Io was really made to be a heel in the US. She seems much more comfortable and authentic than being a smiley babyface. Even with the language barrier, her web promos have been great especially when compared to certain others....

Compare that to

I don't watch NXT anymore but I checked out Io Shirai vs Candice LeRae and was very impressed by Io in particular. The magnitude of her transformation is remarkable - she's a completely different wrestler as a heel. Yet she's so unbelievably convincing. Her entrance enthralled me, as did her wrestling. She was a great babyface - she's perhaps an even better heel.

Santana Garrett has signed with WWE/NXT
t.co/iT99gVxC3l

She's a fine talent but I'm not sure she's going to be able to stand out in the crowded NXT landscape.

Oooh interesting news. It’s been a long time coming for her. The only thing about Santana that kinda bugs me is she smiles even when selling pain. I think it’s really just how her mouth is lol

I hope Chelsea Green makes it to NXT TV soon. It'll be interesting to see how she fits with the rest of the roster.

Just all seems a bit silly at this point really - there's also a wrestler from Chile and a second Brazilian judoka now at the PC.

I liked Santana, when she was with Impact, good pick up for the WWE, but given how many talent we don't get to see on NXT, I'm gonna hate having to wait for her to debut.

Aug 13, 2019 23:44:48 GMT @admin said:

Just all seems a bit silly at this point really - there's also a wrestler from Chile and a second Brazilian judoka now at the PC.

And apparently at least 3 more talents in the next months. 

It's really weird when they already have so many talents they aren't even using outside of the Florida loop. 

NXT taping spoilers 

I think people need to admit that the booking of NXT really isn't that good. They rely way too much on repeated matchups, and refuse to move on from feuds  and let them have a breather, instead choosing to run matchups into the ground. 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}
Mia Yim defeated Vanessa Borne
Shayna came out after the match and asked Mia to join her group, saying that Mia took her to places no one else has (lol) )Mia declined and the horsewomen beat her up



Io beat Cami Fileds (Hollidead) she tried to attack her with a kendo stick after the match but Candice made the save. So Candice is totally going to beat Io clean in some stipulation match and get subsequently fed to Shayna. Way to cut off the legs of a hot act with 50/50 booking 




Shayna and her goons came out but before they could say anything Rhea Ripley came out and challenged Shayna, but the horsewomen backed off. This match will be very boring and will end with Mia aiding Shayna and joining the horsewomen. 

Bianca debated Taynara. Yawn.   

SPOILER: Click to show

I would have moved Candice into a feud with Bianca. As good as Candice vs Io was at Takeover it doesn't feel like a feud that needs to continue, and Bianca deserves better than more squash matches.

Rhea moving to NXT US is probably a good thing but I don't hold out much hope for her match with Shayna as they both need the right type of opponent.

Aug 16, 2019 0:58:11 GMT @admin said:

SPOILER: Click to show

I would have moved Candice into a feud with Bianca. As good as Candice vs Io was at Takeover it doesn't feel like a feud that needs to continue, and Bianca deserves better than more squash matches.

Rhea moving to NXT US is probably a good thing but I don't hold out much hope for her match with Shayna as they both need the right type of opponent.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}
I think a Io vs Bianca best of 3 or 5 feud would have been cool , seeing as both characters see themselves as being better than everyone else. The division just feels so small at the moment, like the have a billion ladies signed but they don't use half of them so it feels like there are limited match options.

Aug 16, 2019 1:11:49 GMT dex said:

Aug 16, 2019 0:58:11 GMT @admin said:

SPOILER: Click to show

I would have moved Candice into a feud with Bianca. As good as Candice vs Io was at Takeover it doesn't feel like a feud that needs to continue, and Bianca deserves better than more squash matches.

Rhea moving to NXT US is probably a good thing but I don't hold out much hope for her match with Shayna as they both need the right type of opponent.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}
I think a Io vs Bianca best of 3 or 5 feud would have been cool , seeing as both characters see themselves as being better than everyone else. The division just feels so small at the moment, like the have a billion ladies signed but they don't use half of them so it feels like there are limited match options.

They really should have moved ladies like Vanessa, Aliyah and Kacy into more credible positions by now. It looked like they were going to make Borne & Boujee more legit a couple of months ago but they're right back to losing regularly again now.

You're absolutely right that there is a lack of creativity in the match making. Why couldn't they have done something a bit more interesting like The Highers vs Twisted Sisterz since they had Holidead there? They could have easily had someone like Reina or Jessi do the job instead.  

Aug 16, 2019 1:20:43 GMT @admin said:

Aug 16, 2019 1:11:49 GMT dex said:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}
I think a Io vs Bianca best of 3 or 5 feud would have been cool , seeing as both characters see themselves as being better than everyone else. The division just feels so small at the moment, like the have a billion ladies signed but they don't use half of them so it feels like there are limited match options.

They really should have moved ladies like Vanessa, Aliyah and Kacy into more credible positions by now. It looked like they were going to make Borne & Boujee more legit a couple of months ago but they're right back to losing regularly again now.

You're absolutely right that there is a lack of creativity in the match making. Why couldn't they have done something a bit more interesting like The Highers vs Twisted Sisterz since they had Holidead there? They could have easily had someone like Reina or Jessi do the job instead.  

I've been very disappointed with the booking of Borne and Aliyah. They're both decent wrestlers ( I like Aliyah especially more than a lot of people) with fun characters but all they really do is lose, to the point that face's wins over them don't really mean anything more than beating some  random local talent. Those two vs the Twisted Sisterz  would have been great. 
Also if they wanted to continue Io vs  Candice they could have done Io vs Kacy again only this time with them having an actual match, where while Io still wins very decisively Kacy gets some good h its in and gets to showcase her spunk and innovative offense, making use of the fact that Io is a great base. Candice and Kacy actually have a connection too so it would have made ore sense for Candice to make the save after the match, even though she lost cleanly to Io in their last match.  

Aug 16, 2019 1:44:20 GMT dex said:

Aug 16, 2019 1:20:43 GMT @admin said:

They really should have moved ladies like Vanessa, Aliyah and Kacy into more credible positions by now. It looked like they were going to make Borne & Boujee more legit a couple of months ago but they're right back to losing regularly again now.

You're absolutely right that there is a lack of creativity in the match making. Why couldn't they have done something a bit more interesting like The Highers vs Twisted Sisterz since they had Holidead there? They could have easily had someone like Reina or Jessi do the job instead.  

I've been very disappointed with the booking of Borne and Aliyah. They're both decent wrestlers ( I like Aliyah especially more than a lot of people) with fun characters but all they really do is lose, to the point that face's wins over them don't really mean anything more than beating some  random local talent. Those two vs the Twisted Sisterz  would have been great. 
Also if they wanted to continue Io vs  Candice they could have done Io vs Kacy again only this time with them having an actual match, where while Io still wins very decisively Kacy gets some good h its in and gets to showcase her spunk and innovative offense, making use of the fact that Io is a great base. Candice and Kacy actually have a connection too so it would have made ore sense for Candice to make the save after the match, even though she lost cleanly to Io in their last match.  

Aliyah's reputation has really suffered because of how she's been presented - most people just look at her being in NXT for 3 years when no one else stays there long - combined with the fact that she's a Diva-ish character and write her off. I was just having a look at her Cagematch profile to see what her TV win/loss record was and happened to notice this which I think illustrates this point perfectly:



We (surrender said it explicitly) talked a few weeks ago about how Aliyah clearly outperformed Mia in their match - but a lot of fans see Yim getting signed, picking up some wins, getting a long feud with Bianca and then getting a title shot within a year and automatically assume that she is a better talent.

Poor Team Highers / Borne and Boujee they are too good for these short squash matches. I don't know what a match likes this was supposed to do for anyone like it was too short to be a match of any substance , but at the same time, the winner (MIa) wasn't dominant enough to really look more impressive through the victory.
All Mia did was a bunch of chops, a shoulder tackle, her cannonball ( she had the misfortune of having a match on the same show as Shane Thorne whose cannonball is much more impressive), and then her finisher.

Fatality!! :lol:

More Mia vs Shayna? color me excited. :rolleyes:

I don't really know if I'm a fan of the constant head-shaking "crazy" aspects of Io's heel character/entrance. It's not necessary imo.

Ugh, apparently Kacy has walked away from WWE because of injuries. This sucks.

Sept 2, 2019 0:40:01 GMT @admin said:

Ugh, apparently Kacy has walked away from WWE because of injuries. This sucks.

Very disappointing she had tons of potential. Just shows how hard wrestling can be on performer's bodies   

Losing both Kacy and Kylie in a single weekend what a bummer. 

Damn that sucks, she was a real highlight reel. Wonder if it's the nature of the job or was it her tiny frame that made it worse? Something about her made it looked worse, but I always felt the same way about Jinny and the way she sold german suplexes.

Being slight probably doesn't help but spinal disc injuries are common for all wrestlers. Cena, Orton, HBK, Strowman, Trish, Nikki - basically falling on your back over and over again isn't good for you regardless of how big or small you are.

Freaking awful news about Kacy. She was awesome. Same for Kylie, but I suspect she will be back when she fights off her demons.

I really liked Kacy. I’m sad about this. Was hoping for big things from her.

Bianca vs Taynara was really fun. Taynara is really hitting her stride, and Bianca was good as always.

It's kind of annoying though that the number one contender match in 2 weeks is composed of three people who have already lost to Shayna before, with Io and Bainca each losing multiple times. It's also the same match as the fatal four-way back in December minus Lacey.

My predictions.

Candice will interfere and take Io out of the match, Mia will win and then join up with Shayna at the next takeover allowing Shayna to win the triple threat with her and Rhea , in a if you can't beat them join them type of deal.  Yay.   

That was definitely Taynara's best showing so far. She looked a lot more comfortable in the ring and has toned down the hysterics to just trash talking which works a lot better.

Bianca is so great. I'll never tire of all her flip and power counters.

Scarlett Bordeaux doing a private tryout. She has been great in AAA and is fantastic managing Killer Kross. Not sure how strong her ring work is, but as the sexy diva manager she is amazing.

Let's talk about Jazz

Sept 5, 2019 1:50:26 GMT dex said:

Bianca vs Taynara was really fun. Taynara is really hitting her stride, and Bianca was good as always.

It's kind of annoying though that the number one contender match in 2 weeks is composed of three people who have already lost to Shayna before, with Io and Bainca each losing multiple times. It's also the same match as the fatal four-way back in December minus Lacey.

My predictions.

Candice will interfere and take Io out of the match, Mia will win and then join up with Shayna at the next takeover allowing Shayna to win the triple threat with her and Rhea , in a if you can't beat them join them type of deal.  Yay.   

UGH, I hope that doesn't happen. I'd have no interest in seeing it. Shayna demoralizes her opponents so much they turn heel saying they don't need friends even when the odds are 3-1 or join her group outright. :lol:

I've mentioned plenty of times how I don't like Taynara, but I'm all for giving credit where it's due, that match with Bianca Belair was her best match to date.