WWE has become significantly more patient when it comes to bringing NXT prospects to Monday Night Raw or WWE SmackDown. In years past, most blossoming talent would wrestle in developmental and work their way up to winning a championship. Once they lost that gold, they would get called up to the main roster within a matter of weeks. Stars like Adrian Neville, Keith Lee, Bobby Roode, The Revival, Shinsuke Nakamura and more followed this trajectory. Now, there is no guarantee that an NXT star will join the main roster after losing a white and gold championship. Former NXT Champions Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes remain at the WWE Performance Center despite losing NXT’s top prize. The same goes for former NXT Women’s Champions Roxanne Perez and Tiffany Stratton.
That said, some stars get the main roster call without ever holding a title in NXT. This was seen in the black and gold era with EC3 and Elias while today’s notable example is Grayson Waller.
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Dragon Lee Quietly Joins WWE SmackDown Roster
As evident by a new listing on WWE.com’s roster page, Dragon Lee can be added to that category. Dragon Lee is now being labelled as a member of the WWE SmackDown roster.
This quiet call-up comes after Dragon Lee worked a couple of main roster matches in recent weeks. He challenged NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio for his title on a September episode of Monday Night Raw and then wrestled Austin Theory on this past Friday’s WWE SmackDown.
Dragon Lee has one of the fastest transitions from developmental to main roster in company history. He announced at AAA Lucha Libre: Noche de Campeones in December 2022 that he had signed with WWE and would make his televised debut in March.
“I feel very happy and excited. I can not believe this. This is something that surprised me a lot,” Dragon Lee said in an interview shortly after signing with WWE. “I’m going to do my best like I always have. Representing my country, representing my people, showing all that I have achieved by working hard by being every day in the ring training, going to the gym every single day.
“I’m going to be in the number one sports entertainment company and I’m happy about it. I’ll give my best. I am going to stand out, as I have done in all the places I’ve been. WWE see you very soon.”
