NXT: A passive strategy for ratings growth hurts NXT

Wait a minute. Isn’t WWE NXT supposed to be the aggressors? The rebels? The passionate of the passionate when it comes to pro wrestling?

The brand and movement took over WWE nearly four years ago and won the hearts of disgruntled Raw fans looking to wet their appetite with pro wrestling in its truest form. NXT accomplished that feat not by treading water, but by aggressively pursuing their mission with relentless precision.

So what gives in 2020? The new kid on the block rolls into town and everything changes? Well, yeah. AEW’s swan dive into Wednesday night programming shook wrestling’s foundation. Now, we’re six months into the Wednesday wars and while NXT made notable changes to combat the invading force including moving to two hours, going live, and airing on national cable, they habitually lose the rating battle to AEW.

Look, NXT has an abundance of resources to win. It’s the strategy behind those resources that is off base. NXT has an aggressive DNA, but their strategy is arrogantly passive and it hurts their opportunity for ratings growth.

A new, aggressive, and winning approach begins with recognizing who they are. As a brand, NXT was born with a silver spoon in its mouth. Acting like it is step one to success.

As a WWE property, NXT enjoys luxurious benefits including strong distribution platforms, Andre the Giant-like budgets, and most importantly, a large batch of eyeballs waiting to be engaged. Raw and Smackdown regularly pull in nearly 2 million viewers each week. NXT typically draws 1 million and therein lies the opportunity.

NXT needs to aggressively activate those eyes and get them on the product. There is a right way and a wrong way to do that. We’ve seen the wrong way.

Last year during the Survivor Series build, NXT was featured on Raw and Smackdown. Week to week, the larger audiences on WWE’s A and B shows saw NXT mainstays like Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Adam Cole, Undisputed Era, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, and others, but weren’t introduced to them in a way that established a connection with fans.

In the short term, that strategy moved the needle for NXT, but it’s a passive attempt to build intrigue in those stars as the introduction of them as a group neutered their individual ability to stand out and be a draw on Wednesday nights.

The aggressive move is to use Raw and SmackDown and put the NXT stars in bright lights for the main roster fans. Video packages, match highlights, promos, or all of the above. One minute of television time on Monday and Friday nights dedicated to thoroughly introducing NXT stars to a large audience forces that audience to pay attention to NXT and presents those stars as important.

In addition, WWE needs to aggressively spend quality television time on highlighting key NXT angles and stories on a week-to-week basis. Their current approach of ten second commercial promos simply isn’t effective enough and presents NXT television as a last minute afterthought instead of must-see entertainment.

Michael Cole, Tom Phillips, and the other cast of WWE announcers openly discussing and analyzing the NXT product, puts the product on a pedestal and cultivates consistent attention on the brand.

While we’re on the topic of announcers, it’s time for some tough love. Stop referring to the Raw and Smackdown jobbers as NXT talent. That’s not only passive, but also stupid. Sure, maybe that’s who they are, but drawing attention to that fact ahead of that talent taking a quick pin conditions the casual main roster viewer that NXT talents aren’t worth investing in.

Now, let’s talk main roster talent. Premiere WWE stars like Charlotte, A.J. Styles, Sasha Banks, Bayley, and others have graced the NXT stage, but have done so with little to no fanfare. WWE is smart to use their top talent to drive NXT viewership, but it’s a passive strategy for that talent to show up without significant promotion.

The aggressive approach is giving the talent crossing over an opportunity to hype their NXT appearance. If A.J. Styles is going to appear on Wednesday nights, give him the chance to stand in the ring and sell the audience on why they need to watch. It’s a taste of old school promos in a new school world – talk fans into viewing the show instead of talking them into a building. Same rules apply.

This is especially important for current NXT Women’s Champion, Charlotte. As a champion in NXT, Charlotte needs to openly talk about and promote her NXT work while on Raw. Currently, she speaks broadly about her NXT appearances, but why not be more specific? She not only can attract viewers, but also highlight her opponents and put them over to new crowds as must-see talent.

Here’s the bottom line. NXT needs to throw its weight around and act like the company they want to be. They aren’t winning, so try something new. Passive and careful is so “main roster.” Aggression is the key to victory and NXT already knows plenty about that. They have the tools and should be proud of them. Time to use them right.