Wrestling is in the midst of a phenomenal boom. Ratings and attendance are way up in WWE, and both them and AEW have signed on to massive new TV deals this year, but as good as things are, there are still issues to be fixed. At the top of the list is the portrayal of women’s wrestling. It’s an issue AEW has long struggled with, and despite some improvement, thanks to the emergence of champions like Toni Storm and Mariah May, the lack of matches on PPV and the flaws of Mercedes Mone in the company show that much still needs to be done.
WWE once caused a women’s wrestling evolution, but they could do better as well. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair aren’t around, Bayley’s championship run was a total dud, Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan’s feud is being run into the ground, and the tag team division is still lackluster, causing a megastar like Bianca Belair to take a backseat.
Still, there is one place where women’s wrestling is shining bright, and that’s in NXT. Thanks to homegrown and international stars, women’s wrestling has never been better than on this WWE brand.
Women’s wrestling has seen several powerhouses make their presence known around the world, and these are arguably the strongest in the business.
WWE Has Created Several Women’s Stars Through The NIL Program
Tiffany Stratton And Kelani Jordan Are Proof Of What NXT Can Do
NXT was created as a place to develop new WWE stars. Sure, the early days would have indie stars like Seth Rollins, who made his name as Tyler Black in Ring of Honor, but they also built new stars from the bottom up who had no wrestling experience at all. Big E was a football player who signed with WWE and was trained to become a wrestler. He ended up becoming an NXT Champion and one of the greatest tag team wrestlers of all-time. The Tribal Chief himself, Roman Reigns, wasn’t some indie star despite his family background. He, too, was a football player who was taught how to be a wrestler in WWE.
The new version of NXT is doing the same thing. There, someone who wrestled elsewhere like Lexis King and Ethan Page can be repackaged to reach their full potential. A man like Trick Williams, the biggest star on the brand, though, wasn’t a wrestler before he signed on to NXT.
The same is being done for the women through the NIL (Next in Line) program, with WWE signing college athletes to turn into wrestlers. Tiffany Stratton found success through this, and more recently, so have stars like Kelani Jordan, the first ever Women’s North American Champion, and others. In NXT, fans can watch talent grow from green athletes to top-notch professional wrestlers.
WWE has made inroads towards bringing in athletes from other sports with their Next In Line program. But is it a good idea?
Women Wrestlers Are The Main Focus Of NXT
Roxanne Perez Has Seamlessly Transitioned From Babyface To Heel
Just like NXT is doing with the men, their women’s division is a mix of new wrestlers and established talent with years of experience. At the top of the mountain stands Roxanne Perez, who used to go by Rok-C, and was the first ever Ring of Honor Women’s Champion. That’s great and all, but on NXT she has also had the chance to build a character. It doesn’t matter what you can do in the ring if you can’t sell it. Because of this, Roxanne Perez has been able to be both a convincing, underdog babyface, and a conniving, easy to boo heel.
If you watch AEW or WWE’s main rosters, you’ll see the obligatory one or two women’s matches, but in NXT, the women are the stars. Watch a Tuesday night show, and you’ll see that they take up at least half the TV time or more. For example, on the October 23 show, four out of the six contests were women’s matches, including the main event. Even their General Manager, Ava, is a woman with no wrestling experience, who went from being the awkward daughter of The Rock to a believable presence behind the scenes.
If that’s not enough, NXT has also worked with TNA several times. Joe Hendry has been fun, but it was Jordynne Grace’s run that was most impressive. If she ever signs with WWE, she will quickly become one of the biggest stars in the company.
Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez may be best friends now, but that was not always the case. Let’s take a look at the long and complex history between them.
International Wrestlers Are The Final Piece Of NXT’s Domination
NXT Has Become The Destination For Women’s Wrestling’s Biggest Names
NXT is building new stars and giving them a huge amount of TV time, but the icing on the cake is that they have become the place that the world’s most famous women’s wrestlers want to join. In the past, that might have been in AEW, but in just the past few months, WWE has been able to sign Giulia, Stephanie Vaquer, and Delta (now known as Zaria). NXT is truly where the best women wrestlers compete.
This would have been a worry a few years ago, with the Vince McMahon regime renaming everyone and stripping away their past, turning them into a WWE product. Instead, under Triple H and Shawn Michaels, international stars are celebrated for what they’ve done elsewhere. You might be a casual fan who had never seen a Giulia or Stephanie Vaquer match until a few weeks ago, but because of their presentation in NXT, you can feel that “it” factor. Because of how they are being treated in the new era, expect more big names to join when they can. In NXT, women’s wrestling isn’t just next, they are now.
