5 Signs WWE's NXT Bubble Is About To Burst

1. The Hardcore Fans Will Eventually Get Bored

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Wrestling fans face many accusations on a daily basis, especially from themselves. They're fat and have neckbeards and body odour, they have low intelligence, they're all marks for John Cena or Roman Reigns or Daniel Bryan or whoever, yadda yadda yadda. But one accusation that holds weight is the fact that wrestling fans turn on anything that gets too popular.

Right now, NXT shares a lot of similarities with the original ECW, including the passionate audience. But part of the appeal in being NXT's audience is setting yourself aside from the regular WWE fans. Deny it all you want, but it feels good to know that all the kids and marks don't watch the same show as you. You feel like a different market altogether, like this brand caters to the specific niche that "real wrestling fans" seem to occupy. 

However, more and more NXT is getting some serious exposure on mainstream programming. Kevin Owens shows up on Raw with the NXT logo all over the stage lighting, and the chants follow him, Neville and others everywhere. That is bound to come into effect as an audience crossover, as more mainstream fans who have the WWE Network tune in. What happens next is what always happens when something gets big and successful, the product will change to cater for its new audience, and the IWC will get snarky and start saying "NXT sucks since Zayn left, I was watching it from 2012 before it was "cool" to do". That is GOING TO HAPPEN. 

For all the negativity talked about here, NXT is still a great show, and arguably still leaps and bounds ahead of Raw and Smackdown in terms of in-ring action. But with all these factors taken into account, you can't help but feel that NXT's popularity, and indeed quality, is going to peak soon, if it hasn't already.

Contributor
Contributor

Stephen Maher has been a rock star, a bouncer, a banker and a busker on various streets in various countries. He's hung out with Robert Plant, he was at Nelson Mandela's birthday and he's swapped stories with prostitutes and crack addicts. He once performed at a Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras by accident. These days, he passes the time by writing about music, wrestling, games and other forms of nerdery. And he rarely drinks the blood of the innocent.