For many years before the rise of cable television and Vince McMahon's WWF, the landscape of professional wrestling in the United States was made up of many territories, with each promotion dominating its own swath of the country. Speaking on "Busted Open Radio," Bully Ray shared his belief that WWE is reviving some elements from history under the leadership of Paul "Triple H" Levesque, comparing it to the "farm" system utilized in professional baseball.
"Whether it's with NXT, whether it's with WWE ID, [and] now the partnership with TNA, it's kind of like a territory system," Bully said. "AAA [baseball] is NXT. Maybe the WWE ID system maybe that's like picking kids out of high school and bringing them into single-A ball. Maybe TNA can be looked at as AA ball."
Part of why Bully believes this idea stems from Levesque is because the two previously talked about implementing this kind of system more than 20 years ago. At the time, the two both believed that WWE could set up smaller promotions run by people like Paul Heyman and Jim Cornette that would feed performers into WWE once they got enough experience.
The first signs of WWE and TNA working together began three years ago, with Mickie James appearing in the 2022 WWE Women's Royal Rumble match while serving as the Knockouts World Champion. Jordynne Grace then appeared in last year's Royal Rumble, which kicked off a flurry of activity involving the two promotions in 2024.
WWE ID was announced in the latter part of last year, offering different kinds of support for independent wrestlers involved with the program. As for NXT, that brand has served as WWE's primary developmental platform since the end of FCW more than a decade ago. The show began as a hybrid wrestling/reality series and then a streaming-exclusive wrestling show before being picked up for a TV deal in 2019.
