When WWE’s NXT brand comes to the Allstate Arena in Rosemont on Oct. 1, it promises a stacked professional wrestling card along with all the embellishments of a program looking to impress in its CW Network debut.
“What you can expect is one of the best shows NXT has ever offered,” said WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, now a senior vice president of talent development with the company who is guiding the NXT brand. “You are literally getting an opportunity to start the journey with the future WWE superstars of tomorrow.”
The Oct. 1 show is set to feature a Miz TV segment, an appearance by WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill, and Roxanne Perez defending her NXT Women’s Championship against Giulia. But the main attraction, especially for local fans, will likely be Ethan Page defending the NXT Championship against Trick Williams, with south suburban native CM Punk serving as the special guest referee.
“Any time he comes to visit, it’s not just valuable to us from a television show standpoint, but it’s always valuable to the men and women who are here developing and hoping to become main roster Superstars on Raw or SmackDown,” Michaels said of Punk. “I’m sure a lot of them probably think maybe if they get there soon enough they can have a chance to be in the ring with somebody like CM Punk.”
NXT is considered WWE’s developmental television program, working in conjunction with the company’s Performance Center to prepare young professional wrestlers to be the WWE Superstars of tomorrow on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Punk, who grew up in Homer Glen and graduated in 1996 from Lockport Township High School, has earned some praise for helping the company’s younger talent behind the scenes since he returned to WWE in 2023.
“We have numerous fantastic legends and coaches here on NXT, but it is always fantastic when you have a current main roster WWE and global superstars like CM Punk come visit,” Michaels said. “He has come down here on various occasions. He’s been very supportive of NXT, the talent and the system that we have here.”
While WWE’s main roster talent are often on the road, performing for live crowds in cities across the world, the road is more of a rarity for NXT. The developmental program typically films at the Performance Center in Orlando, so the logistics of the Chicago area show are already a deviation from the norm.
“Certainly you don’t have the time or preparation, and that can always be a challenge when you’re talking about younger, developing athletes,” Michaels said. “One of the things about using some of these unbelievably skilled D1 athletes is that they understand pressure. We’re talking about some of the best athletes in the nation that are now here in NXT. Whether it be football, basketball, track and field, no matter what it is they did before this in college, they’ve felt pressure before and they understand that’s what makes you elite is delivering under that pressure. So they’re all very excited about getting on the road and especially coming to Chicago.”
NXT started in 2010 and has been broadcast on USA Network since 2019. But the brand recently inked a five-year deal with The CW Network, now carried in Chicago by WGN. The network debut in Chicago is designed to generate additional excitement for the program’s shift.
“Certainly we want to make a big splash on the CW Network,” he said. “We’ll have some big changes, but I think more of that will be from a look and physical standpoint. We will still be what NXT is, which is bringing some of the most talented, young, diverse athletes in all of the nation, and developing them into the WWE superstars of tomorrow. … The hunger, the passion that’s always been the core value of NXT is always going to be there. But certainly we’ll try to put on some pretty cool bells and whistles for the CW launch on Oct. 1.”
For Michaels, who transitioned from a lauded in-ring career to a role that’s more behind the scenes, the biggest reward of working on NXT has been seeing things “click” for young wrestlers.
“It’s watching them experience that feeling of just joy and excitement and passion when everything that they’ve worked for, they go out there and it happens and they feel it,” he said. “It’s watching them get to experience some of those fantastic moments that I got to experience so many years ago and watching the joy on their faces when it happens.”
The irony of success for Michaels in overseeing a developmental program is that the talents who make the biggest impact on NXT exciting are the same ones most likely to get “called up” to one of WWE’s main rosters.
“I think that’s something you have to make peace with,” Michaels said. “Our job is to lose talent. That lets us know that we’re doing our job when we have to continue to rebuild.”
There is a pride for Michaels in knowing that the vast majority of the talent at last year’s WrestleMania came through NXT. And the program is up for 2024 in key television demographics.
“That is with a roster where every time people really start to connect with some of these superstars, they move to Raw or SmackDown and we have to start over again,” Michaels said. “That’s the challenge. If you don’t love a good challenge, this probably isn’t the line of work for you. But I’m a glutton for punishment. So I enjoy the challenge of having to continue to rebuild our roster each and every time there’s a call-up. That means we’re doing our job and doing it well.”
Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
