NXT On USA: Stroke Of Genius Or A Mistake Waiting To Happen?

Will NXT survive in the Wednesday Night Wars?

WWE

Recently, WWE dropped a major bombshell on the pro wrestling landscape when it announced that NXT will be moving to the USA Network. Make no mistake, this is something that is going to change the entire landscape. To put it short, we are back to the old days of Monday Night Wars. Well, in this case, it would be Wednesday Night Wars.

For starters, this announcement lets us know that WWE is taking AEW seriously. Regardless of how WWE pretends that it is not the case, the fact of the matter is that AEW is competition. A true legitimate competitor to WWE. Unlike other pro wrestling promotions, AEW has the financial backing and star power to give WWE a proper run for their money.

Several reports indicate that Vince McMahon is taking AEW seriously and this latest move on WWE’s part validates those reports. Some reports state that Mr. McMahon is afraid of committing the same mistakes he committed when Ted Turner’s WCW first came into existence and is determined not to underestimate AEW.

Initially, Vince McMahon tried to deal with the problem in true McMahon style – by throwing money and expecting the problem to be solved, however, it has since become clear that AEW is not going to fade into mediocrity with this tactic. Hence, the recent series of countermeasures has been put forth which involved hiring Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff as EPs of Raw and Smackdown, trying to bring more edgier content, bringing back the 24/7 Championship rule and so on.

While this has helped to recreate the interest in the product in its own way, the fact remains that AEW has not lost its momentum despite these measures. With AEW going live on weekly television this October, it was imperative that WWE took some drastic measures to prepare themselves, lest they found themselves caught with their pants down. We can certainly say that this particular announcement is WWE preparing for the ratings war in its own way.

Readers may wonder why WWE announced that NXT, which is a developmental product of WWE, was the one to put on spotlight when they have two perfectly fine brands on television already. This is where the masterstroke of Vince McMahon comes.

By bringing NXT into the spotlight, Vince has made the hardcore fans of wrestling – who incidentally prefer NXT over the two main brands – choose between an established product and an up and coming product which are identical in their style. We all know that NXT is more focused on long term storytelling and actual in-ring wrestling compared to Raw and Smackdown. Incidentally, the motto of AEW and their focus seems to be the same. This is going to split the hardcore audience who have been waiting for AEW to debut and take away a certain percentage of the ratings that AEW would have gotten unhindered on Wednesday nights.

As expected of a genius businessman, Vince McMahon had played a brilliant card that would put a major roadblock on AEW’s path to success. The biggest advantage of this move is that NXT is just the developmental brand of WWE. Neither Raw nor Smackdown is going to take the brunt of the competition and are exonerated from participating in the ratings war. This makes sure that the major brands of WWE will keep their brand values intact even if AEW wins the ratings war. If this isn’t a masterstroke, I wonder what is?

But all is not roses for WWE on this front. There are certain things WWE needs to address before things can actually turn out well. One of the major concerns for WWE will be the extended two hour format of the show. While NXT does have the talent roster to put on a compelling two hour show on a weekly basis, the major question will be whether NXT will retain its flavor with this extended one hour of duration.

What makes NXT different from other WWE brands is its penchant for delivering great in-ring action and focusing on storytelling that actually has some continuity. Dave Meltzer reports that Vince will be taking on some form of role in NXT when they move to weekly television. This would inevitably change how the product is showcased and that might just turn it into another Raw or Smackdown.

Once WWE tackles this, then comes the major headache of who will remain at the top. One of the great things about NXT is that the top guy or girl keeps changing constantly, which in turn gives us a feeling of freshness and plethora of dreams-coming0true moments featuring various wrestlers. Now with this new change, is WWE still going to treat the talent in NXT the same way? If not, how will NXT be different from Raw or Smackdown?

johnny gargano
Source: WWE

I am sure that there are tons of other issues that WWE has to tackle within this upcoming month. Let’s hope that WWE has proper plans this time around, compared to how they treat Raw and Smackdown by altering scripts just hours prior to the shows.

While I am happy to see the ratings war once again, I do hope that WWE doesn’t sacrifice the originality of NXT in the process. While this may look like a masterstroke on paper, there is a very real possibility of ruining a proper product.

All we can do is to wait for the drama to unfold and see if WWE’s decision is a masterstroke or a blunder.

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