NXT’s Biggest Problem
I love NXT. I bet that most wrestling fans would agree with that statement, and honestly, you can’t blame them. They always put on amazing shows and have some of the most intricate storytelling and matches that we see under the modern day WWE umbrella. You have the long running DIY story, Aleister Black’s long running undefeated streak at Takeover, the jaw dropping matches that Velveteen Dream, Ricochet, and Undisputed Era are able to put on every time they go out there. The success of NXT has become so big that a whole new branch of the promotion, NXT UK, has been created, with more possibly on the way (would love one more by the end of the year).
However, nothing is perfect, and there is a huge issue with NXT and that is depth. Look at all the Takeover cards from this year. Most of the names on every Takeover card are the same, with the exceptions of the wrestlers that get called up to the main roster. The only real exception to this is the tag team matches, and Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch getting a shot at the titles. How many people can say that before that match that WWE would actually invest in the 33 and 37 year old pairing? I doubt that anyone expected it to be like that, but the NXT audience is what helped this team get over. Another obvious example of this issue is seen in the Women’s division, where until Takeover Phoenix, the only match we were getting was Shayna Baszler vs Kairi Sane. We got that match for 3 straight Takeovers in a row.
The Men’s roster is a little bit different of a situation. They have roughly 10 superstars they can cycle through, but the issue is there for them as well, especially when it comes to the callups. The men’s roster gets more callups than the other division, so the number always fluxuates for the wrestlers that are credible enough for a Takeover. Looking at the potential call ups for this year, they would be losing a lot. They are potentially losing four former champions, at least. And that is not even including NXT UK.
We are only one event into the UK Takeover and the issue is already rearing its head. Who really can challenge Grizzled Young Veterans for the Tag Championships? Aside from Rhea, who is being built to be a legit challenger for Toni Storm? Aside from Pete Dunne, Walter, and maybe Tyler Bate and Trent Seven, who is ready for the main event scene? Yes they have the likes of Travis Banks, Flash Morgan Webster, Dave Mastiff and Jordan Devlin. The four latter men have main evented for other promotions, but they have not done enough in NXT UK to prove that they belong in the top group. These are important questions that the officials at either WWE or NXT need to address. The big issue with this for me is the fact that they have three different solution for this problem starring them straight in there face.
The first is the wrestlers that are on the weekly shows. Yes they are getting feuds and matches, but not to many of them make it to the Takeover stage. Bianca Belair was the first one, or at least the most recent, to get to the Takeover stage. They have tag teams like the Street Profits and Forgotten Sons that are feuding, but not yet on a Takeover card. Of the two, the only real tag team threat to War Raiders and Undisputed Era looks to be Street Profits based on how successful they have been as a team, and the fact that they did win the Evolve Tag Team Championships. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan and Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner are also in the tag team ranks there. They are current longshots on the main NXT Stage, but do offer some threat to the NXT UK Tag Team stage. But three teams is far from a tag team scene.
The women’s scene is a bit tricky to say the least. Both shows combined have 20 wrestlers (13 NXT, 7 NXT UK). The problem is that of those 20, 9 are used regularly. They are Storm, Ripley and Jinny on NXT UK and Belair, Shirai, Duke, Sane, Shafir and Baszler in NXT. Mia Yim has usual matches in NXT, but has been in no real feuds to speak of. At the recent tapings, 3 women were used for what looks like a possible angle, but it is unclear at the moment. There is the likes of Candice LeRae, Deonna Purrazzo, and to an extent Mia Yim just sitting around and doing nothing right now. What would be very helpful for them would be for them to take a trip across the pond and wrestle for NXT UK. Purrazzo has already done that once and had an excellent match against Toni Storm. This would help the wrestlers that are currently not doing anything in one promotion to be able to have more match time and have more chances to show what they have to offer in the ring. I for one would love to see LeRae, Purazzo and Yim wrestle more, and NXT UK offers just that opportunity.
The women’s scene is a bit tricky to say the least. Both shows combined have 20 wrestlers (13 NXT, 7 NXT UK). The problem is that of those 20, 9 are used regularly. They are Storm, Ripley and Jinny on NXT UK and Belair, Shirai, Duke, Sane, Shafir and Baszler in NXT. Mia Yim has usual matches in NXT, but has been in no real feuds to speak of. At the recent tapings, 3 women were used for what looks like a possible angle, but it is unclear at the moment. There is the likes of Candice LeRae, Deonna Purrazzo, and to an extent Mia Yim just sitting around and doing nothing right now. What would be very helpful for them would be for them to take a trip across the pond and wrestle for NXT UK. Purrazzo has already done that once and had an excellent match against Toni Storm. This would help the wrestlers that are currently not doing anything in one promotion to be able to have more match time and have more chances to show what they have to offer in the ring. I for one would love to see LeRae, Purazzo and Yim wrestle more, and NXT UK offers just that opportunity.
Another solution is for them to sign more of the talent that wrestles for them at tapings and in tournaments. Look at the amount of talent that was signed from the Cruiserweight Classic and the first Mae Young Classic. After the first Cruiserweight Classic, the WWE signed half of the wrestlers to start a new brand. The first Mae Young Classic yielded 13 signees of the 32 entrants. Since then 3 had been let go, Zeda, Sage Beckett, and Abby Laith (now going by Kimber Lee). However after the 2018 Mae Young Classic, the company only signed Mia Yim, as many of the wrestlers that competed in the tournament were already signed to the company. In the 2018 tournament, there was a ton of star power in it as well. You had Mercedes Martinez, Meiko Satomura, Allysin Kay (former Sienna), Kaitlyn, Priscilla Kelly, Vanessa Kraven, Ashley Rayne (former Madison Rayne) and Hiroyo Matsumoto. WWE was not able to land one of these women, with Rayne being the only one to sign elsewhere (ROH). They have been rumored to be signing Rachel Evers and Karen Q from the 2018 tournament, but that would only be three signees out of a field where 14 wrestlers were not signed to WWE before the tournament. What was a good sign was that the company showed Kay Lee Ray and Jazzy Gabbert front row at NXT UK Takeover Blackpool, but that is only the first signs of getting the needed help. If the WWE plans to run one or more tournaments this year, and I feel like there should be a CWC, a MYC, and a tag team one as well, WWE needs to try and sign as many of those talents as possible.
There is also the wrestlers that come in once a month or so for the television tapings. A lot of them are great wrestlers and if they were signed to the NXT Brands, it would be a great help to the depth issue. Every company needs either big names or wrestlers that do the job for the bigger name. But then they can also mold these wrestlers to be the type of stars that they want them to be. In NXT you have seen the likes of Amber Nova, Rebel from TNA, The Metro Brothers and Sean Maluta who come in and have put on performances that prove that they belong under the WWE banner. In NXT UK, there have been appearances by a lot more names that some fans will recognize, mostly in the women’s division. We have seen Millie McKenzie, Charlie Morgan, Candyfloss, Lana Austin, Kasey Owens, along with seeing Primate and Wild Boar. With the very small roster that is currently in NXT UK and at the Performance Center, they really need the bodies for the promotion.
There is also the wrestlers that come in once a month or so for the television tapings. A lot of them are great wrestlers and if they were signed to the NXT Brands, it would be a great help to the depth issue. Every company needs either big names or wrestlers that do the job for the bigger name. But then they can also mold these wrestlers to be the type of stars that they want them to be. In NXT you have seen the likes of Amber Nova, Rebel from TNA, The Metro Brothers and Sean Maluta who come in and have put on performances that prove that they belong under the WWE banner. In NXT UK, there have been appearances by a lot more names that some fans will recognize, mostly in the women’s division. We have seen Millie McKenzie, Charlie Morgan, Candyfloss, Lana Austin, Kasey Owens, along with seeing Primate and Wild Boar. With the very small roster that is currently in NXT UK and at the Performance Center, they really need the bodies for the promotion.
Speaking of the Performance Center, the names in there are huge and they need to be on the NXT Roster a lot sooner rather than later. Currently sitting on the PC roster is the likes of Punishment Martinez, Chelsea Green, Jessie Elban, Kacy Catanzaro, Lacey Lane, MJ Jenkins, and Xia Li. All of these wrestlers are more than ready to be on NXT, and should be already there. If the concern is that them all being on NXT would diminish the wrestlers at the PC, then look at the previous point. There is also the unassigned wrestlers, like Nicholas Comoroto, Trevor Lee, Scott Parker and Shane Matthews (tag team named 3.0). There is also the either monthly or bi-monthly additions to the PC. The rumored class for February including Comoroto, Lee, Parker and Matthews, along with the aforementioned Rachel Evers and Karen Q, as well as the rumored names of Kushida, ACH, Jonah Rock, Sam Shaw, Elliott Sexton and Shane Strickland. Not every class needs to be as stacked as this one, but if they can get one big name to sign in each and every class, then they can continue to help keep the PC roster pretty full, and the depth of the NXT roster will be helped immensely.
