Along with surprise returns, the Royal Rumble match has been known to feature the debut of a fresh face from NXT in past years. The 2013 installment saw Bo Dallas, who was months away from winning his first NXT Championship, enter and last longer than a majority of the other participants, even eliminating then-Intercontinental champion Wade Barrett. Rusev also made a major impact in his WWE debut at the 2014 Royal Rumble event by decimating everyone who stepped foot in his path of destruction. Although no one from NXT showed up in last year's instalment, WWE would be foolish not to call up somebody from NXT in the 2016 Royal Rumble considering the event will be emanating from Orlando, NXT's backyard. Finn Balor is a likely candidate because he's due a main roster run any day now (not to mention a potential clash with AJ Styles), but Samoa Joe deserves to get the nod to be a part of the annual Battle Royal. It's been hinted at for months that WWE has no intentions of calling up Joe from NXT, instead keeping him down in developmental to add to the buzz of the brand. That's all fine and well, but Joe is too great of a talent even at the age of 36 to not grace the main roster someday. Perhaps WWE could test the waters by having him enter the Rumble and reevaluate their decision to not ultimately promote him to Raw down the line.
Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.
