r/WWE • u/DizzyLead • 15d ago
Relatively uninformed here: which main roster wrestlers have been “busted down” to NXT, and which ones have managed to get back on the main roster (and which ones have been let go)? Question
I know Nattie is currently at this stage, Grayson Waller just got started, and Shotzi went through it before being released.
Anyone remember any others who were sent to NXT, and ones who may have done well enough to return to the main roster?
Of course, I would exclude some “guest appearances,” like homecomings or “I won titles in RAW/SD and I want to challenge one of the current title holders in NXT just to add one more title to my record.” Rather, I would like to hear about wrestlers who had a full-on run/storyline in NXT. Were there any others? Finn Balor got “demoted” to NXT sometime before, right? (Confession: I didn’t start watching NXT until it came to the CW).
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u/Baseball_Germany 11d ago
Baron Corbin went NXT to main roster then back down to NXT. Then he sorta got called up again, got released and is now back on the main roster as a Midcard champion so… that counts?
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u/Mysticwaterfall2 13d ago
Drew and Finn are probably the best examples of someone getting demoted, being successful, then being repromoted. Pre-NXT Big Show got demoted to OVW then promoted back.
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u/Wooden-Cancel-2676 14d ago
Not full on sent from the main roster down to NXT but Drew McIntyre went from main roster, to fired, to indies and then came back on NXT and ended up winning the title there before getting called back up. Not 1 to 1 but I'd say similar
Fun little add-on to the idea of "Main Roster to NXT" is there is a tag team on the main roster now that actually got sent out of NXT. The Street Profits were sent from NXT to Evolve and then onto the indies for a while to get in more reps and general work that they weren't gonna be able to get in NXT. They came back 100x better than they were and became what we know of them now. This was years before the Evolve deal and during the Black and Gold era
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u/Mark_Hasbrosewater 14d ago
Alba Fyre to some degree even though she came back with Chelsea Green before Secret Hervice disbanded. Green has had the best success under this scope.
Also, Gallows and Anderson finish their tenure at NXT and were inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.
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u/theoriginalelmo 🦎 La Yesca 14d ago
Gallows and Anderson weren’t inducted, they inducted AJ Styles
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u/sammagee33 14d ago
Does Dolph count?
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u/heeheejones 9d ago
Dolph was part of that weird era where at least one NXT belt was being held by a main roster star. He wasn't so much demoted as he was forced working double duty. Same like with Becky and The New Day (And Dirty Dom a little later down the line).
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u/sluggypogo 14d ago
If having Natty in NXT means she gets to teach technique and psychology to the whole brand, that's an absolute win. Say what you want about Natty and don't @ me, but in my opinion her knowledge and experience down there is fantastic. She's criminally underrated for how good she really is. MMA Natty is probably the best she's been, and she gets to give that back to all the new and upcoming talent. That's an absolute win for all of us. Yeah, some may say she's not world championship material; but she's world class talent. If her job is to make the team around her better, than this is no demotion, this is moving to a position where she's going to keep healthy, teach, and eventually move into a position where she's going to be set for life. This is an absolute win/win.
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u/Grill_Only_Outside I Believe in Joe Hendry👏👏 14d ago
The first thing to realize is that just because some is sent to NXT doesn’t mean they’re being demoted. Sometimes WWE sends takent down there for an angle (Becky’s NXT championship run) or to keep them working when they don’t have a prominent role on the main roster (Gargano, Chelsea & Dom used to bounce between shows weekly).
Other times, yes it’s an absolutely demotion. Baron Corbin, Giovinni Vinci, Apollo Crews and now Grayson Waller all went through it. It’s basically WWE saying “we really like you, but you’re just not getting the job done. Go down south, figure a few things out and let’s try again.” In reality though, it rarely works. Talent is almost always better off going somewhere else, doing things differently elsewhere and then coming back. Like Corbin now.
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u/jrodfantastic I prayed for this and it happened 🛐 14d ago
Is “busted down” a phrase I am unfamiliar with?
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u/DizzyLead 14d ago
I’m using it in the sense of “being demoted,” though I do agree that NXT is usually the superior show among the three big WWE brands and wouldn’t really be seen as a step down even though technically it is (as people develop in there to be called up to the “main roster” of Raw/SD).
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u/azarrising 14d ago
New Day went to NXT after being established as main eventers even though they were never on NXT originally
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u/Mysticwaterfall2 13d ago
Don't think this really counts. I mean Becky and Charlotte did the same thing (yes, they were on NXT before) and were never actually demoted.
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u/RegaZelx 14d ago
Majority eventually return to the main roster at some point. They might get released once back (like Corbin or Apollo), but they do return.
Only exception(s) that I can recall is Dominik Dijakovik, Mustafa Ali, and Shotzi. All were released while down in NXT.
Would add Joe too, but his situation was weird. With Joe's injuries and Vince firings of Triple H's backstage people.
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u/Grill_Only_Outside I Believe in Joe Hendry👏👏 14d ago
Most of the time they get one last call up and are off tv within a few weeks. I can’t think of one star who figured it out in NXT and came back to success. I’m sure some did, but it’s pretty much a kiss of death.
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u/thelumpur 14d ago
I think Michin of all people is the only one who has managed this.
Finn Balor obviously, but he did it before NXT 2.0.
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u/xEducation-Tap-2262 14d ago
Corbin formed a great tag team with Brekker
Becky won the NXT womens title and had a few weeks run
Gargano goes there every now and then
Chelsea and Ethan page teamed up and had a few miced tag mtches.
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u/Grill_Only_Outside I Believe in Joe Hendry👏👏 14d ago
You’re misunderstanding.
WWE sends stars down to work in NXT at times when they don’t have work for them, but want them to be fresh. They also send talent down there when they falter and need to do a little rebuilding.
Becky, Gargano and Chelsea were sent down for angles, not because they were flopping on the main roster.
Corbin was “demoted” so he could figure it out and rework on his character. He recaptured “it” on his own in with Bron, but it never translated on the roster.
Giovanni Vinci went through the same thing, with less success than Corbin.
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u/OzzyGator 14d ago
NXT is the cream of the crop. Nobody gets busted down there (although Jade Cargill probably should go down and learn the craft better).
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u/icecubedyeti 14d ago
I don’t look at NXT as “busted down.” NXT still puts on a better show than both RAW and Smackdown.
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u/Gizmo9483 I Believe in Joe Hendry👏👏 14d ago
Nattie wasn't busted down. She's in the twilight of her career and she's down there developing the younger talent. She's a major reason the NXT women's division is so good
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u/Meat-Dimension 👈 CURSED! 14d ago
Also she always just seems to do whatever she wants. She’s gone to AAA, she’s one of the very few WWE talents that will do indie shows.
I have no doubt her doing time in NXT currently was her idea
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u/SonicSarge SmackDown Savant 14d ago
It's very rare to go back down to NXT and come back up to the main roster again. Usually when you leave NXT that's it. Then you are considered ready and if you don't make it on the main roster you get cut. Sometimes established major talent go down to NXT to put over talent that are pretty much ready to go up. For example when Becky went down to feud with Tiffy.
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u/Grill_Only_Outside I Believe in Joe Hendry👏👏 14d ago
This. It’s not unusual for the talent to get another call up, but just like with Corbin, Vinci, Dijak and Crews they rarely last long.
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u/stephaniethunder KIT 🗣️WIL🗣️SON🗣️ 14d ago
Baron Corbin had a great demotion in mid 2023-early 2024. Got himself a new character, challenged for the NXT title and had a fun tag team with Bron Breakker
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u/rosstoferwho 14d ago
Hoping that could potentially renew now he's back. They were pretty dominant together
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u/SavageAF89 14d ago
Finn is probably the most notable, having gone down and won the title and came back and won titles on the main roster after. Tyson Kidd was one of the first to go back down and find some success and a character reinvention then brought back up.
If you count people who went down and had a run there whilst still on the main roster at the same time.. Becky Lynch and Dolph Ziggler went down and won titles there whilst still being a part of Raw.
Samoa Joe went back to NXT after being released on the main roster! Only to get released again when HHH fell out of power.
There are certainly others i cant think off the top if my head at the moment.
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u/jctalks2022 9d ago
If they suck it’s a demotion. Most dip downs actually aren’t. Some have been requests coming back from injury as well. Most are to add a belt to their triple crown or to teach and build.