Report: Vince McMahon Concerned Current WWE Wrestlers "Aren't Superstars"
Vince McMahon called for major changes to the WWE's television product this week, and the reported [...]
Vince McMahon called for major changes to the WWE's television product this week, and the reported reasoning behind it is rather concerning.
Dave Meltzer said on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio that McMahon's decision to call up Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Ricochet, and Aleister Black up from NXT to appear on Raw and SmackDown this week was because he felt the current wrestlers on the roster "aren't gonna be Superstars."
Considering that WrestleMania 35 is a little more than a month away, that's a pretty frightening thought if the report is true. Meltzer added that the card for the company's biggest show of the year is still "in flux" beyond the top two matches — Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair (vs. Becky Lynch, presumably) and Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins.
One match that has been pitched, according to Bleacher Report's Jeremy Botter, is Daniel Bryan vs. a returning Kevin Owens. The former Universal Champion has been out of action since October due to surgery, but has appeared on WWE television over the past few weeks posting video updates.
The four NXT stars went undefeated in their televised matches this week, even though it was unclear whether their call-ups were permanent. Ricochet teamed with Finn Balor to beat Lio Rush and Bobby Lashley on Raw and Eric Young on SmackDown, Gargano and Ciampa reformed DIY to beat The Revival and The Bar in back-to-back nights, and Black beat both Elias and Andrade in singles matches.
This week's episode of NXT (which was taped back in January) also featured all four men. The show was headlined by an NXT North American Championship match between Gargano and Velveteen Dream, which the latter won to close out the show.
Meanwhile Wednesday's set of NXT television tapings featured Gargano and Ciampa officially reuniting to compete in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The pair made it to the semifinals before falling to Black and Ricochet, who also entered the tournament as a team. Afterwards Ciampa attempted to betray Gargano again just like he did back at NXT TakeOver: Chicago in May 2017, but Gargano reversed the attack and went after his former partner.
Based on that, it's likely that Gargano and Ciampa will meet for the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: New York during WrestleMania 35 weekend. Meanwhile Gargano and Black have a shot to win "The Dusty" and challenge the War Raiders for the tag titles at TakeOver: New York if they can beat The Forgotten Sons in the finals.