{"id":97788,"date":"2021-08-07T12:01:20","date_gmt":"2021-08-07T16:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=97788"},"modified":"2021-08-07T12:01:20","modified_gmt":"2021-08-07T16:01:20","slug":"nxt-babyfaces-arent-being-built","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/08\/07\/nxt-babyfaces-arent-being-built\/","title":{"rendered":"NXT Babyfaces Aren’t Being Built – and That\u2019s a Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former NXT<\/strong> North American champion Bronson Reed<\/strong> was one of a handful of World Wrestling Entertainment<\/strong> Superstars recently released<\/a>.<\/em> NXT\u2019s fortunes seem to have dwindled, in the wake of WWE\u2019s budget cuts, from its push in 2019-20 as a legitimate third brand of WWE\u2019s television product to a territory in limbo. The sacrifice of its talent, as its status becomes ever more undefined, has seen releases from the black and gold brand earlier this year, but the release of Reed comes as a rather jolting surprise. It also sheds light on the issue concerning NXT babyfaces.<\/p>\n

\"Bronson<\/p>\n

NXT Babyfaces Aren’t Being Built<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Reed only recently dropped the North American title to Isaiah \u201cSwerve\u201d Scott<\/strong><\/a> of the Hit Row <\/strong>stable, in June, after winning it in a steel cage match against Johnny Gargano<\/strong> in May. His win was celebrated as a hard-won and deserving achievement after fourteen years of hustle, and a boon for his home country, Australia, as Reed is the first Australian-born winner of the belt. After collecting the proverbial roses from his big win, Reed stayed on top of the card long enough to briefly team up with babyface tag team champions MSK <\/strong>against heel stable Legado Del Fantasma<\/strong> at NXT Takeover: In Your House<\/em><\/strong> in June.<\/p>\n

Then, his push, title, and feud with Legado Del Fantasma were all transferred to Scott and Hit Row. Reed\u2019s easygoing charisma, subtle humor, and chemistry with his allies, MSK, were all snuffed, as Scott\u2019s stable rose. In many ways, the hip hop inspired stable seems to function as a D-Generation X<\/strong> for the TikTok generation: Swerve, like Shawn Michaels<\/strong> leading into DX\u2019s first 1997 inception, is the (to borrow a phrase from novelist Francesca Lia Block) slinkster cool leader and visage of the group, the nexus of a motley crew of rebellious agitators who find themselves cast as antiheroes in their war against legacy luchador Santos Escabar<\/strong> and his clique, another heel faction.<\/p>\n

There is little room for faces like Reed in the morally ambiguous, heel vs. heel stories that Paul \u201cTriple\u201d Levesque<\/strong> and company prefer to craft at NXT, stories driven by morally gray heroes and their ambitious pursuits. NXT, as Levesque\u2019s theme song once intoned, is \u201call about the game, and how you play it.\u201d Babyfaces require a different narrative to become viable long-term stars: \u2018good vs evil\u2019 may sound a bit trite and lofty, but truly such stories boil down to perseverance against cunning, the will of a pure heart against a conniving mind or brute force, an underdog versus a credible antagonistic force.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>