WWE Raw: Crossovers with NXT set to continue

Seeing Superstars crossover from Monday Night Raw and NXT 2.0 could be a regular occurrence in WWE according to new reports.

On Tuesday night we saw Dolph Ziggler defeat Tomasso Ciampa, via an assist from Bobby Roode, to become the number one contender to the NXT Championship. It was the latest plot path in what has become a crossover story between the pair on both Raw and NXT 2.0 and will culminate at NXT’s Stand and Deliver show at WrestleMania weekend, when Zigger challenges champion Bron Breakker. 

On a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, David Meltzer spoke on these recent crossovers and said that they are here to stay, with the strategy to boost NXT’s ratings. 

“The idea is to always have a main roster guy, preferably from the Raw side, doing an angle on NXT. You do the angle on both Raw and NXT, with the idea of that’s one of the ways to build up the NXT rating.”

Ziggler follows in the footsteps of AJ Styles, who earlier this year took to the NXT 2.0 brand to work a programe with Grayson Waller. They pair exchanges verbal blows with each other across both Raw and NXT, before Styles eventually beat the upstart in a main event slot on an episode of NXT. 

It’s a strategy WWE have leaned on in the past, even during the black and gold era of NXT. With names such as Cesaro, Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Kevin Owens and more all making the move across to work with NXT talent and boost both the superstars and the brand itself. 

With this reported news, expect more Raw and SmackDown talent to be possibly be added to the Stand and Deliver card in the coming weeks, as WWE look to take advantage of the WrestleMania profile for NXT’s big show.