WWE NXT: What Can Be Learned from 2016 Call-Ups?
What can be learned from the WWE NXT call-ups of 2016?
There are a lot of positives about WWE NXT. It provides a platform for homegrown talent and new signees to connect with the WWE Universe. There have even been times when the “developmental” brand has been the best show in WWE programming. Superstars work hard and spend time in developmental to get one thing: a main roster call up.
Sometimes an NXT Superstar gets called up and is still on the top of their game. Other times, we’ve seen some of the most promising NXT stars struggle. There are reasons why this is the case, but they can all be fixed.
First, WWE should call up a superstar(s) as soon as they’re ready. One great example of this was American Alpha. After defeating The Revival at NXT TakeOver: Dallas, a lot of people thought we could see Chad Gable and Jason Jordan go on a long title run.
However, they ended up dropping the titles back to the Revival at NXT TakeOver: The End. There were a lot of questions surrounding the move. That is until WWE announced the Brand Extension Draft. American Alpha was one of the hottest acts in all of WWE and they ended up getting drafted to SmackDown, where they are the current tag team champions.
Another thing that could help NXT call-ups is strong booking. WWE does this to an extent but not to the fullest. It seems like every NXT call up has an undefeated streak for some time after they debut.
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However, once the streak is snapped, creative seems to lose that superstar in the shuffle. There are two really good examples of this, Kevin Owens and Finn Balor. When Kevin Owens debuted in response to John Cena’s US Open Challenge not everyone knew who he was. That all changed when he defeated Cena at Elimination Chamber. While this didn’t make Owens’ career it certainly put him on the map in a big way. The same could be said about Finn Balor. Balor won a fatal four-way match against Rusev, Cesaro and Owens to earn a No. 1 contender’s match later that night against Roman Reigns. Balor defeated Reigns to become earn a match against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam where he won to become the Inaugural WWE Universal Champion.
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While not every call up should be in a title picture upon getting called up, they should be put in a situation to succeed. While the success of an NXT call up is ultimately up to them, it wouldn’t hurt to get a little bit more back up from WWE. With people like Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka and The Revival almost guaranteed to get called up this year, I’m sure we’ll see what, if anything, WWE has changed.