Skip to main content

Giving Up On NXT

From the NXT thread...

"I think I'm giving up on NXT except for the live specials. The weekly show just is not doing it for me. I'd heard so much overwhelming praise for it that I started watching it a few months ago. However, I've been pretty underwhelmed and it seems like even the reviews of every episode I've watched have said something like "This show felt.....uneven." [Tommy Hall] or "Kind of a terrible show this week, really not up to the standards we're used to." [Scott Keith]. Even in several months of watching, I'm yet to observe those standards.

I'm wondering, do people find NXT legitimately good on an absolute scale, or is it just that it's better than the current WWE product? How does it compare to TNA (I haven't bothered watching that in years)?

​"

​I don't know about TNA, but it's certainly valid to say that NXT can be very up and down due to being a developmental system.  There's been lots of times my interest has ebbed and waned, like the "ANGRY ALEX RILEY SMASH GRRRR" storyline that was such a spectacular flop or the endless Baron Corbin v. Bull Dempsey feud.  I think they really felt like the Riley deal was going to carry them for a while.  Is it ALWAYS the best show on TV?  No.  But it's very consistent typically and even when it's bad it's only 45 minutes of your time and generally doesn't sink to the levels of RAW.  ​

Comments

  1. I wonder if NXT might get into a bit of an identity crisis soon. The promotion is supposed to exist to prepare the wrestlers for working the WWE, but how do you achieve that when you're performing in the same venue in front of mostly the same 500ish people every time? An Adam Rose or Emma gets over in NXT with that crowd, its sensibilities and its affinity with the wrestlers, but when they get to the WWE they're screwed because it's a bigger stage and the crowds can be very mercurial.

    At the same time it seems like Triple H has a vision of NXT as a different kind of show and promotion to the WWE. At times it almost feels like they want to give it that 'prestige' of a super indy with WWE production values that is actually a reason (maybe even the main reason) hardcore fans like us lot stay subscribed to the Network. It's the wrestling equivalent of Game of Thrones and The Sopranos on HBO or House of Cards and Orange is the New Black on Netflix. To me, that would be the main thinking behind them hiring Samoa Joe and the like.

    That could lead to guys like Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn staying on NXT way longer than they should (everyone knows Zayn's been ready for at least a year to go up) because they're already a 'draw' for NXT, instead of using NXT to learn to be a 'draw' for the WWE

    ReplyDelete
  2. No one can bat 1,000. You'll always get some good and bad...I think the length of the show is the biggest asset. 45 minutes vs 3 hours of time spent...completely different worlds.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stranger in the AlpsMay 14, 2015 at 12:50 PM

    Basically, the shows are somewhat similar to Superstars back in the day. The shows are used to build up to the specials, where the REAL action usually takes place. I say it's smartly booked, even if the match quality of the shows themselves isn't always there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. With all the young prospects there to try to sell Alex Riley as a legit contender seemed like a bit of a reach.


    It's still pretty fun though and I think the Live Special is going to be the deal.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Belee_Matt!_INDEED!!!May 14, 2015 at 1:01 PM

    100% agree

    (•_•) / ( •_•)>⌐■-■ / (⌐■_■)



    with the old guy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Stranger in the AlpsMay 14, 2015 at 1:03 PM

    Now you get it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It USUALLY has my two favorite things in wrestling: good in-ring action and stories that, in the words of Jim Cornette, "Make fuckin' sense and don't insult the intelligence of the fuckin' fan."


    Angles are simple and to the point (for time reasons), and they build to the blowoffs at the specials.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's a one-hour show featuring their developmental league that isn't even on television. And for a one-hour show featuring their developmental league that isn't even on television, it's still generally better than your average episode of "Raw", "Smackdown", or "iMPACT".


    Is the quality going to fluctuate? Of course, it's developmental; Some people (Zayn) were ready for the main roster before even signing, some people (Dane Brooke) are pretty awful now but are still starting from scratch and will have plenty of time to learn, and some people (Charlotte) have very obviously grown from one extreme to the other due to being in a developmental system. But I'll take a show that fluctuates from good to bad and back again (and where a lot of the roster isn't grossly overexposed) over a show that's pretty much always bad.


    They do seem to have given up on the "freebies", in terms of having a really awesome main-event during a "regular" episode instead of saving them for the PPVs/Specials, but since it's all located in the same place at the same price, I can't really complain too much.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The time commitment is a huge thing for me as well. It's nice to sit down for an hour with good, old fashioned wrestling and not get tired of the guys so quickly. This week I sat down and thought to myself, y'know I haven't seen Baron Corbin in a while. What's he up to? And then there he is!

    Compare this to Raw where I'm already sort of burned out on Seth Rollins (who I've LOVED for a while now), but he's in what feels like every other goddamn segment for three full fucking hours. That's a lot to see ANY character, and it's easy to get bored with them.

    I know I can count on NXT to be tightly booked, always moving forward, and over before it wears out its welcome. Some of it is hit or miss for me - I don't connect in any way whatsoever with Blake and Murphy for whatever reason - but by and large, I'm always enjoying myself. That's really all I ask for out of my wrestling programming.

    ReplyDelete
  10. It doesn't always produce an awesome show, but at 45 minutes, angles that make sense, and really well done characters (the women are just WAY above all the alpha bitch types of the main roster), it's consistently engaging.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Riley isn't anything special in the ring, but he's decent enough and is good on the mic.


    Maybe that's just me, though.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I don't disagree but compared to the guys that have competed or held the NXT title he falls pretty short of that so it's a hard sell to the fans that are used to seeing the next big thing as part of the championship picture.

    ReplyDelete
  13. NXT I think is just a by product of the fact that there is still just WAY TOO MUCH PRODUCT ON TV. I mean yeah in some ways its different than the normal WWE shows but in many ways its not.

    They still have to call them Superstars. They still use the same LED screens and intros. They still have WWE guys come down every once in awhile like say Alex Riley. Not that NXT is terrible but being under the WWE umbrella will never make it feel TRULY fresh.

    ReplyDelete
  14. NXT backlash....about time. Some people are never happy.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I legitimately enjoy NXT. I also really love ROH, PWG, and EVOLVE, so I'm not the standard, but different strokes....

    ReplyDelete
  16. I strongly disagree that the Alex Riley storyline was a flop. It finally made people give a shit about him, gave Owens some fun shit to do, and lead to logical heel turn for Riley.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I haven't seen this week's episode but last week's was great. I started watching NXT when Owens won the title and I haven't seen a ep I would classify as bad yet.

    ReplyDelete
  18. R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.May 14, 2015 at 1:24 PM

    It's unrealistic and kind of dumb to blindly assume the show is going to be stocked with top tier indy talent forever. It's a developmental, sometimes shits not going to work or people are going to suck.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Well, that's why I thought that after graduating from NXT, a good long run on house shows would be a solid post grad step.

    ReplyDelete
  20. People thought they were going to venture out and be a complete indy fed, so their hopes may have been high. I also think people are into NXT because it's what they know WWE could be if they'd get their act together.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Riley was there to eat a couple of losses, build up Owens while protecting their other top level guys.

    I thought Riley looked good and he was really confident on the mic.

    I had no problem with what they had Riley do.

    (Not sure what their future plans for Riley are...as I'm sure that THEY'RE not sure what their future plans for Riley are...)

    ReplyDelete
  22. My first thought as well.


    Two weeks of subpar shows and fairweather smarks are already ready to turn on it.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I used to watch every show, now not so much. Which I think is because they've stopped having 'PPV' quality matches for the most part. Which increases the big weakness of NXT, roster depth.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I like watching the wrestlers improve, so that end of the show is actually pretty cool. I liked seeing Sasha Banks go from boring, botchy rookie to The Boss, for example. I can put up with bad wrestling as long as there's some good in there as well as logical angles. The show itself reminds me of the Memphis TV show - lots of variety and simple, wacky angles.

    ReplyDelete
  25. My thoughts, as well - I don't think Riley was really meant to be a main-eventer, he was just a guy to put over the main-eventer.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I don't think you can call the Riley thing a flop Scott just because the very nature of the word flop implies it didn't do good business or didn't live up to the hype and since its a developmental system it doesn't do any business. And since nobody liked the guy before the storyline started its not like there was a ton of hype behind it so it couldn't fall short in that area.

    ReplyDelete
  27. NXT is slowly doing what the main roster already does : tons of rematches for little to no reason, the same 10-15 people featured, and storylines with very little buzz.

    ReplyDelete
  28. You can still say it flopped as in it's a failed experiment and no use here or WWE either. Plus NXT is more than just developmental now I think as they tour and stuff. But yeah Alex Riley is one of those guys who'll be shit no matter what he does

    ReplyDelete
  29. A few things happened with NXT:


    1) Three months might be a little too long in-between specials at this point, especially when the build is for a return match. If they were breaking a new feud, they might have been able to pull that off more gradually, but as great as the Owens/Zayn is, three months to get them back in the ring is a long time.


    2) Zayn left for over a month right after the last special. That, combined with Neville graduating took two big bites out of their depth.


    3) The Owens/Riley feud was a bust. While Owens was great in it, Riley was all wrong.


    4) They don't really do anything with Itami, Balor, or Breeze. Itami fought Breeze an endless number of times and there really was nothing behind it. There's no real story behind any of these guys.


    5) Outside of the Indie vets, they've really struggled to develop a compelling home grown talent in a while outside of some of the women. I don't even really know who their best bet for that is at this point. Corbin's really the only 'system' guy getting time and he's terrible.


    6) The quality of the matches on the shows have gone down. They've been cramming more people into more shows lately and as a result you're not really getting that killer match each week.


    It's probably going to get worse with Itami heading to the shelf, Zayn maybe missing time, and Balor inching closer to a callup, which he deserves.


    But I wouldn't give up on it. It's still the 2nd best wrestling show on TV in the US each week.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I'll also take a moment to do what I do 80% of the time I post here. Schill for Lucha Underground! What a terrific show!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Why do people feel the need to declare 'I'm not watching this anymore'? Who gives a fuck.

    ReplyDelete
  32. How can you say it failed though? In what way did it fail? Did ratings fall? Did live gates drop? In what way did it fail and for that matter do we even know what the end game was for it? Isn't it possible it was just a stop gap feud for Owens and a chance to give Riley something to do? NXT is still very much a developmental promotion and the only reason they are touring is to give guys a feel for different crowds, possibly make them more money (I'm not sure if they get a cut of the live gate), and there was talk in the Observer about getting guys used to some sort of travel. The problem becomes when people see Owens and Zayn and whoever else and assume this isn't a developmental promotion when its still 100 percent a developmental promotion. Varying degrees of development but still development.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Critical failure is a real thing.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Exactly...I hate when people do that.

    ReplyDelete
  35. NXT to me is like old-school WWF Superstars. You get to see new guys you've never seen before debut and get built up with some angle advancement.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I like to keep track.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Yep, which is a model I like because it's sustainable, and there are match-ups that haven't happened on a significant level.

    ReplyDelete
  38. I enjoy that its a simple nuts and bolts rasslin show.

    ReplyDelete
  39. It probably was a stop gap feud for Owens but I'm sure for Riley and maybe others watching it was his chance to show he could do something new with his new persona/attitude. In that sense it flopped, not from a losing money perspective

    ReplyDelete
  40. I've also became a shill for them. That spot where El Patron was put through the window and Cueto just fixed himself a drink and watched El Patron bleed to death laying in his office window was awesome. Also the fact that I give a fuck about Big Ryck after his boring, bland run in the WWE. That segment with Mack was awesome, "for the right amount of money I'd whip someone in my own families ass" lighting a cigar, the eye patch. Fuck I love this show haha.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Technology is horseshit. My NES (got it in 1989) and SNES (1992) both work. My PS3 (2011) has stopped working. My 360 wound up with the red ring of death.

    ReplyDelete
  42. EVERY wrestling related website I frequent has some type of anti-NXT discussion going on today. It's ridiculous.


    Can't wait for everyone to suddenly turn on Lucha Underground in a few months.

    ReplyDelete
  43. But my point is who says it was a flop? We do? For all we know they really dug it. I'm just saying it would have been better worded to say "I didn't give a fuck about the Riley storyline" than to label it a flop since there are no real parameters to judge success and failure other than our own perception which shockingly enough doesn't constitute as a definite answer on things. I think Riley could have been a big deal. He had a good look, he seemed real athletic, he was in the main event scene hanging around The Miz but that was four years ago I doubt even the company was real invested in him. I maintain it was a stop gap for Owens and a chance to get Riley some in ring action and so something different I don't think there was any expectations, there wasn't even any "reports" about this being his big chance to show something and if it was it wasn't his fault it was theres. Nothing about that guy says "rage".

    ReplyDelete
  44. More moving parts and a hard drive. Cartridges are durable, I'll give them that

    ReplyDelete
  45. Yeah, I'd rather see Riley fed to Owens instead of Balor (which actually happened), Itami, etc... aka the people they could make money off of a feud with.


    Plus, it isn't unbelievable for Riley to reinvent himself on NXT. Look what happened with Emma.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Yeah there are like a thousand more things that can go wrong and a lot more sensitive in newer systems. That being said I've had a 360 for about five years now. I use it to play games and when I'm not playing games on it I watch Netflix on it or I stream from my server on it. So basically between me, the wife and the kids its only 24 hours a day damn near and its still going great.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Well yeah OK strictly speaking we can't definitively say whether it was a flop or not or what their expectations were (if any), but for me it flopped because I didn't enjoy it. Sometimes someone can sneakily be made a star out of nowhere, but no matter what Alex Riley does he's still just Alex Riley. But I did like the idea a while back that he was going to come in as an insincere douche faking a serious illness for fan sympathy

    ReplyDelete
  48. Worst_in_the_WorldMay 14, 2015 at 3:06 PM

    Yeah NXT is fucking great. Everything flows logically, the characters wanna win titles, people who are getting pushed actually win matches, and nobody is getting fucking purposely punished or humiliated on air.

    ReplyDelete
  49. I pay $10 a month for the Network and I still watch Lucha on Wednesdays. Viva DirecTV.

    Btw, I realized: TNA, Lucha, and New Japan are all in channels that don't run on standard Comcast. Comcast = NBC Universal = WWE

    Someone call Jesse Ventura.

    ReplyDelete
  50. I still prefer ROH TV to be honest. They have a lot of the same pros and a lot of the same cons, but ROH TV is a guaranteed *** mane event 95% of the time, which covers the down stretches some. I also think that while NXT has a WAY stronger group of tippy top guys, the under card is actually really week compared to the better indy rosters (which makes sense, it's a DEVELOPMENT league, some green as gooseshit talent is expected.)

    ReplyDelete
  51. Not according to Trips here, $$$ are the only mark of success

    ReplyDelete
  52. NXT doesn't do much if anything to prepare you for WWE that the indies don't

    The best responses for those 500 fans are earned by doing the shit they were already doing elsewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Certainly count me in among the guys that don't understand the NXT love. There are occasionally good matches, but overall it reminds me of a bunch of star baseball players in a basketball game, more curiosity than attraction.

    ReplyDelete
  54. More than that, it's a simple nuts and bolts rasslin show that has production values of WWE. It's the best of both worlds.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Should I put it in all-caps so it seems more important?

    ReplyDelete
  56. I'm pretty excited for Nintendo's video at E3

    ReplyDelete
  57. Also they don't feel the need to treat their viewers with disdain.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Yeah I mean I didn't like it either. I loved the idea of Peaked in High School Alex Riley or even an Al Bundy type character in regards to "four touchdowns in a single game" instead "I main evented Wrestlemania" just being a delusional, insufferable douche.

    ReplyDelete
  59. I'm excited that Bethesda is hosting it's own press conference this year

    ReplyDelete
  60. I think NXT has been a bit down as of late with people kind of aimlessly floating around, but late 2014 to early 2015 was the best wrestling on TV.

    I am concerned with how it will look with Neville and Balor getting called up and Itami and Zayn injured.

    ReplyDelete
  61. It's missing one thing, the classic open with the announcers running down a great card with some stars we'll be seeing in action later on in the program.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Also, my 2 year old did a belly flop into his sandbox today. It looked worlds better than Solomon Crowe's finisher which is complete shit.

    ReplyDelete
  63. NXT is far too scripted to be anything more than it is. The genuine stars are talented and smart enough to be able to work the script well but the untalented football oafs and ditzy divas, the wrestlers who don't have wrestling in their blood, don't have a clue.

    ReplyDelete
  64. The Nintendo World Championship returning is awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Some museum has a Game Boy that was in a bombed building during the Gulf War and it still works!

    ReplyDelete
  66. I'd like to anounce that i'm gonna keep watching NxT

    ReplyDelete
  67. A PS4 would have stopped working while the bomb was still in the air

    ReplyDelete
  68. You seen to have trouble understanding that people are expressing personal opinions on the entertainment value of the thing they are watching which is meant to entertain them

    ReplyDelete
  69. threadjack/

    This Alex Riley twitter story that the Super Best Friends are talking about on their podcast is grade A Botchamania material.
    http://i.imgur.com/hgLyaGI.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/VsRXNRW.png

    Between it being an internet celeb's sign and Kevin Owens reposting the story after Alex Riley deleted his tweet--GOLD

    ReplyDelete
  70. That is a good point.

    ReplyDelete
  71. No I don't have any trouble with that you seem to have trouble comprehending words on a page. I said I'm ok with someone saying "I don't like that" or even "it fucking sucks" but thats different than saying something is a flop. A flop is again something that fails financially or even doesn't live up to expectations. Since neither of those can be the case in this regard it wasn't a flop it was just "hey I didn't care for this". The two are not one in the same. I hope this clears that up for you. Let me know if you have any further questions.

    ReplyDelete
  72. Yeah because guys like Sami Zayn are so talented they can make a bad script good. Thats not even close to the case. Did you do a blood test on these guys to determine who has wrestling in their blood? Is this like midichlorians in Star Wars? This reeks of something a 12 year old would say. "They got wrestling in their blood dammit" haha there is someone who doesn't have a clue but I think you're off on who that someone is.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Cueto's reaction is one of the greatest things I've seen in a long time in wrestling.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Honest question did you mean to mis spell "Main Event"? Also another honest question is all you care about is the quality of wrestling on the television? You mention that the shows are promised a *** main event. If you were choosing would you rather have a ***** story and a * star main event or vice versa?

    ReplyDelete
  75. Main I think LU blows away the WWE's production value. I think LU has the best presentation and production in wrestling. NXT still comes across as bush league to me presentation wise. I think its ironically enough when they do the thing like the smoke pyro. That to me says "we can't do real pyro here is SMOKE" while LU doesn't even try to do the typical pyro, fireworks crap. You can't even tell how small the crowd is compared to like a TNA event. Also the backstage vignettes in LU are so epically produced I feel like I'm watching a "real TV show"

    ReplyDelete
  76. I usually read Tommy's reviews before I decide whether I wanna watch NXT or not. Since Rival I wouldn't say it's hit a wall but it's started to spin wheels. Moving Neville, the Dragons, and Ascension up kinda thinned out the talent pool and while they have people to replace them, better people in some cases, no one has come out with the kind of super original crazy gimmick like we used to see and a lot of guys still barely get used. Just hitting a lull right now, it'll steer itself out eventually I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  77. Just watch Lucha Underground. It's the only wrestling show I watch now (apart from checking out certain matches on WWE pay-per-views or watching NXT when it's interesting, which it hasn't been in the past month) and it's uniformly great. People complaining about the state of modern wrestling who aren't watching LU do themselves a major disservice. It pisses on the weekly televised competition from a great height.

    ReplyDelete
  78. The good thing about NXT is you don't have to commit to it or give up on it. I watch it every now and then and watch all of the specials--it is easy enough to jump into without following it closely on a weekly basis.

    ReplyDelete
  79. TripleS = the Amelia Bedelia of the BoD. Not since that book series have so many paragraphs been written due to an inability to comprehend people's thoughts beyond strict literal interpretations

    ReplyDelete
  80. kbwrestlingreviewsMay 14, 2015 at 4:58 PM

    NXT has indeed slowed down a bit. However, I'll still take it over the never ending Raw and Smackdown every week. It's still a very well run and logical show, though I agree that anything past the first Riley vs. Owens match was overkill.

    ReplyDelete
  81. So what does that make you since you're apparently reading all of these paragraphs? Would you like an autographed book or something? (here is where you declare you don't read what I'm writing and how ignorant my ramblings are that you don't read)

    ReplyDelete
  82. I didn't care for the Fenix stuff I think the week before that with the vanishing people and what not. I did however enjoy the Drago segment with Cueto the show he was forced to retire.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Imagine if Triple H went online and saw a bunch of posts titled 'Giving Up On NXT' after a slight slow period. He'd think we were a real bunch of ungrateful cunts and he'd be right

    ReplyDelete
  84. NXT has been seemingly down lately, imo, because there's huge sea between the really polished workers (intl talent, indie darlings) and the people coming up fresh from WWE's system. Nobody really wants to see Baron Corbin mix it up with Rhino or Dana Brooke wrestle Charlotte Flair, for example, and that leads to some detachment from the product.

    Or, honestly, it could also be that the honeymoon period for a lot of fans is over for NXT and now will be the time to see if it can really stand on its own

    ReplyDelete
  85. pretty much. It's in a bit of a weird place right now with all the changes, but people just being like "shit is over, it's horrible now" is something I don't understand

    ReplyDelete
  86. Speak for yourself, I'm hyped for Dana/Charlotte.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Well, I am 12 years old, so what? Also: eat shit, mark. I voiced my opinion on something and you attacked me. So tired of pieces of shit like you.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Dana is going to be really good, and Charlotte already is. Charlotte is another who really wasn't that great to start and is pretty good now.

    ReplyDelete
  89. I'll admit I just don't see it in Brooke. I'm willing to be wrong in the long run, though

    ReplyDelete
  90. MaffewOfBotchamaniaMay 14, 2015 at 6:05 PM

    Uhaa Nation is here now, you can't give up you fuckers!

    ReplyDelete
  91. That's the dumbest name I've ever heard.

    ReplyDelete
  92. The ***** match, but I'm still not happy.

    you're trying to make me pick match or story by forcing it to extremes. A ***** with no story isn't as exciting as a *** match in an epic engrossing story.

    No one in North American wrestling is telling hyper engrossing stories though--wrestling itself rarely achieves story telling on the level of what else is on tv, so good wrestling is the best way to have consistency of quality.

    Finally, this assumes story can't make a match 5 stars. You can't clinically separate angle and match all the time (See Punk--Cena at MitB 2011)

    Finally, on the topic of typos, I should stop posting from my phone

    ReplyDelete
  93. Maybe, but he's a 300 pound mountain who can mirror some of Pac's flippy shit to show off.

    And bonus, can't be upset at the WWE name change if the original wasn't great.

    ReplyDelete
  94. No, NXT is not always great or even particularly good, but it's always watchable. RAW is painful the the point I either switch to something else or use it as background noise. I've not done that with a single episode of NXT.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment