Subscribers to the WWE Network know that WWE’s developmental brand NXT has arguably become the most entertaining thing WWE has to offer at the moment. It’s been such a hit among subscribers that fans are calling for NXT to be represented at WWE’s biggest show of the year, WrestleMania . The idea sounds good, right? Well, former NXT Champion Sami Zayn doesn’t think NXT being represented at WrestleMania would be as great as fans think it would.
Zayn appeared on the Chad Dukes Wrestling Show and explained why he thinks NXT should remain its own brand, and why he thinks so many fans have gotten into it over the past year.
“Part of NXT’s appeal to me especially amongst people like yourself, like you’re saying lifelong wrestling fans who are sort of like discovering NXT and being like ‘Wait, this is the kind of wrestling I used to like’ or ‘I like this.’ It’s succinct. It’s an hour-long, you’ve got some great wrestlers, and you’ve got great storytelling, and it’s simple and it’s gritty.
“While at the same time, it’s so funny people forget it’s PG, it’s a PG product, but it’s so real and gritty and people almost lose sight of that. The whole point I’m trying to get at is, it’s sort of carved out its own little niche within this giant wrestling company that is the WWE. We’ve almost carved out our own underground following, it almost has a cult following, which is so strange to say because it’s part of the world’s biggest wrestling company.
“So, I think if you were to have an NXT World Championship Match at ‘WrestleMania’ while obviously for me personally I would be a huge thrill, I don’t think you can necessarily capture the magic of what NXT is and really harness it and put it on full display for the world to understand it, on such a grand scale like that.
“When you take the product out of its environment and throw it on a grand stage I think it would lose something there.”
Zayn could be on to something there, as superstars like Bo Dallas and Adam Rose were very popular with the crowd at Full Sail University while they were in NXT, but when they were called up to the main roster, they floundered. That could be because they’re not as talented as guys like Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Adrian Neville or Sami Zayn. But, the fact is Bo Dallas and Adam Rose have struggled since being called up to the main roster.
There is the other side of that argument though, as guys like Bray Wyatt, Rusev, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose have flourished since being called up to WWE’s main roster, and all five of those men are without question substantially more talented than Bo Dallas and Adam Rose.
The idea of a NXT Championship ladder match taking place at WrestleMania has been thrown around, and who knows — it could happen. But WWE could very well want to keep NXT completely separate from the main roster and not have them risk making a bad first impression on the WWE audience at their biggest show of the year.
[Image via WWE ]
