NXT has a midcard problem

So having been almost a month behind on NXT viewing, I've been playing catch up on the post Takeover: London editions of the show. And watching the roster in action, I have to say WWE's second brand has a huge problem in the middle of the roster.

For the last few months, WWE has lost the men and women that filled the middle of the roster, whether to call ups, removals from television or outright poor booking. Talents like Tye Dillinger and Bull Dempsey that once could be considered micarders have long ago become jobbers.

Sasmson is racking up wins but it remains to be seen how far he can go.
Image credit: WWE.com. 

With a solid main event picture featuring Baron Corbin, Samoa Joe, Sami Zayn, NXT Champion Finn Balor and NXT newcomer Austin Aries, once you move under that spot, WWE doesn't have many non-tag team talent to fill out any cards. Apollo Crews and the recently debuted Elias Samson are the only real talent WWE has to fill the card, although unsigned wrestler Tommaso Ciampa seems to be getting some wins actual signed talents like Dempsey can't seem to receive. And while Crews has tons of potential, both Ciampa and Samson have a lot to prove before they can be regularly taking seriously on the NXT roster.

Outside those three men however, the company seems to bank on a few main eventers and a few too many jobbers. It makes the company read a bit too much like WWE's main roster instead of teh solid across the card booking that once made NXT work so well.

The women's roster had a much wider hole in their roster after Takeover: Respect, but the company started to rebuild that roster at the end of the year. But while folks like Nia Jax, Carmella, Eva Marie and even Peyton Royce and Billie Kay are starting to get booked with wins, the women's division is still clearly built around only two figures. Asuka and Bayley are the only actual stories of the women's division with their opponents only getting time against them or against others to prepare them to face the two top stars. With the two women seemingly on a collision course for the NXT Women's championship, it could put the rest of the women's division on perilous footing.

Billie Kay and Peyton Royce looked dangerous earlier this month, but more
consistent booking could turn them into huge stars. Image credit: WWE.com.

NXT can certainly fix these issues. The women's division has all the talent it needs (with Adrienne Reese also now filtering in) while the men's ranks desperately need a few new talents to start picking up wins. Rich Swann and Chris Girard can both fill those roles, but only if they reach television as more than just job talent.