12 Ups & 13 Downs For WWE In 2019 (So Far)

4. Failed Call-Ups

That WWE will eventually ruin most wrestlers called up from NXT isn't even a cynical take any more: it's a seemingly unbreakable pattern.

Of 2019's call-ups, Ricochet is the current United States Champion and it's too early into Aleister Black's reinvention as Angry Man in Darkened Room to pass judgement. Those guys are fine. The rest? Not so much.

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa's years-long NXT storyline was disregarded so that they could be hot-shotted into a DIY reunion on Raw, before the latter's neck injury prompted his fremeny's return to developmental. We've already spoken about Lars Sullivan's failings. An early win over Dean Ambrose suggested WWE were going to do something with EC3, but it has amounted to nothing. Linking with Asuka should've been a good move for Kairi Sane but LOL at the women's tag division. Lacey Evans isn't ready for her spotlight Remember The Viking Experience? The list goes on.

NXT has never been as stacked as it was while these call-ups were going on, but the main roster hit rate has never been so low. The positive news is that none of the aforementioned names are too buried to be salvaged, despite the complete balls-up WWE have made of them so far, so there's hope yet.