6 WWE NXT stars who may never move to the main roster
In 2020, many WWE NXT stars were called up to WWE's main roster. Some of the biggest names to move from the Black and Gold Brand were longest-reigning NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler, who moved to RAW back at the start of the year, fan-favorite Bianca Belair who was called up at WrestleMania 36 and is now a SmackDown Superstar, and Keith Lee, who dropped the WWE NXT Championship to Karrion Kross shortly before his move to RAW.
Following reports that Damian Priest and former NXT Women's Champion Rhea Ripley are bound for a call up to either RAW or SmackDown, speculation has begun over who else from the NXT roster could move this year.
Although stars often move around from NXT to RAW and SmackDown, a lot of performers seem to stick with one brand in WWE. Here are five WWE NXT stars who may never move to the main roster of WWE.
#5 WWE NXT Women's division Superstar Mercedes Martinez
Before coming to NXT, Mercedes Martinez was known as one of the most popular stars of the independent wrestling scene. Martinez spent many years as one of the biggest stars of Shimmer Women's Athletes and was a two-time women's champion of the brand.
Mercedes Martinez appeared briefly in WWE before her signing a full-time contract for the company and appeared in both Mae Young classic tournaments, as well as on occasional episodes of WWE NXT.
Between this and her becoming a member of the NXT roster, Martinez made two appearances for All Elite Wrestling in 2019. She was the "Joker" in the Casino Battle Royale and teamed up with Big Swole on an episode of AEW Dark.
Since being a WWE NXT Superstar in January 2020, Mercedes Martinez has taken part in the Royal Rumble, and later became involved in a feud against Rhea Ripley and Shotzi Blackheart when she joined the Robert Stone Brand with Aliyah. Martinez later became a part of RETRIBUTION but requested to leave the stable and moved back to NXT.
Given that Martinez asked WWE to go back to NXT, it seems that she is currently more comfortable on the Black and Gold Brand. Considering that Martinez is one of the older members of the active roster at the age of 40, she may want to finish her 20 years long in-ring career in NXT.