10 Problems WWE Caused Themselves With NXT
6. Ruining Independent Wrestling
NXT has developed a business model that works. They cherry pick the best talent from the independents, get them used to being on TV for a few months and then send them up to the main roster. It’s a great system, and you’d struggle to fault it.
Except, what does it leave behind? Those top talents are taken out of companies that need them and the more that disappear, the more indies that suffer. Take WrestleMania weekend, when Evolve and WWN were suddenly left with a massive hole in their cards because Drew McIntyre had resigned with WWE on short notice. Now, those companies are quite big as indies go, they can survive, but it still hurt them, and it made it clear where they stand in the world of professional wrestling.
The indies aren’t going to keel over this year or even next. But with every star WWE nicks and every YouTube that decides not to monetize the product we get closer and closer to that being a possibility. NXT is hurting the companies that create the wrestlers they use, and if they aren’t careful one day they’ll go out scouting, and there won’t be anyone there.