10 Ways WWE Has Changed Since Raw 1000

7. NXT Became Important To WWE

seth rollins nxt
WWE.com

Three days after the Raw 1000 celebrations ended, one Seth Rollins beat Jinder Mahal to become the first ever NXT Champion in WWE history. Since then, NXT has turned from faux-reality TV joke into one of the most vital aspects of WWE as a whole. Rollins was the start of that change, one that completely altered how WWE operated.

With NXT's rise came a much more focused signing policy. On Raw 1000, lame characters like Brodus Clay's 'Funkasaurus' and Hornswoggle were all over the place. There was a thread of comedy punctuating the entire show. Something had to change, and it was NXT that saved the day by showing WWE they could present something less cartoonish.

In 2018, there's a chance NXT could make a leap from WWE Network to the USA Network. That's progress, and it's hardly coincidental. Watch any NXT TakeOver special from the past 3/4 years and you'll see a crowd willing to invest in WWE's growing love affair with independent wrestling.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.