The Raw After Mania is often a launching pad for new stars and tonight’s episode of Raw continued that trend as two NXT Superstars made their debut on the main roster as the newest members of Monday Night Raw. First, former NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon joined forces with new Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax to defeat Alexa Bliss and Mickie James, followed by the debut of No Way Jose, who defeated enhancement talent John Skyler (from PWX). For fans of NXT, no introduction is necessary, but for those who don’t follow WWE’s third brand on the WWE Network, here’s a little info on the two newest Raw Superstars.
EMBER MOON
Ember Moon is an 11-year veteran of the ring, starting out in 2007 with Professional Championship Wrestling (PCW) in Texas as Athena. She soon progressed to Anarchy Championship Wrestling (ACW) in Austin before working with Booker T‘s Reality of Wrestling (ROW) in 2009. It wasn’t long before she became a regular with the likes of SHIMMER, WSU and SHINE, as well as other top indies like AAW and AIW (where she was a 2x AIW Women’s Champion). She signed with WWE in 2015 and debuted in NXT, originally under her real name, Adrienne Reese, before becoming Ember Moon the following year. She had a lengthy feud with Asuka in NXT (a feud that goes back to 2012 in SHIMMER) before finally capturing the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT Takeover: War Games in a Fatal 4-Way against Kairi Sane, Peyton Royce and Nikki Cross. She held the title for 140 days until losing it to Shayna Baszler this past Saturday at NXT Takeover: New Orleans.
And just like that, @WWEEmberMoon ECLIPSES #TheGoddess! That's a VICTORY in the books for The #Shenom and @NiaJaxWWE! @MickieJames #RAW #RAWAfterMania pic.twitter.com/HJmI7ZlZ7d
— WWE (@WWE) April 10, 2018
NO WAY JOSE
The big dancing machine from the Carolinas, No Way Jose has been wrestling since 2013, where he debuted in Carolina Wrestling Federation Mid Atlantic (CWF) as Manny Garcia. While most assume his dancing gimmick is another WWE stereotype, his No Way Jose gimmick is incredibly close to his former Manny Garcia character on the indies, where he was a 2x CWF Television Champion. He also joined the WWE in 2015, starting as Levis Valenzuela Jr. until he was given his WWE name of No Way Jose.
FIESSTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
💃🕺💃🕺 💃🕺 💃🕺 💃🕺 💃🕺 💃🕺 💃🕺 💃🕺 @WWENoWayJose #RAW #RAWAfterMania pic.twitter.com/OjfVVVHLJG
— WWE (@WWE) April 10, 2018
More NXT Superstars are expected to be called up to the roster in the coming weeks, either later on tonight or on tomorrow’s Smackdown Live, or even next week, when the WWE is holding its next Superstar Shake Up, as announced tonight.
It's that time again… The #SuperstarShakeup BEGINS next Monday on #RAW! #RAWAfterMania pic.twitter.com/7ujoUfzLlP
— WWE (@WWE) April 10, 2018
