Not every act in NXT (and eventually NXT UK) will find the same type of success on Raw or Smackdown. The continuing saga of Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley over the past few months is a prime example.
Sure, she’s the champion, but the character presentation has been less than stellar.
Success in NXT also doesn’t always translate to Raw or Smackdown. The Ascension were the longest reigning NXT Tag Team Champion only to become lower-card fodder. Then-Baron Corbin was fine in NXT, but it’s inarguable that he’s been a perfect fit for Vince McMahon’s wrestling shows.
Alexa Bliss started finding her niche toward the end of her NXT run, but she’s now been Women’s Champion multiple times on Raw and Smackdown.
There’s also the case of Elias, who found hardly any success in NXT, yet has carved out a solid mid-card career (and some high-profile feuds) after making the lateral move. I mean, he pinned former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston clean on April 19.
Of course, there are the big success stories like Roman Reigns, Asuka, Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Kevin Owens, and others.
With rumors that NXT and NXT UK talent will make the lateral shift, here are five acts I’d like to see on Monday and Friday nights.
Fightful Select reported that they were informed talents from both NXT brands would be moved and many have been planned for a while, but weren’t told how many or what acts. They also reported that talent had been speculating amongst themselves as to who would be moved.
You know what that means: speculation time!
In choosing the five acts, I did my best to avoid those who are embroiled in or just began angles/feuds. L.A. Knight would have been a perfect choice had he not seemingly aligned himself with Ted DiBiase Tuesday night against Cameron Grimes. Frankie Monet seems tailor-made for Raw or Smackdown, but she just had her debut match in NXT.
Stranger things have happened (Braun Strowman was moved over pretty quickly).
I also wanted to avoid current champions as much as possible. As much as I would love to see WALTER and Sheamus beat the hell out of each other, or for KUSHIDA to have a grappling clinic with Cesaro, it just doesn’t make sense to move them now.
Lastly, while the article is about five acts moving over, there will actually be seven wrestlers discussed as there are two tag teams. Also, one act began in NXT UK, but is now mostly NXT stateside.
Some honorable mentions: Ilja Dragunov to Smackdown; Adam Cole to Raw; Ridge Holland (when recovered from injury) to Smackdown; Jinny to Raw; and purely for my fantasy booking purposes, Meiko Satomura to Smackdown for matches with Banks and Belair.
With all that preamble aside, let’s move to the first act, one so obvious that WWE would be engaging in (to steal a phrase from Luke Thomas) promotional malpractice if they decided differently.
5) Io Shirai to Smackdown
All of the usual justifications for “callups” apply here: dominant champion, been in memorable matches like War Games, developed a distinct character, put on fantastic matches, etc. However many tropes you choose, Shirai hits all of them.
One thing I think some fans seem to ignore is the amount of work wrestlers such as Shirai, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Santos Escobar, and others have done to deliver passable to better promos in English. Shirai was adept at inserting her English lines for added effect while mostly speaking in Japanese.
She should be able to develop her English promo skills even more on Smackdown (as long as McMahon doesn’t have her go the hyperbolic route of pandemic-era Asuka). She also brings an intensity in character that transfers well to her promos, regardless of language.
Also, her entrance is dope.
While Raw does need more help in its women’s division, Shirai is just a more spiritual fit for what has traditionally been known as the “wrestling show” between the two shows .The other issue at play here is she would be entering a muddled division on Raw.
Remember what I said about fantasy booking Satomura? The same applies to Shirai. She immediately bolsters a roster with Belair, Banks, and Bayley firmly entrenched as the top acts. Carmella, Natalya, Tamina, Reckoning/Mia Yim, Ruby Riott, and Liv Morgan round out the rest of the crew.
Insert Shirai and build her toward eventual matches with the top three. Carmella or Reckoning would be a great first feud, though Shirai would need to gov over. Carmella is more able to absorb a loss, so maybe Shirai feuds with Carmella out of the gate, takes out the Riott Squad members, and defeats Mia Yim before facing off against whoever isn’t Women’s Champion of the top three.
Give me at least 20 minutes of Shirai vs. Belair, Shirai vs. Banks, and Shirai vs. Belair. You’re looking at Match of the Year candidates. Have her emerge victorious, heading into a title match undefeated.
Then, crown her. If it’s still Belair, you can channel their parallel histories in NXT and center their feud on Belair’s failure to capture the NXT Women’s Championship and trying to prevent Shirai from dethroning her.
Shirai should be an anchor for years to come.
4) Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon to Raw
I cover Raw for PWTorch.com. One of my main criticisms has been how the Women’s Championship and Women’s Tag Team Championship pictures have been so closely intertwined over the past 14 months or so. One issue is it spreads angles too thin for the Women’s Champion and her opponent (maybe even a tag partner) with a lack of focus on either title.
The other issue is the show is filled with makeshift teams of singles wrestlers thrust together to fill a show that runs three hours every Monday night.
Yes, Blackheart & Moon were a makeshift team at first, but they’ve maintained as a team and actually had success as a team. As a former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion, transitioning them to Monday nights also adds some credibility and legitimacy to the division, particularly if highlighted in vignettes and promos.
I’m not the biggest fan of the act, but one thing that is undoubted is that they bring both an energy and charisma that both the division and Raw desperately needs. Their entrance alone, if allowed, would put it in the top five on Monday nights as soon as they debut (nothing’s topping Bobby Lashley’s “All Mighty” entrance).
Further, with the incessant need to replay parts of segments that just happened (sans Monday night), who better than Blackheart to give some replay-worthy, gif-worthy, meme-worthy moments? They’ve shown they can garner fan engagement and investment with these kinds of moments as one tactic.
Since most fans just have an apathetic feeling toward Raw, this could prove to be a positive.
It also helps that Moon has experience on Raw, which should help make the transition easier for her and more importantly, for Blackheart. Moon can accelerate the learning curve for Blackheart regarding Raw style.
A needed injection of energy? Check. Adds a sense of credibility to the division? Check. Bonafide tag team? Check (mostly). Fan engagement and investment? Check.
Make the move.
3) Toni Storm to Raw
Anyone who’s followed my work for a while knows that I’m not a fan of Storm. It has nothing to do with her as a wrestler; she’s a perfectly capable and good wrestler.
I just haven’t been able to buy into the character.
However, that’s just me. There are plenty of people who disagree with me not only on Storm, but on wrestlers I like. That’s fine!
While I may not be a fan, I’m not oblivious. Her reactions over the years obviously indicate a lot of people like Storm.
With her in-ring acumen, look, and support from fans, Storm is an ideal fit for Monday nights.
It’s also important to note that at this point, it seems unlikely Storm will challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship soon. She’s essentially become a mid-card feud. A move could be just what is needed to refresh her character.
Like Ripley, whom Storm feuded with over the NXT UK Women’s Championship upon its inception, Storm’s look isn’t as cookie-cutter as we expect for Raw and Smackdown.
Storm’s style in-ring is also different from what is on Raw currently, mainly due to her worldly travels prior to signing with WWE. Sure, her matches will have to follow a certain script we’ve all become accustomed to, but she can imbue her style within the script.
Think of how a Sheamus match looks much different from an Elias match following a similar script, for example.
Further, as a former NXT UK Women’s Champion, she can work her way to a Women’s Championship match with her character reminding others (and herself) that she IS a former champion, and will be one again.
Place the emphasis of her journey, her “mission statement,” on becoming champion (as every wrestler should more often than not). Have Storm work her way by defeating wrestlers like Lana, Mandy Rose, and Nikki Cross.
There’s still that backstory with Ripley to play, and a match with Flair would be intriguing.
Regardless, Storm on Raw makes too much sense for it not to happen, but this is WWE, so who knows.
2) Grizzled Young Veterans to Smackdown
The reason I chose a video with a promo from Zack Gibson is due to one main reason: the tag team picture on Smackdown is just so bland like unseasoned chicken. Gibson on the mic, alone, turns that bland chicken into something like mesquite or hickory-smoked chicken.
Beyond that, Gibson is an absolute technician in the ring. He works an old-school heel style so well. One of the more entertaining things in GYV matches is when he backs away on his rear, Ric Flair style, pleading with the faces not to inflict more punishment.
His facial expressions are just hilarious.
His partner, James Drake, is someone I’ve called the most underrated wrestler in all of WWE. He can do just about everything in the ring at a high level; his mic work needs help, but I did say wrestler, not talker.
As a team, going back to legitimacy, they bring that as former NXT UK Tag Team Champion. They also were part of what I consider the best triple threat tag team match ever when they faced Gallus and Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff.
The Smackdown men’s tag team division really, really needs an injection of charisma and new blood. Gibson’s mic prowess and his ability to dig at fans, plus the skilled work in the ring by both Gibson and Drake, brings just that.
His promos will force the other teams to raise their level on the mic, and should result in some if not good, at least memorable interactions on the mic.
Gibson and Montez Ford? Should be hilarious. Gibson and Otis? I can just see Gibson’s frustrated reactions now. Gibson and the Mysterios? You just KNOW Gibson is going to say something so condescending as a show of “respect” to the elder Mysterio.
Gibson and the Tag Team Champion, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode? I mean, it might cause a face turn, but Gibson could run a whole set on their sense of “style,” their terrible nickname (Dirty Dawgs, really?), how Ziggler only yells in his promos, and so on.
Again, they can go in the ring. They do all of the little things right, like cutting off the ring, telling a story with their facial expressions, working a limb, selling an injury, etc.
Do yourself a favor and just queue up some GYV segments and matches. Then you’ll see why they’d be awesome on Friday nights.
1) Finn Balor to Raw
Even though colleague Raphael Garcia argued for Balor to move to Smackdown, I’m making the opposite argument here.
This is also all but telegraphed with Balor discussing the “allure” or returning to Raw or Smackdown on the Out of Character with Ryan Satin podcast earlier this week and his subsequent loss to Karrion Kross on Tuesday night for the NXT Championship (above).
Balor completely reinvented himself in his return to NXT. No longer was he the affable babyface that became NXT Champion and the first Universal Champion. Instead, he channeled more of his Prince Devitt character from New Japan.
He seems more comfortable now than at any time in his WWE career, a point he raised with Satin by saying this character is the closest to who he is as possible.
This is why I believe scoffs at the suggestion of moving him to Raw based on his previous stints on Monday and Friday nights are short-sighted. This isn’t just a completely different character, but a different person altogether.
In the ring, his abilities have never been in question. His Prinxe character carries a little more edge that makes his offense that much more believable. He can quicken the pace or slow it down. He can go hold-for-hold and fly with the best. He’s stronger than his size suggests, and takes on all comers.
His style also adds to the diversity of in-ring work. Lashley, McIntyre, Sheamus, Cedric Alexander, Shelton Benjamin, Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley, Asuka, Humberto Carrillo, Ricochet, Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Riddle, Randy Orton, and A.J. Styles are just some names that show the depth of talent and styles on Monday nights. Adding Balor is just an embarrassment of riches in terms of talent and styles.
Balor has a ready-made story for him on Raw. Sure, the Universal Championship is now blue and on the other show, but Raw is where he had to relinquish the title after suffering an injury in his title-winning match with Rollins. He could also turn it into a, “I already won that one, now I’m going to win the WWE Championship,” mission statement.
This character really works well when he faces larger foes like Kross or on Raw, potentially Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus. Remember his match with Lesnar? That’s a match Balor told Satin he wished he could “bottle up and sip,” but also shows how well he can work with bigger opponents.
This Prinxe character also makes it more believable that he’d win. I don’t think he should be the one to immediately dethrone Lashley or McIntyre should the latter win it again, but a solid build toward a future match should be enticing and probably a better time to crown Balor.
Looking at things more holistically, his entrance screams Raw. He does well enough on promos, especially when he brings the intensity.
His message of inclusivity is also a fit for the larger Raw audience and WWE’s PR campaigns, however superficial.
Hey, there’s nothing scarier than an inclusive, accepting badass.
I hope all five acts are shifted to the shows I suggested because, you know, I like to be right. Still, there are many possibilities to consider, particularly if you take out the caveats I listed in the beginning to make my decisions.
Who would you move and to what show? Why?