5 WWE Superstars Who Should Go Back To NXT

Former NXT superstar Tyler Breeze recently made a huge comeback in his feud with Velveteen Dream over the North American Championship. There’s no argument about this being the most momentum Prince Pretty has had since leaving the developmental brand in 2015. For months, Breeze has been very vocal about his dissatisfaction with the lack of creative direction for him on the main roster, so it was only a matter of time before Tyler would up and leave for greener pastures. Fortunately for him, Triple H was able to convince him to stick around for a little longer as a renewed member of the NXT roster.

Seeing Breeze make such a seamless transition back to the developmental brand is far from a demotion. He’s become one of the most talked about names in the industry and has already been included on a TakeOver card. This is much better of a situation for him to be in, than wasting away as part of Monday Night Raw.

With this inspirational career revival in mind, who else could use with a return to Full Sail? Many former NXT stars have found themselves on a rocky road since joining the main roster, so perhaps going back to NXT would help give them some more exposure and allow fans to care about them again. With AEW’s doors now wide open, it’s only a matter of time before they start realising their own worth and looking for new opportunities. Here are five superstars that should go back to NXT, before they make that choice.

 

1. The Revival

Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder absolutely tore the NXT tag division apart and put on some all-time classics with the likes of American Alpha and DIY. The Revival have become one of the most talked about tag teams in the world, despite being a relatively unknown entity prior to their work in NXT. They’re in that conversation of best duos on the planet, along with teams like The Young Bucks and The Lucha Brothers, and that’s no hyperbole.

AEW and other independent promotions have all expressed interest in signing The Revival, should they ever decide to leave WWE. Despite winning the Raw Tag Championships earlier this year, neither individual seems any less demotivated, so you’d think it was only so long before releases were requested.

The Revival would be the first two names to come to mind for a transition back to NXT. Arguably one of the best homegrown attractions to graduate from developmental, they’d not only be ridiculously over but also find themselves inserted into the tag title picture, competing against similar hungry teams who are looking to bring prestige back to tag wrestling.

 

2. Sasha Banks

‘The Boss’ has taken a brief hiatus from the company since dropping the Women’s Tag Titles to The IIconics at WrestleMania 35. It’s easy to spot someone who’s completely burnt out on the inconsistent booking and lack of creative direction, especially after the telling words of Jon Moxley from the most recent Talk Is Jericho podcast.

Sasha is again one of those superstars who aren’t afraid to hint at their displeasure with WWE, and with no scheduled appearances on the horizon, you might think she’s waiting out her contract.

Sasha is one of the four women that broke the mould of a female performer in WWE, to see her be let go of after such a disappointing fall from grace would be a true failure on WWE’s part. Perhaps allowing her to go back to her roots and bring ‘The Boss’ back to NXT TV would be a huge rejuvenation for her career. Banks’ best performances came from her time in developmental, namely her matches with Bayley and Charlotte Flair from TakeOvers past. Getting to see that calibre from her again would do huge favours for her credibility with the fans.

Here’s hoping we see Sasha return in the coming months, if not then hopefully she’ll find her calling elsewhere in the wrestling world.

 

3. Luke Harper

Luke Harper has been a name thrown about in the rumour mill as of late, with many expecting him to be exiting WWE once his contract expires in the summer. In typical WWE management style, Harper has been denied an early release and is being kept in the wings so that no other promotions can snap him up before his official deadline. It’s a shame to see such shoddy monopolisation techniques still in effect, but hey, it’s WWE.

If they’re serious about wanting to keep Harper on board, then they could at least give him a few months to build his star back in NXT. Few might recall his run as NXT Tag Champion in 2014, which produced some fairly exciting matches on his way to the main roster alongside Rowan and Bray Wyatt. Really it was just a taste of what Harper could bring to the squared circle, so allowing him to have a singles run as part of NXT could lead to some great opportunities for the big man.

Harper had the world talking in his most recent appearance at the World’s Collide tournament. His match with Dominik Dijakovic was exactly the type of match quality we’d love to see from Harper on a weekly basis. There’s absolutely no reason for him to waste away in the locker room of the main roster, when we could see the peak of his career as part of the NXT roster.

 

4. Buddy Murphy

I might be making somewhat of a premature prediction here, but I think Buddy Murphy is dead in the water on the main roster. Having not made a single in-ring appearance since being drafted to SmackDown Live as part of the Superstar Shake-up, it only goes to show that they have no idea what they want him to become outside of the Cruiserweight division. At least Cedric Alexander has been able to slot himself into the 24/7 title hunt.

Buddy Murphy literally became NXT’s Best Kept Secret: he would rarely appear on NXT TV but completely knock his live event matches out of the park. He quickly rose to prominence as part of the 205 Live roster and had a significant run with the title, but I fear that he’s hit his ceiling and the only way forward would be for him to take a step back and return to NXT.

His style of wrestling and general presence suits the developmental brand a lot more than it does SmackDown Live. Why let a talent such as Murphy go away untapped when he could be putting in MOTY candidates on Takeover cards? Having had a very brief cameo against Velveteen Dream, I see that as a perfect opportunity to bring him down to Florida on a permanent basis. There’s a feud waiting for him, a title picture to get in the midst of, and a lot of fans that would be happy to see him used to his best potential.

 

5. Shinsuke Nakamura

By far, WWE’s biggest failure was with the main roster career of The King of Strong Style. Being NXT’s biggest acquisition to date and one of the most talked about debuts on SmackDown Live, Nakamura quickly went from hero to zero within the space of a year. I’m not sure Vince really understood what made Shinsuke so likeable. He was an eclectic character as well as a legitimate threat to everyone he stepped in the ring with. His matches quickly became very formulaic and basic, his feuds were bland and even his anticipated dream WrestleMania match with AJ Styles was a bit of a misfire.

Nakamura’s stock is at an all-time low while being part of a meaningless tag team with Rusev. Having been a former US Champion already, there’s not much room for improvement here. The only quick fix at this point would be a return to NXT, where he could once again embrace the parts of him that brought him to the WWE in the first place. Just looking back at the matches he had with Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode and of course Sami Zayn shows the stark difference between the main programming and NXT. Wrestlers are allowed to perform at their peak and be allowed to go outside the confines of the WWE style. Nakamura could bring that flavour of New Japan to the mainstream, giving fans their fix of something a little different.

Shinsuke Nakamura needs to head back down to Full Sail, because quite frankly he’s no spring chicken and eventually won’t be able to perform at the same top standard we expect from him. Give this man one more chance to leave a mark on the mainstream world of wrestling. If anyone deserves it most, it’s Shinsuke Nakamura.

Did I miss out any other WWE stars that should go back to NXT? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.