During a recent interview with WREG to promote tonight’s WWE NXT premiere on The CW Network, CM Punk commented on the current state of NXT, what the brand means to him, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On what WWE NXT means to him: “I get to relive those days [in OVW] and enjoy the things that I was maybe too career-focused … that I couldn’t enjoy all the present.”
On the importance of NXT: “We all like to say … this is the future. [These are] the future superstars of SmackDown and RAW and WrestleMania. But I think NXT is its own thing. I think they have such a special thing [in] NXT. I really want them to try to live in the present and enjoy their time there.”
During a recent appearance on “The Ringer Wrestling Show,” WWE NXT Head Shawn Michaels expressed his belief that NXT is the NCAA to the NFL. He said,
“I sort of look at NXT as the NCAA to the NFL. If Raw and SmackDown are the NFL, NXT is the NCAA. The NCAA is a brand. They still put 100,000 people in a stadium every Saturday afternoon. There is an opportunity for NXT to go out on a more regular basis, but I personally would like to keep that special. I never want to venture too far from our home here in Florida. That’s one of the things that makes us different. We have an environment unlike any other. It is intimate and we’re able to do things here that other wrestling programs and brands can’t do. That affords us the luxury of having some of those options that we have in Orlando that you wouldn’t have at various arenas across the nation. You never know what you might be getting, so to speak. As much as I do want to continue to grow NXT, and I believe we will, I personally don’t ever want to get to where we’re venturing out of here too often. This is our home and this is where NXT was built and should continue to build.”
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