10 Things Everybody Gets Wrong About WWE
4. Triple H Is The Savior
Based God Triple H is going to SaveUs.HHH when Vince McMahon finally retires.
Your writer was among that number, at the height of NXT's buzz and popularity. The brand was once the alternative to the main roster and near-perfect because of it: the storylines made sense; stars were pushed because and not in spite of their experience elsewhere, even if they weren't prototypical 'WWE guys'; the match quality was so blow-away that it ushered in an awesome era of critical acclaim and pure wrestling.
But the formation of All Elite Wrestling has brought into focus the creeping notion that NXT is closer to the main roster than is desired.
The storylines do make sense, but they are solid and functional almost to a fault. The storytelling is dry. Those stars aren't at all dissimilar to the characters that starred on the independent scene, creating a sense of familiarity. The match quality remains exceptional, if of a type. Fast-paced, hard-hitting, convoluted sequences and main event melodrama makes for an awesome TakeOver main event - but where's the lung-bursting lucha, the blood and guts?
The promos are still scripted. The presentation is still soulless, in that it's very over-produced with music cues and video package-ready stare-downs.
AEW has dated NXT. It no longer feels like the future, but rather a Hollywood remake of independent wrestling's recent past.