Normally we do talking points coming out of Raw but it is already Friday so let’s call it talking points for this week in wrestling. My apologies for not having any content this week it was a bit crazy on the home front. This is part of the reason we are looking for some new blood and content producers for the site. Reach out and tweet @Condoonthemoon if you would like to be part of our team. This all said let’s talk about the fallout from Raw and the week in wrestling.
NXT Invades Raw: No, we didn’t have a full-blown invasion but on the night after Raw, it was clearly forefront of the fans minds. They went nuts for the debuts of Neville and the Lucha Dragons. Surprisingly we didn’t see Charlotte Flair appear. There was also just random NXT chants for no reason at all. NXT had a show on Friday that made 200K dollars and packed 5200 people in the San Jose State arena. Despite the late 10pm local start time, it was the talk for all that attended the event when recounting their Wrestlemania weekend. The NXT brand era is clearly here and is off to a huge start. There was talk of monthly special events on the network but those stories were killed and for now, they will stick to the four a year format. I am in favor of that the worst thing WWE could do at this point is over expose NXT. It’s hot so let’s keep it that way.
Roman Reigns Can’t Win: It was clear from the Hall of Fame, Wrestlemania and Monday Night Raw that Roman Reigns is for the moment in a no win situation. Fans even after what was a good performance on his part at Mania still was booed out of the building on Raw. WWE definitely had him get the pinfall in the 6-man tag main event. This was the match on Raw where the fans just decided to hi-jack that is starting to become a somewhat annoying tradition of the night after Raw. I respect Roman for all his efforts in a match he ultimately was not going to be the winner at Wrestlemania. He had a good match with Brock before Seth Rollins arrived on the scene. The hate in my view is no longer with much of a basis. If the fans continue down this path, they are simply going to create the next John Cena and it will be there fault.
Brock Is Babyface: If it wasn’t made clear at Wrestlemania the fact that Brock is now a Babyface was driven home on Raw. Having him take out the entire announce-team and F-5ing Michael Cole was a not so subtle nod to hardcore fans that have hated commentary for some time. Stephanie suspending Brock gives him his angle to go away and the anticipation for when he next returns will grow. Expect Brock to be the biggest thing to hit the Barclay’s Center come Summerslam. What will be interesting is what role Paul Heyman will have in the time between now and that time. Make no mistake about it Brock is a fan favorite not just in reality but in WWE Storyline as well.
Bella’s are Not the Divas THAT NEED a CHANCE: The women’s match at Mania if there was a match that disappointed it was the diva’s tag match. Bella’s just are not good and the fact the way that match was booked to have them carrying it going 2 on 1 against Paige for the majority of the match proved it. Peter Rosenberg and others can slurp and give this girls undeserved praise all they like. Fact is as improved as they maybe it is not enough to be on the level of the NXT Roster or Paige and A.J. The Raw crowd the night after Mania when guns a blazing after the Bella’s chanting YOU…SUCK…..Cena at Nikki and the same for Brie with the name Bryan. There has been some that have been outraged by this, but let’s get totally real about this. Does anyone think these girls would have the chances they have had on their own merit and it has nothing to do with their significant others? If you do clearly you are living in some delusional universe which makes you the perfect fan for the Bella’s who live in their own delusion that they are good wrestlers and performers. They are not and the hate towards Nikki is not based on anything she does as a heel it is more of a hate of who she actually comes off as a person in reality. She is some stupid valley girl that some how fell into wrestling.
C.J Parker Quits NXT: Now you would think that on the surface this is not a big story. Which it isn’t but it does call into question something that you have to wonder about going forward. Parker had become a jobber in the NXT Brand and it seemed clear his shot at the main roster was likely never coming. Now his departure on its own means nothing. It does make you wonder if top guys who are stuck in limbo would actually look to walk as well if they are stuck in NXT to long. The money you make in NXT is not exactly the greatest and a team like the Young Bucks passed on the chance to go to NXT in favor of the money they could make outside of WWE. One thing WWE has smartly done is create merchandise for NXT. I just want to take a minute to go off on a side note, good for A.J Lee wearing Bayley’s shirt on the biggest Raw of the year. She made that girl some dollars by doing so. You have to wonder the patience level of the NXT 5 and if they are willing to remain patient. Neville has been the first to break the NXT Ceiling to get to the Main Roster. Will Zayn, Owens, Itami and Balor remain patient? There becomes a real conflict for WWE in now having to keep NXT strong while still having a roster that wants to break on to main roster. That is where the big money is after all. Still as mentioned the 200K the WWE pocketed from what amounts to an NXT house show is not chicken feed. It also makes the main goal of developing talent have to be balanced with now being a brand growing in popularity.
Outside of WWE bubble, there was news from both TNA and ROH. If you are a TNA fan and you read this site, you must hate me. Still I am obligated to report that TNA has found a broadcast home in Canada on the fight network. I will now officially be able to ignore TNA like the one I always have on Friday nights.
In ROH, they lost a couple of talents coming out of Wrestlemania Weekend. Jimmy Jacobs is joining the creative team in WWE and wrestled his last match over Wrestlemania weekend. While Tommosso Chiampa could not come to terms on a contract with ROH and has left the company.
ROH has announced that Okada and Tanahashi as the first to names that will be on the co-promoted NJPW events in Mid-May. ROH also announced they would be returning to Brooklyn for Field of Honor.
However biggest news of all is Adam Cole who has remained silent since his injury to Jay Briscoe posted a brilliant promo on the ROH website. He is still the best talker not in the WWE System. Enjoy him while you can ROH Fans he won’t be there much longer. Have a listen to the magic that is Adam Cole.
