NXT Title To Be Defended On Raw Next Week
Developmental championship match includes a Raw debut for promising superstar.
The crossover between WWE's main rosters and its developmental brand has been gaining steam in recent months, with the NXT Women's Championship being defended by new champ Becky Lynch on Raw Monday night.
And on next week's Raw, Dominik Mysterio will put his NXT North American Championship on the line against Dragon Lee, who will be making his main roster in-ring debut. He appeared at ringside during Mysterio's match against Cody Rhodes and in a backstage segment alongside Adam Pearce and Dirty Dom on Monday night.
Lee, a highly touted international superstar, joined WWE in December and has featured in NXT since this spring. This won't be his first crack at the North American Championship, as he competed in a five-way match at Stand & Deliver in April and lost to Mysterio for the title last month.
The decision to feature NXT titles on Raw clearly is a move to spur interest in the Tuesday night program among Raw's much larger audience in the hopes that some will tune in the following night to watch the developmental brand.
In addition to current NXT champs Lynch and Mysterio, main roster mainstays such as Mustafa Ali, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, Dana Brooke, Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo have spent time in NXT during the past year.
If ratings respond to this crossover, expect it to continue, perhaps even with some main roster titles being defended on Tuesday nights.