NXT match at Wrestlemania?

[TheMainEvent]

Rumors have it that NXT might have a match at this years Wrestlemania so my question is what match would you like to see?

My personal favorite would be either a 5-way elimination match for the NXTt itle featuring Owens, Zane, Balor, Itomi, and Neville or a ladder match for a WWE Contract. It's highly unlikely they would spotlight these guys on such a grand stage but with the current tournent setup it could naturally build to a feud involving all of them to make an organic build to the event.

 

[Dagger Dias]

None of the above, unless NXT is made into an equal brand before Wrestlemania takes place. NXT is a developmental show currently and they should not have any matches on main roster PPV cards other than possibly Night Of Champions. Not having any matches at all on WWE PPV's until they get the actual promotion makes it all the more special when they do make their PPV debut. Now if I absolutely HAD to pick.... Zayn VS Neville VS Owens VS Tyson in a Fatal Fourway for the NXT Championship. That's one of the best options they have, and it could easily steal the show.

 

[StonewallBrigade]

They didn't even have any NXT guys show up for the Rumble so i don't see them spending any time for them at Mania. I think the Rumble would have been a better time to introduce a guy or two; especially with the limited star power that did show up.

 

[Wald]

Would this be a good idea now that WWE want to promote NXT as a separate brand? If they're running house shows and using NXT as a selling point for the Network than I really don't see why they shouldn't do this. The drawbacks would be that Vince might not think they're ready ability wise and it might also put a few main roster wrestler's noses out of joint.

As far as Vince goes, well it would be positioned very much as a lower card match, something like the second or third match on the card, and it would appeal to the hardcore fan that Mania seems to attract more and more as the years go by. The wrestlers who may feel that the NXT stars are stealing a spot would just have to learn to live with it I guess. If they aren't getting booked in a match they'll probably be in the 'get everyone on the card' match anyway.

I feel a Sami Zayn v Kevin Owens v Finn Balor triple threat for the NXT title, even if just given 10-15 minutes, could really be something on that stage. I do think it would do wonders to promote the Network and gain a few subscriptions and it would help kick start their tour as well. As far as I can tell it could only be a good thing to do this but I'd be interested to hear other opinions.

 

[TheICChampion]

I like the idea of an NXT showcase match but I'd rather it not be for the title. Maybe a 6-man tag or Zayn vs. Owens as a grudge match.

 

[laodaron]

Under no circumstance should the minor leagues be showcased at a Main Roster event in which there are Main Roster talents NOT on the card.

I think that NXT should have a Takeover the Week before Wrestlemania in the same location, maybe the Friday night of Wrestlemania weekend, but absolutely not should they be on the WM31 card.

 

[chuckmdubya]

Takeover yesterday was the first time I had watched NXT, and now I know what all the hype is about. I usually stick to the old school stuff on the network but wanted to watch and see.
Well, the hype is right, this is better than Raw. The match between Finn Balor and Adrian Neville was absolutely great. Balor has so many cool original moves, can't wait to see this guy moved up. The Divas looked so good in the ring, I thought I was watching TNA knockouts fight.
It would be hard to justify to a mid card guy why the minor leaguers got his spot at WrestleMania, though. A good idea might be to have a two hour NXT show prior to WrestleMania. I know that 5 hours of wrestling is a lot to watch, but its WrestleMania, the once a year showcase of the immortals, I know I would watch it all. It's kind of like the Super bowl, not a whole lot of people sit on their couch alone and watch either event. A NXT pre WrestleMania show would help to add to the party atmosphere of the event.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I'm all for that and I see no reason why they can't get 10 minutes to open Wrestlemania or something. You put any mixture of Neville, Owens, Balor or Zayn to open the show and the crowd will get hot pretty damn quickly which is the point of an opening match to begin with.

In my opinion, it shouldn't matter if you're on the main roster or not to warrant a spot on the Wrestlemania card. A lot of people on the main roster only exist on there to lose and at the end of the day it's all about putting on a great show, not making sure everyone's little feelings aren't hurt. The simple fact is there are guys on the NXT roster that flat out deserve a spot on Wrestlemania more than a good chunk of the main roster. If people on the NXT roster have worked hard enough and are over enough then why not put them on the big card and give them 10 minutes? It can get more people watching NXT and most of all it's a great way to warm up the crowd and get them ready for the rest of the night. NXT is in a lot of ways the future of WWE, why not give the fans a small peak into what they have to look forward to?

 

[King Patrick Star]

I have no real opinion on NXT. I think NXT is the greatest dependent on WWE / indy-level promotion in the World today. I think they should be featured at WrestleMania, but not on the main show. I think the NXT Championship, the NXT Tag Team Championship, and the NXT Women’s Championship should be defended at the WrestleMania pre-show, exclusive to the WWE Network. In fact, I think the NXT Championships should always be defended on the WWE Pay Per View pre-shows, which would hopefully bump the current pre-show matches up to the main card. Then again, it would probably bump the current pre-show matches off the card entirely.

 

[PeterSellersSTL]

There can be something during Wrestlemania week but I wouldn't agree with having a match at Wrestlemania. Pre-Show or otherwise.

A Zayn-Owens grudge match kicking off Wrestlemania week would be awesome to see. I love Wrestlemania week. (and that match at TakeoverRival was amazing, Sami Zayn is so much better than Daniel Bryan it isn't even funny, what an actor, what a talent. His selling brings to mind HBK it's so good)

 

[Stan Hansen]

No.

In no way should NXT be on a main roster PPV. I wasn't a fan of them being on Raw but I know why they were there.

They need to stay away from the main roster events.

Having a Live Event of their own that week would make more sense.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm kinda torn really.

On one hand, there's a lot of talent on the NXT roster and that talent has been used extremely well by some extremely concise, consistent booking. As a result, I think it's natural as a fan, downright instinctive really, to want to see some of that talent showcased at the biggest show of the year.

On the other hand, I also like the idea of NXT being pretty damn close to being an autonomous, separate entity from the main roster. There's been little crossover between the developmental and main rosters aside from the occasional uses of mid-card to lower mid-card wrestlers from the main roster. That minimal crossover coupled with the talent, the different production values and strong booking does make NXT come off as an alternative to the more "mainstream" WWE product.

IF NXT becomes it's own separate touring brand, which is said to be a goal Triple H hopes to reach in 2016, then MAYBE I could see NXT getting to be not only a part, but maybe a significant part of WrestleMania in 2017. Things are starting to look good for the WWE Network and if WWE is able to eventually get 2-3 million regular subscribers, then there's little doubt that NXT could be the centerpiece show for the network. If NXT is able to be a successful touring brand, even filming episodes of the televised program in different arenas, then I could POSSIBLY see NXT being branded as more of an equal to the main roster. After all, while NXT is the name of the TV show, it's also the name of the developmental territory itself and wrestlers don't make it to the NXT TV show without first showing what they've got during actual training sessions.

However, there's still a lot of work to do and the results of said work won't be revealed until pretty far down the line. Until/unless NXT becomes successful enough to be viewed as sort of its own legit brand, it's still the "minor leagues" in some ways. If NXT did run a match on the WrestleMania card, I probably wouldn't be against it, but the match itself, the wrestlers competing in it, whether they got any significant time on WWE television to promote the match, the story behind it, etc. would show if there's any real payoff. I don't see a point in just slapping together a 5 or 10 minute match onto the WrestleMania card just for the novelty of it being a match of NXT wrestlers. If it's on the card, then treat it like it has meaning.

Oh and probably the most important thing, I think they'd need to let Triple H & his team book it. Triple H would need to convince Vince, get on his hands & knees if he had to, to let his guys book the NXT match & storyline. Threaten to sic Stephanie on him, threaten to tell his mother, and yes she's still alive btw, or whatever. I don't have faith in the stability of Vince's booking these days. I'd rather the match not happen whatsoever any day than for Vince to screw it all up just because he thinks he knows better than everyone else around him.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I saw the match between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and man, these guys know how to go. Amazing match, lot's of moves I've seen for the first time, awesome moments and a fresh finish. It's very sad that WWE's developmental system is better than WWE itself. If WWE turn into what NXT is after Triple H takes over, this time replacing the rookies with actual big wrestling names, then I'm all for it.

On topic now, I'd love to see that, but there's no way it's gonna happen for the following reasons:
1) NXT is great, but the main roster is a "bigger" league. Putting NXT at Wrestlemania, takes away another wrestler's spot.
2) If you put them at the grandest stage of them all, then what's the reason for them to work in order to get to the main roster in order to get to 'Mania.
3) No mainstream appeal. Sure a great match, but to the casual fan and those who aren't familiar it won't be anything more than just a spot-fest.
4) Yeah, it can bring casual viewers to NXT, but the target isn't to grow NXT's viwership, but the main shows', RAW & SmackDown.

Maybe in the future it might get, considering the fact that HHH wants NXT to become its own brand and why not? NXT proved to me that it can hold on its own. I hope they don't mess it up with drafts and moving names like Orton and Cena there.

 

[rmp0012002]

Pre-show but not WM itself. A minor leaguer should not be taking a spot from a main roster guy and you really can't intertwine both rosters in matches because as of now the NXT guys wrestler at a much higher technical level than the main roster guys that they would have to be dumbed down and that's wasting their talent.

 

[Reflection]

I wholeheartedly support the idea of giving the NXT stars a slot on the Wrestlemania card. Now that there is only one world championship, there is a free slot anyway. So instead of developing a feud just to fill that spot up, why not have the top 2 or 3 superstars battle it out in the grandest stage? It will be a treat to watch, like NXT always is, it would make more fans conscious about NXT, it would motivate the other NXT talents that next year they could be here too... there is so much to gain. Now that NXT will most likely become a separate brand, this should be grand start to that journey.

 

[Navi]

I don't see a problem with having an NXT match opening Wrestlemania. Have a tag team match between Owens/Corbin against Zayn/Balor (with the amazing entrance and face paint). Or something like that.

What's the issue with showing off what's coming up. These wrestlers will hopefully one day make the main roster and what better place to showcase them. Everyone is acting like they're going to take over the show or something, one match won't do that. And if the main roster is nervous that the NXT guys will outshine them, then there's a huge issue with the main roster. In reality that shouldn't happen like it did.

The network can use all the subscriptions it can get, and if promoting NXT will get them more then go for it. It's not Balor's or Owen's fault that creative can't make matches for main roster wrestlers. That creative's problem. We already have a main event that might suck, so might as well put a good match in there to keep the crowd happy. Besides most of the main roster will be in the Battle Royale, so no one will be left out.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

If you're on the WrestleMania card or even the pre-show you've taken the leap to the main roster. There's no point doing that and then not featuring those people again.

Do people want to strip NXT of everything they enjoy about it? Personally instead of people getting promoted from NXT I'd prefer it if my favourite talents got 'demoted' to it.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Do people want to strip NXT of everything they enjoy about it? Personally instead of people getting promoted from NXT I'd prefer it if my favourite talents got 'demoted' to it.

Thankyou.


Everyone needs to be reasonable. It would not be beneficial to the brand to have them curtain jerk mania. These things are supposed to be kept secret.

What SHOULD be done is a promo video during Mania so the max amount of possible viewers can say "hey, whats that?" and then go to the brand themselves.

 

[Wald]

If you're on the WrestleMania card or even the pre-show you've taken the leap to the main roster. There's no point doing that and then not featuring those people again.

Do people want to strip NXT of everything they enjoy about it? Personally instead of people getting promoted from NXT I'd prefer it if my favourite talents got 'demoted' to it.

But that's living in a world where NXT isn't just a stepping stone to the main roster. Zayn, Neville and Charlotte will all be called up in 2015 and I'd be very surprised if Owens, Balor, Banks and Itami aren't in 2016. It wouldn't be a shock to see some of that four go up in 2015 even.

Look at a potential NXT showcase match at Wrestlemania from a business point of view. WWE wants to promote NXT house shows and it wants to promote the Network, of which NXT is one of the stand out selling points. Giving NXT some big stage time is a great way of achieving both of those goals.