The "not showing it on-screen" thing is most of the point. The fact that it's live doesn't obligate them to do stuff like that while the cameras are still rolling.

But I have to admit to some ignorance in that, as I watched last night, I was under the impression that Asuka was a heel. Them both being faces does make it less bad than the Bayley/Sasha garbage from Sasha's last NXT outing.

(By the way, I'm under the impression that the Cheers cast sorta hated Shelley Long, so I'm not sure that there were lots of loving embraces on the way out anyway.)

I also just assumed Asuka was a heel. She has a heel presence/swagger. She fights heelish, and the promo they delivered sure made her seem heelish to me.

I don't think Asuka is really a heel though. She's is just a tough SOB. Their story wasn't about hatred or disrespect it was about the exact opposite of that. At the signing Asuka even brings up the word respect. To me in these situations it's fine. Last year during Bayley vs Sasha it was a little weird since Sasha was such a big heel at the time but that match really was about giving women the chance and everyone knew it so I'm fine with that one too

Really though last night seemed a lot like Sami Vs Nakamura and the send offs were very close. Lose a hard fought match. Earn the respect of the winner. Winner thanks the loser for their hard work their then gives them the time to wave to the fans.

Asuka is a face, but has been acting more heelish in this build because they probably thought it was needed for the Bayley character. Kind of like how Ambrose is a face playing more heelish for Ziggler. I couldn't understand where all the vitriol about the post-match was coming from aside from hugging Charlotte, but now it makes more sense if everyone thought Asuka was a heel.

i also thought asuka was a heel but don't follow it very closely.

would you say she's like brock then? or is brock more of a heel?

Brock is definitely more of a heel. She's just an ass-kicker. More of an Austin. She will come out to save another face, which is something I don't see Brock doing.

So then why was she nowhere to be found until the Bayley match where she showed up right at the corner where the entrance ramp meets the ringside area. Then after the match she was gone. Unless you that her family bought tickets to the show and travelled all the way there to just show up for the one match and then leave, she is a plant

She's a genuine fan who is now recognized as being at ringside for all of Bayley's matches so maybe they either gave her tickets or she bought tickets and was moved down just for Bayley's match. WWE played some part in her placement, but that doesn't mean she's not a real fan.

Even if she was a 100% plant I'm not sure what's so offensive about that.

But I buy what OneOut is saying, that she's probably legit and gets special placement just during Bayley matches.

She gets moved down to ringside during Baykey matches sometimes. At NXT takeoversyou will see multiple people sitting in the same seats throughout the night. Bayley also hugged her mom wish was sitting in the exact same seat she was in last year. There are multiple front row seats that WWE doesn't sell and looks like they let the performers pick who they want their during their matches.

For instance I was at Takeover Dallas and the front two rows on camera side were empty until show time and 10-15 people switched out from the same seats every match

She is a lot like sign guy. If you are ever at an event with him you will see that he gets moved to his corner sometime before show time. He buys a ticket then they move him

I was thinking last night that they should have matches where the winner gets to go to the main roster. The "You just lost, congratulations, here is a big promotion fulfilling your hopes and dreams!" thing is utterly backwards. Doesn't have to be Takeover main events necessarily, but if the fans and performers all care so much about whether they go to the main roster, why not make it officially part of the shows?

It's never been anyone's goal at "NXT" to move up storyline-wise though because in this alternate universe, it doesn't exist. I can't remember something like that ever being mentioned and people that do move up are always losing on their way out to keep the roster that's going to stay there strong.....although that would greatly conflict with HHH's statement about the logic of 50/50 booking.

I really dont see it as a big deal, its wresting tradition for a star leaving a promotion to go out on their back so whoever beats them gets the rub

NXT is basically a seperate promotion/alternate reality to the main roster and most people who follow both will be happy to see their favorites getting called up rather than pissed off they lost.

Plus whoever beats them looks stronger as they got a win over a former NXT star so booking it that way makes sense imo

People should be unhappy when their favorites lose, and happy when they win. That's why sports draw so much. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. WWE goes out of their way to alienate anyone who wants to watch wrestling like a sport, yet wonders why ratings go down and down while live sports ratings are doing fine.

The NXT roster shouldn't look strong relative to the main roster; the main roster is supposed to be better. Wrestlers leaving NXT aren't leaving the promotion, they are going to the more important, larger, higher on the totem pole part of the promotion. This all makes me wonder if HHH is just trying to work Vince to get himself over for NXT's success because HHH clearly doesn't think wins and losses don't matter.

I'm not going to quote everyone so I'll just make a blanket statement. Everything you guys described about that little girl with regards to why she only shows up for Bayley matches and whatnot, is the definition of a plant. I have no issues with a plant in the audience, especially when it's done right.

To answer LKJ's question about why I think it's offensive, I first have to put a disclaimer out there. I know that my reasons are a little goofy, which is why I usually keep them to myself. Let me also say that when I posted that I wanted Bayley to turn on the little girl, that was a failed attempt at humor. Obviously I wouldn't want to see any violence, fake or real, against a little girl. But the idea of the "superfan" in any sport, wrestling or otherwise just offends me. I have responsibilities as a grown adult that precludes me from traveling all over the country to attend wrestling events, so that somehow makes me less than a fan as someone who goes? It's in other sports too. A few years ago MLB used to have a fan cave or something like that in NYC where regular people would spend days or even months in a room just watching baseball. That also bothers me because they are portrayed as a better fan than me because I have to go to work. Again I know it's a really goofy thing to rant about, but the question was asked.

So you're saying......you want to be that little girl?

Nice!

Just finished the two main matches. Asuka/Bayley was good but really lacking in comparison to their last match. Shinskay/Joe was meh which makes me a sad panda. Had such high hopes. The match was really missing some of the heat that the build had for it.

re: Asuka/Bayley hugging. My kid rarely watches with me but when they hug she goes "the girls are so much nicer than the men". LOL. Their target demographic was met. It would've been hilarious if Shinskay and Joe hugged afterward.

Onto last nights UFC and then SummerFest.

The other thing is that the two most recent examples of high profile NXT wrestlers going out on with a loss was Sami vs Nakamura and Bailey vs Asuka.

I dont really see how you can have either of them win in this spot, so either they put in a solid effort in a match against top opponents and lose, or you have them going over someone a few spots lower on the roster in a match people dont care about as much.

I'd much prefer to see what we got than the alternative. However i do remember American Alpha losing to those 2 random goons managed by Paul Ellering whose names i cant remember on a random episode which I agree is kinda dumb.

So if its a NXT star losing on a ppv against another main eventer in a good match before they move up im fine with it, but otherwise I'd agree that they shouldnt all be losing on their way out.

Balor lost to Nakamura and basically every NXT champ lost on their way out except for Paige. At least the ones I can remember.

Sami was gone long before his match with Nakamura.

You also mentioned American Alpha vs AOP. I'll add some more:

Nakamura over Balor
Aries over Corbin
Bayley over Nia
Bayley over Sasha
Bayley over Alexa
Asuka over Dana
Balor/Itami over The Ascension
Alexa over Carmella
Samoa Joe over Tyler Breeze

It happens all the time. It's harder to actually think of someone who won their last NXT match before joining the main roster.

It's stupid and should stop.

Most of those people not only lost their last NXT match, but were on a losing streak immediately before being called up. Another reason why automatic rematches for a title are stupid.

Yeah that list is terrible its not like NXT mid carders like tyler breeze/carmella losing there helps anyone, totally agree this should stop.

I still think the champ losing is fine though, much better than them vacating the belt every time they get called up although doing this once and having a tournament for the title could be fun.

Also I seem to remember Sami getting a big goodbye moment in the ring after his match with Nakamura but could well be mistaken there. I know he had been wrestling on the main roster for a while at that point so maybe was a different show.

Auto rematches could defo be scrapped for NXT it would be way better for everyone if Joe shows up out of nowhere on the next raw/smackdown and attacks the universe/world/intercontinental/usa champ rather than loses to Nakamura again

That would actually be awesome and would instantly create a feud people want to watch so obv wont happen lol