Fucking a...
They got me again god damn it! Looks like he's keeping his name for now, shirts are already on sale.
They better not fuck this up!
Yeah, that pretty much shocked me. He's more of a known quantity in the U.S. than, say, KENTA or Prince Devitt was, so it makes a little more sense, but it also reminded me that CM Punk was allowed to keep his name because they had zero expectations for him and didn't even care.
Joe strikes me as a guy that doesn't have a lot of time left, so striking while the iron is hot would be a lot better than keeping him in NXT forever, like Tyler Breeze. It appears that Owens is already ticketed to move up permanently after EC, and I'd like to see Joe follow him in short order (could even keep the feud- same thing would work if Zayn goes up soon).
Anyway, show was good, as usual for NXT. Of note, to me at least:
1. Charlotte is pretty clearly the most athletic female wrestler working for any of the bigger companies. She's still a bit behind Paige, overall, but she's a megastar waiting to happen.
2. Bayley will also shine on the main roster.
3. Emma is great as a heel, and seems much more natural that way. Just totally wasting her on the main roster.
4. I still say there's no way in hell that Tyler Breeze can get over with that gimmick on the main roster. It's terrible, and likely part of the reason that he's stayed in NXT so long. I couldn't help but notice when Saxton was talking about him like "yeah, Tyler Breeze has been a mainstay on the NXT roster, these new guys don't impress him etc" that it was a pretty damning indictment, rather than the compliment he meant it to be.
5. Corey Graves is a natural in the booth. Byron Saxton and the other guy still blow goats. I expect that Graves will jump Saxton (and Renee Young, if she was ever in the picture in the first place) and get Lawler's spot if he ever retires.
6. Cass is a potential star, Enzo is not. Need to split them up sooner than later to see if Cass can put it all together, himself.