The WWE needed a youth movement to come in and make a true impact. The product was getting stale and the timing of the show was getting old and boring. The talent was older and the storylines were at a point that was almost unbearable to watch.
I gave an honest appraisal of WWE back in early 2015 when it was Randy Orton and John Cena still leading the way on Monday Night Raw. I said people would actually like wrestling again if Raw was like NXT.
At the time, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and a few other guys were just starting to make their way to WWE programming. Now, the whole movement has arrived. World title matches between AJ Styles — one of my all-time favorites — and Roman Reigns seem to be the way the company is headed.
The intercontinental title has a youthful Zach Ryder competing with The Miz. The US Title is held by Kalisto, a young Luchador from the independent circuit. The Tag titles are held by the New Day — a tag team consisting of Xavier Woods, Big E Langston and Kofi Kingston, two of which were in NXT back in 2014. Then Baron Corbin surprised at Wrestlemania and won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
In another exciting development, the Women’s division has finally taken the next step as well.
Instead of models who act like they are trying to wrestle, it’s being headlined by Ric Flair’s daughter and one of the best female wrestlers in the company, Charlotte. Even better, the division is extremely deep. From technicians like Becky Lynch, Paige and Emma to the better mic workers like Summer Rae, Sasha Banks and even Natalya, the division has improved tremendously since calling up quite a few women over the past year.
A WWE youth movement has benefited the women most of all — especially with the Bellas both looking to leave. The quality of the matches down at NXT in the women’s division showed true at Wrestlemania. In March 2015, Sasha and Charlotte put on an insanely good match. So much so, I noted that the WWE needed to have their women wrestle like that match again.
The current WWE youth movement is drawing near its close today with the likes of Apollo Crews, Enzo Amore and Big Cass and the Vaudevillains all getting called up from NXT. The storylines for their introductions make a ton of sense as well, with Crews and the Vaudevillains debuting as mid-lower card talents and Amore and Big Cass facing off with the Dudley Boys.
The WWE has needed an infusion of fresh talent for the longest time. Their overused, continued pushing of John Cena and Randy Orton was becoming unbearable. With the likes of Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose dominating the top of the card, they should have the new group of guys to push for their new era.
The possibilities for their cards are endless. They have characters of all shapes and sizes finally up at the top. They have women who actually know how to wrestle competing for the title. They understand that fans got tired of their “Sports Entertainment” and have brought up the true wrestlers from NXT.
The scary part here is that there are still great talents in NXT. Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Bayley and Asuka look like just another group that is coming through the pipeline that should make in impact in the coming years.
If this youth movement makes the impact it has the potential to, we might finally see another golden era of wrestling — another to compare with the mid-late 90s and early 2000s — return to our screens.