In a YouTube video, WWE floated the idea of possibly sending NXT graduates back to the developmental brand. These five wrestlers seem like the best candidates for such an assignment.
As we sit smack-dab in the middle of March, the 2019 baseball season quickly approaches, and while many of you will likely use that seven-month period to do literally anything else other than watch America’s Pastime — unless you happen to have a team in your city or you really like listening to Alex Rodriguez and Jessica Mendoza talk about the sport — everyone else will be inundated with a plethora of diving catches, gravity-bending curveballs, and monstrous home runs.
Additionally, Major League Baseball front offices will also use that time to make roster moves to give their respective teams the best chance to win, including calling up and sending down minor league players. Of course, deciding whether or not it’s too soon to give an inexperienced youngster a significant role on the main club (when they aren’t trying to game the arbitration system, that is).
This dilemma also plagues WWE when it comes to moving talent from its version of a minor league system, NXT, to either RAW and SmackDown. In theory, company CEO Vince McMahon would choose the wrestlers that are the most polished in terms of in-ring skill, character development, promo skills, and connection with the audience to fill his main roster give them the best chance for success.
Well, that seldom happens in reality. Instead, fans often look on helplessly as acts that are brought up far too soon flounder after failing to get over after two-week pushes and grapplers that seemed like sure stars get funneled into the neverending parity booking carousel.
Given the abundance of popular NXT performers that fall victim to McMahon’s “on to the next one” mentality, many fans wonder whether some of them could benefit from a return trip to the Full Sail University.
This strategy helped revitalize Tyson Kidd and Emma’s careers (somewhat) after floundering on the main roster and the company has already given us glimpses of what a free-flowing WWE roster that doesn’t completely eradicate the brand split could look like. If the company chooses to embrace reintroducing wrestlers into the NXT canon, these five could stand to gain the most from the experience.