Opinion: The gloom and doom scenario surrounding NXT's move to USA Network is not justified
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and they do not necessarily represent the views of Sportskeeda.
So, the cat is finally out of the bag. After weeks and weeks of rampant speculations, WWE officially confirmed NXT's move to USA Network. Starting September 18, the black and yellow brand will be airing its weekly TV show live on the USA Network on Wednesdays. This means that NXT would be going head-to-head with AEW's weekly TV show airing on TNT on Wednesdays during the same time slot.
Reports of NXT moving to cable TV first surfaced following the announcement of SmackDown moving to Fox. It was widely believed that WWE's third brand would be debuting on cable TV on a Fox Subsidiary, with Fox Sports 1 (FS1) being the prime contender. But, something changed over the past week and instead of FS1, NXT's weekly show would be airing on the current home of RAW and SmackDown, USA Network.
As expected, obituaries were being written by a certain section of the IWC who believed that with the move Vince McMahon will get more involved with the NXT product. We all have come to believe over the past few years that the WWE head honcho ruins everything that he touches. While anyone and everyone is entitled to an opinion, it doesn't necessarily mean that their opinion is true.
Over the years, NXT has grown to be one of the most beloved brands in all of wrestling. The brand's weekly TV show has consistently been the most-watched show on the WWE Network. The black and yellow brand's NXT TakeOver Specials have become must-see for the hardcore fans and the brand has delivered every single time.
While we totally understand the concerns around NXT's move to cable TV and the changes that it will come with it, the theory that Vince McMahon will ruin NXT once it gets to USA Network is totally out of proportion, in our opinion.
As much as we learned to believe that everything wrong in WWE is due to Vince McMahon, we must not forget that the man is single-handedly responsible for revolutionizing the business of professional wrestling. Without McMahon taking numerous risks during his career, we wouldn't have seen a day where major cable TV stations would be shelling out millions of dollars to get wrestling on their platform. Pro wrestling would've been a niche industry without a wider mainstream audience.
Has the man lost his mojo over the past few years? Yes, there is no denying that fact. But that doesn't take away from the fact that the man is without a doubt the greatest booker in wrestling history. The kind of success that he has enjoyed over the years would never be replicated and despite the occasional hiccups, one cannot discount the kind of pedigree that the WWE chairman possesses when it comes to producing weekly wrestling shows on TV.
Besides, why would Vince even try to alter a winning formula? The current NXT product is the hottest that it has ever been and making drastic changes to it would ultimately lead to it losing a large chunk of its fanbase. If there is one thing that we know about Vince McMahon, it is that he hates losing money. He isn't foolish to not realize that the aura of NXT comes from the fact that it isn't anything like RAW and SmackDown.
At this moment, one can hope that all this negativity surrounding NXT's move to USA Network dies down eventually. Besides, why we are even jumping to conclusions when we haven't even seen the pilot episode on the channel yet?