WWE: 4 Format Shake Ups That Would Benefit NXT

4. Implement A Ranking System

Power Rankings Search One of the staples of the NCAA in both their Basketball and Football programs is their ranking of the schools€™ teams based on performance. Unlike most sport leagues where a team€™s record speaks for itself, in the NCAA not every team is facing the same competition. Thus the need for a ranking system where the strength of the opponents along with your record are taken into account, among other criteria like strength of the victory, etc. The NXT ranking system could work in a similar fashion, where the NXT Title Holder is #1 as long as he holds that title. Everybody else is ranked according to their record in matches, the way that they win their matches, the strength of their opponent, and possibly how much trouble they have in defeating their opponents (like how long the match is or how many near falls they are on the receiving end of or something like that). All this information can be part of a fictional algorithm that provides the rankings. This allows you to provide reasonable rankings without really needing to pay absolute attention to the science behind it, because at the end of the day it€™s all part of a narrative. The question then becomes how do you implement it on the show? The easy answer is to have a new authority figure placed in charge of NXT (preferably somebody young like a Byron Saxton) and have him champion the idea of a ranking system. Build up its implementation as a huge innovation that will shape the future of the WWE. He will set up a huge battle royal featuring every member of the NXT roster, and the order in which eliminations occur will determine where the superstars rank, meaning if you are eliminated first, you are ranked last, and so on and so forth. Going forward from this initial ranking, on a weekly basis the positions will be updated based on the activity of the week prior.
Contributor
Contributor

Matthew J. Douglas is an emerging screenwriter born in Toronto. A lifelong fascination with what makes a compelling story and the Toni Morrison quote "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." led the often opinionated Matthew to the life of writer. Matthew is also a lifelong WWE fan, and a self diagnosed Reality TV Junkie.