If you ask any second-generation WWE fan what their favourite era was, chances are they would answer either the Attitude era or the Ruthless Aggression era. These two eras produced some of the biggest names of ever lace a pair of boots for the WWE. These eras also saw the birth of a concept that would later be an integral part of WWE TV. During the prime of Ruthless aggression era in 2002, WWE came up with a creative idea of integrating reality shows with the WWE and came up with a show called ‘Tough Enough’. A lot of past and present stars like The Miz and John Morrison were competitors in different seasons of Tough Enough. The ‘reality’ angle of this reality show was questionable but one thing was for certain – people loved to see a rookie turning into an up and coming WWE Superstar. The project was later scrapped (and rebooked recently for WWE network).
Years later, Vince McMahon announced a whole new format of WWE’s developmental system – NXT. NXT was like a better polished version of Tough Enough. But the reality TV aspect of it was still getting in the way. The program failed to connect with the fans the way it was meant to. Too many storylines and distractions hindered the progress of the wrestling angle of the show. However, the wrestling world was set on fire one eventful day when the NXT rookies, lead by season 1 winner Wade Barret tore down the proceedings of RAW on live TV. The world was again talking about NXT.
The Birth of NXT
In 2012, WWE decided to pull the plug on the reality TV nature of the show and showcase NXT as WWE’s replacement to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) – the then developmental system of the WWE. NXT was rebranded as a wrestling only show under the wing of Triple H. The show was on par if not often excelling the quality of matches that were happening in the main roster. NXT was initially created as a proving ground for aspiring WWE superstars who wanted to shine on the main roster as part of RAW and SmackDown some day. It was meant to be a transitional phase wherein character development and talent polishing both took place. It was a live performance as well as a training room. Sort of like on-the-job training.
If you look at the first class of ‘graduates’ from Full Sail University (where NXT events are conducted), you can see all of them were fresh faces to the main roster. Some of the notable names from the first class include The Shield trio, Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family, Rusev, Bo Dallas, Adam Rose, The Ascension, Tyler Breeze.
The extent of success some of them had on the main roster is questionable but still it did do its job. Then there were other superstars like Tyson Kidd and Cesaro who went back to NXT from main roster, honed their already awesome skills even sharper and came back to the main roster. This was a sign of things to come. The concept of NXT as a training ground was beginning to evolve and outgrow itself. Triple H (who is better at managing the WWE nowadays than Vince) was in charge of the whole NXT division.
The start of a Revolution
Triple H was always more open to opinions. There are two things that he did right. Firstly, Hunter went on a hunt to discover and gather talent from all over the world and the independent scene perhaps taking a page out of the IWC fanbase. NXT soon turned into a no-nonsense wrestling-centric product. The second batch of Superstars NXT produced had more indie darlings than home-grown talent. We have: Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Finn Balor, American Alpha, Enzo and Cass, Neville, the Lucha dragons and The Vaudevillains
Some of these names are hugely popular all over the world and when one thinks about it, they don’t necessarily see a reason why they have to work through a training system. Most of these guys were tailor made for the main roster. But WWE knows better and did a fine job of putting them in a transitional phase, where they know what it’s like to perform in front of tens of thousands of people unlike in the independent scene. People like Hideo Itami and Shinsuke are yet to make their main roster debut.
Hunter set the tone for the main roster and eventually, NXT created the Women’s revolution. From Sasha vs Bayley at the first NXT TakeOver in Brooklyn to Sasha Vs Bayley main eventing their own NXT TakeOver and creating history, the women of WWE have come a long way thanks to NXT. The quality of the women’s matches we see on the main roster now are still nowhere near the magic that was produced at NXT but it's still an improvement from the 2-minute long matches that took place a few years back.
The four horsewomen are game changers. They’re the best batch of women that WWE have produced in their history and Asuka, Ember Moon and other will soon graduate to the main roster too. Amongst them, Charlotte and Sasha have gone on to create an intense rivalry, rich with ample animosity and uncaptured intensity that will take the Women’s revolution to the new era. Then there are others like Paige and the recent recruit - Ember Moon. Her finisher is just stunning. Other women like Summer Rae and Emma greatly benefitted from going back to NXT.
An evolution that is too fast for its own pace
The problem I have with NXT as of now is that it is trying to become a third show for the WWE. International Superstars and former TNA talent being signed more often than homegrown Superstars like American Alpha are produced. Most of the new signings are rather old and will not be able to carry the WWE to the next generation. Perhaps the NXT scouts need to put more attention into this. The best example to consider would be Apollo Crews. He is an incredibly gifted athlete. But there is zero back story behind that character. Compare Crews to Corbin. Corbin is a big bad ass scary dude who likes to beat up smaller people. It’s a simple story. But it’s effective. It gives the fans a reason to care about Corbin’s actions.
The NXT team could have devoted more time into developing the character and the in-ring persona of Apollo Crews rather than working with the indie veterans like Samoa Joe, who are clearly meant to do better and meaner things on the main roster. Add this to Daniel Bryan’s recent comments from his interview with Michael Cole.
Cole asked him about Finn Balor’s shoulder injury and him giving up the WWE Title. Bryan believes that Balor should’ve been called up to the main roster a year-and-half ago.
“The most tragic part to me is that it happens as soon as he gets up here. One of the things that really upsets me about the whole situation is Finn Balor should have been up here a year-and-a-half ago.”
Bryan said that he understands that NXT is a very important part of WWE and that the company wanted Balor to get used to the WWE style but feels that Balor would have learned the style in six months.
Bryan also feels that Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura should be on the main roster. Bryan noted that they are both in their prime and instead of being in NXT right now, they should be on the main roster.
“The longer we wait, the more bumps they take, the more bruises they get, the more susceptible they are to injuries.”
Bryan’s comments are all about the reality of the situation. The veteran stars that NXT is relying on heavily these days aren’t the reason NXT was born. NXT was born for the fresh faces. The young generation that is supposed to carry the new era to its peak. That should be the focus of NXT and WWE.
When all is dissected, NXT is a huge success and is a concept that outgrew its own origins. Triple H did a wonderful job and the fact that the Takeover event was viewed by more people than Summerslam speaks volumes about the credibility of the show. The previous training system (FCW - Florida Championship Wrestling) was nowhere near the level of NXT. NXT is great.
We are NXT!
