Adrian Neville and Tyson Kidd stare down before competing. Photo/WWE (de.wwe.com)
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]here’s no doubt at this point that the main draw for subscribing to the WWE Network (at the low, low price of only $9.99!) is for the monthly PPV events; second to it, the expansive library of past events and cable broadcasts associated with the company.
NXT, however, is quickly gaining steam. It hosts a bevy of fresh talent, has more of an independent federation feel to it (but with that signature WWE production flair) and we get to watch future superstars hone their craft and character before being sent up to the big leagues. In short, it lets us feel like hipsters, but without the arrogance and horrible taste in music that usually come with the title. By the time NXT: Takeover II hits on December 11th, it could very well be equal in popularity to the WWE events and become the sole reason anyone may be enticed to fork over their credit card digits.
Besides being a weekly show that you can catch at anytime of day come Thursday and giving us a glimpse into the future, NXT has provided a much more needed service: the opportunity for a second chance. As we all very well know, it can be dog-eat-dog on that main roster, and if you’ve floundered from the start or suffered a change in character that set you back to square one, it can be very difficult to recover from that.
We need look no further than Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, Sin Cara and Titus O’Neil as proof of what NXT can do for the vets.
Kidd and Gabriel, while immensely talented men who put on excellent matches, have never been quite as over as they could be. There’s something there that hasn’t quite connected with the crowd at a level that the brass at WWE would consider successful. But since doing more work on NXT, they’ve both shined.
Gabriel seems more at home as what appears to be a role as enhancement talent. He still kills it in the ring, and yes, a good portion of the time, he’s putting the newer talent over. But he makes them work for it. He makes them look phenomenal and he looks even better as a result.
Kidd, since being moved down to NXT, has thrived in his new role. He’s gone from a guy who is just physical talent to a full-blown character that slays. He’s connecting with the crowd long term, finally, and in the way he wants and needs; an arrogant, self-absorbed heel who isn’t afraid to use his wife to his advantage – which makes us hate him even more! He can go toe-to-toe with the finest talent NXT has to offer (honestly, I could watch him and Neville fight all day), and just the slightest smirk or eye roll is enough to draw our ire. This entire character revamp should have happened ages ago.
Sin Cara and O’Neil are examples of characters that started strong and came to a crashing halt. While the talent now playing Sin Cara is different, the reputation following the name hadn’t changed. There’s a reason that everyone uses Sin Cara as a basis for memes about botching. With his time spent in NXT as a tag team champ alongside Kalisto, Hunico has been given a chance to help clean up the name. Titus is no stranger to NXT, having competed in a couple seasons when it was still a hybrid reality/competition show. While he found some foothold and had a solid following on the main roster as one half of the Primetime Players, his momentum since the break up has come to a screeching halt, with constant losses and the odd (yet fairly entertaining) pairing with Heath Slater. Bringing him back to NXT for a few matches to let his aggressive side shine back through allowed us to see him for the strong competitor he still is and remember what he’s capable of. Granted, he recently lost to Ryback, but it was a strong match and he took the fight to him. NXT has given him his edge back.
There’s a lot of good about to come out of NXT in the upcoming months, from the obvious transitions some stars are about to make to the main roster, to the showcasing of the prime indy talent that has come into the fold. Not only seeing a few Superstars get the chance they desperately needed to gain their footing, but to do so with the talent that they’re about to work alongside with…it’s like getting a sneak peak into the future.
The future has never looked brighter.
