Daniel Bryan has suggested in a roundabout way that WWE may want to begin cultivating another developmental territory. Bryan’s reasoning was that WWE has done such an incredible job with turning NXT into a third global brand under the WWE umbrella, and now it has evolved to a point where it is no longer considered a developmental territory. So, in essence, that brings up the question of whether WWE has a developmental territory at this point in time (which the company needs in order to be able to cultivate new stars and give them a taste of what life would be like on the main roster).
Bryan believes it may be time for the company to start planting the seeds for the inception of a new developmental territory since NXT is already promoted globally and has a TV show every week on the USA Network (same as the main roster). The brand also delivers quarterly Pay-Per-View events on the WWE Network.
Daniel told Michael Morales Torres of Lucha Libre Online that the company needs to address the situation by creating a new developmental territory to fill the void left by NXT as a result of its growth:
“I definitely don’t think NXT is considered as a developmental territory anymore, which leaves a question: do we have a developmental territory? Those guys are awesome and I do consider NXT a third brand for our company.” Bryan believes young talent in WWE might work better at first performing “under the radar” without quite as much pressure as a global brand like NXT now brings.
One can see evidence of this in the fact that NXT was heavily featured as WWE’s third brand on par with RAW and SmackDown at Survivor Series 2019. Superstars such as Roderick Strong, Keith Lee, and Rhea Ripley all received a major career-defining moments at the event – Ripley even received an opportunity to defend her NXT Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 36.
Daniel might have more leverage than just about any other performer because he has not only accomplished so much and was one of the favorites to win the 2021 men’s Royal Rumble, but he is also a current member of the writing team for SmackDown on FOX. Because of this, Bryan has a significant amount of pull backstage over the company’s direction.
This is not to say necessarily that a new developmental territory in WWE will be established, but it bodes well for the inception of this that Daniel Bryan voiced his advocacy for it to be established. It would not be the most surprising thing in the world if a new WWE developmental territory was at least explored.