WWE: NXT returns to what made it special with developmental product

NXT will, finally, be returning to its roots soon as new Performance Center trainees are given their shot on the program.

WWE will be bringing a previously pitched third hour to their NXT property according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com. Sapp, who was speaking on the Monday Night Live podcast, commented about the show tentatively called NXT Underground. He said that a pilot had been previously filmed and put on the shelf early last year. But could be making a comeback.

Although the show shares a name with the 3rd-hour segment on WWE’s Monday night programming RAW Underground. Fortunately, the name is where the similarities seem to end.

Unlike Raw’s Underground offering which is based around an MMA format. With two competitors meeting in a ring devoid of ropes or corners and face off in a hard-hitting contest of strength. NXT’s Underground seems to be focused more on the showcasing of new and as to now unused Performance Center talents. It is in essence a developmental territory within a former developmental territory.

NXT’s developmental origin is a strength and not a weakness

NXT at its core was meant to be a way for the newest crop of WWE superstars to get comfortable in front of a live audience and learn how to carry themselves in front of television cameras.

Unfortunately, the brand very quickly pivoted away from that original mission statement with the signings of massive independent wrestling stars like Prince Devitt (Finn Balor), Tyler Black (Seth Rollins), El Generico (Sami Zayn), and scores of others.

Which in turn left several men and women behind. Some of those who were able to capture the eye of training staff and earn themselves a place on the show. But there are many more performers like Daba Kato, who has been with the Performance Center for 5 years. Waiting for an opportunity that may have never come.

With this adjustment, NXT seems to be moving back to the gameplan that garnered them a fiercely loyal fan base after their debut in 2012. Choosing to focus more on young and internally trained performers than the large independent names with loyal followings of their own that had recently become NXT’s bread and butter.

This shift in philosophy could be due to a myriad of factors but most likely, is due to the recent popularity of All Elite Wrestling’s Wednesday Night Dynamite. Which, like NXT, is helmed by several major names from the Independent Wrestling scene. But, unlike the current NXT product, has also been very adept at building stars that were not already known names across the world.

Competition breeds innovation. In this case, competition has caused WWE to look at its Wednesday night offering, and recognize that they had lost what made it special. What made it NXT, and who made it NXT.