Just a few hours before NXT TakeOver 36, WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan announced on a BT Sport interview that NXT is undergoing a revamp with production changes expected in the coming weeks. Khan spoke about the new vision for NXT as they want to change how talent will be developed. “We are doing a complete revamp on NXT, led by Triple H, who is really one of the architects of the original NXT. What we found — it’s part of why we did the tryout yesterday — what we want to make sure is easy for folks who want to be WWE Superstars, is figuring out how to become WWE Superstars.”
“In terms of an NXT re-brand, look for it in the next couple of weeks. It’s going to have a whole new look, it’s going to have a whole new feel — and we believe — because a lot of the indie wrestlers, if you will, have come through our system and are in our system with SmackDown and RAW now. We don’t want to just keep doing that same thing, we want to look elsewhere for great, young talent.” Khan was then asked what he meant by a new look and feel for NXT. “The look of the show, the production of the show, everything is going to change in the next few weeks,” Khan confirmed.
"When something's a disaster I want all the credit, when it's a hit I want none of the credit. If I'm blamed for what the fans don't like, that's good by me."
Nick Khan addresses the number of releases this year.
? @arielhelwani pic.twitter.com/MmPhjjFTAu
— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) August 22, 2021
Nick Khan also addressed the multiple wrestlers WWE has let go. “There’s a collective of us, keep in mind in WWE there’s one boss — that’s Vince, as we all know. Between Bruce Prichard, who oversees the entire creative process, Kevin Dunn, who oversees all of our production, between Stephanie McMahon, Paul Levesque, all are involved in these decisions with ultimately Vince making the final decision on everything.”
About why there were so many releases this year compared to past years, Khan didn’t think there was one particular reason for why it happened. “I dunno that there’s one explanation for it, I think ultimately what’s looked at — is this person for us? Are they going to move the needle now or in the imminent future? By the way, we had a two-day tryout in Las Vegas, which ended yesterday. Triple H, John Laurinaitis, and Bruce Prichard were all across — as were the rest of us. We’ve signed over a dozen new talent coming out of that tryout and I’m not suggesting, ‘Oh, that’s why we cut the other talent,’ but we’re always looking for what’s next.”
He added, “We live in the present, we live in the future, we don’t live in past. So, when people leave and they move on with their life and their careers, that’s good for us. For us, it’s what works for us and our product at that moment in time, and again, what’s going to work down the road. And largely, in part, the existing roster is based on that.”
Words courtesy of Wrestling Inc, pic courtesy of WWE, video courtesy of BT Sport