NXT shouldn’t be a developmental brand anymore. This is a simple notion many fans and critics will agree with as it’s widely considered to be WWE’s best program, hands down. Some of their stars like Tommaso Ciampa have fought against being called up to the main brands for various reasons from the increased work schedule to simply being happy where they are.
This doesn’t mean that Vince McMahon agrees or has any intention of giving NXT its freedom. And that could hurt the brand sooner rather than later.
A quick history
NXT started out as an hour long show on the WWE network, but with the birth of AEW’s tv contract, things changed. In a smart, but bitter-esc move to stunt AEW’s growth, Vince McMahon decided to put their developmental brand on television across form AEW. They also brokered a deal to be on an extra eight minutes to they get the added ratings of the first quarter our on USA.
Thanks to NXT’s exposure on Survivor Series, they’ve won the rating war the last two weeks, but it may begin faltering before too long.
Remember that part about McMahon possibly not sharing the fans view of NXT? Well, here’s the thing. As I mentioned before, they’re already planning on calling Keith Lee up to the main brands in a couple of months. It’s a safe bet that he’ll go as one of the compliments he’s received is he doesn’t complain and shows up to work regularly.
So, let’s say he moves. That’s a big hole to fill. Then as other contracts aren’t renewed others get the call up, since McMahon isn’t a fan of mid-carders he didn’t create (seemingly every championship caliber talent he signed from other promotions). That means more talent on the move like Shayna Baszler, who has been another name rumored to make the move soon. Or, at least, asked to.
In time, it’s reasonable to expect NXT’s roster to be depleted and a rebuild to begin.
Rebuilding happens regularly
This isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it can be a good thing as it gives fresh talent a chance to develop and prepare to take their place in the hierarchy.
As fans of professional wrestling, we’ve grown accustomed to this. Between injuries, retirements, and moving between promotions, it’s a day to day occurrence. Most of the time we don’t even notice, assuming they have good storylines and athletes ready to go.
Rebuilding happens in every sport, but it’s easier in sports entertainment simply for the reason it’s scripted. Someone’s injured or leaves, you cut them out of the script.
To prove this, how long did it take us to realize the Usos weren’t on tv anymore? How many realized Finn Balor took a month long break before returning to NXT?
Those are just a couple of moves we barely noticed, if at all. Many more occur regularly, and unless we’re a fan of that wrestler, we probably won’t notice.
To me, this is why NXT shouldn’t be considered or treated like a developmental brand anymore. If they want crossovers, then have them and stop hyping the brand separation that we all know exists at the discretion of WWE creative and Vince McMahon. Maybe bring back the overused general manager role and set up trades. Or just have them show up and stay there, like they enjoy it more. But to keep treating their best product as a developmental brand does a disservice to the wrestlers and other NXT personnel and what they’ve done.
Or they could accept brand separation and acknowledge NXT as its own brand that isn’t there to pump out talent for Raw and Smackdown. It may be time to let the younger brand continue to stand on its own and treat it as such.
