DAKOTA KAI vs. BIANCA BELAIR- 6/10
This was a very good underdog match vs. arrogant heel match, with them doing basically everything right here that they did wrong in the Baszler match.

RICOCHET INTERVIEW FROM AFTER TAKEOVER- good promo by Ricochet

VELVETEEN DREAM INTERVIEW FROM AFTER TAKEOVER- excellent. He was sulking to the point where he almost looked like Patrick again.

SHAYNA BASZLER PROMO FROM AFTER TAKEOVER- not good. She said some stuff that I’m certain sounded a lot cooler in her head. Meanwhile, professional Twitch streamer Jessamyn Duke a professional Roderick Strong baby mama Marina Shafir stood in the background to remind us all that they used to have MMA careers.

ALEISTER BLACK INTERVIEW FROM AFTER TAKEOVER- he didn’t say anything

ONEY LORCAN & DANNY BURCH INTERVIEW FROM AFTER TAKEOVER- fine

EC III PROMO- GREAT!

WAR RAIDERS vs. THE MIGHTY- 6.5/10
The match was good and crowd was hot, but I really have to question the wisdom of having The Mighty lose here. Having them cheat to win and thus start a feud seems like it would make a lot more sense.

A decent episode of NXT. It was full of the usual post-Takeover recaps, but unlike the better post-Takeover shows, this one didn’t feel like it moved anything along at all.

Yeah, having The Mighty cheat to beat the war raiders would be the best possible option. They don't lose, builds their heel gimmick, plus war raiders actually take a loss without much problem.

KILLdozer wrote: ↑Jun 21st, '18, 10:28 Yeah, having The Mighty cheat to beat the war raiders would be the best possible option. They don't lose, builds their heel gimmick, plus war raiders actually take a loss without much problem.

Agreed. It's a tricky situation with the Raiders because they're a hoss team AND they're high profile, so it's difficult to build them up without feeding them jobbers every week. UE is still feuding with the British guys, which is obviously the ultimate destination for the War Raiders, so there's not much else to do. I was really hoping to see them handled more like AOP and less like The Ascension, where they're beatable - but you have to find a way to do it, and The Mighty were the right team for that. The bright side here is that if The War Raiders are going to be booked The Ascension route, the loss here shouldn't derail what The Mighty have going. Maybe they'll build off it? Become bigger pricks or get that manager I've been waiting for...

Oh....I guess Nikki Cross is done with Sanity? I get it, as a whole she's needed as part of the NXT division, and she could probably been eventually seen back with them once she makes the move.

KILLdozer wrote: ↑Jun 23rd, '18, 09:43 Oh....I guess Nikki Cross is done with Sanity? I get it, as a whole she's needed as part of the NXT division, and she could probably been eventually seen back with them once she makes the move.

That's the thing with SAnitY though. Not everything they do has to make sense. If she appears with them or not on Smackdown. If she appears sometimes, if she doesn't appear until later it makes sense in their context, because they're essentially The Joker from The Dark Knight. They're not a team with a plan, they just do things. So if they were to occasionally appear on NXT or whatever it would work within their context, because they don't do what makes sense... they just do... things.

XIV wrote: ↑Jun 24th, '18, 03:44

KILLdozer wrote: ↑Jun 23rd, '18, 09:43 Oh....I guess Nikki Cross is done with Sanity? I get it, as a whole she's needed as part of the NXT division, and she could probably been eventually seen back with them once she makes the move.

That's the thing with SAnitY though. Not everything they do has to make sense. If she appears with them or not on Smackdown. If she appears sometimes, if she doesn't appear until later it makes sense in their context, because they're essentially The Joker from The Dark Knight. They're not a team with a plan, they just do things. So if they were to occasionally appear on NXT or whatever it would work within their context, because they don't do what makes sense... they just do... things.

As is, she still dresses like Sanity and her theme is still a play on theirs... it's already bothering me that they haven't mentioned why she got left behind on NXT... she was just in a featured angle, and I don't recall a single mention of why she was still around.

I think she'll either join them later, maybe now that she's done with Shayna or NXT will hang on to her and tweak her character to be more independent of the stable.

Bob-O wrote: ↑Jun 24th, '18, 06:55

XIV wrote: ↑Jun 24th, '18, 03:44

KILLdozer wrote: ↑Jun 23rd, '18, 09:43 Oh....I guess Nikki Cross is done with Sanity? I get it, as a whole she's needed as part of the NXT division, and she could probably been eventually seen back with them once she makes the move.

That's the thing with SAnitY though. Not everything they do has to make sense. If she appears with them or not on Smackdown. If she appears sometimes, if she doesn't appear until later it makes sense in their context, because they're essentially The Joker from The Dark Knight. They're not a team with a plan, they just do things. So if they were to occasionally appear on NXT or whatever it would work within their context, because they don't do what makes sense... they just do... things.

As is, she still dresses like Sanity and her theme is still a play on theirs... it's already bothering me that they haven't mentioned why she got left behind on NXT... she was just in a featured angle, and I don't recall a single mention of why she was still around.

I think she'll either join them later, maybe now that she's done with Shayna or NXT will hang on to her and tweak her character to be more independent of the stable.

I just don't think it requires an explanation. I think that's the beauty of their stable. They don't do what's expected. I'd almost book them to appear on Raw or NXT a few times if I was creative just to increase the unpredictability factor of them just turning up wherever. (Not saying I'd overbook them to appear everywhere three shows a week... just the occasional appearance at other shows).

Bob-O wrote: ↑Jun 24th, '18, 06:55

XIV wrote: ↑Jun 24th, '18, 03:44

KILLdozer wrote: ↑Jun 23rd, '18, 09:43 Oh....I guess Nikki Cross is done with Sanity? I get it, as a whole she's needed as part of the NXT division, and she could probably been eventually seen back with them once she makes the move.

That's the thing with SAnitY though. Not everything they do has to make sense. If she appears with them or not on Smackdown. If she appears sometimes, if she doesn't appear until later it makes sense in their context, because they're essentially The Joker from The Dark Knight. They're not a team with a plan, they just do things. So if they were to occasionally appear on NXT or whatever it would work within their context, because they don't do what makes sense... they just do... things.

As is, she still dresses like Sanity and her theme is still a play on theirs... it's already bothering me that they haven't mentioned why she got left behind on NXT... she was just in a featured angle, and I don't recall a single mention of why she was still around.

Right. The problem isn't so much that she's not there as it is the reason she isn't there feels like "because WWE still needed her in NXT." Yes, SAnitY are crazy and thus their decisions don't have to make sense, but it's hard to ascribe the Nikki Cross situation to some crazy decision SAnitY made on their own when it really just feels like a booking decisions imposed on them.

There's no kayfabe thing like Ember Moon or whoever it was recently still being owed a few matches and being on Raw and NXT still lol. Just because is why.