NXT Discussion Thread

[Generations]

1 hour ago, PaperThinWalls said:

And yet NXT’s lower ratings beat Dynamite’s this week. 

Which isn't the point. Like...at all.

[PaperThinWalls]

Your point was finding humor in NXT failing to pop a rating with Cody Rhodes. Well, if that’s funny… then AEW’s A show having less viewers than WWE’s C show must be absolutely hilarious.

[M3J]

Eh, I watch NXT mainly for the women's division. Sol Ruca and Karmen Petrovic are fun to watch

[Generations]

9 hours ago, PaperThinWalls said:

Your point was finding humor in NXT failing to pop a rating with Cody Rhodes. Well, if that’s funny… then AEW’s A show having less viewers than WWE’s C show must be absolutely hilarious.

Dynamite was head-head with NBA, man...they specifically put Cody on their developmental brand this week (just because they wanted to make sure they beat Dynamite...when the deck was already stacked in their favor). And they still did lower numbers than the week before. Not something I'd be bragging about. And yes...I do find that quite funny, and quite sad. 

AEW's rating are irrelevant to the discussion at hand - which is the fact that WWE are resorting to desperate measures when it comes to NXT ratings...and it's not a good look. They should be 100% content with letting AEW have better numbers than their C-show. They should try to book good shows and try to win in the ratings...but not at the cost of doing obviously "above-and-beyond" shit. - It's that hubris which will damage the product and keep it from building more steam. No one on that NXT roster can look good standing next to Cody Rhodes or CM Punk. - It makes them all look like children. 

 

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Also, this is the saddest thing I've ever heard. (Imagine paying thousands of dollars for your competition's lowball estimate ratings, just so you can leak them to the press in an attempt to make them look bad). 

Edited June 14, 2024 by Generations

[PaperThinWalls]

No, the saddest thing is Dynamite is back to being closer to NXT’s ratings than RAW’s. And it’s been like that for a while now. I mean, you’ve seen the year-over-year comparisons, right? RAW and SD are holding steady with their viewers and NXT is increasing them. AEW, on the other hand, is trending downwards losing viewers. So your little spin about WWE “resorting to desperate measures when it comes to NXT ratings” and your little line about WWE’s hubris is preventing NXT from building more steam is so far from reality. They’ve done nothing but build steam for the past year (which is wild to me because, much like you, I think the show sucks)! NXT continues to show growth while AEW’s numbers continue to diminish. That’s pretty pathetic considering the amount of money Tony Khan spends on AEW compared to the amount of money WWE spends on NXT.

They all try to pop ratings, counter book, and hot shot. AEW is probably the biggest offender of the “above-and-beyond" shit, as you call it, with all the gimmicks, specials, and hot shot angles they’ve done. It’s one of the reasons why a lot of their product lacks impact.

And again, you clearly don’t see the value in having your top stars interacting with your developing future stars. That is smart, forward-thinking booking that smart bookers should be doing when the occasion presents itself.

[Generations]

AEW is so far below WWE on a brand level...and that is why WWE's tactics are sad. 

AEW is an emerging brand. They are about to become profitable for the first time ever. They are about to have new distribution deals that are designed specifically for them (not just a test run for good faith). Everything AEW has done thus far has not been at their full capacity. 

So...for WWE to be going out of their way to effectively lie and cheat to get ahead of a company that they should quote-unquote "not be concerned about" is far sadder than whatever AEW is doing to try to establish themselves against a giant corporation.

Using established stars on your C show makes sense. Sure. But, they also do it at very specific times. When they used Taker, it was specifically to go against AEW. When they used Cody, again...it was because they knew AEW had NBA to compete with, and they thought they could add one more obstacle to guarantee higher numbers. 

It's all well and fine if they use main roster guys semi-regularly, and they intend to keep doing that, and it's just a common thing for them to do. But, thus far...they have made a very deliberate habit out of only doing it when they think they can make an example of out of AEW. Which, yes...it's sad, given how frequently they claim that AEW is not on their level. It only proves that they are rapidly catching up. - And...it makes NXT look incompetent as a whole...if they would rather say "we have a chance to beat NXT in the numbers this week...but we don't trust any of you people on the normal roster to do it". 

Using confirmed bot accounts to spin negative rumors, paying podcasters and dirt-sheet sites to report negative stories or outright lies...or paying thousands of dollars to get access to ratings they know are inaccurate just so they can lie to the media before the official numbers come out is SAD. - No one else is doing shit like that. (It's sad, and it's weird. It's scummy, and it reminds us all that WWE hasn't actually changed since the days when they took over the territories.) 

Edited June 14, 2024 by Generations

[PaperThinWalls]

58 minutes ago, Generations said:

AEW is so far below WWE on a brand level...and that is why WWE's tactics are sad. Period.

But I’m not really comparing them in terms of brand recognition. I’m comparing AEW by their own metrics. They’re not doing as well as they have in the past. Their numbers are trending down, not up.

They use main roster guys all the time on NXT. Good Brothers, Natalya, and Mia Yim are the most recent examples. Now what you probably mean are top stars — but guess what? That happens quite often as well. New Day were there early last year. Judgment Day were there regularly last year when they were at their hottest. Rollins was there not too long go. Becky was there for an extended period last year and was their women’s champion. Where’s all the hoopla for those instances? It’s really, really common for all kinds of main roster talent to appear on NXT. This isn’t a new phenomenon. This what they should be doing. They have stars and so of course they’re going to use them from time to time to expose new eyes to NXT.

59 minutes ago, Generations said:

Using confirmed bot accounts to spin negative rumors, paying podcasters and dirt-sheet sites to report negative stories or outright lies...or paying thousands of dollars to get access to ratings they know are inaccurate just so they can lie to the media before the official numbers come out is SAD. - No one else is doing shit like that. (It's sad, and it's weird. It's scummy, and it reminds us all that WWE hasn't actually changed since the days when they took over the territories.) 

And now here go with conspiracy shit. Where’s the evidence that there are bots? Did Tony Khan ever reveal that, huh? And this “new” thing with fast nationals — well first, that ain’t new. And second, who gives shit about fast nationals? The only fast nationals that I ever see are for Rampage, Collision, and SD and they’re only shared by wrestling reporters that people barely heard of. The ratings for Dynamite (aka the only AEW show people give a shit about) that people actually talk about are the ones that are posted mid-afternoon every Thursday by Thurston or Meltzer and those are the genuine ratings, not the fast nationals. So this latest episode on AEW’s ratings today is such a misleading farce.

[Generations]

Defending WWE's scummy business practices just because you don't like AEW is not a good look.

[PaperThinWalls]

Is that the best you can come up with? Boy, you sure really refuted my points.

[M3J]

I'm loving Sol vs. Kelani, and I feel like one of them will turn heel. Kelani would be a great choice 

[Jeb ★]

This PPV cooked

[M3J]

It was great, and Page winning was surprising!

AEW could never 

[PaperThinWalls]

Ha ha. Yeah. That was a cute finish they did. I like that. Nice twist. Ethan is more over. And Trick is still ultra protected. Really clever.

[BestInTheWorld614]

I like Joe Hendry but something about his physicality is off to me. On the last show look how he attacks Wes Lee and then look how Pete Dunne attacks. Hendry was in like slow motion while Pete went 100 mph  

[Generations]

On 7/8/2024 at 3:58 AM, M3J said:

AEW could never 

Why would they?

He's not that guy.

[M3J]

AEW could never put on a good show like that. Not Page winning, which I didn't expect. 

[Generations]

Most lackluster debut ever for Giulia. 

I stand by my assessment that she doesn't fit in NXT, and they already kinda killed her aura.

[Ziggy Vercetti]

Giulia  

[M3J]

Dunno who she is but she has a cool look

 

Hendry vs. Page >>> any AEW main event match 

[T-Hell]

Lee and Wentz killed it. Also happy to see my spaniard brother recover the tag team titles.

[T-Hell]

Pretty cool to see Funaki again, he's so cute with that smile lmao.

[Jeb ★]

NXT continues to have the best women’s division

[M3J]

That was a hype segment between the 10 women, can't wait for next week! Great show yesterday 

[T-Hell]

4 hours ago, M3J said:

That was a hype segment between the 10 women, can't wait for next week! Great show yesterday 

I wish the women's wargames of this year was with those, instead of whatever they have planned with the mostly unused or irrelevant women on Raw or Smackdown.

[dje_wba]

I had similar thoughts last night while catching up on NXT, thinking, "Please can this be the women's WarGames match" - hard to believe we'll get anything better from the women of either Raw or Smackdown.