Some rumors have been circulating about a certain tier of classes at the WWE Performance Center. The story was originally reported by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscribe here). Some of the names on the list might surprise you.
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The first tier of names are in the class ran by Terry Taylor. This is reportedly considered the group that are being groomed for the main roster. The names are:
- Shinsuke Nakamura, Tye Dillinger, Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas, Alexander Wolfe, TM 61, Hideo Itami, Tomasso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Chris Hero and Elias Samson.
The second tier of names are expected to be next in line for the top group once they get called up to the main roster.
- Roderick Strong, Tino Sabbatelli, Riddick Moss, Big Damo, Tommy End, Dan Matha, Oney Lorcan, Wesley Blake, Buddy Murphy, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder (The Revival) and The Authors of Pain.
Austin Aries, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode and Eric Young reportedly have deals that don’t require them to train at the Performance Center and it is unclear about their main roster statuses.
Certainly some surprising names. Didn’t expect Wolfe, TM 61 and Samson to be ahead of the Revival when it comes to moving up to the main roster. We have to remember that WWE’s main roster requires wrestlers of all different talents. Not every single call up can be a main eventer like Nakamura. The roster sometimes needs reliable lower-card talent. Or WWE might have plans for those guys that we have no idea about.
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We also have to remember that NXT needs some star-power as well. I think that is what we are seeing with the Revival. Maybe they are keeping them down in order to carry the NXT tag team division as we move forward?
Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
revival second tier? AHAHAHAHAHAHA!! maybe the best team in WWE. certainly right there w/ alpha and DIY.
nakamura, joe, DIY and revival are ready. the others can use more time.
as for roode, aries, young… the all could be on the main roster, but I get why they’re not.
NXT needs to replenish NXT before they strip them of everyone worthy to move up.
its why WWE should have made a stronger push for some of those ROH talents. WWE tried to low-ball them and it came back to bite them in the a$$. now some of these talents have signed on multiple years w/ ROH and they won’t get those years back. some talents are worth the extra money. WWE just has to know who’s worth it and who’s not. you do that by contrasting their popularity and what kind of houses they draw when they appear.
IMO, they missed out on jay lethal, young bucks, bobby fish, and adam cole is still a question. his deal is up in the next couple months, if im not mistaken. kenny omega is still in play, but I suspect he will re-sign w/ NJPW. I could be wrong, just a hunch. and my personal favorite — Dalton castle. but I have ZERO intel to his deal and when it is up.
List 1 – I don’t know who Wolfe is. TM61 would be underutilized as they are now, and Almas would be a replacement for the soon to be future endeavored Sin Cara. Samson is possibly gonna be mid card or jobber fodder. Everyone else has some way of showing up, either as higher mid carders or partial main event talent.
List 2 is full of currently unknown talent (except Strong, AoP, and The Revival. Damo and Tommy End are well known in indy circles, but have yet to reach even NXT casuals yet) ,so this may be 2018’s set of recruits. I’m surprised they haven’t fired Riddick Moss – he’s accident prone, and unsafe. Blake and Murphy don’t even have established characters on NXT anymore.
With the way the NXT System is going, I would hope that WWE would calm down and let talent simmer in NXT for at least 3 years before calling them up. The problem is that we get guys like Kalisto, Crews, and Bo Dallas who are drafted and given nothing to do, have 0 charisma, or are green as grass. Rarely do we get a Sammy or an Owens who are primed, ready, and need very little seasoning to make it on TV.
WWE have a very big garden to choose from, but their garderners have no idea who’s ripe, green, or rotten anymore.