Welcome back to another round of Quick Takes—a post that indulges in the topics that aren’t worth dedicating a full article to, but are still on my mind.
Each week, I try to cram in as many smaller talking points as I can via a speedier process, and I invite you to chime in with your own thoughts about these topics and anything else by keeping the discussion going in the comments below! Drop some more talking points in there for everyone to chat it up about, too!
Without further ado, let’s get into this week’s topics.
NXT Evolve
I’ve mentioned this multiple times in multiple ways, but I feel like I’m one of the only people on the planet who watches 205 Live. Even then, I do it out of necessity these days, rather than want, as it’s no longer the show it once was.
I keep saying I wish WWE would go with the most recent flow of having more than just cruiserweight matches on the show and instead, turn it into a secondary NXT program. NOT like Main Event, as that’s pointless. But more like SmackDown if NXT is Raw.
It seems like that may be finally happening with reports that “NXT Evolve” has been filmed and will even include belts that have been made already. I have a few quick thoughts on that:
- The name works perfect. It’s bridging the gap between NXT and EVOLVE. It showcases the evolution of the talent who are next/nxt in line. It’s simple. Great.
- Way better than NXT Underground, right?
- I do still think they should use the Stomping Grounds name for something revolving around the Performance Center. They own the trademark, so why not use it? Maybe that can be more along the lines of how Breaking Ground was and show us reality footage.
- Can this please be the new purple brand and 205 Live go away? Evolve is already purple. 205 Live doesn’t serve much of a purpose anymore. This will undoubtedly be on Peacock/Network rather than on broadcast television or cable, so all you’d have to do is replace 205 Live with a rebranding and you’re good to go.
- I hope the titles are simple. Have an NXT Evolve Championship and maybe, if you have a deep enough roster for it, an NXT Evolve Women’s Championship and an NXT Evolve Tag Team Championship. I can’t imagine even a midcard title would work. It can’t be THAT big of a roster, right?
I’m very excited to see this. If the reports are true in that this has been filmed in a drastically different way than the other shows, that’s even better…potentially. Change doesn’t always mean an improvement, but it does open up room for an improvement.
Bad Bunny Wins the 24/7 Championship
As I’ve written about before, I have no interest in seeing time dedicated to Bad Bunny wrestling at WrestleMania. However, WWE has to capitalize on Bad Bunny’s 24/7 Championship reign by maximizing the amount of time they get focused on Saturday Night Live.
The ideal scenario would be for the title to change hands multiple times throughout the episode as various cast members just abandon their scenes in order to pin someone for the title. If that’s asking too much, how about some backstage skits that act as interstitials where it’s a running gag throughout the show? For instance, you do a segment or two, go to a commercial, come back and there’s Lorne Michaels and company talking about how the last skit went well, then someone wins the 24/7 Championship. They drop it a few segments later in another “Hey, did you see where Kenan went?” kind of deal.
Get Colin Jost and Michael Che to do something referencing Braun Strowman as they have history. Bring back an old cast member like Steve Martin and give him the belt. Have fun with it!
But most importantly, at the very, very least, they need to have R-Truth sneak up on Bad Bunny and win the title back after his musical performance.
Kyle O’Reilly’s “Seizure”
Many people were upset thinking Kyle O’Reilly had suffered a seizure following NXT this week. For a short while, all that was being talked about was that he had gotten stretchered out and it could have been complications from diabetes.
My immediate thoughts were “Oh my god. That’s horrible. I really, really hope this is a work.” Wrestling is strange, isn’t it? I can’t imagine another sport or television show or form of media where your gut reaction can be that you hope something is entirely fake because you know from the past that you’ve been fooled and will never fully trust anything.
Suffice it to say, it’s great that this wasn’t an actual seizure or anything and that Kyle was just selling Adam Cole’s attack. For it to be that convincing means there’s all that much more reason to consider pushing him to the moon and to give a pat on the back to those who got the fans ringside to buy 100% into it.
Make Your Team for $15
Many people were really upset over the WWE on FOX Twitter account tweeting out one of those “build your team for $15” posts featuring some of the female Superstars.
Like with practically everything in this world, there are points made on both sides that I agree with, yet I can’t help but to feel like this is also much ado about nothing.
Here’s the bite-size boiled down version of the arguments:
- They do this all the time with everything. Sports, musicians, whatever. It’s not something new, nor is it something inherently malicious.
- But yes, it’s different when a fan makes this, rather than something that has more ties directly to the people involved.
- However, this is Fox’s Twitter account. It’s not Vince McMahon tweeting it.
- Even then, though, be honest. People get paid differently and people are booked as more important parts of the show. It’s just a fact of life. If that weren’t true, everyone would hold the championship right now, get the main event, be paid the same amount of money and so on. That doesn’t happen, does it?
- People don’t like to admit that, though, so they get upset when those tiers are brought to their attention. Nobody wants to see confirmation that they’re on the low end.
- If everyone was at the $5 tier, the whole concept wouldn’t work. Participation trophies defeat the purpose of a trophy to begin with. If everyone gets first place, there is no first place.
- I think everyone just needs to take a deep breath, admit that what happened here was that people were upset that the different tiers that do exist, kayfabe and shoot were brought to the forefront rather than still hidden behind a wall of deniability, and then move on.
- Nobody in their right mind thinks any of these women or the others listed are worth $1. That’s not the point this thing is trying to make. But I’ll be damned if you can honestly try to make an argument that in any means, the character of Ruby Riott, who hasn’t won a single thing in WWE, is as valuable of a star as Charlotte Flair, who has won more titles than any woman.
- Also, where’s the outrage for when this has happened before with building a team for Survivor Series made out of the men? Sounds like there’s another trigger going on, too.
- Also, where’s the outrage for the rankings in the video games? Not everyone has 100/100 stats.
- Also, where’s the outrage for how people are announced in prioritized order for the WWE Draft? Eh? Eh?
Calm down. It’s not that big of a deal. Also, the more you keep saying that you don’t care about someone’s opinion of yourself, the more you expose that you desperately want people to think you have thicker skin than you do. It’s a self-defeating task. Wolves don’t lose sleep over the opinions of sheep.
What are your takes on these topics? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
