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steelcurtain29

By steelcurtain29
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Dr LBC

Dr LBC

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, The Gnat said:

Rollins vs Ambrose at Mania seems more likely.

Stroman vs McIntyre is what I'd guess.

Yup.  And it would likely be Ambrose defending with Rollins overcoming.

Roman's going to be out for a year MINIMUM (that this is a recurrence is positive for him in that he's beaten it in the past, but in order for it to come back, typically that means it's come back stronger than before).

And the reality is, because they spent so much time pushing Roman as "the guy," they really don't have an "every-tool" guy on the roster right now (the look that will draw in the casual fan - which means bigger, those fans expect a certain physique/size in "the guy;" the mic skills, the ring work, the variety of character to be able to have his on-air personality and his Today Show personality, the believability).  The closest thing they have right now is actually Ronda and, facts are facts, Vince isn't going to make a woman the tippy-top face of his company.  Plus she's still green enough for it to be noticeable - though it would be nice to not see Ronda selling for 15+ minutes to the likes of Nikki Bella.

i know someone's going to throw Seth's name out there (and he's probably the closest right now), but reality is that his character is still underdeveloped (maybe if the let him win this World Cup - which is so clearly designed to just pettily take away the "Best in the World" moniker from CM Punk - and let Seth take on that moniker over the now-played-out Kingslayer and Architect ones) and his mic skills are, IMHO, strong enough to survive the heavy-handed scripting that Vince will undoubtedly do with whoever is "the guy."  Braun gives you the same match over and over again - which worked in Hogan's day, but won't work now.  AJ is old - I love him, but they're not going to make a 40+ year old the face of the company (even if Vince seems to forever put over the 50-year-olds that he made).  Bryan's working a part-time schedule, by his own choice, he's not going to be "the guy."  Finn's too small.  Joe and Owens aren't the right body type.  Unless they hotshot Matt Riddle or Keith Lee (and really neither of them are quite ready for that), they don't have anyone on NXT that is an all-tooler.  You're not going to be able to market Ciampa as a babyface.  Gargano and Cole are too small.  Ricochet is still too green on the mic and they haven't fleshed out his character well enough.  There's potential in Dream, but I think most of us know why Vince will never push him as his top guy - even if that's something we don't discuss on this site - and even if Vince could get past that, you have a more ready guy in Big E that would be ahead of him in line.  Aleister doesn't have the body type.  He could be "a top guy" but not "the top guy."  I can pretty much guarantee that what little Vince may have seen of him, his first thought is likely to be "CM Punk," which will evoke old biases.

Drew is probably the closest thing they've got right now, but he's always been a better heel than babyface and I'm not sure he's got a strong enough babyface character in him.  If it was me, I'd be pulling the trigger on and strapping a rocket to Cesaro.  At 37, he's still young enough that you can get 10 years out of him; he has charisma, a good look (the balding aside, but you can have him Bic his head regularly), and he can work with anyone.  But Vince won't do that.  This will be the point where guys like Cody and Omega will have the most leverage they might ever have on Vince, but I highly doubt they're willing to make that jump right now.  I do expect Vince to make a hard run at one or two of guys on the indies with WWE histories (particularly if they started out there).  Two names I can definitely see in that vein are Brian Cage (was actually in developmental at one point and was cut - as he talks about on his recent appearance on Austin's podcast) and John Morrison/Hennigan/Mundo/Impact.  Not sure of the status of either of their contracts with the various organizations they're working, but both have big enough names that you could have them bypass NXT (obviously with Morrison) and do a similar debut as they did with AJ in the Rumble.

I think we're going to see the fall season used to try some guys out in that "the guy" role or just below there.  That likely explains the Elias babyface turn.  He still has some greenness in the ring (and rushes a lot of things), but he sells extremely well and has charisma for days.  The Drifter/Singer character isn't a top babyface gimmick, but he has the ability to evolve from that.  We might see them try out Bobby Roode in that role - he's a shade older than the company would probably prefer - but I have trouble seeing Vince push a guy to the tippy-top that made his name in another company.  If Sami comes back from his injury as filled out as Dean came back from his, maybe you give him a run (though Vince still sees him as a goof) because he's fully capable of being another Bret Hart if you let him play serious; the concern I could see them having is propensity for getting injured on the long-term since he's now on three major surgeries in the span of his main roster career.

And then there's one other guy, and I've waffled back and forth on whether I think Vince would actually do it because he does have, at least, as much of a WWE past as Cage does, but he truly became a recognizable name in another company.  That being EC3.  He's more of a main roster product than an NXT type worker anyway.  And if you want to talk about someone whose debut would get a HUGE pop and who is capable of hitting the ground running, it's him.

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buno67

buno67

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1 hour ago, The LBC said:

...And then there's one other guy, and I've waffled back and forth on whether I think Vince would actually do it because he does have, at least, as much of a WWE past as Cage does, but he truly became a recognizable name in another company.  That being EC3.  He's more of a main roster product than an NXT type worker anyway.  And if you want to talk about someone whose debut would get a HUGE pop and who is capable of hitting the ground running, it's him.

1

After reading the previous information to this, I was surprised you left EC3 of your list but then you finished with this. He is the raw kind of wrestler you would want. I think his mic skills are getting better and better IMO. The stuff he has done with LArs have been pretty good. 

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Dr LBC

Dr LBC

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6 hours ago, buno67 said:

After reading the previous information to this, I was surprised you left EC3 of your list but then you finished with this. He is the raw kind of wrestler you would want. I think his mic skills are getting better and better IMO. The stuff he has done with LArs have been pretty good. 

I don't even really think he's that raw, per say.  He's doesn't work the indie style that so many of the guys in NXT work so he's had the tendency to look raw.  Really, he works much more of that sports entertainment style that the guys coming up from NXT have to learn to flow with on the main roster.  He's not perfect for "the guy" role - he could be, but he's not there yet - but he's he checks 4 out of 5 boxes which is more than you can say for a lot of guys on the main roster and a staggering majority of guys in NXT right now.  I honestly feel like, long term, Riddle's the guy to build the brand around, but that's 2-3 years away if we're being realistic - they'll be able to (lack of time lost to injuries permitted) get 10-15 years out of him (the later half of his 30's and all of his 40's), and he's got that literal baby face that makes him look younger than he is (Edge had it too), so he can be that marketable heartthrob whose also a legitimate badass.  It will just take time. 

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titans0021

titans0021

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23 hours ago, The LBC said:

(maybe if the let him win this World Cup - which is so clearly designed to just pettily take away the "Best in the World" moniker from CM Punk -

Not diving into things right now, but man, Smackdown was the first time I've been alright with a "CM Punk" chant in a real long time. They're practically begging for it.

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Dr LBC

Dr LBC

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Not sure either of them really had the athleticism to pull it off, but it would have been cool to see Nia eliminate Ember using the same finish Yokozuna used on Savage to end a Rumble - literally "bench pressed" (Savage did a lot to launch himself) Randy up in the air and over the top rope to the outside.

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Dr LBC

Dr LBC

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Glad to see Toni Storm win the MYC.  I'd actually argue she needed this more than Io did.  Though I do hope we get her presence in NXT the same way we've gotten Pete Dunne's because if she 's allowed to work stiff/strong style stuff the way she's been in Britain and Japan, she's probably the closest thing to another Asuka we're going to get there in a while (Shayna certainly can, but it's not really her style so much as the catch-wrestling/Barnett style stuff is).

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Fresh Prince

Fresh Prince

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55 minutes ago, The LBC said:

Not sure either of them really had the athleticism to pull it off, but it would have been cool to see Nia eliminate Ember using the same finish Yokozuna used on Savage to end a Rumble - literally "bench pressed" (Savage did a lot to launch himself) Randy up in the air and over the top rope to the outside.

While it was funny, if it did happen people would only criticize ember like they did savage for the idiotic pin in a rumble.

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