WWE NXT Stars Trick Williams, Ava Make Main Roster Debuts On SmackDown

The go-home "WWE SmackDown" before the Royal Rumble saw not one, not two, but three "WWE NXT" talent make their main roster debuts. In addition to Elektra Lopez, who returned to the side of Santos Escobar, "NXT" Championship No. 1 contender Trick Williams and newly-named "NXT" General Manager Ava both appeared on "SmackDown" for the first time.

Ava was seen backstage assisting "SmackDown" General Manager Nick Aldis with the process of assigning wrestlers an entry number for the two Royal Rumble matches, tracking the numbers that wrestlers drew from a tumbler. During this week's episode of "NXT," William Regal made his return to WWE television to pass the torch to the fourth generation superstar, whose father is newly-minted WWE board member Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. She is also now the youngest GM in WWE history.

Fans also got to see the debut of "NXT" favorite Trick Williams, who appeared after his friend and tag team partner Carmelo Hayes lost to Austin Theory before being subjected to a most-match beatdown by Theory and Grayson Waller. Williams got a huge pop when his music hit, followed by raucous "Whoop That Trick" chants, before he made the save. Afterward, Hayes tried to fist-bump his friend to thank him, but Williams left him hanging and said, "I was saving you, we got a match on Tuesday." The two old friends will face LWO's Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro in the semi-finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic on next week's "NXT."

It's unclear if this is an official call-up for Williams, who might split time between "NXT" and "SmackDown" as Hayes has been doing. The two have a long-running storyline on "NXT" that could be brought to the main roster or blown off before Hayes and Williams are "officially" called up, perhaps at 2024's Stand and Deliver event during WrestleMania weekend.