Michael Perry on January 24, 2022
LA Knight and Roderick Strong are both backstage for this week’s WWE Monday Night Raw. The NXT stars worked a dark match on Friday during the SmackDown tapings. NXT stars have frequently been brought to the main roster shows to work untelevised matches to see how crowds react or to prepare them for a call up. PW Insider broke the news.
LA Knight is one of the veterans on the NXT roster. At 39-years-old, Knight doesn’t fit in to what they’re trying to do on the show. A youth movement has gone from a focus on high-quality in-ring action to building and developing younger, less experienced stars. Knight has been with NXT since February of 2021.
Roderick Strong recently lost the NXT Cruiserweight Championship to Carmelo Hayes at New Years Evil. Hayes then unified the Cruiserweight and North American titles into one championship. Strong is a well-traveled veteran as well, having spent nearly six years in developmental.
Pete Dunne and Tommaso Ciampa have also worked dark matches before main roster shows recently. It appears WWE is giving the remaining veterans from the black and gold era closer looks. There are no plans set in stone for any call ups right now.
WWE has been known to place NXT talents into dark matches when they are being considered for a call up. Given the chaos within the company, anything could happen. Fans attending Raw tonight will likely get a look at Knight and Strong up close.
We’ll see if LA Knight and Roderick Strong are on their way to permanent spots on the main roster. They have been two of the top stars in NXT through the transition to the 2.0 era. If WWE is looking to continue building younger stars on the brand, it may be now or never for Knight and Roddy.
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January 24, 2022 3:39 pm
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