10 Biggest Missed Opportunities From WWE Draft 2016
8. Botching The NXT Call-Ups
Sunday afternoon also brought news that six NXT call-ups would be made as part of the Draft, and fans of WWE’s lauded developmental show immediately hit fever pitch. While reports of “up to a dozen” NXT call-ups were wide of the mark, six of NXT’s biggest and brightest were to finally get their opportunity on the big stage.
It was exciting, and the internet was ablaze with talk of Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Bayley. Unfortunately, WWE failed to deliver on the initial excitement, and the promoted crop of Balor, American Alpha, Mojo Rawley, Nia Jax, Carmella, and Alexa Bliss has done little for the company.
Balor and American Alpha are outstanding talents whose call-ups are more than warranted, and Alexa Bliss has blossomed as a heel lately, but the rest do little to inspire anything other than a strong “meh” from most WWE fans. Rawley, Carmella, and Jax are still a few steps behind most of their NXT colleagues, let alone the main roster workers, and it’s bewildering that WWE opted to bring them up ahead of the Nakamuras and Bayleys of the world.
WWE had a fantastic chance to bring some of their most talented young performers to the forefront: instead, they spent half their picks on wrestlers who still haven’t finished their wrestling education.