WWE: NXT on USA should be included in the wild card rule

With WWE moving NXT to USA Network on September 18th, they should begin to treat the brand like more of an equal by including it in the wild card rule.

Following the bombshell announcement that WWE would be adding a second hour to NXT and moving it to USA Network as a live show on September 18th, there’s rightfully been some trepidation from fans.

After all, this is entirely new territory for one of WWE’s most consistently entertaining shows. While that could certainly mean some unwelcome changes, it does undoubtedly mean we could see some improvements as well.

One such improvement would be for WWE to include NXT as part of the wild card rule, regardless of whether or not the rule continues to link the Raw and SmackDown rosters together.

There’s been plenty of speculation recently about the actual status of the wild card rule for the main roster, but that shouldn’t prevent WWE from making the right decision and using it for NXT.

With a whole second hour added to each week’s broadcast, there would be more than enough time to work some more stars from the main roster onto the brand’s weekly shows.

While some of that time will likely just be spent prominently including each of NXT’s champions on every show, something which is somewhat of a rare occurrence at times for the brand, the rest should be wide open for the taking.

Of course, that means there will be more opportunities for NXT to push still developing talents, but it should also mean there’s time for the brand to reestablish some of its stars who have become forgotten on the main roster.

Superstars like Eric Young, No Way Jose, EC3, and to a slightly lesser extent Heavy Machinery and Aleister Black have all struggled to establish a consistent presence on Raw or SmackDown.

A short run in NXT for any of them, but especially for Young and EC3 who NXT arguably didn’t use enough during their first go-around, could revitalize them in the same way in which we’ve seen Killian Dain restored to prominence as of late.

The strong presence of the wild card rule could then allow them to seamlessly transfer back up to SmackDown or Raw when the timing was right for them to rejoin the main roster.

Likewise, former NXT stars like Cesaro who are currently not in any major storyline could also bounce back into the brand for a quick match or two to potentially help put over a new talent, while still keeping active on WWE TV.

While those changes would all be welcome, I do have to admit that they are both elements which have been accomplished without the wild card rule in effect, so to speak. Therefore, officially adding the rule would only solidify WWE’s stance regarding those situations, hopefully increasing their frequency as a result.

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That does, however, lead me to perhaps the biggest potential benefit for NXT using the wild card rule. The newfound ability to briefly send talent up to the main roster without triggering a full call-up situation.

We’ve seen in the recent past what can happen when WWE pulls too many superstars up from NXT at once. They just flounder for awhile before hopefully finding a role, if that role ever even materializes.

The wild card rule would not only allow WWE to test the waters with new talent in different situations more safely, something which would have been welcome during Aleister Black and Ricochet’s brief team-up for example, but it would also allow for NXT’s wide pool of superstars to be used whenever they’re wanted or needed on Raw or SmackDown for a brief period.

Arguably right now, both brands could use some NXT talent to flesh out the women’s tag team division. Teams like Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke, or the wildly underused pairing of Lacey Lane and Kacy Catanzaro could help provide some much needed depth in the short term to a division that really only has 4 established teams.

Similarly, if WWE ever wanted to make some dream match-ups happen at a moment’s notice, they would have an easy excuse to make that a reality.

For example, it doesn’t seem like we’re anywhere near seeing New Day versus Undisputed Era becoming a reality, given Adam Cole and company’s extremely prominent role in NXT right now, but that might not be the case under the wild card rule.

Hypothetically speaking, that match could easily take place at any point, potentially even at a show like Clash of Champions for example, giving fans a chance to witness a must-see match long before it would happen on the main roster, if it were to ever happen at all.

Of course, that sort of scenario would need to be somewhat rare, and closely moderated. In fact, the entire usage of the wild card rule in NXT would need to be regulated to the point that WWE didn’t abuse it to find time for more unnecessary segments from people like Shane McMahon.

Nevertheless, to me, there’s plenty of clear benefits that could come from WWE using the wild card rule with NXT, courtesy of the company hopefully finally seeing the brand as more of an equal to their flagship shows thanks to its new network TV deal.