I write a wrestling column every Monday and Friday for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. It can be found online at TribLIVE.com.
The most recent column I take aim at Vince McMahon — while he'll always be respected for who he is and what he's done, that doesn't mean he's still good at what he does now. The following is an excerpt:
NXT programming is becoming consistently better than WWE.
I can't call NXT competition because it's the developmental system, and those who run WWE can manipulate NXT if they wanted.
Many of the big names involved with the WWE main roster aren't controlling NXT week to week. Many who control NXT are guys who should be, but haven't been involved as much in the main roster of WWE.
That is the major advantage of NXT. Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn don't have their hands in NXT, which is huge.
McMahon has grown the WWE brand far beyond what anybody could have envisioned 30 years ago. A lot of people have made a lot of money on his watch. That can never be taken away.
However, while he can be king of the boardroom, I think he's lost a major touch in his abilities to lead the creative direction of specifics for his programming.
Dunn has been the executive in charge of WWE television for a long time. He's a driving force in aiding McMahon's questionable views of what is entertaining. I preach and remind a lot of people that WWE is an entertainment brand, with their main stage being what we know as a wrestling ring. Even I have to say Dunn's reputation of hating wrestling and loving anything else ridiculous he can fill the segment with often is out of control.
NXT is terrific to watch. It reminds me of an old-school territory in how intimate the crowd is and how many of them are repeat customers coming to so many of the shows at Full Sail University. It makes the talent have to work harder at getting over in front of the same live crowd.
NXT is like an indy show with a six-figure production budget.
Not everything we see on NXT will instantly succeed once it gets in the hands of McMahon, Dunn or the 15,000-seat arenas for RAW and SmackDown. Case in point — Adam Rose.
McMahon and Dunn stay away from NXT, but the street is two ways. There are guys who have more influence on NXT than they ever do the main WWE product that are secret weapons to have.
William Regal, Joey Mercury, Billy Gunn and Sara Del Rey are a few. Their knowledge stemming from foot work, timing, facial expressions and psychology of constructing a character is impossible to measure.
The sad reality of it all is it only matters so much.
Natalya and Charlotte had a phenomenal match on NXT. As great as it was to watch and as great as those two are, the rules of what succeeds on the main roster under the current decision-makers are much different.
As long as McMahon and Dunn run the show, we'll never see Natalya and Charlotte do that match on RAW, SmackDown or Main Event.
I can hear the creative meeting now — “Who wants to see two hot blondes in a back and forth wrestling match for 20 minutes? Somebody tell them they got three minutes bell-to-bell and then we're making them have a food fight.”
CLICK HERE to read how Triple H fits into this, the firing of the head writer and what McMahon wishes he was doing right now.
