NXT is a developmental brand. It's job is to prepare the next generation of WWE talent and, in doing so, put on a good enough product to sell a few WWE Network subscriptions. Their entire focus can be boiled down to "improvement". Take what you have, and do whatever you can to it to make it better. Every NXT roster member is trying to improve themselves; trying to "make it". The WWE, though, is different. WWE is a public company with a responsibility to its shareholders to make as much money as it can. On a global scale. Sure, WWE profits from a good product, and it wouldn't make any money at all for its shareholders if the product was truly terrible, but it also has to contend with so many aspects of being a company that NXT doesn't have to worry about. Take the point mentioned before, number 3 of this article. The WWE needs a new John Cena. They need someone else to be their star. So who do they choose? It looks like Roman Reigns is someone they're looking at right now, so fine, let's use that example. Do you do what they did in NXT? Do you tell the Sami Zayn story but put Reigns in his place? OK, but Zayn beat other guys cleanly to get there, including Adrian Neville, so lets have Reigns beat Ambrose, Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton to get to John Cena's spot. Now, you're risking the money that Ambrose, Wyatt and Orton bring in, which is considerable. When Zayn beat Titus O'Neil, Tyson Kidd and Tyler Breeze that was ok, because those three aren't individually making WWE any money. When NXT had Zayn beat Breeze, they didn't lose out on a load of Tyler Breeze merch not selling anymore. But if Reigns beats Bray Wyatt, Wyatt's stock drops and his merch sales take a hit. Is that a risk worth taking right now? What if Reigns isn't the guy? But for this argument, say he is. Then, we have him definitively beat John Cena. Cena's character is altered. Good, you say, as John Cena has been needing a charter refresh for years. And he has. WWE know he has, they can hear the boos as well as we can. Even louder, in fact, as they own the microphones that pick them up those very boos. But they have so much money invested in John Cena that it's a monumental risk to even alter that slightly. John Cena is just so easy to market. His persona, the one that makes their company so globally marketable, needs to be protected and represented in the product. When Adrian Neville lost, we assume his character will change a little. It should, because he's a developmental wrestler about to get promoted to the big leagues. But, again, change Adrian Neville's character and you lose nothing, change John Cena's and the entire public representation of the company changes. Consequences. And this is not to say that the WWE should never take a risk, or that they should never alter their product in any way. That's wrong. Of course they should. They should be bold, they should show faith in their talent. They should recognise when they have something special in the eyes of the fans and capitalise on it with relish and gumption. They should pride themselves on the talent of their employees instead of hiding from it. This article isn't meant to stand up for the failings of WWE's main roster product. It's not meant to criticise or even patronise NXT and it's not meant to be a blind acceptance of whatever WWE does. This article is only meant to point out that WWE and NXT are impossible to compare. At NXT they're giving it all they've got just for a chance at "making it". At WWE it's neigh-on impossible to define what "making it" even is. And while of course you're entitled to prefer watching NXT to the main WWE shows, it's also important to remember what it actually is that's making you prefer to watch it. There are plenty reasons to complain about WWE programming, but expecting the shows to live up to the standards of NXT, the very standards set for NXT by the WWE itself, is fighting the wrong battle. NXT is allowed to flourish in a pressure-free environment. And if we all start measuring NXT's successes alongside WWE's successes instead of against them, wouldn't that alleviate a little of the pressure that the WWE face? And if the pressure is relieved from the WWE just a little, wouldn't it be able to flourish too?
Michael Palmer is a contributor at whatculture.com and thelineofbestfit.com, and he probably likes WWE slightly more than most people would call "healthy".
