Percy Watson? He is hardly saying anything (during matches he would literally shut-up for minutes) and when he is talking he is either mumbling unintelligibly or he is saying nothing of worth (either just agreeing with Phillips/Nigel or just playing captain obvious).

 

Yeah, I hadn't watched any NXT in quite some time, and the first thing that struck me was how the quality of the commentary team had dropped drastically. Nigel is not so good and Percy is pretty much useless. One of the things I liked most about NXT was how good the commentary was thanks to Phillips and Graves. Now, not so much.

[MarkGotch]

 

Has there ever been a more useless WWE announcer than Percy Watson? He is hardly saying anything (during matches he would literally shut-up for minutes) and when he is talking he is either mumbling unintelligibly or he is saying nothing of worth (either just agreeing with Phillips/Nigel or just playing captain obvious).

 

Yeah, I hadn't watched any NXT in quite some time, and the first thing that struck me was how the quality of the commentary team had dropped drastically. Nigel is not so good and Percy is pretty much useless. One of the things I liked most about NXT was how good the commentary was thanks to Phillips and Graves. Now, not so much.

 

 

 

Really? I thought Nigel was great, especially on the pre show where he kept disagreeing with that curly haired guy. Percy Watson needs to be in the ring with his pink glasses and the gimmick he had in NXT Season 2.

[SomethingSavage]

I haven't kept up with the weekly NXT stuff, but I enjoyed Nigel here. Never cared much for his time in the booth with ROH, but he was straddling a weird matchmaker/commentator line there. So I won't judge him based on that.

 

And, in any case, his announcing did more to liven up this Takeover than anything the other two guys were talking about. Percy's contributions were practically nonexistent, and Phillips was okay - safely covering the bases with buzzwords and the most basic of table-setting. But Nigel got all the right messages, motivations, and stories across. Definitely hope they give him a chance to settle more into the role.