The third brand for WWE is now an odd honor to have. Originally, NXT had gotten a clear promotion being viewed as the third brand. However, it was always treated by WWE as a place to pluck talent for RAW and SmackDown.
Remember When NXT Was a Beloved Third Brand?
Now, NXT was always supposed to be a developmental territory but the product’s success and hardcore fans really rocking with this particular part of the WWE product allowed it to build up a ton of goodwill. Then the developmental territory grew into a pseudo-indy. It wasn’t an independent promotion since it had an infinite money cheat behind it but it wasn’t nationally televised like RAW and SD nor was it large enough to float a B-show.
It was its own thing separate from WWE but still a part of the overall brand. The black and gold brand featured dope matches with wrestlers who were fresh just by not being on RAW or SmackDown, the promos were fine at the minimum, and I liked how storylines played out on the brand. It was as if NXT’s creative knew that they had two hours to work with and didn’t try to book too much.
Headed up by Triple H behind the scenes, NXT was the one show within the WWE Universe that was actually fun to watch and digestible. RAW is three hours long and that’s really only digestible for pay-per-view and SmackDown is generally a solid program but Friday at prime time is such a dangerous spot.
Personally, I like all my wrestling TV between Monday and Wednesday, again on Saturday and on one Sunday. That’s per promotion because you can end up with a wrestling show every Sunday. However, from one promotion—one Sunday a month is enough.
What Went Wrong?
Actually, the new NXT approach isn’t bad at all. It’s a return to superstars having a gimmick and not just being a person with a personality. They’re working on getting everyone some kind of character. How will that shake out once they mingle with the main roster when the NXT 2.0 wave really arrives on the main brands?
I’m talking about when you see the first actual wave of 2.0 talent on SD or RAW. When one or two superstars get promoted and do well, that’s not a good indication that 2.0 was a successful approach. OG NXT gave the main brands some talented superstars and it’s been a mixed bag of successes, washouts, and those who are simply holding.
On OG NXT, what happened to it being the third brand? If you followed the Black and Gold Era, you could probably put the blocks together. The big thing is being sent as WWE’s attack dog against AEW Dynamite. There’s a film—a pudding skin if you will—around NXT being seen as expendable. Sure, WWE wanted NXT to beat Dynamite in the ratings but that wasn’t happening.
Tying into the brand being expendable is NXT never growing out of that developmental territory onesie. NXT was never included in the draft as a brand that could scoop up a big star or two.
The thing here is that while it would’ve been mutually beneficial for a floater or a strong midcarder to go to NXT and for the brand to pick up someone whose card position got a bump or two by going to the land of Black and Gold, that never really happened.
Superstars would venture to NXT but participating in drafts and trades? Nah. Linked to that is the feeling—either from fans, superstars, wrestling media, or all three—that going to NXT is a demotion if you’ve been on the main roster. That goes back to superstars being sent back down to developmental even though it was meant for a little extra polishing and not as a punishment or demotion.
Speaking of national TV, I thought NXT was perfectly fine on the WWE Network. It could still be viewed as a developmental territory and it would make sense as everyone didn’t have the Network to catch the stars of tomorrow tonight.
Then it got a two-hour prime time TV slot on an NBC Universal network. Now, this is an even bigger deal. It’s the third brand now.
The WWE Network period for the brand worked because WWE viewed it as development and its current version is as developmental with national exposure on cable—which developmental never needed.
What are your three strikes for NXT being the third brand? Let us know in the comments!
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