8 WWE NXT Call-Ups That Will Happen After WrestleMania 35
Fingers crossed for more Drew McIntyres and fewer EC3s from the latest batch.
WWE have never been so trigger-happy when it comes to NXT call-ups, with all manner of developmental prospects hitting the main roster over the past few months, few of whom have prospered.
Lacey Evans is a glorified ring entrance. EC3, an elite talker if not an elite wrestler, was made to wait three months before uttering a single word on television. Heavy Machinery became a novelty act the night they debuted. Nobody wants to play with Nikki Cross, who never makes television. Johnny Gargano has been shunted back to NXT following Tommaso Ciampa's injury, and while Ricochet and Aleister Black have done alright in the tag division, their thrown-together partnership still makes little narrative sense.
These examples make it hard to feel positive about any future call-ups, but more are coming - and soon. The International Superstar Shake-Up goes down on 15 and 16 April. As has become tradition, WWE will use the post-WrestleMania weeks to refresh, revive, and revitalise their roster, and that means NXT's biggest and brightest trading black and gold for red or blue, regardless of whether they're ready or not.
These talented men and women can't fare as poorly as Evans and EC3, surely?
8. Candice LeRae
That WWE had planned on calling Candice LeRae up to pad-out SmackDown house shows before changing their minds a few weeks ago makes her an easy inclusion, and the company's decision to renege on that specific promotion shouldn't have any bearing on her post-WrestleMania destination.
Candice was ready for Raw or SmackDown from the moment she walked in. She's a polished, three-dimensional performer with a proven ability to get over, and looked decent in her main roster audition at Royal Rumble 2019. On top of this, it would appear that the developmental writing team don't have a clue what to do with her. LeRae is never featured in her own angles and storylines and has worked just three televised bouts since July 2018, though she's active on the house show circuit. That secondary role in the Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa saga worked, but the periphery is no place for a performer this talented.
How she'd fare is up for debate, as WWE don't always do the best job of presenting pure, white-meat babyfaces like LeRae in a positive light. Regardless, it's about time they at least gave her a shot.