NXT Callups: The Second Night

[Abdullah]

Just got done watching SDL. Much better reactions for DIY and Black. Much better booking and commentary for Black as well. Maybe they saw what they did wrong last night and lucked out with a hotter crowd or maybe there is a fundamental difference between the two brands.

But what do you do now? Are they still there next week? Are they around because WWE called up the wrong people a few months ago? As much as I’d prefer them, all of them, on Smackdown... there’s no room. Rey went missing this week. Rusev too. Nakamura and Truth. That’s before you get to the people who are always MIA.

[ayumidah]

I'm a little more concerned about Ciampa's knee right now, but past that, depending on what the NXT announcement is tomorrow, I'd be ok with them staying in NXT at least until Mania.

[xxshoyuweeniexx]

It helped that the crowd wasn’t awful as well as commentary not being f***ing terrible.

I mean Tom and Bryon are bland goobers when they talk, but they at least added to and didn’t detract to the NXT guys. Unlike Cole who just sounds like your dad trying to tell you about how cool Andy Griffith was in Matlock.

[Shark]

Caliber of opponents, different booking style, different commentary, better audience, different backstage atmosphere. Lot of factors in this.

Let's look at Raw. Black gets the death slot in the 3rd hour and the show had been so bad by that point that he had no hope. Plus, he faced Elias, a fine talent, but limited in what he can really do. Tonight, they do a highlight package for him, he's in the opening match so the crowd is hot, Tom and Byron could talk about him in a way that didn't sound horribly scripted and he faced Almas, a guy he has fantastic chemistry with in front of a crowd that that were excited to see them.

Gargano and Ciampa had largely the same match, but the dynamic was much different and honestly a little better. They got to do a short interview that showed Gargano's more cocky side as well as help establish Ciampa as someone obsessed with his title. Then they do a short promo with the Bar who were great as the bullies, but DIY don't back down from them. Compare that to Raw where the backstage segment was cluttered with 6 guys, why Roode and Gable were there I don't know, and you end up with a bit of a mess.

Ricochet even got a chance to showcase his skill on his own instead of needing to share the spotlight with Balor and the ongoing Lashley-Lio saga. He also got a hype video like Black.

From all I've also heard, Raw and Smackdown have very different atmospheres backstage. I imagine they may have felt a little pressure being on the flagship show, or at least feeling the scrutiny from the established names. On Smackdown, they likely didn't feel that. Maybe a more laid back environment, maybe a more laid back and welcoming crew.

[Final Countdown Jones]

If they had hype videos, then I feel like it goes to my theory about how this was a snap decision out of nowhere that Vince made on very little notice, possibly over the weekend, and they had no time to adjust or prep anything for anybody. That's the only excuse I can see for why they wouldn't air any video packages on Raw, and why they did this whole thing in Lafayette when their March Raw schedule is exclusively major markets and the show after a PPV should reasonably be moving things forward into Fast Lane way more than they were able to do with three showcase matches on each show reserved for people seemingly not on the roster.

[Urethra Franklin]

Just listened to Meltzer and here’s the quick version:

- Call-ups were Vince’s decision. He wanted the four best guys and he wanted them immediately. Dave isn’t sure who picked the four, but it appears that HHH wasn’t involved.

- HHH got Ricochet’s match changed. It was supposed to have been Ricochet vs. Balor in a showcase match, but HHH convinced Vince that neither guy should/could afford to do the job, so that’s why Lashley and Rush were put back together after seemingly splitting up at the PPV.

- All of these guys are working RAW, SD and NXT for the immediate future before a permanent decision is made as to what brand they’re on, but they are gone from NXT going forward.

- It appears that The Revival will defend against DIY at the PPV - there’s a very good chance that the yearlong Gargano vs. Ciampa feud may never get a payoff because they’re just a babyface team again.

[MAGGLE]

Feb 20, 2019 7:49:28 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

Just listened to Meltzer and here’s the quick version:

- Call-ups were Vince’s decision. He wanted the four best guys and he wanted them immediately. Dave isn’t sure who picked the four, but it appears that HHH wasn’t involved.

- HHH got Ricochet’s match changed. It was supposed to have been Ricochet vs. Balor in a showcase match, but HHH convinced Vince that neither guy should/could afford to do the job, so that’s why Lashley and Rush were put back together after seemingly splitting up at the PPV.

- All of these guys are working RAW, SD and NXT for the immediate future before a permanent decision is made as to what brand they’re on, but they are gone from NXT going forward.

- It appears that The Revival will defend against DIY at the PPV - there’s a very good chance that the yearlong Gargano vs. Ciampa feud may never get a payoff because they’re just a babyface team again.

Hahahaha hilarious and sad.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Feb 20, 2019 7:49:28 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

It appears that The Revival will defend against DIY at the PPV - there’s a very good chance that the yearlong Gargano vs. Ciampa feud may never get a payoff because they’re just a babyface team again.

Well, you could blame many people. Sure, you could take it out on Vince for calling up Ciampa and Gargano before they finished it, but... They’d dragged it out for so long as it was, I mean there are people here that will tell you that they were getting bored of it and it was hurting Gargano more and more the longer it went on. They had an awesome match that could have served as the perfect conclusion to it in New Orleans, but then they kept it going through Chicago, had another chance to finish it at Brooklyn IV but didn’t... and now they’re probably not going to.

Thankfully, they’d already started teaming again occasionally before this, so it’s slightly less jarring in that regard. Although semi-babyface Ciampa is going to be weird to get used to again.

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2019 7:49:28 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

Just listened to Meltzer and here’s the quick version:

- Call-ups were Vince’s decision. He wanted the four best guys and he wanted them immediately. Dave isn’t sure who picked the four, but it appears that HHH wasn’t involved.

- HHH got Ricochet’s match changed. It was supposed to have been Ricochet vs. Balor in a showcase match, but HHH convinced Vince that neither guy should/could afford to do the job, so that’s why Lashley and Rush were put back together after seemingly splitting up at the PPV.

- All of these guys are working RAW, SD and NXT for the immediate future before a permanent decision is made as to what brand they’re on, but they are gone from NXT going forward.

- It appears that The Revival will defend against DIY at the PPV - there’s a very good chance that the yearlong Gargano vs. Ciampa feud may never get a payoff because they’re just a babyface team again.

Jesus Christ, Balor vs. Ricochet is a WrestleMania (or a SummerSlam at LEAST) quality match. I'm glad HHH at least was able to change that.

[Tenshigure]

Feb 20, 2019 7:49:28 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

- Call-ups were Vince’s decision. He wanted the four best guys and he wanted them immediately. Dave isn’t sure who picked the four, but it appears that HHH wasn’t involved.

So, Vince wanted some...top guys..?

- All of these guys are working RAW, SD and NXT for the immediate future before a permanent decision is made as to what brand they’re on, but they are gone from NXT going forward.

- It appears that The Revival will defend against DIY at the PPV - there’s a very good chance that the yearlong Gargano vs. Ciampa feud may never get a payoff because they’re just a babyface team again.

...Vince, just call NXT your third brand and call it a day instead of burning your talent out on all three shows, please...

[abjordans]

I have seen a lot of talk about guys still holding NXT titles and how that is going to be handled, but part of that was handled before these call ups even were a blip at tapings from a few weeks ago.

[lookout]

wow...he didnt even give hhh notice? that is really disrespectful. unreal that vince did this with no build up, no real plan, and just like that leaving nxt in a tough spot. As if anyone needs more evidence that vince has truly lost his mind but good grief...it's hard to believe hhh wasnt pissed off.

[sportatorium]

Triple H doesn’t need to be pissed off. The guys are getting main roster money and he can rebook Dream, Undisputed Era, Matt Riddle & Keith Lee at the top of the card.

I don’t know if I fully buy that Vince just called them up out of the blue. They were 4 of the 6 on Halftime Heat and the other two being left in NXT makes a tiny bit more sense.

That said, not paying off Gargano/Ciampa is a shame. Misusing these 4 like they have with the insane amount of talent they’ve already misused makes me worried.


Please though, give me a motivated, evil Randy Orton for a Gargano feud where they can tear it up together & Randy can put him over like few others can.

[Bub (BLM)]

Ciampa turning face for no reason... >_<

[Prince Petty]

Ciampa... a babyface... after all that. All that character development and hard work and commitment to reinventing himself. Tell me again, how did Vince ever win the Monday Night Wars?

[The Legendary Ring Troll {BLM}]

Feb 20, 2019 9:23:42 GMT -5 abjordans said:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}I have seen a lot of talk about guys still holding NXT titles and how that is going to be handled, but part of that was handled before these call ups even were a blip at tapings from a few weeks ago.

Fixed?

[lookout]

Feb 20, 2019 14:04:11 GMT -5 sportatorium said:

Triple H doesn’t need to be pissed off. The guys are getting main roster money and he can rebook Dream, Undisputed Era, Matt Riddle & Keith Lee at the top of the card.

I don’t know if I fully buy that Vince just called them up out of the blue. They were 4 of the 6 on Halftime Heat and the other two being left in NXT makes a tiny bit more sense.

That said, not paying off Gargano/Ciampa is a shame. Misusing these 4 like they have with the insane amount of talent they’ve already misused makes me worried.


Please though, give me a motivated, evil Randy Orton for a Gargano feud where they can tear it up together & Randy can put him over like few others can.

If vince really didn't consult with him about this before hand, i have a very hard time believing that after all that time and effort with them that he wouldn't be mad that vince makes this call without even consulting him first. Never mind how they debuted too...do a dead crowd with zero build up. I can't imagine that hhh would have ever imagined that their debut could have been so incredibly lackluster. Instead of kicking off their main roster run on a hot high note, they started off about as cold as they possibly could have. It honestly would be absolutely shocking if he wasn't highly irritated because it should have been a much bigger deal and those guys probably expected more too.

Plus, where does this leave nxt? Sure, they are used to call ups but i'm sure they are able to plan a little ahead most of the time...now 4 of their top acts are suddenly gone. If the goal is to build nxt up to be a legit 3rd brand which is what hhh has said he wants, i can't possibly think of a better way to sabotage it. I know hhh is used to vince's weird decisions but damn it's got to be frustrating to work so hard on nxt and vince pulls stuff like this.

[lookout]

Feb 20, 2019 14:07:59 GMT -5 Prince Petty said:

Ciampa... a babyface... after all that. All that character development and hard work and commitment to reinventing himself. Tell me again, how did Vince ever win the Monday Night Wars?

I know meltzer said that he/they were faces but are they really though? They didn't exactly scream face to me...despite who they wrestled. If so, it's even more sinful and pure madness that vince just flushed away all that hard work of making ciampa a real heal.

[cmhunk]

Feb 20, 2019 7:56:43 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

Feb 20, 2019 7:49:28 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

It appears that The Revival will defend against DIY at the PPV - there’s a very good chance that the yearlong Gargano vs. Ciampa feud may never get a payoff because they’re just a babyface team again.

Well, you could blame many people. Sure, you could take it out on Vince for calling up Ciampa and Gargano before they finished it, but... They’d dragged it out for so long as it was, I mean there are people here that will tell you that they were getting bored of it and it was hurting Gargano more and more the longer it went on. They had an awesome match that could have served as the perfect conclusion to it in New Orleans, but then they kept it going through Chicago, had another chance to finish it at Brooklyn IV but didn’t... and now they’re probably not going to.

Thankfully, they’d already started teaming again occasionally before this, so it’s slightly less jarring in that regard. Although semi-babyface Ciampa is going to be weird to get used to again.

So, we should blame creative in NXT for Vince deciding to not tell them until this week that he wanted to call them up? They were working the storyline with the assumption that they’d have notice and time to wrap it up and they didn’t get that because of one guy. He should be the one we blame.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Feb 20, 2019 7:49:28 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

- It appears that The Revival will defend against DIY at the PPV - there’s a very good chance that the yearlong Gargano vs. Ciampa feud may never get a payoff because they’re just a babyface team again.

Good, I'm f***ing SICK of that feud. I've gone from marking out for it to virtually stopping watching NXT because everything is about those two motherf***ers.