Kurt Angle expresses his concern over WWE changing its hiring policy
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently expressed his concern over WWE making changes to its hiring policy. It was reported that going forward, WWE will be focusing more on bigger and taller athletes from various sports backgrounds instead of wrestlers from the indie circuit to hire for NXT.
Speaking on the WrestlingInc. Daily podcast, Angle highlighted his concerns and advised WWE to "tread lightly":
"I would tread very lightly on that because there are a lot of incredible independent wrestlers. Wrestlers that never did any real sport but they’re very good at their craft, and I would like to see the percentage. Fortunately, for me, I was a real athlete and won a gold medal at the Olympics. These kids that are trained to be pro wrestlers and working at the independent shows, they’re doing a lot of the work and they’re crafting their skills and their character. I don’t know how much character development occurs down at NXT, but I think a lot of character development occurs in independent shows", said Kurt Angle.
According to Angle, he does not know how much NXT focuses on character development for their talents but believes that a lot of character development goes down in independent shows.
The latest recruits to the WWE Performance Center also prove this change in WWE's policy, as none of the talents have a background in the independent wrestling circuit.
Why did WWE change their hiring policy?
While it's not clear why WWE changed their recruitment policy, the apparent belief is that it is due to NXT failing to beat AEW in ratings despite showcasing talents who had an indie background.
Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Candice LeRae, Pete Dunne, and Ridge Holland are some of the major stars in NXT at the moment who cut their teeth in the independent circuit.
Interestingly enough, the main roster of WWE has superstars such as Riddle, Rhea Ripley, Seth Rollins, and even Drew McIntyre who have all had a stint on the indie circuit at some point. All of them have also held major titles at some point in WWE.