10 Reasons NXT Isn't The Success It Appears To Be

It’s devil’s advocate time again - but rather than write another entry in the perennially misunderstood 10 Things I Hate About… series, I thought I’d address WWE’s recently revamped developmental process, and the incredible amount of hype it’s received over the last couple of years.

This is, after all, uncharted territory for the company. They’ve been using regional independent promotions as developmental territories for twenty years or so, the most famous of which was unquestionably Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville, Kentucky.

Most of the rest - USWA, PPW, MCW, HWF, DSW, and finally FCW - have more or less lurked in the background. Then, between June and August 2012, Florida Championship Wrestling transitioned to NXT, moving from Tampa to the newly opened Performance Centre in Orlando as it took the developmental process in-house, spending millions on state-of-the-art premises and equipment.

While previous developmental leagues had TV deals, they were very much regional things. With the weekly NXT TV show available online, first on Hulu and then on the WWE Network, the entire world has been able to watch the WWE superstars of tomorrow take their first faltering steps as performers and characters.

That, and the surprising quality of the storylines and characterisation on display, has led to an unprecedented degree of publicity - and support - for the company’s developmental programme. It’s been hyped as the WWE’s third brand, run high profile US and international tours - but is it actually doing what it was set up to do?

In 2016 NXT’s tag division is one of the strongest aspects of its programming, delivering the kind of hot tagging action we remember (with rose-tinted spectacles) from the glory days of the WWF and NWA, with teams like the Hart Foundation, the Legion Of Doom and the British Bulldogs.

Teams like American Alpha and The Revival have even drawn comparison with legendary old school teams like the Fabulous Freebirds, the Rock N’ Roll Express, the Minnesota Wrecking Crew or the Midnight Express.

For a long time, however, the WWF/E have essentially used their main roster tag team division as a placeholder, and the individual teams as a microcosm of developmental itself: get a few teams on TV in short, formulaic matches; split whichever team seems closest to getting over; pit the pair against one another, with the wrestler with the biggest upside destined for the win and a singles push.

If it doesn’t work out (and it usually doesn’t) then the company sandwiches them back together, if one or both haven’t been released by that point.

Ever since the Attitude Era, we’ve seen another unfortunate development, whereby singles stars with no immediate storylines have been sandwiched together to keep them on television until new singles angles present themselves. Traditionally, these teams will run roughshod over the established tag division, immediately receiving title shots and tag team gold.

Out of the NXT tag teams that have been promoted to the main roster so far, the Wyatts are a stable defiantly treading water; the Ascension went from division killers to instant enhancement talent; the Lucha Dragons were flippy also-rans before their recent split, and the Vaudevillains are an undercard novelty act.

Enzo & Cass, while over like clover, are a single bad booking decision away from splitting to give Big Cass that singles career he’s clearly earmarked for, leaving gloriously motormouthed Enzo to become the 21st century Road Dogg. American Alpha are far too good to keep the company they’re keeping now they’ve been drafted to Smackdown.

The fact is that, while NXT may be a fertile breeding ground and incubator for fantastic tag teams in blistering, logical, well-constructed tag team action, the main roster is not the nurturing environment to see them flourish. Vince McMahon doesn’t see any value in tag team action, and doesn’t think it draws.

Until that changes, it simply doesn’t matter how good NXT’s tag division is: it won’t create main roster stars because the WWE doesn’t want main roster tag team stars.