So as you may or may not already be aware, I am the writer who provides his opinions on each weekly edition of WWE NXT every week. I do so because the show, in my opinion, has been the most consistent form of wrestling programming from pretty much its launch.
As it is WWE’s developmental territory, we have seen many of its more ‘ready’ and successful participants make the jump to the main-roster. Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Big E Langston, The Wyatt Family, Summer Rae, Xavier Woods and Bo Dallas have all gained promotion at one point or another, to varying degrees of prosperity.
As such, fans have clamoured to know who the next Superstar or Diva to make the switch will be. Why is person X being chosen? Person Y is being wasted in NXT, why isn’t Triple H calling them up? A guy I worked with at Disney World goes to college at Full-Sail and a WWE exec came out into the crowd and told him that Person Z is the next one being moved up!
I can see the attraction in talk like this. I am football fan. In football, we’re seemingly obsessed by speculating who are clubs will sign, who they will sell and what are teams are missing. As such, we know that one of two things will happen to a person on the NXT roster. They will move to Raw, SmackDown and the now seemingly endless plethora of WWE main-roster shows or they will be released and be considered not to have made it.
In actual fact though, something else could happen. Emma, who if you read my NXT reports, I am a huge fan of. She has recently been featured, mainly during Fandango matches, in the crowd dancing with an ‘#EMMAtaining’ sign. All signs point to a feud with Emma and Summer Rae.
This is great news for those who have been following the Australian Diva and clamouring for her and British Diva Paige to make the jump to the main roster. The idea for such a thing to happen would be to spice up perhaps the least talented, wrestling-wise, Divas division in history.
I am not suggesting that there is no talent there. AJ Lee, Naomi and Natalya are living contradictions of that. I even see the Bella Twins as having a role to play. The likes of Alicia Fox, Eva Mendas and Aksana though are where the issues lie. These ladies, beautiful as they are, seem happy to be lost in the mix and collect there pay check. I am nobody to say that is the wrong thing to do but it would be more interesting for me, as a fan, if this were not the case.
The attraction of Emma and Paige then is that they would be brought in and we would instantly have a stronger division and thus, more potential feuds to be excited about. Both ladies have proven on NXT that they can be hugely popular and have the skills to back it up
I admit to being almost, however ridiculous it may seem, proud of Emma for appearing on Raw. It is nice to see her rocking her awesome dancing skills for the masses of people who don’t even know what NXT is, let alone tune in every week.
When I sat back and considered things though, I got a little worried. I can see the attraction of bringing Emma in and getting all of the fans to join in with the dance and I am sure it makes for a potentially entertaining WrestleMania moment, should it catch on in time.
What comes after that though? As I have already stated, Emma has the skills to back up any push that she receives but this is not my worry. My concern is mainly due to the next series of Total Divas.
During the first season, those on the show were given the majority of the focus. I do not specifically have a problem with that. The only notable name not to be on there was AJ Lee and by cutting one of the finest promos of the last decade, she positioned herself as the antithesis of the Total Divas.
What came next were constantly repeating multi-Diva tag matches. Pitted against a team of Total Divas were AJ Lee and company. It is the final two words of that last that sentences that cause me the greatest concern in regards to Emma.
It didn’t matter who was with AJ, they were just there. A few tapped out to sharpshooters to take the loss but their contribution was no more than that. If Emma isn’t going to be on the next season of E’s reality show, is this what we wanted Emma to be called up for? I know I didn’t.
I wanted change. I wanted rejuvenation. I wanted real women’s wrestling. I wanted a revolution. I want an #EMMAloution. I just hope that we don’t miss it.
– By Richard Thompson | @AnacondaVise88
What did you think of Emma’s debut? Let us know in the Comments section below!