With Cruz Montana now on WWE Raw, the impact that main roster call-ups have on WWE NXT has been addressed by Shawn Michaels.
The November 2 episode of WWE Raw saw the former NXT star make his main roster debut, revealing him as the latest member of The 946.
In comments made before Montana was called up, Shawn Michaels shed light on the struggles NXT faces when stars are moved to Raw or SmackDown:
‘Pretty proud’
In a post on X, Shawn Michaels congratulated Montana on his main roster debut, noting that he was one of nineteen NXT to have been called up to the main roster in the past twelve months, sharing:
“Another one moving on up! 👏
“Congratulations to @Montana_NYPR on making the jump to the main roster!
“That’s 19 NXT Superstars making the leap to Raw and SmackDown in the last 12 months. Pretty proud of that number, but even prouder of the talent and crew who make it happen.
“Keep showing the world what #WWENXT is all about!”
With the likes of Ricky Saints, Joe Hendry, Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans, Sol Ruca, Tatum Paxley, Oba Femi, and Ethan Page among those to have been called up, it may be a proud moment for the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, but Michaels has also addressed the impact.
‘We find ourselves scrambling a lot’
Speaking on We find ourselves scrambling a lot ahead of Halloween Havoc, Shawn Michaels shared an insight into the challenges of losing NXT stars to the main roster, saying:
“You just learn not to sell too much and understand that those things are gonna happen. If you’re going to be here and work in NXT, you just kind of get used to that possibility happening.”
Michaels would comment on NXT being able to directly address call-ups, indicating that there’s always a back-up plan, before stating:
“We find ourselves scrambling a lot, but that’s the joy of the job, to be perfectly honest. It’s tough sometimes, but it’s also exciting because it keeps you on your toes.”
In the case of Oba Femi, he vacated the NXT Championship without losing it, having been called up to the main roster in January of this year. Far from the only instance where this has occurred, the WWE Raw is on a very short list of stars to have done so.
What might have been
In some cases, particularly where an NXT Championship is involved, there can be a sense of “what might have been” after a sudden call up.
Femi was such a case, with the next challenger to the champion never getting an opportunity to face the imposing star. That said, for Femi, his main roster run has seen him face and retire Brock Lesnar, along with engage in some highly entertaining moments with the likes of Kit Wilson.
Bronco Nima and Lucien Price were called up as members of The 946, teaming with Royce Keys in a faction now expanded to include for NXT stars Cruz Montana and Jaida Parker. Elsewhere, Blake Monroe may have failed to capture the NXT Women’s Championship before her main roster call up, but is likely to continue her infuriatingly self-obsessed run on SmackDown.
They’re far from the only stars to have been called up, but each has left a hole on NXT with many stars fully empowered to step into the void thanks to Michaels and the team that makes it happen.
Transcript from F4W Online.
To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link!
