Neville Latest Example of WWE's Inability to Book NXT Call-Ups

As well as a Superstar may do in NXT, the jury is always out on whether they'll find similar success on Raw and SmackDown. Neville has been no exception to the rule since his call-up to the main roster earlier this year.

After a three-year stint in NXT that saw him become the first man to reign as both NXT Tag Team champion and NXT champion, he made his highly anticipated Raw debut one night removed from WrestleMania 31, beating Curtis Axel in decisive fashion.

From there, Neville went on to engage in a rivalry with King Barrett, whom he defeated at both the Extreme Rules and Payback pay-per-views. He's also had strong showings against the likes of John Cena, Seth Rollins and Sheamus in various championship matches.

Lately, he's been at odds with Stardust, but the program seemingly jumped the shark after SummerSlam. The two have simply been trading victories in singles and tag team action for no real reason.

Through it all, WWE hasn't found much of a direction for him. Despite his tremendous talent, he's been relegated to the lower-midcard and is no longer a permanent fixture on Raw.

Credit: WWE.com

Neville isn't the first NXT call-up to flop on the main roster, however. He's only the latest example of WWE's apparent inability to properly book the biggest and brightest stars to come out of their own developmental territory.

Bo Dallas, a fellow former NXT champion who arrived on Raw shortly following WrestleMania 30, was in line for a big push on Monday nights. He embarked on an undefeated streak for close to two months and built a fan following for himself, but his loss to R-Truth on the July 28 Raw cut his momentum short.

In the last year-and-a-half, Dallas has had to call WWE Superstars his home. Officials haven't quite figured out how to use him, disregarding all the accolades he achieved before becoming a full-time main roster member.

Adam Rose was another top prospect destined to make a splash on Raw before his push was abruptly cut short. Never given a chance to fully flesh out his character before leaving NXT, he's been toiling away in the undercard for the better part of the past year and has only fallen further down the ladder as time has passed.

Even Emma, who headlined the inaugural NXT Arrival event with Paige in February 2014, was wasted upon arriving on the main roster. She's thankfully reinvigorated her career with a heel turn in NXT, but she hasn't been seen on the flagship show in ages.

That's not to say all hope was lost for Neville when he debuted in WWE. NXT alumni such as Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Paige and Kevin Owens have all found success since graduating from the brand, but WWE's formula for making stars obviously hasn't worked for every up-and-comer.

With so much to offer, The Man That Gravity Forgot doesn't deserve to be booked like an enhancement talent on a weekly basis. Quick, clean losses to the likes of Sheamus and King Barrett are unacceptable.

WWE will need to do something drastic to change the perception of Neville in the eyes of the casual viewers as a glorified "loser." Looking good in defeat is a part of the puzzle, but he needs to build momentum before he can be taken seriously again.

Of course, this isn't even taking into consideration the recent crop of ladies from NXT who received the call-up to Raw and have been lost in the shuffle. More than anything else, WWE needs to remember what made these characters special in NXT in the first place.

What this might mean for the future of NXT remains to be seen, but if the way WWE has handled Neville so far has been any indication, we can only hope that they learn from their mistakes and not fall into a pattern of under-utilizing NXT talent once they make the move to Raw.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.

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