The Problem With WWE and the Rise of NXT

 

Sometimes you have to teach an old dog new tricks

It's no secret that WWE television has waned over the years. It's also no secret that the average person today probably can't name a superstar whose names aren't Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, or The Undertaker.

Over 15 years ago, wrestling hit its apex with the Attitude Era. WWE had lightning in its hands with its outlandish stories and larger than life characters. On a weekly basis they captivated audiences around the world and built the bedrock of childhood  memories and hardcore wrestling fandom.



Today, the product is a shell of its former self. Stuck in the past and unable to adjust to the changing trends in media, WWE's product became very stale.

One reason for this was the lack of consistent superstars that emerged to become big household sensations.

In the mid 2000's wrestlers such as John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton, and Brock Lesnar seemed to lead the charge for a new generation that would keep wrestling on the forefront for many years to come.

However, as time went on, the superstars who stayed at the forefront were on top for too long. The fans who once adored wrestlers such as Cena and Orton had grown tired of their characters and became hungry for new faces.

Wrestling fans are a fickle crowd. What they want changes with the times. In the 80's people were into larger than life characters with rippling muscles, big hair, and sometimes racist caricatures.

In the late 90's the product shifted to a much edgier form, as antics and comedy dwarfed the presentation of the characters themselves.  The characters were still campy but the reason wrestling hit mainstream appeal was because they were willing to do whatever it took to gain ratings (the Undertaker crucifying Stephanie McMahon comes to mind).

Today, the mindset of the average WWE fan has changed once again. Rather than focusing on the characters or the antics of the individuals, many wrestling fans judge their favorite superstars simply on their in ring ability.

For example, the biggest baby-face in the company last year was Daniel Bryan who had about as much charisma as a loaf of bread and looked like he had been dragged from some lumberjack convention. But in the ring, he had such an energetic style and technical prowess, that you learned to appreciate his ability more than his personality.

The rise of Daniel Bryan to superstardom pretty much sums up this era of wrestling. People want to see good matches and good wrestlers. The entertainment aspect of the show has become juvenile. The 90's are over and WWE needs to figure that out before the old dog is put out to pasture.

Now on the other hand...



With all of WWE's faults there has been a sudden spark in the last few years with developmental talent.

This new phenomenon is called NXT and it has taken the wrestling world by storm by being a consistent and innovative wrestling program.



Well, innovative might be a stretch. The true value of NXT is in its simplicity and its amount of young hungry stars with varying gaps of experience, gimmicks, and abilities.

Originally, NXT was a run of the mill competition show, pitched by WWE to be the next Tough Enough. In its original running it had 12 young stars duke it out in matches, be judged on their performances, and... game show style contests (-_-).

It was hit and miss at best but one good thing that came out of it was the pretty fantastic Nexus storyline that had the talent from NXT invade Raw and cause havoc for a few months. Well, until John Cena came to the rescue and utterly ruined the momentum before it really had reached its apex.

But I digress. NXT became an annual event with new stars coming into the program to become the next big thing. And then WWE did the same thing the next year, and the next year...

Over.
And Over.
And Over again

This really killed any interest in the show as only stars from the first season made any real impact, including the likes of Daniel Bryan, Ryback, and Wade Barrett. The rest of the superstars faded out c with a few superstars here and there who made minor buzz (Fandango and Brodus Clay).

After a few years of this embarrassingly cheesy show, WWE decided to change the show into a standard format show for the new stars to garner similar experience as they would on the main shows.

Without knowing it, WWE had hit a gold mine. The at home crowds began to take to their own talent as popular wrestlers such as  Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Big E. Langston, and Bo Dallas emerged as breakout stars. With a weekly crowd and small venue, the creative was forced to approach the audience with something new every single week

The first time I saw NXT I was blown away. There were so many different characters and gimmicks to appreciate. The divas division was also very solid and put on consistently good matches, which is more than I can say for the current WWE product. Also, it didn't hurt that all their champions consistently defended their titles, making each contest fill like it had purpose.

Today, the NXT product is still putting on great shows in only really its 3rd year of existence. The last NXT ppv event R Evolution was probably the best WWE event all year. It was better than Wrestlemania, it was better than Survivor Series, it was better than TLC. Period.

Now WWE has to address the issue of what to do with this gem they have created. If they tamper with NXT too much it will hurt the general flow of the product. If they move up too many superstars to the main roster too fast they won't have enough guys there to keep things interesting. WWE has to play this game very wisely.

Personally, I believe WWE is doing a great thing by keeping the product on the network. If they really want people to subscribe to a monthly wrestling streaming service,then they have to give a strong enough incentive. It may be cheap ($9.99!) but people won't invest in a product that they have no faith in.

NXT gives me faith in a hopeful future for WWE and I believe if they start adopting some of the simplicity and focused direction that the smaller show has to the major product, it will drastically improve in quality.

Only time will tell but hopefully, one day I can tune into Raw or Smackdown and be able to enjoy the show even half as much as NXT. In the meantime, I'm gonna rewatch Adrienne Neville vs Sami Zayn, that match is 10 times better than Cena vs Orton for the 100th time.

Sincerely,
Keem