I have to admit, I wasn’t sure about it at first. I had the chance to watch NXT. I’ve been a Hulu+ subscriber for years and could watch episodes, but I never did.
Then once the WWE announced the WWE Network, I figured it was a no brainer to sign up for it. They usually get $0-$15 a year from when I watch one or two PPVs with my friends. Now they’re getting $119.88 and I get to watch all of them. Seems like a win-win as far as I’m concerned.
The PPVs were the draw and everything else was just gravy. That was my thinking – but my thinking has changed.
For my money, NXT has become the flagship program for the WWE Network – and events like are a huge reason why.
Tonight marks the fifth live NXT event since the advent of the Network and I can honestly say that I am as excited for this as I am for almost all main roster WWE PPV events.
The main objective of NXT is to develop talent that will eventually make it to the main RAW/Smackdown rosters – but at the same time an alternative promotion has been birthed by world’s largest professional wrestling company.
With regular weekly episodes being only 60 minutes and these live special events only at 2-hours, they are less of a commitment than the 3-hours of RAW and the 2-hours of Smackdown we are given every week (plus the 3-hours of PPV most months).
Within these hour and two-hour shows, the WWE packs fantastic young talent doing everything they hope to eventually do on the larger scale one day. It’s like a mini-RAW in every aspect, except perhaps one.
The matches.
I’ll put up some of the matches I’ve seen on NXT against almost anything I see from the main WWE roster on a regular basis. A lot of these guys are seasoned veterans from the indy scene and they already know how to put on a great match.
What NXT allows them to do is put on great matches, learn the WWE style of putting on a show – and at the same time gain a following before they’ve even set foot inside a RAW or Smackdown ring.
Tonight, Kevin Owens takes on Sami Zayn. For WWE/NXT fans this match looks like it is going to be great. For the more hardcore fans who know both of these guys pre-WWE, it’s marking that these two work-horses have finally arrived.
Once they do eventually make it to RAW and Smackdown, they won’t be able to just rest on the hopes that people already know them – the RAW viewership is much larger than the NXT viewership. But, when they are added, it will be with the skill set that that they need to (hopefully) make a name for themselves and succeed.
Just ask the Bray Wyatt. Seth Rollins. Dean Ambrose. Roman Reigns.
(Just don’t ask Adam Rose or The Ascension. okay, well give the ascension time. And Adam Rose worked a lot better on a smaller scale.)
And as much as I look forward to these guys making their move to RAW or Smackdown – they will be missed
