Pete Dunne On The Direction He Sees WWE NXT 2.0 Going

As a guest on a recent episode of WWE After the Bell with Corey Graves, Pete Dunne joined to talk about his own personal experience when he came to NXT compared to that of what the current talent in NXT 2.0 is going through. The 28-year-old mentioned how NXT has gone back to the main goal for talent being getting called up rather than establishing themselves as a legit third brand.

"I had a weird situation when I came in because I wasn't strictly an NXT guy," Dunne said. "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."

Pete Dunne finished by stating what his end goal is for the end of his run in NXT. The Bruiserweight also mentioned how he'd love to face a lot of the new faces in NXT 2.0.

"The big one that's evaded me for a long time is the NXT title," Dunne mentioned. "I'd be lying if I said I don't feel like I deserve a run with that and I can do great things with that. It's obviously something that I've been right there so many times, so that's something I would love to accomplish in my career.

"Outside of that, there are all these guys now for me to work with and different scenarios to be in so I'm just excited to see what the future holds really."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE After the Bell with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.