For all of its problems - past, present, and future - NXT's on-screen product remains strong. That may be the most damaging thing about it. With one well-booked hour of television a week, the developmental brand manages to outdo WWE's main programming consistently. While fans trudge through three hours of Raw (and the particularly masochistic add Smackdown to the mix), NXT is a welcome departure, making its point quickly and leaving fans hungry. The two-hour NXT Takeover specials are also shorter than Raw, and accomplish much, more more. Of course, NXT's strengths aren't limited to its brevity. The company pushes great workers, builds intuitive and compelling programs, and delivers classic matches - all on a regular basis. While WWE struggles to create a single new interesting, well-booked star, NXT does it month after month. It's clear there's a lot WWE's creative team can learn from NXT's - the members just aren't willing to do it. It's obvious to any fan who follows both products, but WWE hopes that we forget our complaints, shut up, and turn on the TV.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
