What if NXT invades RAW and SmackDown Live?

It's official. NXT will begin airing weekly on the USA Network (Wednesday nights starting September 18) with its own two hour show in primetime. While the brand has gathered steam on the WWE Network and Hulu, it was really only accessed by hardcore fans who sought it out. With this new TV deal, the show has comparable footing to Raw and SmackDown in terms of getting into homes and potentially drawing in a more casual viewer base.

While NXT will surely continue to be tiered, with some prospects not getting much if any TV time, there’s a real argument to be made that the black and gold brand is becoming less a developmental promotion and more a legitimate third leg of the main roster.

So what if NXT were to invade Raw and SmackDown?

We’ve seen invasions in WWE before with WCW and ECW teaming up as the Alliance, or when the Nexus faction—spawned out of the original NXT—waged war on the locker room. This article takes a look at what might be.

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5. NXT builds legitimacy as a third brand

The NXT brand could garner big time credibility by going toe to toe with the main roster.

Ask a hardcore wrestling fan, and they will likely as not tell you that NXT is every bit as good, if not better, than Raw or SmackDown. That goes in terms of match quality, storyline continuity, weekly shows, and particularly how consistently great the NXT TakeOver specials are relative to at times uneven offerings from the main roster.

The move to the USA Network, in and of itself will go a long way toward legitimizing NXT in the eyes of less invested wrestling fans. Seeing NXT talent actively engage with main roster performers will go a step further, though. Much like Aleister Black and Ricochet’s run hanging with full time main roster tag teams leading up to main roster paved the way for them to be taken seriously on the main roster, an invasion could build up the whole black and gold brand.

4. Raw and SmackDown invade back

Raw and SmackDown may strike back against NXT.

One fairly consistent aspect of invasion angles - particularly when it comes to the entire roster of a show coming after another one - is that the invading rarely goes just one way. WWE could quite feasibly book a week or two of NXT talents showing up unannounced to wreak havoc on Monday and Friday nights, but this will surely bring down the traditional main roster brands as they make an unwelcome visit on a Wednesday.

Having top stars like Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns show up on NXT will further reinforce the credibility of the third brand. Such invasions could also set up some intriguing dream matches along the lines of Rollins vs. Adam Cole or Matt Riddle vs. Cesaro. It is likely in everyone’s best interests to not blur the brand lines too thoroughly, but an invasion angle—going both ways—could be a fine way to draw extra eyes to NXT and establish the brand for fans who think that "developmental" means "lesser talent".

3. Three way warfare

NXT's updated take on War Games could offer a set up for a three-way battle.

WWE could certainly book a short term program featuring NXT invading and going up against the main roster. However, WWE also has a long history of promoting inter-brand rivalries between Raw and SmackDown. The brand split divide may have wavered this spring in the build to WrestleMania, and with the institution of the Wild Card Rule.

However, WWE has maintained separate titles for each show and it’s safe to guess that when Survivor Series comes around this fall, we’ll see a return to sort of brand warfare that WWE has promoted in recent years.

As such, there is the intriguing possibility of not just the red and blue brands going head to head, but NXT getting in on the action, too. While a three way program doesn’t necessarily lend itself well a traditional Survivor Series style match, the developmental brand may well have an ace up its sleeve.

In 2017, WWE and NXT reintroduced the War Games concept. That style of match would ordinarily (and has most recently) see two teams go head to head, but can accommodate three as well - as per the rules used in 2017. It’s possible we could see Raw vs. SmackDown at Survivor Series, with a three-way War Games showdown the night before at TakeOver.

2. Johnny Gargano is the face of NXT's invasion

Johnny Gargano's best shot at working at the top of the card on Raw or SmackDown may be leading an invasion.

Johnny Gargano is at the forefront of an small segment of NXT stars who have been on top of that brand for an oddly long period of time. Johnny Wrestling was heavily featured, to the point of main-eventing a TakeOver, as half of the #DIY tag team with Tommaso Ciampa. From there, Gargano has spent much of the last two years closing out TakeOvers, or working the next match down from the top, including title programs and standout matches with Ciampa, Adam Cole, Aleister Black, and Andrade.

After Gargano lost to Cole in a climactic match at TakeOver: Toronto this past SummerSlam weekend, rumor has had it that he may be finishing up in developmental. Gargano is both a standard bearer for NXT and a talent whose size and style don’t exactly make him a slam dunk to transition to the top of the main roster.

If NXT were to invade Raw and SmackDown, Gargano could be best used at the vanguard of that effort, representing NXT but, if anything, actually doing battle more on the main roster to facilitate a high profile transition to the Raw or SmackDown ranks.

1. Strange bedfellows

Old rivals may band together as part of an invasion angle.

Whenever WWE has employed an invasion angle before, one consistent feature of them has been the concept of strange bedfellows—unlikely partners working together either for the purposes of, um, invading, or to band together against the interlopers.

This dynamic was very much in play when The Alliance rose up in 2001 and essentially every WWE roster member turned face to relative to The Alliance’s heels, and worked together.

The Nexus angle similarly saw John Cena draw together a team of fellow faces John Morrison and R-Truth, but also heels Edge and Chris Jericho, besides legend Bret Hart to create a unit rooted less in kayfabe ties than a need to work together to survive.

NXT invading could, for example, see Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole putting aside their long standing rivalry to band together against the main roster that might doubt them. On the flip side, enemies like Seth Rollins and AJ Styles may be forced to have each other’s backs to protect against attacks.

Stars coming together in this fashion can feel contrived, but can also be pretty interesting for the resulting oddball tag teams, as well rivalries that might result from intra-team disagreements.

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