Obviously for those that aren’t following the tapings update (spoilers ahead), I thought I would try and look at the roster / feuds / the show itself and see what people thought on what a 2 hour show might look like.
From the look of the graphics we have our key focus talent in Riddle (feuding with Killian), Shayna (feuding with Ripley), Cole (feuding with ? maybe Riddle next) and Dream (feuding with Strong) with our new tag team Champions in Undisputed Era from the recent tapings.
New teams / talent added in the recent tapings that will be part of the new 2 hour show:
the Outliers (Dorian Mak & Riddick Moss) w/ Robert Stone,
Shane Thorne (reintroduced and feuding with Garganno),
Rhea fucking Ripley.
Recent (ish) talent additions add to that line up:
Kushida,
Damian Priest,
Pete Dunner (returned)
BOA,
Cameron Grimes,
Angel Garza,
Killian Dain (reintroduced),
Bronson Reed,
Dexter Lumis,
Jordan Miles,
Ridge Holland,
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott
Angel Garza
Along with Shayna, are Mia Yim, Io, Candace the other 4 horsewomen all getting focus with many other women in the division.
Breezango still around (I am hoping for a Fandango heel turn to break the team up and go a more serious direction) but overall a lighter than usual tag division since the Players are up on the main roster now.
And let’s not forget Dominik Dijakovic and Keith Lee who should feud forever.
Overall that’s a pretty sweet line up of talent that they have been using recently to base a 2 hour show around, hopefully giving a lot more shine and more time for matches by a lot of underused talent.
Be interested to see how the talent both in and out the ring cope with a 2 hour live format every week. What other feuds / issues / concerns / things you are looking forward to in the new NXT?
I think my posts in other threads have been pretty negative on the move to 2 hours. But a couple of possible positives:
More Keith Lee. I feel like Keith is one of the most underrated guys on the NXT roster. He’s not on the show every week. He’s never been on a TakeOver. He’s not in the hunt for either singles titles and he absolutely should be. He is a terrific wrestler and a great promo guy as either a heel or a face. Hopefully he’s elevated by the move to 2 hours.
205 Live and NXT UK should be integrated into the NXT two hour show. The roster is already really deep in NXT. But having 7 hours on TV is enough! WWE doesn’t need additional shows on the network.
And the NXT style of presentation with video packages that use sub-titles could be a huge benefit to amazing wrestlers like Gran Metalik.
I will give it a shot, but it least it puts the nail in the coffin for my WWE Network Sub, I am Canadian but picked it up in the US and with no cable I don’t get to watch Raw or SD live and have to wait 4 weeks to clear a blackout period so NXT and the PPV’s were just enough to justify the sub. Even with the minor 24 hour blackout for NXT it just isn’t worth the hassle to me.
I wish WWE was savvy enough to negotiate a live stream option for Raw and Smackdown where it is available live on the network w/ all commercials then it is blacked out for 4 weeks, but I am sure there is a more red tape than I can imagine.
I also have questions
How does this affect the main roster and future call-ups?
USA is likely going to want to keep talent on the show to maintain ratings (likely to the benefit of the talent to be honest)
Will they become just another brand to WWE and become relegated to 3rd tier (pushing down 205 live of course)
When is Ric Bugez (Eric Bugenhagen) getting his push?
Think we will get a NXT / NXT UK wildcard rule? Would be cool to see feuds cross the pond now and then.
It does seem that their direct to consumer offering is less of a priority now than a few years ago as the money is in business to business opportunities that are paying them stupid amounts of money for rights. That being the case, it does make the Network less of a priority for new content, however, it’s catalogue of content from the last 50 years of wrestling and it’s docs are one hell of an offering (if that content interests you).
The live stream would be impossible due to exclusivity and hold backs against the USA TX. I’m sure they could have ended up with less money and a side streaming deal, but WWE are all about that big cash.
And some great questions:
I would say that NXT is now a main roster of sorts (albeit the third priority out of the 3), but ultimately it will move from call ups due to random decisions and moving to a more natural shift for talent when rivalries are done and lack of new and fresh stories I would assume. I would also assume that there will be more of a move of main roster talent to NXT here and there. They have already been teasing this here and there (and I doubt the Tyler Breeze move wasn’t with the knowledge that this was coming) and I would see more talent under utilised being moved to NXT, whether for some short programs or more permanent.
He should get his push right now.
I think they have already been doing this with a lot of talent trading between the brands, although I would assume this becomes more of a regular occurrence. Be interesting to see what they do with someone like Rhea Ripley as it seems going into week 1 of the live tapings on USA, she will be feuding for the women’s title, so would assume she will have a big part here.
Love that WWE has made it difficult to even cancel payment and stop your network subscription. I tried doing it now and it tries to warn me that by leaving I miss Clash of Champions and Hell in the Cell both of which are coming in or around the next month.
You have two options;
The answer that keeps your plan active navigates the account holder to the network library. The option to cancel does nothing. Could just be a coding error but I just think it is too coincidental.
