Did WWE Botch The Recent NXT Call-Ups?

How’s that for a blunt force question? Plain and simple, did WWE botch the recent NXT call-ups? I know what some of you are saying: they are only now arriving on WWE television, so isn’t it too soon to declare the call-ups botched? I understand that, but that’s the whole point. I am not saying the arrival was screwed up, but rather the build up to that. So let’s dive into that and see what I mean.

So, when Vince McMahon told the world he had something important to announce on RAW, there was plenty of speculation. I don’t think anyone expected that it would be exactly what it was, with McMahons taking control and a handful of NXT wrestlers jumping to the main roster. There wasn’t anything wrong with the announcement by itself. With time, however, the declaration looks kind of weak. For starters, one of the announced names? Had already been announced. We knew about Lars Sullivan during Survivor Series. The rest of the talent that was announced, was merely announced during video packages. Bummer, right? Here’s why it bummed me out the most. Remember when Stephanie, years back, kicked off the women’s revolution? Sure you do. She did it…with the women in tow. That night, they debuted.

And that, right there, is how this has been botched. Coming to the arena, coming down to the ring, without having a single new Superstar to roll out was a bad move. This was compounded by the fact that it took basically a month before any of them made a live TV appearance. Even now, most of these appearances are of the forgettable variety. There were, of course, stories as to why the call-ups were done the way they were, and why they chose who they chose. The announcement at the end of 2018 really just pushed forward the arrivals of those by like a month or so.

On top of the NXT announcements, McMahon insinuated we’d get some new faces. Now, he didn’t flat out state we would, but you could tell that was the meaning. Shortly after the announcement, however, All Elite Wrestling was announced. Most of those big name free agents were instantly off the market. You had to wonder if this was turning into a case of “too little, too late”. It’s mid-January. The announcement was made more than a month ago. To date, we’ve only seen Nikki Cross actually wrestle. Lacey Evans has been backstage. Heavy Machinery is now vying for comedy time apparently. EC3 has been barely seen on either show. Missing in action completely? Lars Sullivan, who seems to have a few excuses, but no answers.

So how could things have not been botched? Well, look, I get that Vince wanted to come out and make an announcement to appease the fans. Ratings were in a downward spiral, fans were ignoring the product.  With that in mind, whether he would have been flanked by the arriving Superstars, or at least having them show up throughout the show, things would have gone a lot better. It felt as though McMahon swung for the fences, hoping for a big win with the new arrivals. And now, it feels like all he got was a bunt single.

In the grand scheme of things, history will tell the tale fully. Yes, the first month might have been an opportunity missed. However, if any or most of this batch of new arrivals actually pans out, the first month flop will be ignored. Right now, that announcement has taken a month to be anything beyond lip service. Fans want-and deserve-more than just lip service. Fans are hoping these new arrivals-both those announced, and those implied-make 2019 a truly exciting year. But, at least early on, the results don’t look so good.

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