NXT: Changes and failures highlight bigger problems within WWE

Fans of WWE NXT were hit with some hard news and truths in recent weeks. The “brand” is no longer what it once was. As revelations of planned changes become known to the public, the question surging across wrestling talking spaces what caused NXT to ‘fail?’ Was it AEW’s emergence or mismanagement from within WWE? When looking at what is occurred in the last two years and the news about changes abound, the answer of “both” is much more suitable.

NXT was long looked at as the “alternative” to what was being booked on Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. It was “developmental,” but with a twist, as hardcore fans were able to enjoy the introduction of names like Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, Andrade, Candice LeRae, Mia Yim, and others into the WWE Universe.

Rewind the clock back to the days of when the Four Horsewomen were on NXT, Cesaro was making surprise appearances, Big E, Seth Rollins, and others were putting out what many considered to be some of the best wrestling content not only in WWE but in the industry as a whole. That formula of WWE programming that felt like the indies were working. But there is a clear point in time when that changed, and there were a lot of factors that played into the downfall to where the brand is today.

The unfortunate contingent of AEW fans that want to see WWE fail will point to the creation of AEW Dynamite as the catalyst to this point. In some ways, they are right, but there is a big part that is missing in that simple answer. The way WWE responded to AEW was what set them up for this situation.

NXT became the “prevent defense” in the WWE’s playbook against AEW. Moving the show to Wednesday at the same time was a call to attempt to keep viewers away from the competition. There were a few moments in the brief “Wednesday Night Wars” where NXT came out on top, but AEW was as dominant as the Women’s USA Basketball team in the Olympics. Moving the show to Tuesday was the concession that WWE lost and the war was over, but that is only one part of the equation.

When NXT launched it was different than what fans saw on Raw and SmackDown. There was more of an emphasis on in-ring work mixed in with clear and concise storytelling. NXT was remarkably similar to what fans enjoy about AEW today, and it was working for that brand. Moving it to network television put a spotlight on the product that unfortunately brought in changes that saw NXT become more like SmackDown and Raw. Ratings and criticism show that the main roster formula is not working, and it was not enough to get fans to tune into NXT on Wednesdays nor Tuesdays as the ratings have become stagnant on that night as well.

Main roster WWE television is not working. The promotion may have massive contracts, and still hitting more than one or two million depending upon the show but look at how much that has changed in the last 3-4 years as ratings continue to drop.

The question this should raise is what would happen if AEW decided to go head-to-head against WWE on either Monday or Friday. AEW Rampage may be the initial test of that space as it is set to premiere this Friday at 10 pm. Would WWE be able to address the problems with the product to hold off another competitor? Or would they pull out their tired gameplan of names like Bill Goldberg, Hulk Hogan, and other aging wrestlers?

Just like every other industry, competition in wrestling is an excellent thing for fans and performers. WWE may claim that AEW “isn’t competition,” but the reality of the matter is that they are. Not only is AEW the challenge, but WWE needs to take a good-long look internally at the deficiencies that allowed this to occur with NXT before the same story is being written about SmackDown and Raw.