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WWE NXT On CW Debut Proved To Be An Extraordinary Time For All Ages

WWE NXT's debut on CW was a hit for the youngest audience.

Steven Muelhausen

Trick Williams wins the NXT Heavyweight Championship on NXT's debut on CW.
Trick Williams wins the NXT Heavyweight Championship on NXT's debut on CW. / WWE.com

ROSEMONT, Ill. — From the Hulkamania Era until 1996-1997, the WWE was a product you felt comfortable buying tickets for and bringing the family of four to watch your favorite superstars. Things changed when fans started getting tired of the same old act, and from the early 1990s until most of 1997, the WWE was on a downswing to the point they almost went out of business.

Seeing they needed to shift their philosophy, the Attitude Era was bestowed upon us. It became more vulgar with swearing, scantly clad women, and sexual innuendos to the point where the company reached pop culture. But that wasn't an environment you wanted to take your children to, as it catered more to the 18-49 demographic.

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Realizing they couldn't go the gratuitous route forever, WWE shifted to a more family-friendly product. Hence, parents started to feel more comfortable bringing their children to events again. With creative storylines now to keep people of all ages interested, the WWE hasn't seen this worldwide popularity since the boom of the Attitude Era from 1998 to early 2002.

For this writer, that was on full display Tuesday evening at WWE NXT's debut on CW from the Allstate Arena, right outside Chicago. The two-hour event was an experience I'll never forget, and through it all, the show proved WWE is hitting on all cylinders for their entire fan base.

My two sons, eight and five, respectively, had never been to a WWE show. And I had never taken my wife of nearly ten years to one either. We had tickets to Hell In A Cell in 2022, but my oldest got sick and could not attend. So when I saw the NXT on CW debut would be coming to my backyard, I reached out to the Public Relations team at WWE and asked for four tickets to make it a family affair. The WWE representative said, "100%". My children and wife were excited. Little did I know what would come next.

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Mid-afternoon on Tuesday, I received a notification about the tickets. When I opened the app where they were at, I was stunned. After telling them where the seats were, they were excited, but I could see they didn't believe me.

Once we got into the Allstate Arena and found our seats in the first row, directly behind the stellar announce team of Vic Joseph and Booker T, my boys were so shocked they didn't know what to do. When Joseph came out, he graciously handed two bags of Sour Patch Kids to them. They were floored and softly said, "Thank you".

After eating them, my oldest proceeds to say, "Dad, I'm never throwing this bag away for the rest of my life."

Then Booker T comes out and gives my youngest and my wife a fist bump. On the other hand, my oldest gets shy but gives a coy smile to the five-time WCW Heavyweight Champion and former WWE World Heavyweight Champion. My wife glowingly stated to me, "Booker T just touched my hand". All I could do was smile to see the joy in their eyes.

When Shawn Michaels came out to open the show, the inner teenager came out of my wife and me as we both started singing "The Sexy Boy" song, while my kids looked at us like the early forties people that we are in befuddlement. When Paul "Triple H" Levesque came out, my kids at the same exact time said in awe, "Dad, oh my god, Triple H is right in front of us".

After seeing a very good Women's Title match between Roxanne Perez and Giula, we got the street fight between Wes Lee and Zachary Wentz. Objects were surrounding the ringside area before Lee and Wentz came out.

"Look at the size of the garbage can", my oldest said to me. "I wish I can grab and use it."

Lee and Wentz pulled out all the stops. From using the garbage can to which my oldest loved, to the use of the chairs which my youngest put his head down to my wife, then to the flips over the ropes and the maneuvers from the top turnbuckle, it all left my kids to rise up from their seats and chant in unison with the crowd, "This is awesome".

Then The Miz came out and was mercifully booed by my children and the crowd. My wife seemed to be the only one inside the Allstate Arena cheering for him, to my amusement.

Then NXT North American Women's Champion Kelani Jordan came out and slapped the hands of my boys. They had this big grin on their faces after she did it, even though she did the same thing to other kids around the barricade. I realized right there that despite Jordan slapping the hands of others, it was the fact she did it for "them", which is all they cared about.

For them and likely the majority in the venue, it was to see CM Punk, who was the special guest referee for the main event for the NXT Heavyweight Championship between Ethan Page and Trick Williams.

When Punk came out, men, women, and children alike erupted in adulation for the hometown guy. My children chanted, "It's Clobbering Time" and were excited to see one of their favorite WWE superstars come within inches of them.

As Williams came out, the entire crowd expoded into "Whoop that Trick" chants. My children jumped up and down chanting along with the other children and adults who were around us. During the match, like other fans, they kept booing Page in wanting to see their heroes to emerge victorious.

When Williams got the pin to regain the championship to a massive roar, confetti dropped down and my kids grabbed some of it, stuffed it in their pockets and continued to jump up in excitement for getting to see their guy become the king of the mountain for the second time. With the confetti still dropping, Williams started slapping hands, including my wife and children.

"Daddy, I'm never washing this hand again," my oldest in excitement screamed to me.

"Dad, this is so cool," my youngest shouted in happiness.

Throughout the two-hour show, I'm looking around and watching children with a glow on their faces and watching adults give their passionate takes about what they are seeing. And I'm just soaking it all up, filled with emotion and knowing I need to write about this because this is wrestling and should always be, regardless of promotion.

It is all about those experiences. Wrestling should be about giving something to everybody, whether you are five years old or fifty-five years old. Not everything should be catered to one audience. That's not a way to grow your audience. You should always look to the future because the person who is 55 isn't going to be around forever. Companies must see what these younger demographics are into and build off of that.

And now, you have three new hardcore fans in a five year old, an eight year old and a 42 year old.

Thank you to WWE for showing this writer on a cool, Tuesday evening inside one of the most iconic wrestling venues in the world that life is about making lifetime memories with the people you love more than anything. That's what it's all about.

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Steven Muelhausen
STEVEN MUELHAUSEN

: Steven Muehlhausen is a veteran combat sports writer for various outlets including Sporting News and Yahoo Sports. He can be reached at stevemuehlhausen@yahoo.com and followed on Twitter @SMuehlhausenJr.

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