Which Is Truly WWE's Best Developmental Brand?
The NXT brand has become part of the fabric of WWE. Particularly since the launch of the WWE Network and the earlier era when TakeOver specials were consistently outstanding, fans have followed the brand for a glimpse at the future of the company, besides it being an entertaining product in its own right. This wasn’t the first developmental model WWE had, though. It was preceded by Florida Championship Wrestling, and before that, and WWE has a history of collaborating with smaller regional promotions like Jerry Lawler’s USWA. The most famous earlier stage of WWE developmental, however, was Ohio Valley Wrestling, the stage where a number of the most recognizable stars of WWE from the past twenty years got started.
The NXT Product Was More Entertaining To Watch
One of the core differences between Ohio Valley Wrestling and NXT was the way they were presented to fans. OVW largely had the look and feel of an indie, with Jim Cornette and later Paul Heyman at the helm. The mindset of the promotion was far less that of a proper WWE brand that a national audience might follow, but rather a regional brand, intentionally kept under the radar for the larger WWE audience.
By contrast, most of NXT’s years saw it airing episodes weekly via the WWE Network and Hulu, and eventually broadcast live on the USA Network. That’s in addition to recurring TakeOver specials hitting the road and sold out arenas. Some of the difference is a matter of business model choices, and some of it may be attributed to Triple H’s vision and leadership, but NXT became one of the hottest brands in the world. Particularly for fans with a bit more of an indie sensibility, oriented toward match quality over big personalities, the entertaining product garnered a fervent following of fans that OVW never had.
Comparing The Top Stars NXT And OVW Developed For WWE
While OVW had the look and feel of a smaller time promotion than NXT, there’s little denying its track record of success. In particular, OVW was the training ground for some of the biggest names in the business, including Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista—all of them eventual WrestleMania main eventers, Royal Rumble winners, and multiple time world champions.
Related: 10 Cool Things You Never Knew About WWE's Developmental System, OVW
Despite NXT’s track record of entertaining fans, their list of talents who became major stars on the main roster isn’t quite as impressive. Seth Rollins is probably the biggest success story, but his time in NXT was limited to its earliest days, before it truly became the black and gold brand fans tend to think of. It was a similar story for Big E, a fellow NXT Champion who eventually reached main event status on Raw. From there, Kevin Owens and Finn Balor each won world titles on the main roster but have consistently gravitated back toward the mid-card, and there’s a much longer list of names like Bo Dallas, Neville, Keith Lee, and Karrion Kross who did little of note or were released prematurely after their call-ups. NXT’s record of success is much better on the women’s side of things, with names like Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Asuka, but still can’t really compare to the biggest names OVW produced.
OVW Was A Truer Developmental Brand
In the end, comparing OVW and NXT is a bit like comparing apples to oranges in terms of the era, the aesthetic, and the talent that happened to be available at time. OVW was responsible for launching some of the biggest homegrown stars WWE has had. Meanwhile, NXT proved more of a showcase for indie-bred talents, some of whom went on to main roster stardom, some of whom peaked on the black and gold brand.
If the mission of a developmental territory or brand is truly to get stars ready to shine on the main roster, that has to be seen as a knock against NXT and a point in favor of OVW. While NXT itself could be electric, there was clearly a divide between Triple H’s vision and that of Vince McMahon at the helm of the main roster. Perhaps the new version of NXT will better reconcile those differences, but only time will tell. All we know for sure now is that OVW did set up the main roster well.
The question of whether NXT or OVW were ultimately better comes down to how one prioritizes star power vs. ring talent and success in developmental itself vs. main roster accolades. While most hardcore fans will remember the black and gold years of NXT fondly, it’s hard to argue with the results OVW yielded in the long term.
