Who Really Killed The Original NXT?

[@harleyevans6563]

Next video in the series should be what all fans want: who really is Byron Saxton

[@years-ti7xl]

Lmao, how have we still not answered that question after all these years??

[@thetribalist6923]

Lol I thought this was going to say “who really killed Byron Saxon?” Like, Byron’s dead? Who massacred my boy?!

[@williamtoccijr9579]

Literally was going to make this comment 😂😂😂…also who really threw the pie in Kevin Owens’ face??

[@scottie2hottyringer299]

WHAT really is Byron Saxton?!

[@SauROnmiKE]

​@@williamtoccijr9579 this is the million dollar question

[@ObeliskTheTormented]

Vince. It was Vince.

[@dj-hyrul3654]

Yeah honestly most of these could realistically end like 10 seconds after the intro. >B Roll for the intro finishes "Its Vince, the Answer is Vince." >Rolls credits

[@codyssmith73]

I got two for you Luke: The OG Cruiserweight Division and 205 Live. Both deserve a discussion cause had WWE cared, they could’ve had something.

[@cliffordjackson3]

FACTS I’m surprised no one has done a retrospective on the 205 live brand.

[@CulEdz]

Oh they 100% cared about 205 Live. They tried everything to make sure fans cared but nobody did.

[@lordovthorn2747]

no one cares about 205 lol no one needs to make a video

[@martinputt6421]

@@CulEdz No they didn't.

[@JohnBLZ]

205 Live was their best program when it launched, and then it became some weird high school romance drama show.

[@tieronescott7374]

I blame vince mcmahon for killing black and gold

[@hipsterbrigadier9428]

I blame Vince for killing most things

[@UltimateFarmer007]

Yeah all bad vince yeah wwe fans always been that way lmao

[@cliffordjackson3]

FACTS.

[@edgecrusher018]

Cool. Also incredibly obvious. Not the subject of this video.

[@UGOkilleth]

​@@UltimateFarmer007sure, you can defend Vince, but you can't deny that Vince never wanted NXT to do well. He made it into a game show that humiliated rookies.

[@malcolmalexistaylor6678]

The irony of Dave meltzer saying a .8 isn’t valuable. Times have changed.

[@Kickdoutofthehood]

I hope we have a part 2 of the rise and fall of Black and Gold and the weird take over of 2.0

[@partypoppers1988]

Fun fact; Bryan Danielson came up with his unused names 🙃

[@siegfriedc2332]

Lloyd Boner.

[@Brodysseus]

Really enjoying these Saturday video essays. Keep them coming!

[@MRoccoMarzullo]

it's a hot take but i like the daniel bryan vs wwe system nxt story idk if i was intended to or not but I did It would of been better if there was a "golden child" rookie who got all the easiest challenges and everything handed to them. And having Cole talk him up the whole show.

[@kotv22]

That was wade

[@StarLeo_]

Do y'all remember how Skip Sheffields catchphrase was "Yep yep yep... what it do"?

[@DennisdaMenaceVidz]

Anyone else remember how Kaval was ganged up on when he won, and a couple of the pros tried to help him fight off the rookies, and then the pros just walked off randomly? I always thought that was so weird.

[@davewindjack]

I like the off=screen talking, but if there's going to be that much of it could you put in on-screen subtitles please?

[@MS32816]

Love this series Luke - great work by you and all involved

[@Homerstar]

3:30 Ok, now I want to see a video all about how WWE crippled the UK Indy scene.

[@Homerstar]

@@stylevstar253 It was a combination of multiple things. Whilst that was definitely the main thing, NXT UK did not help things.

[@michaelchase6626]

Really love these videos and appreciate the time y'all put in to make them for us. Mike Chase Kentucky, USA

[@BigMike_HD]

Honestly, if wwe took this more seriously. This version of NXT could have worked. But I’m glad NXT evolved into the black and gold era.

[@NancyBoi1984]

The sad thing is I think Vince was taking it seriously he just sucks

[@TheKeven28900]

​@@NancyBoi1984 nah, this was prime wwe not caring anymore

[@NancyBoi1984]

@TheKeven28900 cool it unfortunately doesn't seem to differ at all from times when wwe definitely did care

[@AceTrainerLupi]

What IS a moustache though? Edit: 14:03 Thank you, mr Beau Brown.

[@afrothundaCLAP]

I didn't know they were doing a video on this...nice

[@Alex-kl2jr]

I absolutely miss Smackdown reviews.

[@Sp_Oon]

Michael Cole, Josh Matthews and CM Punk are a GOATed announce team.

[@VXGaming]

14:34, Kaval won? damn that left my memory cause of the genesis of the genesis of Michael McGillicutty.

[@xerael4659]

17:28 So... They replaced a tall, buff girl, whose explicit pics were leaked to the internet with a tall, buff girl, whose explicit pics and videos were leaked to the internet. Oh, the irony.

[@thealjohnsonshow2188]

+xerael4659 Huh?

[@fyrewatermelons]

It was a slower build for Kaitlyn’s nudes. Although, Isis didn’t even do nudes. Just giantess play.

[@Undivided-X]

Kaitlyn is 5'3".

[@xerael4659]

@@thealjohnsonshow2188 What "huh"?

[@xerael4659]

@@Undivided-X She is around 170 cm tall, which is roughly the same as Rhea Ripley and I'm pretty sure Kaitlyn is more buff.

[@raymanandeze]

Black and gold was so iconic it's almost forgettable to remember it started as a horrible game show.

[@cliffordjackson3]

FACTS.

[@fromomelastocarcosa3575]

It was a slow process, but to me the thing that sealed the fate was the guys who were the scaffold of the show ending up BECOMING the show: Gargano, Ciampa and the Undisputed Era. They are all fantastic wrestlers and were brilliant in the forging and development of the brand in facilitating its purpose: a tune up for the returning and major guys like McIntyre, Almas, Roode and Nakamura and a developmental for the newer and indy stars like Zayn, Owens, Corbin, Woods, Crews. But slowly those guys became the ACTUAL main event and at that point it had - perhaps inadvertantly - lost all elements of being a developmental brand and was just an indy show. If I was to choose a specific moment it would be Cole becoming the champ. Of course Vince came along and killed it completely. And it was eventually reborn under HBK after a messy start as the thing it was actually meant to be and the near-perfect blend it is now. But the Black and Gold diehards are - IMO - a little in denial that it was already terminally wounded by around 2017-18 when it became the Undisputed Era show - a group that were always going to have limited mileage if they ever even came t the main roster.

[@edgecrusher018]

John Ace is the main reason that there are more ruthless aggression era stars still in wwe than guys from 2006-2012

[@willable4JC]

Great Job Luke! You do awesome with these videos.

[@SkipperBobsBreakDowns]

Why is there a 90 second long conversation off mic with no captioning? It was very frustrating trying to understand every 3rd word being said.

[@Boredmonkey04]

16:02 Wyatt Sicks to WrestleTalk confirmed 💪

[@RobertJW]

they gave Michael Cole a gong to hit when he'd had enough of something? Did WWE rip off Hey Hey It's Saturday's Red Faces segment?! On Hey Hey the guy with the gong was Red Symons... the lead guitarist of Skyhooks.

[@BradyKaynee]

Vince: It was me Austin...

[@Transitfan93]

The limbo joke by Michael Cole was the funniest line of the entire run he had there... A few memorable moments was when Aksana left Goldust and Cole quipped "Well I guess Goldust have to go back on the internet tonight"

[@WrestlingGod-f4v]

I think it’s safe to say we all know who kill NXT it was Vince and not Triple H

[@UltimateFarmer007]

Yeah hhh was busy buring talent

[@cliffordjackson3]

FACTS.

[@davidparkes7741]

​@TribalChief9000 Lol, no that was also Vince.

[@WrestlingGod-f4v]

@@davidparkes7741 yeah it was Vince

[@WrestlingGod-f4v]

@@cliffordjackson3 thank you Jackson. I’m glad that you agree with me.

[@demarcoadkins]

This was really cool remembering how NXT first came into existence for WWE! NXT back then had its good and bad moments.

[@wotintarnation8388]

Help I'm trying to watch a video on the gameshow era of NXT and all I get are Zenless Zone Zero ads

[@Lightspeeds]

Join the club, man. At least it isn't Goddess of Victory Nikke.

[@DieNastyFootball]

My fantasy booking of naming him Derrick “The Master” Bateman and pushing him immediately as a mid card champ is still one of my favorite ones I did back in the day

[@optimus2008]

Vince, and he did it when Triple H was almost certainly dying. That makes it worse

[@jonathanconsunji]

Johnny Gargano as a security guard at 6:17!!!

[@sideshowdayv]

There was a time when NXT Redemption was my favourite show because it was where I got to watch Tyson Kidd and Trent Beretta regularly

[@angrytheclown801]

The flower promo challenge was deceptively easy. You put flowers on graves. The promo cuts itself from there.

[@DvSNova]

Very well done video guys! 💜

[@heylolp9]

NXT showed a different side of the Industry But it turns out hazing isn't that popular

[@siegfriedc2332]

As far as the "Talk the Talk" challenge goes, can't really blame those guys for fumbling most of those promos, just getting a random word like that. Which is why it's so inpressive that Wade's promos during the challenge were actually really good. Shame he never won the wwe title as the nexus leader.

[@TheKevinWood]

I always thought Bryan was kind of the main character on season 1 of the show. There were probably folks there who wanted to legit bury him, but he survived it cause he was probably a pro backstage, and he got over when he was in front of an audience, which is something a lot of indy guys at the time likely struggled with.

[@DD_Vandal]

I don't really care about the subject because I'm a casual but I love to listen to Luke's voice.

[@TheChocoboKid]

Not only Vince killed NXT but did it twice.

[@noahaxinn7880]

I did the improv promo thing in public speaking in high school, I had to improv a 1 minute speech on pockets

[@shock_n_Aweful]

As much as I absolutely love R-Truth as the lovable idiot, I miss him as a heal too. The mocking of 'Little Jimmy' lol

[@earendilthemariner4307]

Great job as always guys.

[@yedffgd]

Honestly, I think DBry’s NXT story probably was intended to get him over. If WWE didn’t see anything in Bryan, I don’t think they would have hired him back after the firing, nor would they have immediately pushed him as the guy to end Miz’s US title run.

[@SamSamSamJ]

As far as Nexus losing at Summer Slam, I believe Cena didn't want to lose that match. He was the guy. He could've talked Vince into changing the finish. At that time, Cena wanted to stay on top, and not put anyone over.

[@Coleiceman13]

"2 greatest words"= "default". lol . pretty sure its supposed to be "by default". just found this funny.

[@TinkSalsa]

The miz/daniel bryan team and the jericho/wade teams were the best for season 1. Those were actually interesting teams

[@jackmuir5314]

yeah I wish we got a proper Wade/Jericho feud at some point. For that matter a Wade/Punk feud too. Basically what I'm saying is I wanted more Wade. At least we get to see him on WWE as a commentator/pre-and-post show host now

[@stylevstar253]

Vince didn’t have Cena go over nexus. Cena has openly admitted that his most regrettable action he’s done in wwe was use his creative control to not put over nexus and Barrett.

[@mikem10481]

NXT was great, but it got stale for me when Undisputed Era were the dominant faction. Also when they went on the USA network to go head to head with AEW.

[@Boogerman9047]

I loved the first season of NXT, the debut/birth of The Nexus, honestly D Bryan, Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel was the best. PEAK Raw moments💛

[@PhantomOverlordX2]

I actually didn't mind NXT Redemption when it basically became a low tier usual brand product, and always felt it just needed a title, and it'd be an alright product. Then they killed it, and it became NXT. Close enough lol.

[@GalaxyKick3000]

I was possibly 13 years old when NXT first was on air. And everything about how the show was presented lead me to be Bryan Danielson's biggest supporter. Maybe if it was live now that wouldn't have been the case.

[@Dingus343]

Awesome vid!

[@george.vasilev.reyner1916]

Ironically it's that first season of NXT that made me dislike Daniel Brian/Brian Danielson, as I felt that whole antagonizing schtick by Michael Cole was a foreshadowing for him getting pushed by management lol

[@ShadowCloutJutsu]

You ignored Johnny Wrestling as a security guard behind Michael Cole 6:19 lol Side note I thought Otunga was with Halle Berry not Jennifer Hudson lmao no idea why 😂

[@pastorcodymitchell1456]

huh I actually didn't know that about the name but i'm not at all surprised

[@nathanoates5310]

Next ones gotta be a black and gold retrospective

[@alihaddi4099]

I was one of the freaks who kept watching NXT Redemption 😂 I was really into Hawkins and Reks

[@adamlennard1828]

Barrett Cashed in his title match at Bragging rights not night of champions if memory serves me right.

[@tejas_kasundra]

@WrestleTalk Your Playlist Needs fine tuning and stronger Distinction of different Playlists. Many Videos are missing from related Playlist Like First Original about WWE screwing with AEW is missing from the original playlist.

[@RAP7ORv]

"Science Fiction Conspiracy show".. I want that lmao.

[@MuhammadSubhan-hg9ez]

How did wrestling went from 8.1M in 1999 to 2M today???? Should be a video on this

[@jackmuir5314]

I mean there is a simple answer. Demographics getting older combined with the rise of alternative outlets of entertainment. Also booking getting worse, a lack of genuine competition and Vince increasingly being surrounded by Yes Men

[@cheezymcwang8431]

De-Fault!

[@jayking5452]

It was clearly Vince, triple h made so many good stars in Nxt only for them to have their name, appearance, or theme song changed

[@syxxpoppin8830]

@5:15 the one next to DB . Every other time I was l seeing it all I see is olboy hair 🍘/🤼/

[@diabeticman2194]

I don’t know what series of NXT this occurred on, but Derrick Bateman and Daniel Bryan had a very funny segment about guessing what the pro would say as they pre arranged answers before the segment. A classic Bryan piss take

[@jaysonsiapno]

Next video. Who really killed SmackDown and NXT review? Tempest - him? Sat E - not him? Pete - him?

[@jackmuir5314]

Sat himself would jokingly say he killed it off since it seems like a bunch of things he's touched have died But we all know the real answer is that awful period of The Bloodline making SmackDown feel like a drag post SummerSlam 2023

[@haydenmatzkows4581]

Maybe give Pete mic next time

[@AbsAli02]

The winds of change is actually a good name.

[@rileyanthony]

Nxt black and gold is my favorite version of nxt to this day

[@SamSamSamJ]

Even if the NXT talent got over, it still wouldn't have mattered. Vince wasn't trying to make new stars. He didn't want new stars.

[@TJ_CrXss]

Without watching, it’s Vince McMahon. Will reply after I finish watching Edit: yep, it was Vince

[@brokenregistry]

This video talked about the game show version not black and gold

[@TJ_CrXss]

@@brokenregistrymy point still stands.

[@Simon25-17]

​@@TJ_CrXss yeah vince and laurinatis basically run the original nxt over with a mac truck multiple times triple h just pulled the plug once it got to the hospital

[@cliffordjackson3]

FACTS.

[@killergrooves2438]

Can you imagine New Jack doing the original season of NXT? He would stab Matt Stryker. Hell, can you imagine Steve Austin doing season one of NXT? Vince McMahon, for all his success, was an absolute moron a good chunk of the time.

[@shock_n_Aweful]

Vince, it was always Vince. Everything that is wrong with WWE until he was pushed out was Vince's fault

[@josemejia8717]

10th week asking for the smackdown reviews back

[@JeremiahBegley-p9r]

There's no smackdown review today. I missed sat.

[@MrDegan2]

So I've been watching season 1 of NXT on my lunch break this past week. Just got nostalgia reasons. It's not great but there is some off points here. For one thing the miz doesn't run down the rookies as the first thing on the show. Not sure where that line has come from

[@gm_construct4697]

I get strangely nostalgic for the Michael Cole Miz fetish era

[@muhammadHassan-kj1jy]

Erm what the sigma?

[@RaymondKHessel01]

Here’s a controversial take. NXT 2.0 created more stars then the black and gold.

[@fromomelastocarcosa3575]

I'd adjust to White and Gold created more stars than Black and Gold. 2.0 identified the problems but didn't fix them properly, it introduced the stars but it took white and gold to make them stars. Breakker was the only one truly MADE by 2.0. Hayes, Perez, Jayne, D'Angelo, Williams, Stratton, Valkyria, Jade, Wes Lee etc. all needed White and Gold and the much superior booking that came with it to become stars.

[@erikgrimaldo1187]

When Vince take control NXT and making it 2.0 it wasn't the same black and gold NXT

[@mann3ify]

I hope you guys don't sue Vice Media for "borrowing" your video and making it their own. Who Killed WCW? was good, but had some flaws, unlike your video about who really killed WCW! Someone should do Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation BEFORE Vice does a similar idea with familiar talking heads from Dark Side of the Ring AND the author of the biography of Abrams and the UWF: Jonathan Plombon, who did a great job on Tortured Ambition: The Story of Herb Abrams and the UWF.

[@martinmiramontes1067]

Need a what happened to/ the rise and fall of the original black and gold

[@patrickdornoff2735]

Nexus only beat up Jerry Lawler on commentary Michael Cole ran away

[@lewisgrant7622]

Most definitely Vince.

[@bhanupukkalla7937]

6:19 is it jhonny gargano in security

[@PFEofficial]

Guys, sorry to burst your bubble, but it was me. I killed the original NXT.

[@achromat666]

I love how long these videos dance around Vince being responsible, as like the WWEECW video in this series, there is no question his stupid ideas and erratic booking were the unifying force that tanked them. Seriously, around this time Vince was so aggressively bad at everything that his absolute control of the company guaranteed his would be the name to attach to virtually every awful thing that would happen.

[@TrillBill]

Vince, because he had the final say.

[@ZoharTheFunky]

Season 5 was just a year long fever dream

[@DeukJK]

it's not even a question

[@thomasmaholtz7475]

I blame Vince for the downfall of nxt black and gold and this video was amazing job guys

[@garypearce34]

Really well put together video essay. Well done and thank you.

[@MayorofPainsvilleDAN]

I loved for original NXT for what it was

[@TinkSalsa]

Yay, it's the video i asked for!

[@VisualizeInside-mt2li]

Daniel Bryan = Buddy Peacock!?