Looks like Smackdown and Raw will potentially be getting NXT talent on both shows. After a stellar New Year’s Evil, rumors began circulating that NXT stars Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley will be coming up to the main roster.
What is most interesting about this is that a week before the NXT event, as reported by The Wrestling Observer, Dave Meltzer stated that Damian Priest was originally slated to be on Smackdown, to help out Kevin Owens against Roman Reigns. Priest was also dubbed as Owens long time best friend. However though Roman and Owens respectively were for the angle, it wouldn’t make sense in the final product because Kevin and Damian have nothing in common. With that, the plan was scrapped
Is This The End of Rhea Ripley’s NXT Career?
Meanwhile, with Rhea Ripley, PW Insider reported that NXT New Year’s Evil was potentially Priest and Ripley’s last matches in the brand stating:
“While things can always change based on the whims of Vince McMahon, Priest’s loss to Karrion Kross and Rhea’s loss to Raquel Gonzales were devised with the idea those were the end of the NXT chapters of their career.”
Of course, this would not be the first time Ripley showed up on the main roster. After winning the women’s Royal Rumble last year, Charlotte Flair, due to never holding the NXT women’s title during her run on the brand, challenged Rhea Ripley for the women’s title at Wrestlemania. This led to both Ripley and Flair appearing on both NXT and Monday Night Raw respectively.
The story would then culminate at Wrestlemania in a fantastic match between the two, where Flair would capture her first women’s title against Ripley. After a month-long hiatus, Rhea would return to NXT to attack Charlotte Flair after her match against Io Shirai and would later be put in a triple threat match for the women’s title at Takeover: In Your House. Rhea was unsuccessful at capturing the belt, as Io Shirai finally became the NXT women’s champion.
RELATED: CARDI B AND LACEY EVANS BICKER BACK AND FORTH ON TWITTER
Rhea Ripley would later be involved in a rivalry with Aliyah and Robert Stone, Io Shirai to recapture the title and becoming a member of Team Shotzi Blackheart for the second annual women’s wargames.
What are your thoughts on these rumors? Do you believe it is time for both Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley to come up to the main roster? Is it too early? Do you agree with Damian Priest being scrapped from the Owens/Reigns rivalry? Show your brutality and shoot your flaming arrow into the comments below or over on Twitter.
KEEP READING: UNKNOWN NXT TALENT MOVING UP TO SMACKDOWN TO FEUD WITH REIGNS
sources: Wrestling Observer, ProWrestling, PWInsider
