21 Things We Learned From The WWE Network's NXT All-Star Panel

7. The Stars Of Today Couldn’t Bring The Crowds In

NXT All-Star Panel
WWE.com

Seth Rollins is currently the WWE Champion, having pulled double-duty at Wrestlemania and fought off any and all challengers since. But still, the former Tyler Black seemingly couldn’t draw much of an audience back in the FCW days.

As viewers were treated to some short clips from FCW, several of the panel made reference to the low crowds and how all of the talent struggled to bring in any form of fanbase. This was a roster that featured the likes of Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Corey Graves.

Three out of those four have headlined several WWE PPVs this year, yet the landscape was not as successful a couple of years ago.

Still, the talent themselves were obviously under certain restrictions with their venue, plus the superstars were all growing into their characters and were on the WWE learning curve.

Regardless, the best part of this whole topic was when Corey Graves commented, “We couldn’t sell tickets to save our lives!” Without missing a beat, Seth Rollins quipped back, “Speak for yourself”.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.