5 SmackDown Live Superstars who could move to NXT
Remember when the likes of Cesaro and Zack Ryder combined their roles on WWE’s main roster with brief stints in NXT?
“The Swiss Cyborg” had one of the brand’s greatest-ever rivalries when he feuded with Sami Zayn in 2013-14, while “The Long Island Iced Z” remained a singles competitor on Raw and SmackDown while he tagged with Mojo Rawley in developmental.
Well, Triple H recently revealed in an interview with NBC Sports that more and more Superstars could start to switch between WWE and NXT. He said a move to the development brand should not be seen as a demotion, just that they’d be “competing in a different environment”.
With that in mind, this article looks at five current superstars from the SmackDown Live roster who would benefit from a move – and, in most cases, a return – to NXT.
#5 The Colons
In modern-day WWE, the top characters are almost always extensions of their real-life personalities. Braun Strowman, for example, is “The Monster Among Men” for the obvious reason that he resembles a monster, while AJ Styles is known as “The Phenomenal One” because he’s an incredible in-ring performer.
Primo and Epico, however, have spent the last four years of their careers portraying characters that nobody has been able to connect with. Remember when they were bullfighters? Or, better still, when they were handing out brochures encouraging people to visit Puerto Rico?
The gimmicks they’ve had since 2013 have left a lot to be desired, so it was nice to see them break away from those over-the-top characters earlier in 2017 when they simply became The Colons – a hard-hitting duo who would use any sneaky tactics they could in order to win matches.
The SmackDown Live roster members have hardly received any television time recently and a move to NXT would be the perfect opportunity for them to reinvent themselves.