I don’t know how old most of you are, but there’s a pretty good chance that debuts, arrivals, and developmental call-ups have been a major part of wrestling for as long as you’ve been a fan of the sport.
Things have been taken to the next level since the beginning of NXT, though. From the moment that The Nexus made their shocking debut on Monday Night Raw in 2010, wrestling fans have loved speculating about potential new arrivals, and discussing who should and shouldn’t be on the biggest stages.
That Nexus debut continues to be one of the best newcomer arrivals in wrestling history. The group didn’t have the greatest of runs after that debut, but for one night, they made wrestling history and were the most talked-about act in the entire business.
When the topic of newcomers comes up, you’d be foolish to not talk about WWE in 2002. In the 2002 calendar year, seven wrestlers made their WWE debuts after being called up from Ohio Valley Wrestling, which was the company’s developmental territory at the time.
On the March 18th episode of Raw, Brock Lesnar would make his debut, interfering in a Hardcore Title match and attacking Al Snow, Spike Dudley, and Maven.
March 21st saw the debut of Rico Constantino on Smackdown, when he showed up as the new “stylist” of Billy & Chuck, and going by the shortened name of just Rico.
On the April 25th episode of Smackdown, Randy Orton would make his debut, wrestling Hardcore Holly and ending up victorious.
Batista would make his debut on the May 9th episode of Smackdown, arriving on the scene as Deacon Batista, an enforcer-type for the Reverend D-Von character that D-Von Dudley was using at the time.
On the June 27th episode of Smackdown, John Cena would make his debut by answering an Open Challenge by Kurt Angle, showing off the “ruthless aggression” that he possessed as he took Angle to the limit before ultimately losing.
Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas would both debut on the December 26th episode of Smackdown, showing up under the tutelage of Kurt Angle and introducing the “Team Angle” group.
Yes, I included Rico in the group. Obviously, he didn’t reach the same levels that the other men in the “Class Of 2002” did, but I think a lot of people forget that Rico could “go” in the ring. While in OVW, he was a three-time OVW Heavyweight Champion and a one-time (with The Prototype aka John Cena) OVW Southern Tag Team Champion. On the main roster, he was a one-time (with Rikishi) World Tag Team Champion and a one-time (with Charlie Haas) WWE Tag Team Champion. He was a lot more than just a “gay character” to get cheap heat, and it was viewed as a big deal when he got called up from OVW.
Anyway, back to my original train of thought.
John Cena? Future WWE Hall Of Famer, perhaps as soon as this year. Brock Lesnar? Future WWE Hall Of Famer. Randy Orton? Future WWE Hall Of Famer. Batista? Already announced as a member of the WWE Hall Of Fame, but it’s just a matter of when an induction makes sense for his schedule. Shelton Benjamin? A shoo-in for the WWE Hall Of Fame one day, barring some serious bridges burned during his time with AEW. Charlie Haas? I think he has achieved enough (three-time WWE Tag Team Champion, twice with Shelton Benjamin and the aforementioned reign with Rico) to, at the very least, warrant a discussion about a WWE Hall Of Fame induction at some point.
What a legendary group that was, but there’s a reason I brought them up in the first place.
Decades from now, could wrestling fans be discussing the call-up “Class Of 2026” with the same fondness that the group from 2002 gets today?
I know, I know… it sounds insane to even mention that right now. In no way, shape, or form am I making predictions to say that anybody’s career will go on to match or surpass the careers of people like Cena, Lesnar, Orton, Batista, and so on.
All I’m saying is that WWE seems to have loaded up this year’s group of call-ups already, and we’re not even two weeks into the year as of the day I post this column.
On January 2nd, we got the official call-up for Trick Williams on Smackdown. He made appearances on WWE programming in the past, but it was always as a member of the NXT roster. This time, he was a full-fledged member of the Smackdown roster. Right away, he was involved in a promo segment with Sami Zayn, and the following week, he was involved in a promo segment with Randy Orton, won his main roster debut match, and was then announced for a mini-tournament to earn an Undisputed WWE Title shot at the Royal Rumble.
Three days later, Je’Von Evans was officially announced as a member of the Raw roster after he, too, made appearances on WWE programming as a member of NXT.
On January 9th, Jordynne Grace was officially revealed to be a member of the Smackdown roster, and was immediately placed in what looks to be a feud with Jade Cargill, who just so happens to be the current WWE Women’s Champion.
In the middle of all that moving and shaking, Oba Femi defeated Leon Slater on last week’s episode of NXT, successfully defending the NXT Championship before putting the belt down in the center of the ring and leaving it there. The rumor and innuendo coming out of NXT was that it was done as Oba’s farewell to NXT, because WWE officials didn’t want Oba taking another loss before being brought to the main roster.
So, if you do the math there… not even one-third of the way through January, and we’ve already had three NXT call-ups, with a fourth one set to happen imminently. With Trick and Oba, you have four combined NXT Title reigns, two NXT North American Title reigns, and one TNA World Title reign. Adding Jordynne gives you three Impact/TNA Knockouts Title reigns, one Impact Digital Media Title reign, and one Impact Knockouts Tag Team Title reign (with Rachael Ellering). While Je’Von doesn’t add any championship reigns in a major promotion, he is a 21-year-old wunderkind with arguably the brightest future of anyone in the business today.
This is a big, big deal.
Can you picture Oba Femi winning some sort of championship on the main roster this year? I sure as hell can. The aforementioned rumor and innuendo say that he’s heading to Raw, where he will be positioned “near the top of the card” from the beginning, including a pitch for him to be featured “prominently” at WrestleMania in April.
Can you picture Trick Williams winning some sort of championship on Smackdown this year? I sure as hell can. Like I said, he’s already in position to compete for the Undisputed WWE Title at the Royal Rumble, and even if he doesn’t end up winning the title, or even earning the title shot, it says a lot that he’s even involved in the first place.
Can you picture Jordynne Grace winning some sort of championship on Smackdown this year? I sure as hell can. Again, she is already involved in a story with the top titleholder in the Smackdown women’s division, so it’s not exactly a stretch to picture Jordynne doing big things on Friday nights moving forward.
Can you picture Je’Von Evans winning some sort of championship on Raw this year? I sure as hell can. He doesn’t have as clear a path as the other three names I just mentioned, but he’s far too exciting, and is sure to build far too strong a connection with live audiences, to hold back for long. If I had to venture a guess, I don’t think he’ll be a World Heavyweight Champion in 2026, but the Intercontinental Title probably has his name all over it, and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if he was thrown together with someone else to win the World Tag Team Titles at some point.
If you’re going to compare them to the OVW Class Of 2002, you’d see that it took most of the 2002 names a while to win a championship. Sure, Brock Lesnar was the WWE Champion five months after debuting, but he’s the exception, not the rule. Orton took over a year-and-a-half to win his first championship, which was the Intercontinental Title, and it was over 27 months after his debut when he won the World Heavyweight Title for the first time. It took John Cena nearly two years to win his first title, and nearly three years to win his first World Title. Batista took a year-and-a-half to become a Tag Team Champion, and nearly three years to win his first World Title, although, if we’re being fair, he spent most of his rookie year on the sidelines with a torn triceps muscle that he re-tore during his road to recovery.
Folks, I’m only comparing statistics here. I’m not saying the “Class Of 2026” is going to end up being the greatest main roster rookie class in wrestling history. The thing is… 24 years ago, nobody was predicting that the 2002 group was going to be an all-time great class, either.
Even if Oba, Trick, Jordynne, and Je’Von all win World Titles before the calendar flips to 2027, that doesn’t solidify this class as the best. They’ve got a LONG road ahead of them for that. Cena, Orton, Brock, and Batista alone are going to be incredibly tough to top, and that’s without the extra flavor that Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas threw in.
This entire debate takes on a different layer if and when you add more names to the 2026 group. On top of the names that have already been elevated from NXT in the early days of the year, we’re currently sitting through rumors that Blake Monroe and Jacy Jayne are on a short list of potential call-ups in the near future. I’m on record saying that Blake Monroe has everything necessary to be the top woman on Raw or Smackdown, and that only adds another “rookie” who could be a champion in their early days on the main roster. I’m not as high on Jacy Jayne’s in-ring work as other people are, but I gladly admit that she is a heat magnet and has great character work that could help benefit her on a bigger stage.
There’s also the persistent rumors that Ethan Page, Ricky Saints, Lola Vice, and Sol Ruca are also on the radar of WWE officials.
Oh, and there’s also the curious case of Joe Hendry, who is listed as a member of the NXT roster, but is also rumored to have signed a contract that sees his pay more in line with a main roster talent.
We’ll need to revisit this discussion soon down the road if we end up getting five, six, seven, or more names out of this year’s group to become champions early in their main roster runs.
Again, it’s way too early to make any calls on anything, for better or worse. I’m merely pointing out that this has the potential to be a game-changing era for WWE, and something that, years from now, people could truly look back on with great fondness.
You’re up. What do you think of the “Class Of 2026” so far? Do you think championships (specifically World Titles) are in their not-too-distant future? How many other names from NXT do you think will join them as official call-ups before 2026 comes to an end? As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s get to my Weekly Power Rankings before I close things out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Cody Rhodes vs Drew McIntyre: This would’ve been an easy choice for a pay-per-view main event on just about any WWE event. A really, really entertaining match boosted by a super hot crowd and what is viewed by some as a shocking title change. Personally, I felt that the title change made a lot of sense. How many times are you going to have Drew compete for a World Title and lose, or win and then immediately drop it to a Money In The Bank briefcase holder? You have to go back to late-2020 into early-2021 for the last time Drew had a World Title reign of any sort that lasted longer than a few minutes, and of course, that one took place in front of zero fans due to the COVID pandemic. For multiple reasons, he deserved this win, and I’m glad it happened.
CM Punk vs Bron Breakker: Another pay-per-view main event that took place on WWE television. Some are disappointed that WWE didn’t pull the trigger on a title change here, but I think it makes sense to wait. The most important reason is something we didn’t know on Monday, and that’s the fact that Drew McIntyre was winning the WWE Title four days later. Let Drew have his shine. Bron’s chance is coming, and probably coming soon.
Carmelo Hayes vs Shinsuke Nakamura: Another really good United States Title match in what is becoming an impressively long string of them, going back months. As an added bonus, this was another opportunity to show the world that Nakamura can still “go” in the ring. He doesn’t get many chances to do so these days, but when he does, he takes full advantage of it.
Jon Moxley vs Shelton Benjamin: Oh, nothing. Just two of the most dependable veterans going today having an entertaining match against each other. No big deal.
Asuka & Kairi Sane vs Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky: You know… it’s going to be truly heartbreaking when WWE decides to split RhIyo up. They’re so fun and wholesome together, and I don’t want to see either of them as a heel just yet. For now, let’s just enjoy the magic that they deliver together.
Jacy Jayne vs Kendal Grey: While Jacy got the win here, this was yet another chance for the 24-year-old Evolve Women’s Champion to look like a million bucks, even in defeat. Her ceiling is insanely high, and it should be a blast to watch her 2026 unfold as she keeps earning more chances to wrestle on NXT.
Jacob Fatu: Come on… WWE programming is a better place when he’s around. It’s good to see him finally make his return after the dental procedure that he had done a while back.
Komander vs El Clon: A dandy of a Lucha Libre match, with both men looking great. It’s the simple things sometimes, you know? There’s not always a need for anything beyond that in wrestling.
Oba Femi vs Leon Slater: There was never a chance that Leon Slater was going to win the NXT Title here, but the match was still very entertaining. Of course, it will only be remembered for being Oba’s farewell (for now, perhaps) to NXT, but that’s okay.
Jack Perry & The Young Bucks vs Ricochet, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona: Let’s see here… AEW? Check. Trios match? Check. That’s all you need to know to understand what kind of match this ended up being. Trios matches in AEW are always jam packed with action from bell-to-bell, and this was no different.
NXT Call-Ups: I dedicated an entire column to the topic, so I don’t need to add anything here.
Mark Briscoe vs Hechicero: I’ve said this before, but I love what Hechicero brings to the table with his matches. He has the Lucha vibes, but he wants to work a completely different style, leaning more to the technical and submission side of wrestling. That helps him stand out. He did great work here, targeting an injured body part and working on it throughout. Psychology! Huzzah!
Raw/Stranger Things Collab: I enjoyed the look of Raw, with the chapter graphics and all that. As a fan of Stranger Things, it was fun to see. Some people are upset that we didn’t see any of the Stranger Things cast make an appearance on Raw, but I’m not going to speak on that. I don’t know if any of the Stranger Things cast are wrestling fans, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned after years of watching “Guest Hosts” on Monday Night Raw, it’s that you can always tell when a celebrity is or isn’t an actual fan of the business. Would seeing Gaten Matarazzo, Millie Bobby Brown, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, and so on have been fun? Sure, but not if they’re just there for a paycheck and aren’t actually fans.
Bandido vs Sammy Guevara: The in-ring hot streak for Bandido continues. There was never a question about the outcome, though. Sammy hasn’t had a singles match on AEW television since October 2024, and hasn’t won a singles match on AEW television since February 2024. He didn’t stand a chance here, but he was more than capable enough to hold his own against the man that many feel is the best wrestler in the business today.
Netflix: In the past, I’ve complained about WWE product being spread out in too many places, making it difficult for some people to watch all of it without either bending over backwards, spending a ton of money, or both. With WWE and Netflix expanding their working relationship, adding most of the WWE back catalog to Netflix, that is less of a worry now than it has been. It’s still not quite as easy as the WWE Network days, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Rey Fenix vs Trick Williams: A nice win in Trick’s official main roster debut. Fenix is someone who you can “plug and play” anywhere, against anybody, and have something fun. It’s just weird that WWE hasn’t just put him out there with his brother, Penta, yet. Penta has seemingly been involved on-screen with every Mexican that has ever been under WWE contract, but has yet to be paired with his own sibling. It’s weird.
Becky Lynch: The match itself barely missed the cut to be included here, but congratulations to the new WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion. The feel-good story of Maxxine Dupri as the champion lasted seven weeks, which is longer than most people thought it would.
Izzi Dame: What a weird last few weeks for the NXT Women’s North American Title. Blake Monroe is the champion, and she defends the title against Thea Hail, who “accidentally” wins it due to a timing botch. We’re supposed to get a rematch between Thea and Blake, but that never takes place because Blake is kicked out of the building in kayfabe after attacking Thea before the match. We get a backstage segment where Thea says she still wants to have a title defense, so she issues an open challenge that is answered by Izzi Dame, who lost to Tatum Paxley something like 30 minutes earlier in the show. Izzi takes advantage of a weakened Thea, even though she should’ve also been weakened, and we have a new champion while rumors swirl that Blake is heading to the main roster soon. What a mess.
This Week’s Playlist: “I Just Might” by Bruno Mars… “Sleepless In A Hotel Room” by Luke Combs… “Profane Prophecy” by The Black Crowes… “Pharmacy Chronicles” by The Black Crowes… “Whispered Promise” by Ekolu… “I’m In Love With You” by Ekolu… “Erased” by Sylosis… “Certainty” by Black Veil Brides… “Venom In My Veins” by The Veer Union… “I Wanna Love Like That” by Tony Thompson… “Daydreamin” by Tatyana Ali, Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz… “Unconditional Love” by Hi-Five… “Sweet Spot” by Shoreline… “The Unforgiven” by Metallica… “18 and Life” by Skid Row… “Heaven” by Warrant… “So Far Away” by Avenged Sevenfold… “Cirice” by Ghost… “Hunter’s Moon” by Ghost… “Call Me Little Sunshine” by Ghost… “Stay” by Ghost & Patrick Wilson… “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit… “The Odyssey” by Flatbush Zombies… “New Phone, Who Dis?” by Flatbush Zombies… “Hardest Ese Ever” by That Mexican OT… “La Muerte” by That Mexican OT… “Twisting Fingers” by That Mexican OT & Moneybagg Yo… “Dough” by Key Glock… “Word On The Streets” by Key Glock… “Mr. Glock” by Key Glock
