Samoa Joe Makes Surprise Debut On NXT Unstoppable

Kevin Owens after laying waste to Sami Zayn with their match ending in a no-contest of sorts was confronted by Samoa Joe. Yes you heard that right Samoa Joe, not Joe Samoa or some other WWE re-branded name. He would come out and save Zayn from even more of a beating and get in the face of Kevin Owens.

Add him to the list of people on Owens plate, as Owens will face John Cena in a week and a half at Elimination Chamber. This all set up by his attack on Cena as he shocked the world coming out confronting him during Cena's U.S Open Challenge. Finn Balor has also earned the right for another shot at Owens being named the number one-contender last night defeating Tyler Breeze. Even William Regal might be a potential Owens opponent as he was headbutted by Owens in the chaos of people trying to stop Owens from continuing his attack on Sami Zayn.

If all of that isn't enough they had Hideo Itami get attacked in the parking lot and gave the impression that Owens may well have been the attacker. Setting up an Itami vs Owens match when he returns from shoulder procedure that is expected to put him on the shelf for 6 months.

As for Samoa Joe the day prior Triple H played things very cool admitting Joe had been to the performance center but he said they may have only talked for about five minutes. Joe also had independent bookings that went into June. This made many feel that all the speculation around Wrestlemania was perhaps not going to happen with him signing in the WWE. He had a brief run with ROH that ended just after that weekend.

What we didn't see on the NXT special was Joe speak but he did address the live NXT crowd after the show went off the air. Here is what he had to say in this WWE.com exclusive video.



Triple H was also asked about if he felt that NXT with developing and touring this new brand was not competition for Ring of Honor. He denied it was and that WWE's success helps all wrestling thrive. Tell that to ROH that is watching all of it's top stars become even bigger stars with WWE. The list grows longer with perhaps arguably the greatest ROH Champion of all in Samoa Joe who also has wasted many years working with TNA. The only feud that TNA ever had that was a huge draw saw Joe matched up with former WWE star and still with TNA Kurt Angle.

Joe is gonna kill you rang out from the NXT crowd as Owens decided he would wait for another day to deal with him. It really seems like NXT is becoming this super independent brand that is far from independent. I heard what Triple H said but you have to wonder how places like ROH and other top companies on the independents can hope to keep talent if NXT continues to move in such big and bold steps. Joe might not be the only one killing things at the end of it all. 

Paige Being Bad Is Good For Her Future Success

If you are a fan of WWE’s Paige you may still be pretty upset by the events of last week. It may not look great right now, but I maintain what happened last week might be the best thing for the young native of England. I think it is fair to say the WWE had done Paige no favors in terms of her booking since being added to the main roster. That may seem odd when you consider she was given the “Diva’s Championship” on her first night on the roster. She was not booked strongly with that title and as a result her getting over as “babyface” character.She was failing to a large extent. Suddenly we are sent back to square one when A.J Lee returns to the WWE for her first appearance since that night.

It was never clearer when A.J returned how Paige was out of her league to some extent. She is not a good talker and that was made painfully clear last week. Where she is strong is in-ring with her work she is even at her young age one of the better females in the company. Booking her as a “babyface” did not show off those skills as well in her matches. Paige was booked as a young rookie that would fight from behind and often times seemed more lucky than good at the end of a match.

Even in the relatively short match she had with A.J in losing the Diva’s title you saw a vast difference. She was aggressive and vicious in her attack. When is the last time you ever saw a female deliver a head-butt in a match. I can’t ever recall it personally in the WWE. Wrestling in a “heel” role this should highlight her aggressive style and get over her original gimmick she was billed as in NXT as being the "anti-diva" to some extent.

She still has the issue of being very under developed on the microphone and I have heard several people suggest a couple of solutions to this issue. One that was mentioned was making Paige the first ever Paul Heyman Girl and allow Heyman to do her talking for her. This would be a huge plus for Paige to have a manager something that is rare for female competitors but would work. It makes her have something different from everyone else and that alone makes her stand out. I could easily see Heyman making Paige come off like a Ronda Rousey type killer eventually. He is well aware of MMA and the impact that Rousey has had on that world. She is without question the “Baddest Female on the Planet” and wrestling is in need of a no nonsense female that appeals to fans that support someone like a Rousey.

Another option and more natural connection would be William Regal. The fellow native of England would offer some different aspects from Heyman but is fully capable of getting over the vicious nature that Paige will be bringing to matches. He could offer his guidance to Paige, which is logical and you could even use Regal having ties to her family as a reason why he has chosen to help her realize her potential.

In any case, Paige really was in bad need of a reset to her character and should get it now with this turn to the heel side of the equation. Working with A.J should be a good learning experience for her as well as it is fairly clear that no female in this company has been as “over” as she has been with fans in the recent history of the WWE.

Paige is only 21 years old and will be given lots of opportunity to grow and live up to her potential which is still very high. This might seem like a roadblock to her early career, but it might be the best thing for her and a tremendous opportunity to grow from it. She seems far better suited to be a “heel” than a “face” for my money.  Eventually a no nonsense butt kicking character can become a "babyface" and it has been proven by Rousey in the UFC and was proven by Austin in the WWE. These are big names to live up too, but merely extreme examples of what I am talking about.

Paige will be fine and should embrace this new role and thrive with it.



Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com

Renee Young Rises To Superstars Status

Never really made much note in the blog of Josh Mathews being let go by WWE. The reason why seems pretty clear as people like Renee Young and Todd Phillips were simply better than him. Young who has been being groomed to have a role in commentary is getting her shot calling matches on WWE Superstars. Another step up the ladder for her in the relatively quick rise she has had within the company. People in Canada know Renee with a different last name from her time working at The Score in Canada. The Score was the broadcaster for WWE Programming in Canada. She was part of a show call Right After Wrestling that changed into Aftermatch and hosted with Jimmy Korderas former WWE Official for 22 years and Arda Ocal.

Young was a huge hit on that show and obvious caught the attention of WWE and she was hired and left the Network which no longer exists and was re-branded when purchased by Rogers to Sportsnet 360. I personally have never been as crazy about her as most seem to be. I can not deny her fast move up the ladder since arriving in the WWE though. She is a talented broadcaster in her own unique way and has a great personality that shines through in the WWE as it did in her work on The Score.

Rumors had been that ESPN had interest in Young as they have had success with a couple of other former WWE announcers turned into ESPN guys. This latest challenge for Young should be very interesting as to the best of my knowledge she never did an kind of commentary in working with The Score. She has been doing it for awhile on NXT after quickly moving away from being the backstage interviewer on NXT. She has a charming chemistry with William Regal who really should be doing commentary on the main shows by now at this point. Why he isn’t, I have no idea and wrote about his brilliance in the past. Phillips and Young have been working together on NXT so the transition should be smooth. WWE .com had an article about the move playing up the fact that Young will be the first female commentator for the company in over a decade. I am not sure who they are claiming was the last. Sunny had roles on various shows so maybe that is who they are referencing. In any case this is a big deal and WWE commentary has been in bad need of a makeover for sometime.

This might be some baby steps in that direction which I think we all would welcome. The Cole, Lawler and JBL commentary team is about as stale as the current WWE Champion John Cena.

So congrats to Renee who I only ever briefly met at a Raptors game we both were covering. She really has made the most of her opportunity with the WWE. 




Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com

William Regal Is Coming Into His Own As A Broadcaster

I am going to save my thoughts on NXT Takeover for our podcast that will be out tonight. It is a big show for us as we welcome former ROH T.V Champion Matt Taven to our show. It is a very good interview and Matt has some really cool things to say about ROH heading to PPV on June 22nd. I really like Steve Corino who does commentary for ROH. I think he is growing into his role as commentator. He like many, not just in wrestling, but in sports was a former competitor in the ring. Not every former wrestler or pro athlete is cut out for broadcasting.

This all leads me to the point of this blog to talk about William Regal and the tremendous job he did last night and has been doing for awhile lately down in NXT. I have made it no secret that I am not happy with commentary on the main roster. I may have much more critical opinion having studied broadcast journalism. Still, I think the average person can tell the difference between good and bad. It isn’t rocket science but it isn’t as easy as people thing it is either. One of the things you can try if you think you can do it, mute your T.V and call the action you’re seeing and record it. Listen back and evaluate if you did a good job at describing and adding to what you were seeing visually. It isn’t easy for the average person it is truly a craft.  This is a skill that you always are looking to constantly evolve in. Each time you do a broadcast, or have a chance to interview someone it is a new chance to improve and grow. If you fall into a rut and just start to mail it in the results in that will show. That is what I feel is happening with the main broadcast crew on Raw.

One of the things in that little experiment that I failed to have you experience was having people talking in your ear as you talk. That is what happens during a real broadcast with director and in case of WWE a producer named Vince McMahon in your ear. That is a jarring experience the first time you do a real broadcast to both listen and talk at the same time is a unique skill. Add in the fact that it is Vince, which I have never experienced, I would think that only amps up the pressure.

William Regal has both an entertaining way about him, but a brilliant way of mixing that and telling the story of a match. He can have you laughing one moment about how he talked with Tyler Breeze and comes up with some ridiculous things his fur or feather jacked is made from. In the next moment he can get across the gravity of the match Breeze is about to compete in for a chance to be NXT Champion. He describes things in the ring and really sells the import aspects of a hold or point in a match. He does something that J.R was oh so skilful at and still is. He makes you get emotionally invested in the product and people you are watching.

Where wrestling separates from traditional sports is that it is a wrestling announcer’s job to get over the talent. While there is some of that in pro sports especially in hometown broadcasts, at the end of the day we expecting objectivity. While in wrestling we have no real expectation of that and in fact sometimes it is great if it is totally irrational thinking. You can play favorites, as wrestling announcer especially in a heel role on commentary. Jessie Ventura and Bobby “The Brain” would lay the verbal smack down on the babyface wrestlers. Jessie use to go to town on Tito Santana to the point I wonder if Jessie was owed money by him.

William Regal really has grown as commentator and is truly reaching the peak of his skills at it. When Bray Wyatt took out JBL I hoped for a brief second that Regal would come out and replace him. No such luck in terms of this happening.

I love him on NXT and he does a wonderful job getting the new talent over, but he is needed far more on the main roster. Where some of the people he has put over so well in NXT, are having a difficult time adjusting to things on the big stage. A big part of the reason for these failures of recent arrivals from NXT happening falls at the feet of Cole, Lawler and Bradshaw. They have failed in their role to get these new talents over. It takes the talent and writers as well, but commentary is a big part of that.

William Regal we need you on Raw or Smackdown to help bring your brilliance to a larger audience. You would be shocked how much better an average match can become with great commentary. It is not all that different from how a great crowd can make a show seem better and bad crowd can make a decent show seem terrible.

So save us William Regal, you maybe our only hope to save commentary from the evil trio of liars that Bray Wyatt has pointed out.