WWE NXT Star Receiving High Praise - Set For Main Roster?

It's seen as only a matter of time until this NXT favourite heads to the main roster.

by Andrew Pollard
Roxanne Perez
WWE

One person currently receiving plentiful praise in NXT, is Roxanne Perez.

Via Fightful Select, not just has Perez received praise for her work in WWE's developmental brand, but she's likewise impressed in her handful of main roster appearances so far. As for a call-up to Raw or SmackDown, it's said to be "only a matter of time" before the former Rok-C makes the jump to the main roster.

Elsewhere, some within NXT are keen for Perez to stay with the brand for the foreseeable future in order for her to continue to hone her new heel persona. And on that topic, Roxanne's heel work is said to have "blown away" officials, to the point that some in NXT are pushing for Perez to defeat Lyra Valkyria for the NXT Women's Championship at Stand and Deliver on Saturday.

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For those under the impression that the recent heel turn of Roxanne Perez was done in order to fill the hole left by the injured Cora Jade, that's not the case. Sources told Fightful that, prior to Jade suffering an ACL injury, there were provisional plans to reunite Cora and Roxanne as a heel pairing.

Finally, despite her young age, the 22-year-old Perez is described as "professional beyond her years" and that the "sky is the limit" for the Booker T-trained Texan.

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With the aftermath of WrestleMania often used as the chance to move NXT names to the main roster, it remains to be seen whether that will indeed be the case for Roxanne Perez this year. One has to imagine that Stand and Deliver should prove a good indicator of what lies in Roxanne's immediate future; win the NXT Women's Championship and continue with the brand, or come up short against Lyra Valkyria and be main roster-bound.

 
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.