WWE: Santos Escobar is a main event level talent

Kushida and Santos Escobar stole the show on Tuesday night with their two-out-of-three falls match for the NXT cruiserweight title. Expectations were high for the match, but they exceeded those expectations by the end of the night. Kushida moves on to what is next while fans wonder where Escobar will turn up. Looking at the current slate of WWE heels, Escobar’s performances scream main event heel on any brand in wrestling.

There is only one heel in the WWE that is doing better work than Escobar right now. That person’s name is Roman Reigns. Reigns run since his return has been what fans wanted from him for years, and it is working each week. But take him out of the equation and Escobar presents as the perfect type of heel that could rule one of the brands within WWE. With Legado Del Fantasma by his side, it is time that he was booked in such a light.

The question is how could he get there? Right now, Karrion Kross is poised to hold that NXT title for an extended period, and Kross already defeated Escobar in a street fight months ago. The title would have to change hands to someone like Kyle O’Reilly before Escobar could enter the scene as the main foil. Reigns is out as he has other individuals to focus on and Escobar does not fit that space either. Perhaps Drew McIntyre if he finds a way to take the title off Bobby Lashley, but fans of Escobar’s work in NXT will cringe at the idea of this group on Monday Night Raw.

Wherever Escobar turns up next, it does not change the fact that he is one of the top performers across all the WWE. He has all the tools, promo abilities, in-ring work, marketable looks, everything about Escobar points toward an individual that could be a star to build a brand around for a long time to come.

WWE Creative has an interesting challenge on its hands. WWE NXT is not promoted as a “main roster” brand, placing the talent on that show at a lower tier. Just look to how the show was not booked in both Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble in 2020 and 2021 respectively, negating their great showing at the Survivor Series in 2019. In some ways, that is for the better as the brand on Tuesday consistently outperforms Monday and Friday. When talent is called up to the main roster, very few are booked in a meaningful fashion. Matt Riddle and potentially Damian Priest are the only two examples that have bucked the trend on the men’s side. Escobar can be the shift to change that problem.

WWE NXT was pushed to Tuesday nights nearly a month ago. In that time the show has turned around nearly 180 degrees to bring the product nearly back to where it was when the brand was at its height. Santos Escobar is one of the many performers on the show that have helped lift the show up to these heights. He has everything needed to become a main event level heel worker for the company, the question is whether the company straps the proverbial rockets to his shoulders.