The title of this thread might have you scratching your head. It might make you go into "Keyboard Warrior" mode and start pounding your keys away as you invent every ill-mannered, sophomoric way to reply to this and tell me, quite explicitly, to go fuck myself. I sincerely hope that you're not one of those people and you actually take the time to read through everything I've stated here and not give other users a bad impression of what I've constructed simply because you didn't bother reading though the first paragraph. So are we good? Good. If not? Like I said, take it somewhere else.
So personally, I've never watched NXT in my entire life. Not even one episode. Hell, I don't even bother to look at the spoilers. It's all for a reason, however, and that's what I'll be getting into in a minute but I'll tell you what I do know about NXT. It's basically a development brand that airs episodes on television on Tuesdays. It features all of the development talent in the WWE and provides them with a platform to perform in front of an audience and showcase their talents through wrestling and promos. It really doesn't sound like a bad concept so why stop watching it? See, the people who shouldn't watch NXT are the ones who can't brace themselves for disappointment, who lambaste the company because a certain superstar was treated a certain way. Or, they put all of their hopes that one of the stars will be the next Messiah of the WWE or rejuvenate a certain division but guess what happens when either creative or real life circumstances get in the way of that? They flip out and become depressed and cynical. In short, the five or six months that they spent, following that wrestler's journey means absolutely nothing. And then what?
See, I've seen so many Ambrose's crash and burn, it's not even funny. Overhyped indy darlings that get all of the credit in the world for doing nearly nothing to deserve it except act snarky and witty on the mic and pull off a few luchador moves off the top rope. I don't feel connected to people like Rollins or Ambrose because I don't put investment into them. Why? Because what happens if I watch them go through the ranks only for them to ed up in a role, on the main roster, that I'm not used to seeing them in? I'm prejudiced. I won't give the angle the time of day because I'm so used to them acting a different way. I won't realize that transitioning to the main roster might mean going through a couple of storylines that I won't perceive as beneficial right away. I won't be putting faith in the man/woman I've been rallying behind all of this time and I won't give him/her a chance to show everyone how all of their hard work has paid off because I'll be the first to tell everyone to steer clear of what the WWE is doing to the second coming of Christ.
But all of that is avoided if I stop watching NXT. Everyone who gets called up gets a clean slate. No one's expected to perform a certain way because I'm not familiar with their talents. I pick all of that up when I see them compete on the grand stage because that's where it counts. Whether or not it's by circumstances that are outside the control of that wrestler or not, there are some instances where people perform differently from where they were in the minor leagues. You could be the John Lennon of the indies but then flop as the Tom DeLonge of the main roster. I don't think I'll have to remind you of Scotty Goldman. With The Shield now on the main roster, here's what I've been able to gather about all of the members.
Rollins: Great wrestler/seller, not too bad on the mic.
Ambrose: Great talker, average wrestler, cannot sell or throw a punch worth crap.
Reigns: In ring presence.......big muscles.
Now you may think that it might be a bit unfair for me to judge these three men in such an underwhelming but I call them as I see them. Could they big main event players in the future? Absolutely, but as I've said before, nothing's for certain. If any of them were to get the ax tomorrow, I would be a bit upset but at least in my case, it's because they've shown us what they can do on the main roster where it counts. They had an astounding match at TLC and it'd be a shame to see them go but as my description has indicated, I'm not overly attached with them and witnessing them going through the ranks might have done that for me.
So, if you're one of those people who can accept seeing people getting cut, despite you believing that they could be future prospects, then by all means, enjoy NXT. If you're not however, I wouldn't suggest you do it.
