Backstage News On WWE Establishing Permanent RAW And SmackDown Rosters, Triple H's WWE NXT Vision

WWE officials have been discussing a new Draft concept to build permanent RAW and SmackDown rosters, according to Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

It was previously reported that there would be no major changes to the rosters ahead of the SmackDown Fox premiere on October 4, just some minor changes. This new directive was made by Vince McMahon.

Meltzer noted that plans are being kept quiet as USA Network and Fox representatives will be the first ones to know when the new concept is decided on.

There's no concrete word yet on WWE NXT Superstars being used on RAW to build their names ahead of the NXT USA premiere on September 18, but there have been arguments for and against this idea. Some feel that this will give the NXT talents the exposure they need to help build the USA Network launch, but the other argument is that any kind of "cross-pollination" on RAW would establish the NXT stars as secondary level talents, which they would want to avoid right now.

Bringing the NXT Superstars to RAW ahead of the big premiere could also lead to more interference from the vision that NXT higher-ups have. It was described to the Observer that Triple H's dream of creating a legitimate third brand of his own just came true, but now he's faced with the task of "playing defense" to keep Vince and Kevin Dunn's influence away from NXT.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

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