Should NXT be given more time?

[TheICChampion]

Look, let me start by saying I like NXT the way it is. An hour (or in most cases 50-55 minutes) is a lot better and easier to book for, and it makes the two-hour specials seem more, well, special. But when I thought about all the talent NXT has, would it really be so bad to extend the shows by about half an hour to be able to fit more superstars and divas on the show? Off the top of my head I know that they have:

Sami Zayn
Adrian Neville (I know, he's likely to be called up soon, but as of now he's still there)
Charlotte
Kevin Owens
Enzo Amore and Big Cass
The Lucha Dragons
Finn Balor
Hideo Itami
CJ Parker
Sasha Banks
Bayley
Carmella
Baron Corbin
Bull Dempsey
Emma (just returned to NXT)
Blue Pants
The Vaudevillains
Becky Lynch
Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy
Tyler Breeze

And so on. That's not even counting WWE superstars who come down from time to time. Now, usually you see no more than 7-8 of those superstars/divas that I listed, and usually it's the same ones every week, with a few exceptions here and there. Should NXT be extended by at least half an hour in order for us at home to have more exposure to certain wrestlers and allow them to get over to the point they can get called up? What do you guys think?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

No. Hour long wrestling works because talent don't get overexposed. You don't need to see certain people weekly. Look at the main roster of WWE and TNA and how much more would you enjoy their programming if you didn't see the same faces every week.

 

[TheICChampion]

No. Hour long wrestling works because talent don't get overexposed. You don't need to see certain people weekly. Look at the main roster of WWE and TNA and how much more would you enjoy their programming if you didn't see the same faces every week.

But that's the thing. We already do see certain people weekly. And hell, I had to really rack my brain to come up with some of the names I listed because I honestly forgot about them due to the fact I rarely, if ever, see them. How special is it to see someone if you forget they were ever even there?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

If you forget they're even there do you need an extra thirty minutes to expose them?

 

[Papa Pillman]

The biggest problem here is logistics. As things sit right now, they can wipe out four weeks of programming with one taping. Extend the show length, and you have to do more tapings to compensate.


Quick only slightly related question, I see that the OP listed "Ol' Blue Pants" on his list, does anyone know if the work that Leva Bates has done has actually earned her a contract as a developmental Diva, or is she strictly still working as pay-per-appearance enhancement talent? She'd be a great signing to the Diva roster.

 

[Prince Vee]

No. Hour long wrestling works because talent don't get overexposed. You don't need to see certain people weekly. Look at the main roster of WWE and TNA and how much more would you enjoy their programming if you didn't see the same faces every week.

Oh well first I thought they would need a bit more time but after seeing your reply to the OP which is obviously true I should agree with you.

But still I would want to see an additional 30 to 40 minutes of the show because of the intensity of the roster.

Cheers!!

 

[three count bout]

The biggest problem here is logistics. As things sit right now, they can wipe out four weeks of programming with one taping. Extend the show length, and you have to do more tapings to compensate.


Quick only slightly related question, I see that the OP listed "Ol' Blue Pants" on his list, does anyone know if the work that Leva Bates has done has actually earned her a contract as a developmental Diva, or is she strictly still working as pay-per-appearance enhancement talent? She'd be a great signing to the Diva roster.

I don't believe she has officially signed a contract yet. Another forum was discussing the exact same thing just earlier this month and I agree that she would be a good pick up especially considering Charlotte and Sasha will be called up sooner than later.

I wouldn't hate them signing Mia Yim either. On topic, any added time could lead to needless filler segments. I think NXT does a great job of rotating who's on TV. You might not see your favorite this week, which in turn makes it more satisfying when you see him/her next week.

 

[Prince Vee]

Quick only slightly related question, I see that the OP listed "Ol' Blue Pants" on his list, does anyone know if the work that Leva Bates has done has actually earned her a contract as a developmental Diva, or is she strictly still working as pay-per-appearance enhancement talent? She'd be a great signing to the Diva roster.

Well to be honest the divas division already got a lot of talents and fire power. WWE has to use them in a right way to power up the division. Besides there's only one title in divas division right now so adding up too many stars in that division is a great idea.

Cheers!!

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I guess NXT is losing their appeal. That this moment be known as the point where the honeymoon ended and the first shots were fired.

From a business perspective you're asking WWE to do more work for no money. From a fan perspective you're taking the only product that fans seem to mostly enjoy and changing it. Let it go, WWE has far more to figure out at this point.

 

[Kidpolean]

UM NO!!!!

There is only so much wrestling one person can watch on a weekly basis and its already ridiculous imo. Raw is just scary long, I rarely get past the opening 30 min promo each week. Smackdown is pointless because storylines dont progress on it and half of Smackdown is just a raw recap. NXT is great BUT for every 5 star classic they have, there is at least two matches that are complete trash, im talking about backyard somewhere in a barn untrained wrestlers type of bad.

Please dont add anymore time to the weekly shows. Actually id be happy if they took Smackdown down to only one hour and ran it sort of like NXT but with the main roster. AND PLEASE VINCE....make Raw 2 hours again and start the show of with anything BUT The Authority. Id rather Raw start of with a Kennel from hell match, id rather raw open with Santino segment, Id rather raw open with a 30 min repeating video of Daniel Bryan being eliminated from the RR, Id rather raw open with a promo from Jumpin Jeff Farmer...u guys get the point.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

Honestly, for as much as I love NXT (and I REALLY love NXT), I've been watching so much wrestling lately, I almost wouldn't mind if it was even 30 min or 45 min. I like that it's fast paced, the talent isn't over exposed, the story lines stay relatively fresh, adding any more to the equation only detracts from that feeling. I like the feeling of being left wanting more, it's like the opposite of Raw, where afterwards I feel like I've eaten a whole buffet and I'm ready to vomit.

Sometimes only seeing certain talents every second or third episode goes a long way towards keeping them interesting. Again with the main roster as an example, how many of you actually miss seeing Sheamus or Orton? Do you think about them while watching? I'm honestly not so sure I would've even thought of them once if there weren't always articles talking about their return, because I feel like I've seen all they have to offer. I've seen them fight the same opponents over and over and over. Like the Mizs and Usos, how many times have we seen it in less than a month? 10? 20? 30? Sure feels like it. NXT is still able to provide fresh match combinations on a pretty regular basis, I'd like to keep it that way.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If they went to 2 hours each week, that doesn't necessarily mean that wrestlers will have to be over exposed.

Last night's episode consisted of Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd, The Lucha Dragons vs. Buddy Murphy & Wesley Blake, Charlotte & Bayley vs. Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch, Baron Corbin vs. Bull Dempsey and the contract signing between Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens. If the show had been on a 2 hour format, this is what I'd have done with last night's show:

Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd - 25 minutes
The Lucha Dragons vs. Buddy Murphy & Wesley Blake - 25 minutes
Diva promo segment featuring Charlotte & Bayley prior to the match to build up tension - 10 minutes
Charlotte & Bayley vs. Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch - 20 minutes
Baron Corbin vs. Bull Dempsey - 10 minutes
Promo segment featuring remaining tournament participants - 10
Contract signing - 15 minutes

Factoring in that the "commercials" shown during NXT might add up to about 5 minutes or so, and you've pretty much filled 2 hours with wrestling matches and promo segments designed to hype the upcoming live special, the NXT Championship #1 contender's tournament, the various championships involved and given the talent some more time to show more of what their strengths and/or areas where they need to work on improving themselves.

 

[Wally Dangerously]

One hour is perfect for NXT. The product is pretty solid from week to week, and because it's an hour, I'm left wanting a little bit more at the end of the show. That hooks me to watch it the following week. I feel the same with Lucha Underground. Just as with NXT, it feels episodic, the internal logic is consistent, and there's hardly any filler. I like NXT just the way it is.

 

[PeterSellersSTL]

NXT doesn't need more time, WWE needs to cut hours across the board - I wish fans could campaign to get that accomplished instead of selfishly zeroing in on one iwc-favorite. WWE needs wholesale changes but nothing starts with NXT. NXT is near perfect - I was super-impressed with Corbin last night, I dunno, I dug the flip over the ropes ala Kane and the followup punch. And it's always impressive to see him hit End Of Days on somebody the size of Bull Dempsey. Pretty cool to see no experience guys step in the business and have success. Hopefully fans don't turn on him because he's 6'8 and doesn't do karate kicks.

But yeah - not much of anything needs to change about NXT.

/bad grammar

 

[John McCass]

So,am I only one agreeing with you? Yes,I think NXT should increase its TV time by half an hour and takeovers are okay with 2 hours. See,what we got in Baron Corbin vs Bull Dempsey in about a month long buildup due to lack of time.

 

[TheICChampion]

So,am I only one agreeing with you? Yes,I think NXT should increase its TV time by half an hour and takeovers are okay with 2 hours. See,what we got in Baron Corbin vs Bull Dempsey in about a month long buildup due to lack of time.

Apparently JackHammer is agreeing with me as well. Look, guys, I'm not saying I hate the 1-hour show per week, I'm just wondering if they might do better by adding an extra half-hour in order to give more talents some exposure and give matches more time. Finn Balor vs. Hideo Itami next week is going to be insane but at most they might get 15 minutes. Can you imagine how awesome they would be if given more time?

 

[BuriedByCena]

Here in Canada we get 4.25 hours of wrestling on Mondays. WWE Experience 7pm-8pm. It is a RAW/Smackdown Re-cap show of the past week. Then WWE RAW 8pm-11:15pm(Give or take a minute here and there as WWE always goes past 11pm).

THAT is brutal. WWE RAW needs to go back down to 2 hours. It is too much filler in the middle. They might as well cancel smackdown at this point because it is a gloried RAW re-cap show. Smackdown only has 1 decent match per night and the rest is filler.

As for NXT, Keep it 1 hour long. It is perfect the way it is. They have a small roster and we would get sick of them quickly if it was a 1.5 or 2 hour show. 1 hour leaves us wanting more.

And if your a TNA fan, that is another 2 hours each week. And if you watch RoH, Lucha or whatever else.... your brain just explodes from overload. I love wrestling... but NOT that much that I can watch 10+ hours of it each week. More like 15 hours on the weeks with PPV's. LOL

 

[Mustang Sally]

No. Hour long wrestling works because talent don't get overexposed. You don't need to see certain people weekly. Look at the main roster of WWE and TNA and how much more would you enjoy their programming if you didn't see the same faces every week.

True. When Raw was broadcast from the Manhattan Center back in the early 90's, it was a one-hour show.....fast-paced and slickly produced. We had tons of stars on the roster, yet I don't remember feeling short-changed or rushed by having "only" one hour of programming.

Not only was the 1-hour format enough WWE for the week but it had to be easier for the writers to come up with quality stuff since they didn't have to worry about filling a 2 or 3 hour show.

NXT is fine the way it is.

 

[GeminiGarlord]

One hour is fine, having to actually wait weeks to see your favorite NXT wrestler is actually quite good, creates expectation and avoids overexposure.

I would though make it 1:30 hours rather than only one, one more match plus some more time for promo would make the show basically perfect.

 

[rmp0012002]

One hour is the best for a "wrestling" show unless it's a special event. The longer the show the more filler you have to come up with other than wrestling and like in the case of Raw it has to be three hours for USA to make up their costs through commercials. You can't do everything in an hour but that's what you're suppose to do, leave the fans wanting more.