WON - major changes coming to NXT philosophy

[Comrade Khan]

Figured I’ll paste all the text here for those that can’t/don’t want to open Twitter.

- Holy crap does tonight's WOR open with the bleakest possible NXT news. Nothing that will shock anyone based on this week but Dave clearly has first-hand details he didn't yesterday and...oh boy.

- Dave says HHH and HBK did not pick the NXT cuts. Vince, Prichard and Laurenaitis did. NXT lost the war and they're going to change, back toward an older style of development. Big guys, young guys

- Dave says there are divisive opinions about wrestling among the people in WWE and this is who has Vince's ear this week. They're going back to pre-fighting AEW, pre-"Let's out indie the indies" NXT, Dave says the Curtis Axel era of NXT

- Dave was given exact wording, doesn't say from who but seems like a company source or memo. Reads it off. "No more midgets. No one starting in their 30s. They want people who can be box office attractions and main characters."

- To be clear, that quoted part in the previous tweet is the thing from a source Dave read off. The LITERAL WORDING was "No more midgets". WOO WE'RE TURNING THE CLOCKS BACK 20 YEARS BABY.

- Dave notes there will always be exceptions to the rule, like how WWE still wants to keep Adam Cole, who is in fact not tall.

- As for Adam Cole, Dave assumes part of the meeting they had with him Friday at Smackdown was to offer her a main roster spot if he stays. Main brand writers have been told to come up with storyline ideas for him.

 

[Comrade Khan]

Reddit post has link to tweets as we detailing the WON as well as audio clips from YouTube

 

[Loochblade]

Turning it back 20 years? More like turning it back 30 years...

 

[Comrade Khan]

Turning it back 20 years? More like turning it back 30 years...

Pretty much

 

[Comrade Khan]

Btw the copied text is the reddit recap not my words

 

[Hosferatu]

I see it as having good and bad aspects.

I mean, peak NXT from like 2015 to 2018 was an amazing show that produced tons of great characters and even more great matches and moments. But, that said, AEW is currently filling that sort of role of being like the amalgamation of all the best indie shit, along with the amazing production value. NXT for me has been on a pretty major descent since they moved to 2 hours on USA so in a lot of ways, I'm not emotionally attached to the brand or performers anymore.

And in that same vein I barely have any love for WWE on the whole. They created so many amazing things that I've enjoyed throughout my life but this modern state of the company is just barren and difficult to care about. So, why should I be upset from a personal standpoint when wrestlers I love get cut from there? For the micro chance that they have a Daniel Bryan WrestleMania XXX style moment at some point in their career?

Eh. I can't hold out that kind of hope anymore. I'll just enjoy those moments when/if they do happen, but I can't be waiting around for some shit that is 99% likely not to happen. I'd much sooner watch these guys have good matches and storylines in other companies, than to watch them toil away with 50/50 booking and mediocre creative for the extremely slight chance they have their one awesome career defining moment on the big stage, only to then quickly go back downhill becoming a drone of a character (McIntyre )

On the flip side of that though, the old style of development did undeniably breed some of the great stars of the millennium. Lesnar, Cena, Orton, Batista being the most notable. But, beyond them even, you can count a number of people who came up through the FCW system with limited indie experience in that same crop, so that would include guys like Reigns, Wyatt and The New Day.

I don't see them going back to big young prospects and leaving the indie guys alone as being a bad thing. Maybe it's genuinely a better formula for them. But either way they've got a slew of other things they're going to need to address if their hope is to create bigger stars that can drive business back up.

 

[Comrade Khan]

One thing on your last point too EC (you alluded to it I think) is outside reigns/black who were fcw (n Tyler was already an indie star) those Lesnar n Orton guys came from Cornette's OVW I think? So the "old nxt" has never really produced all that much either afaik? New style nxt gave ppl owens zayn Charlotte Becky balor etc so uts just so strange to me to think going back in time is going to help produce future stars.

 

[Comrade Khan]

I totally can relate to you first paragraph too EC, I've lost complete investment in the brand I characters when they moved to 2h on Wednesday so I'm not surprised you feel the same

 

[Hosferatu]

Depends on if you're talking old NXT as in FCW or old NXT as in pre-Balor I guess. FCW made a lot of pretty high profile people that Vince seems to like. Sheamus, Kofi, Dolph, Drew, The Usos... then when NXT became the development brand many of those early guys were FCW leftovers as well. Bray, Bo, E, Dillinger, etc. I would say all phases of development have had their hits and their misses. I'm guessing in Vince's eyes though, he'd take the crop of guys who came up before NXT was a thing to guys like Owens, Zayn, Nak and Balor who he's really never seemed to want to position in top spots.

 

[Comrade Khan]

Fair enough ya. Which is batshit as they put belts on owens n balor n they should be mega stars at this point but fsr they stuck in midcard hell

 

[Comrade Khan]

That being said if they just want to develop big dudes like in ovw I don't see the point of putting that on tv either

 

[Alexa]

All I got from this is that WWE is shooting themselves in both feet and still except to win the race. Either way can't wait to see people's reaction and everything to the new changes and such

 

[Chris]

NXT UK rn just hoping no one remembers they exist

 

[Sky]

NXT UK rn just hoping no one remembers they exist

Mission accomplished for the first 3 years of their existence, I guess

 

[Alexa]

NXT UK rn just hoping no one remembers they exist

Which is sad since they have had better matches