Post by eJm on Dec 15, 2021 11:54:05 GMT -5
Before the ratings come out and the discussion starts, I was thinking it'd be a counter discussion of sorts to talk about its status as a show and where it should potentially end up if USA decides to keep it or not renew the deal it has when that time comes?
Honestly, there are pros and cons to both and I'll put mine down just to start.
Staying on USA: I've said it countless times, the biggest issues of NXT during the Wednesday Night Wars was that they put NXT to two hours on TV without much time to adjust and they didn't support them through some of the periods that, really, they should have had a better fighting chance.
What people have forgotten about NXT Black and Gold is that the crew involved were only used to a 45 minute Network friendly, mostly inconsequential wrestling show where action was more paramount and the big draw to viewers were the Takeover shows. They sold out arenas, they sold a lot of merch (and was lumped into the cost of developmental which, needs to be stated again, is impossible for itself to be a money maker. Unless you're going to have people pay to use it then you ain't exactly going to attract many prospects to come. But anyway...) and built a lot of potential stars up, stars that did help them during the Wednesday Night Wars to an extent. Expecting that crew in two weeks to know how to adapt that into two hours before facing a whole new brand with mostly new talent and sprinkles of established names? What else did you expect to happen? They hotshotted a lot and they were writing for that and it wasn't really going to benefit that team, especially the wrestlers who were so used to certain things and not really prepared for it.
And this is why I'm not so harsh at NXT 2.0 despite the bad ratings and real mixed views on here and places; they're being given that chance to adapt. They're building their own names, doing their own stories and using what they have to the best they can in what is a rebuilding process. We can talk about whether that works but, really, they should be allowed to do that as long as USA is interested in keeping it and if they do, it would only stand to benefit if any of those people get on the main roster.
If Bron Breakker debuted on Raw Monday, you can tell people that he came from NXT and you can watch him and other talent tomorrow and that likelihood grows if he's booked well and made into a name. You make NXT a show to watch, people will watch it and hopefully some of that younger demo who watches Raw will flow down to NXT because it's the same channel and time but a different day.
Going to the WWE Network: The fact is, though, despite what I mentioned, doing a TV show with new talent and not many holdovers from the Black and Gold is a lot of pressure. If Raw or Smackdown mess up any more talents, people are going to be less interested in watching NXT because it'll still be perceived as a failure of a system. And considering the money put in, it's not a great look for the viewers watching and potentially, any prospects coming through on the NIL system. Not to say some won't take the risk but it's easier for people to go a different direction if they hear bad things about the system in place. So there's an argument to be made that making it exclusive to the WWE Network again benefits that idea more.
Along with that, it gives the talent a smaller stage to grow as characters. You have a lot of rookies on NXT 2.0 right now and them being out there having matches against each other isn't exactly productive to their success. It isn't like it's Main Event or 205 Live where that stuff can be hidden or edited, it's Live TV. You mess up, that's potentially it. Whether you think it's fair or not, fans can lose interest quickly in a prospect and it'll take rebuilding to get them back on board and in this WWE where you can get cut for any reason at any time, it's not something they likely want to do. So having it be able to be edited or back to taping blocks might help that transition and training for those people they want as TV ready to be easier.
And you also potentially still have the example I put earlier except instead of watching USA, you're subscribing to Peacock and watching live or the day after. And considering both are owned by NBC Universal, they likely won't hear any complaints. If he debuted on FOX, it might be tricky but I'm sure they can work something out.
The poll's open for a week but I'll be interested to see what people tihnk.
Honestly, there are pros and cons to both and I'll put mine down just to start.
Staying on USA: I've said it countless times, the biggest issues of NXT during the Wednesday Night Wars was that they put NXT to two hours on TV without much time to adjust and they didn't support them through some of the periods that, really, they should have had a better fighting chance.
What people have forgotten about NXT Black and Gold is that the crew involved were only used to a 45 minute Network friendly, mostly inconsequential wrestling show where action was more paramount and the big draw to viewers were the Takeover shows. They sold out arenas, they sold a lot of merch (and was lumped into the cost of developmental which, needs to be stated again, is impossible for itself to be a money maker. Unless you're going to have people pay to use it then you ain't exactly going to attract many prospects to come. But anyway...) and built a lot of potential stars up, stars that did help them during the Wednesday Night Wars to an extent. Expecting that crew in two weeks to know how to adapt that into two hours before facing a whole new brand with mostly new talent and sprinkles of established names? What else did you expect to happen? They hotshotted a lot and they were writing for that and it wasn't really going to benefit that team, especially the wrestlers who were so used to certain things and not really prepared for it.
And this is why I'm not so harsh at NXT 2.0 despite the bad ratings and real mixed views on here and places; they're being given that chance to adapt. They're building their own names, doing their own stories and using what they have to the best they can in what is a rebuilding process. We can talk about whether that works but, really, they should be allowed to do that as long as USA is interested in keeping it and if they do, it would only stand to benefit if any of those people get on the main roster.
If Bron Breakker debuted on Raw Monday, you can tell people that he came from NXT and you can watch him and other talent tomorrow and that likelihood grows if he's booked well and made into a name. You make NXT a show to watch, people will watch it and hopefully some of that younger demo who watches Raw will flow down to NXT because it's the same channel and time but a different day.
Going to the WWE Network: The fact is, though, despite what I mentioned, doing a TV show with new talent and not many holdovers from the Black and Gold is a lot of pressure. If Raw or Smackdown mess up any more talents, people are going to be less interested in watching NXT because it'll still be perceived as a failure of a system. And considering the money put in, it's not a great look for the viewers watching and potentially, any prospects coming through on the NIL system. Not to say some won't take the risk but it's easier for people to go a different direction if they hear bad things about the system in place. So there's an argument to be made that making it exclusive to the WWE Network again benefits that idea more.
Along with that, it gives the talent a smaller stage to grow as characters. You have a lot of rookies on NXT 2.0 right now and them being out there having matches against each other isn't exactly productive to their success. It isn't like it's Main Event or 205 Live where that stuff can be hidden or edited, it's Live TV. You mess up, that's potentially it. Whether you think it's fair or not, fans can lose interest quickly in a prospect and it'll take rebuilding to get them back on board and in this WWE where you can get cut for any reason at any time, it's not something they likely want to do. So having it be able to be edited or back to taping blocks might help that transition and training for those people they want as TV ready to be easier.
And you also potentially still have the example I put earlier except instead of watching USA, you're subscribing to Peacock and watching live or the day after. And considering both are owned by NBC Universal, they likely won't hear any complaints. If he debuted on FOX, it might be tricky but I'm sure they can work something out.
The poll's open for a week but I'll be interested to see what people tihnk.
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