Dana Brooke - Greener than the money she'll one day make.

Dana Brooke is a new addition to the NXT roster and since her debut, she has caused quite a stir in the wrestling community. Polarising opinions range from her being green too having a good look and potential. Moreover, the debate naturally boils down to her being on NXT TV, is she ready? should she be on TV this early in her development? I thought I'd just throw out my own opinion on Miss Brooke just so it's in writing (or text).

First off it's probably right on her behalf to say that Brooke is new to the on-screen roster, only debuting on the April 15th episode of NXT. However, she was signed with the company in June 2013 so she's racked up a near two
years in WWE so far. Another key element of her persona is what she has accomplished prior to WWE, and I think this, if anywhere is where she may 'draw' money. In 2013, she placed 12th in the European Arnold Classic whereas in the 2015 Arnold Sports Festival she placed 13th. On top of these already impressive accomplishments, Brooke participated in gymnastics for a large part of her life building up to her eventual signing with WWE.

It's obvious to see why WWE sees the potential in her. A natural athlete with a look that screams both 'sexy' and 'strong' it would be hard to dismiss her in terms of moneymaking potential. On top of this the gymnastics that she has trained in will be a big help in the execution of moves and even creating a unique move set which she has already started to do by using a 'handstand foot choke' (which can be seen to the right). In addition, her current gimmick, although I'm not sure how to brand it in any way other than "strong woman with a bitchy as fuck attitude", in my opinion has some great potential to be a solid heel. Because of her look she could be booked to be a monster heel while still reaping the benefits of having an actual heel personality rather than just hurting other women like Tamina (no offence to Tamina). Further, I would say that in this role, her moneymaking potential and gimmick exceeds the Diesel bodyguard role that Tamina has played for a large proportion of her career.

Currently, with this gimmick I'm undecided on her promos. On the one hand, she legit makes me annoyed because I think she comes off as so arrogant and appears so honest with it that I have to give her credit. On the other hand I occasionally find myself wanting to just turn away or just not even watch when she has promo time which in itself is a problem. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt though because I think as she grows into her character more they'll only get better and she must be doing her job somewhat right because I definitely DEFINITELY want to see her get beat.

I think my biggest problem with Brooke is her in-ring ability. In addition, how big of a problem this is depends on your overall idea of what NXT is. Before getting into this I'd like to just point out that I don't expect every wrestler to be having 5 star matches. Similarly, I don't view how many 'moves' a person can and can't do in relation to whether they are a good wrestler. Wrestling is storytelling so if you tell a believable story in the ring then you're more likely than not, to be classed as a good wrestler. Another thing I'd like to point out which I'll go into detail more so in a later blog is that as soon as NXT was promoted on RAW and advertised as a Network exclusive, the priority became about entertainment rather than development. Yes, it's a developmental 'territory' but there are many people in NXT who are not on the weekly TV Show. So, anyone who is on the show, shouldn't be overexposed to a larger audience.

Back to Brooke, her in-ring work currently isn't stellar, she's no Eddie Guerrero (RIP) to say it loosely. Although she's capable of performing the bigger spots in a match, her overall ring awareness sometimes leaves her looking like a dog in headlights. Moreover, as many wrestlers have said, it's not just about the spots in wrestling, it's the stuff you do in the middle that tell the story. At this, Brooke seems to be lack lustre at best. Just after being on NXT for over a month now it's obvious to me (although a credit to a personality) that she's afraid of hurting someone. Most noticeably, for me anyway, was in the tag match at Takeover where she was carried by the other three women in the match. This match was obviously set up to not expose her weaknesses to the audience but in my opinion it still exposed her slightly. As she, and Emma were tagging in each other after delivering a classic mudhole stomp it seemed that although Brooke's character called for aggression, her actions showed the complete opposite. On this blog I'm not one to be negative but her stomps were some of the poorest I've seen and it took me out of the match because it didn't look relatively realistic. Again, she doesn't need to be putting on 5 star matches, her character and build doesn't call for that, but it NEEDS to look realistic.

However, I will end on a positive note. The potential that Brooke possesses in her look and character I think will take her far, and, I can see her becoming a success on the main roster as a heel. Moreover, her major flaws come with wrestling technique and understanding which CAN be taught if she puts in the effort, which, I'm sure she will because you don't reach that level of bodybuilding without effort. Despite this, I think she should have been held off of TV for another 6-9 months while she's learning the wrestling aspects (or less depending on her development, I mean what the hell do I know about learning to wrestle). Overall, I think she has a tremendous amount of potential but I do think that it'll be hard for her to surpass Charlotte who could fit into a similar role if needed. I'm sure we'll see a lot of growth in the coming months and I hope she fits into the NXT Women's roster without any problems. Best of luck to her and her career.