WWE will reportedly be promoting more NXT stars to Raw and SmackDown in the coming weeks. (Credit: ... [+]
WWE is doing everything it can to revamp its rosters for Raw and SmackDown.
It was reported earlier this week that, following his loss to Timothy Thatcher on Wednesday’s episode of NXT, former UFC star Matt Riddle would be making his way to SmackDown, and lo and behold, his upcoming main roster debut was confirmed via a Kurt Angle-led vignette on this week’s SmackDown. There is rampant speculation that the uber-talented Riddle went to SmackDown instead of Raw because of his real-life beef with Brock Lesnar, with WWE making a concerted effort to keep the two former MMA fighters away from each other, but regardless of the reasoning behind his move to SmackDown, “The Bro” is line for a sizable push on the blue brand.
With Riddle now on Friday nights after Bianca Belair was called up to Raw and The Forgotten Sons were moved to SmackDown following WrestleMania 36, NXT has lost one of its top singles stars, arguably its most talented female performer and an overlooked tag team. That may just be the beginning, though.
According to Fightful Select (h/t WrestleTalk), Riddle isn’t the only NXT star who WWE will be moving to Raw or SmackDown: “There are plans in place for more NXT stars to be called up by WWE. As reported by Fightful Select...some more callups are expected over the next month or so. No names were revealed in the report, and it was also noted that no ‘firm plans’ had been provided.”
Meltzer (h/t WrestlingNews.co) also says that Riddle’s call-up to SmackDown represents a marked change from WWE’s previous strategy when it comes to top NXT talent: “That’s also interesting because for a time there was a doctrine that nobody being pushed on NXT television could be brought to Raw or Smackdown for fear it made the show seem like a feeder system.”
Riddle won’t be coming alone, however.
WrestleTalk reports that another major NXT name is also headed to the main roster, and that would be Dominik Dijakovic. The site says, “Our sources have told us that along with Matt Riddle, Dominik Dijakovic will be heading to either Raw or SmackDown in the coming weeks. While his brand is not known, the plan as of right now is to move him on from NXT in the near future.”
While Dijakovic hasn’t been featured as much as Riddle has in NXT, the 6-foot-7-inch behemoth has the size, look and in-ring ability to become a huge star on the main roster, with the right booking, of course. As a more natural heel, he’d be a welcome fit on either Raw or SmackDown, both of which are sorely lacking in terms of top villains at the moment. The losses of Dijakovic and Riddle are surprisingly happening at a time when NXT has been dominated by AEW in Wednesday night’s ratings war throughout 2020, despite Charlotte Flair becoming a regular on NXT at least in part to help WWE win that battle.
While Dijakovic’s pending move is likely a result of a lack of obvious storylines for him in NXT, Riddle’s move be also be taking place, at least in part, for financial reasons, but regardless of why these call-ups are taking place, it’s certainly not a bad idea for WWE to attempt to revamp and reinvigorate the stale main roster. There is a noticeable star power gap at the top of the card on both Raw and SmackDown, and both Riddle and Dijakovic rank among the NXT stalwarts with the most potential to make a big splash on the main roster.
Given that it only has one weekly two-hour show, NXT is already overloaded with talent, and with the main purpose of NXT being to use it as a place to groom new stars for Raw and SmackDown, the time has come for WWE to take a chance on elevating some top NXT stars to the main roster, especially during a period in which many part-timers are absent from WWE programming while top full-timers like Becky Lynch and Roman Reigns are currently on hiatus.
NXT has more than enough male stars to make up for the losses of Riddle and Dijakovic, and in the coming weeks and months, fans should brace themselves for more yellow brand stars to finally get their shot at stardom on Raw or SmackDown.
