Should Shayna Baszler be called up or continue dominance in NXT?
Shayna ‘The Queen of Spades’ Baszler has been running the women’s division in NXT since making her debut in December 2017. Baszler is the first woman to hold the title twice. Her first title reign lasted 133 days and her current reign sits at 245+ days. To sum it up, she has been dominant on the black and yellow brand.
Should she be called up to the main roster or remain in NXT?
Past history shows that she will most likely remain in NXT a bit longer. After beating Io Shirai to retain the NXT Women’s Championship inside a steel cage, many wonder what’s next for her in NXT. I think Shirai will get one last shot at Baszler, but she will come up short. Baszler will then proclaim that she needs more competition and enter Candice LeRae. Candice, who recently was violently attacked by Shirai after her loss to Baszler, hasn’t been booked much by creative in NXT. I think the attack by Shirai has opened the door for Candice.
Prior to NXT, she had shown that she was one of the best wrestlers on the independent circuit. Although LeRae’s character isn’t as big as Baszler’s, this could play into a meaningful feud. You have the David (Candice) versus Goliath (Baszler) scenario, which works well in the wrestling business. The two have a brief history dating back to the 2017 Mae Young Classic where they put on a great match. LeRae eventually lost to Baszler via submission, in which Baszler held the hold for a few seconds after the ref called for the bell. I think this prior match will serve as a backstory for their feud moving forward.
Another option for Baszler would be one last match with Io Shirai. This match would probably have a loser leave town kind of stipulation or if Shirai loses, she would never be able to challenge for the title again. Normally these types of stipulations raise the ante when it comes to the fan’s anticipation for the match. If NXT were to do that, this could push Shirai to the top of the NXT women’s division, while also allowing Baszler to walk to the WWE main roster.
If Baszler were to lose to Shirai, I see her being off TV for a few months and then showing up on Raw or SmackDown to belittle the current champ or attacking a babyface after a match. This would bring shock value to her debut and allow the fans to give her heat instantly.
I think creative should go outside the box with her. Have her keep the NXT Women’s Championship and make appearances on Raw or SmackDown. We saw this Monday night with the Street Profits doing backstage vignettes on Raw.
The WWE Universe would probably be disappointed if she were called up without losing her title in NXT. But would this be a bad thing? It should be considered. She comes up to the main roster proclaiming that she is the most dominant woman in the company and says that means the NXT belt is more coveted than the women’s Raw or SmackDown titles.
This would automatically bring heat on her from the current title holders of those belts. This would be great TV while giving NXT a little shine in the process. More importantly, this would allow Heyman and/or Bischoff to throw her in meaningful feuds upon her arrival.
WWE has many options with her as far as keeping her in NXT or bringing her up to the main roster. The WWE Universe knows ‘The Queen of Spades’ will be a force on Raw or SmackDown in the near future and her dominance will arrive with her.
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The Scrap’s Lee Brown is a 22-year Air Force Vet, fan of all sports – especially UFC, NFL & NBA, and cohost of Lee N Keys Real Talk Podcast. You can follow Lee on Twitter (@Levanstian757) and Instagram (@Va121Lee).
I feel like WWE needs to add a secondary title for the women’s division on NXT for Shayna to stay on there and be dominant. She could enter a lower notched rivalry with no gold at stake, but I also feel like WWE needs to add a secondary singles title for the main roster women’s division for Shayna to get called up unless she tags with one of her MMA buddies and fights for the tag titles in which she could stay in NXT or get called up for that. I just don’t want Shayna to go to waste, all in all.
I put that in a previous article named what can WWE do to be exciting again…check it out!