WWE: NXT’s move to USA could be the best or worst thing for the show
WWE’s critically acclaimed “developmental” show, NXT, will debut on the USA Network in less than a month, giving fans cause for excitement and/or concern.
By now, you’ve probably heard the news that the USA Network – the current homes of Monday Night RAW and, until October, SmackDown Live – will broadcast a two-hour version of WWE NXT starting on Wednesday, Sept. 18.
It doesn’t require much critical thinking to figure out why both parties agreed to the move: USA wants to quickly plug in the impending wrestling hole in its lineup, ponying up $50 million in TV rights fees to do so, and WWE, eager to assert their dominance and re-consolidate the industry, want to keep fans from tuning into All Elite Wrestling’s (AEW) soon-to-debut weekly show, which will air on the same day in the same 8:00 time slot on TNT beginning in October.
In hindsight, this was an obvious counter move by WWE; Nigel McGuinness championing NXT as “the true alternative in sports-entertainment” comes across as less of a coincidence now than it did at the time — and it felt like a not-so-subtle jab at AEW the second it left McGuinness’ mouth. You don’t have to squint too hard to see the overlap between the NXT and AEW fanbases, so WWE using their lauded “developmental” brand to draw fans away from Tony Khan’s shiny new wrestling promotion makes some sense.
There’s reason to be enthusiastic about this move, on the surface. Going from the WWE Network to a prominent cable channel — even in the age of cord-cutting — will provide the NXT talent with a larger platform to present their craft, especially with the longer format. However, the contingent that are biting their nails over their beloved program falling into Vince McMahon’s hands and falling into the toilet has some merit behind their uneasiness.
For the moment, it appears those fans have nothing to worry about, as Pro Wrestling Sheet’s Ryan Satin reported that the company “plans” on keeping the show as similar to the current incarnation as possible, aside from the extra hour, of course.
Ostensibly, there’s no reason to shake up the format, either. Again, the fans that enjoy NXT also enjoy AEW, in part because of how different those products are compared to the main roster. Homogenizing NXT to the point where it’s indistinguishable from RAW and SmackDown would further drive those fans into Cody and the gang’s arms while contaminating one of the few WWE sects unaffected by McMahon’s overbearing oversight.
And who knows? With McMahon taking more and more time away to tend to his XFL duties, any fears that the show will resemble anything other than the one viewers have watched for the last five years have been quelled…until USA decides that the ratings aren’t good enough and requests some changes to the show.
Which brings me back to the operative word in Satin’s report: plans. WWE probably does plan on keeping NXT virtually the same once it hits USA airwaves. Triple H would surely love to present an identical show to the one he already produces. But on a network that floated ideas like the “RAW Reunion” and the confusing, knee-jerk “Wild Card” rule to boost ratings, chances are that they wouldn’t have a problem interjecting “suggestions” if NXT struggles at any point.
Even if the absolute best-case scenario happens and NXT remains untouched by McMahon, Kevin Dunn, and/or USA, puts on the same quality shows it always has, and simmers AEW’s momentum – though that seems unlikely – it only serves to accelerate WWE’s plans to pave over every other wrestling promotion and be the only one left standing.
On the whole, monopolies are terrible, and wrestling isn’t an exception to this rule. They significantly shrink the job market, stymie the wrestlers’ earning potential, all but eliminate their negotiating power, and discourages outside-the-box thinking by the creative team since there’s no competition to worry about.
Fans have already gotten a glimpse of what WWE would look like in this situation and it should’ve been enough to dissuade them from trying this again, yet here they are, once again ready to take a blowtorch to the rest of the business, which will lead to the worst-case scenario for everyone, including WWE.
Of course, we won’t know how any of this will turn out until NXT actually premieres on USA. Hopefully, the show performs well in the ratings. Hopefully, wrestlers like Johnny Gargano, Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, future megastar Velveteen Dream, Adam Cole, Shayna Baszler, and many others show everyone who didn’t spend 10 bucks to order the WWE Network how awesome they are.
Hopefully, those wrestlers get a pay raise with the money WWE’s getting for this show. Hopefully — since it will be his job whenever he takes over for Vince — Triple H shows he can put together a strong, two-hour, live wrestling show that is beholden to advertisers and TV executives. Hopefully, it doesn’t come at the cost of a promising upstart wrestling company.
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But, as with most things in WWE, you hope for the best and prepare for the worst, even with a brand with as much built-up goodwill as NXT.