Scott Fishman passed along the following recent interview he conducted with NXT star Tyler Breeze. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
On NXT’s rise in popularity:
“There were a lot more people as soon as the network came out, I would go to Best Buy or Publix for groceries. I would get asked, ‘Hey, Are you Tyler Breeze?’ People started noticing. People are watching this. When I started doing live events on the main roster, you assume people don’t know who you are because you aren’t on Raw or SmackDown. Then you go out for something to eat and people are asking if I’m Tyler Breeze. They tell me they watch NXT every week. Everywhere you go people are talking more and more about NXT. We had the San Jose show with more than 5,000 people to see NXT. Just that alone is an idea of how many people are watching.”
On the evolution of his character:
“When I initially started it, the persona was totally going to be something else that it didn’t end up being, From input here and there with ideas from different people, it sort of turned an almost opposite way that I was going for. At the very beginning of the character we had the pocket mirror. We did everything with the mirror. Then Triple H said we were past that and to move on to selfies. He suggested we use a cell phone. We modernized it. That was two years ago. Now it’s 2015, and everyone has a cell phone on them all the time. They are always checking Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. There is so much stuff that you could do with that. I’ve had the opportunity to be a first in WWE to actually do some things. My entrance streams from the phone to the big screen. At TakeOver we did the Periscope where thousands of people were watching from my cell phone as I was making my entrance. That is something nobody has done before. As technology advances and new things come out, I’m the one who gets to play with that. I see it as a huge opportunity for me.”
ChannelGuideMagBlog.com: WWE’s Tyler Breeze talks about his success and the NXT phenomenon