WHEN WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT CREATED NXT, A BRAND EXTENSION FROM THE PERFORMANCE CENTER; ITS INTENTIONS WERE CLEAR.
Create a top developmental brand where the potential future stars of the company could experience just about everything that makes up the WWE itself, simply on a smaller scale. Workers would be watched meticulously, and have ample opportunity to grow and develop into the future superstars of RAW and SmackDown Live.
But as many can attest, it rapidly grew to become its own living, breathing entity. WWE set out to create an environment where talent they deemed as the future of the business could hone and nurture their craft. But in doing so, also created something else.
Arguably the best wrestling brand on the planet.
The buzz surrounding NXT is not new. For the last few years the weekly program and special events (all available on the WWE Network exclusively) have been the talk of the wrestling world. And while this isn’t the first time such discussion over their place in the pecking order has been broached, something has become abundantly clear following NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III. And that something is the very fact that the NXT has a legitimate claim to being the best professional wrestling has to offer in this current time.
The event opened with Johnny Gargano taking on Andrade Chen Almas in a one-on-one encounter that was perfect foil for the revved up Brooklyn crowd. Gargano is a veritable license to print money for the company, a happy-go-lucky underdog who works his tail off every single time he is given the opportunity. Almas, to his much deserved credit, has rounded himself out incredibly. Going from an also-ran to one of the top up-and-coming performers on the brand.
Next up was the Tag Team Championship match between title holder Authors of Pain and the challengers, SaNity. As the match descended into chaos it became perfectly clear exactly what we were viewing with the opening two contests: a monument to NXT as a brand. A moving tribute to the very idea that this brand can seamless weave between styles and stories, all the while never once losing the fans who clamour over and hang onto every single moment.
Many companies have tried and ultimately failed to handle such a chance of pace with such deft skill.
With a mid-match freebird rule, carnage with tables and outside action, and bodies strewn everywhere by the time the final bell rang, the match offered everything good about the brand. The very fact that Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish quickly attacked both teams following the conclusion of the match is another moment that encapsulated NXT in a microcosm: the special ability to retool and refocus on the fly.
At its core NXT remains a development brand, and the ability to restock the roster while keeping the momentum moving forward is not easy, in spite of how well they consistently perform the task.
The event shifted to a strong style of competition as Hideo Itami and Aleister Black battled a hard fought and well placed contest. Black picked up the win, but both competitors looked great in the process. Black, in the humble opinion of yours truly, represents the future of the brand, and they appear to be booking him accordingly.
Once more, three matches into the night and three contests that both meshed well together even though they were decidedly different. In fact, upon further examination, it is perhaps that very reason that they paired so well. Contests that could stand alone on their own as fantastic ingredients, yet combined to make a sublime dish.
The women’s Championship match could have (and perhaps should have) been placed in the main event slot. One of the most anticipated matches, not just in NXT but in wrestling period, in recent memory saw the undefeated Asuka retain her title in a fierce battle with Ember Moon. Within the confines of the match we saw the long-reigning Champion pushed to lengths she has arguably never been. The result is a star turn from both ladies, who come away from the match looking better than when they went in (and they went into the contest in rather high steed from all fans).
Asuka looks like an unbeatable machine more than ever. Ember Moon looks like the most legitimate threat to that fact the brand has ever seen.
The actual main event, pitting NXT champion Bobby Roode against challenger Drew McIntyre, was a great match that’s only obstacle was the mere fact it had to follow such a fantastic undercard. Fans seemed a little surprised McIntyre won in his first attempt at the gold, and while that isn’t at all a bad thing, I think it took just a little bit away from what was still a great moment.
The reset button was of course plunged harder than ever moments later when Adam Cole debuted, laying out the new Champion with help from ReDRagon. Once more NXT had taken all of a few hours to completely reinvent themselves, while all the same offering perhaps the best wrestling event of the year (and arguably their best wrestling event ever).
With NXT under the thumb and direction of Triple H, there is every reason to hope that the future of main roster WWE programming will look decidedly similar. However, with so many entrenched employees in WWE apparently just fine with the status quo, it’s also completely plausible that an episode of RAW or SmackDown Live never looks like anything the yellow development brand has ever produced.
And perhaps it’s time we as fans accept that. Sure, it sucks when top talents finally get the main roster to be misinterpreted and watered down. It is a real worry, and a legitimate concern. But bogging yourself down with these very ideas could be holding you back from the current reality that is the very fact NXT is the best wrestling the planet has to offer today.
Ever onward, NXT.