WWE has put itself in an odd position.
NXT shows almost universally get rave reviews.
Raw and Smackdown, not so much.
NXT is the little engine that could, and features new talent that the audience hasn’t yet become bored with. But Raw and Smackdown have every other advantage.
How many prefer NXT to WWE programming? What can WWE learn from that?
Why do some prefer NXT, or at least see it as a strong complement to WWE TV? If NXT is legitimately a better watch, why is that?
Is it NXT’s more basic creative process?
Is it NXT’s in-ring talent?
Is it NXT’s announcing?
Is it NXT’s more episodic, old-school feel? It’s not Mid-South in the early ‘80s, but NXT rarely seems goofy. Can Raw and Smackdown say the same?
Depending on what WWE concludes after answering these questions, some decisions should be made. They probably won’t be, but they should be.
Should more NXT talent be fast-tracked to WWE?
Would the simplified NXT creative process make WWE TV more appealing? Should those doing the creating be promoted?
Should WWE give NXT more exposure by putting NXT’s TV show on cable?
I find it hard to believe that Tyson Kidd and Natalya, two featured players of great interest on NXT, couldn’t blossom on WWE TV given similar opportunity. Why isn’t Charlotte on the main roster? Sami Zayn? Adrian Neville?
I find it hard to believe that William Regal, praised for each duty handled in NXT, couldn’t be of great use at the so-called “big league” level.
The notion that performers have to learn “the WWE way” is absurd, and just a way for WWE’s bigwigs to feel like they know better.
Just get over. What works, is what works.
I’ve been anxiously waiting to see how WWE dilutes Kevin Steen by pounding the square peg into the round hole. Let Steen alone. Let him be the crazy guy who looks like an unmade bed that fights like crazy.
NXT, to some significant degree, is working. If Triple H is as smart as he thinks he is, he needs to figure out why, and change WWE’s product accordingly. At least experiment. What’s old becomes new again. Nothing is worse than stale.
Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkMaddenX
