10 Biggest Mistakes Of WWE's New Era Thus Far

News of six NXT call-ups in the 2016 WWE Draft sent ripples of excitement through the wrestling world, but wrestlers picked for Raw and SmackDown largely failed to live-up to the hype. Nobody can argue with Finn Balor and American Alpha, but both were widely considered “locks” for an immediate call-up anyway, so there wasn’t much surprise when their names were read. No, the problems lie elsewhere: Mojo Rawley, Carmella, and Nia Jax.

None of them looks even close to being the finished article yet, and all three looked a few steps behind their peers even in NXT. You can make a case for Rawley’s inclusion as he has a ready-made tag team with Zack Ryder waiting for him, but he remains an unpolished wrestler, and his gimmick ran its course at least a year ago. Jax, meanwhile, has a unique look and presence, but she’s still developing her monster heel act, and her limited skillset is really exposed outside of quick squash matches.

Carmella is the most confusing of all. Nobody knew who she was when she appeared on SmackDown to run through her catchphrases. Instead of singing along with her, the crowd met Carmella’s words with a confused silence, and that’s not a good sign. Still green inside the ring and out, if WWE had to call her up then it should’ve been on Raw with Enzo & Cass, but even then she’d be an arguable inclusion.

Realistically, the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe had to stay in NXT to maintain its viability as a touring brand, but the latest call-ups were still a huge disappointment. Considering the reaction Bayley received at Battleground, it really makes you wonder why she couldn’t have filled one of those slots.