WWE News: Former World Champion Says That NXT Is Still A ‘Training Ground’

Back in September of 2019, the WWE main roster grew by one brand as NXT snagged a TV deal and extended everything. Virtually everyone sees the brand as being on the same level as Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown, but all are not on the same page. Kurt Angle recently gave his thoughts on NXT and how they compare to the other two brands, but he still considers them to be the developmental area of WWE.

Last year, Angle officially retired from professional wrestling with one final match which was a loss to Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35. The Olympic gold medalist has still been around WWE doing some behind-the-scenes work, but his in-ring career certainly appears to be over for good.

Recently, Sportskeeda caught up with Angle to discuss a number of topics with him, and the subject of NXT came about. He loves the brand and believes that the superstars there get more of a chance to shine over those on Raw and SmackDown which means they have more freedom.

Angle said that “every match is 30 minutes” on NXT and that is something that the red and blue brand superstars hardly ever get the privilege of enjoying. He goes on to say that things like that give them “more freedom on what they want to do,” but he doesn’t necessarily see them as the better product.

Angle was quite complimentary of NXT and said that they are great at what they do, but things took a bit of a turn. When asked if they are better than Raw or SmackDown, Angle said something that may not sit too well with a lot of people.

“I think NXT is a great brand. I think Triple H has done an incredible job with that. But you know what? It is still the ‘training ground’ for Raw and SmackDown.”

This is something that a lot of superstars and wrestlers from around the world will not agree with Angle on. For years, NXT (previously Florida Championship Wrestling) had been seen as the developmental territory for superstars before being brought up to WWE’s main roster.

After the NXT ended up on the USA Network on Wednesday nights, things have changed and there are not many who see it as a “training ground” any longer. Kurt Angle has been around the wrestling business for a very long time, and he knows a lot about WWE and other promotions. While his opinions are going to be respected and understood by fans and other superstars, there are not many who will agree with him on this view.