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Anyone else miss it when it was actually a developmental brand?

1K views 14 replies 13 participants last post by  Mr. I 
#1 · (Edited)
When guys like Bo Dallas could actually win the NXT title, now you have to be some big signee from the indies or from another promotion before you can touch that belt. I do miss having an actual developmental brand like early NXT and FCW was, where the entire card was up and coming young wrestlers just starting, sure you had the occasional indy wrestler like Ambrose/Rollins and Cesaro, but they was never made out to be a huge deal and the whole show didn't revolve around big indy signings.

On one hand i like current NXT because they have great matches with the top indy talent and everything but part of me really misses when they had a true developmental show that focused on the younger talent and not so much top indy wrestlers and touring around the world as an actual brand.

I mean Tye Dillinger has pretty much no chance of winning the NXT title with NXT in its current state, because he's not some top name from the indies, if this was FCW or even early NXT Tye would most definitely have a chance at winning the title and probably already would have. I mean the guy is over as fuck, so logically booking wise it would be smart to put the title on him, but as i said since he isn't a big name from ROH or NJPW or TNA he has no chance.

Thats why current NXT is kind of a bad thing, the actual developmental guys can't get a run with the world title and get a test run with a belt. Everyone in NXT who is a true developmental talent will always be playing 2nd fiddle to the latest big indy signing, it just bugs me.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
I actually think Dillinger has a shot at winning the title since Roode is champion but I get what you mean. It feels like it could be an emotional title chase but might very well end up being an inorganic version of Zayn chasing the title 3 years ago.

I still look at R-Evolution is the turning point for NXT. 2014 was the breakout year but what was great about NXT back then was that there was a happy medium between homegrown PC talent with indy darlings sprinkled in with purpose other than selling tickets. Plus, they were coherent STORIES for a lot more people on the show than there are now. R-Evolution was the night that tipped the scales leading to NXT basically being WWE's attempt at an indy promotion.

Just look at the short and long-term impact of that show, just a bunch of confusing shit. Zayn gets storyline injured then real-life injured, KO's rapid rise, Charlotte and Neville just sitting around awkwardly waiting to get called up, Itami getting picked to represent NXT at WM 31 and looking like a geek in the process, Sasha and Becky getting brought up when they did just 'cause, Bálor losing a NXT Title shot clean on TV with no real story, the Dusty Classic being used as fodder for a NXT Title feud instead of elevating a new team like Revival or American Alpha, Breeze and Corbin becoming glorified gatekeepers, Itami getting injured and no one giving a shit about the "whodunit" story getting resolved. Things just started to unravel and get sloppy, effects we still see today.
 
#4 ·
I definitely miss those days. Maybe not those of having Bo Dallas as a champion, but those when really big indy signings were a rarity. Until this day I ask myself why guys like Joe and Roode ever had to spend time down there? They have over a decade of mainstream wrestling experience. And when you already introduce those guys as the biggest stars ever, of course the own developmental that is down there to actually develop and not just create a little dream match paradise for the IWC will look like complete amateurs next to them. I get it with the Asian wrestlers like Hideo, Shinsuke and Asuka since they have to work a lot on their promos, their English and they have to learn to adapt to the American style of wrestling, but even with those guys I'm upset about how overhyped they were from the beginning on. It was fine with Itami who debuted in the legendary NXT era between the first ever TakeOver and the TakeOver in Brooklyn 2015, in my opinion by far the strongest period of the NXT brand, simply because he wasn't rushed into the main event but had some nice feuds with The Ascension and Tyler Breeze without being presented as too superior. And even rather well known guys from the indies like Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn and Dean Ambrose went to NXT and built a new character without being promoted as the newest biggest signing from RoH or Japan or whatever. Also, back then the fans in Full Sail gave everyone a chance when today you have the impression that they just go to the shows to watch their indy darlings display their tremendous workrate rather than watch developing wrestlers of tomorrow building their character and improving their in ring skill set. I feel like NXT has become what those fans always wanted WWE to be: the show where their heroes get to be in the main event and where wrestling is prioritized over things like gimmick, mic work, charisma etc. But that's not what it's supposed to be and it's unfair towards the young talent.
 
#7 ·
The Fatal-4-Way was the perfect way I like to see NXT. You had Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville. Indies stars ? Yes but they didn't come in as stars, they had to work for it, especially Neville. Then, Tyson Kidd who was lost on the main roster and found some charisma and in the end, Tyler Breeze who looked credible and was a star who grew.

The problem now is that you already know no one else can win. I know that Roode will only lose to a big name like Nakamura or Ohno and I know the same thing about Asuka. They are taking the whole brand as hostage because no one can remotely looks credible against them if they aren't indies stars
 
#12 · (Edited)
I do miss those days, there was just a better overall environment around there. I'd say NXT reached its top popularity with R-Evolution IMO, everything afterwards was a little messy. Just to name a few, the Dusty Classic was a clusterfuck since day one, the unfortunate passing of Dusty Rhodes, Bàlor totally ruining the main event scene that led NXT to shift its focus from developmental to this 3rd brand lame shit.

Nowadays all it takes to get a title opportunity is to either throw a shoe against your opponent or disappear and return after 3 years :mj

It still is.
Not.
 
#3 ·
Yup, I really liked NXT around the time when Bo was champ because then it was on t.v. and I watched the shows on a weekly basis because I was invested. Now I am not as invested and find myself missing some weeks. It was during such time guys would get to face main roster guys infrequently, and them doing so added an appeal for me. Now, they don't bring main roster guys down that often like when Tyson/Cesaro or the one time Cesaro came down to face Aiden English to establish and I miss it. Those angles were some of my favorite and where I became a fan of the artiste grew.
 
#8 ·
It still kind of is a developmental, at least I treat it as such.

There are alot of people on the roster that need work still, Ember Moon, Sanity, Liv Morgan, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, Dan Matha, Oney Lorcan, TM61. All need some touches before heading off to the main roster, otherwise we'll end up with another Apollo Crews, and no one wants to be Apollo Crews.
 
#9 ·
NXT is kind of a split brand now. The takeover cards, the nationwide or international tours, even most of the NXT taping focus on guys and girls that were usually well established elsewhere before coming to NXT.

But, if you go see a NXT house show somewhere in FL you are going to see more of the developmental guys and girls than you are the established stars.

It is like NXT is almost 2 things now. You have the established stars that do the nationwide tours, takeover, etc. Then you have the developmental guys doing house shows in FL. They usually do the house shows in a loop around the state kind of like CWF used to do back in the day.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I get it but once it became a touring brand that needed to fill arenas 5 times a year it was going to need bigger names. The TNA guys need to be gone from NXT by the end of this year. They served their purpose now they need to put over the next wave of guys and fuck off.

NXT also helps them ease new indy guys in gently Style was always going to succeed Nakamura would probably be a hit too but I think Roode, Young, Strong, Aries and Asuka might have struggled. If Vince didn't take a shine to them then Triple H has another Mistico situation. Hell he might have started NXT the weekly show just to avoid another one of those. But once they've been in for six months it's time to shit or get iff the pot

I really think NXT would benefit from going live to tape every week. I think the taping schedule really gets in the way of the story telling. It's much better to film a show, broadcast it, analyse it, gauge the reaction and plan next week from there.
 
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