Predicting NXT Call Ups For The Women’s Division

Written By Ben Hercik

We are slowly approaching the time of year folks. The post Wrestlemania call ups. While their are some that many of us expect, but let’s face it, NXT is a whole lot better than the main roster right now. So let's look at which members of the NXT Roster would do well with a call up for the women’s division.

The women’s division is thriving right now, just look at the success of Evolution. But both shows need some more depth for their division. I think the level of the women of NXT deserve a whole list of their own.

*DISCLAIMER* Before starting this list, I made these lists with the thought of only including those who have made their debuts on NXT, The Mae Young Classic, or who are just jobbers for right now on NXT. These lists don’t include Punishment Martinez, Chelsey Green, Dominik Dijakovic, Humberto Carrillo (Ultimo Ninja), Marcel Bartel (Axel Dieter Jr) Tegan Nox (Due to Injury), Jessamyn Duke, or Marina Shafir. Also, not all of these will happen this year. I figured that this would be a fun little thing to do. When all of these wrestlers do get called up, this is where I think they will end up.

Bianca Belair - RAW

This woman is amazingly good for having very limited experience in the ring. Can you believe she is only in her second year of professional wrestling! With her backgrounds in Track & Field, it is a unique thing to professional wrestling. She is such a great heel and is the current second best women’s heel in NXT. She is someone made for Raw, with her natural promo skills and ability in the ring. It would also be interesting to see how she would fit in on the show with all the talent there.

Candice LeRae - Smackdown

Candice is just the first of many women’s independent darlings going to the blue brand. Candice has one of the coolest, but convoluted setups in history with Mrs. LeRares Wild Ride. Just looking at the roster right now, there are so many matches there that she could have. She has come a long way from being the tag team partner for Joey Ryan in PWG. I think she will be the underdog of the women’s division for Smackdown, like the Daniel Bryan story, and it is something that is missing from Smackdown. All the women currently on Smackdown could legitimately win the championship, minus Zelina Vega and Lana just so far, and there is no real underdog right now.

Deonna Purrazzo - Smackdown

The Virtuosa. Just with that nickname, Deonna belongs on Smackdown. What better show to have a her on than a show that is all about technical wrestling. Plus her and Becky just going for eachothers arms would be a great match and I want to see that. Deonna has spent years being a trailblazer for women’s wrestling in multiple promotions. She is one of the key reasons that Ring of Honor now has a women’s championship now. Smackdown claims to be the home of opportunities, and this is the perfect opportunity for Deonna to prove that her so far lackluster NXT career is just an outlier.

Dakota Kai - Smackdown

Dakota is an interesting case. One one hand you can say that she is the most developed of the women in NXT, but you can also say that she has not done anything in NXT. I’m not sure how much of that is her fault and if Tegan wasn’t injured then maybe she will be doing more, but it isn’t clear. But her going to Smackdown would be great for her. Dakota would be able to learn a lot from some of the veterans in the Smackdown locker room. Plus she would also be able to be a veteran role for some of the other women that are younger to develop more and improve.

Io Shirai - Smackdown

I think that this woman is one of the best women wrestlers of all time. And she may have not even reached her peak yet. How scary is she going to be when she gets there. I think that it’s no real question that Io is going to go to Smackdown. She is one of the best pure wrestlers that I have ever seen. Just imagine some of the matches, specifically Io vs Charlotte and Io vs Becky. I think Io is perfect to lead the women of WWE as the face of the division. We don’t know how long the three women that WWE has at the top of their division, Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch will be there, and Shirai is coming in at the right time. I think that with the women’s division so hot, Shiriai will thrive when she gets the call up to the main roster.

Kairi Sane - RAW

Finding a home for Kairi was hard, as she would thrive on both shows. Even though I am clearly biased towards Smackdown, I think that the Raw women’s division does need to be improved. Bianca and Kairi are just the start of trying to improve it. To me Kairi is brings some skills that the women are missing on Raw, and that is a well developed character. Outside of Sasha, Bayley, and Alexa, no other women have a defined character. The Pirate Princess also brings in great wrestling skills to go with that character, she would be just like Sasha, Bayley, and Ember. One of the best parts of Raw.

Mia Yim - Smackdown

I am not just saying Mia should be on Smackdown because she has blue in her hair. Mia is a great wrestler who brings a little bit of everything to the table. She can bring a great striking game, she has great submission skills, she has a good character, and she can connect with the audience. If she can develop more in the high-flying department, then she can be the most all around WWE women’s wrestler since Charlotte debuted. I think that Smackdown is great for her, especially once it moves to Fox and she can show her skills to a wider audience. She can easily be a prime contender for the Women’s Championship instantly.

Nikki Cross - Smackdown

I started writing this before Nikki got the call up the one night during the European Tour recently. But they did get the call right. I think that Nikki on Smackdown makes all the sense in the world. She should’ve been called up with her Sanity brothers. I believe that she would be a valuable asset to the Smackdown women’s division. She adds a lot of character to that division that is missing. The biggest example of this is Sonya Deville. As of right now, she is good in the ring but her character is non existent. She can learn a lot from Nikki Cross. She has such a great character and can be a big asset to help the women see how a good character is done.

Shayna Baszler - RAW

Shayna is the perfect fit for Raw. She is the definition of a good character who is pretty decent in the ring. The natural heel in her is phenomenal and makes a great character. The one issue is if they decide to go through with the Four Horsewomen vs Four Horsewomen feud, they would probably want the UFC ones to be heel, and Ronda may struggle with that. As a singles wrestler though, Shayna will thrive on Raw. She would have a bit less of the spotlight on her thanks to Bayley, Sasha, and Alexa. It will allow for her issues to be less focal.

Taynara Conti - RAW

These last two are a long way away from happening, but they are ones to look forward to. From last year's Mae Young Classic to the most recent one, Taynara has improved a lot. I don’t think that any time soon Conti will be challenging for the NXT women’s championship. But their is one place she may be able to show that she is that good, and that is the rumored NXT South America. It may be a little ways away, but it will be here at some point it seems. Her background in Judo is very helpful to her as only Ronda has that background, and who knows how long she will be around. As for brand, I think that Raw works well for her a lot like it will help Shayna. It will allow for Taynara to hide her weaknesses as Smackdown is a lot more heavy on the actual wrestling aspect.

Vanessa Bourne - RAW

Vanessa is a bit of a weird case. You can see how green she is but there is a lot of character to her. The downside is that she constantly loses and can’t seem to go anywhere. I think that she needs to have more wins, but she does need to develop a lot more as well. I think that the character she has is perfect for Raw, as her wrestling is not all there and she can back it up with the character aspect of professional wrestling.