The US Open Challenge and Its Effects on NXT

The US Open Challenge and Its Effect on NXT

Over the recent past there has been one segment I look forward to all week, that segment is called the US Open Challenge. This challenge has proven week in and week out to be one of the best, if not the best, segments on Raw. Many people would credit the success of the US Open Challenge to United States champion John Cena. While perhaps partially true, it’s certainly not the whole story. In the past I would expect WWE to trot out some bottom of the card wrestler to feed to John Cena. The match would last about two minutes and that’s it. When it comes to John, this has been the formula used for years. Now, I have to take a second to state that, I am not a John Cena hater. I respect the guy and realize that he is one of the best workers in the business. His passion for the business is right up there with the best wrestlers in history. However,  for so many years we have gotten accustomed to him mowing down each and every foe that stands in his way without receiving so much as a scratch.

This month however, WWE began doing something a little different. They began bringing up “new” guys for one-night-only matches against John Cena. Now like everyone else, when I hear that sentence I immediately assume squash-match; John retains the title, then it’s on to Sandow’s comedy bit. To Raw’s credit, it actually it has been quite the opposite. Just a few short weeks ago WWE began to utilize one of it’s greatest strengths, the NXT roster. In the last few weeks we have seen the likes of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens answering the call to combat from the US Champ himself.

This has paid huge dividends for WWE as these new guys are delivering in a huge way. First it was Sami Zayn who came out to a rowdy hometown crowd. He amazed us all as he flew around the ring, taking the fight to John Cena. Sami and John put on one heck of a match. It wasn’t until after the match that we learned Sami was hurt for the entire match, making his story even more special.

 The following match we received the exact opposite. The calm, cool and collected Kevin Owens answered the call. Owens came down to the ring and cut a scathing promo about John Cena. Owens, unprepared for a match, proceeded to lay out the champ with a monster power bomb! Owens walked away from Raw looking like a total monster! These two events have put the wrestling world on notice. They proved that the NXT guys are not just developmental wrestlers who will be jobbing to the main roster guys. These guys are coming to steal the show every night.

One of the main reasons these guys can deliver and do it on a nightly basis is because they are professionals. Guys like Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Finn Balor have been wrestling for years out side of WWE. Heck, some of them have been wrestling in major promotions for close to a decade or more. These guys are experienced, hungry and ready to make an impact. I, for one, am excited by the way WWE has used the US open challenge to put these guys on the map. They have used it as a launch pad for their careers and honestly I think the sky is the limit for these NXT guys. So set back, buckle your seat belt and enjoy the ride! I think the next few years will be some of the best in the history of wrestling.