Posts Tagged ‘NXT TakeOver: Dallas’

Asuka Criticizes Japanese Wrestling Scene After NXT TakeOver: Dallas Title Win

Late last night, newly crowned NXT Women’s Champion Asuka posted several lengthy tweets in Japanese, and the always reliable E. Key Oide on Twitter translated them. It turns out she had some pointed comments at those who point to her and Shinsuke Nakamura’s backgrounds in Japanese promotions as the reason for their superior skill level, as well as criticisms of the women’s wrestling scene back at home. In Japan, the women’s wrestling scene, while having a loyal cult following, has been running on fumes with independent level promotions for the past decade-plus. It’s a far cry from when All Japan Women was a hugely successful touring promotion in the ’80s and ’90s, and in here tweets, Asuka goes into why.

Here’s the translation (again, go follow E. Key Oide if you’re into translations from Japanese wrestlers and stuff like that):

I got the title! And I did it with a zero loss winning streak, record-setting quickness. I see some people tweeting about the high level of Japanese performers, based on my accomplishments. Those types of comments just don’t sit well with me. I’ll come right out and say it! The level of women in Japan isn’t that great. My fights against various Divas and experiences with many superstars on my road to gaining the title makes me sure of that.

The Japanese performers who are making strides in WWE aren’t making strides because Japan is at a higher level. It’s all because of the skills and techniques possessed by the individual. In the past, I’d criticized women’s wrestling for only doing matches that appeal to fans of women’s wrestling. And now I can expand on that point. This type of wrestling is too niche to succeed. They try to appeal solely to a Japanese audience, yet expect to gain popularity on a global level.

There’s been instances where Japan was expected to be the best in the world for a certain field or industry, but ended up being surpassed before they knew it…

I now see a similar phenomenon taking place for wrestling. I don’t consider myself to be a representative of Japanese women’s wrestling, just because I’m Japanese. Why? Because, like I’ve said before, there’s too many elements that prohibit this type of wrestling from attaining worldwide success. It could be partly due to a difference in culture: Japanese wrestling fans see wrestling as a process of subtraction, while the WWE Universe see wrestling as a process of addition. If wrestling is considered as a process of subtraction, then there is more emphasis placed on avoiding mistakes, which leads to tighter matches… at the cost of any hope for growth.

Why? Because everybody looks for that one mistake, then makes a huge fuss over it, like they’ve accomplished something great. The result? I was the only female wrestler in Japan able to take this path. But! If you want to abandon all pretense that Japanese women’s wrestling can compete on a global level? If you want to stay the course, only focus on appealing to women’s wrestling fans?

The issues I bring up cease to be problems. In that case, it’d be like comparing apples and oranges -that style is in a world entirely removed from mine. Ultimately, whoever gets results will have the greatest weapon in justifying their position.

Me? I’ll just keep raising the bar with the Divas.

The note about not understanding how to appeal to audiences outside of Japan may be a pointed reference to New Japan Pro Wrestling. In the last year or two, management has publicly spoken about wanting to expand internationally but don’t appear to have a good roadmap on how to get there. The NJPW World streaming service was a step in the right direction, but they haven’t made any real attempt to make alternate language versions of the website. There’s an integrated Google Translate mechanism to view the site in English, but being a machine translation, it’s heavily flawed, and you can’t use the site’s search feature in English.

There was also a lot of criticism from fans and wrestling media with their choice of English announcers for major shows. It was less that they picked Kevin Kelly and Matt Striker (though there was negativity on Striker in some circles) and more that NJPW’s most visible in English via their AXS TV show. While the AXS show is produced via an agreement with Japanese TV network TV Asahi and not NJPW proper, the AXS announcing team (then Josh Barnett and Mauro Ranallo, now Barnett and Jim Ross) were the voice of NJPW to English speaking fans. Yet Ranallo and Barnett weren’t contacted.

That said, Stardom, the leading women’s promotion in Japan, is also trying to make strides with Stardom World, a paid subscription channel on YouTube. It’s available to most of the world, there’s no commentary (as opposed to Japanese commentary), it’s inexpensive at $4.99 per month, and being on YouTube means it’s accessible on many more devices than NJPW World. Asuka’s not wrong that the style can be way too niche for a lot of people, but her success in NXT may lead to more people at least checking out Stardom World’s 14 day free trial.

Video Leaks Of Shinsuke Nakamura Practicing Entrance For NXT TakeOver: Dallas

A few minutes ago, Wrestling Twitter exploded upon seeing that the above video of Shinsuke Nakamura practicing his entrance inside the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center had been uploaded to YouTube. Surreptitiously shot from behind a railing, it catches the vast majority Nakamura’s entrance, including his new entrance music. Uploaded by “Scott Nebenzahl,” the video has a description that simply reads “Don’t ask how I got this ?.” No public videos had been uploaded to the account in five years before today and there’s no indication who shot it. In case YouTube gets the original upload pulled from YouTube, there are mirrors on Streamable, Vid.me, and SendVid.

Nakamura makes his WWE debut tonight at NXT TakeOver: Dallas against Sami Zayn, who will be done with NXT after tonight. Stay right here at SEScoops for live coverage of the whole card, which airs live on WWE Network from the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center.

Shinsuke Nakamura’s Name Change For WWE/NXT

It looks like Shinsuke Nakamura will just be known as Nakamura to the WWE/NXT universe. The King Of Strong Style is listed by his last name only in the Wrestlemania 32 program being sold at the WWE Superstore and considering Chad Gable, Jason Jordan and Apollo Crews are on the same page with their full names — it seems like the name drop will happen.

It’s interesting to note that Nakamura is listed with NXT talent in the program, leading many to think he will spend more time than most believed on NXT programming. There is not much known about Nakamura’s direction with NXT/WWE, but this could be a good indication. Or it simply could just be they have him in the NXT section because he is debuting with NXT.

Nakamura is set to debut at NXT TakeOver: Dallas in a match against Sami Zayn . It has been one of the most talked about and highly anticipated matches on both NXT and WWE’s weekend events. The event is live on the WWE Network, Friday April 1.

Nakamura shinsuke wwe nxt takeover dallas wrestling name change

Spoiler On Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows’ WWE Debuts

Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows are scheduled to be at this week’s WWE TV tapings, as first reported by PWInsider. They will be backstage at WrestleMania on Sunday and are scheduled to debut on the main roster within the next week.

Karl Anderson was training at the WWE Performance Center earlier this week. NXT head trainer Jason Albert tweeted a photo of Anderson in Orlando, so they’re not keeping it a huge secret.

It remains to be seen if they will be aligned with Finn Balor from the get go. Rumored names for the faction include Balor Club and Bulletproof.

Balor defends the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe tomorrow night at NXT Takeover: Dallas.

Final Card For Friday’s NXT Takeover: Dallas

Following this week’s episode of NXT, Apollo Crews vs. Elias Samson is now official for Friday’s NXT”Takeover: Dallas special. Here’s the final card for the show:

  • NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe
  • NXT Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Asuka
  • NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival vs. American Alpha
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn
  • Austin Aries vs. Baron Corbin
  • Apollo Crews vs. Elias Samson

NXT Takeover: Dallas airs live this Friday night on the WWE Network. Join us here for Live Coverage of the event.

Backstage Heat Over NXT Takeover Omission From WrestleMania Week Promo Video

On Monday’s RAW it was advertised that the WWE Network will feature 7 hours of WrestleMania coverage and the Hall of Fame ceremony, but NXT Takeover: Dallas got no mention. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that a lot of people within the company are openly unhappy that the NXT event was not promoted on RAW.

Either someone simply forgot to include NXT Takeover in their WrestleMania week lineup, or someone in WWE felt it wasn’t important enough. One conspiracy theory is that Kevin Dunn may have made the decision to leave Takeover off the promotional video on RAW. NXT is considered to be Triple H’s project, and Dunn has nothing to do with the NXT product.

Meltzer noted that the feeling within WWE is that Dunn will likely be let go when Triple H and Stephanie McMahon eventually take over the company.

NXT Takeover: Dallas will take place on April 1 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, and will feature Shinsuke Nakamura’s debut.

Nakamura vs. Zayn, Bayley vs. Asuka Set For NXT Takeover Dallas

Former NJPW star Shinsuke Nakamura will make his NXT debut at Takeover: Dallas against Sami Zayn. On this week’s episode of NXT, Zayn was talking about losing to Samoa Joe the previous week and failing to become #1 contender to Finn Balor’s NXT Championship. General Manager William Regal interrupted Zayn and announced that Zayn’s Takeover  opponent has been determined.

A pre-taped video played showing Shinsuke Nakamura, who issued the challenge. The crowd knew exactly who Nakamura was and his arrival in WWE has been anticipated since the first week of 2016.

It was also announced that Bayley will put the NXT Women’s championship on the line against Asuka.

With those matches set, here’s the updated card for NXT Takeover Dallas, which takes place on Friday night, April 1st from Dallas, Texas at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The show airs live on the WWE Network.

  • NXT Champion Finn Bálor vs. Samoa Joe
  • Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
  • NXT Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Asuka
  • NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival vs. American Alpha
  • Austin Aries vs. Baron Corbin
  • Apollo Crews vs. Elias Samson

Top Matches Announced For NXT Takeover: Dallas

Following this week’s episode of NXT, we’ve got two big matches announced for next month’s NXT Takeover: Dallas event.

Samoa Joe defeated Sami Zayn in a Best of 3 Falls match to earn a shot at Finn Balor’s NXT Championship. NXT General Manager William Regal also announced that Austin Aries will face the man who spoiled his NXT debut last week, Baron Corbin.

WWE also announced that former New Japan Pro Wrestling star Shinsuke Nakamura will debut at Takeover: Dallas.

Based on recent NXT TV tapings, we know there are 3 more matches confirmed for the card as well.

NXT Takeover: Dallas takes place on Friday night, April 1st in Dallas, Texas at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The show will air live on the WWE Network.

Spoilers – NXT Takeover: Dallas Card Looks Insane

The card for NXT’s next Takeover special took shape at Wednesday night’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. NXT Takeover: Dallas takes place on Friday, April 1st during WrestleMania weekend in Dallas, Texas and will feature the following lineup:

  • NXT Championship: Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe II
  • Shinsuke Nakamura debuts against Sami Zayn
  • Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Asuka
  • Tag Team Championships: Dash and Dawson vs. Jason Jordan & Chad Gable
  • Austin Aries vs. Baron Corbin

This is an absolutely stacked card that’s got the potential to be the best wrestling show during WrestleMania weekend.

 

The Rock’s RAW Status For WrestleMania Season, Changes Made For NXT TakeOver: Dallas

– Regarding The Rock’s confirmed WrestleMania 32 appearance in April, which he continues to claim will “make history,” his availability to appear on RAW to help promote and build-up his appearance could be limited due to his Baywatch filming schedule.

– WWE is planning to use a smaller stage for their upcoming NXT TakeOver: Dallas live special during WrestleMania 32 weekend in April. The new stage setup will block fewer seats than usual and will allow an estimated 9,156 fans inside the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, as opposed to the 7,000 seats normally available with their standard setup. NXT TakeOver: Dallas is projected to be the third most-attended NXT event in history, trailing only NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn at the Barclays Center and NXT TakeOver: London at Wembley Arena.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Tickets For NXT TakeOver: Dallas & January Live Events Sell Out, Hot Secondary Market

Tickets for the NXT TakeOver: Dallas event scheduled for WrestleMania 32 weekend (4/1/16) officially sold out moments after going on sale to the general public on Saturday morning. It’s another sign that the NXT brand is on fire as they continue to draw extremely well in new markets.

It’s worth noting that there are a ton of NXT tickets available on the secondary market and sites like Stubhub.com. The hype surrounding these shows drives up activity by scalpers. Fans looking to attend who got shut out initially will have to fork over well over value to see NXT live in the coming months.

Triple H touted the sell outs for NXT TakeOver: Dallas as well as NXT’s January tour:

NXT TakeOver: Dallas Announced For WrestleMania Weekend

On Saturday, Triple H announced via his official Twitter page the official details for a NXT TakeOver special during WrestleMania weekend in April.

“The Game” posted a photo of himself holding a ticket with the caption reading, “This is the ticket you’re gonna want… NXT the takeover continues. NXT TakeOver: Dallas. April 1. [Tickets] on sale 12/19.”

WWE.com later followed up with this update:

“WWE COO Triple H announced on Twitter that the next edition of the highly acclaimed series of WWE Network live specials is coming to Dallas on Friday, April 1, 2016, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas. NXT has made a huge impact in 2015 as it grew into a worldwide phenomenon, including sold-out specials in Brooklyn, N.Y., and London. 2016 looks to be even bigger for NXT, with TakeOver coming to the Lone Star State.”