Last week, WWE releases 12 more NXT Superstars, but it turns out there was a reason for that. Well, in Vince McMahon's mind, anyway! According to Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Triple H and Shawn Michaels had no role in choosing who would be released; instead, it was Vince, Bruce Prichard, and John Laurinaitis.
He adds that, "The basic gist is that NXT is gonna change in some ways and they think that a lot of the competitors are too small and too old." The plan now is to go back to what the brand used to be about: a developmental territory that can find and create wrestlers who will one day main event WrestleMania. As a result, the plan is to focus on "younger guys and bigger guys."
Ultimately, NXT being decimated by AEW Dynamite in the Wednesday Night War is a big part of what's prompted this change, and the reason the likes of Bronson Reed and Mercedes Martinez were cut is due to their size and age.
However, rather than going back to that 2016 era of NXT with wrestlers like Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, and Kevin Owens, Vince wants to take things a step further back than that to the time guys like Curtis Axel were in the development territory. "The wording is ‘no more midgets, no one starting in their 30s, they want people who can be box office attractions and main characters," Meltzer adds.
Needless to say, this probably isn't going to sit well with a lot of NXT fans, and is unlikely to help the brand bounce back after its fall in the ratings.
We'll see how these changes pan out for them.