NXT 5/11 Thread: A-Ry's Final RAGE

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

TL;DR Match Listings:
NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha v Corey Hollis and John Skyler
Shinsuke Nakamura v Alex Riley
Alexa Bliss v Rachael Ellering
Finn Balor v Elias Samson

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That's right, it's Wednesday again and that means ONLY one thing... A new episode of NXT, presented once more from the Full Sail Arena. We have some big names set for action tonight as we keep building towards the next Takeover card.

Our main event tonight sees the now former NXT Champion Finn Balor in action against that damn drifter Elias Samson, in his first TV appearance since losing that belt to Samoa Joe at a live event in Lowell, Massachusetts. We've seen the lengths Balor has gone to in the past to retain the belt, now it's time to see what he'll do in his quest to regain it, but can the nomadic Samson pull the upset and leave Balor still feeling the blues?

Also in singles competition tonight will be The King Of Strong Style, Shinsuke Nakamura, as he takes on Alex Riley in what will be A-Ri's last appearance in a WWE-sanctioned ring. Love him or hate him, Riley always brought fire and intensity to the ring. Can he harness that and pull off the victory over the smash hit sensation from Japan on his way out of the company?

And in other scheduled bouts, the NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha look to continue their run of success against Corey Hollis and John Skyler, while Alexa Bliss seeks to place herself in contention for Asuka's NXT Women's Championship as she takes on rookie second-generation talent Rachael Ellering, daughter of the Hall Of Fame manager of The Road Warriors, Paul Ellering.

All that, and maybe some other stuff, TONIGHT on NXT!

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

Our long global nightmare is almost over

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

May 11, 2016 5:04:55 GMT -5 El Cokehead del Knife Fight said:

Our long global nightmare is almost over

I know. Finn Balor is going to kill The Driftwood.

[Bad Moon]

Is there a bigger bitch in wrestling today than Alex Riley?
He's like a modern day Shane Douglas, he constantly claims (in and out of kayfabe) that he gets screwed over and buried politically when in reality he just sucks.

[Steveweiser]

Looking forward to seeing how Ellering fares - she only had her first match in November last year, and looked fairly good when I saw her on the last SHINE iPPV.

I was going to call the thread "The Last RAGE" if I managed to do the thread, so a similar thought process here.

[Deleted]

I don't know if I could watch this show. If there's a "thank you Shinsuke" chant I might get emotional.

[A Platypus Rave]

Well like Dylan Thomas said "Do not go gentle into that good night"

[Talent Name]

STREETS OF RAGE

[111111]

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

[Hypnosis]

May 11, 2016 11:37:51 GMT -5 Talent Name said:

STREETS OF RAGE

Well, Alex is an anagram of Axel.

[amazingoopah]

May 11, 2016 9:54:35 GMT -5 @nichotine said:

I don't know if I could watch this show. If there's a "thank you A-Ri" chant I might get emotional.

Fixed it for you.

[Deleted]

May 11, 2016 13:18:17 GMT -5 amazingoopah said:

May 11, 2016 9:54:35 GMT -5 @nichotine said:

I don't know if I could watch this show. If there's a "thank you A-Ri" chant I might get emotional.

Fixed it for you.

If I could be serious for a moment I do think that they had a good character with A-Ri currently, as the guy who was brought in during the "models and bodybuilder" era who is seeing all these Average Joe workhorses come in and taking his spot and wondering what the f*** happened.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

May 11, 2016 13:35:14 GMT -5 @nichotine said:

May 11, 2016 13:18:17 GMT -5 amazingoopah said:

Fixed it for you.

If I could be serious for a moment I do think that they had a good character with A-Ri currently, as the guy who was brought in during the "models and bodybuilder" era who is seeing all these Average Joe workhorses come in and taking his spot and wondering what the f*** happened.

I think it has less to do with "his spot" or "average Joe looking guys" and more to do with the fact that he got straight up written off As having no talent just because he just happened to come up in that era where Talent Relations and developmental sucked. Riley was a fairly decent workhorse in his own right and busted his ass to be the best worker he could be. Not great, obviously nowhere near the Indy dudes' level, but a hell of an athlete in spite of his muscular build and arguably one of the better pure in-ring workers out of the "Clone Army" types.

Like it pisses him off that he gets unfairly lumped in with the Nathan Jones, melty dude, or that guy who murdered his girlfriend.

[Mister Pigwell]

May 11, 2016 13:45:53 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

May 11, 2016 13:35:14 GMT -5 @nichotine said:

If I could be serious for a moment I do think that they had a good character with A-Ri currently, as the guy who was brought in during the "models and bodybuilder" era who is seeing all these Average Joe workhorses come in and taking his spot and wondering what the f*** happened.

I think it has less to do with "his spot" or "average Joe looking guys" and more to do with the fact that he got straight up written off As having no talent just because he just happened to come up in that era where Talent Relations and developmental sucked. Riley was a fairly decent workhorse in his own right and busted his ass to be the best worker he could be. Not great, obviously nowhere near the Indy dudes' level, but a hell of an athlete in spite of his muscular build and arguably one of the better pure in-ring workers out of the "Clone Army" types.

Like it pisses him off that he gets unfairly lumped in with the Nathan Jones, melty dude, or that guy who murdered his girlfriend.

You're doing that "saying something that isn't happening and doesn't have a basis in reality" thing again.

[Deleted]

May 11, 2016 13:45:53 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

May 11, 2016 13:35:14 GMT -5 @nichotine said:

If I could be serious for a moment I do think that they had a good character with A-Ri currently, as the guy who was brought in during the "models and bodybuilder" era who is seeing all these Average Joe workhorses come in and taking his spot and wondering what the f*** happened.

I think it has less to do with "his spot" or "average Joe looking guys" and more to do with the fact that he got straight up written off As having no talent just because he just happened to come up in that era where Talent Relations and developmental sucked. Riley was a fairly decent workhorse in his own right and busted his ass to be the best worker he could be. Not great, obviously nowhere near the Indy dudes' level, but a hell of an athlete in spite of his muscular build and arguably one of the better pure in-ring workers out of the "Clone Army" types.

Like it pisses him off that he gets unfairly lumped in with the Nathan Jones, melty dude, or that guy who murdered his girlfriend.

Sometimes life is unfair. I've worked with people that got laid off while other people who don't work nearly as hard or perform as well as them kept their jobs. That's they way things go sometimes. You have to accept that if you want to be a productive adult in the kind of work situation we have these days.

[A Platypus Rave]

Ignoring the "people put him on the level of a murderer" (Who... I honestly have no idea who you are even talking about with that one)

I have rarely seen anyone say he was on the level of Nathan Jones or Buck Dixon. (For one thing I don't know anyone who ever saw Buck McMeltyman wrestle and only goofed at his terrible pictures)

You kept saying how great a worker he was... but I have never seen anything from him that didn't put him above "ok"

I've said he isn't bad... but he never showed anything that I would have personally put on as good.

Let alone one of the best workers of an era like you trumpet... which also contradicts what you say earlier about him not being a great worker.

You can't be the best of a generation and not be great especially when that generation had great workers in it.

[Push R Truth]

[Allie Kitsune]

The Drifter is never going to be a thing, and they need to give up on trying to make it happen.

[Stu]

May 11, 2016 13:45:53 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

May 11, 2016 13:35:14 GMT -5 @nichotine said:

If I could be serious for a moment I do think that they had a good character with A-Ri currently, as the guy who was brought in during the "models and bodybuilder" era who is seeing all these Average Joe workhorses come in and taking his spot and wondering what the f*** happened.

I think it has less to do with "his spot" or "average Joe looking guys" and more to do with the fact that he got straight up written off As having no talent just because he just happened to come up in that era where Talent Relations and developmental sucked. Riley was a fairly decent workhorse in his own right and busted his ass to be the best worker he could be. Not great, obviously nowhere near the Indy dudes' level, but a hell of an athlete in spite of his muscular build and arguably one of the better pure in-ring workers out of the "Clone Army" types.

Like it pisses him off that he gets unfairly lumped in with the Nathan Jones, melty dude, or that guy who murdered his girlfriend.

Pretty sure you're the first person I ever saw use Alex Riley in the same sentence as Nathan Jones, melty dude or that guy who murdered his girlfriend.

[Zombie Mod]

so after this week's nxt show, we never ever have to have the words "riley" and "alex" used ever again on this part of the board?