From NXT to the WWE Main Roster – When is a Promotion not a Promotion?

A promotion. Most people would be delighted to get one. It is a sign from your bosses that you have done a good job in your previous lowly position, and an acknowledgement that you are capable of moving on to bigger and better things. It is usually the catalyst for a step up in responsibility, in opportunities and in respect from those around you. Also, and perhaps most crucially, a promotion often means you get cake as a reward…and who doesn’t like cake?

And yet the discourse within the wacky and at times wonderful world of World Wrestling Entertainment veers away from this traditional interpretation of the promotion. 

NXT was always supposed to be WWE’s developmental brand. The black and gold third child who longed to emulate is older and more popular red and blue siblings of Raw and Smackdown. When wrestlers moved to either of the main roster brands, it was described as a ‘call-up’…or indeed a promotion.

But since NXT started the ‘TakeOver Era’ things have changed dramatically. In the six years since the first TakeOver event, NXT has grown into easily the most critically acclaimed brand within Vince McMahon’s stable. Whilst Raw and Smackdown lurched from creative disaster to ratings collapses on a regular basis, the ‘developmental’ brand was wowing the fans and the cynics alike. NXT TakeOvers consistently outperformed main roster PPVs in terms of match quality, and when AEW attempted to muscle in on WWE’s monopoly in the wrestling industry, it was NXT that Vince and co trusted to go up against Dynamite on Wednesday nights.

With this meteoric rise in the reputation of NXT, a new question started to rear it’s big muscly neck. Was moving from NXT to WWE actually a promotion anymore? Or was it more a vehicle to accelerate your demise and eventual disappearance from significance? Both Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa have certainly cast doubt on the wisdom of wanting to take that supposedly upward trajectory, and as we will see there are probably many more who may think the same having made that treacherous leap.

As ever with these issues, it is not quite that simplistic. Whilst some fans would have you believe that the promotion to the main roster is always a poisoned chalice, you don’t have to delve particularly deeply to find those wrestlers who have absolutely smashed it (a horrible but apparently popular phrase) on moving from NXT to Raw and Smackdown.

And so I wanted to investigate each person who has travelled that path to break down whether they’ve found a road paved of gold, or a road that is full of mud and potholes that ultimately ends up in Coventry (sorry residents of Coventry…but…well you know).

First some ground rules, because everybody loves ground rules.

I am only looking at wrestlers who have performed on an NXT TakeOver PPV and that have then gone on to work the WWE main roster. So no place in this list for the glorious transitions of CJ Parker and Solomon Crowe into Juice Robinson and Sami Callihan. 

I am also looking at this from a purely wrestling/storyline perspective (kayfabe if you will). The one main benefit of a promotion that I didn’t mention above is that it usually comes with a financial reward. The move from NXT to the big bad main roster presumably also brings such benefits, and I do not begrudge a single wrestler who decides to make that move knowing it may set them up financially for life.

Finally, this isn’t an objective exercise. Winning a belt on Smackdown whilst not winning one on NXT doesn’t automatically mean someone has had a successful promotion, particularly considering the contempt with which some of WWE’s belts are or have been treated. I’m also aware that people will disagree, as it was some good natured debates on Twitter (they are possible) that inspired me to write this article. If you disagree with my take on any of the wrestlers below, please let me know @Danspursquins…just try and be nice.

Below is the list of wrestlers who have moved from NXT to the WWE main roster, split into where they now find themselves. I’ll be looking at three people per article, so if you have any strong views about any particular individual or team, get them into me and I may take them on board. I may not…but that is a risk you will have to be willing to take.

The first three will be coming soon and will consist of Aleister Black, Lacey Evans and Emma. Enjoy!

Main Roster – Men

Main Roster – Women

• Alexa Bliss
• Asuka
• Bayley
• Becky Lynch
• Bianca Belair
• Carmella
• Charlotte Flair
• Dana Brooke
• Ember Moon
• Iiconics
• Liv Morgan
• Mandy Rose
• Lacey Evans
• Nia Jax
• Nikki Cross
• Ruby Riott
• Sasha Banks
• Shayna Baszler
• Sonya Deville

No Longer on WWE Main Roster

• Adam Rose
• Adrian Neville
• Aiden English
• Alexander Wolfe
• EC3
• Emma
• Enzo and Cass
• Eric Young
• Finn Balor
• Jason Jordan
• Kairi Sane
• Killian Dain
• No Way Jose
• Sarah Logan
• Shane Thorne
• The Ascension
• The Revival
• Tye Dillinger
• Tyler Breeze