The Rise of NXT
If you ask any second-generation WWE fan what their favourite era was, chances are they would answer either the Attitude era or the Ruthless Aggression era. These two eras produced some of the biggest names of ever lace a pair of boots for the WWE. These eras also saw the birth of a concept that would later be an integral part of WWE TV. During the prime of Ruthless aggression era in 2002, WWE came up with a creative idea of integrating reality shows with the WWE and came up with a show called ‘Tough Enough’. A lot of past and present stars like The Miz and John Morrison were competitors in different seasons of Tough Enough. The ‘reality’ angle of this reality show was questionable but one thing was for certain – people loved to see a rookie turning into an up and coming WWE Superstar. The project was later scrapped (and rebooked recently for WWE network).
Years later, Vince McMahon announced a whole new format of WWE’s developmental system – NXT. NXT was like a better polished version of Tough Enough. But the reality TV aspect of it was still getting in the way. The program failed to connect with the fans the way it was meant to. Too many storylines and distractions hindered the progress of the wrestling angle of the show. However, the wrestling world was set on fire one eventful day when the NXT rookies, lead by season 1 winner Wade Barret tore down the proceedings of RAW on live TV. The world was again talking about NXT.