Why WWE NXT Is Dead

McMahon likely had visions of John 'Prototype' Cena, Dave 'Leviathan' Batista, Brock Lesnar, and Randy Orton in his cerebral cortex when he, Johnny Ace, and Brother Love drew up the new NXT blueprint. This is an easy conclusion to draw, given that the most successful of that Ohio Valley Wrestling class, Cena, remains WWE's biggest draw in 2021, even on a part-time schedule.

Damningly, WWE developmental has failed to build a ground-up/from-scratch star in the same stratosphere as the above foursome since Batista became the last of the group to graduate from developmental in May 2002. In 19 years, Charlotte Flair and Braun Strowman are the closest WWE has come.

The past two decades have proven Vince's star-making days are long behind him. On top of this, the current NXT talent pool isn't exactly flush with big, young wrestlers fit for his new vision. Odyssey Jones and Duke Hudson are anomalies, while Bronson Rechsteiner and Parker Boudreaux are still to debut. Fast-tracking green athletes to television before they're ready will create a generation of Mason Ryans and Vladimir Kozlovs, not Cenas and Batistas.

But this is the path McMahon and co. have chosen. Now, with the body of Triple H's NXT still warm, we wait and see what Vince's NXT is going to look like. His modern madness is such that even a return to the loathed gameshow format of old can't be ruled out.