WWE News: Former TNA Stars Bobby Roode And Eric Young Expected To Be WWE NXT Regulars Very Soon
Coming off of a fantastic WWE NXT Takeover: The End event, fans had a lot of questions regarding NXT and its future. Triple H told people on Facebook live after the show that NXT is not ending, but rather it is the end of the beginning. That means the NXT brand is no longer what it used to be: a developmental product. Now it is a brand just like WWE RAW and SmackDown. We also know that Finn Balor could be leaving. What is American Alpha after their loss?
One thing that seemed to come up more than anything else were questions regarding two former TNA stars, Bobby Roode and Eric Young. We saw Young debut with NXT a little while back on a previous NXT show, and it appeared as if the company had signed him. Apparently, it was just a one-off, but WWE has been hard at work trying to sign him. On top of this, Bobby Roode was spotted in the crowd at NXT Takeover: Dallas months back.
Roode also appeared on camera last night on NXT Takeover: The End when he was briefly passing by William Regal. We know he was apparently meeting with Regal, most likely to see if the NXT GM will allow him to work with NXT. Storyline wise, this would be interesting to see. It goes without saying that Roode is a big free agent, but it appears he wants to work with NXT. Clearly, Regal will want to sign him.
It now looks as official as it can be that at least Bobby Roode will be officially signed to the NXT brand before too long. According to Cageside Seats, the expectation is that both Roode and Young will be debuting as full-time members of the roster soon. They are also expected to be major regulars for the NXT brand.
This does not mean they will never have a chance to be part of the main roster of either WWE RAW or SmackDown, as they very well could. The problem for WWE here is that they plan to bring a lot of NXT names to the main roster fairly soon due to the WWE Draft coming up, which means major names to replace the lost ones. Both Bobby Roode and Eric Young are useful here, as they clearly are major names that can help the NXT brand grow.
With other top names like Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, and Shinsuke Nakamura, the NXT brand is safe despite the loss of stars such as Finn Balor. Other top names like Zack Sabre Jr. and Kota Ibushi could join the NXT roster full time after the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, which would only help the NXT brand. That means we certainly shouldn’t sleep on the brand due to the possible losses.
Does this mean we should expect to see Bobby Roode and Eric Young in the NXT Title hunt? It would seem so, especially if they are to be top stars for the brand moving forward. The possible plan for the NXT Title moving forward is for Samoa Joe to drop the title to Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. This is mainly because it appears Joe will head to the main roster and will need to drop the title soon. He simply couldn’t drop it to Balor, who is also heading up.
They very well could have Nakamura and Roode fight for the title before too long. It is expected that WWE will use them well, which makes total sense due to how much fans seem to love them at this point. While they were former TNA stars, that doesn’t mean WWE fans are clueless as to who these guys are. That means WWE needs to be smart in their use, otherwise, they run a risk of angering a very passionate fan base.
[Image via TNA Wrestling]
