Why i don't like NXT

[Psykohurricane55]

It seem like the fun thing to do to post a thread about something or somebody to hate within WWE so i thought to myself, What is the thing you hate the most in WWE right now. The answer was simple, NXT, and here why i don'T like NXT.


1. They are training those guys to be a bunch of mid card or lower midcard wrestlers: One of the biggest problem i have with NXT right now is how these guys are used or trained. If they're coming from the indies, they don't help them get better as superstars, they just let them be what they were on the indy circuit with all they flaws which might be great for the brand but is doing them a disservice when it comes to the main roster. As for the rest, most of them get cartoony gimmick that come out of the late 80's to mid 90's WWE how in the hell can you get over when your gimmick is outdated? Plus the fact that they are all train the same way doesn't help them which brings me to my next point...

2. They are overexposing these guys: Back when WWE started to used developmental territories to train wrestlers. They would send them to a outside company to train and learn the ropes and at the same time have time to truly learn how to get over with a smaller group of fans in a certain section of the u.s. This system gave us stars like The rock, Randy orton, Batista, John Cena, Brock Lesnar and the list goes on. We didn't see there development on TV every week so when they finally got called up, it's because they were actually ready to come up and they had the space to grow as performers because you had nothing to use as a way to compare how they were booked. So it was easier to get over. Now with NXT behind as big as it is, you really can do that anymore and that why so many have failed when called up. Because you made sure the expectation of the fans were so high that when they get to WWE and are not trusted into the main event picture (which they shouldn't) You get criticize for the fact that they screw up their call up.

3. The wrestling is just Plain boring: i get it, this is what the IWC love to watch as far as wrestling is concern, but for me, i need more then that, i need larger then life characters, i need great story telling, in simple terms i need the total package (not lex luger). By that i mean, you need to look like a star to grab my attention. If you're a great wrestler but don't have a personality and your only characteristic is that your a good wrestler, get off tv and work on your character. same goes for wrestlers that are all characters and are green as far as in ring is concern. Your suppose to be in NXT to learn and get better at your craft so that when you make the jump to the big leagues, you're ready.

4. Finally, Mauro is pretty much just plain annoying at time. First, i've been watching WWE since i was 10 years old, i grew up on Vince Mcmahon on commentary being over the top play by Play guy. In today's standard this was annoying as hell but back then it was so entertaining and it worked. Nowadays, it just fell dated and that's my problem with Mauro, He's trying to much to be like this over the top old school wrestling play by play guy and it takes me out of the matches i'm watching. Nothing against him personally but his style doesn't do it for me. I would love to see him tone it down a little bit and just be a serious play by play guy guiding me through the story instead of being so over the top and making sure he calls all the moves by their name.

So that's why i don'T really care for NXT too much. Nothing against the product itself but i liked it better when we didn'T see the developmental territory every single week and booked major show for them on the same weekends as the big 4 wwe ppv. I fell like it help the guys in the system more when they didn'T have the spotlight on them every week and simply put, it didn't feel like they were creating clones like it does right now.

 

[JoeMallard]

You are so brainwashed from all the garbage you're fed on Raw and Smackdown...

 

[Psykohurricane55]

No, that's called experience my friend. When you've been watching wrestling for as long as i did, you pick up a thing or two about what worked and doesn't and clearly NXT doesn't work as well as some of you guys think it does because if it did, they wouldn't have trouble selling out every takeover event like they are with the one in toronto this weekend and they would have more wrestlers coming out of NXT looking like stars and the old cup out of vince ruins them doesn't work because they should weren't stars to begin with

 

[neildittmar]

While I do agree with some of the criticisms in the OP regarding NXT, I'll say this:

First, I think the "minor leagues" feel of NXT is there as it has been since inception. That's to say, I don't think WWE is specifically training or tailoring these guys be lower or mid-card-at-best wrestlers... rather, it comes with the territory (pun intended). Overall, NXT is a WWE-branded replacement for the old territory system that let new wrestlers (or new to "the big leagues of WWE" at least) get some time to show their skills, create/build/refine their characters, and hopefully catch some eyes for that (hopefully/possibly) big call up to RAW / Smackdown. In other words, the show doesn't have to be AAA or top shelf by design. Though you may get the occasional standout, NXT is the land of B and C players first and foremost... to see if they can be elevated to greater exposure via national TV, PPV/Special Events, etc.

In regards to overexposure, I think if the rumored nationally televised version of NXT happens, then this point is well taken. However, with an hour long weekly program on a pay network that essentially mandates you're already a wrestling fan to subscribe? I think the point of overexposure is more than a tad overblown. I suppose one could argue that the Takeover shows give greater exposure to wrestlers who may not be ready, given their parallel booking with the marquee WWE events. However, I still view them as a "trial run" of sorts, just on a somewhat higher level. Yes, they're big shows for NXT and may even be perceived to be bigger shows by the NXT fandom than what WWE proper puts out. However, even the most casual of wrestling viewers can immediately tell a difference between the competitors, concepts, storylines, arena, etc. of NXT and that of marquee, fully sponsored, full-blown WWE events. Again, NXT is made to look/feel lower budget by design and as long as this doesn't change, overexposure shouldn't be a concern.

Ultimately though, that low budget look/feel is totally ok for a product like NXT in my view. It's fine if you get a bad match (or matches), if a character doesn't work out initially (or at all), or the wrestlers don't have the look. I also believe it's totally ok if a wrestler goes no further than NXT... that's to say, this idea that wrestlers absolutely have to be called up to the big leagues of RAW and Smackdown in order to be deemed successful is ill-perceived. Likewise, NXT is also a decent replacement for the "Ellis Island" concept of wrestling that companies like ECW embraced so whole-heartedly. Without the threat of critically panned shows, low Network/PPV buy rates, and abrupt sponsor pulls, new ideas can be introduced and attempted, new "Stars" can be forged and new storylines / angles can be tested.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I was listening to Meltzer this weekend and he brought up a good point about NXT and WWE need to be careful how they booked the product if the move to FS1 is true. Basically, he said that they need to learn from some of the mistakes they made with ECW near the end of that run because with NXT, you have pretty much a bunch of unknown wrestlers showing up on TV every week, so you need to booked them very carefully and treat the brand like a Third brand on the level of Raw and smackdown and not really a minor league operation. In a way that's true because it's one thing to be on the network, people that bought the network bought it because they are wrestling fans but if you go out and give the same type of product to a casual audience, that don't watch wrestling on a regular base, you have to make these guy feel like major stars which is what ECW failed to do near the end.

Personally if i was them, i would just send wrestlers that have been are being wasted on the main rosters back to NXT and put them in feud with current stars on the roster. Have Cesaro go back down to NXT, He did wonders for Sami Zayn when Zayn was in NXT. Breezango are already down there and it's helping those feuding with them. So why not have those guys that are being wasted on the raw and smackdown roster go back to NXT. They are well known wrestlers and it will help establish guys on the NXT roster that people don't know.

 

[neildittmar]

If NXT moves to FS1 or any other nationally televised network, the chances of the brand turning into an unmitigated disaster are pretty great I think. So-called "careful" booking and treating NXT like a third, congruent brand goes directly against the principles and mandates of what NXT currently is and should continue to be.

We talked about overexposure in the last couple posts in this thread. In my view, there's no greater way to accomplish that then taking wrestlers who are still learning their craft or learning how to be WWE Superstars and putting them on a national stage for the world to see and of course, react to critically. Yes, a national TV deal for NXT would most certainly put more eyes on the product. My contention is that this isn't necessarily a good thing given what the NXT brand truly represents at it's core.

While I wouldn't be against the introduction of an interim show/brand that takes on the more established / refined competitors at NXT as a last mile before they get the call-up to RAW or Smackdown, I firmly believe that trying to turn NXT itself into a third, same-level brand analogous to RAW / Smackdown in terms of quality, production values, et. al. is a mistake.

 

[barongan]

Subscribed to this one

 

[d_henderson1810]

If NXT moves to FS1 or any other nationally televised network, the chances of the brand turning into an unmitigated disaster are pretty great I think. So-called "careful" booking and treating NXT like a third, congruent brand goes directly against the principles and mandates of what NXT currently is and should continue to be.

We talked about overexposure in the last couple posts in this thread. In my view, there's no greater way to accomplish that then taking wrestlers who are still learning their craft or learning how to be WWE Superstars and putting them on a national stage for the world to see and of course, react to critically. Yes, a national TV deal for NXT would most certainly put more eyes on the product. My contention is that this isn't necessarily a good thing given what the NXT brand truly represents at it's core.

While I wouldn't be against the introduction of an interim show/brand that takes on the more established / refined competitors at NXT as a last mile before they get the call-up to RAW or Smackdown, I firmly believe that trying to turn NXT itself into a third, same-level brand analogous to RAW / Smackdown in terms of quality, production values, et. al. is a mistake.

You made a few good points here. '

I think that NXT should be treated like a third brand as well. For example, we recently had "Clash Of Champions", where every title is on the line. Well, the nXT World Title, Women's Title or Tag-Team titles WEREN'T defended.

I think these titles need to be defended on main PPVs, which would give exposure to these people, and give them experience with the big time.

The NXT Championship should be defended at "Wrestlemania" and other PPVs.

Also, I agree that underutilised stars from RAW and SD should go down to NXT, to give casuals a reason to watch, as well as the bigger stars can train the NXT stars in the ring by having matches with them.

I also would like to see a storyline where the biggest star of NXT calls out Triple H, the mastermind of NXT, and berates him, leading to a match between the two on the TV debut of NXT , or at a major PPV.

Also, I hope the draft includes RAW and SD people going to NXT.

 

[Slick21]

It seem like the fun thing to do to post a thread about something or somebody to hate within WWE so i thought to myself, What is the thing you hate the most in WWE right now. The answer was simple, NXT, and here why i don'T like NXT.

Please spare us with the insult towards the majority of fans intelligence will you? If you've been seeing constant hate about something related to WWE, then it's definitely not because it's "the fun thing to do" There's plenty amount of good reasons for it. If you're aware with that recent HIAC match(Rollins Vs Wyatt) fiasco that took place following the post Raw/Smackdown, then you'll have a good idea of what I'm talking about.

Also, to compare NXT to an old training territory, then use guys like Randy Orton, Batista and John Cena as examples is so ridiculous when half of the current NXT roster and the others in the past few years were way more talented and entertaining to watch than most of those guys ever did combined. And it should be quite obvious now that around the time they were in OVW, Vince was always( and still is) more invested into either guys who are big or have a unique look.

I really don't know if you were always watching the same show as everyone else. If not, then you need to go back and re-watch again because guys like Ascension, PAC(Adrian Neville), Sami, Sanity, Aleister Black, DIY, Velveteen and Undisputed Era were bringing the house down almost every week. There was not a huge gap where I saw them struggle with solid character developing storylines and wrestling. It was an appealing type of product that fans missed in wrestling for so long. Same with AEW.

I don't really like or watch NXT anymore either, but it's not for some of the reasons like yours. The main reason why I don't pay attention anymore is pretty much the same reason why I never really watched much of WWE's poor rehash of ECW. They're using it as a lab test experiment for talent until the company gets to a point where they decided they've either 1. Hit the jackpot. 2. Get stuck in mid-card position or 3. They feel they have no need to use them on TV anymore.

I'm with JoeMallard, it seems as if the repetitive nonsense Raw/Smackdown is putting out is brainwashing you. I've seen you've been doing same thing in the AEW thread. It really reminded me why I left this site years ago and it's nice to check back to see nothing ever really changed. It's like you along with this other huge portion of this forum got this mixed McMahon/Vince Russo type of mentality who think they can speak on behalf of what wrestling fans want when you're clearly out of touch.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Nothing against your opinion, it's just that some of us as a difference vision of what wrestling should be based on what worked before. I feel like they're 2 different class of fans, the younger generation that haven't live through keyfabe and the older generation that lived through it. I'm on the second one. I remember how, wrestling wasn't just about workrate, it was also about psychology and character development and promos. That's why so many of the guys i mention like Cena, orton and lesnar are megastar a nobody in the current wrestling landscape is. They are pretty much some of the last Megastars that the wrestling business produce.

The fact is, i started watching NXT back since i wrote the comment and while it's still formulaic, i see a lot of potential in some of the guys and girls on that rosters. Wrestlers like Tomasso ciampa, The undisputed era, Shayna bazzler just to name those have a real chance at becoming big star at some point in WWE, While others like Gargano are better off staying on NXT. But that's my opinion on this. Sorry at less NXT is doing a better job at helping peoples follow along and caring about those characters then AEW is.

 

[FromGlasgowScotland]

To be honest I don't even watch NXT, There's just too much wrestling at the moment AEW, Impact, MLW, NWA and the rest of the WWE shows there's not enough hours in the day, I have been watching mainly MLW and NWA recently as they seem more old school style wrestling to me. All WWE shows to me are too formulaic but I do watch any highlights on youtube.

 

[Seekarr]

Fair points, but on the other hand I am a fairly big fan of NXT.

1. Many NXT wrestlers have gone on to become champions on other rosters. But either way, I don’t really care about what most of them do on RAW or Smackdown. I like them when they’re on NXT, before they get figuratively neutered.

2. I don’t think they’re overexposing them at all. NXT is also not the same as developmental, it’s the step after developmental. I.E. Dijakovic was in developmental for a couple of years before debuting.

3. This is my strongest disagreement. The wrestling is top-notch. And while it may not have top-notch storytelling or characters, it is still in many ways the best thing going (at least outside of Japan). Smackdown and RAW storytelling is very inconsistent - usually NXT is better because it’s not filled with junk. Johnny Wrestling, Tommaso Ciampa, Io Shirai, Rhea Ripley, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, the aforementioned Dijakovic, and more are generally more interesting than RAW/Smackdown.

4. Mauro actually calls the match. I find he’s far and above the best play by play guy in the business. I’ve been a fan since he was doing MMA with Bas Rutten years ago.

It sounds to me like you’re an arm-chair booker fan. Talking about what works and what doesn’t. But NXT is working out quite well, it has a cable deal, it has a unique rock-show style feel; as opposed to the RAW and Smackdown Ice Hockey side show feel. They expanded the time on NXT recently without the product suffering one bit (like RAW and Heat did when they added Smackdown back in 1999... granted it got much better once 2000 rolled in, but there was that 6 months of crap gap). I like the product of NXT, and I think it’ll be interesting to see if it becomes the biggest show in the world, since it’s around 50% of Smackdown currently; and has finally surpassed AEW for the first time in ratings.

Don’t worry about NXT not being mainstream, no wrestling show really has been in about 15 years. Worrying about wrestling from a Booker’s standpoint really more or less a distraction from actually enjoying the product.

 

[Aquaman6686]

It seem like the fun thing to do to post a thread about something or somebody to hate within WWE so i thought to myself, What is the thing you hate the most in WWE right now. The answer was simple, NXT, and here why i don'T like NXT.


1. They are training those guys to be a bunch of mid card or lower midcard wrestlers: One of the biggest problem i have with NXT right now is how these guys are used or trained. If they're coming from the indies, they don't help them get better as superstars, they just let them be what they were on the indy circuit with all they flaws which might be great for the brand but is doing them a disservice when it comes to the main roster. As for the rest, most of them get cartoony gimmick that come out of the late 80's to mid 90's WWE how in the hell can you get over when your gimmick is outdated? Plus the fact that they are all train the same way doesn't help them which brings me to my next point...

2. They are overexposing these guys: Back when WWE started to used developmental territories to train wrestlers. They would send them to a outside company to train and learn the ropes and at the same time have time to truly learn how to get over with a smaller group of fans in a certain section of the u.s. This system gave us stars like The rock, Randy orton, Batista, John Cena, Brock Lesnar and the list goes on. We didn't see there development on TV every week so when they finally got called up, it's because they were actually ready to come up and they had the space to grow as performers because you had nothing to use as a way to compare how they were booked. So it was easier to get over. Now with NXT behind as big as it is, you really can do that anymore and that why so many have failed when called up. Because you made sure the expectation of the fans were so high that when they get to WWE and are not trusted into the main event picture (which they shouldn't) You get criticize for the fact that they screw up their call up.

3. The wrestling is just Plain boring: i get it, this is what the IWC love to watch as far as wrestling is concern, but for me, i need more then that, i need larger then life characters, i need great story telling, in simple terms i need the total package (not lex luger). By that i mean, you need to look like a star to grab my attention. If you're a great wrestler but don't have a personality and your only characteristic is that your a good wrestler, get off tv and work on your character. same goes for wrestlers that are all characters and are green as far as in ring is concern. Your suppose to be in NXT to learn and get better at your craft so that when you make the jump to the big leagues, you're ready.

4. Finally, Mauro is pretty much just plain annoying at time. First, i've been watching WWE since i was 10 years old, i grew up on Vince Mcmahon on commentary being over the top play by Play guy. In today's standard this was annoying as hell but back then it was so entertaining and it worked. Nowadays, it just fell dated and that's my problem with Mauro, He's trying to much to be like this over the top old school wrestling play by play guy and it takes me out of the matches i'm watching. Nothing against him personally but his style doesn't do it for me. I would love to see him tone it down a little bit and just be a serious play by play guy guiding me through the story instead of being so over the top and making sure he calls all the moves by their name.

So that's why i don'T really care for NXT too much. Nothing against the product itself but i liked it better when we didn'T see the developmental territory every single week and booked major show for them on the same weekends as the big 4 wwe ppv. I fell like it help the guys in the system more when they didn'T have the spotlight on them every week and simply put, it didn't feel like they were creating clones like it does right now.

It's honestly shocking that you and I agree on almost everything involving NXT, but disagree on everything else.

 

[Ryan McQueen]

It's rubbish, this is supposed to be the future of WWE we're talking about and it gets all this ranting and raving and tours all over the world but yet there appears to be no future. Vince and HHH are both really odd leaders to have, they don't seem to have mastered the art of building a future of a company, Vince used to know but seems to have lost it, HHH only cares about his favoritism towards his favorites and NXT seems to be a lost cause. It used to be good and started well but now seems to have gone down the pan.

 

[Nick Papadakos]

It seem like the fun thing to do to post a thread about something or somebody to hate within WWE so i thought to myself, What is the thing you hate the most in WWE right now. The answer was simple, NXT, and here why i don'T like NXT.


1. They are training those guys to be a bunch of mid card or lower midcard wrestlers: One of the biggest problem i have with NXT right now is how these guys are used or trained. If they're coming from the indies, they don't help them get better as superstars, they just let them be what they were on the indy circuit with all they flaws which might be great for the brand but is doing them a disservice when it comes to the main roster. As for the rest, most of them get cartoony gimmick that come out of the late 80's to mid 90's WWE how in the hell can you get over when your gimmick is outdated? Plus the fact that they are all train the same way doesn't help them which brings me to my next point...

2. They are overexposing these guys: Back when WWE started to used developmental territories to train wrestlers. They would send them to a outside company to train and learn the ropes and at the same time have time to truly learn how to get over with a smaller group of fans in a certain section of the u.s. This system gave us stars like The rock, Randy orton, Batista, John Cena, Brock Lesnar and the list goes on. We didn't see there development on TV every week so when they finally got called up, it's because they were actually ready to come up and they had the space to grow as performers because you had nothing to use as a way to compare how they were booked. So it was easier to get over. Now with NXT behind as big as it is, you really can do that anymore and that why so many have failed when called up. Because you made sure the expectation of the fans were so high that when they get to WWE and are not trusted into the main event picture (which they shouldn't) You get criticize for the fact that they screw up their call up.

3. The wrestling is just Plain boring: i get it, this is what the IWC love to watch as far as wrestling is concern, but for me, i need more then that, i need larger then life characters, i need great story telling, in simple terms i need the total package (not lex luger). By that i mean, you need to look like a star to grab my attention. If you're a great wrestler but don't have a personality and your only characteristic is that your a good wrestler, get off tv and work on your character. same goes for wrestlers that are all characters and are green as far as in ring is concern. Your suppose to be in NXT to learn and get better at your craft so that when you make the jump to the big leagues, you're ready.

4. Finally, Mauro is pretty much just plain annoying at time. First, i've been watching WWE since i was 10 years old, i grew up on Vince Mcmahon on commentary being over the top play by Play guy. In today's standard this was annoying as hell but back then it was so entertaining and it worked. Nowadays, it just fell dated and that's my problem with Mauro, He's trying to much to be like this over the top old school wrestling play by play guy and it takes me out of the matches i'm watching. Nothing against him personally but his style doesn't do it for me. I would love to see him tone it down a little bit and just be a serious play by play guy guiding me through the story instead of being so over the top and making sure he calls all the moves by their name.

So that's why i don'T really care for NXT too much. Nothing against the product itself but i liked it better when we didn'T see the developmental territory every single week and booked major show for them on the same weekends as the big 4 wwe ppv. I fell like it help the guys in the system more when they didn'T have the spotlight on them every week and simply put, it didn't feel like they were creating clones like it does right now.

Have you changed your mind? Nxt wasn’t on tv before so I didn’t know anything about it. Plus I just started watching wwe again about a year ago. Anyways, now I’m starting to like nxt. I love Adam Cole and Rhea Ripley. Keith Lee and Matt Riddle too. It’s growing on me

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Have you changed your mind? Nxt wasn’t on tv before so I didn’t know anything about it. Plus I just started watching wwe again about a year ago. Anyways, now I’m starting to like nxt. I love Adam Cole and Rhea Ripley. Keith Lee and Matt Riddle too. It’s growing on me

Me too most week, the fact that i can't watch it live on wednesday because i live in canada does help. I still find the commentary team irritating most week, especially Mauro and Beth but ever since johnny gargano got injured, i feel like the spotlight as been put on guys that feel like actual stars and it make for a better show overall.