WWE must stop bringing main roster talent down to NXT

This week’s NXT episode saw the debut of Mustafa Ali and Baron Corbin in NXT 2.0, which just adds to the lengthy list of talent that was on the main roster moving down to NXT.

NXT, ever since its inception, was branded as a developmental brand designed to help bring young talent up to the main roster level, but now it is also being used differently.

Superstars WWE have failed to book consistently on the main roster and are now being sent back down to NXT. Just to name a few Veer Mahaan, Finn Balor, and Apollo Crews in recent years have all found themselves back down on the developmental scene, even after they made relatively significant runs on the main roster.

WWE needs to be held accountable for their booking on the main roster, by being able to reinvent talent and their gimmicks, all while being on Monday and Friday nights. There is no reason superstars under NXT contract should be forced to be involved in lesser programs because a former main roster talent needs to be brought down to developmental to get a revamp.

Getting runs in NXT if you have previous history with an opponent is fine, but superstars shouldn’t be randomly showing back up on NXT and immediately going for the top stars. If superstars end up coming back down to the main roster, they should be subjected to starting in the same place other newcomers are, having to prove themselves to climb the ranks.

WWE could’ve easily returned Baron Corbin to his ‘lone wolf’ gimmick on the main roster by having him go through trials and tribulations again, instead of injecting him into the NXT title scene. Mustafa Ali just got done putting up a valiant effort against Gunther in an Intercontinental Championship match, and now he wants to take his anger out on developmental talent…how does that make any sense?

If WWE fails to book a superstar prominently, they need to be able to pivot and reinvent gimmicks on the main roster without having to infringe on the promise of young talent just trying to get tv time.