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Post by john casey on Aug 25, 2016 16:31:38 GMT -5
With Finn Balor out for a long time, Raw is seriously lacking the top baby face. No matter how hard they try, WWE will never get Roman Reigns to be that guy. Enzo & Cass (While popular) aren't ready so unless they are willing to turn Owens, Jericho or do a trade with Smackdown to get Orton, the only other option I can think of is to bring up Shinsuke Nakamura from NXT.
While some might say that he is the NXT Champion and the face of the brand, NXT is not the big picture and Raw needs a instant top baby face urgently.
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deezy
Misawa
Posts: 2,334
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Post by deezy on Aug 25, 2016 16:41:06 GMT -5
Would be rather difficult to do since NXT also needs a draw for their touring schedule as well.
They just lost Bayley.
Put the belt on Reigns, people can lose their shit all they want, atleast the matches will be good and more importantly, the crowd won't be quiet like Ambrose/Ziggler or hijack for a stupid prop, the heat will be on Reigns, good and bad.
Atleast the man doesn't generate apathy.
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Post by RKing85 on Aug 25, 2016 22:22:45 GMT -5
I am going to predict that Nakamura stays down in NXT until he is a surprize entrant in the Royal Rumble.
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Post by Christian Small on Aug 26, 2016 1:31:25 GMT -5
Raw has a pretty big roster as it is, I would focus more on trying to make someone on your existing roster rather than calling up Nakamura, Don't get me wrong I love Nakamura but like deezy said NXT still need him and it would be a big hit to lose him. Nakamura should stay there until they've built someone to fill his place. I would personally put the belt on Owens next week and have a fresh heel champ while building a your next babyface champion. I don't see Reigns as a "no chance of being a top guy" kind of guy, I think this program with Rusev could help a lot and I see Rusev costing Reigns the match next week. But I'd also wouldn't be surprised if they put the belt on Rollins either.
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Post by kalgoroth on Aug 26, 2016 3:27:17 GMT -5
Okada was reportedly backstage at SummerSlam. Call up Nakamura and have him fill his spot!
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Post by Christian Small on Aug 26, 2016 5:24:09 GMT -5
Okada was reportedly backstage at SummerSlam. Call up Nakamura and have him fill his spot! Okada was in America for ROH, just because he was backstage at Summerslam doesn't mean WWE have signed him or anything. In fact he was probably only there to visit friends.
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Post by kalgoroth on Aug 26, 2016 5:28:23 GMT -5
Okada was reportedly backstage at SummerSlam. Call up Nakamura and have him fill his spot! Okada was in America for ROH, just because he was backstage at Summerslam doesn't mean WWE have signed him or anything. In fact he was probably only there to visit friends. Wasn't suggesting they had, I was being facetious/wishful thinking! Though it's no secret WWE have had their eye on him for a while, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility.
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Post by The Overgiver on Aug 26, 2016 8:56:17 GMT -5
Joe will be called up before Shinsuke.
It would be nice to see Owens win the belt this Monday.
Seems like a decent time to double turn Seth and Roman, if you want to see a traditionally over babyface.
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Post by Christian Small on Aug 26, 2016 9:19:41 GMT -5
Okada was in America for ROH, just because he was backstage at Summerslam doesn't mean WWE have signed him or anything. In fact he was probably only there to visit friends. Wasn't suggesting they had, I was being facetious/wishful thinking! Though it's no secret WWE have had their eye on him for a while, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility. Your right it's not impossible but it won't be for a while, I believe New Japan signed Okada to a big multi year deal not that long ago. Plus he's there main star, won't say Okada will never sign but New Japan will put up a hell of a fight.
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Post by rocketking on Aug 26, 2016 9:43:07 GMT -5
There is nobody currently in NXT that should beat Nakamura any time soon. Obviously, there are guys like Roode and Aries that could be built up to that point eventually, but otherwise it would be a panic move.
Maybe you call up Nakamura as NXT Champion (like they did with Owens) for a brief run, but I still think that would be a mistake. As long as the title program is one where we can at least imagine that either guy might walk away with the strap, Raw will survive from now until Mania (or so) without Finn Balor.
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Post by kalgoroth on Aug 26, 2016 9:57:35 GMT -5
Wasn't suggesting they had, I was being facetious/wishful thinking! Though it's no secret WWE have had their eye on him for a while, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility. Your right it's not impossible but it won't be for a while, I believe New Japan signed Okada to a big multi year deal not that long ago. Plus he's there main star, won't say Okada will never sign but New Japan will put up a hell of a fight. He's currently still on the standard 1 year contract, it runs out in December. NJPW are obviously keen to tie him down to a reportedly 5 year contract for something like 200m yen (approx US$2m) per year, so if WWE are wanting him it would have to be done soon and for big bucks. I would love it, but not sure if they would be willing to do it given they already have more than their usual quota of Japanese stars and can't see Vince wanting to make that kind of investment on more than 1 (assuming Nakamura is already on a pretty sweet deal), unless they either see NJPW as a credible threat with the advent of NJPW World or they are wanting to aggressively take them on in Japan. Unless of course Okada wants to go simply for the challenge, but he's already made comments suggesting he isn't likely to. But still, it is interesting that he was there, even if it is likely for the reasons you stated.
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sluggo
Curtain Jerker
Posts: 145
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Post by sluggo on Aug 26, 2016 10:55:03 GMT -5
I think the biggest stumbling block for Nakamura will be his english. He is ok at it, but not great. They should wait until Nakamura, Asuka, Ibushi and Ito are all ready to be called up. Bring them up as a stable (Nakamura as a singles wrestler & Ibushi and Ito as a tag team) with a manager who can do the majority of the speaking for them. I'd love to see Heyman stapled to them.
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Post by Christian Small on Aug 26, 2016 12:27:02 GMT -5
I think Nakamura's natural charisma makes up for his English. I remember watching his promo where he faced off with Aries and he made fun of his English, it was so damn charming. His promos work for him and no one else does something similar to him so he stands out, besides like I mentioned that guy has physical charisma pouring out of him and it wins the crowd over.
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Post by rocketking on Aug 26, 2016 12:41:27 GMT -5
I think Nakamura's natural charisma makes up for his English. I remember watching his promo where he faced off with Aries and he made fun of his English, it was so damn charming. His promos work for him and no one else does something similar to him so he stands out, besides like I mentioned that guy has physical charisma pouring out of him and it wins the crowd over. Nakamura's English itself seems pretty excellent from what I've heard, and his accent is only a hindrance if they can't think of anything better for him to do than cut a 20-minute promo. And yes, he's more captivating walking to the ring than most guys are wrestling in it. And please keep him AWAY from the idea of a "we're all Asian, so..." stable.
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sluggo
Curtain Jerker
Posts: 145
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Post by sluggo on Aug 26, 2016 12:44:24 GMT -5
I think Nakamura's natural charisma makes up for his English. I remember watching his promo where he faced off with Aries and he made fun of his English, it was so damn charming. His promos work for him and no one else does something similar to him so he stands out, besides like I mentioned that guy has physical charisma pouring out of him and it wins the crowd over. It's good enough for NXT, and he shouldn't be silent in WWE even with a manager but you need to be able to speak in WWE, at least in the long run. Its basically the same situation Brock Lesner is in.
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