Surprising Names Take Part In SmackDown Dark Matches

The next generation? WWE has a rather unique structure among wrestling promotions as they have their own in-house developmental system which also happens to air on national television. As a result, fans have seen the developmental wrestlers in action before they are called up to the main roster and have seen just how good they are. That was the case with some names who appeared before this week’s television show.
According to PWInsider.com, there were a pair of dark matches before this week’s WWE Smackdown Taping, both of which featured NXT stars. First up, Raquel Gonzalez defeated SmackDown’s Toni Storm. Second, the Viking Raiders defeated the Creed Brothers, who had their Diamond Mine graphics but did not have their manager Malcolm Bivens. There is no word on potential callups for any of the wrestlers.

That’s an interesting group. Check out the NXT stars in action plus what went down on this week’s SmackDown:

The Creed Brothers make another crushing statement: WWE NXT, Sept. 14, 2021

Raquel Gonzalez vs. Jessi Kamea: WWE NXT, Aug. 31, 2021

Top 10 Friday Night SmackDown moments: WWE Top 10, Oct. 29, 2021

Opinion: These have my attention in different ways, as I could go for Gonzalez getting called up as she seems ready for the main roster, while the Creed Brothers have not been around long enough for such a move. NXT is not exactly in a place to have even more wrestlers go to the main roster, so hopefully WWE is just scouting instead of doing something that would do even more damage to NXT at the moment.

What do you think of the dark matches? Who should WWE call up next? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 60,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 6,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books.

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