One of the major advantages afforded to all new WWE signings these days is NXT, and Steen is no different. The NXT system allows every new signing, no matter what their level of experience, the same level playing-field and a chance to experiment. When WWE signed Sin Cara he was a superstar in Mexico. They threw him straight to live TV by having him debut on Raw and he struggled. Now, it's hard to find a reference to him on any wrestling forum without it being followed by the word "botch". Sin Cara's failure can be boiled down to two problems: he was unaccustomed to wrestling in front of live TV cameras, and he was unfamiliar with the WWE style of wrestling. Both problems that would have been fixed with a brief run on NXT television. Now, instead of getting thrown in the deep end and asked to acclimatise to a new style and develop a new character on Raw, Steen will get the opportunity to experiment on NXT. The shining example of this is Bray Wyatt. He found his feet on NXT, shed the aspects of his character that didn't work and is now a fully-fledged star on WWE TV. If NXT can help turn Husky Harris into Bray Wyatt, there is no limit to what it can help turn Kevin Steen into.
Michael Palmer is a contributor at whatculture.com and thelineofbestfit.com, and he probably likes WWE slightly more than most people would call "healthy".
