Last night's SmackDown Live! saw the draft return which included six NXT call-ups, but according to reports on NoDQ.com the WWE has been going back and forth on deciding who to move to the main roster and only decided last night. The draft picks included; Finn Balor, Nia Jax, Carmella, Alexa Bliss, American Alpha and Mojo Rawley. These decisions seem to have been met with a mixed reaction, with some fans being pleased to see the likes of Balor and American Alpha on the main roster others have questioned why names such as Bayley and Shinsuke Nakamura were not picked.
In kayfabe terms, there was no explanations, but, in reality, the decision was made to keep NXT strong as a brand, but still the inclusion of Rawley over names such as Tye Dillinger and Austin Aries have been met generally negatively. With Bayley still the most likely candidate to appear at Battleground and help Sasha Banks, it appears the company did consider moving her up originally and have been debating several decisions regarding NXT talent.
Original plans
According to reports those involved in the decision making were struggling to decide upon who to call up. At one stage it is said that they considered splitting American Alpha by only calling up Jason Jordan, a decision that seems strange considering that Jordan struggled to make any impact on the roster until his pairing with Chad Gable, but clearly, that decision was scraped.
Regarding Carmella's call-up, most people were surprised by the WWE's decision to bring her to SmackDown as many felt she wasn't quite ready for the main roster and believed she could have really grown in NXT. However, it is clear that some have been thinking about this for some time with several officials considering moving her following WrestleMania, at the same time as Enzo and Big Cass. They decided not to make that decision to allow her to keep developing and make a name for herself as a singles star, but the company changed their minds on that ahead of the draft.
The most surprising decision was the move of Mojo Rawley, someone who hasn't done much in NXT and is lacking in-ring, but he was brought up after lots of back and forth discussion. The debate was between Rawley and new star, No Way Jose, but the decision was Rawley as Jose is currently mid push in developmental and Rawley has the potential to join tag partner, Zack Ryder on SmackDown to reform the Hype Bros.