It has been a huge week for the stars of WWE. NXT had their first two-night TakeOver: Stand & Deliver on Wednesday and Thursday, and WrestleMania 37 weekend has just come to a close.
WrestleMania weekend saw two former NXT stars win their first-ever main roster titles. Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair defeated Sasha Banks for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in a historic main event on night one. Rhea Ripley then took on Asuka for the RAW Women’s Championship and won, just weeks after her debut on the red brand.
Elsewhere on NXT a new Women’s Champion was crowned. After an incredible 304 day reign, Io Shirai was dethroned by Raquel Gonzalez.
The week after WrestleMania is always somewhat of a reset in WWE. The RAW and SmackDown episodes that follow have often seen huge returns, and call ups from the stars of NXT. One of the most notable post-WrestleMania NXT call-ups was Paige, who won the Divas Championship on her first night on RAW. New SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair debuted after the big show last year.
There are a few NXT stars who are reportedly waiting for their main roster debut. There has been talk for quite some time that Vanessa Borne is set to move up. Santana Garrett has also posted photos of herself backstage at SmackDown. As well as, Chelsea Green who made her SmackDown debut but hasn’t returned following suffering a broken wrist.
Here are five NXT Superstars who could be called up now that the Show of Shows is over for the year.
Toni Storm
Torm Storm is a former NXT UK Champion and moved to NXT in late 2020. The star is popular amongst fans and has put on some fantastic matches throughout her career. In NXT, she has had a solid feud with then-champion Io Shirai.
Storm could add a new aspect to the women’s division on either RAW or SmackDown. She definitely has the in-ring skill to succeed and the potential of some match-ups could be outstanding. Seeing her and Rhea Ripley come to blows once more over the RAW Women’s Championship could be a great moment down the line.
Mercedes Martinez
Before WWE, Mercedes Martinez was known as a huge name on the independent wrestling scene. Many people do not come into WWE with the number of years of experience that Martinez has. Like a lot of the women on the roster, she was a standout star of Shimmer and had two great title reigns whilst there.
Martinez is a star who is more than ready to make the move to RAW or SmackDown from NXT. She previously had a call-up of sorts during her short-lived alliance with RETRIBUTION but quickly moved back to NXT before she was even officially named Retaliation. Martinez would be a welcome addition to the main roster, and she could even revisit her past with Shayna Baszler on RAW.
Dakota Kai
Dakota Kai has risen through the ranks in NXT since her heel turn. Her alliance with current NXT Women’s Champion was good way to showcase Kai in a different light, and the two made history together as the first-ever women’s Dusty Classic winners and also inaugrual NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Raquel Gonzalez’s reign as NXT Women’s Champion could spell the end of their partnership, giving Kai a chance to move on to either RAW or SmackDown. She may not come up immediately but after a potential feud with Gonzalez may lead to it happening sooner or later.
Candice LeRae
Even though Candice LeRae is still involved with The Way on NXT, she could be a good candidate to move to either brand on the main roster. She has spent many years in NXT but hasn’t quite managed to win the Women’s Championship. In a similar way to Bianca Belair, she has been the number one contender multiple times and has put on some of the biggest matches of the brand despite never being a champion on the Black and Gold Brand.
Once the storyline with The Way comes to a close – which could be very soon – Candice LeRae could find herself moving to Monday or Friday nights.
Io Shirai
Now that Io Shirai has dropped the NXT Women’s Championship, she seems like a shoe-in for the main roster of WWE. Shirai has been a standout member of the NXT women’s division for some time now and has been a part of some of the biggest moments on the brand during her time there. She has even gone on record saying she would love to face the longest-reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion in that of Bayley one day at WrestleMania.
Shirai would be the perfect person to elevate the women’s division on SmackDown or RAW. By crowning women who are fairly new to their respective brands at WrestleMania 37, WWE could be showing that they are finally ready to usher in a new era on RAW and SmackDown, and Shirai would easily fit into that.
Who do you think may be making their way to the red or blue brand, – if anyone?!?
Leave your thoughts below.
