WWE News: X-Pac says main roster will have to 'step up their game' after debuts of recent NXT call-ups
What's the story?
The debuts of Ricochet, Johnny Gargano, Tomasso Ciampa and Aleister Black on Raw and SmackDown took a lot of people by surprise.
X-Pac recently spoke about the debuts of the four NXT stars on his X-Pac 1, 2, 360 podcast, saying that a lot of the main roster superstars need to 'up their game so that they don't stick out like a sore thumb in the ring'. WrestlingInc.com carried transcripts from the podcast.
In case you didn't know...
Since the start of 2019, nine acts from NXT have technically debuted on the main roster in WWE.
While one of the acts is the tag team of Heavy Machinery and a potentially tenth superstar (Lars Sullivan) hasn't officially debuted, it might have created a situation backstage where superstars will be jockeying for positions even more so than before.
The heart of the matter
On the same episode where the four superstars debuted, it was revealed that DX would be entering the WWE HOF.
The future HOF member X-Pac spoke recently on his podcast about how the dynamic of having even more talents from NXT backstage with the main roster might cause some complacent superstars to bring it in the ring more than they might have been.
"Look, what I am trying to say is, it was like you can tell there was a big difference, to me, in the feel of those matches. Those guys with this cutting-edge style and with different ways of going into things... and then you go and you see the other guys on the roster that are just working that same kinda, you know, same routines, same way of shooting guys in, it felt all of a sudden very antiquated looking compared to what I saw from the NXT guys."
X-Pac actually mimicked what Mr. McMahon allegedly felt behind the current product being stale which is what facilitated the call-ups of the four NXT talents.
"I think some of the other guys on the roster maybe need to step up and update their game," stated Waltman. "We just get comfortable in our routines and that's how it worked before, but now you can see wrestling from around the world and all the promotions and everyone has something online you could see. And many years ago you could do these routines and they weren't routines to the fans because they didn't see them as much. So yeah, I just think we get comfortable so it's time to shake things up a little bit."
With the possibility of a greener pasture somewhere else, the overcrowding of the locker room might either cause veteran stars to improve themselves or seek work elsewhere.
What's next?
While X-Pac and Mr. McMahon were both partially correct about the product being 'stale' and 'formulaic', that's how the Chairman has wanted WWE to be throughout his time at the top.
The WWE has its own style and while it might have been fine for the first 20 years, the sport itself has evolved and superstars have become much more well-rounded and exciting.
Part of the problem is that a lot of the superstars are WWE creations, like the Usos, Randy Orton and Nia Jax, and their matches are rarely different.
You'll usually see super-kicks, a splash and Samoan drops from the Usos while Randy Orton is one of the main culprits (albeit due to WWE's booking) of the 'Five Moves of Doom'.
While some may still enjoy the normal matches of similar main roster superstars, the matches in NXT have routinely overshadowed those on Raw or SmackDown and TakeOver events have almost always out-shined main-roster PPVs.
The problem isn't merely a simple fix but something that would require everyone, including those in charge, to change things up in order to keep ratings afloat and the product fresh.