Over the past few years, NXT has revolutionized not only WWE, but the entire professional wrestling industry. The black and yellow brand started life as a feeder system to WWE's main roster. All it did was take the place of what had been there before. Promotions like FCW and OVW were centralized and everything was moved to the Performance Center and Full Sail University. What Triple H envisioned for the brand is unclear, but it's hard to imagine that he ever saw it getting as big as it has become today. It almost feels silly to refer to it as lesser than Raw and SmackDown Live nowadays as NXT now feels like WWE's third brand. That certainly seems to be the case during big PPV weekends when NXT Takeover events draw as many fans as the show that happens 24 hours later.
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No matter how big NXT becomes or how much its role in the business changes, its core reason for existing remains the same. That is to supply Raw and SmackDown Live with new Superstars and to prepare them for the main roster. In some instances that calls for a wrestler basically being built from scratch like Baron Corbin, or in some scenarios it means bringing in an already established star and helping them adapt to the WWE style, like Finn Balor. Whatever way you slice it NXT is where the main roster gets the majority of its Superstars. In fact, six of the current title holders in WWE right now are NXT alumni.
Recently though NXT has demonstrated that it could possibly be a revolving door rather than a one-way ticket. During their live events last week there were two examples of former NXT Superstars returning to the black and yellow brand for one night only. First up was The Revival, the first team to ever hold the NXT Tag Team Titles more than once. They came back for a match with The Undisputed Era which apparently tore the house down. Hopefully, some members of the Raw creative team were watching. 24 hours later Tyler Breeze also returned to the brand where he enjoyed so much success. Prince Pretty competed in Friday night's main event and according to those in attendance he looked happier than he has done for quite a while.
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Both The Revival and Tyler Breeze are examples of Superstars who haven't really made a successful transition from NXT to the main roster. The bulk of the WWE Universe doesn't seem to have the same affinity for the throwback style that Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson employ as fans at Full Sail did, while apparently asking to leave Raw early a while ago has left Breeze in Vince McMahon's bad books. In cases like these, why can Superstars not return to NXT for a longer period? They thrived there before and perfected their personas, perhaps if they come back for a few months they can find themselves again and maybe enjoy more success when they return to the main roster.
It's not as if this would be a new, groundbreaking idea either. Before NXT became the massive entity that is is now main roster Superstars competing there was a pretty common occurrence. Cesaro paid some visits to Full Sail and put on terrific matches with the likes of Sami Zayn and William Regal, while Natalya put on a terrific match with Charlotte Flair. That Nattie example is a further argument as to why sliding back to NXT should be embraced. The experienced Natalya springboarded Flair's career with that rivalry and helped make her become the top star that she is today. If others are allowed to do that, like Dolph Ziggler and Bayley, who knows what they could do for not only themselves but also up and coming stars at Full Sail.
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Mr. McMahon apparently hammers into his creative team, and the fans, that there should be no crossover between Raw and SmackDown Live, apart from at Survivor Series when the PPV is based around that very premise. If he could keep to that rule then Survivor Series would be so much more special. With so much fluidity allowed between Monday and Tuesday nights, it's a mystery why there is none allowed between the main roster and NXT. Well, not none as there are call-ups, but rather nothing coming the other way. NXT should not only be viewed as a place to build up new stars, but also a brand where struggling, rusty, or failing wrestlers can go to reinvent themselves. There are so many men and women on the main roster right now who have faded into the background, and that will likely not change any time soon.