WWE Rumors: NXT involvement planned in post WrestleMania roster shakeup (Exclusive)
Despite the upheaval in the RAW and SmackDown rosters over the course of this year, with the Wild Card Rule, two drafts and a brand new concept of a managerial license, the standard post-WrestleMania Superstar Shakeup is still being planned.
However, this time, all three creative heads are said to be involved in long term planning for switches and trades to their rosters.
In previous years, trades were all decided by Vince McMahon in an increasingly last-minute manner. This year, Paul Heyman, Bruce Prichard and Paul “Triple H” Levesque are all said to be more involved, with sources indicating that NXT is looking to pick up a small number of main roster talent to bolster their appeal to casual viewers and continue to increase their current ratings.
I have been told that all of the NXT management are very clear in only wanting to pick up talent that “maintain the NXT spirit the fans have come to expect.”
I would thus find it unlikely that we will see a Roman Reigns or a Charlotte Flair move to NXT but it is of course not impossible that we will see an Alexa Bliss or a Drew McIntyre switching over next April.
Several NXT Superstars have shown a marked resistance to the idea of moving over to RAW or SmackDown. The most vocal of these would likely be Tommaso Ciampa, notably stating that he will remain in NXT for the remainder of his career.
However, there are believed to be a number of NXT talent who are not as resistant. A number of more minor changes seem most likely for NXT, despite the usual major changes planned between RAW and SmackDown.
With the most recent shakeup happening in October in the form of the draft, this year has been a confusing one for a lot of WWE talent. Hopefully, by the end of next April, the rosters will be set much more firmly so that everyone is settled going forwards.
That said, with NXT on the rise, a number of RAW and SmackDown roster members may be looking on with envious eyes.