5 Lessons WWE Can Learn from NXT TakeOver: New Orleans

1. Long term investments earn bigger payoffs…

Spectacular in-ring performance aside, the sheer sentimental weight of the Gargano/Ciampa feud was the integral setup for a show-stealing main event at TakeOver: New Orleans.

The origins of this matchup trace back to the sudden dissolution of Team #DIY as Tommaso Ciampa brutally attacked his teammate, Johnny Gargano at TakeOver: Chicago in May of 2017. The 11 month build was a storied journey. The buildup thumbed through Gargano stealing our hearts with his rise as an underdog singles competitor, breaking our hearts with his near-falls and losses to the likes of Andrade “Cien” Almas , to the capstone boiling point of the cold attacks from a returning  Ciampa that temporarily cost Gargano his NXT contract. The program was executed so well that the fans were invested for the long run.

Roderick Strong joining the Undisputed Era also had seeds planted in 2017, when the Undisputed Era’s efforts to recruit Strong resulted in a subsequent feud. The surprise turn of Strong was a perfect callback to a patiently booked angle.

Even the clash of Shayna Baszler and Ember Moon had been ongoing since Baszler’s NXT debut in early January. Saturday night’s brutal fight was already a rematch to Moon’s perceived fluke retainment at TakeOver: Philadelphia three months ago.

Contrary to the time invested in the backbone of NXT’s big show, WrestleMania was built solely on programs that began following January’s Royal Rumble. With a rush to squeeze as much necessary storytelling as possible into the 5  weekly hours of Raw and Smackdown, a lot of building momentum felt like it got lost in the shuffle.

Besides Roman Reign’s repeated failed attempts at turning the audience against Brock Lesnar in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania, John Cena sponging up screen time to hype a 3 minute match with the Undertaker, and Shinsuke Nakamura telling AJ Styles he was going to knee him in the face, it only really felt like Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Stephanie McMahon and Triple H generated sufficient heat for their grandest stage showdown.

Beneath the weight of the main card, the undercard of WrestleMania 34 suffered from clumsy overbooking. Most matches, including the Intercontinental and United States championship bouts, had seen the competitors redundantly square off in every possible combination in the weeks leading up to the big show. This watered down the end result when the attempted builds finally took the spotlight at WrestleMania. None of the undercard matches felt like something we hadn’t seen on television.

Next: WWE SmackDown Grades And Analysis

Out of all the lessons WWE can learn from NXT’s elevated display of professional wrestling, this one might be the most important: improve the strategic foresight of successful long-term booking, and commit to seeing these stories through to a climactic finish. The end result is the ultimate payoff of making memorable matches that will last a lifetime, something NXT accomplished with their unforgettable Saturday night in New Orleans.