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Depending on your stance, you are either for or against the upcoming involvement of Vince McMahon in NXT once it moves to Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. on the USA Network. His involvement was reported a week ago once it was decided that NXT would be changing homes. It was rumored up until it was finally confirmed yesterday that NXT would indeed be moving to the USA Network starting September 18th.
Triple H has primarily been the one to run and grow the yellow brand on the WWE Network. He's close with a lot of the talent and has scouted most of the stars that have come through the WWE Performance Center.
But with a move to a nationally-syndicated cable network, the move means that NXT will likely be run similarly to the ways in which McMahon has operated both RAW and SmackDown. In order to present the show on its new home, it primarily means that the team in charge of presenting the main-roster shows for television will be tasked with doing the same for NXT.
The show's move was primarily made due to counter AEW's upcoming show that will also be airing on the same night. Its time slot is still unknown, but prime-time wrestling shows have traditionally either started at 8 or 9 p.m. and ended at either 10 or 11 p.m.
Some might be for the change because McMahon has years of successful production to back up his team's ability to maintain NXT's smooth operation. Others might feel that some of the problems that have plagued RAW and SmackDown recently might be brought to the yellow brand once he is involved. Some don't like 50/50 booking, constant booking of the same stars atop the divisions and promo parades often opening the shows.
The news of NXT's big move means that we might see a lot to change regarding its presentation, roster use, and booking. Will it change so much as to lose what made the show so beloved by the WWE Universe? It makes sense for McMahon to be more involved since he has a multitude of experience doing so with RAW and SmackDown. Change in life is sometimes good and sometimes bad. Here are three pros and three cons of the Chairman taking a much bigger interest and role in the production of NXT.
#3 Pro - There will be fewer strange character name changes/tweaks
One positive of having McMahon focusing on NXT involves the naming of wrestlers. How many times in recent history has a Superstar from NXT graduated to the main roster only to have their names partially or completely changed? Apollo Crews lost his last name for a time but got it back. It was due to an unfortunate crime that had been committed so it was a good decision to temporarily drop the last name.
Mustafa Ali became simply Ali while Cesaro and Rusev also lost their first names. Shinsuke Nakamura was called "the Artist" upon his main-roster debut due to his rock star-like charisma. Tag teams like the Bludgeon Brothers and Heavy Machinery went from men with complete names to having only first or last names.
How crazy was the post-WrestleMania debut of the War Raiders? Their debut was historic because they not only debuted with a weird new name seen above but also with two completely different names. If McMahon's hands are already in the pie, then he'll likely work through most of the tweaks before they get called up. It would keep the characters more consistent. That's a benefit in my eyes.
#3 Con - His involvement might lead to too much micromanagement
One detraction of McMahon's involvement in the developmental brand is character consistency. On many occasions, a lot of character changes, rather big or small, aren't all absolutely necessary. Some names were fine before they were changed like Mustafa Ali.
Another issue of micromanaging on the main roster that has recently affected TV is how many times scripts for a particular episode of RAW or SmackDown were ripped up by McMahon. Some were even disposed of on the same day on which the show airs. Were they really that bad that the needed to be completely reworked even while the show was going on air?
Even two weeks ago, he reportedly ripped up the script for SmackDown a few hours before the show's start time of 8 p.m. EST. While it was the go-home show before a PPV, the structure of the show and who is involved are things that should be determined well in advance. If small tweaks are needed, then make them. NXT has primarily been pre-taped so they can go back and correct any issues or add/subtract anything to the show.
Each show does have its own writing team but it has to be hard to fill up three hours of a wrestling show with meaningful segments and matches that both further storylines and feature most of the roster. NXT has seemed like its been smoothly run for most of its tenure. With the main cook in the kitchen changing multiple parts of the recipe, it will certainly change the finished product that we are used to eating.
#2 Pro - There will be less chance of burials of NXT stars on the main roster
One problem between NXT and the main roster brands is that a huge deal of wrestlers from NXT get lost in the shuffle once they become members of the main roster. Vince McMahon either doesn't like them or does not get their gimmicks. It happened with the Ascension, Tyler Breeze, Tye Dillinger, Adam Rose and many others.
Just because an act was popular on the yellow brand, it didn't necessarily mean that the same popularity would translate to either RAW or SmackDown. With McMahon overseeing NXT, it will still mean that certain wrestlers won't get pushed.
But instead of someone coming off a red-hot run in NXT and only to lose what made them special in NXT, they'll likely have clearer paths to success or to finding their niche on the main roster. NXT will have more eyes on it now so fans will often be more familiar with the stars that are moving up than before.
Part of the discord between the main roster and NXT was that McMahon didn't consistently watch or follow NXT or know many of its stars. Now that he'll actually see the developmental talents first hand, he'll ultimately decide which ones he thinks have big futures in the WWE. By seeing that sooner rather than later, talented wrestlers will likely have smoother transitions once they are moved up.
#2 Con - He will essentially make it more like SmackDown and RAW
While the writing team of NXT might be maintained due to their familiarity with the stars of the brand and with those that are primed to debut on TV, NXT's writing team will likely have to answer to McMahon and Kevin Dunn now. They'll have to present the product and scripts that fit into a two-hour time frame. They'll also have their ideas looked over and visually presented by teams that have done the same for RAW and SmackDown for years and years.
A lot of what makes NXT work is that yes, it's only an hour show, but they book it extremely well. It's well-paced, incorporates many storylines and doesn't drag on like RAW does on some occasions due to its three-hour run time. Being pre-taped helps that, but that will change for September 18.
Since the smaller scope of NXT is a part of its allure, some of that might be lost once it becomes two hours and not taped. If it stays as pre-taped, then things will be different. By becoming more like the bigger shows, it could lose a lot of what made it so popular in the first place. The final slide will elaborate on this more.
#1 Pro - He'll have more familiarity with talent before they move to the main roster
As I previously mentioned, part of the reason why so few call-ups from NXT have found success on the main roster is because of McMahon's perception of them. If Mr. McMahon didn't view them in the same light in which they prospered in NXT, then he'd change things around to make them fit into his vision.
Part of the reason for those changes was because Vince didn't pay a great deal of attention to the NXT product. While that might seem crazy to us fans, it makes plenty of sense. He's a billionaire who is probably pretty darn busy all the time. He's already pouring a ton of his attention to the product in order to make things go smoothly for RAW, SmackDown and PPVs.
Earlier this year, he asked for Triple H to bring up the four top guys from NXT to RAW and SmackDown. He didn't know the stars himself, so his son-in-law was forced to take Ricochet, Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano, and Tomasso Ciampa out of NXT and onto the flagship shows.
By putting more of his focus onto the yellow brand, he'll already have a good working knowledge of stars and their strengths and weaknesses. The transitions to the main roster will hopefully be smoother and less clunky like some (EC3, Kairi Sane, Viking Raiders) have been this year. He's also given a lot of control over RAW and SmackDown to Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff so it's not like those shows are losing out on having experienced hands behind the scenes.
#1 Con - NXT's identity will drastically change
Part of what appealed to people about NXT was that it wasn't RAW or SmackDown. It wasn't held in a huge arena and it wasn't given two or three hours with which to work. Those smaller crowds often provided a closer feeling between the wrestlers and the audience due to the size of the venue.
That independent-show feel is part of what made NXT its own entity. Smaller shows are more intimate and thus are often easier to connect to audiences. Most of the production for the yellow brand was primarily done at Full Sail University. If it isn't kept in Orlando, then part of that allure might get changed.
Another thing that worked extremely well on the yellow show was that a lot of the storytelling has been even. Storylines are usually carried out from start to finish. On the main roster, things sometimes start out one way but particular people lose interest and drop them entirely. Remember Daniel Bryan's career-altering announcement? It got dropped after weeks of hype. Matches for RAW and SmackDown have been announced a few days in advance only to change between being announced and the show itself.
Along with the close-knit feel of Full Sail is how most stars are received. For the most part, everyone was cheered or booed accordingly by the crowd. It was also refreshing to see stars like Breeze and Crews return to NXT and receive heroes' welcomes. They were a part of that brand's growth and have a special place in the hearts of NXT's fans. The small-feel show also made it feel like an independent show and one that was something completely different from the main roster.
By becoming a two-hour show overseen by McMahon, it will lose a lot of that endearing mystique that got fans to fall in love with it in the first place. It's still a WWE show under the WWE banner, but who it's run by and how it's run will certainly change once Vince is in control.
