Coincidental with the rebranding and all…
For Joe’s sake I hope he’s okay - if this is legit.
Also, not to sound like an asshole - but man there’s gotta be part of him seeing the fun Punk and Bryan are having, and maybe regretting taking that call from Triple H after being released, huh?
The injury in question is not being a 6 foot 7 body builder
I’m hoping it isn’t a real issue, though
Called it. Not surprising though. NXT is dead
Cue the NXT is fiiiine rhetoric. NXT died. Whatever comes next is new NXT. I suspect it’ll be as good as new ECW was on Syfy.
Great call @TheBenjamin
One day I wanna go listen to one of my cafe rants about NXT moving to USA in the fall of 2019. Hate that this felt so inevitable all along but not surprised in the least.
To be clear - I don’t mean to shit on NXT outright - it has some good components still. It may turn out better than ever. But what has the New NXT or even the USA Era NXT done to earn that trust or credit. It’s on them to earn that back from fans and I think because people are sensitive to what happen to NXT there’s an initial benefit of the doubt. NXT was once for the fans and rightfully so it was nurtured and beloved by those fans. But it’s been changed for a while now and I get confused with attachment to letters for nostalgia in 2021 when we have 20 years of ECW reboots to see as evidence that rarely does it ever get back to glory. The NXT rebrand should come with a change in name too because I don’t see how this ever climbs back up the mountain. If it’s awesome in a new form let it be totally new.
ROH is the only one to climb the mountain twice but perhaps it was all a more gradual climb.
I agree, they should change the name. It’ll always be compared to the glory days if they keep it.
The one benefit to all this is a better transition from developmental to the main roster. Rex Steiner, the Creed brothers, Parker Bordeaux and Gable Steveson are the prototypes for this new NXT and I think they all could work.
I honestly believe that title is cursed!
Since I’m not following NXT, can I ask how many times it has been vacated? It feel like quite a few times in the last two years, no?
And yes, sorry, I realize I could just google this - but for the sake of conversation, I figured I’d ask here.
Looking it up, three times!
Ciampa in 2019 (EDIT: My bad)
Kross in 2020
Joe in 2021
2nd time it’s been vacated in the last year. Kross in Aug of last year. Joe now. Only other time was Ciampa back in 2019
Technically the NXT that most of us used to love isnt even the original incarnation of it. Don’t forget the shit show that NXT was back in 2010 when it was a “reality” show that was a total shit show. My point is that this is technically the third version of it.
It probably would be best to just go with a new name, I would prefer it, but given the prestige for lack of a better term that the brand has garnered since it became a 3rd brand my guess is Vince wants to keep the name hoping that the NXT diehards give it a chance. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tuesday does a big rating, though when the show looks like a lesser version of Raw and SD, my guess is the ratings plummet.
I guess it depends on what his role in NXT is. If its just to wrestle a match here and there but mainly be behind the scenes, then it all depends on what AEW would have offered him. I have no idea if AEW would want a Joe who wrestles 2 times a year. With that said, if AEW was interested in a very part time Joe, ya he’s probably kicking himself if the money is comparable.
He also has a backstage job. Is he helping with recruitment ?
Ya, he’s essentially a talent account who also has an on air role. I think he’s only going to wrestle on occasion.
I’m not sure if that role would even be available to him in AEW. They don’t really need “scouts” considering how close they are to so many other promotions.
Nice call. I remember reading that and thinking “what an idiot! That won’t happen.” But here we are.