Does NXT have the roster depth to support two hours weekly?

[FromTheSouth]

Let me start by saying that I am not one of those "NXT is better is than WWE" people. I think that WWE has five hours to fill and some of what they have is filler. I think that as the current NXT roster starts to move up, there will be less filler, but for the time being, 20 minute main event interviews are going tohave to happen.

My point is that there are certain superstars that most people want to see weekly.

Bayley - Clearly the most over woman, other than Sasha, in all of WWE, one of the original Horsewomen and a great performer. She is the most over person on the roster.

Finn Balor - He is the friggin NXT champ and he's not even on every week. He is right behind Bayley for being over. I know he is injured right now, but he can at least have a presence of some kind.

Enzo and Cass - I love those guys. Enzo has more charisma than half the Raw roster and Cass is a future World Heavyweight Champ. Plus Carmella

American Alpha - Gabriel and Jordan are incredibly dynamic, fun to watch, and always make their opponents look great.

Dash and Dawson, Vaudevillans, Blake and Murphy, etc. - Two of those three teams should be on weekly, of for no other reason, to be foil to the face teams above. Plus, Alexa Bliss.

Asuka and Nia Jaxx - Bayley needs foils.

Nakamura, Bullet CLub members, Joe, Generico, that dude with the guitar.....

That is quite a roster, and it seems like an hour is just rushing it.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

One of the biggest issues I hear from people on here is over saturation with the product. NXT is perfect the way it is. Once they start screwing with things that's when it goes bad. Part of the reason you want to see these people every week is because you can't.

If it's not broken, don't fix it.

 

[FromTheSouth]

I don't think this is a case of absence making the heart grow fonder. I think that we see the same six people on WWE TV for 75% of the airtime and that's the issue. Five hours of TV would be easier to fill if they used the talent they have to fill it. Reigns and Ambrose and Vince and Steph get 8 segments in a 15 segment show. Do we need to see a backstage vingette to discuss the ramifications of the 20 minute talking segment you just did?

NXT would be different. There is enough talent to spread it around and there's no Vince sitting there telling everyone that family drama is why people watch a wrestling show. Vince thinks people watch The Big Bang Theory because of the science instead of Kaey Cuoco.

 

[bjarvis]

NXT is the show that needs 2 hours. At least an hour and a half.

There's all the incoming / indy stars: Finn, Joe, Bullet Club, Hideo, Asaka, etc.
but there is also all the original stars and Tough Enough stars. So yes, it definitely needs a 2nd hour and a 2nd title.

 

[Anger]

I am a huge NXT fan, and am certainly one whom finds it to be more entertaining and satisfying than Raw or SmackDown, and its live events better than those of the main roster for the most part, if for no other reason than better creative direction and storytelling. I believe NXT would be watered down at two hours per week, because its appeal is its wealth of talent, and not every performer being on week after week. I honestly think Raw and SmackDown would be better at two hours each, with alternating talent and angles appearing each week, keeping things fresh. And storylines from the previous week could just receive a backstage,video or in-ring promo to further that angle with the audience until it returns on a future episode. This might also help to keep talent from being overused physically and mentally, hopefully providing a little downtime for those not featured or in action on a given episode.

 

[Paramecia_eater]

Totally just thinking this right now but I think if it even comes to two hours it would happen more naturally than forceful like raw I feel like raw just has to much confidence and is a try hard

 

[Mighty NorCal]

One of the prime situations were "just because you can, doesn't mean you should"


Could they? Probably.


Thing is, NXT is as hot as hot can be right now, and no matter what, will always be a feeder system to RAW. In all likelihood any given year they will lose 25% (at least) of their most over people, and have to rebuild.


Between "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" and the fact that NXT is an ever-evolving rotating roster, it needs to stay just as it is.

 

[Azane]

We already have people who are LITERALLY not named on the show, almost weekly at this point.

Keeping it short keeps it from needing to bloat the card or repeat matches like when we saw Dolph Ziggler vs KO with the same exact finish 4 weeks in a row on RAW, because they need to fill all 3 hours.

 

[Bagpipes]

I wouldn't go as far as to call Cass a future WHC at this point. He has the look and the mic skills (at least when Enzo is there to do most of the heavy lifting), but he's still kind of stuck in that prototypical big man offensive moveset. Clotheslines, big boots, throws, all fine and dandy, I just think he needs to develop a bit more uniqueness in that respect to be among the best performers in the company.

As for the show itself, I could certainly see a change to 2 hour shows negatively affecting the layout and style that we've all grown to love from NXT. It's fine as it is, the longer Takeover specials are good enough to make up for the condensed weekly shows.

Maybe adding some kind of programming on the network that airs after NXT for an hour, or even half an hour would be beneficial to fans seeking more exposure to the product. Behind the scenes stuff like Breaking Ground, or even "A Day in the Life of (NXT Superstar)" could be cool.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

I would most certainly oppose 2 hours. I'm sure it could be done, but it would be detriment to the product. Having the likes of Bayley and Finn not appear every week is a good thing, different people get to main event the show and it allows talents to have a level playing field. I also imagine increasing to 2 hours would mess around with their taping schedule.

 

[Piss Bucket]

IMO NXT needs to go to 2 hours like RAW needs to go back to 2 hours.

They've done 2 hour shows before, which proves there's enough people on the roster to fill the time entertainingly.

 

[ShinChan]

IMO NXT needs to go to 2 hours like RAW needs to go back to 2 hours.

They've done 2 hour shows before, which proves there's enough people on the roster to fill the time entertainingly.

I agree on Raw going back to 2 hours but disagree about NxT though. Yep, They have done TakeOvers of time period of 2 hours and I am really entertained by their PPVs. The thing is that they can do it yet they shouldn't do it. Because the aura of NxT is all about good execution in a limited time period. There are enough people though to make it happen but I would prefer it being as it is.

​

 

[OYDK]

I say this a lot about NXT, but it's still true. If they make the show 2 hours, they might as well just label it their third brand and put it on TV, primarily because there's no way they could keep up with the influx of talents and still run a quality 2 hour show for very long. Guys like Balor and Joe, who are long due a promotion, would never leave NXT because there just wouldn't be big enough names to replace their presence over a 2 hour show.

I'm more than happy with the 1 hour format as it seems to be working quite perfectly. Don't fix what isn't broke.

 

[Blade]

Christ, no. Why do people always want to change something that works? NXT is perfect at 1 hour. It ensures plenty of time to build feuds and angles, while never overexposing anyone. It's good that we don't see Finn Balor and Bayley wrestle every week. That makes it more special when they do wrestle. Let's keep it that way. Otherwise NXT will get accusations of X or Y 'being shoved down their throat'.

 

[FromTheSouth]

I never said Bayley or Finn had to wrestle every week. I just think they should be on the show in some capacity. Furthermore, most of you are talking about one hour of television allowing storylines more time to build. Please answer this question, if they're not on TV, how are they building? True, they take more time, but nothing's building. That's because we don't see the angle. The Walking Dead could not be on TV for six weeks in order to make a storyline last longer, but if nothing happens, how have they built the story? The best way to build storylines is less "special event" programming. That, NXT spaces out well.

 

[Spencesc11]

I would say give it 90 minutes to allow some of the squash matches to play out a little more. The major time shift should be WWE Raw. Should go back to being 2 hours. 3 Hours is way to long, to much repetitive storyline as the night goes on. I would however run Raw from 8pm to 10pm. That will allow the younger fans to most likely catch the whole show.