10 Live Observations From Glasgow's WWE TV Tapings
5. New Day Jocks
The New Day may be indestructible at this point. Their act so frequently appears stale, they look to have a tight hold on the titles at least until Demolition's record is broken in December (thus effectively robbing the division of suspense) and their endless series of bargain basement comedy segments miss more than they hit. But to actually be in their presence doing...whatever it is they do, it's undeniable that the act is still a phenomenon, and you will only serve to rob paying customers a massive chunk of their ticket price by changing them up.
Most usefully to WWE, it's clear they are now relied on to get *anything* over. Want to flog some cheap cereal? Humanise musical instruments? Slap your opponent on the arse to the tune of your catchphrase when he's in an abdominal stretch? All the old classics, they do the lot. It's an enormous skill that requires comfort and confidence with their characters as well as expert performance in delivery, and Kofi, Big E and Woods have it to spare.
As observed in 8 Times WWE Went Scottish, 'Braveheart' is not the safest route to go down when trying to appeal to this audience, but those in Glasgow just could not get enough. Big E's stirring riposte got just the right level of laughs to match the cheers, and all the usual catchphrases garnered some of the loudest reactions from the two nights. Stick that alongside kids in New Day shirts everywhere you look, and more discerning adults than you'd think parting with their hard-earned coin for a plastic unicorn horn, and it's understandable why this lot are going nowhere just now. It might not always feel like New Day Rocks, but they're still on an unbelievable roll.