From The Rumor Mill: Update on NXT stars who are set for call-up to the main roster

What's the story?

Every year as part of WrestleMania season there are a number of NXT call-ups. This year is expected to be no different as it seems that WWE is grooming a number of stars for impeding call-ups to the main roster.

In case you didn't know...

There are a number of stand out stars in NXT right now, but since the likes of Andrade 'Cien' Almas and Ember Moon have already been seen in the Royal Rumble this year, it would make sense if WWE wanted to call up the current Champions after they drop their titles at NXT Takeover: New Orleans.

Whilst the likes of Adam Cole, Shayna Baszler and Aleister Black are all set to be the subject of huge pushes in NXT, it is thought that these stars will be remaining on the NXT roster for the foreseeable future to close the gaps when WWE decided to call up their next batch of talent.

The Raw and SmackDown's after WrestleMania have become well-known as being the events where NXT stars are called up, so it is thought that this year will be no different, especially with a rumored WWE draft taking place merely weeks later.

The heart of the matter

It seems that there are already rumors circulating when it comes who these lucky NXT superstars will be. Slice Wrestling shared the following tweet:

Report: WWE Has Already Started Preparing For This Years #WWEDraft Some Select #NXT Talents Being Groomed For A Main Roster Call-Up Are • Andrade Almas • Johnny Gargano • Drew McIntyre • Ember Moon • Authors Of Pain pic.twitter.com/Vaczcj1Mtu

— SW (@SliceWrestling) February 15, 2018

The Authors of Pain have been rumored for a main roster call-up for the past few months, ever since they first dropped the Tag Team Championships to Sanity. Almas and Moon are current Champions so it seems that they could be set to drop their titles at the upcoming Takeover event to prepare them for their upcoming debut.

Johnny Gargano recently lost a "Loser Leaves NXT" match to Almas which has left his NXT future up in the air, whilst Drew McIntyre has been out injured ever since he dropped the Championship to Almas back at NXT Takeover: War Games.

What's next?

WWE has two main roster pay-per-views ahead of WrestleMania, whilst NXT only have the one NXT Takeover: New Orleans where a number of twists and turns are expected before many of these stars make their way up to the main roster.

Author's take

The Raw after WrestleMania is one of the highlights of the year and the NXT call-ups are one of the main reasons for this. All of these stars deserve to be on the main roster, especially Gargano and Almas after their incredible match at Takeover: Philadelphia. Drew McIntyre has obviously already been on the main roster so it will be interesting to see how different he is this time around.