As the co-founder and chairman of the board of World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon was often the final word in what does or doesn’t happen in WWE.
This was most often seen in Superstars getting pushed despite fans wanting to see other wrestlers succeed.
Examples of this include Bryan Danielson (then Daniel Bryan), Matt Cardona (then Zack Ryder), and CM Punk.
Basically, if it wasn’t McMahon’s idea to have you succeed, then it was a bad idea. And it seems this philosophy continued to other brands and programs as well.
NEW YORK – MAY 21: (L-R) WWE Superstar Triple H and Chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon, attend the World Wrestling Entertainment “Denver Debacle” press conference at the Hard Rock Cafe, Times Square on May 21, 2009 in New York City.
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In a recent episode of the “Behind the Turnbuckle” podcast, host and former WWE Superstar Jonathan “The Coach” Coachman explained that McMahon didn’t like that NXT, WWE’s developmental brand, had become so popular because it wasn’t his idea.
“Vince hated something working that wasn’t his idea,” Coachman said. “Triple H came up with NXT. And you notice NXT stars would never be pushed.”
“Now what do you see? What did you see tonight on Monday Night Raw? You’re seeing NXT stars all over the place. Yeah, that’s Triple H. That’s his baby. His best friend Shawn Michaels runs NXT. Vince hated that.”
“And that was one of the weak points of Vince McMahon. As much as he says, ‘I did things that were good for business,’ if he came up with the idea should’ve been the complete sentence of that because he didn’t wanna give anybody credit, much less his son-in-law, so people would think potentially Triple H is smarter than him.”
This negative relationship between McMahon and NXT can be seen in how a majority of NXT Superstars were treated when they moved up to the main roster, including Keith Lee, Bobby Roode, and Shayna Baszler.
However, with Triple H in charge of creative, multiple NXT Superstars have flourished, including Gunther, Bron Breakker, Tiffany Stratton, and Carmelo Hayes.
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NXT was originally introduced in 2010 as a reality competition meant to replace the canceled WWE version of ECW, introducing the WWE Universe to Superstars like Wade Barrett, Bryan Danielson, Naomi, and AJ Lee.
In 2012, NXT became the third brand of WWE, making it a developmental territory that WWE fans could actually watch on television, as opposed to its predecessor Florida Championship Wrestling.
Now, more than 12 years later, NXT boasts some of the best matches in all of WWE, and its strongest talent is flourishing on the main roster. Hopefully, this streak of success for the brand will grow as WWE continues to move into a new era.
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