As PWMania.com previously reported, free agents Baron Corbin and Mustafa Ali made their return to WWE NXT last week for new storylines. At the end of the show, Corbin attacked NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, while Ali appeared to enter the race for the NXT North American Title, which is currently held by Wes Lee.
According to a new report from Fightful Select, there were tentative plans in place for Corbin and Ali to return to NXT quite some time ago, which is one of the reasons they were named free agents following the WWE Draft.
“Despite a lot of things from the previous regime that made that cynicism around the free agent tags understandable,” a WWE source said, “there was more of a plan for them this time.”
Several NXT stars reportedly asked to work with Ali, and Ali is said to be more than happy to oblige. The goal of these appearances is to increase interest in NXT, refresh Ali and Corbin, assess the talent they’ll be working with, and give NXT talents experience with people who have worked main roster TV and the main roster style for some time.
It was stated that Ali and Corbin will continue to work for NXT, but this is not a permanent move because they can still appear on RAW and SmackDown as needed. On Friday’s SmackDown, Corbin will face Butch in a Money In the Bank qualifier, while Ali will wrestle Santos Escobar.
Ali will face Joe Gacy on tonight’s NXT. Corbin is expected to appear on the show, but he has not been officially announced as of this writing.
