Wait so all 4 were drafted to Raw?

[Lance Uppercut]

I assumed that this was some temporary exhibition thing at first until Finn said Rocochet was welcome to Raw.

1. Why would you draft the current champions?
2. Raw exclusives? Way to hog all the talent again raw, sure you don’t have enough?
3. What about those other 6 guys who are still free agents?
4. Damn kind of gutted the main event scene from NXT. Is it just Velevteen dream and adam cole now?
5. Smack down getting any? Sky pirates? Shayna and her goons show up to give Asuka something to do?
6. Why are they not waiting until the night after Wrestlemania and doing it in the middle of February?

[Tenshigure]

It was an exhibition to try to pop ratings, because nothing else has been working as of late. I wouldn't put it past Vince getting frustrated that even he couldn't move the needle and telling Hunter to get his best guys from NXT to show up and make things happen. Of course, they chose the one city since Corpus Christi to have a major gas leak putting the entire crowd to sleep, but I digress...

Aside from Black and MAYBE Ricochet, I doubt any of the others will even move up to the main roster anytime soon (maybe Summerslam at the earliest).

[Deleted]

Ricochet pretty much said he was done with NXT in a Youtube interview after the match so I wonder what it means for everyone else. Him being gone is ok, same with Black but for the others we'll see. I wouldn't be surprised if they'll abandon the titles randomly given how Vince works as f***ed up as that is.

[clifford]

Ricochet and Black are ready and should be permanent moves to bolster Raw's boring roster. Black and Gargano I feel were a one off thing to showcase NXT's champions.

[Prince Petty]

It would have been a better exhibition if they'd done what they did a couple of years ago, and just had the NXT guys work each other in a tag match.

Randomly inserting them into different matches made no sense, and surely didn't help any casual fans figure out who they are.

[Spider2024]

Smackdown did get Ray Jay Johnson.

[Feargus McReddit]

Honestly, even if it was a stunt to gain ratings (and I don’t think they even know at this point), it doesn’t make me want to watch as much as make me go “Oh, they don’t give a shit about them so why should I give a shit about them?”

[Moppy]

Feb 19, 2019 6:23:36 GMT -5 Tenshigure said:

It was an exhibition to try to pop ratings, because nothing else has been working as of late. I wouldn't put it past Vince getting frustrated that even he couldn't move the needle and telling Hunter to get his best guys from NXT to show up and make things happen. Of course, they chose the one city since Corpus Christi to have a major gas leak putting the entire crowd to sleep, but I digress...

Aside from Black and MAYBE Ricochet, I doubt any of the others will even move up to the main roster anytime soon (maybe Summerslam at the earliest).

Weird way to try and pop a rating. Didn't they only announce them about 2 hours before broadcast?

I didn't watch Raw though - is the plan to have them turn up more often?

[Totorob101]

Give it a few weeks and all four will have vanished from the face of the earth, none of them were brought up with any kind of plan and no way will any of them get any kind of push right away.

[Tenshigure]

Feb 19, 2019 6:54:24 GMT -5 Moppy said:

Weird way to try and pop a rating. Didn't they only announce them about 2 hours before broadcast?

I suppose I should've clarified "maintain the existing audience" since they keep having issues retaining their numbers into hour three. Whether it worked or not we won't know until after the ratings come out.

I didn't watch Raw though - is the plan to have them turn up more often?

If it works, I wouldn't be surprised. They've been accused (rightly so) of being boring and predictable. The more spontaneity they have could help.

[Deleted]

I took it as a “promotion” match. Similar to ECW in 1997.

NXT losing these four guys would be a massive blow. They just lost EC3 and Sullivan.

[Error]

Ricochet being called up doesn't shock me. They were after him too long and too hard to keep him in NXT and he'd be perfect for the annual(?) ladder match at WM

Black has done about all he can in NXT so him moving up makes sense but not right now.

That DIY were coming up as a heel tag team has been rumored for ages but not only time but they're the champs so what happens with the titles? Could they be defended on WM? Make Takeover a tournament for the title shots and have the title matches the next night? Seems weird but would be huge for them to get on WM.


Then again they were trying to make last night completely different than anything else they've done recently so maybe Triple H got to give his boss some shine without worrying about Vince for once.

[Bub (BLM)]

WWE's YouTube channel is phrasing the videos as "debuts" for all 4. I think they're staying. Johnny is probably dropping the North American title to Velveteen Dream, and Ciampa dropping his to Adam Cole. At least, that makes sense given NXT's remaining roster.

[facethatrunstheplace]

Feb 19, 2019 11:21:36 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

WWE's YouTube channel is phrasing the videos as "debuts" for all 4. I think they're staying. Johnny is probably dropping the North American title to Velveteen Dream, and Ciampa dropping his to Adam Cole. At least, that makes sense given NXT's remaining roster.

It could happen but I'm not sure about the about Velveteen Dream becoming the next North American champion. It's hard to overlook the fact that the Undisputed Era keep saying that they'll all have titles this year.

[ayumidah]

So we know when Johnny probably drops it, but Ciampa remains a question. I'm glad NXT tapings are this week, we may get some answers then.

[Deleted]

I saw it as a showcase rather an actual debut. And when they did say debut they weirdly phrased it in the context of WWE and not Raw itself.

Ricochet and Black make sense, I just wish it wasn’t at a dead crowd. However I’m sure that’ll change next week. Can’t possibly be a worse crowd like last nights.

[Jimmy John Mundo]

Feb 19, 2019 6:23:36 GMT -5 Tenshigure said:

It was an exhibition to try to pop ratings, because nothing else has been working as of late. I wouldn't put it past Vince getting frustrated that even he couldn't move the needle and telling Hunter to get his best guys from NXT to show up and make things happen. Of course, they chose the one city since Corpus Christi to have a major gas leak putting the entire crowd to sleep, but I digress...

Aside from Black and MAYBE Ricochet, I doubt any of the others will even move up to the main roster anytime soon (maybe Summerslam at the earliest).

I’m pretty sure all 4 got called up and this wasn’t an exibition. They already planting seeds with DIY and Roode/Gable. I’m sure all 4 will still be on NXT tv for at least the next month. Similar how Kevin Owens was NXT champ when he got called up and was on both for a while.

[Brandon Walsh is Insane.]

So weird to call them up during WrestleMania drive. Hopefully they have stories for the big show, and aren't afterthoughts treated like a majority of the other NXT talent that are called up.

[Deleted]

K.o got drafted as nxt champ.

At the time he weighed as much as all 4.

[ayumidah]