The following are highlights of a new Chad Dukes Wrestling Show interview with Doc Gallows:
On being a star in Japan: “In Japan, traditionally, whether you’re a baseball player, a musician, a baseball player, a pro wrestler, which thank god it’s very popular right now, you get kinda special treatment. These sponsors, these businessmen, I guess it’s kind of a status thing for them to take us out. So we get to eat in five-star restaurants all night long, we get to eat as much as we want, drink as much as we want, which is good sometimes, bad others. It’s a change in lifestyle, it really is… Over there they wanna buy the stuff off our backs. So I literally wear different gear to the ring every single night and then these collectors are waiting at the hotel to buy my stinky tights.”
On the Aces & Eights group: “As evidenced by my career, I’m a bit of a faction man. That was just a really neat, I really dug the vibe of it. I thought got to be myself a little bit for the first time, which translated into what I think became the Bullet Club success for me and stuff. I don’t know if a lot of people know this, but Mike Knox is probably my very best friend in wrestling, best friend since we laid eyes on each other. He’s my dude and getting to do that and be on TV with him, actually at one point there was talk of making us more of a TV tag team and running us for the tag belts and stuff, which never came to fruition… It was a great group of guys. Devon, I’m completely fond of him, we became friends. D-Lo Brown, he’s my boy as well. Just the whole thing, Garrett, Wes, no matter what you think of those guys in-ring or otherwise, it was a great group of guys, we had each other’s backs, we were friends outside the ring, and anytime you do that- it’s kinda like at WWE, Mercury, CM Punk, and I as the Straight Edge Society- anytime that you have that with guys, like we have in the Bullet Club now, it translates, people get it. It has a real feeling because it is real.”
On the end of the Straight Edge Society: “I felt like in 2010 when the Straight Edge Society ended that it was a shame because we had some real momentum. We came into Summer Slam 2010 and whatever mistakes Serena Deeb made, I don’t know, I can’t care to comment on, she got fired and [Joey Mercury] tore his pec in that match we had with Big Show. So it was kinda like the Straight Edge Society imploded in one night, so we never got to finish the storyline which I always thought was a shame.”
On CM Punk’s UFC move: “The UFC move shocked me. I knew some of the other entertainment stuff he was doing, I knew he was training his ass off, I knew he was a huge fan of it, so I kinda had an inkling. And then he announced it or they announced it, whatever, and I texted him and said, ‘Holy Crap dude, congratulations, I had no idea.’ I just talked to him in Japan, I know he’s training his butt off in Milwaukee and he’s really digging that. I hope for all the best for him.”
On Joey Mercury: “If there was ever a guy who knew this business from the inside out and could teach it to other people and knew how to convey it, it was Joey. I was in my mid-20s when Straight Edge thing was going, 25, 26 years old. Who better to stand on the ring apron and tag with, who better to second out to a match CM Punk. Joey and I tagged on six or seven overseas tours, we tagged on all the house shows, and I just think the world of both [Joey Mercury & CM Punk] as in-ring performers, as entertainers, and as people. Getting to be with those guys it was kinda like going to medical school after college or something.”
On Finn Balor: “He’s a guy who can go, he has a charisma, not so much a charisma but he has mystique. And I think that when mystique’s gone, like now in a lot of cases, that it hurts. But if you look at like a Bray Wyatt, and there’s mystique there, I love him, huge fan of him, he’s a friend of mine, and I love what he’s doing and what they’ve done with him. And I think that Devitt, if they can capture him just right, he’s gonna be able to captivate an audience and be a major league, big fight feel superstar in that company.”
As noted recently, WWE is looking at Adrian Neville as the next main roster call-up from NXT, however they are some matches and programs they would like him to do in NXT first.
WWE officials want Neville to work with Hideo Itami and Finn Balor in singles programs, and also a potential triple-threat feud for the NXT Championship with he, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
The following are highlights of a new Finn Balor interview from The Score:
On being in WWE: “It’s kind of like the culmination of 14 years hard work. At the beginning, I just wanted to have a wrestling match, and I did that in England. I just took it step by step and to be here in WWE — it’s a real feeling of achievement. But now that I’m here, I want to achieve more. So this is the beginning of a whole new chapter for me. It’s been an incredible experience so far and I’m just looking forward to seeing what happens in the future. WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world, and it is that for a reason.”
On learning at the WWE Performance Center: “The coaches here include Billy Gunn, Matt Bloom, Norman Smiley and Terry Taylor… So there’s just a wealth of experience to learn from. It’s really been like the floodgates have opened for me. The amount I’ve learned in the last three or four months here has surpassed what I learned in the past three or four years before that.”
On the busy schedule in NXT: “The schedule here [is manic]. We’re working six days a week. We train in the ring three hours in the morning and an hour and a half in the weight room in the afternoon Monday to Friday. Then Thursday, Friday and Saturday we have shows in the evening where we’re competing. So there’s very little free time to get home, and at the moment, it’s all eyes on the prize, and training to build my career in NXT.”
– A tag-team rematch from NXT Takeover: R Evolution between The Ascension and the team of Hideo Itami and Finn Balor is confirmed to take place on next week’s edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network.
– As noted a few weeks ago, Matt Hardy and his wife — Reby Sky — are expecting their first child together. In the video below, they reveal that they are having a boy.
Former WWE head trainer Dr. Tom Prichard recently spoke with Title Match Wrestling about a number of topics, including WWE’s next big breakout stars, Sting joining WWE and the WWE Network.
Prichard says he believes WWE’s next big breakout stars are former NXT Champion Adrian Neville Finn Balor. Prichard also said WWE dropped the ball with Bo Dallas and thinks he should be given another shot.
He also thinks WWE dropped the ball with Sting’s debut at Survivor Series and gives some suggestions on how the WWE Network can gain more subscribers.
Next week’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network, which falls on Christmas day, will feature Charlotte defending the NXT Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks in a rematch from NXT Takeover: R Evolution. WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair will accompany Charlotte to the ring for the bout.
Additionally, next week’s edition of NXT will feature another NXT Takeover: R Evolution rematch, as the team of Finn Balor and Hideo Itami take on The Ascension.
Sometimes things work out. Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins.
Other times, things don’t. Adam Rose, Bo Dallas, Fandango.
After last week’s NXT Takeover: R Evolution special, which fans are still raving about a week later, it became crystal clear to me that WWE is developing a number of future Superstars that have the potential to lead the company into the next generation.
Today, we are going to look at ten current performers/acts in the NXT system that I feel have the best shot at achieving success on the main WWE roster. With that being said, lets jump right into the list at number ten….
#10. The Lucha Dragons
The Lucha Dragons — Kalisto and Sin Cara, two talents that as individuals could flourish, but as a unit, make up one of the best tag-teams in WWE’s developmental system. Their ring work is solid and entertaining. Crowd pleasing. The gimmick is another story, but unfortunately, with WWE being in the middle of their PG-era, gimmicks and characters such as these two are unavoidable.
With that being said, they are what they are, and that’s a great tag-team combination. They’re the Los Matadores, only better. That’s not a knock against them, despite the fact it could be seen as one. If they remain under their current gimmick, it’s pretty much a given that they’ll never reach past mid-card, comedy-team status, but like I said, we’re going to have that one way or the other. Since that’s the case, it might as well be two guys who are as talented as these two.
I think it’s a given that these two guys will eventually make it to the main roster, and equally as predictable is the way in which they’ll be used. They’ll be two guys in a tag-team division on the main WWE roster that isn’t worth much, but for whatever it is worth, these two guys have the potential to be among the top teams in the company. While that’s not saying much, it’s saying something, and in this day and age, you pretty much have to take what you can get if you’re an aspiring wrestler.
#9. Tyler Breeze
Much like The Lucha Dragons, I feel that Tyler Breeze is an extremely talented worker, but is unfortunately stuck in a lame-duck gimmick. On social media, I’ve read a lot of comments that makes it seem like fans are actually believers of the Tyler Breeze gimmick in the sense that it could actually go somewhere on the main roster.
I am not one of those believers.
I’m of the opinion that if Breeze jumps to the main roster and is used with the same exact character that he has now, it’s one that has a ceiling that comes with it. This type of character can only go so far. Think of talents like Fandango and Adam Rose and how they are positioned on the main roster, and you’ve got my opinion of how Breeze would be used in this type of role.
If they were to change his gimmick, he certainly has the potential to go further than this type of character would allow. He’s got the talent in the ring, he has a unique charisma about him and he’s got a great look. His promo work is decent, nothing to ride home about in my opinion, but he’s got enough tools to work with that if he was given a different type of character, it would be interesting to see how far he could take it. Maybe if they started a character-change in NXT and let it grow a bit, that would be the route to take in terms of preparing him for a call up to the big leagues.
Whether or not that ever happens is another subject entirely.
2014 is quickly coming to an end. With only two weeks left in the year, fans have seen basically everything the WWE has to offer in 2014, for better or worse. In particular, the fourth quarter of 2014 was filled with exciting action, unexpected debuts, and a noticeable lack of WWE World Heavyweight Championship matches.
With all four quarters essentially “in the books” at this point, we want you to familiarize yourself with our picks from all four quarters. Next week, we are going to create a poll where you can vote on your pick for 2014 Match Of The Year.
– Finn Balor’s new NXT theme song is doing big business on iTunes, as it recently landed on the Top 10 Rock chart.
– After winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Sunday’s WWE TLC pay-per-view, Dolph Ziggler posted the following tweet, pointing out his intentions on making the title mean more.
In an update on an earlier story, Finn Balor will apparently not be wearing his custom body paint permanently in NXT. It appears as though the paint will only be used for major shows, as was previously speculated.
Balor worked several matches at the NXT tapings on Friday night and did not wear the extensive body paint in any of them.
NXT Takeover: R Evolution Results Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida December 11, 2014
– Corey Graves announced that his in-ring career was over and that he was retiring due to concussions. However, it was revealed that he is joining the NXT announcing team. He makes his debut tonight.
– Kevin Owens def. C.J. Parker in the opening match on the show. The fans were heavily into Owens throughout the match. Owens ended up getting busted open pretty badly near the end of the match, likely from a palm strike from Parker. It looked like he may have suffered a broken nose. In the end, Owens picked up the win with a big power bomb for the 1-2-3.
– The Lucha Dragons def. The Vaudevillains to retain the NXT Tag-Team Championships. This was a fun match with a lot of high-spots and high-flying offense. The finish saw Kalisto hit the Salida del Sol on Simon Gotch for the 1-2-3.
– Baron Corbin def. Tye Dillinger in a quick squash. The fans did the routine where they count from the opening bell. The count died down when it got past 30, although the match didn’t last much longer than that. Corbin hit Dillinger with the End Of Days for the pinfall victory. After the match, he and Bull Dempsey, who was in the front row, had a long staredown.
– Finn Balor & Hideo Itami def. The Ascension in an awesome tag-team match. Balor’s entrance alone garnered “this is awesome” and “marking out” chants from the fans at Full Sail University. He had the head gear and the full-body paint, etc. The finish in this one saw Balor and Itami both hit a double-foot-stomp off the top, with Balor scoring the pinfall.
– Charlotte def. Sasha Banks to retain the NXT Women’s Championship. This was an excellent NXT Women’s match that had a lot of positive chants from the fans, such as “this is wrestling!” In the end, Charlotte hit the Natural Selection for the pinfall victory to retain the title.
– Sami Zayn def. Adrian Neville to become the new NXT Champion in the main event of the evening. This match tore down the house, exactly as you would expect. Zayn hit his big running boot to the face in the corner for the pinfall victory after a bunch of teases with ref bumps, which at one point actually led to the fans chanting “this ref sucks.” Lots of cool spots throughout this one and lots of intensity from the fans in attendance. After the match, the entire NXT roster, including Pat Patterson, came out to congratulate Zayn. They put him up on their shoulders and it was a big, giant celebration.
As Zayn was at ringside taking in the moment, Kevin Owens came out to congratulate his friend once again. He then viciously attacked him, reigniting their classic rivalry. Owens power bombed the new NXT champion onto the ring apron and the show closed with Zayn selling the attack.
Overall, an excellent show that showcased NXT’s unbelievably talented top stars.
Following this week’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network, below is the latest official lineup for the NXT Takeover: R Evolution live WWE Network special, which takes place on December 11th:
NXT Championship vs. Career Match
– Adrian Neville (c) vs. Sami Zayn
NXT Tag Team Championship
– Kalisto & Sin Cara (c) vs. Simon Gotch & Aiden English
NXT Women’s Championship
Charlotte (c) vs. Sasha Banks
– Finn Balor and Hideo Itami vs. The Ascension
– Kevin Owens debuts
Make sure to visit the website on December 11th for the best NXT Takeover: R Evolution live results coverage on the web!
– The recent “Journey to SummerSlam” special that aired on the WWE Network focusing on Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins embarking on their first post-Shield journeys, is scheduled to be extended and released as a DVD/Blu-ray project next year.
– There’s been some talk recently that Finn Balor and Hideo Itami will be making a run as NXT Tag-Team Champions before having singles runs in NXT. While there is no word regarding when the two will be called up to the main roster, it is believed that part of Balor’s deal when he signed with WWE was that he would not stay in the developmental system for too long.
Survivor Series is less than two weeks away, and while three matches on the card are essentially set, much of the program is still unannounced. So, will the WWE work to build a pay-per-view that is solid from top to bottom, or are they simply throwing in the towel because this is a “free” event? Here is the card is expect to see on November 23rd in St. Louis.
Adam Rose vs. The Bunny
After attacking the Bunny last week on Raw, it appears these two legends of the squared circle will square off sooner rather than later. This pairing has kickoff show written all over it, as the company tries to get the crowd going with a “humorous” contest.
Gold & Stardust (Tag Team Champions) vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos
Los Matadores have picked up a few victories over Gold & Stardust over the past few weeks, and the Miz and his stunt double have also feuded with the champs. Throw in the Usos to make an even number of teams, and you’ve got yourself an elimination tag team match for the straps.
If there was ever an awful time for a ten-person pay-per-view main event … this is it.
Why WWE is choosing to run with a ten-person elimination match for the upcoming Survivor Series show is completely beyond me. At this point in time, the depth among WWE’s roster is at one of the lowest that I can ever recall.
With top stars such as Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns on the shelf, and guys like CM Punk leaving at the peak of their popularity and Brock Lesnar working infrequently, WWE is left with very little at the top of the card. The only positive is that it forces them to move guys up the ladder at a faster rate than they normally might do.
With that being said, and I’m well aware that it’s a tradition to have multi-person elimination matches at Survivor Series, but I just can’t fathom why WWE is running with that concept this year, considering the state of their roster.
There’s been plenty of times in the past where they abandoned the elimination match concept at Survivor Series, so it’s not like something they have to make work because they do it every single year.
Regardless, that’s the direction we’re headed this year.
Having said that, one has to wonder how Survivor Series will come off later this month. WWE has put on some pretty solid pay-per-view shows in recent months, but I’ve got my reservations as to how well this show will come off in two weeks.
With pretty much all of the top guys either injured or involved in the main event, what is the rest of the show going to look like? Outside of Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose, thus far there’s virtually nothing on the Survivor Series undercard that I’m looking forward to.
Sure, Adam Rose vs. The Bunny will no doubt be an instant ring classic, but I digress.
All kidding aside, what’s left for the Survivor Series undercard? How many people that matter that aren’t tied up in the main event are left? The answer — not many.
It will be interesting to watch as the card continues to take shape in the final week of television next week leading up to the event.
By the way, if the stipulation in the Survivor Series main event has The Authority losing power if “Team Authority” loses the ten-man elimination main event, why isn’t Triple H trading his suit in for a pair of tights?
Beats me.
You would think with so much on the line, “The Game” would take matters into his own hands, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Unless I’m missing something, however, I guess it’s still possible, as last I checked there is one spot yet to be filled on the heel team. One would assume Triple H will fill that spot, although I haven’t seen any hints aimed in that direction.
While the roster is badly in need of some more depth right now, it is refreshing to know that the talent pool in developmental is as deep — if not deeper — than the current main roster in terms of promising young talent.
I can’t wait for guys like KENTA (Hideo Itami), Kevin Steen (Kevin Owens), Prince Devitt (Finn Balor), Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville, Tyler Breeze and The Ascension to get their chance to make a splash on the main roster.
Look at some of the recent call-ups from NXT and how they are performing on the main roster. Guys like Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt and others are among WWE’s absolute top-tier performers these days. If WWE brings in guys like the names I just mentioned the way those guys were, as opposed to say, the way Adam Rose and Bo Dallas were brought up, the WWE main roster could be quite the group this time next year.
If and when that day comes, WWE can put on as many ten-man elimination matches as they’d like. For now, however, it just boggles my mind that they are choosing to do so with the roster in the state that it’s in.
What do you guys think? Leave your feedback in the “Comments” section below. You can also hit me up on Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or on Twitter @MBoone420.
– On this week’s WWE SmackDown (which has already aired in the UK), WWE will announce John Cena vs. Ryback has been scheduled for Monday’s RAW from Liverpool, England. With Ryback’s renewed push, it will be very interesting to see how he’s booked against WWE’s top babyface. Ryback is rumored to be a member of Team Cena at Survivor Series, so this match could be a way to set that up.
– Sami Zayn defeated Tyler Breeze to become the new #1 contender on this week’s NXT. He’ll challenge NXT Champion Adrian Neville next week.
– Finn Balor (formerly Prince Devitt) made his NXT debut on this week’s show, coming to the aid of Hideo Itami in his feud against The Ascension.
Finn Bálor looks to impress in his debut on WWE NXT.
NXT General Manager William Regal discussed Balor’s debut:
In this week’s exclusive interview, NXT General Manager William Regal talks about the excitement surrounding the arrival of WWE NXT’s newest superstar – Finn Bálor.
– As a result of his victory over Tyler Breeze in the number one contender match on tonight’s edition of NXT, Sami Zayn earned himself a shot at NXT Champion Adrian Neville on next week’s show.
– Below is a backstage video of Finn Balor talking about his NXT television debut from tonight.
The following are highlights of a new Shake Them Ropes interview with former NXT trainer Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore:
On seeing the WWE Performance Center: “No, this is something that when I first saw it, it blew my mind. I heard they went and looked at the New York Giants facility to see what the standard is for professional athletes, and I feel like the Performance Center far exceeds that.”
On new talent coming in: “There’s a wide variety of talent there, from former professional athletes to actors to independent wrestlers… They’re people that can perform. It’s something special I saw at the Performance Center.”
On KENTA (Hideo Itami) and Prince Devitt’s (Finn Balor) integration into WWE: “Kenta would have English class every day to help with his English. Fergal had apparently never driven a car before, so he would have driving classes. WWE was right there to help anyone who wanted to take a college course to help them with their WWE product, WWE was a very helpful company. Phenomenal.”
While there is still one more set of television tapings before the next NXT live special, which is expected to take place on December 11th on the WWE Network, based on what has been taped thus far, the following matches are rumored for the fourth live NXT special:
NXT Championship:
– Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn
NXT Women’s Championship:
– Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks or Becky Lynch, or a multi-Diva match with Bayley included
NXT Tag-Team Championships:
– The Vaudevillians vs. The Lucha Dragons
NXT newcomer Finn Balor (formerly Prince Devitt) made his in-ring debut at Thursday night’s TV tapings from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. (Results)
NXT newcomer Finn Balor (formerly Prince Devitt) made his in-ring debut on Thursday night’s TV tapings from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
During the show set to air on November 6th, Hideo Itami (formerly Kenta) told the NXT fans that he had a friend coming to NXT that would help him battle The Ascension, with Balor making his first appearance in front of an NXT crowd and helping Itami take out the Ascension.
