10 Wrestlers Who Will Suffer The Most In WWE NXT's New Era
Gargano, Ciampa, Grimes, and the other wrestlers out of luck in NXT's 'big man' era.
NXT was a saving grace for many WWE fans.
While the company itself still acts as the world's biggest producer of wrestling content, many favoured NXT over other brands as it gave the company the chance to "out-indie the indies", which is exactly what many viewers wanted to see on the big screen/stage. Now, it seems that those days might be coming to an end.
After the dramatic release of a vast array of NXT talent, news broke that WWE is gearing up to shift the brand back into a developmental system with the goal of turning young wrestlers into the stars of tomorrow, searching for the next Roman Reigns rather than Daniel Bryan.
This has, of course, caused many fans to worry that a return to the dark age of muscle-bound stars with little wrestling skill could be imminent, and it's hard to argue against that. And one of the most frightening aspects of this upcoming change is the fear of what will happen to some of NXT's current stars.
Although the fans love them, and they have a tonne of worth, it seems the brand is moving in a direction which will leave these coming wrestlers behind...
10. Samoa Joe
Having Samoa Joe back in NXT is a real treat at the moment. The bitter taste of his shocking release seems to be clearing away, as fans are finally able to see him step back into the ring and thrive. But the dramatic changes that are coming might spell disaster for the Samoan Submission Machine.
One positive point to state is that Joe will undoubtedly thrive in an authority figure position. Sadly, the downside to this is that his in-ring days could be in real jeopardy, as it seems this new system for training the stars of tomorrow will have no interest in seeing a veteran star like Joe stepping into the ring.
A Dave Meltzer quote from the Wrestling Observer Radio states that a recent memo clearly displays WWE's current MO, that being "no more m*dgets, no one starting in their 30s and people who can be box office attractions and main characters".
Not only is Joe in his early forties, but he's already been mistreated on the main roster. There's little chance this new regime will push him the way he deserves.