Four Major NXT Stars Make Main Roster Debuts

It was quite the night on Raw for debuts, with four of NXT’s biggest stars making their main roster bows for the red brand.

The first to appear was Ricochet, who saved new Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor from yet another beat down at the hands of Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush (so much for that break up at Elimination Chamber).

The inevitable tag match followed, with Ricochet and Rush flipping around for a while before Lashley proceeded to work over Balor in grinding fashion for several minutes. Ricochet then made the hot tag and cleaned house, finishing off Rush with the 630 splash to cap an impressive display.

.@KingRicochet might not be human. #Raw pic.twitter.com/fHVd7viB2i

— WWE (@WWE) February 19, 2019

Next up Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano reformed #DIY to challenge WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival (in a non-title match) in a rematch of their classics from NXT several years ago.

The duo looked excellent in victory, finishing off the champs with their old #DIY superkick/running knee combo. They even got the Lafayette crowd – who were dead for the entire show – to respond. Beating the champs was a statement of intent, and it appears that the duo will be slotted into the tag title picture going forwards.

.@JohnnyGargano with the lightning quickness! #Raw pic.twitter.com/wPdOt25enw

— WWE (@WWE) February 19, 2019

Finally, Aleister Black became the latest person to irk Elias by interrupting his set, then upset him even more by defeating him with his impressive Black Mass roundhouse kick to the mush.

The result completed a clean sweep for the NXT talent, who all enjoyed far better introductions to the main roster than some of their recently called-up counterparts.

.@WWEAleister is putting his striking abilities on full display! #Raw pic.twitter.com/YwAFbI2eS1

— WWE (@WWE) February 19, 2019

It was quite clear from the way the four NXT call-ups were presented that this was not a one off and all of them will be regular acts on WWE main roster programming for the foreseeable future.

Quite where that leaves NXT when Ciampa is the NXT Champion, Gargano is the North American Champion and both Black and Ricochet are top acts in the brand remains to be seen.

• RAW
• call-up
• nxt
• wwe

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