10 Predictions For WWE In 2020
3. NXT Will Become WWE's #2 Brand
With such a deep roster, excellent matches, and masterful booking, Triple H’s NXT has been a breath of fresh air in recent years. Once seen as nothing more than a third brand where nothing important happens, NXT is now the most popular show on the WWE Network (more on that later), and is often considered superior to the flagship shows.
By 2020, this sustained popularity will become so significant that NXT will replace SmackDown as the #2 brand in WWE. This will happen due to a combination of NXT’s rising popularity and SmackDown’s decrease in relevance.
SmackDown hasn’t been particularly relevant in many years. For the most part, the show features recycled matches from RAW, and the lack of unique brand identity has made the show feel unimportant. SmackDown was at its most important was when there was a brand division, and the idea was that the rising stars would wrestle on SmackDown before becoming the main stars on RAW.
NXT was replaced SmackDown in that role: the wrestlers who first sign with WWE start in the NXT brand before moving on to RAW as their ultimate destination. But where does SmackDown fit into this narrative? It doesn’t; SmackDown has become ‘just another wrestling show’, almost like Sunday Night Heat or Velocity, whereas NXT has become the talk of the WWE Universe.