For years now, WWE NXT has been one of the hottest brands in professional wrestling. Their weekly TV is action packed and productive, and NXT Takeover events are amongst some of the best shows to happen in a calendar year. It’s home to some of the best wrestlers around, and recently jumped from exclusively airing on the WWE Network to being live on the USA Network, joining WWE’s flagship brand, Monday Night RAW.
By all regards, NXT should be in the best position its even been in, yet it seems like the same old issues as well as some new ones continue to plague the brand.
Outgrowing Its Home
The single biggest problem with NXT is simply that its outgrown its home of Full Sail University. This is especially evident when viewed alongside its competitor, All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The Full Sail crowds are rabid and passionate, but you can only fit about 400 safely into where NXT is shot. Compare this to the massive stadiums AEW is running and it really makes NXT look like the minor leagues. They have shown ability to be able to sell out huge arenas for Takeover, so running smaller arenas for weekly TV shouldn’t be hard
A Bloated Roster
NXT is home to some of the best talent and hottest prospects in the industry, but does that really matter when they can’t get on TV to be showcased? WWE’s insistence to sign any wrestler with value and put them in NXT has put them in a situation where they have too many people there for even a 2 hour show.
There is some brilliant talent who can’t seem to escape the small house show loop in Florida. Its a crime that Malcolm Bivens, Jordan Myles, Dexter Lumis, Austin Theory, and many more can’t seem to make it to TV. Especially Bivens, his twitter account is possibly the best thing in wrestling right now, showcasing charisma that any show would benefit from.
Having two rotating rosters would be an option here, they have enough star power to support this approach. Have the A roster on TV one week, hype the B roster, then B roster on TV the next week, and cycle like that.
Lower Pay For Same Hard Work
I want to preface this final point saying its mostly just speculation and rumor, but it seems promised pay raises for TV appearances haven’t been followed up on.
The main source for this is David Starr, an indy wrestler who is also a major advocate for unionizing wrestling. “I’ve literally spoken to NXT talent that has been bumped up to TV recently and they had a roster meeting with management where they were told their TV pay raises weren’t coming.” He said in a tweet earlier this morning, replying to a tweet implying the pay raise happened.
It’s a situation where I’m inclined to trust Starr, as he has worked with many people who call NXT home, and who I’m sure he would call friends, and if Starr is to be to trusted, it’s a messy situation for sure, with a few possible reasons.
Firstly theres a chance WWE lied to talent about pay raises for NXT going to TV, which would be a fantastic way for morale to slip away. Secondly, WWE could be waiting for contracts to end before offering more money, and that got misconceived. Finally, WWE might not want to offer higher pay until NXT on USA is proven to be a long term decision, and not something which will flake out in the coming months.
Any way you look at it, if WWE did offer higher pay and that wasn’t granted, its an easy way to lose wrestler and fan support if true, but even beyond that, NXT has problems. They’ve outgrown their home and have more talent than they know what to do with. They need to sort out these issues, or else who knows what could happen with this new era of NXT. They seem to be stuck in their ways, and thats dangerous in the ever changing wrestling landscape.
