Zoey Serrano questions WWE NXT training efficacy for main roster success

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A couple quotes I saw during my morning stumble around the wrestle web seemed worth discussing together. We’ll see if you fine folks agree. The key one is the one in the headline. It’s from TNA’s Zoey Serrano — fka former WWE NXT Women’s Tag champ Zoey Stark. During her appearance on Busted Open earlier this week, Bully Ray asked Serrano if going through NXT prepares wrestlers for working on WWE’s main roster shows, Raw and SmackDown. Serrano replied: “I don’t think so. I personally don’t think it is. I would love to say it does, but it’s just a whole different ball game when you’re up there. “You don’t have people telling you exactly what you’re going to do in every single moment… when I was in NXT and I had a problem, you would sit there in the ring with [Johnny] Russo and Shawn [Michaels] and [Matt] Bloom, and they would say, ‘Okay, say it like this or do it like that,’ and give you different ideas of how to portray it. Same thing with your match. You’re going through it A to Z. You know, everything that’s going to happen. “When you go up to the main roster, you don’t have that opportunity. It’s just kind of like sink or swim, kid. Let’s figure it out as you go.” Signed by WWE in 2021, Serrano spent three years in NXT, winning the brand’s now-defunct (unified with the WWE version of the) Women’s Tag titles with IYO SKY (then Io Shirai). She bounced different storylines during her years on Raw, including working with Hall of Famer Trish Stratus. She was released while rehabbing her latest knee injury in April of this year, and recently signed with TNA. Point is, she speaks from experience. And AAA’s El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. didn’t spend as much time in NXT as Serrano did, but his quote to Denise Scalcedo in an interview posted yesterday (Sept. 3) also speaks to have daunting the Raw and SmackDown can be, even for a third-generation pro with lots of experience in Japan and Mexico: “The atmosphere in Raw and SmackDown, I need to say the truth, I felt exhausted from the pressure, about the cameras, who is behind the scenes. But for me, it was an amazing experience. I really did my best, and I’m happy.” In addition to his international experience Dr. Wagner Jr.’s son worked NXT television, house shows, and a premium live event before he worked SmackDown against Carmelo Hayes and Raw vs. Dragon Lee. Maybe the experience of working on the biggest shows the biggest wrestling company in the history of the world produces is something there’s just no preparation for? Let us know what you think, Cagesiders.

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Zoey Serrano has detailed why WWE's NXT brand, which is the training ground for the promotion's young stars, doesn't prepare them for the main roster.