Why WWE NXT Is Dead

On the 8 August 2021 episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer spoke on Vince's desire to bring NXT closer to what it was before WWE started trying to "out-indie the indies."

"The Curtis Axel era of NXT," he called it, having already stated that McMahon wants more wrestlers who look like Roman Reigns.

Reigns was still in developmental when Axel returned to it in 2012. He remains the biggest success story from a class of big guys including Erick Rowan, Bray Wyatt, Alexander Rusev, Big E Langston, Baron Corbin, Colin Cassady, Mojo Rawley, Conor O'Brian, and the late Luke Harper. Reigns and Corbin aside, none remain with WWE today.

Elsewhere, jolly green giants J Bronson, Adam Mercer, Brandon Traven, and Dante Dash didn't make it in WWE, but Judas Devlin at least found success as Luchasaurus later in his career.

At first glance, reverting to this blueprint doesn't exactly seem like a recipe for success. Even Reigns, the supposed benchmark, spent eight years on the main roster before hitting his singles stride - and he still isn't the kind of conventional star Vince hopes this philosophical switch will recreate. For all Roman's critical acclaim, there's no evidence to suggest that he's a draw. Television ratings have not improved since he became SmackDown's focus.

In fact, Vince has systematically failed to create identifiable draws since his last golden developmental generation - and a group of wrestlers that couldn't be more different to today's crop.

CONT'd...