5 Things To Expect on WWE Monday Night Raw 6/8/15

Let the good times roll! That's right welcome to this week's Raw preview article where we take a look at the week of the WWE and the five things we can expect to see on the flagship Raw. This week's Raw emanates from the home of WrestleMania XXX New Orleans, Louisiana. The Smoothie King Center will be the home to the go-home show to this Sunday's WWE Money in the Bank PPV. In this piece I'll give you four things to expect on the show and then for the fifth point I'll give you guys my predictions for this Sunday's PPV! LET'S ROCK!!!!!!!

1.) The Future is the Present

Seth Rollins is in the cross roads of his WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign. Not only does he have numerous of superstars going after his throat, but not the champ says he doesn't need the Authority anymore. In this clip above you see a great segmenet between Rollins and Ambrose from SmackDown. Take a listen to this and both Ambrose and Rollins made tremendous points. The reason I added this clip to the piece is because Ambrose and Rollins should speak for themselves. Ambrose doesn't need Reigns and Rollins doesn't the Authority. Tonight on Raw I can expect to see Roman Reigns vs. Kane due to the actions from last week's SmackDown and Dean Ambrose will take on Sheamus. For Rollins expect a intervention if you will or some type of segment where the Authority pulls off a "Seth Rollins" appreciation night.

2.) Will the Prime Time Players cash in on those Million of Dollars?

Darren Young and Titus O'Neil have had an interesting journey in their 5-6 years with WWE. Both stars came from the FCW Developmental System and the first couple seasons of NXT. Both Darren and Titus have had their run as rivals and as a entertaining tag team starting in 2012. Prime Time Players have always been one of those tag teams where they stellar on the mic and everybody loves this team whether their faces or heels, but since the inception of this team PTP has never won a WWE Tag Team Championship. PTP defeated Lucha Dragons and The Ascension in a number one contender's match on SmackDown. PTP will take on The New Day at Money in the Bank for the WWF Tag Team Championship. I love this tag team. I also love The New Day, so whether PTP wins on Sunday or not, I just wish that this feud will continue and Darren and Titus will get their moment to shine at the end of the day.

3.) Change in the Divas Division? Bark and No Substance 

We've spent about seven months going on diabtribes and crying on social media about "Give Divas A Chance and NXT this and that", but here's a reality check for all of you guys. Doesn't matter who you bring up from NXT the matter of the fact is this. There's no substance in a division that's never been put in a higher degree. Even when you had the girls from the Ruthless Aggression Era having stellar matches and RARE main event match, but here's my thing. Was those divas doing the stuff the divas were doing in NXT? Sorry but to be honest here Trish and Lita are not the only great iconic women's wrestlers from that generation. It's a miscarage of justice to not mention the work of girls like Victoria, Molly Holly, Mickie James, Michelle McCool, Melina, Beth Phoenix, Eve Torres and Alicia Fox. Paige has seemed to take on the role that AJ protray before she retired and here's the thing. Paige says that she's tired of the Bella Twins and there's a time for a change. I can see Paige vs. Brie Bella for Raw tonight and at Money in the Bank Nikki Bella will defend the Divas Championship against Paige.

4.) Kevin Owens vs. John Cena II and Battle of Epic Promos III 

There's not much that needs to be said about this storyline it really speaks to itself. James and Walder talked about how much this Owens/Cena rivalry is really bringing the reality in the Reality Era. Kevin Owens had his first NXT Championship Open Challenge against Zack Ryder on SmackDown. We know that this feud has became personal between Cena and Owens and they'll be going to war at Money in the Bank. Will this match become a No DQ type of match or do we have the same type of match we saw at Elimination Chamber? For tonight I think we can see another NXT or US Open Challenge. Owens vs. Neville for the NXT Championship or John Cena vs. Luke Harper for the United States Championship. You'll know who will win this match by who's standing tall by the end of Raw tonight.

5.) Money in the Bank 2015 Predictions 

1.) WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Ryback (c) beats Big Show

2.) WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Prime Time Players beats The New Day (c)

3.) WWE Divas Championship Match
Nikki Bella (c) beats Paige

4.) Kevin Owens beats John Cena

5.) WWE World Heavyweight Championship Contract Money in the Bank
Roman Reigns beats Kane, Sheamus, Neville, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton

6.) WWE World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match
Seth Rollins (c) beats Dean Ambrose


Hope you guys enjoy this week's Raw preview. I hope you guys enjoy Money in the Bank

You can follow me on Twitter @JoshLopezCSR

Please check out my radio show the "Pro Wrestling Experience" every Wednesday from 10am-1pm CT on "ChicagoLand Sports Radio" on TuneInRadio.

5 Things To Expect on WWE Monday Night Raw 5/18/15

Oh Yeah Brother! Welcome to this week's WWE Monday Night Raw Preview brought to you by Condo On The Moon my name is Joshua Lopez. Lot's and lot's to get to because we're just coming off the heels of the WWE Payback PPV, we got the NXT Takeover Special coming up this Wednesday and Elimination Chamber returns in 13 days. In this piece I'll give you my thoughts on the WWE Payback PPV from Baltimore. I'll also talk about who will be in the two Elimination Chambers Matches and where does John Cena and Seth Rollins go from here? Here's five things to expect on the WWE Payback Fallout edition of WWE Monday Night Raw.

1.) WWE Payback Fallout + Thoughts 

Well I enjoyed Payback last night. I thought overall the show surpass expectations and with the fact it only had a three week set up I thought the payoff for Payback was well done. Some rapid fire thoughts.

-I don't know why R-Truth/Stardust was added to the pre-show? What's next for Cody?

-I don't think The Meta Powers will last long.

-I loved the opener from Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler very physical opener these guys have amazing chemistry.

-Once again the tag team championship match delivered. I never get tire of seeing The New Day vs. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro. Very interested in seeing how they set up this tag team Elimination Chamber Match.

-I loved the slugfest between Bray Wyatt and Ryback. Way better match than I thought it was going to be. I like both guys and even though there wasn't any reasonable "storyline" behind this feud I enjoyed the match it had a nice old-school flare to it.

-Cena and Rusev capped off their feud in high fashion. Entertaining and physical I Quit Match.

-I thought the Divas Tag Team Match wasn't that bad it's just their positioning on the PPV is always after a match that the crowd absolutely loved and they were burnt out.

-Neville/Barrett was solid I wished it had more time, plus with the IC Chamber Match coming up soon I understood the countout finish and neither guy was negatively effected.

-I loved the main event! Glad we got Kane's decision out of the way. I thought Roman and Dean stood out the most in this match. Rollins is a tremendous heel. Randy Orton once again shining on a major stage, The Shield's semi tease reunion was nice and the crowd was hot for that. I didn't mind the finish cause Rollins is part of The Authority and even with the fact that he can't use the Curb Stomp that doesn't mean he can't use the Pedigree or a RKO or even a Chokeslam. Rollins was the right guy to win this match and it was one of the better Fatal Four Way that i've seen.


2.) Elimination Chamber Match for the Vacant Intercontinental Championship 

We're just about 13 days away from the Elimination Chamber PPV. We know that for the first time since 2012 we'll have two Elimination Chamber matches and one of them will be for the vacated Intercontinental Championship. I'm firguing for tonight there will be a series of Elimination Chamber Qualifying Matches. I can see Bad News Barrett, Sheamus, Neville, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Bray Wyatt added to this Chamber Match. Less is more, but at the same time I think it would be in the best interest for this Wyatt/Ryback feud to be put in place in that Chamber Match. If Ryback has broken ribs that's rather unfortunate. At the same time don't be surprise if guys like Stardust or R-Truth will be added to the Chamber Match. Both Stardust and Truth have experience in the Chamber Match.

3.) Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship

We found out last night the New Day will be defending their WWE Tag Team Championships inside the Elimination Chamber. I have absolutely no idea what will be set up for this particular Chamber and I LOVE IT! There's so many options here and that what's make this Chamber very very interesting. Obviously if we're going to do six teams I'll list i here. Kidd/Cesaro, The Prime Time Players, Lucha Dragons, Harper & Rowan and The Ascension. Either way this could be the best thing for the tag division not only are these teams are getting opportunity, but their are being showcased in one of the most popular matches in the WWE, so I'm very interested to see what they do tonight on Raw with the set up for this Chamber Match.

4.) What's next for John Cena? 

I really enjoyed the Rusev and John Cena feud and now that it's over; What's next for John Cena? We have 13 days before Elimination Chamber arrives. The John Cena US Open Challenge has been awesome. Here's a idea. I know that this will be out of left field, but it works since there's only two weeks to setup the PPV and I think it would be "best for business" to have a John Cena US Open Challenge at the Chamber. It brings anticipation for the PPV and the opens up the window for countless superstars or maybe even returning superstars to take on Cena at the Elimination Chamber. For tonight I think we'll see John Cena vs Luke Harper or Dolph Ziggler.

5.) What's next for Seth Rollins?

Another PPV and Seth Rollins is still your WWE World Heavyweight Champion! It was "reported" that Rollins will be defending his world championship at the Chamber, but it's not in the Chamber match. I would be shocked if were swerved and the championship is defended in the Chamber, but coming out of this Fatal Four Way match. Where does WWE go with this World Title Picture? I think it would be too soon to do the Shield triple threat match ESPECIALLY with a free month of the Network in May. That match should be not be FREE it has money written all over it. Orton tooked the pin last night, so I think he may be done in this world title picture for now. I'm going to give you guys three options for Seth Rollins at Elimination Chamber. Will Triple H talk about Rollins using the pedigree? For Raw tonight expect ALOT of gloating and trolling in this opening segment.

-Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose

-Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns

-Seth Rollins vs. Kane

I hope you guys enjoyed this week's RAW preview article.

Raw is in Richmond, Virginia and it's a old-school NWA Territory, so don't be surprised if the crowd is flat tonight.

You can follow me on Twitter @JoshLopezCSR

Follow us on Twitter @CondoOnTheMoon and check out our most recent podcast.

King of The Ring Returns to the WWE This Week

In case you've been out of the wrestling loop over the last 24 hours, the historic King of the Ring Tournament will be making it's return tonight on Monday Night Raw. The announcement was made in a promotional package for the WWE Network during the Extreme Rules PPV last night. The King of The Ring Tournament started in 1985 and then became it's own PPV in 1993. King of The Ring was one of the yearly traditional PPV's for the WWE back in the day. This will be the first King of The Ring Tournament since 2010. The first round matches will take place tonight on Raw and the Semi-Final and Final Round matches will take place LIVE on the WWE Network. In the picture down below is the bracket with the participants for this year's King of The Ring Tournament.

Here's the list of former King of the Ring Winner's. This list also features former WWE World Champions and Hall of Famers.


1985- Don Muraco
1986- Harley Race
1987-Randy Savage
1988- Ted DiBiase
1989- Tito Santana
1991- Bret Hart
1993- Bret Hart
1994- Owen Hart
1995- Mabel
1996- Stone Cold Steve Austin
1997- Triple H
1998- Ken Shamrock
1999- Billy Gunn
2000- Kurt Angle
2001- Edge
2002- Brock Lesnar
2006- Booker T
2008- William Regal
2010- Sheamus

This year's King of The Ring Tournament is very interesting because it features the top mid-card peformers for the WWE. You have a upstart in Neville. You have former Intercontinental Champions in Sheamus, Bad News Barrett, Stardust, Dolph Ziggler, and Luke Harper. Of course you got your wild cards in R-Truth and Dean Ambrose. WWE hasn't announced if the winner of this match gets a future title opportunity, but I think bringing back this tournament it's not only good for the mid-card and Monday Night Raw, but for the WWE Network as well.

One would suggest that the early favorites to win this King of The Ring Tournament would be Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose or Bad News Barrett. If you look at the bracket up top you'll see there's some intrguing matchups and personally I'm really looking forward to see how this torunament will end up in the next two days.

For old time's sake I'm going to post a clip of one the most iconic King of The Ring moments.

I hope you guys enjoy the tournament on Raw tonight and on the WWE Network tomorrow. For more updates on the King of The Ring Tournament please stick tune to the website.

You can follow me on Twitter @JoshLopezCSR

You can follow our Twitter Page @CondoOnTheMoon

Talking Points: This Week In Wrestling

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.

NXT Takeover: Rival 10 Observations On The Night

NXT Takeover: Rival continued the tradition of awesome events for NXT. It was a night of change with both a new Women’s Champion crowned in Sasha Banks and Kevin Owens is the New NXT Champion. Instead of doing a re-cap of the show, I thought I would offer 10 observations based on last night’s show. There was a lot to talk about coming out of this show that is for certain.

1. Selfie Sticks Rule When Used By Tyler Breeze: It was a late edition to the card with Tyler Breeze taking on Heido Itami. When Breeze came out with a selfie stick all styled to match his outfit. I have missed Tyler Breeze and he had a good match with Itami that as I stated prior to the match both needed. Match aside the Selfie Stick stole the show as far as this match went.

2. Baron Corbin Is Not Ready For Prime Time: Corbin’s feud with Bull Dempsey has damaged him. The third in this trilogy of doom was suppose to be a no disqualification match but had very little in the way of weapons as part of the match. There were a few botched spots and Corbin just didn’t look good in a longer match. It is not like Corbin can’t succeed, but much like how people are critical of Roman Reigns and the position he holds currently. People seeing Corbin as this next big thing is not a role he is ready for at this time.

3. NXT Tag Team Division Needs Help: The Lucha Dragons and Blake & Murphy had a very sloppy tag-team championship match. Blake and Murphy are just to babyface for me liking. While people rave about Kalisto, I have seen him look like a red-hot mess on two NXT specials now. Sure, you have the Vaudevillians and Big Cass & Enzo, but just like on the main roster tag-teams are few and far between. It was a toss up for worst match of the night between the tag team match and Corbin and Dempsey.

4. Finn Balor A Better Version of Jeff Hardy: Finn Balor is a much more together version of Jeff Hardy in some ways. The introduction he has is a much better version of Jeff Hardy for modern times. His introduction is almost bordering on performance art. Once the bell rings with or without the pain, he is an amazing talent. He doesn’t have the baggage and bad habits that have held back Jeff Hardy from having the true career he could have had. Finn Balor should have a tremendous chance of success on the main roster and could be a big merchandise seller.

5. Ladies Hit A Home Run: Triple H talked about wanting to expand the roles for women on main roster on Stone Cold’s Podcast. A big reason for this desire has to be the talent he has seen in NXT. The four-way match that the ladies put on last night validated his opinion. All four women worked about as solid a 4-way match that you could hope to see regardless of gender. The success of Ronda Rousey in MMA is proof that times are changing and women fighting can sell. It may sound silly in the scripted world of pro wrestling it feels more real than the guys may at times. The talent is there to take the Women’s division back to its glory days with Trish, Lita and a host of other ladies.

6. Charlotte and Sami Zayn Next Stop Main Roster: Sami Zayn and Charlotte Flair both lost their titles and that seems to scream that time are now for them to be heading to the next level. If Triple H wants to expand the women’s division Charlotte Flair is the WWE’s Ronda Rousey to run with. The fact her dad is Ric Flair adds to her credibility. While Sami Zayn has nothing left to prove on the NXT level. While many fear what will become of Sami on the main roster his support from Triple H. Clearly, Sami has been taken under the wing of Triple H and just as other guys like The Shield and Bray Wyatt have had success I feel Sami will be able to do the same with his support and backing.

7. What is next for Adrian Neville: Some will say it also time for Neville to move on to the main roster. I have a feeling he will not and would almost be inclined to see him make a heel turn in NXT. He has lost in many face vs. face matches of late and always been taken the losses with class. Eventually he has to snap from this you have to figure. His size will always be a major concern on the main roster. Maybe with a Napoleon complex as a heel he would have a better chance than being the rumored Mighty Mouse type gimmick they planned. I still say face or heel he must have a manager and given faces seldom have mangers these days this is another reason to turn him heel. They teased a heel turn in his feud with Zayn so why not go all the way with it. 

8. Sasha Banks Is Finally The Boss Of The NXT Women’s Division:  Sasha Banks has lived in the shadows of Summer Rae and after that Charlotte but she now can truly be The Boss she has professed to be. I often felt her work was somewhat underrated as people were dazzled by Paige and after that the quickly developing Charlotte. The NXT fans have been behind her long before this moment but this is validation of her gimmick and she finally is on top of the mountain. It will be interesting to see how she handles being on top moving forward with Charlotte likely off to the main roster soon. 

9. Cory Graves A Work In Progress On Commentary: Cory Graves was thrown into commentary out of the blue after being forced to retire as an in-ring competitor due to concussions. I felt on his first show in December he was somewhat better than he was last night. He probably has too many voices in his head telling him what he should be doing. I still like him and his style is unique from the other cast of characters. He is the closest thing we have seen to a heel announcer in NXT. If he is given the chance to grow into the role, I think he can be very good at this eventually.

10. Kevin Owens the Greatest Debut In NXT History: if you had told me 18 months ago, that Kevin Steen would even be in the WWE, I would have had a hard time believing it. It would not be that Kevin wasn’t good enough but that Kevin wasn’t the typical mold of what a WWE Superstar is. I could never have imagined not only is he here in NXT but also has been brought in as the dominant heel of the brand. In his words two months to the day, he debuted in his third televised match he has won the NXT Championship. It is mind-boggling and to see him pictured with Triple H with the NXT Title seems almost out of a dream. It is all very real though and Kevin is truly one of the best performers I have been privileged to see.  It is so great to see him succeed and have success. It is so amazing the confidence and push he has been given on his way in the door in WWE. It really is a magical ride that Kevin has been on after months of waiting for him to debut. I don’t think this is the last title Kevin Owens will lay his hands on. He perhaps without knowing celebrated the same way as Brock Lesnar did when he beat The Rock head butting the title. I made the joke on twitter is it too late for Lesnar vs. Owens at Wrestlemania?  It is one of those wrestling moments that I will remember for a long time... if not forever. Now the work begins, as Owens will look to stay on top and validate what has been afforded him in entering the company with such a strong push.

Fast Lane will have a tough act to follow. This is nothing new for the folks on the WWE Roster who finally have some competition that TNA could never provide. NXT has become not just the future of the WWE but a true force that should motivate people on the main roster that have a pulse and a competitive bone in their body. It was another fun night in the wrestling fantasyland that is NXT. In a place where things make sense, more than they don’t and talent exceeds the high expectations of demanding pro wrestling fans more often than they do not.

NXT Takeover [R] Evolution Preview + Predictions

If you have been living under a rock, tonight is the WWE NXT Special "Takeover R Evolution". Tonight's show hails from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Tonight show will be on the WWE Network at 8/7 CT with a pre-show with Renee Young, Alex Riley and Jason Albert. I think this NXT special may be the most anticipated NXT Special this year and what a way to end the year on a high note for these young and up and coming talents in the WWE developmental system.  We'll give you a preview for tonights show plus our predictions.

1.) NXT Tag Team Championship Match 

The Lucha Dragons (c) vs. The Vaudevillans 

Josh: Out of all the great matches that we'll see tonight I wouldn't be surprised if this match stoled the show and it should since it's for the NXT Tag Team Championship. I enjoy the wrestling style of The Lucha Dragons and at the same time I love the team of The Vaudevillans. I think this will be a good back and forth match, but at the end of the day I think the title of reign of The Lucha Dragons will come to an end tonight. I'm rolling with the Vaudevillans 

James: Dragons just won the belts recently and the NXT crowd loves them. They do like the Vaudevillans too. Still give me the guys in the masks to retain.

2.) WWE NXT Women's Championship Match 

Charlotte (c) vs. Sasha Banks w/Becky Lynch 

Josh: I've been personally looking forward to this match for a long time. Sasha and Charlotte have split up from their partnership for about 5-6 months now and this match has brewing to happen ever since Charlotte won the NXT Championship at NXT Takeover over Natalya. Despite her losing on Raw this week, Charlotte is one of most skilled technical female performers I've ever seen. Not only is she beautiful, but she's unique in her own way. Sasha Banks another beautiful and talented performer who naturally comes off as a heel and I like the work she's been doing over the last couple of months. I'm going with Sasha Banks because I think it's her time and also the fact that Charlotte may be going up to the main roster very soon. 

James: Many feel Charlotte will lose this match as she is going to be heading to main roster soon. I think she will retain and lose the belt as part of the T.V taping after the special event. Her lose on Raw adds to my belief she needs to win and retain her championship.

3.) Finn Balor & Hideo Itami vs. The Ascension

Josh:  This has the makings to being a match of the year candidate and plus now we finally get to see Balor and Itami perform without being interrupted by commercials I'm going with Hideo & Finn, because they’re both guys I’ve been watching for a very long time. I know what they’re capable of. I wouldn’t want to be The Ascension. They’ve just been needling them, like two tigers in a cage. That’s not a team I’d want to mess with. Plus I think the Ascension will be heading up to the main roster to go after the WWE Tag Team Championships. I seriously can't wait to see this match and just one of those matches that you sit back and it reminds you of why you enjoy watching wrestling 

James: The Ascension is on the move to the main roster. Balor and Itami are still being built for the WWE audience that doesn't know them. It equals a win for the former Prince Devitt and Kenta.

Kevin Owens Debut: 

Josh:  I'll keep this short and sweet, I'm so happy for Kevin Owens and he's going to make a big impact in the WWE in my opinion. You're going to have alot of sour grape ring of honor fans that are going to nit pick every single thing the WWE does with him, but I'll tell you this I think Kevin is the perfect guy for the WWE environment and if you give it time and see how his character evolves then this is going to be a fun experience. I don't think we'll see Kevin cost Zayn the title and that leads to the WWE version of Ladder of Wars, I think Kevin will come out cut a promo about who he is and will challenge somebody to a fight 

James: Kevin Steen has transformed into Kevin Owens. Both guys are pretty much the same and Kevin will no doubt in my mind cost his long-time friend Sami Zayn the NXT Championship. If you have never seen Steen vs El Generico Ladder War you have missed out. WWE is aware of the history and made new fans to Owens aware of it so if WWE does not pair these two they have missed the boat.

4.) WWE NXT Championship Match 

Adrian Neville (c) vs. Sami Zayn 

Josh: I know alot of people may have seen this match already before a WWE televised taping, but now we're in a different environment, I've been loving the story telling aspect of this feud and Sami is doing some of the best work of his career right now. Neville is on top of his game and don't count him out, Neville deserves as much as praise as any NXT Superstar out there. I think this match may have the opportunity to surpass the Zayn vs. Cesaro matches, but at the end of the day I think we'll see Zayn finally win the NXT Championship. 

James: Based on my Steen Debut thoughts Neville wins and continues to be a tweener that is heading to the heel side of the equation. Owens vs Zayn is on and I suggest you get your popcorn ready for this one.

This should be a fun night maybe we see some appearances from Enzo & Cass, Baron Corbin, Bull Dempsey and this may be the best NXT show of the year.

Speaking of Kevin Owens who will be debuting tonight, one of his mentors and best friends Steve Corino the color commentator from Ring of Honor wrestling will be on the podcast tomorrow with James and Chris Walder.

Rumors Already Surfacing For Next NXT Special

Seems the next NXT special is already taking shape with the main event expected to be Sami Zayn challenging Adrian Neville for the NXT title in a one on one match.

Both Zayn and Neville were front and center at an event for the WWE 2K15 game as they will be characters in the game along with former NXT alumni like Bo Dallas, Rusev and Bray Wyatt. Cory Graves is also said to be in the game as well but his career has been in much doubt with concussion problems and has not been seen in NXT in many months. Below are some links to interviews with various talents from that 2K15 event.




Brian Fritz with Sami Zayn
Sam Roberts with Sami Zayn
Brian Fritz with Adrian Neville
Sam Roberts with Bo Dallas
Brian Fritz with Bo Dallas 
Brian Fritz with Bill DeMott 


In addition to that the Lucha Dragons the new Tag-Team Champs will defend against favorites of NXT crowd the Vaudevillians in addition we will see Hideo Itami and Finn Balor better known as Kenta and Prince Devitt have a tag-team match with the Ascension. The two teams did face off at the television tapings recently in Devitt's debut so this would be a re-match of that encounter.

What still is up in the air is if Kevin Steen will be on this show with a set of T.V tapings between now and the proposed early December 11th date for the NXT special event. Steen has yet to debut and he like the other two is expected to have his name altered as well. Adam Cole a recent guest on our podcast spoke about his great relationship with Steen and his belief in the success he will have as part of the WWE. Cole himself has been talked about as perhaps going to NXT come the end of his current contract with ROH. In talking with Cole he just would state that you never know what the future would hold for him going forward. Cole was recently ranked number 9 in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated top 500 wrestlers. A list that saw WWE have the top 3 ranking stars with John Cena at 3, Randy Orton at 2 and Daniel Bryan topping the list.

Steen was seen in photos prior to the 2k15 event looking in tremendous shape and that was the one issue his detractors had about him being a success in the WWE. Kevin while still a large guy has certainly come a long way in the last year in getting into better shape and that has increased since coming into the WWE fold at the end of August.

Baron Corbin has recently debuted and is making waves the competition level and just level of talent in general at NXT is growing by leaps and bounds. Guys like Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and Adrian Neville have been touring on various WWE house show loops. This in addition to the surprise appearance of those three along with Tyson Kidd on Raw a few weeks back. Kidd is being used currently as part of the angle with his wife and Summer Rae on the main roster. Rumors of some sort of love triangle being at least teased.

So, NXT is on the rise and once Steen officially joins the fold it should lead to some interesting potential match-ups going forward depending on how long guys like Zayn, Breeze and Neville remain on the roster.

You can follow us on Twitter @Condoonthemoon for all our latest on the world of pro wrestling.

Is NXT Better?

The jokes have started about NXT being the superior brand to WWE on social media. You would never hear something like this said about the NBDL the developmental league of the NBA. Lebron James is better than anybody they have in the NBDL and that is fact. 

Could we say the same about John Cena and NXT? Is John Cena a better in-ring worker than Kenta, Kevin Steen, Sami Zayn, Prince Devitt and Adrian Neville? He isn’t really is he? John Cena does have experience of working on a much larger stage for almost a decade. You can love him or hate him but that is a fact.

NXT while it is suppose to be a view into the future it also is a glimpse into the past. Just an hour of weekly television and four major events in a year is how NXT works and how the WWF use to be. Could NXT be as compelling and great a show if they had to provide a 3-hour show and 9-10 hours of content overall in a week? The answer is probably not.

Triple H has talked about building NXT into its own brand and they have been relatively successful to this point. This is something that Paul Levesque has been hands on with and has totally changed the direction of the developmental of this company. This company suffered a major gap in finding and developing between when Jim Ross was in charge of talent relations and Triple H. That gap was when John Laurinaitis who did the company a huge disservice for its future. Seems Johnny legacy was hiring a lot of hot women that can’t wrestle. Jim Ross has a legacy of getting guys like Foley, Austin, The Rock and even Paul himself as part of the WWE Roster. The list of talent Paul Levesque is bringing to table is impressive as well. When we look back on it will see if it is as successful as the one J.R compiled but it is clearly better than the one Johnny Ace came up with in his time.

In a fantasy world, would it be cool to see a show with NXT vs. WWE? Absolutely, if you are expecting NXT guys to go over in such a situation though that probably is not going to happen.   You could have some great matches though. Let’s fantasy book a little below:

Sami Zayn vs. Seth Rollins
Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler
Adrian Neville vs. Dean Ambrose
Kevin Steen vs. Bray Wyatt
Kenta vs. Daniel Bryan
Prince Devitt vs. John Cena
Ascension vs. Usos
Tyson Kidd vs. Cesaro

That is a card I would watch, as I am sure many would. NXT has had three huge names in Kenta, Steen and Devitt, you add them to the existing Zayn and Neville, and you have the NXT 5. This might be the term we use for these guys for years to come.  A Sami Zayn tweet led to WWE.com doing a sit-down interview with all five that was truly a great read. Seeing names like Adam Cole, The Young Bucks and John Gargano on that site kind of nuts. If you don’t know those names, you just do not have any clue of independent wrestling. Steen, Cole and the Bucks made Mount Rushmore in PWG. I hope to see them all in the WWE in 2015 they are all deserving.

WWE has really created their own super-independent show with WWE’s money and production values. At the same time, they are training staff in all aspects of a broadcast with their partnership with Full Sail University. They have given hardcore fans an option under the WWE umbrella to see the stars they have watched in outside promotions like ROH, NJPW and other places under their system on their WWE Network. Paul Levesque smartly is not ruling anything out in terms of NXT’s future.

WWE since they ended WCW in 2001 has been searching for competition. They attempted to create their own with the brand split but that never really worked in my opinion. Now in 2014 they may have found their competition in NXT. A group of hungry wrestlers that most of whom already have long resumes looking to bust open the doors to the main roster. If that doesn’t light a fire under the butt of people on the main roster, nothing will. I remember the first NXT Takeover that was their second special event. That week the NXT show had more buzz than the Payback show coming up on the Sunday. As expected, the NXT show delivered but it took a “B” level pay-per-view and lit a fire under some of the people on that card to make it one of the more unexpected great shows of the year.

The tag line for NXT being: The Future is Now. People are buying in even more than they are the WWE with the hardcore audience of wrestling in general and the WWE.

So for a certain type of fan NXT already is and to some extent always will be better than WWE. Ultimately, though NXT is about creating stars on that next level and so far, it has which is ultimately the job it is meant to serve. Having it become a popular and even more popular with some brand may not have been part of the plan but now it is. WWE can make money off NXT just as easily and they will still cash the checks.

NXT has become something greater than what one could have imagined as its goofy reality show origins.  It is now a brand that sports a roster than can compete with any company in the world. Even the one that owns it at times could be included in that. 

Next time you go to say something bad about Triple H remember that Paul Levesque created all of this that you love and can’t enough of in NXT. So maybe he is not the idiot or interested in burying people, as the internet would have you believe.

He is taking pictures with all of these guys and truly reveling in their success as he would his own maybe more so. Ultimately, their success is his success as is true for NXT as a brand and the Performance Center they train those NXT stars. It is all about the game and growing it for the next generation. This according to Sami Zayn already has the future of the WWE in 5 years ready to roll.

He makes a good case that is hard to argue as he has some talented friends to play with currently.

NXT Takeover 2: Post Show Podcast

We did not have a Hangin on the Moon today think all our audio issues are solved but decided to do an NXT Takeover post game show with myself and Josh Lopez. We break down the card and share our thoughts as well as have a couple interesting sidebar conversations along the way. So sit back and enjoy as we bring a little NXT into your life.


Still will have the regular podcast on later tonight as always with Chris Walder talking all the rest of the wrestling news of the week. Walder might give his two cents on Takeover 2 as well so make sure to come back and listen to that.

NXT Takeover 2: A New NXT Champion To Be Crowned?

 NXT is set to have there third special event on Thursday night on the WWE Network. On paper, this card does not live up to previous two. We will have the introduction of Kenta to NXT officially scheduled but also have Prince Devitt and Kevin Steen now as part of the mix at the performance center so who knows if we see them as well? We did see the participants in main event on Raw this past Monday. They seemed to get over pretty well with both the live audience and the viewing audience. Ole chants rang out on Raw for Sami Zayn and for once, the commentators did a great job of getting over all four guys in the match.

Singles Match
Mojo Rawley vs. Bull Dempsey

I have no interest in this match at all. Mojo Rawley is a classic example of what the WWE thinks will draw compared to what the audience actually wants. Which is not Mojo with his lack of experience in the ring combined with his over enthusiastic character makes him annoying as hell to most and me. While Bull Dempsey is old school, wrestling gimmick is not a hit with me either. Some thought this gimmick would be great for Kevin Steen. It is a death sentence and nothing is great about it. Someone has to win the match that should be a boring yawn festival so I will go with Bull by default.


Hair vs. Hair Match
Enzo Amore vs. Sylvester LeFort

Has a babyface ever lost a haircut match in the history of wrestling? If they did, it was terrible booking of the highest order. Still despite this being, a very predictable outcome of this still should be a fun match. It is a big match for Enzo who has been out with injury for a long period and this is the first big match since his return from injury to his leg. LeFort knows about injuries himself; he as a result was booked as a manger in NXT when he debuted.  Both have a lot to gain from a high profile match like this and it should be good. Enzo Amore will win but it will be all about the journey and post match haircut that makes or breaks this contest. 


NXT Tag Team Championship Match
The Ascension (c) vs. Kalisto & Sin Cara

We saw Kalisto with a different partner go against this team of The Ascension as he teams with Sin Cara who also is new under his mask from the original. The Ascension has long been rumoured to heading to the main roster. They did pop up this week on WWE Main Event so maybe finally they are off to the main roster. Does this mean that automatically means they will drop the titles? It could but I would not call it a lock at all at this point. I have never been a fan of The Ascension. They have size and an entrance as well as the support of the great NXT fans. Still for me, I see them as a team destined to flop on the main roster. I think they will retain the titles regardless of their status in terms of the main roster.
 

NXT Women’s Championship Match
Charlotte (c) vs. Bayley

Charlotte Flair was able to capture the NXT Women’s Champion in a match with Natalya that many are calling one of the best women’s matches in years. Bayley up until getting this title opportunity was booked as a far less serious character that seemed to be geared at kids. She was a star struck fan girl but in the last month or so has been down played and she has been more serious in her actions. The reason for the change is to build her as serious contender.  Some think Charlotte is going to be rushed to the main roster based on her fast improvement but also to give her father something to do on the main roster. Who knows if this is true but if it is they have set a precedent that would suggest she should lose if moving up to the main roster. Will see what happens but both women will have a huge mountain to climb to live up to Charlotte’s last match. I think Bayley is going go over here but not sure, if that is a good move to make. 

NXT Championship Match
Adrian Neville (c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Tyson Kidd

Let’s start by saying this is easily the best match on the show with some of the best talent on the NXT roster currently. I also think you could make a compelling argument for all three challengers to win this match. I also feel that as a fan I am ready to see a change of this title and have methods to protect my baby face current champion. Sami Zayn has been chasing the title for a long time and has been the MVP performer on NXT since he arrived. The four-way gives him a way to win without turning his character. Tyson Kidd is doing a great job with his NXT heel run. He could certainly make a great champion. My choice to win this contest is however, Tyler Breeze who I think is deserving and is the best fit for the role. Breeze likely is not coming to the WWE roster with his current gimmick or at least should not. It is two similar to what The Miz is currently doing. I think he can really learn from a run as a heel champion as well. I still think regardless the title needs to change. We will see if in fact we get a new NXT champion on Thursday. How people view this show will be largely be based on this match. Nothing else on the card has a chance to challenge this match on paper for match of the night.

I think this will be the greatest challenge in terms of one of these shows so far. The first two have created quite a short but great legacy to live up to for NXT roster. This show still can be very entertaining it is just how great the other two shows have been that makes the challenge for this show to live up to it. Triple H is extremely proud of what he has created with the NXT brand and Performance Center and rightfully so.

Our friends at Between the Ropes sat in on Paul Lesveque's conference call to promote tomorrow's event.   

 

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