History YMMV / WWENXT

** After the NXT 2.0 reboot, Von Wagner would fall into this category, mainly due to his less than impressive wrestling skills, poor physique, being seen as incredibly generic, and being shoehorned into an NXT Title match replacing EnsembleDarkhorse Wrestling/KyleOReilly, and subsequently being placed in a tag team with him, only to pull a FaceHeelTurn and being made the one to write O'Reilly off NXT.[[note]]His push likely comes from the fact that he is tall and his dad is 80's-90's era wrestler Wayne Bloom, a.k.a. Beau of the Beverly Brothers.[[/note]]

[[folder:''NXT 2.0/White and Gold'']]
* AuthorsSavingThrow: After one year with the ''2.0'' moniker, WWE made changes for the revamped brand, which includes changing the multicolored logo with a white and gold one, resembling the ''Black and Gold'' era of NXT while retaining the good parts of ''2.0'' and removing most of the bad parts of it.

* ContestedSequel: Considering that this show is directly replacing arguably the most beloved of WWE's shows for the majority of the TheNewTens, this definitely applies to 2.0, which is directly harkening back to NXT's original purpose as developmental for the main roster instead of the indie supershow it became during its later years. Supporters praise its character work while still displaying very well-done in-ring work with the likes of Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes as standout examples. However, detractors argue that the majority of 2.0's storylines and booking nearly seem to rehash disliked booking tropes seen on the main roster, breaking away from the more grounded and grittier feel that the "black and gold" NXT encapsulated.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: After one year with the ''2.0'' moniker, WWE made changes for the revamped brand, which includes changing the multicolored logo with a white and gold one, resembling the ''Black and Gold'' era of NXT while retaining the good parts of ''2.0'', while removing most of the bad parts.

[[folder:''NXT 2.0'']]

* WereStillRelevantDammit: Following the 2021 Breakout Tournament where he was just a regular wrestler, Joe Gacy was given a Social Justice Warrior-type gimmick, where he frequently spouts typical SJW buzzwords like "safe space", "triggered" and "snowflake."

* BadassDecay: Admittedly, there were a lot of [[RealLifeWritesThePlot external factors]] [[note]] AJ Gallante obviously wasn't sticking around since he isn't a wrestler or under contract, and Troy "Two Dimes" Donovan was let go due to a failed drug test [[/note]] but it's hard to buy Tony D'Angelo as some type of intimidating mob boss when his "family" now consists of exactly ''two'' people, counting himself.

* LoveToHate: Grayson Waller is basically the NXT version of [[Wrestling/MikeMizanin The Miz]]- a [[ItsAllAboutMe self-absorbed]], loudmouth, tool that people want to see get his ass kicked.

* ContestedSequel: Considering that this show is directly replacing arguably the most beloved of WWE's shows for the majority of the TheNewTens, this definitely applies to 2.0, which is directly harkening back to NXT's original purpose as developmental for the main roster instead of the indie supershow it became during its later years. Supporters praise its character work while still displaying very well done in-ring work with the likes of Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes as standout examples. However, detractors argue that the majority of 2.0's storylines and booking nearly seem to rehash disliked booking tropes seen on the main roster, breaking away from the more grounded and grittier feel that the "black and gold" NXT encapsulated.
* DesignatedHero: Diamond Mine, despite being a heel stable, anytime they feud with another heel (such as Wrestling/RoderickStrong vs. Carmelo Hayes, the D'Angelo Family or Imperium) are usually treated as the good guy for whatever reason.

* DesignatedHero: Diamond Mine, despite being a heel stable, anytime they feud with another heel (such as Wrestling/RoderickStrong vs. Carmelo Hayes or Imperium) are usually treated as the good guy for whatever reason.

** CJ Parker was mostly a low card wrestler on early NXT. Once he left the company, he went to Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling under the name Juice Robinson.

** Judas Devlin later became known for his stint on ''Series/BigBrother'' under his real name of Austin Matelson and is now Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling’s Luchasaurus.

* GrowingTheBeard: ''NXT [=TakeOver=]: 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]]''."

*** 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 Wrestling/JohnnyGargano vs Wrestling/TommasoCiampa in the main event. Of course, now ''that'' is the ToughActToFollow for whatever comes next...

** Also to OVW when it was still a WWE developmental territory back in the early 2000s where a lot of their stars such as Wrestling/RandyOrton, Wrestling/{{Batista}}, Wrestling/BrockLesnar, Wrestling/CMPunk and Wrestling/JohnCena came from.
** NXT can also be one, to an extent, to Wrestling/{{ECW}} after the brand extension came back.

* WereStillRelevantDammit: Bronson Reed's wrestling outfit used to reference the "thicc" meme, and this was in early 2020. However this was eventually dropped and now he just wears a regular singlet.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Joe Gacy's NXT 2.0 "SJW" character was absolutely ''despised'' by people for being a ShallowParody of left-wing social politics who doesn't say anything meaningful, just repeating pointless out-of-context buzzwords while not actually seeming to have any character direction other than to hang around annoying people. However, as time went on, he started to shed some of the more controversial aspects of his gimmick, namely the buzzwords, and started to portray himself as a creepier version of his original character, leading to a much-improved fan reaction. However, he would return to the scrappy heap after he started acting more like Wrestling/BrayWyatt, but with far less intrigue.

** After the NXT 2.0 reboot, Von Wagner would fall into this category, mainly due to his less than impressive wrestling skills, poor physique, being seen as incredibly generic, and being shoehorned into an NXT Title match replacing EnsembleDarkhorse Wrestling/KyleOReilly, and subsequently being placed in a tag team with him. Him being the one to write O'Reilly off NXT didn't help him in the slightest. [[note]] His push likely comes from the fact that he is tall and his dad is 80's-90's era wrestler Wayne Bloom, a.k.a. Beau of the Beverly Brothers. [[/note]]

* RetroactiveRecognition: Leva Bates wrestled in several matches during the early days of NXT as a developmental branch billed as "Blue Pants" (as that was the outfit she wore for her matches). Afterwards she gained recognition as Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling's [[BadassBookworm "The Librarian" Leva Bates]].

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Joe Gacy's NXT 2.0 "SJW" character was absolutely ''despised'' by people for being a ShallowParody of left-wing social politics who doesn't say anything meaningful, just repeating pointless out-of-context buzzwords while not actually seeming to have any character direction other than to hang around annoying people. However, as time went on, he started to shed some of the more controversial aspects of his gimmick, namely the buzzwords, and started to portray himself as a creepier version of his original character, leading to a much-improved fan reaction.

!! See also

** Marcus Louis' VillainousBreakdown after his partner lost a Hair vs Hair match and [[DirtyCoward left him to suffer the consequences]]. Normally when a vain heel loses this type of match, it's PlayedForLaughs, but in this case, it's ''not'' funny at all--there's something truly horrifying about Marcus' change afterwards. The man seems [[DespairEventHorizon completely destroyed]] and after his return he seems more like a rabid animal than the man he used to be. It's honestly disturbing to think about [[AdultFear something like that happening to you]]. It doesn't help that his last televised appearance before his release had him losing a match and simply wandering out of Full Sail's arena, never to be seen again.

** Wrestling/{{Carmella}} became this for those who feel that her "Princess of Staten Island" character and the associated RunningGag involving [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero Enzo Amore being sexist towards her]] [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale and constantly getting hit for it]] is nowhere near as funny as intended to be and actually threw a wrench into Enzo and Big Cass's dynamic. (That being said, some fans have turned on Enzo instead for his sexist comments and his constant refusal to acknowledge that Carmella is not interested in him.) Even the NXT crowd at Full Sail was initially cold to her, showing more appreciation towards her {{jobber}} opponent, [[CosplayOtakuGirl "Blue Pants" Leva Bates]]. Thankfully [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap averted]] later on.

* HoYay: #DIY had a lot of this, to the point that Wrestling/ChuckTaylor lamented their breakup as it made his list of fifty ways they had sexual chemistry together pointless. [[FoeYay Then again...]]

** Joe Gacy's NXT 2.0 "SJW" character was absolutely ''despised'' by people for being a ShallowParody of left-wing social politics who doesn't say anything meaningful, just repeating pointless out-of-context buzzwords while not actually seeming to have any character direction other than to hang around annoying people. His enforcer Harland, on the other hand, has [[EnsembleDarkhorse the opposite effect]].

*** Audrey Marie, who'd had a successful run as the top face in FCW as the Divas' Champion and was catching onto wrestling very quickly - holding her own in matches with Wrestling/{{Paige}}, Wrestling/{{Naomi}} and [[Wrestling/IvelisseVelez Sofia Cortez]]. She was only ever used as a {{Jobber}} for her first year before eventually getting a storyline involving tricking Wrestling/SashaBanks into thinking she had a secret admirer (yes, before Wrestling/AJLee did the same to Wrestling/{{Kaitlyn}}). As a look at [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyV14Nnr6tM her work on live events]] shows, she was a great {{Heel}} and quite adept at working the crowd.

** After years of actually avoiding this with their female wrestlers, this appeared to happen again with Taynara Conti. The first female Brazilian wrestler in WWE, and a black belt in judo who participated in trials for the Brazilian Olympic team at the 2016 Summer Olympics, her most high-profile appearances in WWE consisted of her being among the participants of the Women's Battle Royal in ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 34'' and a storyline that consisted of Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra convincing her to attack Wrestling/NikkiCross. Despite interest about the idea of UE adding a female member, it went nowhere; as it turned out, UE only approached her to attack Cross because they were feuding with Cross's stable Wrestling/{{Sanity}}. After three years of doing nothing of note besides the examples mentioned, she was released April 2020 due to "budget cuts" supposedly due to the UsefulNotes/COVID-19Pandemic, only for her standout work when she later re-emerged in Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling to show just what a dumb move it was letting her go.

** The tag team The American Wolves received only a tryout match against the Ascension before being turned down and picked up by TNA and given their tag team championships almost immediately.
** Wrestling/BrottBaker appears as an audience member during ''[=WarGames=] 2019'' and her shocked reaction of concern for her boyfriend Wrestling/AdamCole instantly became a popular meme in the wrestling community.

** Dexter Lumis; between the retooling done once Killer Kross got signed to make the two characters different, combined with the polarization Sam Shaw had with his 2014 run in TNA, many had zero expectations for Sam/Dexter when he signed with NXT. However, Dexter quickly became the breakout star of 2020 and has managed to lure in a lot of casual/lapsed fans to NXT with his character.

** Wrestling/LivMorgan attracts a lot of hate from smarks for a look and gimmick that's very similar to Carmella (though she too started off hated before getting RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap) and a rather pointless 'push' where she challenged [[Wrestling/KanakoUrai Asuka]] - only to tap out within a minute. On the other hand, she has a large amount of fans who feel she has a lot of potential and plays the character well (her tomboyish GirlNextDoor vibes and interactions with fans on social media also help). The fact that she's a homegrown talent and very green also plays a hand - splitting fans into camps who think she's good for her level and those who feel she should be performing better. This has also prompted a small FandomRivalry with Carmella fans over which of them plays the character better (as Liv is actually from New Jersey, while Carmella is a Bostonian who plays a New Yorker).

*** 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 InvincibleVillain 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 hurting the faces that line up to challenge her as it becomes hard to buy into the idea of any of them winning clean.

* 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. Even more satisfying was seeing Rhea finally beat Shayna in a championship match and take the title off her.
* DesignatedHero: Wrestling/CharlotteFlair frequently inspired this reaction as a face when she was on the brand, as she tended to come across as arrogant and full of herself. It doesn't help that in one promo, she yelled at the crowd for chanting (she was meant to be the face). At the Fatal 4 Way for the Women's title in Februay 2015, she was technically a face but was the only woman in the match to get audibly booed during her entrance. Despite this, she still was mostly well-liked by the fans, especially in comparison to her ''incredibly'' divisive run on the main roster.

** The Ascension are straight up heels in the vein of the Ministry of Darkness, but the NXT crowds love watching Viktor and Konnor destroy anyone placed in front of them.
** With their exodus to the main roster comes [[Wrestling/KevinSteen Kevin Owens]] to take their place. The man capped off day one with a violent FaceHeelTurn against his best friend, ultra-popular Wrestling/SamiZayn, and despite his talk about doing this for his family has shown that he is a {{manipulative|Bastard}} [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] BloodKnight at heart, perhaps the most sadistic wrestler in the history of NXT. Yet people continue to chant "Fight, Owens, Fight!" unless he's committing legalized assault—and when that happens, they chant "Kill, Owens, Kill!".

** Wrestling/KarrionKross has gotten the nickname "Karen" Kross, partly due to the silliness of his WWE mandate name change, but also towards how Kross lets his valet/girlfriend do the bulk of his talking, with Scarlet doing so in the same style of the "Karen" meme.
** Among women's wrestling fans, who like to remind people that the 'Four Horsewomen' (Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Becky Lynch) had predecessors in Paige, Emma and Summer Rae - they've been nicknamed the 'OG-3'. Summer Rae and Paige was the first women's feud on NXT, and Paige and Emma wrestled for the first NXT Women's Championship match.

** 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. One example is Konnor/The Ascension ("YAH!").

** "I think Ricochet is still spinning." Said by HHH in the post-''[=WarGames=]'' II conference call, in reference to Ricochet's [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome double moonsault off the top of the cage]].

** Wrestling/DanaBrooke had very few fans for a while after her debut due to being seen as simply far too green to deserve a regular spot on the roster. The fact she was almost instantly added to the opening title sequence following her debut (while some big names such as Enzo Amore still were not present and others like [[Wrestling/FergalDevitt Finn Balor]] took weeks or months to be added to it) put her dangerously close to being a CreatorsPet. Thankfully, between her finding a spot as TheDragon to Emma, her vast improvement both in and out of the ring, and a well-received match with [[Wrestling/KanakoUrai Asuka]] at ''Takeover: Respect'', she seems to have won over many of the viewers. She fell back, however, into divisive territory after she was called up to the main roster.
** Mandy Rose wasn't very well-liked during her appearances on ''[[Wrestling/WWEToughEnough Tough Enough]]'' due to being yet another blonde model with no experience, calling Sara Lee a "ring rat" (though it was later revealed to be {{Kayfabe}}) and being an EliminationHoudini that was favored by Wrestling/TheMiz solely for her looks despite often placing last in fan votes, resulting in her being negatively compared to Eva Marie. Once she started appearing on NXT TV, she gained some supporters because A) she actually seems serious about wrestling since she spent over a year working NXT house shows to improve her ability and B) while she's by no means amazing, she can already wrestle circles around the woman she's often compared to.

** Sasha Banks was cheered almost unanimously against Charlotte at the last live special of 2014 - despite Sasha unambiguously being the heel.
** The all-heel Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra is pretty much universally loved, due to their staggering levels of talent and charisma. It helps that Adam Cole is probably one of the most over wrestlers in the industry.

** ''Takeover Brooklyn: III'' had a one-two punch. First, the reformation of Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly as a tag team, laying out both Sanity and the Authors of Pain; second, Fish and O'Reilly distracting Wrestling/DrewMcIntyre so that the debuting Wrestling/AdamCole could take him out.
** Dakota Kai's vicious FaceHeelTurn at ''[=WarGames=] 2019'', and Rhea Ripley beating Shayna Baszler at long last.
** Kevin Owens making a surprise return to NXT as the fourth member of Tommaso Ciampa's ''[=WarGames=]'' team.

** 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/KanakoUrai 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.

** Three of the developmental Divas who carried over from FCW when the show was first re-branded. All with lots of potential who got released before they could do much on TV. Sadly it seems all three of them were let go because of sexual harassment from Bill [=DeMott=].

*** Audrey Marie, who'd had a successful run as the top face in FCW as the Divas' Champion and was catching onto wrestling very quickly - holding her own in matches with Paige, Naomi and Sofia Cortez. She was only ever used as a {{Jobber}} for her first year before eventually getting a storyline involving tricking Sasha Banks into thinking she had a secret admirer (yes, before AJ Lee did the same to Kaitlyn). As a look at [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyV14Nnr6tM her work on live events]] shows, she was a great {{Heel}} and quite adept at working the crowd.

** After years of actually avoiding this with their female wrestlers, this appeared to happen again with Taynara Conti. The first female Brazilian wrestler in WWE, and a black belt in judo who participated in trials for the Brazilian Olympic team at the 2016 Summer Olympics, her most high-profile appearances in WWE consisted of her being among the participants of the Women's Battle Royal in ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 34'' and a storyline that consisted of Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra convincing her to attack Wrestling/NikkiCross. Despite interest about the idea of UE adding a female member, it went nowhere; as it turned out, UE only approached her to attack Cross because they were feuding with Cross's stable Wrestling/{{Sanity}}. After three years of doing nothing of note besides the examples mentioned, she was released April 2020 due to "budget cuts" supposedly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only for her standout work when she later re-emerged in Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling to show just what a dumb move it was letting her go.

** The first people to be called from NXT after it became WWE's developmental? Wrestling/TheShield.[[note]]This includes NXT's first Wrestling/RoyalRumble winner in Wrestling/RomanReigns and the inaugural NXT Champion and NXT's first WWE World Heavyweight Champion in Wrestling/SethRollins, the two of whom were also NXT's first WWE Tag Team Champions together beforehand. The third member, Wrestling/DeanAmbrose, would later become the first NXT alumnus to become a Wrestling/GrandSlamChampion.[[/note]] Even years after their debut, no NXT star has come even close to achieving the amount of success the Shield have.

** The [[Wrestling/KevinSteen Kevin Owens]] vs. [[Wrestling/FergalDevitt Finn Balor]] main event at Takeover Brooklyn was seen as underwhelming following up Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, said to be the best women's match in WWE history. It certainly wasn't a ''bad'' match by any means, especially considering the talent involved and the fact that it was a Ladder Match -- it was just completely outshined by the match before it.
** Wrestling/SamiZayn vs. Wrestling/ShinsukeNakamura at ''[=TakeOver=]: Dallas'' was the definitive version of this. It was extremely emotional from the start, with it being Nakamura's debut and Zayn's farewell as he was moving up to the Main Roster along with just being a general Dream Match. Just the entrances of both men were exceptional. The match then went on to be a legitimate MOTY contender and completely spent the audience (they even chanted "Fight Forever"). You'd think such a hot match would go on late. It went on 3rd to Last, mostly to protect the importance of the singles titles which was understandable. However the following matchups, Bayley/Asuka and Balor/Joe II, definitely suffered. The crowd was somewhat muted for the Women's Match, which says something due to Bayley's immense overness and Asuka's own following and the Balor/Joe match got hurt by Joe getting busted open above the eye within the first 30 seconds causing constant interruptions by medical staff. If nothing else, ''[=TakeOver=]: Dallas'' demonstrated why most shows actively need cooldown matches, and not just an entire card of greatness--crowds just can't go that long without a breather.
** Wrestling/AndradeCienAlmas 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.

** Babatunde debuted in the ''Greatest Royal Rumble'' 2018 PPV event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, despite not even having made a proper debut on NXT TV yet.

* DesignatedHero: Diamond Mine, despite being a heel stable, anytime they feud with another heel (such as Roderick Strong vs. Carmelo Hayes or Imperium) are usually treated as the good guy for whatever reason.

** After the NXT 2.0 reboot, Von Wagner would fall into this category, mainly due to his less than impressive wrestling skills, poor physique, being seen as incredibly generic, and being shoehorned into an NXT Title match replacing EnsembleDarkhorse Kyle O'Reilly, and subsequently being placed in a tag team with him. Him being the one to write O'Reilly off NXT didn't help him in the slightest. [[note]] His push likely comes from the fact that he is tall and his dad is 80's-90's era wrestler Wayne Bloom, a.k.a. Beau of the Beverly Brothers. [[/note]]

** After the NXT 2.0 reboot, Von Wagner would fall into this category, mainly due to his less than impressive wrestling skills, poor physique, being seen as incredibly generic, and being shoehorned into an NXT Title match replacing EnsembleDarkhorse Kyle O'Reilly, and subsequently being placed in a tag team with him. Him being the one to write O'Reilly off NXT didn't help him in the slightest. [[note]] His push likely comes from the fact that he is tall and his dad is 80's-90's era wrestler Wayne Bloom, a.k.a. Blake of the Beverly Brothers. [[/note]]

** After the NXT 2.0 reboot, Von Wagner would fall into this category, mainly due to his less than impressive wrestling skills, poor physique, being seen as incredibly generic, and being shoehorned into an NXT Title match replacing EnsembleDarkhorse Kyle O'Reilly, and subsequently being placed in a tag team with him. Him being the one to write O'Reilly off NXT didn't help him in the slightest.
** Joe Gacy's NXT 2.0 "SJW" character was absolutely ''despised'' by people for being a ShallowParody of left-wing social politics who doesn't say anything meaningful, just repeating pointless out-of-context buzzwords while not actually seeming to have any character direction other than to hang around annoying people.