WWE Vignettes: Where Did They Go?
The concept of a vignette has disappeared on WWE TV and the lack of a reason is head-scratching.
Last night, I decided to check out Vince Russo’s “Nuclear Heat” video on Wrestling Inc. These are videos where the former WWE writer calls out problems he sees on the company’s TV shows and explains what should be done.
In the latest video, Russo dove into the art of a wrestling vignette. You can watch the video to see the stance he takes, but the goal of this post is to provide an alternative view on them.
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WWE’s main roster does not do vignettes anymore. The last one I can recall them doing is one on The Ascension debuting in Jan. of this year. They weren’t great videos, but fans who never saw them in NXT got an idea of who they were before coming up.
Between then and now, we have seen Becky Lynch, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Neville, Kevin Owens, Tyler Breeze, Braun Strowman and Kalisto arrive on Raw and SmackDown. Besides coming up from NXT, all these Superstars and Divas have two things in common. First, they received no build before arriving on the main roster. Second, the lack of build contributed to their star fading fast.
When all those men and women came up to the main roster, they had fanfare. Look where we are however many months later—most people don’t care about them. At least with the vignettes there was a chance to build up someone before they arrived and have that heat last for a bit.
However, if you go watch NXT on the WWE Network, this will look much different.
Before a majority of the Superstars and Divas make their TV debut, they receive vignettes. Apollo Crews received multiple before arriving at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn where people knew who he was. Nia Jax had videos building her up for weeks before she debuted on the show after NXT TakeOver: Respect. This gave her some heat and a painted a picture of who she was before anyone saw her in action.
The best example of this may have been Kevin Owens’ vignettes. The videos building him up for three weeks before his debut at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution were incredible. You got excited and anticipated when he would step in a wrestling ring on NXT for the first time.
Sami Zayn’s return vignettes can also be thrown into the mix. Normally these aren’t done (unless it’s for John Cena) but NXT decided to do this because the former ROH star is beloved by the fans and was the brand’s star. They certainly hit a home run with the two they’ve put out so far.
It’s a shame that WWE doesn’t use vignettes like NXT. They have a tremendous video production department that constantly churns out great clips for packages shown before pay-per-view matches. Why they don’t take advantage of this more often is baffling and is a missed opportunity.
Given the survey (h/t PWInsider) that was put out recently asking fans to compare WWE and NXT, maybe a change is on the horizon. Returning these vignettes would a small but great step in the right direction.