WWE Should Promote NXT More On Main Roster Shows
By Warren Hayes
WWE has all the tools and events it needs to help grow awareness for NXT and its incredible talent roster. They just need some ideas on how to do it. I have ideas.
I have to say, gentle reader, while I was expecting members of the NXT roster to show up in the Royal Rumble matches, seeing the champions was the last thing I expected. And yet, Andrade Cien Almas and Ember Moon appeared, championship titles in hand, and held their own against main roster superstars.
That’s when it dawned on me: NXT people in the Royal Rumble doesn’t necessarily equate to a call-up. After all, we also saw Adam Cole and Kairi Sane and they’re still very much entrenched in developmental. So in a sense, these entrants equate to a form of cross-brand promotion, giving fans the excitement and unpredictability of having these types of surprise entrants, while introducing new competitors to the WWE Universe.
That’s when I began wondering what else WWE could do to help develop more awareness for NXT. As core fans, we often fail to understand that the accomplishments of some wrestlers who come up from NXT are lost on the larger WWE fanbase. I feel that Vinny Mac And His Company of Large Arms And Chiseled Calves could pave the way for a more cross-promotion with his developmental organization.
Just so happens I wrote down a few ideas.
Credit: WWE.com
An Occasional Match on Raw
Taking a page out of 205 Live booking, the occasional NXT match on Raw would work wonders for raising the brand.
“But Warren,” you say, wringing your hands, salivating in anticipation as you prepare the most obvious of counters to repudiate my statement. “They already do that with the cruiserweights and it doesn’t attract viewership to 205 Live.”
I would argue that the reason to showcase NXT talent is that NXT talent is main roster bound. Therefore, the motivation behind this idea isn’t to attract more eyeballs to NXT (although if it does, that’s super cool, don’t get me wrong), but rather to allow the WWE Universe to get acquainted with its future crop of stars.
Look, I’m not saying a match every week. Au contraire, mon frère, let’s have two stars show up to further an angle or cut a promo once per NXT taping. No use in going overboard and cramming segments every week. If their use is sporadic, their presence will be missed and, if done well, anticipated. You know: absence makes the heart grow fonder, less is more, artistic economy, and so on. Give NXT a spot on the biggest weekly stage WWE has to allow its guys and gals to shine.
After all, WWE fans seem to have more of a “show, don’t tell” attitude, adopting a skeptical view of hype packages. Wise to WWE’s ways, they prefer to be impressed by in-ring work rather than just take Vince McMahon’s word for it. Such a strategy would likely have helped the cause for a couple of recent call-ups (see: Itami, Hideo).
Credit: WWE.com
NXT In The Draft
So NXT is WWE’s farm system, right? And WWE likes to hold a draft once in a while, right? So why not add NXT to the pool and have Raw and SmackDown GMs actually draft their call-ups? They would not only be real wildcards as far as unpredictability goes but again, it would add some legitimacy to NXT being the proving ground where talent goes before they hit the big leagues. It’s a concept that sports fans understand really easily, so it wouldn’t be all that hard to get across.
And it ties in perfectly with my previous brilliant suggestion of having occasional matches on Raw. You know, people getting drafted have been previously seen on the red brand, the audience knows about them…
It could also be super beneficial for NXTers who don’t get drafted. What about an NXTer who was convinced she’d be drafted, isn’t? How does she go back to deal with in NXT? Storylines!
Credit: WWE.com
Survivor Series 3-Way
Firstly, for this to be really successful and cool, WWE needs to establish stakes for the cross-brand Survivor Series match. I’m talking actual stakes other than some contest to determine who urinates farthest. Maybe a trophy, or maybe the final members of winning team get to pick their spot in the Royal Rumble. You know, something cool!
With that settled, let’s move into Survivor Series season, as Raw and SmackDown start jockeying for position. I’ll slip on my booking hat (it’s made of felt) to expose this idea. Just bear with me here.
So a couple of weeks into the buildup, the Undisputed Era show up on Raw and beat up members of the Raw Survivor Series team. The next night on SmackDown Live, Aleister Black and Killian Dain appear and do the same for Team SmackDown. They are joined by the Undisputed Era and they cut a promo (well, Adam Cole does) stating that it’s time the WWE Universe understands that there is another brand, another brand where the real talent is, another brand that is the future of the company… and the future is now. He then announces that NXT will have its own team for the very first time in the history of Survivor Series, setting up a 3-way Survivor Series Elimination Match.
And because of the real stakes that are involved in the match, Raw and SmackDown don’t team up to take down NXT.
I’m aware that this is wishful thinking, but I dare anyone to tell me that this would not be the ideal moment to elevate NXT in the eyes of the general WWE Universe.
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Sure, it would make for a lot of bodies idling, waiting for a tag. But it would do wonders as far as a showcase for upcoming talent while creating tangible main roster memories that the announce team can easily refer back to when the call-ups occur. It’s one thing to refer to their NXT past, but it’s another to refresh the mind of someone using an event that happened on main, on a huge event.