Report: Major Changes Coming To WWE NXT
The brand may be headed in a new direction
On the heels of WWE releasing 13 NXT and 205 Live talents on Friday night, stories have emerged about wholesale changes coming to the NXT product.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider wrote Friday evening, "...there has been lots of talk internally of major changes for the NXT brand including a new logo, new lighting, a focus on younger talents and a different format to the TV shows. This housecleaning tonight appears to be part of those changes."
Dave Meltzer went further on Wrestling Observer Radio on Sunday morning, stating that NXT (having long since lost the Wednesday Night Wars) appears to be headed back to its earlier format of strictly being a "development" program, what Meltzer calls "the Curtis Axel era" of NXT.
Meltzer reports that the aim for NXT is to go back to developing bigger and younger wrestlers, with far less emphasis on top-tier match quality, where they attempt to "out-indy the indies".
Meltzer quotes a source as saying that the direction is in the line of, "....no more midgets, no one starting in their 30s. They want people that can be box office attractions and main characters." He does note that Adam Cole, should he re-sign, would be an exception to those parameters.
The update goes on to say that there are lots of divisive opinions about the state of wrestling in WWE, and it's about who has Vince McMahon's ear this week.
Meltzer also notes that Friday's releases were the call of McMahon, with influence from Bruce Prichard and John Laurinaitis. Neither Paul Levesque nor Shawn Michaels had any say on them.
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.