NXT and More Ways to Use WWE Network to Groom Next Generation of Stars

WWE Network and NXT's marriage is set to produce more successful offspring.

Nostalgia will bring in subscribers initially, but the WWE Network can be a beneficial tool in elevating tomorrow's stars. It will assist the company in streamlining the process of guiding Superstars upward.

NXT provides a show just below the main roster for talent to develop and garner a following. Producing profile videos and providing additional promo time will also have rising Superstars sharpen their skills.

In that way, the WWE Network is set to not just change how WWE is consumed, but also how its stars are refined and readied for center stage.

NXT on the Network

NXT was once the awesome band that only the hipsters knew about, something the casual fan had yet to catch onto. With the product moving to the WWE Network and the company's added focus on it, NXT is a bigger stage than it once was.

Mojo Rawley, Tyler Breeze and The Ascension now ply their violent craft with a larger audience watching.

Many of the fans gulping down everything the WWE Network has to offer will add NXT to their diet. Why not? It's included in the subscription fee. 

Showcasing NXT on the WWE Network instead of Hulu Plus where it once resided has it feeling like more of a WWE brand rather than a separate entity. It's a brand with less pressure, though, as fans and scouts both know that the wrestlers aren't supposed to be finished products yet.

This will help prospects develop a following before being plunked onto the main roster.

Xavier Woods would have benefited from more buzz before he debuted on Raw. Instead, he went from tagging with R-Truth and swiping Brodus Clay's music to not being on TV at all.

Credit: WWE.com

Thanks to the WWE Network, NXT stars will have more of a head start than Woods.

For WWE, the move to the streaming service means officials should have a better idea of how a certain prospect will do on the main roster. More eyes on the product will mean more buzz about who folks dig and who is getting a collective thumbs down. 

It will help to prevent flops like Mason Ryan's run on the main roster where he failed to stay on Raw, instead heading back down to WWE developmental.

The transition from the minors to the majors will be easier now, less of a leap and more of the next logical step. It's the equivalent of Triple-A baseball players heading to the major leagues rather than having Single-A players make that jump.

The WWE Network creates opportunities to grow Superstars on the company's lower rungs.

Promo Time for the Underused

Even with three hours of Raw and two hours of SmackDown that WWE produces a week, there just isn't enough time for all the company's rising stars to work the mic.

John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton regularly deliver speeches to the crowd. Less-established Superstars like Big E don't often get that same chance.

The WWE Network can offer an easy way for wrestlers like them to work on their promo skills in the heat of the spotlight, albeit a less hot one. 

On exclusives like the SmackDown pre-show and Raw Backstage Pass, WWE can highlight the members of the roster who don't often wield a microphone.

If the promo is a stinker, WWE can not promote it beyond those Network exclusives. Should it be the kind of gem that Dolph Ziggler delivered on the WWE App in January, the company can air it on Raw or SmackDown as well.

The benefit of more promos outside of the main shows is twofold. First off, these Superstars get practice, and secondly, this allows them to create more of a connection with fans.

Big E's personality has only come out in slivers on WWE TV so far.

There is an odd, charming fellow waiting to be discovered underneath all that muscle. Giving him more mic time helps the audience discover who he really is while serving as batting practice when he has to hit verbal home runs on a bigger stage.

Air the kind of strange videos he puts on Instagram, and he's sure to endear himself to more fans.

Featured Backstories 

A part of why some Superstars have developed such a strong relationship with the audience is that fans have seen their journey, seen them grow, suffer and triumph.

Newer wrestlers can't rely on this element. They are strangers entering a family gathering. It takes time to introduce them, and WWE Network can do just that.

WWE can feature profiles of up-and-comers on the WWE Network.

A feature on Dean Ambrose growing up in a gritty area of Cincinnati would compel fans who only know him as a member of The Shield. Show him how tough he is, play up his toughness by sharing images of his old neighborhood.

Highlighting Alexander Rusev's powerlifting and rowing past could be used to add to his character. He is, after all, "The Super Athlete," so infusing his real-life athletic endeavors can only serve to deepen his character.

There is, of course, an issue with trying to keep kayfabe separate from reality in this situation, but WWE has shown it can do this extremely well as it did when looking back on Bryan's early career and relationship with Shawn Michaels. 

The WWE Network needs more videos like that. Like the kind of snippets TV networks show of Olympians' lives, producing short profile videos for WWE wrestlers would help give viewers more reason to invest in the athletes on screen.

Combining that with extra opportunities to speak their minds and making NXT more accessible is going to strengthen WWE's future. The science of turning athletes with potential into successful Superstars will be less of a blind guess and more of a measured act.