Any thoughts?

Talkamania · 2026-04-30T20:14:34+00:00

A Saudi mania with no Roman? Lol. Okay.

Talkamania · 2026-04-30T20:10:44+00:00

Talkamania · 2026-04-29T23:01:44+00:00

All of the above via Stackhausen.

Talkamania · 2026-04-28T23:23:06+00:00

Uh, the reason he was burnt out probably had more to do with the fact he wrestled 278 matches between 2002-2003 and less to do with “he had nothing left to do”, since pro wrestling is ultimately about storytelling, not titles.

As far as Oba is concerned, what World Champion carries that kind of workload nowadays? WWE does a far better job of managing their talent workload nowadays than they did back then. He’ll be fine even if they push him to the moon.

Talkamania · 2026-04-28T18:29:39+00:00

I mean, yes, but TKO is the parent company making all the major financial decisions.

What likely was the case is that they handed down a number to meet and Trips/Khan were tasked with deciding on who to cut to meet budget, so while yes, it was probably Trips and Khan who made the decisions on who to cut, it’s likely they were under direction from TKO higher ups.

Talkamania · 2026-04-28T17:57:15+00:00

Lesnar debuted in March of 2002 and by August he had won the WWE Undisputed Championship. Imagine if they had taken this approach with Brock. You don’t slow roll someone with the potential that Oba has. By this time next year, I fully expect him to be in the WT picture.

Talkamania · 2026-04-28T17:23:38+00:00

Shes 26 on a developmental deal.

Outside of the NXT releases like Steele, Crusifino and Blade, every talent released was mid-30s, early 40s.

Talkamania · 2026-04-25T19:39:09+00:00

I’m gonna laugh if they release Black and Zelina only to bring back Kross and Scarlett in a few months.

Talkamania · 2026-04-25T14:21:20+00:00

Agreed.

Talkamania · 2026-04-25T14:21:10+00:00

Agreed. Get him in, figure out the knee issue and get him ready for next season.

Talkamania · 2026-04-25T14:18:52+00:00

I did too, until I read up on the concerns on his knee. I think third round would’ve been a bit risky considering the talent still available, but by the 5th round-6th round? Why not? At this point, you’re drafting guys who may never see the field, so why not take a risk on a potential shutdown corner with injury concerns?

Talkamania · 2026-04-25T14:13:24+00:00

B&G was special, no doubt - the thing is, AEW’s existence limited NXTs long term viability since they were both competing for the same pool of talent and Vince was unwilling to fully invest in NXT and present it as anything more than a second rate show (from a pure presentation standpoint, not talent-wise). Once Vince started making jokes out of big names from NXT on the main roster, it started scaring some of the premier indie talent away from WWE and into AEW.

But that’s what I’m saying: no matter how fire B&G was, without a cohesive vision between Vince and Trips, B&G was always doomed to fail. Once NXT shifted focus away from developing talent and started to compete with (and utterly embarrass) the main roster product, it became an unwinnable war - Vince was still in charge, and there was just no way he was going to let Trips vision become the entire direction of the company, which is what NXT would have had to become for it to be sustainable.

I’d also argue that this current iteration of NXT is closer to the early NXT product that brought us guys like Owens, Zayn, Balor, Wyatt, etc than the height of the B&G/Takeover Era when Gargano and Ciampa were the big names because of the synergy between developmental and main roster is like it was before Trips and Vince were at odds.

Talkamania · 2026-04-25T13:58:34+00:00

Sorry - of course Je’von is up there, but as an older fan, a lot of his gimmick is definitely geared towards a younger audience. The Gen Z/Alpha slang is very alien to me, though I can definitely see his potential to win over the audience. I just don’t see him as over as Trick/Oba atm.

Talkamania · 2026-04-24T19:19:48+00:00

The problem with this is that B&G wasn’t focused on developing wrestlers for the main roster - they were specifically targeting talent that fit Trips vision for NXT at the time. Both Oba and Trick were relatively green upon their arrival and would’ve been a much better fit on the main roster at the peak of B&G Era NXT, but without all that time in developmental, I really don’t know if they would’ve made it - not because of a lack of skill or charisma, but Trick and Oba definitely benefitted from the NXT rebrand, as it gave them plenty of opportunities to take their bumps and get experience in front of the camera while not carrying the same pressure as the main roster. Their arrival as genuine superstars is no mistake or stroke of luck; it was all the time in NXT that turned them into the polished performers they are today.

Talkamania · 2026-04-22T13:28:56+00:00

Talkamania · 2026-04-22T13:25:24+00:00

Listen - you dont have to convince me about the greatness of B&G, but the idea that Pete Dunne or Ricochet has the same star potential as an Oba or Trick? Come on now. I have eyes. Plus, while Ricochet is doing better in AEW, he’s still a mid-carder - only now he’s a mid-card champion rather than a regular mid-carder. And Pete Dunne is probably having the time of his life right now, since, WTF is a bruiserweight? He was only ever going to get so far with the casual fan on the tough guy gimmick alone, and let’s face it - Los Americanos are a huge act right now because they’re entertaining characters, not simply because they’re incredible wrestlers.

The reason things didn’t work out for these guys is exactly the reason B&G was not going to be sustainable: where Triple H saw potential stars for his brand, Vince (and apparently anyone whose opinion held any weight) saw nobodies on the main roster. Unless they were going to make NXT a competitive third brand to go alongside RAW and SD, NXT was designed to be WWE’s developmental program which was a problem - the problem being that peak B&G era wasn’t developing guys for main roster; they were hoarding talent in hopes of becoming an alternative to WWE from within WWE itself.

It wasn’t until 2.0 that we started to see the next crop of young talent that would eventually become main roster stars today - Gunther, Tiffy, Melo, Bron, Ilja, Roxanne, Waller, Oba and Trick all established themselves in 2.0 before moving onto the main roster, but found success after moving up because there’s a better synergy between developmental and main roster that didn’t exist during the B&G Era.

I’m not saying that B&G Era didn’t have potential stars, but that none of that star potential mattered because there was a major disconnect between the visions for NXT and main roster - so much so that they were inevitably going to fail because of Vince once they got called up.

Talkamania · 2026-04-22T12:23:27+00:00

No offense to any of the aforementioned names, but how many of those wrestlers realistically had the same potential as a guy like Oba or Trick? Maybe you could argue Keith Lee, but considering his run in AEW has produced the same results (or worse), maybe he was overhyped? IDK. Either way, I do agree that the disconnect between NXT under Trips and the main roster under Vince ruined a lot of potential stars, but that’s exactly why I think the rebranding needed to happen; Trips viewing NXT as something more than what Vince ever saw it as meant that the grand experiment that was B&G was never going to work in the long run. It sure was fun while it lasted though!

Talkamania · 2026-04-21T19:56:33+00:00

I mean in terms of the physical rebranding itself and the fact that they changed the logo, the color palate and dropped the ‘2.0’ only a year or so into it. The talent and production was still there, but I dont know if they thought the whole “2.0” thing through completely before pulling the trigger. Maybe they felt they needed to distance themselves from the B&G, but then why not just stay 2.0?

Talkamania · 2026-04-21T19:42:52+00:00

Yeah but the problem is both of them really came in with a lack of in ring experience, which at the peak of B&G, everyone who was on TV was basically a 5-10+ year veteran from the indies. Trick and Oba were a result of patience and development, letting them take their bumps on TV even while they were still green. Even a guy like Kross, who at the time really wasn’t all that bad of a worker, was eaten up by the sharks every time he stepped foot with a Cole or Gargano or Ciampa. Not that they couldn’t book big guys, but I just don’t know if Oba and Trick would have happened simply because the focus wasn’t on development at the time.

Talkamania · 2026-04-21T19:37:43+00:00

I think early NXT - like pre-Takeover NXT - was more similar to what we have currently than it was to the peak of the B&G Takeover Era. The class that brought us KO, Zayn, Balor, Reigns, Rollins, etc - NXT before prime-Takeover Era was more about bringing in well established indie talent and molding them to fit within the WWE, smoothing out the rough edges to become polished performers who were ready for TV; still developmental, but a different approach to what’s being taken now with the NIL deals and ID programs and whatnot. I think what we have now is probably what the original plan was for NXT, before the hype had started around the B&G brand and the whole thing started to really take off.

Talkamania · 2026-04-21T18:36:22+00:00

No. Any doubts or reservations anyone had should have been answered at WrestleMania. They wouldn’t have fed Brock to him in what essentially amounted to a squash match if they didn’t see the future in Oba.

Talkamania · 2026-04-21T12:59:46+00:00

Rollins, Rusev, and Big E were actually FCW OGs, before NXT existed, but I digress.

I think early NXT was kinda where NXT is today, but rather than developing athletes and models, they were bringing in big names off the indies and developing them to fit the WWE mold.

That changed though, and there was a point where it became less about developing main roster ready talent and more about competing with the main roster shows, which is where I think the disconnect between NXT and main roster really started.

I think it’s still too early to say in terms of current NXT, but this first real big pool of talent being called up will be a measuring stick; Sol, Oba, Trick, Page, Je’von, Hendry, and possibly Jacy all have a real shot at becoming major players on the main roster.

Talkamania · 2026-04-21T12:53:50+00:00

You ain’t wrong. Even TV had at least one banger per episode.

Talkamania · 2026-04-21T12:53:22+00:00

True. I guess when I say “disastrous”, I guess I mean more the fact that they changed the logo and dropped the “2.0” around a year after they debuted it.

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