WWE has significantly shifted its call-up process. In the early 2010s, developmental talent spent their time in Florida Championship Wrestling, honing their craft in the non-televised territory before getting one-off opportunities to test their skillset on WWE live events and dark matches. When a talent was deemed ready for the main roster, vignettes would air during WWE Monday Night Raw or WWE SmackDown in the weeks leading up to their in-ring debut. That process altered once NXT came along, as prospects filled out the black and gold brand and wrestled on its weekly televised product. When Raw or SmackDown came calling, the prospect would typically make a surprise appearance on either show before being built up with promo packages or sit-down interviews in the weeks that followed.
Today, WWE’s call-up process is not so hard and fast. WWE will bring NXT stars in for one-off appearances on WWE Monday Night Raw or WWE SmackDown before officially bringing them to either brand.
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Hayes, Williams, Breakker Set For SmackDown
Three stars of tomorrow will be at WWE SmackDown this week.
As reported by PWInsider Elite, Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, and Bron Breakker are all scheduled to be at this Friday’s WWE SmackDown. There is no official confirmation that any of the three men will actually appear on the broadcast but they will be traveling to Birmingham, Alabama for the show.
Hayes and Breakker both competed in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match this past weekend. Hayes has been flirting with the blue brand for some time now, even teasing joining Bobby Lashley’s faction, wrestling four matches on Friday nights in the past two months. Breakker has never competed on WWE SmackDown but has caught the attention of that brand’s general manager, Nick Aldis, as Aldis was seen taking a calling from Breakker this past Monday on WWE Monday Night Raw.
Williams made his WWE SmackDown debut at last week’s show, coming to the aid of Hayes during an Austin Theory-led beatdown. WWE officials were reportedly very impressed by Williams, going as far to say that he has “future WrestleMania main venter potential” (via Haus of Wrestling). Out of these three, Williams seems the likeliest to be just a one-off appearance for now, as he has the most amount of loose ends remaining untied in NXT. He is set to challenge Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship this Sunday at NXT Vengeance Day.
WWE SmackDown airs at 8 PM ET this Friday on FOX.
