Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialCreative Has Nothing: 10 Ideas for WWE NXT Roster

Creative Has Nothing: 10 Ideas for WWE NXT Roster

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“Creative has nothing” is a phrase often used in sports entertainment when a wrestler is just lingering around with no direction. The idea is that the writing team simply has no plans for them, can’t think of any decent storylines or character arcs, and just decides to let them sit out for a while or wrestle matches with zero value to them, merely to do “anything at all” until they think of something else.

Often, people will be released because of this when it goes on too long. Other times, you’ll get someone like Lacey Evans, who had a character shift happen more than once in a short time frame, only to be taken off television because they’re going back to the drawing board.

While being a writer is easier said than done, and we’re not even aware of how many suggestions fall by the wayside instead of getting used, it does tend to fall on WWE Creative, for instance, when someone is in the doldrums. Fans will quickly point out that someone is being wasted and blame it on the writers for not coming up with something—anything.

Well, rather than just crap on the writers for this, I figured I would use this phrase to spark what could be a series here on eWrestlingNews of fantasy booking, in a sense. This will be an exercise in random thoughts that I have for pretty much anything going on, wherein if I were on the WWE Creative writing team and they asked “What are your ideas?” I would pitch these things, if people were struggling.

Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean these would be priority subjects. If I suggest how to use Shanky on Friday Night SmackDown, it doesn’t mean he’d be my top focal point over The Bloodline. That’s absurd. This is just more so an exhibition of how if “Creative has nothing” and nobody is speaking up, well, how about this idea, then?

Without further ado, here are 10 random ideas specifically revolving around the current NXT roster at the moment—as inspired partially by my recent post about NXT Superstars going nowhere fast.

1) More Students and Guest Teachers for Andre Chase University

Andre Chase University just lost Bodhi Hayward as its star pupil. Thankfully, Duke Hudson’s come in just at the same time, which almost makes it seem like he’s booted him out. There’s also Thea Hail, who is super enthusiastic and fun to watch.

But something WWE hasn’t tapped much into yet is this idea that Chase U could operate like any other schools by widening its net.

Among the sea of nameless students or people being called out for getting answers wrong, but not being on screen (a la “That’s not right, Jeremy! What the hell is wrong with you?” type segments), we should see more of a crossover between this and the overall WWE Performance Center.

Why haven’t the Next in Line groups popped up, with people trying to recruit those talents? Schism isn’t the only faction that can hand out flyers. They had something going with this co-ed Hail and Hayward thing, which won’t go anywhere now. Let’s see Hail get some teammates she can bond with beyond just her teacher. Toss someone like Myles Borne in there as an inspirational talent, being the first deaf wrestler in WWE and a cookie-cutter handsome young babyface type.

Better yet, why aren’t we getting more interactions with guest coaches and trainers who can pop up for a quick stint and some solid jokes?

Drew Gulak is exactly the type of person I would pitch for this. Chase could bring him in as a close and personal friend who he trusts to give some lessons to the students, and he can have a segment where he gives a PowerPoint presentation to hearken back to his 205 Live days.

Anyone like that who you bring in can draw the ire of someone on the roster and have a match against them, similar to how WWE has liked putting main roster talent on NXT as of late.

But you can also get other legends in there who are just for the segment and not to wrestle, too. Have Sgt. Slaughter put them through a boot camp. Can you imagine Bob Backlund being so crazy that even Andre Chase has to tell him he’s going over the top? Kurt Angle, Molly Holly, and so many others would make for fun appearances to freshen things up.

Charlie Dempsey’s quick attempt at being a guest coach who went too far into punishing the students was one of the best things they did. Do more of that and turn into the skid. Use this gimmick while you have it. Do pep rally things and other school spirit promotional material!

2) Pair Shelton Benjamin with Damon Kemp

If you don’t watch Main Event, I don’t blame you. Neither do I. Nobody does. But I did catch wind of a recent transpiring where Shelton Benjamin lamented to R-Truth that he used to be The Gold Standard, but lately, he’s just been “Shelton” and nothing more.

I’ve always thought Benjamin had some of the tools to win a world title, or at least the ECW Championship when it was somewhat considered that. He’s never been even A-tier on the mic, but he’s had a lot to offer, and I’d like to see him do more than what he’s been up to the past year or so.

At this point, though, I think Benjamin’s luck on the main roster is about over. I just can’t see WWE putting that much of an investment in him heading into the main event level when guys like Roman Reigns dominate so much of that space.

But in NXT, he could be a big fish in a small pond, and if you’re not willing to give him that championship, I think the best way to utilize him is to be the mentor for Damon Kemp.

There’s a pun in there already with The Gold Standard teaming with the brother of an Olympic gold medalist in Gable Steveson. That’s a bit on the nose, but should only be referenced more casually than beaten you over the head with it.

More so, I think this team has the means to boost Kemp considerably. He’ll learn much from working alongside Benjamin, who can handle half the verbal load and bond with him over their collegiate experience.

I’m down to see Benjamin and Kemp against The Creed Brothers, aren’t you?

3) A Plethora of Wendy Choo Puns and Jokes

While I don’t want WWE to get too much into the Gold Medal Standard type thing above, I do think they’re dropping the ball with Wendy Choo’s gimmick and the sheer amount of jokes they can make with it.

At first, I thought the character was ridiculous. Then, I started to see the potential as a silly thing that is just meant for fun and nothing too big. But I’m not seeing enough “woke up on the wrong side of the bed” and pillow fight type references for my intense love of puns.

Choo should obviously use a sleeper hold as her finisher. That’s a given. Sleep Tight could be the name of it and she can wrap herself around the opponent’s body. I don’t think we can get her to do a Go To Sleep, but it does work. Also, the Tuck In for an inside cradle type pinfall attempt.

Instead of Sheamus having the 10 beats of the bodhrán, have it where Wendy hits someone multiple times in the corner and we refer to it as Counting Sheep.

Release a shirt that parodies the Brock Lesnar “Eat. Sleep. Conquer. Repeat.” design with one for her like “Sleep. Beat. Repeat.”

Team her up with the good ol’ country girl Fallon Henley and what is their team name? Hit the Hay.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but did Tiffany Stratton or Toxic Attraction ever try to bully her over her appearance and say she needed more beauty sleep? That writes itself.

Have someone challenge her to a match, and instead of just accepting, she decides she “has to sleep on it” before making a decision. And when she says she can easily beat someone? Well, “I can do that in my sleep.”

Have her oversleep and miss out on an open challenge.

Want her to hulk up and get more powerful during a match? Easy. She takes a power nap on the outside of the ring for 9 seconds before running in to break the 10-count.

Maybe she develops some sleep walking habits and comes out mid-match like how R-Truth can interrupt things he’s not involved in.

I could go on and on. Just search for idioms and phrases revolving sleep terms and you’ve got tons of ideas sitting in front of you.

4) Why Aren’t Axiom and Nathan Frazer a Team Yet?

Wasn’t that the point of this Best of 3 Series? What gives?

These two are floundering on their own. Neither has enough personality to make it as a singles star. We’re seeing that and they’ve been part of the NXT UK and now NXT rosters for enough months to call it quits on some of that development.

But they’re high-flying buddies who carried over from NXT UK, have a camaraderie together, are in that midcard type range where becoming a tag team doesn’t hurt their upward momentum that isn’t realistically there, and this brand can use more teams.

Ideally, I’d go with the superhero gimmick and add that to Frazer, too. Right now, he’s just “a guy” with an incredibly bland sounding name like dozens of others. When your personality is just to smile to the ring and look happy to wrestle, nobody is going to connect to you beyond some flashy maneuvers, which you can still do as part of a team with Axiom.

They don’t need to go full Batman and Robin cartoony, but some matching gear, a tag team name and some victories could go a long way in keeping them viable.

5) Schism Needs to Turn Down Some Losers

This week on NXT, they explained that Ava Raine joined Schism because Joe Gacy was one of the only people to reach out to check on her when she was injured. He firmly stated that he’s not looking to get something from Raine to join the group, but the other way around. Raine joined because of what he offers her, instead.

But we know that’s bullshit. That’s the point of heel characters like this. They’re leeches, just like cult leaders and such in real life. They feed off others and offer relatively nothing in return other than manipulative group-think.

So let’s see that in action. Instead of Schism always trying to recruit other people like Cameron Grimes, who turns down the offer and starts a feud, let’s see the other way around.

Gacy has often approached people like Draco Anthony, calling them out for losing and trying to reel them in while they’re vulnerable. He sees something in them that he can benefit from and wants to snatch them up before they realize it on their own, so they can be a worthwhile minion and underling for his own goals.

What happens if a loser wants to join Schism, but they have nothing to offer? If they’re too much of a loser that Gacy thinks he’s better off without them than investing any effort into their manipulation? That person is REALLY down in their luck and we can see a different story being told.

Imagine someone like Guru Raaj in this role, or Dante Chen. They’ve done virtually nothing but smile, wrestle their hearts out, and lose. But if they were trying to join Schism and being turned down, that could light a fire under them. And if their only friends on the roster are condescending enough to say “Hey, you don’t need to join those guys. Winning isn’t everything.” we could see them turn into serious heels trying to do terrible things to prove their value to Gacy.

It’s better than being on the list of jobbers who only get called to get in the ring to not get an entrance, lose in a few minutes, and barely register as having competed, right?

6) Royal Rumble Qualifying Matches or Battle Royal in December, January

Typically, a wrestler or two from NXT pops up in the Royal Rumble. It’s nice to see those surprises, and they should continue to be shocking moments, but I think there’s room to play into building up some suspense for some of that, too.

Let’s say WWE has it planned to incorporate 3 men from NXT to be in the 2023 Royal Rumble. One of them, for pure argument’s sake, is Carmelo Hayes. Another is Bron Breakker so they can advertise that the NXT champion is here and give him more screen time on main roster footage. And then, they’ve got room for one more, who would normally be a totally random person like Tony D’Angelo.

We know NXT is the developmental show where people need to work their way up to the main roster. Play into it. Let’s see the lull time in December or January leading up to the Royal Rumble feature some sort of qualifying tournament or a single battle royal where the winner gets a guaranteed spot in the Royal Rumble.

This has happened before with guys like Bo Dallas on house shows. Suddenly, even if they have no chance at winning the 30-man gauntlet, it at least makes for one or more episodes of television having a tie-in with one of the biggest shows of the year. That could get people to tune in to see who that extra participant is while we’re on the road to figuring out the 30 names, and since they’ve won their entrant number, that also gives them more credibility.

The commentary team has something else to talk about, too. Instead of just saying “Oh hey, that’s ____ from NXT” and leaving it at that, or defaulting to “We’ve seen a lot of great things from them on Tuesday nights. Aaaaand they’re eliminated.” They could talk about how they outlasted all these other Superstars to win their spot and prove that they’re worthy of being the future of WWE.

7) Tag Team Partners for Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James

For I think maybe one match, before Arianna Grace got injured, she was being set up as a tag team partner for Kiana James. It didn’t make much sense to me. Nothing about those two clicked. One is a beauty queen character and the other is a business manager type. What’s the correlation?

Now, James has had her assistant, Giovanna Eburneo. Since she’s only been thrust into the role of “backup for James” and nothing else, there’s nothing to gravitate toward that differentiates for that. She’ll do, I guess, but we haven’t seen much of that interaction.

A much better fit for James, I think, is Elektra Lopez. She’s no longer in Legado del Fantasma, but she keeps wearing the business suit look, talking about how she’s a dangerous threat as a woman of power. That fits the vibe, right?

Likewise, when Tiffany Stratton and Arianna Grace are both done with their injuries, all healed up and ready to go, those two should be teammates. Stratton has progressed further than Grace, so she’ll help her in her growth. One is a spoiled rich girl brat who thinks she should get whatever she wants based on her looks and such. The other is, as stated, an arrogant beauty queen bitch type. They would totally be besties until just hating each other behind their backs because they’re competition for the same goals all the time.

Give them a team name that is reminiscent of Spoiled Sports, given their attitudes and athleticism. Combine the competitive pageant entitlement with the mean girl nasty behavior.

8) Bron Breakker and Hank Walker

Here’s an idea for a one-off that could potentially lead to something better if the synergy is there.

Bron Breakker is the son of The Dog-faced Gremlin, Rick Steiner. They’ve referenced this numerous times, even though they haven’t gone so far as to call Breakker some ugly mug.

Hank Walker is the security guard who got signed to a contract in storyline. He’s a big guy who is happy to be there, learning the ropes, sloppy and can lose, but still puts up a fight and can be intimidating, given his size.

Currently, we’re seeing Von Wagner step up as Breakker’s future opponent, talking about how he’s the biggest and baddest in NXT and the champion won’t retain when he goes up against him. While that is likely to manifest in matches with Apollo Crews and JD McDonagh and such, I’d like to see a little twist on the obvious.

Let’s have Wagner pick a fight backstage like he normally does, only for Walker to break it up. He still has that security guard methodology in him and just acted on instincts. But this draws the ire of Wagner, who is offended that another big guy stood up to him.

Breakker can thank Walker for having his back and before you know it, they’re teaming up to go against Wagner and someone else who can be in a more direct feud with Walker, like Xyon Quinn, Grayson Waller or whoever.

As a little joke, call the tag team of Breakker and Walker “The Guard Dogs” and just have fun with it. See if they have any cohesion as partners. If they do, I’m not suggesting downgrading Breakker to a tag team specialist or anything, but he could at least have Walker as one of his go-to buddies to help out in scraps or in tag team matches in the future so he can take a loss without getting pinned.

It upgrades Walker’s presence, gives more character to both of them, and it could even lead to some decent matches.

9) Send Reggie to NXT

Remember Reggie? You probably don’t want to, after the terrible love story with Dana Brooke, Tamina, and Akira Tozawa over the 24/7 Championship.

He hasn’t been seen in a long while, only wrestling on Main Event and some house shows as a perennial loser, mostly. This is in part due to his size and his unlikable character who was only really ever good for doing some flips here and there, which became more tiresome and less interesting over time.

There isn’t much hope, if any, that he’ll amount to anything more than that peak he’s already had. So rather than putting him on Main Event and the live event circuit where fans are paying to see other people and wasting time with those matches, just send him down to NXT.

He’s small enough and a good enough flyer that he could get tossed around by guys like Wagner and make them look really good, but he can even make someone like Axiom look stronger by proxy, too, since he’s still on the shorter side and can match speed.

Sometimes, “creative has nothing” for a Superstar because there isn’t much more you can tap into. You might as well squeeze out anything you can get before you inevitably release them. Reggie’s time is running out, so let’s have him put over the developmental generation instead of just losing to Cedric Alexander and such on Main Event, where the wins mean even less than if someone like Javier Bernal or Brooks Jensen were to beat him.

10) Diamond Mine is Not Forever

Diamonds are Forever is one of the worst James Bond films, but one of the best songs. The phrasing in and of itself is iconic and used in so many things that it would make sense to have a group called Diamond Mine in WWE, calling attention to them being forged out of fire, durable and lasting forever.

Except…Diamond Mine has largely sucked. That’s been the case effectively from the start, even.

This group’s gone through so many dropped members like Hachiman and Malcolm Bivens and Tyler Rust that it flies in the face of this team membership allegiance trope. When you’re in Diamond Mine, you’re Diamond Mine forever, except 75% of the people who have been in the group.

At this point, we’ve got The Creed Brothers doing some great stuff, Damon Kemp tried to destroy the group from within, Roderick Strong has been M.I.A., and we have Ivy Nile just kind of hanging around. If she’s doing anything beyond just looking at the other guys with a scowl, she’s likely teaming up with Tatum Paxley, who has never been a full-fledged member.

Strong’s not good enough on the mic to lead the group. The Creed Brothers are fine on their own. Nile has mostly been an outsider for the bulk of her matches, anyway, rarely ever interacting with the others. So let’s just nix the group and cut our losses. It’s not as though it’s going to withstand a main roster call-up for anyone.

Ideally, this would have ended with the Kemp turn. Now, I’m hoping when Strong returns, he cuts all the ties. As its leader, he’s the only one who can say “hey, we can be Diamond Mine forever in spirit, but we all need to go our separate ways.”

This isn’t so much an idea of how to turn things around and freshen things up, but more so about how it’s just time to let something die and move on. We already have Andre Chase University crossing over into the collegiate training aspect and I don’t think anyone will miss Diamond Mine, nor do I think there are any groups forming that would make sense to go up against this stable in the future. Let’s just nix it and be done to open up room for other things to fill the void and to allow someone like Strong to maybe even go up to the main roster.

What ideas do you have that you would pitch if you were on WWE Creative? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!

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