Why NXT was the Real Winner of WWE WrestleMania 32 Weekend
At WrestleMania 32, the stars of NXT showed why they truly are WWE’s future.
WrestleMania 32 is in the books and once again it was a night full of surprises, winners, and losers. Whether you felt the show was among WWE’s best or not, there’s no denying this was a statement event, but the statement was made emphatically by NXT. Roman Reigns may have walked out the WWE Champion, but it was NXT that came away the clear cut winner of the evening.
WWE has been frequently and justifiably criticized for its inability to build young superstars. They’ve also taken heat from frustrated fans who hate it when WWE ignores a wrestler’s past, creating this illusion that no other promotion exists outside Vince McMahon’s sphere of influence. All of those complaints were emphatically brushed aside and NXT was the cause of it all.
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Arguably the two best matches and the biggest surprise all involved NXT superstars, including one who is currently on the roster. Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks faced one another in a Triple Threat match to crown the first WWE Women’s Champion, finally shelving the Divas Championship which had long overstayed its welcome. The match between these women was aggressive, competitive; it was everything the “Divas Revolution” promised but rarely delivered on. It was possibly the match of the night and stole the show. Nothing that followed it could compare. And what made it better was that this match began two years ago in NXT when these ladies were competing for the gold there. WWE didn’t ignore their past, it was fully acknowledged and provided the kind of meat that a WrestleMania match deserves to have.
The same goes for the Intercontinental Championship match, a six-person scramble that saw Zack Ryder (a current NXT superstar) come away with the gold. But the match wasn’t really about him; it was about the long-running feud between Sami Zayn and former best friend Kevin Owens. WWE has built upon that friendship, which began when both were international superstars and continued into NXT when Owens destroyed Zayn for a shot at the title. Zayn/Owens has a chance to be the centerpiece rivalry for the next decade, similar to Cena/HHH or Rock/Austin.
And who could have predicted that NXT’s “Lone Wolf” Baron Corbin would walk out of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale as the winner, defeating 19 other main roster superstars? It’s too soon to see if this signals Corbin’s immediate call up to the big leagues (remember Hideo Itami was in the match last year and he’s still in NXT), but his victory signals a major push wherever he ends up.
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What Corbin’s win, along with these other examples, indicates is WWE’s total shift in focus. The superstars of yesterday are still key building blocks, but there’s no doubt that the stars of NXT are indeed the future, and WWE is willing to embrace it.