Former NXT UK Star and current NXT Star Pete Dunne recently appeared on an episode of WWE's After the Bell with Corey Graves, where he talked about how the main goal of WWE NXT 2.0 has changed from Stars wanting to be called up to the main roster to the NXT brand wanting to prove themselves and establish themselves as WWE's recognized and legitimate third brand and to be in the same level as Monday Night RAW and Friday Night SmackDown.
Pete Dunne said:
“I had a weird situation when I came in because I wasn’t strictly an NXT guy.” “I was doing the UK Tournament still. I was still doing independent shows at the time. I would also get to be on RAW and SmackDown live events and be a part of the Royal Rumble. I was just scattered all around the scene, so for me, it didn’t always feel like that. Sinking more into NXT, it almost became a mindset of, ‘We want to make this on the same level as RAW and SmackDown.’ Every TakeOver we had before the main roster show, we wanted to make them follow this.”
“It became less about wanting to go up there and show I can hang with these guys [on the main roster], instead make the whole brand and elevate it to the point where it’s on the same level. I can see it heading now in a way where it’s heading back to that older mentality of wanting to get up to RAW or SmackDown and show what we can do alongside them. It’s just another shift, but it’s the same chip on your shoulder, same mentality of proving that it’s not just the next guys, we can do this right now.”
You can check out Pete Dunne's full comments at this link. H/T to Wrestling Inc. for transcribing the above quotes.
