Why NXT Requires A Total Rethink

This episode distilled the Two NXTs problem.

Headlined by Pete Dunne and Ricochet in a lengthy firecracker of a match that met the expectations created by a technical wizard and a high-flying alien life form, it stormed the top of the WWE Network viewing charts—but as Dave Meltzer reported in the October 1 Wrestling Observer, this was a “very rare” occurrence. Mostly, the show flounders underneath Something Else To Wrestle With and PPV replays. Moreover, since WWE extended B-level PPV running times from three to four hours to bolster streaming numbers across the board, we can infer that, irrespective of placement on the most-watched list, not a great deal are watching.

With all due respect to Jaxson Ryker and Humberto Carillo, those alerted to the buzz Dunne and Ricochet generated likely skipped through the squash match between the dreaded something-to-prove also-ran and the enhancement talent. That would not have harmed the show’s rating; Meltzer also wrote that a September replay of June’s TakeOver: Chicago II pre-show (!) occupied slot #5 on the list, very likely as a result of it being auto-played by the platform’s strange algorithm.

NXT is geared towards the hardcore fan. It is the pro wrestling division of WWE’s sports entertainment empire.

Loosely, a hardcore fan is a consumer that devours that which they consume—the meat and the minutiae. That isn’t the case with NXT. Almost unanimously, the wrestling fan described as such floods Twitter with near-euphoric praise during and immediately after TakeOver specials. The TakeOver experience is like revisiting an old set of lifelong friends. The company is amazing, and so is the night—but any plans to “do this more often” succumb to real life and its mundanities. Your job. Housework. The Forgotten Sons.

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