FATP: The Future’s Bright…

In a land far, far away from the insipid, uninspired world of Monday Night Raw lies a magical place. A place where wrestling is presented like it used to be – as a serious contest with a pre-determined ending (for the most part). Of course, we’re talking about NXT.

NXT has an authority figure, but he’s not the be all, end all of the show. He appears when he needs to, and just lets the wrestlers get on with it. Imagine that. A wrestling show that lets wrestlers wrestle! NXT provides pro-wrestling fans with a viable alternative to Raw and Impact.

Everything about NXT feels completely different, and every kind of match gets the right amount of time and care that it should – whether it’s tag-teams, mid-carders, main-eventers or…wait for it…here it comes… the WOMEN’S division. No Knockouts. No Divas. Just good, well-defined, female wrestlers with identifiable characters who can actually – shock, horror…WRESTLE!!

Take a look at the depth that’s there – Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze, Adrian Neville, Finn Balor, Hideo Itami, Bayley, Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch are just the tip of the talent iceberg down in WWE developmental. And look at who’s come up through NXT – Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, Luke Harper, Big E, Bo Dallas, The Ascension, Rusev and Paige.

The problem with the list of names we’ve just gone through is that for those 10 NXT stars, you need to find 10 active roster spots for them to fill at one stage or another. Even if you could find 10 spots for them, there’s a pretty good chance that they wouldn’t get featured the way their talents deserve.

Guys like Neville, Zayn, Breeze, Itami and Balor are smaller than the likes of Cesaro, Cena, Reigns, Orton et al, so the likelihood is that they’d be fed to them. With WWE TV structured the way it is now, those NXT guys wouldn’t get a fair shot. The only way it would happen would be if WWE reintroduced the Cruiserweight championship and made it exclusive to SmackDown. Even then, it wouldn’t be much better and there’s more chance of you-know-who getting inducted into the Hall of Fame than WWE showcasing smaller guys as viable stars on a regular basis.

It feels like there are a lot of wrestlers on the main WWE roster who are just there to make up the numbers. They’re there just for the sake of being there. It’s not for me to say who those wrestlers are. You’ve probably got a good idea yourselves.

The issue then becomes trying to make each of these talents seem like a credible member of the main-event roster. How do you do that?

Well, how bout starting by doing something WWE should’ve done a long time ago – make SmackDown the complete and utter polar opposite of Raw. Like it was when Heyman was in control over a decade ago – a wrestling heavy show, where every division got its fair share of time and exposure.

Make SmackDown a mini-version of NXT. Obviously, you’d need to have a few experienced main roster guys in there to complement the undoubted talent of the fresher NXT stars.

One guy who never seems to have a bad match is Randy Orton. Put him in there as the SmackDown guy (for lack of a better term). Imagine the matches he could have with Owens, Zayn, Balor, Itami etc. They’d be outstanding. Complement Orton with others like Swagger, Cesaro, hell, even someone like Ambrose or Rollins. Make it a competitive show where wins and losses matter. It would give us a reason to watch.

You could just keep Raw as it as – an entertainment show based around wrestling. Keep your characters and guest hosts there. SmackDown would be a viable alternative if it was extended to an NXT-style show.

Outside of WWE, there are other options for people who are sick and tired of being served crap and being told it’s caviar.

We’re quite lucky in the UK that we have a thriving wrestling scene. Promotions like ICW, This is Progress and PCW are just some of the companies who present a competitive wrestling product that outdraws most independent promotions in the US.

The shows are just as good, the production values are great and the matches are compelling. They give fans a reason to invest in the athletes and as a result, everyone is over. These promotions have such good reputations that they’re able to bring over stars from the US like Matt Hardy, Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles, and this year, the likes of Alberto del Rio and the Young Bucks are making the trip across the pond to turn out for them.

It’s not just UK fans who have viable alternatives. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, you can find a wrestling product that engages you – whether you’re in America, Canada, Japan, Australia, the UK, Europe, wherever you are, there is something else out there!

What I’m trying to say to you is that if you’re unhappy with Raw or SmackDown, you have a choice – either put up, shut up or find something else that engages you.

We have the power in our hands – we can STOP watching. Force change that way. It’s the only way WWE will pay any attention. If you’re going on Twitter and moaning, but still watching the show, do you think Vince cares? No. Because you’re still talking about him.

If you’re happy with WWE, more power to you. If you’re not, do something about it. It’s down to you to find a wrestling show that you ENJOY watching. The funny thing is that WWE have an alternative within their own system. And it’s fantastic. It doesn’t feel like a chore to watch and you don’t need to quit your job to keep up with what’s happening. Most importantly – it’s FUN!

The future’s bright. We just have to hope it gets here soon!

What do you think? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised.