{"id":212981,"date":"2026-03-05T13:07:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=212981"},"modified":"2026-03-05T13:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:07:02","slug":"parkss-take-nxt-is-in-a-creative-rut-and-the-fans-are-starting-to-let-them-know-theyre-not-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/03\/05\/parkss-take-nxt-is-in-a-creative-rut-and-the-fans-are-starting-to-let-them-know-theyre-not-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"PARKS&#8217;S TAKE: NXT is in a creative rut and the fans are starting to let them know they&#8217;re not happy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-190730043\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>While WWE&#8217;s main product feels cold heading into the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania, the company&#8217;s developmental arm is mirroring the creative malaise of its parents, Raw and Smackdown.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/09\/Staff09ParksC_120_3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31220 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/09\/Staff09ParksC_120_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"120\" height=\"138\" \/><\/a>Nothing exemplified that more than the catcalls received by Ricky Saints in the main event segment on NXT TV Tuesday night. It didn&#8217;t seem like the normal &#8220;heel gets heat&#8221; kind of reaction. It&#8217;s also notable that the NXT crowd, some who attend weekly, have shown a high tolerance for nonsense presented in front of them in the past.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not just the Saints segment that shows what kind of rut NXT is in. Let&#8217;s look at some of the other high-profile happenings and goings-on in NXT right now:<\/p>\n<p>-Tony D&#8217;Angelo has returned, minus the mob character (and apparently, the accent). He&#8217;s now just another angry dude, stripped of any semblance of character or depth that he once had.<\/p>\n<p>-Sol Ruca and Zaria finally had their big blow-up after weeks (months?) of teases where, at times, neither came out of the segments looking like a proper babyface.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of &#8220;PWT Talks NXT&#8221; with Kelly Wells and Nate Lindberg, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/pwt-talks-nxt-wells-lindberg-discuss-a-weird-final-segment-with-ricky-saints-heavy-hype-for-vengeance-day-more--70435622\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cpwtorch\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"PWT Talks NXT - Wells &amp; Lindberg discuss a weird final segment with Ricky Saints, heavy hype for Vengeance Day, more\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=70435622&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>-After excelling in AEW, Blake Monroe, nee Mariah May, has disappointed both in the ring and as a character. The writing hasn&#8217;t been very good but she also hasn&#8217;t shown the ability to rise above that.<\/p>\n<p>-The promotions of major players like Oba Femi, Je&#8217;Von Evans, and Trick Williams has left a void at the top of the card that has yet to be adequately filled. Saints and Joe Hendry seem the most likely to inherit that mantle, but it&#8217;s been hit-or-miss so far.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-4043831868\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>NXT used to be guilty pleasure viewing that was occasionally sneaky good. It&#8217;s now become a slog with unlikable characters, little depth, and repeated angles (ANOTHER backstage attacker?). The good news is there&#8217;s a lot less at stake for NXT in their creative valleys than there is for WWE, especially as the company tries to fill seats at WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"PWT Talks NXT - PWTorch NXT Post Show (3\/3) w\/Wells &amp; Lindberg\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/32-BfNP5Ecs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1209675716\"><div id=\"pwtor-939520636\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>While WWE&#8217;s main product feels cold heading into the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania, the company&#8217;s developmental arm is mirroring the creative malaise of its parents, Raw and Smackdown. Nothing exemplified that more than <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/03\/05\/parkss-take-nxt-is-in-a-creative-rut-and-the-fans-are-starting-to-let-them-know-theyre-not-happy\/\" title=\"PARKS&#8217;S TAKE: NXT is in a creative rut and the fans are starting to let them know they&#8217;re not happy\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":212982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,57,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-takes_parks","category-opinion_stafftakes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-05-at-1.06.26-PM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212983,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212981\/revisions\/212983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}