10 NXT Rookies WWE Called Up Too Early

Patience is a virtue.

Dana Brooke
WWE.com

No fewer than five female NXT rookies made their main roster bows this week, announcing themselves by viciously ambushing established members of the Raw and SmackDown locker rooms (for reasons which will probably never be fully explained).

One or two reports have speculated that this sudden drive to expand the WWE women's ranks could be in the aid of holding the first ever female Royal Rumble alongside the traditional male version in January.

Other reports suggest Vince simply thought the respective women's divisions were growing stale. What we do know is that breaking in five apprentices at once is a tall order for a creative team who have a habit of undoing the hard work of their NXT counterparts after getting their hands on the fruits of their labour.

You don't have to go back very far to find examples of young stars who looked a million bucks down in Orlando, but struggled to make a splash on either Raw and SmackDown.

And it does make you wonder how things may have turned out differently had they spent just a few more months learning their trade down in developmental.

10. Emma

Dana Brooke
WWE

The WWE hierarchy more or less admitted themselves that Emma's 2014 call-up came too soon when they demoted the Aussie back to the developmental ranks the following year.

In this case, it was less to do with any unpreparedness on the part of the wrestler herself - who was, if anything, a more accomplished performer than many of her main roster peers - than it was the fact that the writers clearly didn't have anything much planned for her.

Whilst the likes of AJ Lee and Paige took centre-stage, Emma was instead made the latest in a long line of WWE women who are inexplicably powerless to resist the charm of Santino Marella, and after that relationship went south she had precisely nothing to occupy her time.

To add insult to injury, Emma's second call-up two years later was arguably even worse, owing to the now infamous "Emmalina" saga, which just about killed her chances of ever making a splash on Raw or SmackDown.

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