Bobby Fish Fondly Remembers When WWE NXT Was The Hottest Place To Be

While "WWE NXT" has been scoring good TV ratings as of late — partially due to main roster appearances from the likes of Becky Lynch and Dominik Mysterio — many fans still harken back to the black and gold glory days. During that era of "NXT," top stars from the independent scene were getting involved and Takeover events were consistently selling out arenas. Bobby Fish was part of that scene, and he's well aware of how special that time in "NXT" truly was.

"You just didn't know who was going to show up next, and these were people that you thought were never going to WWE," he told "Developmentally Speaking." "They were great performers, great wrestlers, but they're just not the WWE prototype, they're not Hulk Hogan. But, things change, progress happened, and I think 'NXT' held that position for a long time. Because they had it when those Takeovers started and — dare I say — they had it through almost all of our run."

Fish believes that NJPW was hot just before "NXT," praising Gedo for constantly replacing top talent. Meanwhile, he believes the ROH era when Samoa Joe was on the rise is another example. However, this particular era of "NXT" was a special time in wrestling. With the likes of Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, and Shinsuke Nakamura all making the move to WWE, "NXT" became must-see television for wrestling fans, eventually leading to the show moving to cable television and expanding to two hours. 

WWE eventually decided to rebrand "NXT" into its "2.0" form, which caused a massive shift in both its presentation and the type of wrestlers that were featured. Rather than working with experienced indie stars like Fish, WWE began focusing entirely on young prospects coming out of other sports.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Developmentally Speaking" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.