My Friday column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review talks about why WWE didn’t draft a lot of top NXT stars to RAW or SmackDown. Here’s an excerpt:
The WWE brand-extension draft is over, and to no surprise, there seems to be more focus on who wasn’t drafted over who was.
It was made clear in the draft rules that six NXT talents would be drafted. Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka and Bayley were not included in that six.
Cue the madness.
All four of those NXT talents are among the most popular, and all can hold their own on RAW and SmackDown. But what about NXT?
You have to keep star power for the ever-growing and surging third brand. NXT has grown to something bigger than originally imagined and can sell out venues that are also used by RAW or SmackDown for their Takeover shows. It has become the cool brand under the WWE umbrella with its melting pot of talent and styles from all around the world, many with an underground following already.
If it’s going to stay that way, you can’t pillage the entire roster at once.
Sure, the four big names not drafted are more polished performers than Mojo Rawley, Carmella or Alexa Bliss, all of whom were drafted to the shock of many, including myself. But on RAW and SmackDown, these new draft picks from NXT won’t have the pressure or expectation to be top draws on the top of the card right away. They can get more experience working their way through the middle of the card.
If Rawley, Carmella and Bliss weren’t drafted and Joe, Nakamura, Bayley and Asuka were, do you think Rawley, Carmella and Bliss have the ability to headline NXT?
CLICK HERE for more including the disaster of drafting all of these stars at once and how NXT isn’t entirely developmental anymore.
