With recent news stating that NXT talents like Samoa Joe, Asuka and James Storm may never see the light of the main roster in WWE, we've officially reached a new place in the relationship between Raw and Smackdown and their developmental "little sister" brand, NXT. Whereas we once thought that NXT was a place that would eventually springboard talents to the main roster, we're now beginning to see the roots of what NXT may become as a stand-along group under the WWE umbrella. This left turn in NXT's evolution is intriguing. The brand's 2014 excellence and 2015 breakthrough have clearly caused WWE to re-think their goals for the "little brand that could," and what we're seeing now is NXT as a promotion that in being re-imagined and re-positioned now has new (and quite possibly very exciting) differences from WWE's main roster product. In contemplating what these differences are, the possibility exists for any fan angry at WWE at-present to just tune in on Wednesday nights and have their troubles (Samoa Joe or Zack Ryder face-) washed away. Here are seven of the NEW key differences between NXT and WWE's main roster. In considering these, it's time to get VERY excited about what's to come in World Wrestling Entertainment overall.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
