NOVEMBER 1, 2019 - The Night NXT Arrived on the Main Stage
Five years ago today, WWE had one of the most organic nights in company history when, one night after Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, NXT, WWE’s developmental territory and designated “third brand”, invaded SmackDown on FOX and made their impact on the main roster stage.
It wasn’t supposed to happen. It was literally flying by the seat-of-their-pants.
And it was classic.
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On Halloween 2019, WWE ran its annual Saudi Arabia event Crown Jewel from the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. The night was a complete mixed bag, from Brock Lesnar defending and defeating mixed martial artist Cain Velasquez to retain the WWE Championship, a five-man team captained by “the Immortal” Hulk Hogan defeated a “Nature Boy” Ric Flair let quintet, and professional boxer Tyson Fury defeating Braun Strowman via countout.
After the event culminated with a Bray Wyatt Universal Title win over incumbent Seth Rollins in a falls-count-anywhere match in an ominous red light, the entire WWE roster was to board a scheduled charter flight to a live SmackDown taping for FOX in Buffalo, NY immediately.
Things didn’t exactly go to plan.
There are conflicting stories on what exactly happened. The WWE’s official statement read that due to mechanical issues, the plane was unable to leave Saudi Arabia until all issues were taken care of. However, according to wrestling journalists, there were mitigating issues between the Saudi government and WWE over finances and once those issues were rectified, the flight would be grounded at the King Khalid International Airport.
Regardless of whom you believe, the WWE roster was, for the time being, stranded in Riyadh.
There were some exceptions. Vince McMahon and his executive team had left the event in the WWE corporate jet, while Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman rented a private plate and left the country on their own accord.
With a television taping mere hours away, WWE had to scramble to put a card together at the last minute. Thankfully, there was an ace in the hole.
NXT.
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On September 18, 2019, NXT, WWE’s developmental brand, started airing its weekly television program on the USA Network after six years streaming on the WWE Network. A product made for the hardcore fan, NXT was critically acclaimed for its emphasis on wrestling and presentation.
Within NXT, the storytelling was simple and easy to follow. The Undisputed Era of Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong were running roughshod over everyone and anyone. Tommaso Ciampa had one goal in mind: to win back “Goldy”, the NXT Championship. The Cruiserweight division, after a lackluster run via Monday Night Raw, was rededicated to the black-and-gold brand. And women like Rhea Ripley, Raquel Rodriguez, Dakota Kai, Bianca Belair, and Shayna Baszler were in the midst of their establishment as premiere women’s wrestlers.
With the objective being to compete with the newly formed and fledgling All Elite Wrestling Dynamite on TNT, NXT expanded to two hours and went head-to-head.
Needing the momentum, as a developmental brand, to compete with AEW, WWE decided to integrate NXT at Survivor Series 2019 to give them a boost, which we learned during a commercial during Crown Jewel. A slow build towards the Thanksgiving traditional event was set, culminating in a three-brand battle on the “go home” week of programming.
Paul Heyman once stated during his WWF debut on March 5, 2001, “When there is chaos…there is opportunity.” And when the majority of the WWE roster was stuck in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, WWE created an opportunity, giving NXT a platform to make an impact.
In other words…PLANS CHANGED.
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After Brock Lesnar announced that he was quitting SmackDown and heading to Raw, the first glimpse of Triple H, the founder of NXT, and Shawn Michaels, in NXT apparel, backstage. However, nothing seemed amiss.
That feeling did not last.
Following Bayley’s WWE Women’s Title defense over Nikki Cross, NXT Women’s Champion Baszler ran in through the crowd and absolutely lambasted both women, as well as Sasha Banks, with a vicious onslaught. Then, as everyone was trying to comprehend that moment, Sami Zayn was interrupted during his backstage vignette by “the Original Bro” Matt Riddle and the monstrous Keith Lee and was chased to the squared circle, only to get decimated by the two NXT thoroughbreds.
A short time after Pat McAfee, former NFL punter for the Indianapolis Colts and NXT hype man, joined the commentary table, Daniel Bryan walked into D-Generation X in the backstage area. After the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion stated that he wanted a fight, implying Triple H, “the Game” played his wild card, and put Bryan against NXT Champion Cole in the main event.
However, before that happened, the Miz had his MIZ TV invaded by Tommaso Ciampa. After a hard-hitting match, Ciampa picked up the victory. Also, in an impromptu tag team contest, Fire & Desire of Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose fell victim to Rhea Ripley & Tegan Nox, after Bianca Belair took out both Carmella and Dana Brooke backstage!
Finally, after a near twenty minute battle on television for NXT’s richest prize, Adam Cole - BAY BAY - delivered a superkick to the mush after dodging the Running Knee, then followed it up with a Panama Sunrise flipping piledriver and a Last Shot knee strike to the back of the head for the three count.
After the Cole NXT Title defense, Triple H, HBK, McAfee, and the NXT roster entered the ring, where “the Game” declared war on Raw and SmackDown!
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The total irony is that this night almost didn’t happen.
After the plane incident, NXT talent shuffled to a flight late in the morning and early in the afternoon and, as SmackDown was beginning, arrived in Buffalo by the skin of their teeth. It was, like I alluded to, seat-of-their-pants and organic, and it worked.
A few weeks later at Survivor Series, NXT reigned supreme, as they won three matches throughout the night, including the main event, when Baszler defeated RAW Women’s Champ Becky Lynch and SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley. Many fans and journalists were shocked at how strong NXT looked. The future was bright.
Although the industry has evolved DRAMATICALLY five years later, I look back fondly at November 1, 2019. It not only brought me back to a world prior to COVID-19, but how white-hot NXT was at this time. The Black-and-Gold era really stood out as a team working together to provide a great program each week.
November 1, 2019 was the night NXT truly arrived. Rebels to the end.
Jon Harder
