Why WWE Is Recycling Old Storylines for NXT Brand

NXT showrunner Shawn Michaels has been drawing from his own experiences to advance storylines in the promotion. Fans have been quick to notice the similarities between some of Michaels’ old stories and recent NXT storylines.

In response to these observations during a press conference, Michaels acknowledged that some of the storylines are complete rip-offs but said that they were being used because they were good and still impactful. He also noted that while some fans may remember the original storylines from 30 years ago, NXT is also appealing to a whole new fanbase.

Michaels drew a comparison to action movies, saying that they all have the same basic structure but different tweaks and actors make them unique. He added that while they do occasionally venture into new ground, most of what they do in wrestling has been done before and they are just mixing it up a little bit.

“Some of them, clearly, complete rip-off. We’re using them because we thought they were good. Nothing thrills me more than that, this stuff is 30 years old and people go, ‘oh, it’s the same.’ I’m fortunate that we have a fanbase that remembers that far, but we’re also appealing to a whole new fanbase. They’re still moving, they’re still impactful, they’re still memorable storylines. That’s what we want to do. A lot of this, I would go back to the reference of using action movies. They all have the same sort of diagram, but people do them differently with different actors and other tweaks to make them different. That’s what we’re hoping with all of this.”

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“I would argue that kind of everything…every once in a blue moon, we find ourselves venturing into new ground or something original. A lot of what we do in this line of work has been done sort of somewhere down the road. It’s just us sort of mixing it up a little bit. Guilty of doing those storylines that are obviously similar, but you’re always going to have turns in wrestling, you’re always going to have injuries. Some of these are a little more spot on than the others, but they’re all sort of basically derived from the same playbook, which has been around in storytelling from even before I was doing it.”

Despite the similarities, Michaels is confident that the storylines in NXT are still fresh and engaging. Gigi Dolin and Roxanne Perez are set to compete in ladder match for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver and fans will be curious to see how Michaels’ past experiences will influence the match and its aftermath.

Do you think it’s acceptable for WWE to recycle old storylines in NXT, or do you prefer to see completely new and original content? Leave a comment.