WWE Surveys Fans On NXT vs. The Main Roster; Which They Prefer & Why
World Wrestling Entertainment recently sent out a survey to those on their mailing list, asking them to compare WWE’s main roster product to their NXT product. This was done for various reasons but some most notable reasons being; to see how familiar people were with each brand, what they liked and disliked most about each product, how much money fans spent on WWE live events and merchandise as compared to NXT live events and merchandise, and to figure out which product fans enjoyed watching more. There were sections of the survey (such as likes and dislikes) that allowed fans to write as much as they pleased.
One part of the survey provided fans with numerous terms; the fans were then asked to pair those terms to the product they best described (either NXT or the main roster). The terms provided were as follows: Energy, Authentic, Hardcore, Fantastical, Unique, Hokey, Excitement, Dangerous, Wrestling, PG-rated, Shocking, Quality, Technique, Wholesome, Fun, Unpredictable, In-Ring Action-Driven, Social, Action, Nostalgic, Mindless, Giving Promos, Intense, Passion, Old School, Imaginative, Safe, Success, Family friendly, Potential, Story-Driven, Younger, Cutting Edge, Real, Simple, Fast Paced, Mainstream, Traditional, Gritty.
A group of categories were then listed and fans were asked to answer, which product did it better (or were equally as good), WWE’s main roster or NXT? The categories provided were as follows:
– Seeing good rivalries/match-ups
– Feeling part of a large group of passionate fans
– Getting an appropriate amount of surprises
– Being amazed
– Being amused
– Being entertained
– Having a great show to watch with family
– Having a great show to watch with friends
– Seeing a wide variety of Divas
– Seeing enough of my favorite Divas
– Watching athletic moves and maneuvers
– Seeing the quality of in-ring wrestling I want
– Hearing compelling dialogue/promos
– Getting the right mix of unique characters
– Seeing a wide variety of Superstars
– Watching interesting stories play out
– Seeing enough of my favorite Superstars
Mark’s reaction:
It’s looking like the WWE’s seeing how popular NXT is and saying, “why isn’t Raw this good?” It’s nice to see the WWE’s doing this kind of survey because it means that they see a difference in fan reaction between the two products (NXT and the main roster) and want to know what steps need to be taken in order to improve. However, I also think this was done to figure out the impression the NXT brand is leaving on audiences and to figure out how the WWE should focus their marketing for NXT going forward, as NXT will be hitting the road a lot more in 2016.
Upon reading this news, I kind of played along with the survey myself by separating the terms into an NXT category and a main roster category as well as running through the second list provided and choosing which product does what better. Running through each term and each category I picked to you would be pointless because I found myself picking NXT for mostly everything or equally as good when it came to “who’s done what better.” WWE’s main roster didn’t get the advantage in any of my picks aside from the “hearing compelling dialogue/promos” category (pretty much thanks to Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens, and the New Day). Other than that though, like I said, everything else I picked was either NXT or equal.
What I find very interesting is some of the terms they used to describe each product. In the list of words, the term “PG-rated” popped up. When saying PG-rated, I feel like it’s being used in a negative sense as “too childish or lame.” I only say this because they’ve also included terms like family friendly, safe, wholesome, and fun. To me, if they meant family friendly, wholesome, etc. when saying PG-rated, then they would have just gotten rid of the family friendly and wholesome terms all together. It’s just interesting to me that it seems like they’re using the phrase PG-rated negatively.
What do you think about this survey? Am I being too hard on the main roster or does NXT dominate most of your picks as well? I just had a tough time saying the main roster definitively did so-and-so better than NXT in most of the categories. I’m interested to hear your thoughts on the survey, its purpose, and its content in the comment section below.
Source: PWInsider