History YMMV / WWENXT

* MyRealDaddy: When Wrestling/VinceMcMahon was still involved with dictating the direction of NXT, it was filled with silly competition segments, and was largely ignored by wrestling fans. When Wrestling/TripleH took over, it basically became his own personal project & he essentially turned it into basically an indy show with the financial backing of WWE. Its meat and potatoes wrestling style has made it very popular among fans who are tired of having "sports entertainment" crammed down their throats.

* EnsembleDarkhorse/{{WWE NXT}}

* [[EnsembleDarkhorse/{{WWENXT}} the Ensemble Darkhorse page]].

* CatharsisFactor: After Shayna Baszler ran roughshod over the NXT Women's Division for two years or so, it was so, so satisfying to see her eat a Riptide and a pin from Rhea Ripley.

** Kevin Owens making a surprise return to NXT as the fourth member of Tammaso Ciampa's Wargames team.

* CatharsisFactor: After Shayna Bazler ran roughshod over the NXT Women's Division for two years or so, it was so, so satisfying to see her eat a Riptide and a pin from Rhea Ripley.

** Dakota Kai's vicious FaceHeelTurn at Wargames 2019, and Rhea Ripley beating Shayna Bazler at long last.

* SeasonalRot: A downplayed example; in the second half of 2016, while NXT was still considered to be miles better than the main roster (particularly ''Raw''), many were questioning the stability of the roster (particularly the women's). The revival of the brand extension had taken in loads of NXT stars including Finn Balor, Bayley, American Alpha, Carmella, Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss, leaving a somewhat barren roster. This consensus pretty much disappeared by the spring of the following year, with many fans being won back over with the fantastic ''NXT [=TakeOver=]: Chicago'' and ''NXT [=TakeOver=]: Brooklyn III'' events.

*** One could make the argument that the same thing has happened to Shayna Baszler. She and her GirlPosse run roughshod over the rest of the Women's roster, which made some sense when Shayna was winning due to interference (which also got old once it happened a couple of times too many) - but when she ran across opponents who were GenreSavvy enough to either bring their own backup or take out hers in the lead-up to a title match and she won ''anyway'', it started sliding into BoringInvincibleVillain territory. It's not hurting ''her'' so much as she's still over with fans who recognize how good she is. Unfortunately, it also has the side effect of [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy hurting the faces that line up to challenge her]] as it becomes hard to buy into the idea of any of them winning clean.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Shayna Baszler's run as women's champion is becoming this for some fans, who increasingly feel that there are no credible challengers. To make matters worse, as of October 2019, all four of the NXT titles are held by heels, as well as two of the three NXT UK championships - NXT UK tag team champs Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster are the only remaining face champs in either NXT brand.

* HoYay: #DIY had a lot of this, to the point that [[Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} Chuck Taylor]] lamented their breakup as it made his list of fifty ways they had sexual chemistry together pointless. Then again... (see FoeYay above)

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Not that rookies in need of more experience competing against a wrestler who wrestled since Wrestling/{{WCW}} was still around in drills that having little to nothing to do with wrestling while Michael Cole constantly derides the best wrestler for things that also apply to many of his less talented peers are building blocks of "good" plots, but at least season one and two presented some ''different'' matches and few good ones by WWE's five-ten minute TV standards. Season three cut back on the number of "rookies" to six, neglected to find a "really good one", showcased a couple wrestlers hardly trained at all and had Michael Cole put down everyone and everything. It didn't even have as many ''different'' matches let alone as many good ones since more guys already on the roster had to be brought on. Keeping [[WolverinePublicity the already advertised]] Isis the Amazon, holding onto developmental champion Savanna and bringing an Angel Orsini/[=LuFisto=]/Ayako Hamada type to keep Cole's bile limited to "the internet" while ensuring some of those ''different'' matches would be trending on Twitter for positive reasons was really seen as the worse way to go? No one even thought it was a good idea to ''pretend'' these women mattered as much as their male predecessors? Wrestling/MercedesMartinez and Wrestling/CheerleaderMelissa had already been on ''[[BShow Heat]]'' the way previous "rookies" Daniel Bryan and Kaval had been on ''Jakked''/''Metal'', it wasn't as if WWE was oblivious to such women existing (especially since a younger peer of theirs in Paige ended up being one of the most talked about wrestlers on NXT later). Also, they kept Cole on commentary but not CM Punk.

** Wrestling/EvaMarie began the battle royale to become number one contender for the NXT Women's Title (on the first NXT of 2016) by being kicked in the face by Wrestling/{{Asuka}} and taken out for almost the entirety of the match, to fall back on the tired cliche of a wrestler not actually eliminated coming back to steal the winner's victory at the end... except after dumping Asuka out Eva promptly had the tables turned on her by Carmella and was herself thrown out, to the roaring approval of the crowd who had been prepared to riot seconds before.

* TearJerker: [[https://streamable.com/oh8x1 "My treasure box is empty now..."]]

** And then [[Wrestling/KanakoUrai Asuka]] did it again at ''Takeover: London'' by laying out Wrestling/{{Emma}} with a ''nasty'' spin kick after not one, not two, but ''three'' dirty finish attempts. Seeing Dana and Emma's plans blow up in their faces was so supremely satisfying that even heel-leaning commentator Corey Graves had NoSympathy for them afterwards.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Fan response to [[AgentPeacock Velveteen Dream's]] debut ranged from mixed responses to outright mockery of the mere idea of the gimmick. Mere months later and Velveteen Dream would be receiving genuine cheers and fan support against EnsembleDarkhorse supreme Wrestling/AleisterBlack, despite being a heel. When Black subsequently [[WorthyOpponent acknowledged]] Dream the fans almost cheered the building down.

** Since Solomon Crowe debuted as a hacker, blaming any incident in real life where someone (particularly wrestlers) get hacked on him has become a running gag among fans.

* HarsherInHindsight: The use of Music/{{Fozzy}}'s [["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqURPBtGJzg Judas"]] for ''NXT [=TakeOver=]: Brooklyn 3''. [[spoiler:It was the night that Wrestling/TommasoCiampa betrayed Wrestling/JohnnyGargano, ending #DIY]].

** David Otunga in Season One. Despite being the worst wrestler in the group, Otunga was kept around until the finale where he came second, with the repeated assertion that Otunga had the "It" factor & deserved his spot because he was married to Music/JenniferHudson. The finale saw Otunga receive several TakeThatScrappy moments, with Wrestling/WadeBarrett delivering a scathing promo on Otunga & the rest of the Rookies asserting that Barrett was the obvious choice to win of the two.

** Andrade "Cien" Almas, the former Wrestling/LaSombra, has not been able to connect with the crowd since his debut, mainly due to his lack of character and genericness (one memorable comment on a website related to his debut was that he was "another flippy guy...but he wears suspenders"). It doesn't help that his push died off incredibly quickly. To combat this, the bookers put him in a tag team with Wrestling/CruiserweightClassic EnsembleDarkhorse Cedric Alexander - only to turn on the man and thus turn heel soon after. Then they gave him [[Wrestling/TheaTrinidad Zelina Vega]] as a manager, which served as a catalyst to his rise, first [[TookALevelInBadass gaining a level in badass]], then beating Wrestling/DrewMcintyre for the NXT Championship and putting on a 5-star classic with Wrestling/JohnnyGargano. Safe to say, Almas is in no danger of going back to the Scrappy status.

** Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Wrestling/JohnnyGargano, which says a lot about the quality of wrestling in NXT. The build-up which involves Johnny's wife, Candice [=LeRae=], set up the stage for a grandiose encounter between the two at ''[=TakeOver=]: Philadelphia''. Almas and Gargano made their match a wrestling clinic, leaving many fans in awe, and Dave Meltzer gave his first 5-star rating for an NXT match.

* TearJerker: ** [[https://streamable.com/oh8x1 "My treasure box is empty now..."]]

* FoeYay: #DIY after they broke up, with Tommaso Ciampa being the ultimate {{Yandere}}, admitting he betrayed Johnny Gargano because he couldn't stand the thought of Gargano of teaming with anyone other than him -- or even ''wrestling'' while he couldn't. On Gargano's part, Ciampa meant so much to him that anything having to do with #DIY had become a TraumaButton for him. After Ciampa returned, the subtext only doubled, especially after [[spoiler:Ciampa attacked him at the end of ''Philadelphia'' and later cost Gargano his NXT career]], with Gargano ''stalking'' Ciampa, wearing him down until he accepted a match against him. Even the match itself had a lot of this, filled with so much emotion that it was borderline intimate, with many viewers feeling as if they were voyeurs watching something so personal.

* HarsherInHindsight: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAOCIGzlcyE This video]] of [=#DIY=] with Oney Lorcan filling in for Ciampa. While this was PlayedForLaughs... Let's just say that Ciampa wasn't laughing.

* LoveToHate: Tommaso Ciampa's FaceHeelTurn made a point when he betrayed his tag partner Johnny Gargano, becoming the ultimate heat magnet. Nary a mention of him ever goes without a colorful insult.

** Andrade "Cien" Almas, the former Wrestling/LaSombra, has not been able to connect with the crowd since his debut, mainly due to his lack of character and genericness (one memorable comment on a website related to his debut was that he was "another flippy guy...but he wears suspenders"). It doesn't help that his push died off incredibly quickly. To combat this, the bookers put him in a tag team with Wrestling/CruiserweightClassic EnsembleDarkhorse Cedric Alexander - only to turn on the man and thus turn heel soon after. Then they gave him [[Wrestling/TheaTrinidad Zelina Vega]] as a manager, which served as a catalyst to his rise, first [[TookALevelInBadass gaining a level in badass]], then beating Wrestling/DrewMcintyre for the NXT Championship and putting on a 5-star classic with Johnny Gargano. Safe to say, Almas is in no danger of going back to the Scrappy status.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: The Gargano/Ciampa feud has taken the main event spot over the NXT Championship match for two Takeover events in a row[[labelnote:*]]Though while the unsanctioned match was the last match at Takeover: New Orleans, the NXT Championship match between Black/Almas could be considered the "official" main event.[[/labelnote]]. When the triple threat match for the NXT Championship was announced between the two and Wrestling/AleisterBlack, fans joked that the NXT Championship was finally main eventing a [=TakeOver=] card. Though considering that it is currently one of if not the biggest story line in NXT as well as both matches receiving high praise, [[TropesAreNotBad this is not exactly seen as a bad thing]].

* TearJerker: The break up of #DIY.
** The unsanctioned match Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa had one year later was perhaps the worst case of this in the entire history of NXT. It was filled with numerous {{Call Back}}s to their time as a tag team, including their mannerisms during matches and even their match in the Wrestling/WWECruiserweightClassic, except it was all slanted with brutal spots and stiff blows from both men, echoing the deterioration of their relationship. While unquestionably an amazing match, one many consider to be the greatest in NXT history, the sheer emotion of it all was so visceral, powerful and raw that many viewers admitted they felt like they were intruding on something personal just by watching.
** In the closing moments of the match, Gargano (unquestionably the face) was about to ''stab Ciampa with a broken crutch''. He stayed his hand, however, after Ciampa tried to protect himself from the incoming blow, and even started showing a tinge of regret for his actions. Gargano was struggling with himself, but ultimately put the crutch down, only asking Ciampa "Why?", and throwing it away. For a long moment, bruised and battered, they just stared at each other, both wondering what exactly happened to them -- but just when it seems they were about to reconcile, with Gargano beginning to sit down next to Ciampa like Ciampa had done with him at the Cruiserweight Classic a year and a half ago, Ciampa tries to cheap shot Gargano, proving that there really was no going back to the way things were, not after everything that has happened between them.
** [[https://streamable.com/oh8x1 "My treasure box is empty now..."]]

** Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Johnny Gargano is the latest example, which says a lot about the quality of wrestling in NXT. The build-up which involves Johnny's wife, Candice [=LeRae=], set up the stage for a grandiose encounter between the two at ''[=TakeOver=]: Philadelphia''. Almas and Gargano made their match a wrestling clinic, leaving many fans in awe, and Dave Meltzer gave his first 5-star rating for an NXT match.
*** Amazingly, NXT managed to subvert this by actually ''managing'' to successfully follow up on it- the next [=TakeOver=] at New Orleans managed to score ''[[UpToEleven two]]'' 5-star ratings from Meltzer, one for the opening 6-man ladder match for the new NXT North American Championship, the second for Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa in the main event. Of course, now ''that'' is the ToughActToFollow for whatever comes next...

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Fan response to [[AgentPeacock Velveteen Dream's]] debut ranged from mixed responses to outright mockery of the mere idea of the gimmick. Mere months later and Velveteen Dream would be receiving genuine cheers and fan support against EnsembleDarkhorse supreme Aleister Black, despite being a heel. When Black subsequently [[WorthyOpponent acknowledged]] Dream the fans almost cheered the building down.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: The Gargano/Ciampa feud has taken the main event spot over the NXT Championship match for two Takeover events in a row[[labelnote:*]]Though while the unsanctioned match was the last match at Takeover: New Orleans, the NXT Championship match between Black/Almas could be considered the "official" main event.[[/labelnote]]. When the triple threat match for the NXT Championship was announced between the two and Aleister Black, fans joked that the NXT Championship was finally main eventing a Takeover card. Though considering that it is currently one of if not the biggest story line in NXT as well as both matches receiving high praise, [[TropesAreNotBad this is not exactly seen as a bad thing]].

** The Undisputed Era is composed of four ruthless opportunists who take what they want, but they still get some of the loudest cheers on the roster, in no small part due to AdamCole's popularity (though Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong soon won the crowds over as well).

* EnsembleDarkhorse: [[EnsembleDarkhorse/{{WWENXT}} NXT is Darkhorse land incarnate]].

** Any wrestler who has a really noticeable and repeated yell when performing moves; the crowd ''will'' pick up on this and begin chanting it when the wrestler is out. Examples include Michael [=McGillicutty=][=/=]Wrestling/CurtisAxel ("SHAH!") and Konnor/The Ascension ("YAH!").

* GrowingTheBeard:
** The latter half of Season 5 and the subsequent shift to being a show for their developmental talent.
** NXT R-Evolution is considered by many fans to be the point where the current incarnation of NXT went from "really fucking good" to "goddamn ''[[UpToEleven AMAZING]]''."

* MorePopularSpinoff:
** Wrestling/TheNexus is much more remembered today that the first season of WWE NXT is. Or any season, for that matter.
** The developmental brand version of NXT has pretty quickly become very popular with fans, who feel that despite technically being a C-show at most, there are quite a few ways in which it's actually the best show WWE has at the moment in many different ways.

** [[Wrestling/CurtisAxel Michael McGillicutty]]'s "Genesis of [=McGillicutty=]" promo. Hell, just ''the name'' [=McGillicutty=] counts. The fact that some will recognize it as the name of ECW valet Beulah [=McGillicutty=] or as [[Series/ILoveLucy Lucy Ricardo's]] maiden name doesn't help.

* NeverLiveItDown: Heartwarming story of weightloss aside, people still remember when Sage Beckett was the fat TNA Knockout that ended Daffney's career by dropping all her weight on her sternum.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The Scottish Wrestling Alliance had a show called NXT back in 2007, which lasted for three years.

** David Otunga in Season One. Despite being the worst wrestler in the group, Otunga was kept around until the finale where he came second, with the repeated assertion that Otunga had the "It" factor & deserved his spot because he was married to Music/JenniferHudson. The finale saw Otunga receive several TakeThatScrappy moments, with Wrestling/WadeBarrett delivering a scathing promo on Otunga & the rest of the Rookies asserting that Barrett was the obvious choice to win of the two.

** The number of fans who like Alex Riley is growing smaller with each turn at the commentary desk. It doesn't help that his fellow commentators are [[EnsembleDarkhorse Corey Graves and Renee Young]]. This being said, Riley has a stated desire to be a wrestler again & not an announcer, and he moved back into that role in February 2015.
** Devin Taylor got a fair bit of hate for seemingly having no other reactions than [[DullSurprise nodding, smiling and staring vacantly]].

* SeasonalRot:
** Whilst the first season had [[Wrestling/TheNexus a clear end goal in mind]], the second was just a complete failure with several of the Rookies clearly not being ready for TV. Season 3 seemingly featured the Divas as a direct response to this, and by the fourth season it was clear that NXT was only continuing to fulfill international contracts for X amount of WWE shows each week. By season 5, it was clear WWE management no longer had any interest in the show.
** A downplayed example; in the second half of 2016, while NXT was still considered to be miles better than the main roster (particularly ''Raw''), many were questioning the stability of the roster (particularly the women's). The revival of the brand extension had taken in loads of NXT stars including Finn Balor, Bayley, American Alpha, Carmella, Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss, leaving a somewhat barren roster. This consensus pretty much disappeared by the spring of the following year, with many fans being won back over with the fantastic [=TakeOver=]: Chicago and Brooklyn III events.
* SmallReferencePools:
** Calling Wrestling/BryanDanielson and Wrestling/LowKi "rookies" was almost insulting to the intelligence of anyone who even knew a little about their history. Both had been around as long as Wrestling/JohnCena, Wrestling/RandyOrton or Primo Colon (who they saw fit to make a "pro") and had objectively more rounded resumes as pro wrestlers (making them just like say, Wrestling/LondonAndKendrick or Wrestling/CMPunk), not to mention longer than either MVP or Miz (who were also "pros", the latter in fact being Danielson's "pro" for good measure). The fact Michael Cole claimed their popularity was "only" due the internet actually did push it to intelligence insulting levels even if you knew absolutely nothing about either before NXT, given everyone on Monday Night Raw had a hard on for what was trending on Twitter.
** Averted in the modern NXT, however--the past histories of NXT stars are frequently mentioned and often tie into their character.
* SmurfetteBreakout:
** The women on NXT Season 3 fared a little better on the main roster than many of the other contestants (save [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]], Wrestling/WadeBarrett, Wrestling/{{Ryback}} and Wrestling/BrayWyatt). Wrestling/AJLee became the biggest star the women's division had seen in years - she and Wrestling/{{Kaitlyn}} both became Divas' Champions, but AJ held the title for much longer and had a number of high-profile angles with male talent throughout 2012 and 2013. Wrestling/{{Naomi}} likewise became an EnsembleDarkhorse and made it onto the ''Series/TotalDivas'' cast. Maxine became an EnsembleDarkhorse on ''NXT Redemption'' and was considered one of the best things about the show. Wrestling/{{Aksana}} is a marginal case of this: while she did get a regular spot in segments with Wrestling/TeddyLong and a managerial spot with [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Cesaro]], she never really became a star in the women's division. Jamie Keyes in contrast requested her release before NXT Season 3 had even ended (though she did come BackForTheFinale).
** The NXT women's division on the developmental show quickly became incredibly popular. NXT has given each of its women much more time to wrestle, as well as some kind of CharacterDevelopment. Each women's match on the live specials has been incredibly well received - as the women are treated like main event material.
* SoBadItsGood: While the whole show was this prior to becoming the Developmental brand, NXT Season 3 in particular. The show was [[StylisticSuck so ridiculously bad on purpose]], that it seemed like its target audience were those who read Website/{{WrestleCrap}} every week. It was almost as if WWE took everything that was {{narm}}y about the WWE Divas, [[AccentuateTheNegative highlighted it]], and placed a few other comedy acts on the show to act as foils, such as {{heel}} Wrestling/MichaelCole, Wrestling/{{Goldust}}, and Wrestling/VickieGuerrero. By Week 3, the show was so bad that you had Michael Cole [[Series/TheGongShow banging a gong]] at ringside following the rookie challenges. The show's entire appeal is the ensuing NarmCharm, as well as Cole's and Josh Mathews' [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic remarks]] on everyone else involved.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Not that rookies in need of more experience competing against a wrestler who wrestled since Wrestling/{{WCW}} was still around in drills that having little to nothing to do with wrestling while Michael Cole constantly derides the best wrestler for things that also apply to many of his less talented peers are building blocks of "good" plots, but at least season one and two presented some ''different'' matches and few good ones by WWE's five-ten minute TV standards. Season three cut back on the number of "rookies" to six, neglected to find a "really good one", showcased a couple wrestlers hardly trained at all and had Michael Cole put down everyone and everything. It didn't even have as many ''different'' matches let alone as many good ones since more guys already on the roster had to be brought on. Keeping [[WolverinePublicity the already advertised]] Isis the Amazon, holding onto developmental champion Savanna and bringing an Angel Orsini/[=LuFisto=]/Ayako Hamada type to keep Cole's bile limited to "the internet" while ensuring some of those ''different'' matches would be trending on Twitter for positive reasons was really seen as the worse way to go? No one even thought it was a good idea to ''pretend'' these women mattered as much as their male predecessors? Wrestling/MercedesMartinez and Wrestling/CheerleaderMelissa had already been on ''[[BShow Heat]]'' the way previous "rookies" Daniel Bryan and Kaval had been on ''Jakked''/''Metal'', it wasn't as if WWE was oblivious to such women existing (especially since a younger peer of theirs in Paige ended up being one of the most talked about wrestlers on NXT later). Also, they kept Cole on commentary but not CM Punk.

** Season 1 was by far the most successful set of Rookies, with the immediate end result (Wrestling/TheNexus & [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]]), meaning that whoever were the next Rookies had their work cut out for them. As evidenced by the end results of Season 2 being a failed attempt to replicate the formation of the Nexus, it did not pan out well. In fact, season 2 actually has the ''lowest'' percentage of rookies still on WWE's active roster. Out of the seven, only Husky Harris (later Wrestling/BrayWyatt of Wrestling/TheWyattFamily), Michael [=McGillicutty=] (later Wrestling/CurtisAxel), and Titus O'Neil (as half of the Wrestling/PrimeTimePlayers before becoming a singles wrestler) are still with WWE. You know the season could've gone better when out of all the contestants, the season's ''winner'', [[Wrestling/LowKi Kaval]], ends up being released first.