10 Issues WWE Needs To Address In 2022
6. NXT 2.0
The jury’s still out on NXT 2.0. The axing of everything Triple H worked so hard to build is still a raw one for fans of the brand’s black and gold iteration, but there’s a logic in returning NXT to a developmental brand. So many stars have come to the main roster only to disappear; at least this way, they’ll be building performers they actually have a plan for.
In theory, anyway. It’s unfair to cast doubts on the new direction after so little time, but given what we know of WWE, it’s not exactly difficult to imagine them making exactly the same mistakes again. They’ve clearly thrown all of their eggs into the Bron Breakker basket. He could be a major star in the making, or he could be given a stupid mask and jobbed out on his debut like the last big NXT guy to make the jump.
What’s more, there are those left behind: Grimes, Dunne, Strong, et al. Some of them would and should settle nicely on the main roster - Io Shirai, particularly, should have been on Raw or SmackDown six months ago. Others, not so much, and current champ Tomasso Ciampa has explicitly stated that he’d retire rather than risk his surgically repaired neck on a WWE schedule.
NXT at present is between two bus stops - it’ll be interesting to see what they do next.