Kyle O'Reilly Explains NXT 2.0's Biggest Problem

By Connor Casey

Kyle O'Reilly was a guest on Renee Paquette's The Sessions this week and provided some perspective on the changes NXT has undergone since its 2.0 reboot last September. O'Reilly went from main eventing TakeOver events and challenging from the NXT championship to be Von Wagner's tag team partner following the split, then opted to leave the WWE after his contract expired in December. 

The changes to WWE's developmental system have included a greater focus on homegrown wrestlers from the Performance Center with little-to-no experience on the independent scene, more outlandish characters, integration with the Monday Night Raw roster and the adoption of certain booking habits from the main roster. But O'Reilly said the real problem with NXT is a lack of genuine love for the art of wrestling.

"I think people in wrestling are really rare in the sense that you really, really have to love it," Kyle shared. "I think that might be an underlying problem in this new NXT," O'Reilly said. "There's a lot of people coming in that I don't think really have that true love for it. I'm sure they'll do well, they'll make a big splash, be a big star, and make a ton of money, but at the end of the day, if your heart isn't really in it, I don't know. It's tough."

He also talked about his decision to leave WWE for AEW — "The AEW locker room is full of the guys that I came up with in this business that I've been friends with for years. There was a lot of that in NXT too, but it seemed like every couple weeks I would look around at the locker room and it was getting decimated. It wasn't a very good environment, I guess, at that time. I wanted to follow my heart where I'm going to be happy and be utilized."

"I felt to stay with WWE, it was going to be to stay with NXT, and at this point after four and a half years, if you don't really have a spot with Kyle O'Reilly on the main roster, I got the vibe that there wasn't going to be a spot for me up there," he added.

h/t WrestlingNews.co

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