In a recent interview with Good Karma Wrestling, NXT Champion Oba Femi backed up Shawn Michaels’ bold claim from earlier this year that WWE NXT is “the best two-hour show on television.” Femi praised the brand’s current momentum, its growing platform on The CW Network, and the balance it has struck between in-ring action and entertainment.
“I mean, I agree. I agree with Shawn, in the sense that the brand is doing the best work it’s done forever,” Femi said. “We’re on The CW Network, which is huge for us. Our partnership has been going on for the first year. We’re going into year two now so we’re expecting very big things, and I do understand that there is an era of NXT and Black and Gold which is like revered by the fans and that’s what they remember but, it’s very hard to understand that right now, we’re doing a lot better than back then. The version of NXT that is romanticized by the fans is not even doing as well as we are today.”
Femi was quick to credit the foundation laid by the Black and Gold era but insisted that the current version is stronger than ever. “I do appreciate all the effort that the Black and Gold brand put forth. Without them, there is no NXT today, but, we have to understand that this, right now, is the best two hours of wrestling on television.”
He also broke down what makes this current era stand out compared to past versions. “The Black and Gold era was defined by the introduction of a lot of the independent wrestlers that came with all the experience and all that. It was fast-paced action and you know, it was bang, bang, bang. The main roster has a little bit of a slower pace, where it is more entertainment-based and more about the moments and stuff like that. So, I believe that NXT today has found a way to successfully merge the two.”
Highlighting stars like himself and Trick Williams, Femi pointed to the current roster’s ability to blend speed, athleticism, and star power. “There’s people who are like, ‘It’s too slow. I want more action,’ and there’s people who are like, ‘Oh, this is too fast. We need more stars and moments.’ So NXT right now is the perfect combination of both styles, where you do have stars, big stars like Oba Femi and Trick Williams and you still have that fast-paced action by Oba Femi and Trick Williams. So this is the best version. The best possible version of NXT that we can have.”
