I’ll be totally honest with all of you, I’ve not been a regular watcher of NXT. However, in the build up for TLC recently, I had a few hours to kill. Therefore, I loaded up the WWE Network and decided to watch the most recent episode of NXT and now I’m hooked. I’ve lost count how much I’ve binged watch it this week so far. It is such a well executed product, but the first thing I thought was this : why isn’t Raw and SmackDown of the same standard? In this weeks WWMD we do an NXT Special to look at how (and why) they do so well.
Reason 1 – Limited Roster
They know what they have to work with. The roster size is small, compared to Raw and SmackDown. Wrestlers transition from NXT to Raw/SmackDown and wrestlers join NXT after doing well at WWE Performance Centre. Therefore, the roster they have is limited. This means that the Creative Team know what they are doing and with who. Not a moment of time is wasted in terms of character development or story line development. This isn’t the same on Raw and SmackDown – they have huge rosters and often they have the talent, but no story line for them to be using.
Reason 2 – Limited TV Time
1 hour a week (pre-taped) and the NXT:Takeover PPVs. That’s all the TV time they get. In that time they have to deliver matches, promos and setting up the following weeks show. And they manage it, consistently. Each episode I’ve watched has left me wanting more. It has left me wanting to see more of the product. Raw has the complete opposite to that – 3 hours is far too long for a TV show. Even if those 3 hours were action packed, similar to NXT, then it would be good. But 3 hours is far, far too much. SmackDown, clocking in at 2 hours is easily manageable.
Reason 3 – Connecting with the audience
The first thought of this is yes, Full Sail University is an intimate location for TV to be produced. The fans who go are regular attenders and the same faces. However, the connection between the wrestlers in TV tapings and PPV are exactly the same. You could quite easily think that the PPV audience is the same as the TV audience. The passion is there, the want to see the talent is there. So many wrestlers on Raw and SmackDown have great skills. They are great on the mic, in the ring but they don’t get that connection. Is that down to the Creative team? Possibly. In 3 hours (Raw) or 2 hours (SmackDown), there is more than enough time for this to take place.
Reason 4 – Using talent correctly (for them and for us)
The amount of talent on the main roster which is used correctly is sadly lacking. Of recent TV and PPV outings, I can think of Owens and Zayn, AJ Styles, The Miz and Braun Strowman. That’s it. So many of the talent are pushed and pulled, ignored, given pointless gimmicks or jobbing left, right and centre. At TLC there was a problem with talent to replace Wyatt and Reigns. They don’t have the talent to fill in the gaps. However, down at Full Sail they don’t. They know the talent they have (as mentioned in Reason 1), so they know what to be doing and who to be doing it with.
Reason 5 – Triple H running NXT
This is one which is referenced by most fans. Triple H runs the show and can deliver the goods. With the greatest respect to Vince McMahon, Triple H can deliver the product which the fans today want to see and Vince can’t. When you see Triple H standing with a NXT prospect, it’s because Triple H can help get that wrestler out to a large audience. He understands what is needed and gets it done.
Closing Thoughts
NXT is certainly leading the way in WWE. The TakeOver PPVs are must watch shows and often have matches that outperform the main roster. The TV tapings are must watch TV and would pull even greater audiences if they weren’t pre-taped. The story lines are prepared, planned and executed to a clinical level. It ticks all the boxes and WWE really need to look at how NXT is done and get Raw and SmackDown at the same level.
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