Truth Behind How WWE Sees NXT
Third brand or developmental? Here's how WWE view its black and gold brand.
Jon Alba of Spectrum Sports 360 and Living the Gimmick reports that WWE views NXT not as a legitimate "third brand," but as developmental.
This goes against how Triple H, who runs NXT, has tried to present his pet project over the past few years. WWE's COO frequently presents the black and gold show as its own drawing enterprise, particularly when speaking on media calls, though it now appears that this view isn't shared by others in WWE.
Alba tweeted the following on Wednesday evening:-
Sources in #WWE tell me #WWENXT is officially viewed internally as "developmental," rather than the third brand as Paul Levesque's team has promoted over the past few years.
Read more now on @theLTGpodcast Patreon. https://t.co/y7YnuQYjmJ pic.twitter.com/3uHiBaiHUu
Advertisement— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) July 21, 2021
The full report is available via LTG's Patreon page.
Fightful reported on Tuesday that some within NXT had taken Karrion Kross' two-minute Raw loss to Jeff Hardy as a reflection of how WWE higher-ups view the Tuesday night brand, with one source claiming it felt like a message was being sent. Kross, the reigning NXT Champion, was back to his dominant self the following night, destroying William Regal in an unseen backstage beatdown.
NXT succeeded FCW as WWE's designated developmental territory in 2012, having graduated from its previous status as a talent show. Perception was that it had long since moved on from that status, however, given that has been entrusted to draw television ratings since October 2019 (and live event tours for even longer).