10 Main Roster Superstars who should return to NXT

Today, the WWE roster is the biggest it has ever been, with large talent pool for each of WWE's brands. Not only are RAW and SmackDown having an abundance of talent, but WWE also has full rosters for NXT, NXT UK and 205 Live.

With so much talent and so little TV time each week, it has become increasingly easy for performers to have gotten lost in the shuffle. Some Superstars are at a point where they are going weeks and months of not being used at all.

Sometimes, for someone like Bray Wyatt, it gives time to come up with a huge character turnaround and revive themselves. However, not everyone are as lucky as him to be welcomed back to WWE TV with arms wide open after nearly a year of being paid to sit at home.

Some are so stuck creatively that they have nothing to do to the point that even if they do return after a long absence away, fans may lose interest in them. With this happening so often lately, and with so many new stars being brought up to the main roster over the past few months, I think it's time to send some others back.

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With NXT now going head to head with All Elite Wrestling every Wednesday night, the roster is going to be needing to be beefed up quite a bit. I believe they could strengthen the brand up with these ten Superstars, who should return to NXT.

#10 Apollo Crews

At one point, it looked like Apollo Crews was going to be a big star in WWE. WWE COO Triple H thought so highly of Crews that he would barely last six months in NXT before graduating to WWE's main roster on the post-WrestleMania 32 episode of RAW. Ever since, he hasn't been up too much.

After various mini-feuds with the likes of Sheamus and The Miz, Crews would take on Titus O'Neil as his manager in 2017. The relationship between them lasted a year and a half and did nothing for Crews.

He returned to working on his own last October and almost one year later, is still not up to very much. These days Apollo Crews occasionally shows up on TV and gets a win here and their, but nothing consistent.

During his short six months in NXT, Crews was treated as a megastar and even challenged for the NXT Championship. He could easily return to that position if he heads back to the Black And Gold Brand this year, as witnessed when the NXT faithful recently welcomed him back with arms wide open for a cameo appearance on a recent episode.

#9 Mojo Rawley

Mojo Rawley is an example of how it seems like WWE are going to be pushing someone with a completely new gimmick and a lot of TV time, and then it just gets dropped all of a sudden.

The former Hype Bro hasn't been doing much on RAW and SmackDown for quite a while now. After his tag team with Zack Ryder came to an end, it seemed like WWE had plans to push Rawley following his big win with the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33, but instead he only made sporadic appearances on TV over the following few months.

After a long holiday from TV, Rawley reemerged on RAW last January in a backstage segment talking to an off-screen person, blaming them for his lack of success.

The person would turn out to be himself as he was speaking to a mirror. Rawley returned to RAW this past May, with a new look and face paint. After winning a few squash matches, he once again faded into the background and today can often be seeing chasing whoever the 24/7 Champion is.

I don't think Rawley's gimmick is all that unique, but I do think it would still fair off much better in NXT, or at least a return to NXT for Rawley could help him find his footing.

#8 No Way Jose

No Way Jose made his main roster WWE debut on the post-WrestleMania episode of RAW in 2018. So far, Jose's biggest main roster accolade is being eliminated in this year's Royal Rumble match by Samoa Joe in two seconds.

That really says it all.. They just seem to have no plans for him whatsoever. When they do decide to use him on TV, all he does is come out with the former Adam Rose exotic express conga line and get squashed. If anyone really needed a gimmick change in WWE right now, it's No Way Jose.

And whether that happens or not, I don't know, but I do know the only chance he has of being able to achieve that is by returning to NXT.

Fresh new gimmicks for previously underused talent have a way of not going over well if they happen on the main roster, but if it were to happen on NXT, he may stand a chance.

#7 The B Team

After almost a full year of being lackeys for The Miz, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel announced they would become known as The B Team.

Amazingly, the duo would take on a winning streak and even defeated Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt to become WWE Tag Team Champions. They would hold the titles for 50 days, defeating all comers such as The Revival, before losing them to Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler in September 2018.

Ever since, they have reverted back to their previous ways of only occasional TV appearances and generally being on the losing end when they do show up.

I think both would be a welcome return to NXT. Curtis Axel had a strong presence on NXT in their very early days and was often victorious in big matches on it.

Then you have Bo Dallas, who many may have forgotten is still one of the longest reigning NXT Champions ever. The two could very much return to the brand and resume their previously prominent careers.

#6 The Ascension

Did you know that other than the three total combined reigns of The Undisputed Era, The Ascension are still the longest-reigning Tag Team Champions in NXT history, with their single reign at one full year. Things changed when they got to the main roster, however.

Over the past three years, The Ascension have only won one televised match, from an episode of Main Event in July 2018. If we are being honest, there is no coming back for them at this point.

At one point in their careers, not only were they enjoying that year-long Tag title reign but they were also getting victories over legendary tag teams like the New Age Outlaws and Too Cool, tag teams that didn't even work for WWE like The Wolves, and then active teams like American Alpha and Lucha Dragons.

A believable comeback opportunity may be long gone now, but a return home to NXT may be their last glimmer of hope.

Konnor and Viktor have made brief appearances in NXT over the years since leaving it in 2014 and have still managed to get a big pop from the NXT faithful at Full Sail. As long as they can still get that reaction in NXT, they may still have some worth.

#5 Dana Brooke

Dana Brooke is one of the hardest working women in all of WWE. She will show up to work and never have an issue with what she is booked for. She also reportedly still helps out the ring crew in pulling apart the ring at live events.

She still trains very hard and is always improving. Despite this, her roles on WWE TV have only included being backup, a comedy act and putting over everyone else.

After competing at WWE Money in The Bank back in May, Brooke has only wrestled on RAW twice since then. While her continued work as a professional bodybuilder is still very impressive, that still doesn't find her a regular place on WWE TV.

Dana Brooke never held the NXT Women's Championship during her time with the brand but she still was a force to be reckoned with, very often on the winning end. If she were to return to NXT, I believe she could reclaim her former aura and become a threat to the brands women's division.

#4 Eric Young

Eric Young was the one of the hardest working wrestlers in Impact Wrestling history, having gone through every possible gimmick imaginable before finally becoming a main event player and Impact World Heavyweight Champion.

EY left Impact in 2016 and signed with WWE that summer. He debuted on the brand as the leader of the faction, SAniTY.

The group initially received a strong push which included feuding with other top tandems like the Undisputed Era, and becoming NXT Tag Team Champions. The group were drafted to SmackDown in 2018, but that was a move that left many fans wondering why it happened at all.

This was because it took over two months for the group to debut on SmackDown after being drafted, and then they made very sporadic appearances after. This would then turn into losing every match they had when they were used, so the decision to move the group to SmackDown was made with zero plans in store for them. One full year after the move to SmackDown, the group disbanded when they were split up in the first draft of 2019.

Eric Young found himself on RAW, but you won't find him on it very often. The only time EY is ever seen, is sometimes in pursuit of the 24/7 Championship. This late into his career, he only stands a really good chance of a resurrection if he returns to NXT, where they could put him to better use.

#3 Asuka

Asuka was once the most dominant women's Superstars in WWE history.

Asuka was the longest-reigning NXT Women's Champion in history at 510 days and never lost the title before departing for the main roster. Upon her arrival, she continued her undefeated streak and was the inaugural winner of the WWE Women's Royal Rumble match. Overall, her undefeated streak made it to 914 victories, before losing to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 34.

After a few months of back and forth booking for the remainder of 2018, Asuka would capture the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship at WWE TLC. The reign would go 100 days before she would lose the title to Charlotte on SmackDown. Ever since, Asuka has been in a go-nowhere tag team with Kairi Sane, the Kabuki Warriors. I don't think it is too late just yet for Asuka to reclaim her former position as the toughest women's Superstar in WWE, but to do so, she may have to return to NXT.

In NXT, the hardcore fan base that loved her so still remains, and are clamoring for a return and feud with current NXT Women's Champion Shayna Bazler. Asuka could very easily return, run through several women on the roster and reclaim what she once had.

#2 Robert Roode

As of this writing, Robert Roode is currently one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions on RAW with Dolph Ziggler, so things could be worse. However, they were never better for the Glorious One then when he was in NXT.

Since his arrival on the main roster in 2017, Roode has been the WWE United States Champion and had also previously held the Tag Team Championship in a tag team pairing with Chad Gable.

Even so, he has spent far more time miles away from the spotlight, than in it. Although Roode is a good mid-card heel on RAW, he was the biggest and best in NXT during his lengthy reign as NXT Champion.

This is just something that WWE is really missing out on. Roode was an incredible heel but seeing him on RAW is like watching a completely different Superstar. Roode made NXT his own and if he returned, I don't see why he couldn't become the main event player he was before.

#1 EC3

EC3 had a pretty forgettable run in NXT as Derrick Bateman, during the shows original incarnation. However, he parted ways with WWE and joined Impact Wrestling, where he became the face of the brand. In Impact, EC3 was a two time World Heavyweight Champion and defeated every top star that came his way.

EC3 returned to WWE and NXT in 2018 but had a surprisingly underwhelming run. Although it wasn't great, he still appeared regularly and got victories over the like of Adam Cole. EC3 was brought to the main roster with a big push in mind and even defeated Dean Ambrose in his first match on RAW. However, things went downhill very quickly and he has only made sporadic appearances over the past few months.

These days, the only time you will see EC3 on WWE TV is chasing down the 24/7 Champion, and has even won it four times. However this is all beneath someone like him, who has the whole package to be a main event player.

While WWE has damaged him quite a bit on RAW and SmackDown, I don't think it is too late for him to not only return to NXT, but be the top heel on the show to. He just has that natural charisma to do so, if given the right push and reintroduced the right way.

Edited by Alan John