THIS Is WWE’s Plan To Defeat AEW
WWE has pressed the panic button time and time again in 2019, and each time, the same approach was taken. The debuts of EC3 et al., and then Ricochet et al., were all pitched under the same mentality: WWE needs more guys.
WWE needs less talent. But that’s by the by.
And so expect NXT—the new, televised version of it—to respond in kind, in the very likely event that it doesn’t immediately come close to matching AEW’s as-yet-unnamed TV show. TNT’s reach dwarfs that of FS1, and the momentum, twinned with curiosity, should see AEW make quite the start.
And even if this doesn’t align with Triple H’s philosophy—once the NXT brand was fully established, he had no inclination nor reason to borrow main roster talent—the move to television will move the brand closer to the forefront of Vince’s mind. And, on evidence, the dynamic of the collaboration is weighed disproportionately in his favour.
Just prior to the February 18, 2019 RAW, Vince McMahon, with no deeper knowledge, instructed Triple H to give him his “four best guys”. He didn’t know who. And so Triple H gave him his four best guys—one of whom wasn’t in the best condition. Tommaso Ciampa exacerbated his neck injury, Johnny Gargano disappeared without his partner, and Aleister Black and Ricochet teamed, and jobbed, up to and at WrestleMania 35. The Viking Experience debuted on RAW (hilariously) as NXT Tag Team Champions, necessitating a complete rewrite of the division. Incredibly, their successors, the Street Profits, are wearing those titles on RAW right now. Purportedly, this is an “advert” for NXT. We’ll see.
Vince on this evidence has displayed a lack of respect—or complete apathy—towards NXT and its continuity.
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