Theo Dious
09-24-2019, 08:53 AM
Hi. I exist.
I've never been the biggest Paul Heyman fan; ECW never appealed to me, his smark-gasm inducing commentary wasn't my thing, and while I enjoyed the time he spent in creative for Smackdown in the early brand split days I don't have the Golden Summer memories for them that a lot of people have. And dear God, his all-encompassing bromance with CM Punk is just baffling to me.
Now let me talk about Nikki Cross.
People talk about the waste that's been made of a lot of NXT callups, specificall in the past year. Judge for yourself on that (personally I think TNA made chicken salad out of chicken shit with EC3, but again, you judge.) Nikki Cross, however, has probably risen more than any NXT callup in years. She and Lacey Evans have both been in main event positions since they showed up on the main roster, but Nikki had shined far more and given the impression that she can stand next to the measuring sticks of the Women's Division and not be overshadowed.
But... who has she beaten?
Yes, she's a tag team champion, but she's still half a team in that regard, and at the beginning of their partnership Alexa was carrying that pairing. But in the last two weeks she's risen personally in a way that's incredible to see. Last week she was left by an injured Alexa to hold her own against half of the Four Horsewomen and did so in such a good fashion that the commentator's actually had to talk about it last night, and she dominated in her match against Sasha until interference and the opportunistic veteran left her in a bad position. She lost both of those matches, but she looks ten times more credible for them. Clearly this is all down to Heyman's booking mind. Heyman's the guy who made a star out of Tommy Dreamer despite him losing almost every major feud he engaged in. He has a mind for how to build someone irrespective of their win/loss record. People moan about 50/50 booking, but in a day where squash matches are a rare thing unless you're a viking, that's going to happen. I agree with the idea that wins and losses do matter, but Heyman has a way of putting emphasis on HOW someone wins or loses, and how to follow it up. Right now it's way more beneficial to hear Michal Cole speak in awe of how Nikki Cross stood up to THE BOSS and, while she didn't win, she put up a hell of a fight and she only lost because Bayley was lurking at ringside and the more experienced Sasha managed to snatch her up at the right time. Not only did Nikki's last two matches do a lot more for her as a character, but now she still has a moment ready when it's time for her to beat Sasha. Maybe for the Raw Women's title late this year? Paul also doesn't blow loads in standard WWE fashion. Nikki is surrounded by some of the top female talent WWE has to offer, and she's being allowed to absorb the most possible from it. It's beautiful to see, and even if I think he's vastly overrated by a lot of people, I have to give Paul credit for this because if he isn't personally responsible for how Nikki's past few months have gone down, someone who has been taking meticulous notes from him is.
I've never been the biggest Paul Heyman fan; ECW never appealed to me, his smark-gasm inducing commentary wasn't my thing, and while I enjoyed the time he spent in creative for Smackdown in the early brand split days I don't have the Golden Summer memories for them that a lot of people have. And dear God, his all-encompassing bromance with CM Punk is just baffling to me.
Now let me talk about Nikki Cross.
People talk about the waste that's been made of a lot of NXT callups, specificall in the past year. Judge for yourself on that (personally I think TNA made chicken salad out of chicken shit with EC3, but again, you judge.) Nikki Cross, however, has probably risen more than any NXT callup in years. She and Lacey Evans have both been in main event positions since they showed up on the main roster, but Nikki had shined far more and given the impression that she can stand next to the measuring sticks of the Women's Division and not be overshadowed.
But... who has she beaten?
Yes, she's a tag team champion, but she's still half a team in that regard, and at the beginning of their partnership Alexa was carrying that pairing. But in the last two weeks she's risen personally in a way that's incredible to see. Last week she was left by an injured Alexa to hold her own against half of the Four Horsewomen and did so in such a good fashion that the commentator's actually had to talk about it last night, and she dominated in her match against Sasha until interference and the opportunistic veteran left her in a bad position. She lost both of those matches, but she looks ten times more credible for them. Clearly this is all down to Heyman's booking mind. Heyman's the guy who made a star out of Tommy Dreamer despite him losing almost every major feud he engaged in. He has a mind for how to build someone irrespective of their win/loss record. People moan about 50/50 booking, but in a day where squash matches are a rare thing unless you're a viking, that's going to happen. I agree with the idea that wins and losses do matter, but Heyman has a way of putting emphasis on HOW someone wins or loses, and how to follow it up. Right now it's way more beneficial to hear Michal Cole speak in awe of how Nikki Cross stood up to THE BOSS and, while she didn't win, she put up a hell of a fight and she only lost because Bayley was lurking at ringside and the more experienced Sasha managed to snatch her up at the right time. Not only did Nikki's last two matches do a lot more for her as a character, but now she still has a moment ready when it's time for her to beat Sasha. Maybe for the Raw Women's title late this year? Paul also doesn't blow loads in standard WWE fashion. Nikki is surrounded by some of the top female talent WWE has to offer, and she's being allowed to absorb the most possible from it. It's beautiful to see, and even if I think he's vastly overrated by a lot of people, I have to give Paul credit for this because if he isn't personally responsible for how Nikki's past few months have gone down, someone who has been taking meticulous notes from him is.