My Friday column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Here’s an excerpt:
As 2015 ends, I make my New Year’s resolutions as it pertains to my world covering professional wrestling.
NO MORE “MAIN ROSTER”
With the success of the NXT brand, I need to stop saying “main roster” when referring to RAW and SmackDown. NXT started as developmental and successfully evolved. The NXT live shows that aren’t televised still focus and act as developmental, with young trainees having their first matches. But NXT television has moved away from a developmental role and has become a matured product that should be viewed as a third brand.
A talent who is regularly on NXT programming on WWE Network, especially on the upper half of the card, their in-ring ability isn’t beneath the average talent on RAW or SmackDown. The reason that talent is still on NXT television is because they fit there for that time. There might not be a creative spot for them to be used on RAW and SmackDown. But I don’t want to say main roster anymore; it doesn’t feel accurate.
Sure, the money on RAW and SmackDown is greater and in front of more people. That’s the best argument for main roster being a suitable term, and I can’t argue that.
It’s my belief there are some guys who could remain in NXT for their career, and that will be a better fit for them — especially if NXT continues to grow, gains more revenue, potentially goes to television in the future and adds a title match to WrestleMania. If those things happen, which are all realistic and likely in the next five years, then NXT offers the same potential opportunities financially and exposure-wise as the “main roster.”
HEAT IS HEAT
In 2016, I want to convert as many people as possible with the mindset of heat is heat. Wrestling fans have evolved so much with their knowledge of terms such as heat and the semantics of the art that is professional wrestling. We analyze the characters to a point where I think many are missing the point.
I hear this a lot with Sheamus. I hear from overanalyzing fans that Sheamus’ boos are because people don’t care about him, and that’s why they boo him, not because he’s a good heel.
A quality heel ends up getting cheered by them because they appreciate that quality or because heel is cool. That would mean nobody gets boos, and if they do, it’s because people don’t care about them. Everybody else gets cheered. It makes no sense.
CLICK HERE for more illogical arguments against heat is heat. Plus, faceless Twitter trolls and their profile pictures.
