Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: HHH, karrion kross, keith lee, NXT, NXT 2.0, Op ed, Triple H, Vince McMahon, wrestling, wwe, WWE Releases

NXT Superstars Post-Mortem: Kings Who Were Made Jesters

Yesterday was another tough, yet familiar day for the WWE roster.  The ax came down on 18 different talents, ending their time working for Vince McMahon's empire and in many cases, notably prematurely so.  How many names were read yesterday that gave us pause and forced us to say "What?!  Them?!  Really?!"  Of course, I'm not referring to a Nia Jax or Eva Marie here, as either case had negatives that far outweighed any positives.  No, I'm referring to the names that many of us had earmarked as future WWE stars.  The names that seemed to have the elusive "it" factor that McMahon always claims he's in desperate search of.  The names that had already proven themselves on a WWE brand, only to be warped and fumbled upon their ascent to the "big time" of Raw and SmackDown.  I am referring to the former NXT superstars that Vince and company just couldn't seem to not screw up.

Of the 18 wrestlers released yesterday, 16 of them were former or current NXT talents, and all of them were scouted and hired under the previous NXT administration, headed by the brand's creator, Triple H.  While the inception of NXT was as an on-air developmental brand, almost like the minor leagues for WWE's majors, the brand ended up becoming the stand-out for all of WWE in terms of quality and fan response.  Often in concurrence with a major annual WWE pay-per-view event, the NXT TakeOver show would be regarded as the best show of the weekend and cast a shadow over any expensive spectacle involving "bigger stars" that WWE would put on.  That couldn't have sat well with Vince McMahon and his star-makers.

And that's where the problem has always firmly been with NXT stars getting called up: Vince McMahon must create the star in his company.  But that's not what fans ever wanted and flies in the face of airing a developmental show, which is meant to both introduce and build characters for fans to get attached to so that they can hit the ground running when called up to Raw or SmackDown.  How is any talent going to continue the success they found in NXT if as soon as they switch shows, they are completely repackaged and retain little to none of the traits that made them successful?

While there are a number of names from yesterday's releases that we could talk in-depth about, the two that have upset fans the most are easily Keith Lee and Karrion Kross.  If there were any two men in NXT over the past two years that looked born to be future WWE Champions, it was these two.  They are big, they are charismatic, they could work, and the fans naturally gravitated towards them.

What could go wrong?  Well, three words: Vincent.  Kennedy.  McMahon.

Kross had a look and intensity that wrestling promoters dream of.  When people speak of the "it" factor, what they're referring to is the ability to instantly have fans buy into you.  It's the difference between Batista and Mason Ryan.  They're both huge, chiseled, Greek God-looking dudes who yell and all that.  Hell, they even look very alike.  Yet you respond to them very differently, almost instinctually.  It's hard to pin exactly why, but to put it very simply, Batista has it; Mason Ryan doesn't.  Now we can see how Batista, in his real-life persona of Dave Bautista, has become a very successful Hollywood actor and we can dissect that he obviously had range and a capability of great performances and that aided his wrestling career, but at the time, we just knew that we would pay money to see that guy yell and beat guys up.  Karrion Kross has that appeal.

Keith Lee is something else entirely, something even more rare and special in wrestling.  While Lee is a huge man and an easy sell as a powerhouse threat in the ring that could move well with speed, he had something else that very few talents in the industry do and it's not something you can work to attain: people cared about him as a human being.  Lee was naturally human.  Yes, he would beat guys up and yes he'd show rage and anger and all of those things that every wrestler always has.  But there was also this unplaceable feeling with him.  Like this guy could be your friend.  Your protector.  You actually cared for him and gravitated towards him.

Guys like Keith Lee don't come along often and you need to bottle it while you can.  Lee was like Mick Foley, Junkyard Dog, and even Bryan Danielson where you rooted for them to kick ass, but there was also a kinship between the man in the ring and the fans watching.  It wasn't just fandom; it was a friendship.

Both Keith Lee and Karrion Kross were called up to Raw after immense success in NXT and fans thought they could tow the WWE for years to come.  Vince McMahon didn't agree.  Lee, after somewhat of an early presence, was kept off of TV for five months then after contracting COVID-19 and subsequently suffering heart issues, while fans were kept completely in the dark for the duration of his absence.  With his health issues behind him, he finally returned to TV this past July, but that's when the other problems started.  The WWE-created problems.

Since his return, Lee has been repackaged about three times, all as a heel.  They changed his name to Keith "Bearcat" Lee and then to Bearcat Lee (we can assume he was penciled in as just Bearcat if they hadn't released him) and wanted him as more of a big monster character.  They seriously had a guy that fans naturally loved as a person and who then suffered a near-fatal health crisis, only to rally back, and they made him a heel.  Think about that.  Go ahead.  Keep track of how much blood flows from your ears while you do.

Karrion Kross suffered a quicker death on the main roster.  While still NXT Champion, Kross debuted on the July 19 episode of Raw, where he was quickly defeated by a slumping Jeff Hardy in less than two minutes.  That wasn't enough though, as he became a full-time Raw-exclusive wrestler that August and was forced to debut a new look, which included a gladiator mask and leather straps in a BDSM-looking display that strongly resembled Lord Humungus from The Road Warrior.  This all immediately weakened Kross and fans were ruthless in their response to his new presentation.

So to recap, Vince McMahon had two ready-made superstars that had all of the traits he has always claimed he wants in his Champions and he consciously destroyed them.  And why?  Did he just not like them?  Did they sneeze in front of him?  Or was it something else, something far more indicative of this man's damaged psyche?

Vince McMahon didn't destroy Karrion Kross and Keith Lee because they weren't up to his standards and weren't talented enough.  He destroyed them because he didn't create them.  Someone else, with Vince's money, crafted these two talents into superstars ready for success and he could not have that.  He was willing to sabotage two careers and cost himself two potential big money-earners for him, all because he could not take full credit for them.  Think about that kind of hubris.  Try to imagine throwing away something that will be positive for you, just for your ego.  To me, that's unfathomable.

But unfathomable behavior and decision-making is the defining trait of the modern WWE.  In the mid to late 1990s, when the then WWF was on its heels and in serious trouble, did they toss aside talents just because they weren't found by Vince McMahon at their infancy?  Mick Foley, Steve Austin, Triple H, Chris Jericho, all of D-Generation X, they were all established talents that were known to fans from elsewhere but hadn't hit it big yet for whatever reason.  Hey, let's go back even further!  Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Roddy Piper were all already names in the industry before McMahon brought them in and worked with them in the 1980s.

So what the hell is the problem?  Is this guy so full of his revisionist history bullshit that they craft on the WWE Network that he truly does not remember how things have always worked for him?  Is he so arrogant to convince himself that he alone made all of his big stars or in the case of a Steve Austin, even had much at all to do with the creation of the character?  Or is this just all the sad behavior of someone with a fragile ego, who needs to prove to himself, probably one last time in his life, that he's the true kingmaker and no one else can do it like him?

Whatever damage done, these talents like Keith Lee and Karrion Kross are now free to take their potential elsewhere and forge their own destiny.  I know there's shock and anger among fans and probably among the talents themselves, but this isn't the end and could be the beginning of something else.

The wrestling industry is changing by the day now and there have never been so many venues to make serious money.  There has never been a time where so many promotions were on legitimate TV networks, allowing more talents to reach a much larger audience.  Keith Lee, Karrion Kross, and others will be fine and hopefully have long careers ahead of them.

Their ride didn't get derailed, someone just chose to get off.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

– J.R.R. Tolkien

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