This July, WWE will once against be splitting their talent into two rosters, exclusive to the Raw and Smackdown brands. As WWE Smackdown shifts to a two-hour live format on Tuesday nights, the USA Network is looking to boost their numbers way up by setting the “blue brand” up with big names and a strong, independent focus to set it apart from the long-time flagship WWE Raw.
Here are our picks for the TOP 15 NXT WRESTLERS WWE SHOULD SIGN NEXT; the men and women of the Florida-based developmental program that we believe can make a big impact on WWE’s main roster.
15. NO WAY JOSE
This guy’s gimmick is pretty simple: his name is No Way Jose, and fans chance “No-Way, Jose” whenever he’s within earshot. Maybe that sounds dumb, but if you’ve been to an NXT live event recently, you know just how over this guy has been getting. His face even took over WWE social media for a day last month – literally!
We can’t promise Jose won’t end up as a comedy act alongside Tyler Breeze or Fandango within weeks (hours?) of his debut, but honestly, if he’s running with the gimmick as it is he probably understand the inevitably role waiting for him on the main roster. There are worse things than being the next Santino, who probably made a good chunk of change being WWE’s resident comedy act for many a year…
14. TOMMASO CIAMPA
Ciampa really found his calling there at the end of his run with Ring of Honor, and has continued to develop himself over the last few years into one of the best acts running on the independent (and now NXT) scene. We think he could bring a great deal of experience and fresh material to the main roster, in particular with some of the potential mid-card programs over the U.S. or Intercontinental Championships, as he continues to work his way up the WWE roster.
13-12. BLAKE & MURPHY
Look, we think these guys work better as a tag team, and if WWE were to call either of them up right now as singles stars, they’d get lost in a sea of brand new singles acts on the main roster. Both are good, but they’re not ready to stand out among way more recognizable acts in a post-Brand Split world, and we’d rather not see them relegated to Main Event and Superstars while they integrate themselves into the roster.
What WWE is going to need after Smackdown goes live is a slew of new tag teams – enter Blake and Murphy! Better to call them up together, allow mainstream audiences to become familiar with their work and how good they are in the ring, and as tag team characters, and when the world (and by world we mean WWE creative) is ready for them, have a go at the singles game.
11. ALEXA BLISS
Along with great new tag teams, WWE is going to need a lot of fresh female talent on the main roster following the Brand Split. Plus, there’s really only been one call-up for the women so far in all of 2016, and the jury is still out on Dana Brooke… Alexa may still have a couple things to work on, but nothing a ton of house show matches can’t fix. She’s got the perfect marketable look that someone like Vince McMahon is looking for, but her NXT street cred may get the fans behind her as well. And if not, she makes the perfect villain, so there’s really no downside here.
10. CARMELLA
Here’s the great thing about Carmella: while you run her on house show tours to continue working on her in-ring skills and familiarizing her with the big stage WWE audience, you can couple her with Enzo and Big Cass to reunite the most entertaining act in NXT! How you doin!? Her boys are doing pretty well for themselves ever since debuting on WWE Raw the night after WrestleMania, but the trio works, and it certainly couldn’t hurt their popularity any by adding in the fiery Carmella.
9. AUSTIN ARIES
A-Double Austin Aries has finally arrived in WWE at a time where it’s not so bad being a smaller guy in professional wrestling. Given the success of CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins in recent years, the continued success of Sami Zayn and Kalisto, and the Network hosting an entire global Cruiserweight tournament, suddenly clocking in at around 200 pounds isn’t the curse it used to be for WWE hopefuls.
All of that aside, the self-proclaimed “greatest man that ever lived” is one of the best professional wrestlers active today. He’s also come a long way in the promo and character department in recent years, and can be an asset anywhere WWE chose to put him. And as we said, he arrives at a great time, because it wasn’t that long ago that the powers-that-be might have completely dismissed his extraordinary talent for a couple of pounds and inches.
8. HIDEO ITAMI
I would love to put Hideo Itami higher on this list. Back in his earlier NOAH days, he was one of my all-time favorite tag team stars alongside Naomichi Marufuji (who is in this year’s G1 Climax, by the way). Unfortunately, two things are stopping me: 1) he’s been injured for a long while, and 2) WWE just doesn’t have a great track record of handling Japanese talents, especially if they can’t cut a convincing English promo in a main roster setting. Now, Itami is a considerable talent and I’m almost waiting to be proven wrong here, especially if someone like Triple H gets behind his star backstage, but I’m still hesitant. I have even less faith in WWE creative to handle Itami at the same time as they’ll likely wanting to be putting things together for Shinsuke Nakamura, and possibly even Kota Ibushi. Time will tell…
7-6. AMERICAN ALPHA
Fans have been praising WWE for their reborn tag team division for quite a while now, but if you actually break it down, the current scene is filled with uninspired acts that probably won’t be around a year from now. And the Dudley Boyz. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable could be part of the catalyst for actual change in the WWE tag team landscape, bringing us closer to the early 2000s days of Smackdown, where 8-10 different teams coming in and out of the title picture at any given time wasn’t unusual. That’s the dream, anyways…
American Alpha is one of the best acts in NXT, and have managed to get themselves over in a huge way. They’re also incredible in the ring, and comparisons to the old Team Angle stable with Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin are not incorrect. WWE needs more duos that are willing to stick it out and be a long-term investment in real tag team wrestling, and we think American Alpha is not only willing, but ready…and Gable.
