Why The Velveteen Dream Would Be Ruined On WWE's Main Roster

Survivor Series weekend heralded the arrival of several new stars.

Actually, it’s probably more accurate to limit that praise to Saturday night. Sunday was a black hole into which stars collapsed under the immense gravitational pull of ego and nepotism.

Killian Dain was presented, in an awesome WarGames match, as a super-agile, psychotic badass - an hilarious, key-swallowing agent of destruction. Adam Cole looked every inch the cocky heel star he is, BAYBAY. The Velveteen Dream turned the most heads in a great bout with Aleister Black - but there’s every chance his main roster career will turn stomachs.

TakeOver: WarGames was the Dream’s debutante ball. He seduced everybody in Houston with his modern, chic update on the Rick Rude model, his brilliant body language and psychology, and the all-important in-ring game that is a standard for stardom in this day and age. The story told was as fabulous as Dream’s sartorial elegance; Dream’s vain quest for recognition was, well, recognised by an adoring crowd and, in a great finale, Black himself.

This was the perfect coming out for the Dream; the structure of the match was as unique as the act itself…but in the current climate, it’s impossible to imagine the main roster creative regime capturing that lightning.

If past precedent is an indicator of future performance, the Dream is already knackered: NXT call-ups are a poisoned chalice. Tyler Breeze was a great New Generation midcard throwback in NXT. On the main roster, he’s a comedy act who barely wrestles. Shinsuke Nakamura was a main event strike force in Full Sail; on the main roster, he is a glorified enhancement act. Bobby Roode was the best heel in an age. WWE turned him face. Finn Bálor was a genuine megastar prospect in NXT. He even had a Kevin Dunn-popping entrance. Fast forward a year and a half, and he is without direction on the Road to WrestleMania.

And on and on it goes. The tale of Ruby Riot is telling - WWE didn’t even bother to work out that she dresses a bit like Paige, and would realistically look like an associate of hers. She debuted on SmackDown instead.

Vince McMahon either won’t, or can’t, allow the process to fall into his lap. Knowing what we know about the man, it’s depressingly easy to deduce that he resents the critical acclaim surrounding NXT, the buzz, the very fact that it isn’t his - and his legendary sense of ownership means he’s essentially cutting his nose off to spite his face.