WWE NXT: Double Dipping Talent Has to Stop
It’s time to stop the NXT double dipping their talent.
Finding complaints to raise about NXT at times can be similar to serious nitpicking. The promotion has been consistently good and more often than not hitting great lately, but there’s one not so minor issue that needs to be addressed: the double dip.
That’s when an NXT star gets called up to the main roster yet is still a semi-regular on NXT. That’s like the senior who walked the stage, got their diploma and still shows up for English class the following Monday.
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Presumably, the ultimate goal for every NXT star is to make it to the main roster so Baron Corbin showing up on the April 13 edition of NXT to squash Tucker Knight seemed a legitimate step backward for the guy who laid out former world champ Dolph Ziggler two weeks ago on RAW.
The April 20 show is set to feature Apollo Crews against Samoa Joe. Granted, whipping up on The Social Outcasts and Tyler Breeze on RAW isn’t exactly becoming the No. 1 Contender to Roman Reigns’ title, but what’s the incentive for Crews to take on a still very raging mad Samoa Joe? And hey The Vaudevillains are competing in the WWE tag team tournament for a shot at New Day and not at all surprisingly lost to Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa.
As a result of the frequent double dipping of NXT talent title matches have lost a little suspense. The moment NXT champion Kevin Owens accepted John Cena’s U.S. Open Challenge it killed all the suspense of his Beast in the East clash with Finn Balor. Ditto for his NXT Takeover: Brooklyn rematch.
The same could be said when NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks debuted the same night as Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Bayley finally defeating her longtime rival in Brooklyn was an amazing show-stealing moment, but it would have been even better if Banks didn’t already have one eye on bigger and better things like beating Nikki Bella for the Divas Championship.
This is not exactly a new occurrence. Even after raising terror in the WWE with his fellow Shield mates, Seth Rollins was still the NXT champ so when he returned to defend the title Dec. 6, 2012 against Big E Langston, the result was a foregone conclusion.
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It’s not like WWE can’t synch these NXT call-ups better. It just needs some minor plotting out to ensure all the taped NXT matches with the pending new arrival have aired before they debut on RAW.
WWE seemed to have it right when Big Cass and Enzo failed to defeat The Revival for the NXT titles at Roadblock and then showed up the night after Wrestlemania on RAW. They had no obligations at that point and were free to get moved to the main roster. But now they’re scheduled to face American Alpha for the tag titles while competing in the WWE tag tourney. Are WWE fans supposed to consider the NXT tag titles on the same footing as the WWE titles if Enzo and Cass can take time away from the tournament to go after the NXT titles?
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A little planning goes a long way in this case for the latest wave of NXT stars so before Finn Balor pops up on RAW to kick it with Anderson and Gallows, let’s hope he drops the NXT title first.