WWE: It’s finally time for NXT to leave Full Sail University

Two weeks into the Wednesday Night Wars, it’s become evidently clear that WWE NXT must leave Full Sail to compete with AEW and not look like an inferior product.

Over the past two weeks, WWE NXT has given us TakeOver caliber shows with title matches, shocking returns, and incredible wrestling, but the quality of these shows has been hindered by the quality of their venue. Watching AEW and seeing an arena filled with over ten thousand fans people cheering on and then flipping over to NXT to see a crowd of under a thousand people, it doesn’t even compare.

NXT has always provided a unique contrast to RAW and SmackDown because of its small and intimate setting, however, if they want to compete against AEW and attract viewers away from their product, they must move out of Full Sail and into larger arenas. The atmospheric intensity we have seen from AEW fans over the past two weeks have made the episodes of NXT look like the minor leagues.

Take this week for example. In the opening match of the show, Lio Rush defeated Drew Gulak to become the new Cruiserweight Champion. A title change, no less by a returning face in just his third week back, should be a massive moment captured by a large and passionate crowd. While the passion is definitely there, the small capacity at Full Sail is not enough to make these big moments feel the way they should.

For the second week in a row, AEW has brought in a higher rating than NXT, and you can’t help but think that the reason for that is the visual product. A casual fan deciding between which show to watch is most likely to watch the bigger show, and while NXT has had bigger moments, AEW looks and feels like a much bigger show.

We live in a world where perception equals reality. If you had never watched wrestling before and saw AEW and NXT side by side, which one would you think is owned by a billion-dollar company and which one is a start-up? Your answer would be the opposite of what is actually true because of your perception that a bigger venue means a bigger show, highlighting how important moving from Full Sail is for the overall brand image of WWE.

In order for NXT to compete with AEW Dynamite in the new Wednesday Night War, they must start filming episodes in bigger arenas. Selling tickets has never been a problem for the brand given how successful each Takeover event has been, so I don’t see that being an issue if they decide to leave Full Sail.

I hope that WWE takes this second week of lower ratings as a sign to leave Full Sail (since ratings are the only thing that seems to matter to them) and begin treating NXT like a main roster brand. I will say though that the fact that the only critique I have for the show so far is the size of the venue proves how great it is to be a fan of the black and gold brand right now.