Booker T On What Changes He Would Like To See With WWE NXT
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T discussed his thoughts on the re-branding of NXT on his Hall of Fame podcast. A 6-time World Champion and 2-time WWE Hall of Fame talent, Booker T also owns and operates Houston's Reality of Wrestling which just announced their own television agreement. Experience in both the main event and running his own developmental provided for some insight on the future of NXT.
"I'm just curious to see what the new NXT is gonna look like. You got a lot of talent down there," Booker illustrated. "You got more talent than you can imagine. I always wondered, what are they gonna do with these guys? How are they actually gonna use these guys? And not just use them, but get them to a point where they can move up? Because at the end of the day man you're trying to make some money. You're trying to create some stars, you don't want these guys to be in NXT forever. These guys need to be trained properly in order to get to the next level.
"My thing is this man, I love that NXT system but the one thing I would push for is, for instance, let some of those guys go to Reality of Wrestling," Booker continued. "Let some of those guys go to some of these really good camps around the world. Send them there for a month, just so they can understand that territory wrestling is really about wrestling in front of different crowds as opposed to just being under that NXT system at the Capitol [Wrestling] Center. I don't think it would hurt those guys at all. And the money that they're spending, I don't think it would be more than they're spending already in trying to create better character development as well as wrestling skill working on the fly in front of a crowd."
Booker T also has thoughts regarding the use of veterans in the ever-changing developmental process. As a veteran and long-time coach, he finds that newer growing talent doesn't benefit from learning the current way. Instead Booker thinks the training and coaching should lend itself to the future.
"It's just such a different era now. I just don't think the NXT brand grows by having older veterans be a part of the company." Booker said. "I think it's about the new guys coming up and getting out there, having a shine. What I do think is, and I don't wanna throw any shade on any coaches or anything like that, I just think these guys need to see a lot of different variations of what coaching is.
"Of course they wanna make it different than what it is right now. What it is right now is an extension of RAW and SmackDown Live," Booker said. "I said it from the beginning when NXT went national and went live, it's gonna be hard for these guys to actually learn cause the learning curve now is on the job. Gearing down, changing that thing totally and making it a farm league – I don't know how you're going to do that with it still being on USA. That's the part for me that I'm grasping with. How are you gonna make it smaller with it still being on USA? So I'm gonna sit back like everyone else and wait and see."
News has been widespread about the changes to WWE NXT with the notable new logo for the brand. Booker T thinks a statement being made but the real issue will lie with the overall brand.
"It's just got some different painting, bright pink, you'd think the New Day came up with the logo!" Booker noted. "Very colorful. But what's the difference in the brand going to be? That's what I'm anticipating, because there again, training facility. It has to be all about the training for these guys to get to the next level.
"Maybe it's gonna be more storyline based as far as what these guys goals are, how they're gonna get to the next level, maybe turn it into a reality show or something. I don't know! That might be a good idea."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Hall of Fame with Booker T and Brad Gilmore" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.