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THE DANGERS OF NXT MOVING OFF THE WWE NETWORK, WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO GO TO WAR WITH WWE IN 2018 AND MORE

By Mike Johnson on 2018-07-07 10:00:00

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There is a lot of rumors that WWE NXT will move to FS1 when the new WWE TV deal starts.  Do you think this is what NXT needs?

Does NXT need it?  I say no.  They are already drawing healthy crowds for Takeover and solid crowds everywhere outside of the small Florida shows.  Would being on a cable outlet help them draw more on the road?  I can't say I believe that. 

Honestly, I would be more concerned about the negatives than about the positives.  We saw the one episode of NXT that aired on the USA Network last December and compared to the same episode that aired on the WWE Network, there was content edited out to fit more commercial space and the cable version didn't have the same zing to it that NXT traditionally does.  I fear that could happen if the series is ever moved to another home outside of the WWE Network, especially if that move means Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn get intimately involved in the day to day of the brand.  

Let's not forget that WWE had a license to print money with the ECW brand in 2005 and a year later, the ECW on SciFi that was presented did nothing to energize the brand and eventually, it was a bigger budget version of Heat or Main Event with its own titles.  That didn't evolve the brand nor did it grow anything long-term.  

I think NXT under those same fingers and with all the outside concerns of a cable TV partner would, at the least, change the core product, none of which would be a positive for the brand or the talents that the brand develops.  In a perfect world, it stays on the Network, although the longer it exists, the stronger there will be a pull to move it elsewhere.  If and when that happens, I just hope it's not a "jump the shark" moment like the Zombie and the Vampire were for ECW.

What is the latest on the ongoing Tammy Sytch case?

Sytch is slated to be in court the morning of 8/23 in Carbon County Court in Pennsylvania in regard to her parole from several years ago being revoked.  She's been incarcerated for months after being taken into custody in New Jersey.

I know there are lots of great companies out there, but what would it take to go to war with WWE like WCW did?

I don't think it can happen. WWE has now had 17 years or so of educating the general, mainstream audience that they are the alpha and omega of professional wrestling.  It would take a major cable network wanting to put hundreds of millions of dollars into launching a product that looks as slicky produced as WWE, but with a completely different style and with several name value stars at the onset.  There would only be one chance to do this, or else you end up like Impact where over time, that moment is missed.  I don't know that we will ever see another "war" in my lifetime, but given that as of 2019, WWE will be paid billions, certainly some TV exec is going to raise a eyebrow and at least consider pro wrestling as a viable thing for their network.

From time to time you give coverage of the Death Match Tournaments.  Why would you do that?  None of those talents are ever going to go anywhere.  It's not pro wrestling.

It is pro wrestling and I am sure it's news to the likes of Dean Ambrose, Drake Yuertz, Jimmy Havoc, etc. that none of them have ever gone anywhere.  If you don't like the style, don't watch, but if I start deciding that a certain style doesn't deserve to be covered - do I ignore lucha libre or Japan or WWE or whatever else I don't particularly care for?  That's a silly way of looking at pro wrestling to me.

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