Hey guys this is my first blog so go easy on me! It seems that we are currently at the dawn of a new era for NXT and I personally am very interested in what the era of Regal may bring to the show. Anyway I have my own hopes for the direction the show may go in so I thought I would share them with you guys and see what you think.

As we saw last week William Regal has taken charge of NXT and with this he has promised to bring the dreadful past 52 weeks of the show to a conclusion and that next week would see the beginning of the ‘new’ NXT. Now I’m sure most of you have your own opinions on what exactly this means, whether that be a drastic renovation of the show or the more likely option of some minor work on the show with nothing much changing at all, but I for one am hopeful that this could lead to the dawn of a new day on NXT which will have a major impact on not just the WWE’s developmental talent but also the fortunes of the talent on the roster that seem destined for either a career of lower mid-card mediocrity or an incoming text from Big Johnny himself wishing them the best in their future endeavours.

When NXT Season 1 began I was very interested in the idea and soon became hooked on the show. It was new, it was innovative and I for one had emotional investment in the show as I instantly became a big fan of both Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel. I thought the show was entertaining throughout and I loved the idea that at the end of it one of the talents involved would get some kind of crack at the big time. Little did I know creative had huge plans for all eight of these rookies. Season 1 of NXT, in my mind was a great success for the ‘E as it accelerated the eight rookies on their path to the main roster as well as adding both our current World Champion Daniel Bryan, and a certain future champion in Wade Barrett into the mix. With the success of season one however, the future seasons of NXT had a lot to live up to.

Season 2 wasn’t too bad as a decent crop of talent was still involved and even with a suspect ending to the season as a whole with the rookies turning on their pro’s and then confusingly on each other, I was still looking forward to season 3.

I won’t go into detail on the other series because I stopped watching them all a couple of weeks in. But from what I did see they were awful. I find myself hitting the fast forward button when it comes to diva matches on the current roster, as I’m sure most of you do, so why creative thought we would enjoy watching divas from FCW is beyond me. By season 4 the product had become stale and the fact that NXT Redemption has been going on for around a whole damn year says everything you need to know about that. My point is not only has season 5 lost any credibility it had with its defunct ‘redemption’ policy but the brand as whole now seems pointless and out of touch with the foundations and ideas it was built upon.
With that said I think the E’ now has a great chance to restore credibility and get the most out of NXT with the era of Regal and let’s face it, they have nothing to lose here. So with this chance here is what I would do with NXT…

Make the show independent with its own roster

It is plain to see that NXT no longer follows its original aim which was to be a show exclusively for rookies trying to become the next breakout star in WWE. Instead it’s filled with matches between lower mid-carders on the WWE roster and a few rookies who have been associated with the show in the past. I personally have no problem with this, I just think they should have ended season 5 before they started doing it. Anyway my idea is as follows:

On next week’s episode William Regal comes out and once again reiterates that he is now in charge of NXT and he intends to shake the foundations of the show. No longer will the show be a competition full of ridiculous challenges and devoid of entertainment but it will be becoming its very own brand just like Raw and Smackdown. The show will keep its innovativeness as it will stick to its original ambition of finding the WWE’s next breakout star but at the same time the show will not be limited to just rookies. Regal goes on to explain that there is a tonne of unused talent on the WWE roster who are simply waiting for a chance to shine and he is more than willing to offer them that opportunity. He goes on to reveal that he has signed multiple talents to the NXT brand and has formed a roster of talent full of potential. Not only has he done this but Regal goes onto explain that he has been scouting WWE developmental and has signed a number of young stars for his new brand. Regal explains that as a veteran in the WWE, he hates how the current product has been wasting young talent and so he is taking it into his own hands to showcase exactly what these young men and women have to offer and giving them the chance to gain the experience they need to successfully move up into the ranks of Raw and Smackdown.

Regal would announce that he has signed the following:
-Alex Riley -AJ (when done with Bryan)
-Curt Hawkins -Kaitlyn
-Darren Young -Aksana
-Derrick Bateman -Maxine
-Heath Slater
-Johnny Curtis
-JTG
-Michael McGillicutty
-Percy Watson
-Trent Barreta
-Tyler Reks
-Tyson Kidd
-Yoshi Tatsu

Add to this the whole of the FCW roster and that’s a hell of a lot of talent to showcase. This would not make FCW redundant. I would keep FCW around and run it as usual but have the roster travel to wherever Smackdown is televised for that particular week and tape NXT before Smackdown as usual.
It also seems like WWE is scouting for further talent and I would continue this and add any findings to the NXT roster.

Give the show some meaning

Apart from having its own roster of superstars, this idea still might not seem a whole lot different from the NXT/Superstars we have at the moment and that is why I would inject some meaning into the show by adding one simple element. After announcing the new roster Regal would go on to explain how exactly he intends to help push his new superstars to the limelight in WWE. He announces that though NXT is now an independent show, its aim is no different than it was before and that is to find the WWE’s next breakout star. To do this Regal will have to work out who is the “cream of the crop” on his roster and the best way to do that is by introducing the NXT Championship.

The show is no longer an elimination based style competition but a brand and so it will have its own championship title just like Raw and Smackdown. Regal announces that not only is the title the ultimate trophy on NXT but it also gives the holder the right to appear on both Raw and Smackdown. I believe this would give creative more of a chance to focus on building up one lower-mid-card superstar’s career rather than having a bunch of jobbers all over the place and if that superstar impresses enough during his time appearing on both shows then he may be signed by either brand. This would not only allow superstars the chance to have a warranted place on the main roster but it would test if they are ready or not. If they seem ready then great, try them out on Raw and Smackdown for a while and if they continue to impress then move them up to the main roster permanently when they lose the title. On the other hand if they struggle and don’t seem ready, have them lose the title and stay on NXT until they build up their skills and are ready for another shot. I think this would work out to be a much better bridge between developmental and the main roster than we currently have and it keeps talents active even if they don’t shine during their original run on the main roster.

I would also have Regal go on to introduce NXT Tag Team Championships as well as an NXT Women’s title, which would allow creative to work on the future of both divisions.

Try and keep the show in touch with the WWE Universe

I’m not kidding myself, I do realise that a lot of the WWE Universe might not want to watch lower card talent but I think the shows audience would have the chance to grow. If the show did turn out to be successful I would even push for maybe a match at a PPV for the NXT Championship? It’s a long shot but some of these superstars would be able to put on amazing matches, exposing the show to a larger audience and I’m sure the majority would enjoy watching it more than a divas match.

I would also try and have the show keep up with the WWE’s traditions during the year. Maybe a NXT 10 man rumble at the Royal Rumble PPV with the title on the line? This is all a bit farfetched I know but this is just if the show turned out to be a success.

To put it simple my version of NXT would have the chance to do the following:

-Give unused talent on the main roster a chance to shine and get their careers back on track.

-Give the developmental talent a chance to consistently perform in front of a live WWE crowd and work on their craft.

-Give developmental and lower mid-card talents a focused run on the main roster if they win the title and not have them disappear into thin air is they don’t make it first time.

-Create and build up new tag teams.

-Create an entertaining show which would show case the skills of young stars and unused talents while also having some direction and not just a load of pointless matches.

WWE is already spending money on NXT. Why not make the most of it?

Hope you enjoyed the blog guys. Just an idea I came up with and wanted to hear your opinions!

Till next time,
King Wade