Former NXT Wrestler Debuts On WWE Raw

Returning superstar gets involved in Miz/Lumis ladder match, tipping the scales.

by Scott Carlson
Bronson Reed JONAH
WWE

If you felt that the Miz/Dexter Lumis ladder match was the perfect spot to debut a former NXT wrestler, then you should probably buy a lottery ticket.

WWE inexplicably decided that that match was the perfect spot to have Bronson Reed return to the company and make his Raw debut. Reed, a former NXT North American Champion who was released in August 2021, prevented Lumis from retrieving the cases of money and assisted Miz in recapturing his cash.

The debut was met with near-silence from fans, aside from Bronson's impressive splash off the top onto a prone Lumis. Miz winning the ladder match was met with a chorus of boos, but it remains to be seen if that translates next week for Reed, who apparently is aligned with the A-Lister or at least is a hired gun - Miz paid him off in a digital clip after Raw.

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Reed joined NXT in 2019 and rose all the way to becoming North American Champion in May 2021, defeating Gargano. He lost the title to Isaiah "Swerve" Scott in June before being released two months later. Since then, he's wrestled as JONAH in Impact Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling, joining former WWE superstar Shane Haste (nee Thorne) as part of TMDK.

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It's unclear if Miz and Reed will now feud with Dexter and Johnny Gargano or if this was just a mercenary deal and Bronson will go his own way now that he's been paid.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.