Would you put Bobby Lashley and EC3 in NXT or Main Roster?

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

If Bobby Lashley and EC3 from TNA get signed by WWE do you think they have enough star power to skip NXT (Like Samoa Joe should have) like AJ Styles? I think they should, at least Bobby Lashley anyway. He's been a major player on the roster already so putting him on NXT would seem pretty odd now.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Isn't he in his 40s now? He was last in WWE nearly 11 years ago and he was a work in progress, it's not like he was on Kurt Angle's level. NXT could be a good place them both.

 

[GhettoV1]

Maybe WWE should open that U.K. territory so they can move some NXT guys over there so there isn't a talent pool that overflows most of the time.

 

[Starkist]

Lashley has improved drastically over the years so I would still put him in nXt along with EC3. They are both well into their characters but the main roster is so full that they'll be lost to jobber city if they went right to the main roster. Reintroduce them to the crowd and then after a few months put them on Smackdown where they might have potential to strive and garner some success.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

EC3 probably since not a lot of fans knows who he is, so by having him debut on NXT i feel he would look more like a big deal because of the Full sail crowd that know who he is by going to the TNA tapings which are in the area.

As for Lashley, i feel first of all that if he comes back, he not coming back on a full schedule deal, it's going to be a part time deal and it's going to be a big money deal because Lashley just like Lesnar won't want to do this 300 + days a year. Also it all depends if WWE will let him continue is MMA career which he seem to really want to continue at this time. But if They bring him in, he needs to come back on the main roster, especially if Lesnar resign after mania. They're money to be made in a program between Lesnar and Lashley if done right and i think they see it as a big marquee match.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Lashley has a place on the main roster to put guys over for a couple of years. I would love to see him play a Trump-lite character in reference to their past.

EC3 needs a character to succeed. Time in NXT makes the most sense.

 

[#hamler]

NXT is for wrestlers that are missing the key elements it takes to be a WWE superstar. There are plenty of new signees who come in and need to be taught where the hard camera is, how to work a WWE crowd or those that need to build character. EC3 really fits here. He performed in NXT before and has made a drastic improvement since he debuted in TNA. With that, he needs a character that isn't Dixie Cater's nephew. He needs to be reintroduced to the NXT/WWE audience and a little bit of time in NXT would do wonders for someone who is already a fairly polished competitor.

Lashley however is a wrestling veteran. He knows the WWE style and a year in developmental isn't going to change anything for him. Move him directly to the main roster and feed him to Lesnar or Reigns. I can certainly see a part time schedule for Lashley but pushing 42, he's certainly closer to the end of his career.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

EC3 would definitely need to go to NXT. He's not a "name" nor does he perform at the level that would jump him over NXT. Just like Mike Bennett should have went to NXT. Impact probably has more TV exposure than others, but that's all. And even that is minimal. So there's really no big draw to have him on the main roster. Who cares?

As for Lashley. The dude was in a main event Wrestlemania match against the president of the United States. It's hard to put him in NXT. I think he would benefit from being in NXT, but he's probably be a main roster guy.

 

[hatehabsforever]

If it were up to me, every single wrestler (not named AJ Styles) who comes to WWE from TNA would automatically go through a stint in NXT before going to the main roster, assuming they ever get there. If Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode, and others were deemed to be necessary to have NXT exposure before heading to RAW or SD, then I think anyone else would need to do so as well. Frankly there are few people that I am familiar with who are currently in TNA that I would have much interest in seeing in a WWE ring. Unless they spent a significant amount of time in WWE previously (such as Kurt Angle or Jeff Hardy), they would be headed to Florida before joining the main roster.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If Lashley signs with WWE, I think he'd be better served being put on the main roster. For one thing, Lashley's in his 40s now so you have to think that there's not a huge window of opportunity to get the most out of him. For another, I've heard that a lot of fans are salivating over a matchup between Lashley and Lesnar so if Lesnar is sticking around after WrestleMania, it's easy to view Lashley as a top opponent for him. As we all know, Vince do love himself a hoss and do love himself a hoss fight.

Ricochet, Candice LaRae and War Machine are all reporting to NXT, according to reports, and that's probably for the best. Outside of indie or internet fans, nobody knows who the hell any of these people are and a great thing about NXT is it gives them a platform to present themselves to fans before hitting the main roster. I'd say they'll all thrive in NXT but it'll be more of a crapshoot when/if they make it to the main roster because it's obvious that Vince and Triple H aren't on the same page and don't have the same vision for some talents.

As for EC III, don't really care either way.

Of course, maybe the wrestlers from Impact aren't on the WWE's radar as much as you might think. Lashley and EC III were big fish there but that's not exactly saying a whole helluva lot when you consider that Impact Wrestling barely registers as a blip on the radar and has been that way for years.

 

[TheBadGuy92]

Lashley should and will most likely go straight to the main roster, he’s already an established name in the wwe.

My scenario on EC3 is interesting. I’m only interested in him coming to the wwe IF he goes to NXT, keeps his gimmick as Dixie’s nephew and the wwe bring Dixie in only to manage him. They had her do the interview for Styles, so obviously they’re open to the idea of a relationship. I’m so curious to see how that would go.

 

[BigDaddyKewl]

There's no way you can send Lashley to NXT when he's already an established name in WWE. He was part of a huge Wrestlemania match involving Vince McMahon and Donald Trump. He also main evented multiple ppv's and worked with the likes of Cena, Big Show, Booker T, Vince and Shane McMahon. If WWE is going to invest in Lashley and bring him in then they need to strike while the iron is hot and put him with some big names in the main event.
EC3 seems to be more of a fit for NXT, he's not established with the WWE audience and only had a stint in developmental a few years back. Other stars from Impact have thrived in NXT and helped bring some star power to the roster like Joe, Roode, Mcyntyre and Young.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

If his contract allows him, Lashley is going to be in the Rumble. He was a decent player in his first WWE run and Vince loved the guy's look. He has only gotten better outside the WWE, so I truly think he is gonna pop up in a few weeks as a surprise entrant and stay on the main roster. At 40, you need to get whatever you can out of him, so I'd put him back on the main roster ASAP.

EC3 also did a lot of growing outside of WWE, but he wasn't a name in his original run. He also developed his gimmick outside of WWE, so I think he will spend some time in NXT, and I think that is a good call. The EC3 gimmick was pretty damn good, but they will have to make some tweaks to it to work in WWE. Putting him in Florida and basically giving the gimmick tweak a test run is a good idea not only to see if it gets over, but if they tweaks are subtle and minor enough that it doesn't kill Carter's ability to play it up.

 

[Vintage Punk]

EC3 easily to NXT as he needs to get acclimated to WWE and most casual fans have no idea who he is. He could be a nice player in NXT along with Ricochet since I believe their might be some call ups from NXT after Mania like a McIntyre, Aleister Black, Almas, AOP, etc.

As for Lashley, I think more fans will recognize (even though he wasn't nothing crazy before) and spending time in NXT won't really do much. I think you have him come in and surpirse attack Strowman after Mania setting up a feud. You know VKM loves his big guy vs big guy matchups!! After he can feud with Reigns, Joe, etc.

 

[mooseman]

I think there's a possible invasion angle that could work. You have HHH vs Angle with Angle's job on the line at Mania. HHH wins. The next Angle and HHH in the ring, ANgle is seemingly doing the honorable thing of telling HHH he was the better man. Mid handshake Dixie, LAshley, EC3 and James Storm show up and raise all hell. Then theres the question about others like where does Samoa Joe and the Hardyz loyalties lie. etc etc etc. How they all got in? Angle before he lost power signed all them to contracts as ell himself to an in ringer performers deal.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

There will never be a TNA invasion in WWE.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Bobby Lashley would be one of the few exceptions when I would suggest he is better off going straight to the main roster. Styles is really the only one who has skipped NXT in recent years, unless you count Kurt. Mike only did because of Maria. Joe and Drew should have gone straight to the main roster and I think Lashley should too. He was involved in a huge match at Wrestlemania 23 where he represented the current President in the Battle Of The Billionaires against Vince and Umaga. Then you have his ECW Championship reign and his feud with John Cena over the WWE Championship. He had a great run at the main event level. Let him come back at the Rumble and head over to Raw afterwards. That would be great. Universal Championship title shot after Roman wins it from Brock, perhaps?

EC3 on the other hand should definitely go to NXT. He was a part of the original version of NXT before it was a true minor league for WWE. Most fans who were around back then either have forgotten about that by now or never even watched it. New fans will have no clue who he is. If guys like Austin Aries and Bobby Roode went to NXT then so should EC3. He would make a good fit for the yellow brand. Then they can move him up to Smackdown when he's ready. On a related note, other have suggested EC3 not come in by himself. I disagree with this. Bringing in Dixie with him is a horrible idea. She would not bring anything positive to the table anywhere in the WWE.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I would put Lashley on the main roster immediately. He's more known by casuals and is already pretty old.

EC3 can go to NXT and develop his character.

 

[mooseman]

So supposedly EC3 owns or is trying copywrite his character from TNA. Does that include his music as well?

 

[The Life Of Pablo Ren]

Lashley main roster. EC3 NXT.

I fully admit that I might be coming from a biased place here, but I feel like putting EC3 immediately on the main roster would be a waste. I just don't know if his name carries enough weight for him to jump in and immediately be, and stay relevant. EC3's rise in TNA coincided with the time I stopped watching. He certainly wasn't the reason, it's just how it ended up being. But this is where my bias might come in. Just because I stopped watching doesn't necessarily mean I'm right. Sure TNA has taken a big hit in terms of reputation and popularity over the past couple of years but who knows. I just think he'd be a much safer bet in NXT. He'd be coming in there with enough of a reputation to be a pretty big player and over time he'd have the chance to become more acquainted with the WWE audience at large.

Lashley's rise happened at around the same time but at least Lashley has a successful pedigree in WWE. Former US Champion, former ECW Champion (when it still had SOME credibility left) and he fought a few times for the WWE Championship. He can jump right into things as far as I'm concerned.

 

[kadroan]

Lashley has improved drastically over the years so I would still put him in nXt along with EC3. They are both well into their characters but the main roster is so full that they'll be lost to jobber city if they went right to the main roster. Reintroduce them to the crowd and then after a few months put them on Smackdown where they might have potential to strive and garner some success.

Yeah SDL would perfect for be perfect for both of them. I'm hoping Braun gets moved to SDL if they have a Superstar Shakeup this year they switch AJ for Braun and let Braun be the face of SDL and they could do Lashley vs. Braun/Corbin/Rusev etc.

 

[Papa Pillman]

My scenario on EC3 is interesting. I’m only interested in him coming to the wwe IF he goes to NXT, keeps his gimmick as Dixie’s nephew and the wwe bring Dixie in only to manage him. They had her do the interview for Styles, so obviously they’re open to the idea of a relationship. I’m so curious to see how that would go.

I too, unironically, want to see this. And I want it to be EC3, Dixie, and Rockstar Spud. But I also know that it's not going to happen.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

EC3 yes, Lashley no.


Lashley main evented against John Cena for the title in his last match. before that, he was fashioned as somewhat of a black Goldberg. He will be recognizable with very little effort, and if there is anything they could use, its top end talent.



As for EC3, I don't feel like most of the mainstream audience would recognize him, while at the same time, I expect the NXT crowd to be lit ablaze on his debut. If you have the chance to debut someone in a place were he will be super over, then that's what you do, especially if he has future franchise player potential.