WWE NXT 2.0 star Pete Dunne wants to maintain the spirit of the black-and-gold brand.
The 2.0 revamp has drastically changed NXT from the product fans had come to know and love, but in this new era, Dunne wants to keep the in-ring standard of the brand at its previous levels.
“The BruiserWeight” described this goal during a recent appearance on After The Bell With Corey Graves.
He noted that NXT is “completely different now,” but he made it clear that his mission to put on great matches, remains the same. He then expressed his belief that many NXT veterans feel the same way.
“I mean it’s a completely different scene there now, right, and it continues to change,” said Dunne. “But to me, it’s business as usual in a sense, right, like I’m still me, I’m exactly the same, and I want to be as competitive as I can. I wanna put on the best matches I can, and it’s just a different crew of people to work with and do that, still do me the same style of match, the same sort of thing, but with a new cast of characters. And I’m looking forward to different opportunities to work with different guys and also show them what NXT is about, too.
“I think for a lot of these guys now, it’s about keeping that same standard that we got NXT known for. People knew about those TakeOvers, they were gonna be hard to follow, and I wanna keep it at that standard, right. And it’s just bring these new guys in and see if they can hang with us, and the ones that do, [it’s] still gonna have that same quality.”
Dunne went on to describe how NXT has always been known for its excellent in-ring work, and he shared his hope that the strength of WWE’s developmental system will help any and and all newcomers successfully keep the previous standard.
“To me the in-ring product has always been such a high level there,” said Dunne. “And you can argue it’s the best in the world, right. I wanna keep that. And obviously with newer guys coming in that maybe don’t have the background that people like myself and [Undisputed] Era or yourself [Graves] have had, that’s gonna feel difficult at first.
“But if there’s ever a place where hopefully we can manage that, it’s, I mean just look at the [WWE] Performance Center. You have access to Robbie Brookside, the William Regals, the Fit Finlays, all the way up to Shawn Michaels, you know, so you really can get a crash course in what this is. And I just hope that we can keep it to that standard, and I’m sure we can.”
“The BruiserWeight” also expressed his belief that this new era will simply be another evolution in NXT history, especially after some potential awkwardness. He then stated that he wants to see NXT maintain its typical buzz regarding its top stars and their bright futures.
“Even in a short space if time, you know, we’re only one big event in and I’m not sure how long now, but it’s still a fairly recent change,” said Dunne. “But you can see how much the audience is gravitating towards the Bron Breakkers, the Carmelos, you know, people like that so hopefully we’re at the start of something that is just the next evolution of NXT.
“Obviously things are gonna feel different for a while, there might be a bit of an awkward transition at times, but I hope overall there’s still that buzz about it and there’s still that, I can’t wait to see what this guy does when he moves up to RAW or SmackDown or goes on to do whatever it is that we’re all gonna do. Hopefully that buzz remains the same, and the in-ring quality can stay to a super high standard too.”
The full interview is available here:
