Mariah May didn’t need much time to show up in WWE. During the June 5 episode of NXT, she popped up during a segment that featured new NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne and much of the women’s division. She declared that she’s the future of the division, and the scene is set for the next phase of her career to take place on WWE’s Tuesday brand. Many took to social media to discuss her jump to NXT and whether this was the “right” move. When wading through all the discourse, good faith and not, it’s easy to understand this is the correct move for this moment.
It is understandable why this is even a debate. Just a few short months ago, Mariah May was the AEW Women’s World Champion. She held that title for 174 days, telling an amazing story opposite of Toni Storm. Along the way she’d defeat some of the biggest names in women’s wrestling today including Thunder Rosa, Willow Nightingale, Nyla Rose, Mina Shirakawa, Yuka Sakazaki, and several others.
Then, there was the wildly popular “Hollywood Ending” match against Storm that should have been a history-making moment. May versus Storm was the best match of the card and fans believed it should have been the main event. While it wasn’t the last match on the card, it was the main event of our hearts.
Mariah May in WWE NXT is the right move
Now, Mariah May is in NXT, where WWE has built one of the best presentations of women’s wrestling in the business. The women’s division is consistently featured on the show, with several matches and segments going to that group on a nightly basis. The women are frequently placed in prime positions on the card, both opening and closing the show. In fact, the women’s division is carrying NXT, and it is not even close.
May going from AEW to NXT may be seen as a “downgrade,” but that’s only half of the equation. Is she going to a smaller audience with less experienced talent to compete against? Yes. Is she still a part of the WWE brand which has created massive stars along the way? Also, yes.
Take some of the recent NXT call-ups as examples. Stephanie Vaquer, Roxanne Perez, Jordynne Grace, and Giulia are all moved to or expected to move to the main roster soon. Each one of these women come with more experience than May. Vaquer and Grace have more than double the in-ring of experience according to Cagematch. They stepped into NXT and had impressive runs. Runs that set them up to be even bigger stars on the main roster. Listen to the reaction Vaquer is already getting on Monday Night Raw. She’s already a star and that is directly attributed to her time in NXT which allowed her to be introduced to the WWE audience.
NXT is a platform where performers with strong, hardcore fanbase can be introduced to WWE’s casual audience. WWE does not have the same type of audience as AEW, so taking the time to build these performers on NXT makes sense when looked at through that lenses. This is not a statement on May’s talent, but more a statement about the knowledge that WWE’s audience will have of her. Fightful Select reported that “the plan for a while has been for her on NXT.” So, this is a step that has been calculated from the start.
WWE’s main roster women’s division needs some time to welcome Mariah May
There’s also a worthy conversation to have about WWE’s main roster not being “ready” for Mariah May. It was just a few weeks ago that fans were complaining about Alexa Bliss’s lack of usage, and the mid-card championships getting sub-par booking. Triple H needs to fix those issues before taking on another big name who fans will be watching closely.
A lot of online discourse around professional wrestling should be ignored. However, there are some talking points worth consideration. Moving Mariah May to NXT is one of those points and too many were quick to declare this a bad idea as there is plenty of evidence to prove otherwise.