WWE: Should NXT Replace ‘SmackDown’ In Two-Hour Slot?
WWE, in NXT, has just the ticket to replace its failing SmackDown brand.
Many who watched NXT TakeOver: Rival last Wednesday have said they witnessed two of the best hours of professional wrestling they’d seen in a long while.
But one writer for Cageside Seats wants to take it to the next level, and from the outset, it appears that he has a very good point.
In the piece, entitled “What happened to SmackDown?,” user Aeolus1900 asks the question of a WWE NXT “takeover” that many fans would love to see.
(Seventy-seven percent, according to a site poll.)
The writer would like to see WWE hand NXT head Triple H the reins for the failing midweek wrestling show and see what happens.
There are a few ways that WWE could do this.
They could have Triple H take over using WWE Superstars, but working better storytelling into the proceedings. They could move WWE to Raw and have NXT stars only for the two-hour weekly. Or they could use a hybrid of WWE and NXT superstars. Bring back jobbers for the Wednesday WWE Network NXT edition so your main crew doesn’t get worn down.
While one could make a case for any of the three options, the third seems to make the most sense.
There are many middle-of-the-road guys still on the roster who are not being used effectively. Mixing them in with the young, hungry NXT guys could make for an interesting dynamic, and would only elevate the games of both the NXT crew and the WWE mid-carders.
It would also play to a part of the fan base that is growing increasingly jaded with WWE product — professional wrestling fans.
There has been much made over whether to call it “professional wrestling” or “sports entertainment.” WWE prefers “sports entertainment.” Its most rabid fan base — the true evangelists for the product — want “professional wrestling.”
Why would you want a part of your audience — especially the ones most likely to subscribe to the WWE Network, as in professional wrestling fans — to be underrepresented?
The WWE is in a place to have its cake and eat it, too. They can deliver sports entertainment, but they can use professional wrestling to make pay-per-views more meaningful.
But what do you think, readers? Should WWE give NXT the full two hours of SmackDown? If not, how would you handle it? Sound off in our comments section.
