WWE: NXT Probably Needs To Become Its Own Brand

There has been a lot of talk about the (alleged) fact that wrestlers (sports entertainers) up on the main WWE roster have been complaining that the NXT wrestlers are getting the chance to shine in the ring and do what they love while they are being forced into short TV matches with inane storylines attached. It’s a shame and it would be great to see all of the guys on the main roster get to ply their chosen trade on television instead of just a select few, but that’s just not the reality of the situation and isn’t going to change until Vince McMahon dies.

Now NXT has started to take their act on the road. They have a dedicated following in Florida on the campus of Full Sail University (it’s like TNA’s Impact Zone except not incredibly annoying) and the Wednesday night television show is one of the most-watched shows on the WWE Network. The buzz was immediate when they announced a show in Columbus, Ohio and it ended up drawing a crowd of nearly 1,000 fans.

The following night in Cleveland had over a thousand in attendance. On the Friday before WrestleMania, there will be a live NXT show in San Jose that might end up taking away a lot of the fans that would be attending other independent shows in the area.

With the NXT specials that have been upstaging WWE pay-per-views, most recently the Takeover: Rival show outclassing the Fastlane PPV in embarrassing fashion, why not go a step further than just being a training ground? Remember back when WWE announced that they were going to bring back ECW — yes, it was met with a ton of criticism and even more pessimism and turned out to be a joke for a long time — people also thought that it could have the chance to be a much-needed alternative to the stale WWE product of the time. There were points that they produced some really fantastic television and great matches, but it was just a placeholder for Tuesday nights.

WWE now has the chance to produce its own competition again. There already is, as mentioned above, alleged jealousy from the main roster. If NXT goes on the road on a more regular basis and starts becoming its own legitimate attraction that jealousy can heat up even more. The plan is apparently to use WWE stars to help draw fans to the NXT shows — You can bet that there are a number of guys who would love to join the NXT roster full time if it gave them the chance to be a part of a pro wrestling show instead of being used sparingly or stuck in mediocre feuds and short matches.

Promote the live events on WWE TV, use house show footage on Wednesday nights along with the taped shows from Full Sail (which they are doing with the Arnold Classic stuff from Columbus that happened last week) and create some competition!

Triple H has been the driving force behind WWE’s stellar developmental program and the talent roster that has been putting on the great shows that has everybody talking. Once he is done with his time as a full-time on screen character he really should spend more time focusing on making NXT its own brand. Maybe when the NXT shows continue to trounce WWE’s shows in terms of quality it will give the WWE creative team the kick in the pants they so desperately need.