The Hit Row faction was an interesting group in NXT. With an eclectic mix of in ring talents and a unique style of delivering promos that made look as though they truly might crossover to SmackDown with great success. However, after a good run in developmental, they got didn't have the opportunity to show what they could do after debuting on the main roster. First B-Fab, then all three male members of the group were cut amidst mass releases, leaving behind the question—did WWE miss a big opportunity to push this stable?
The Hit Row Faction Boasted A Unique Set Of Talents
There were four members of Hit Row: Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Ashante Thee Adonis, B-Fab, and Top Dolla. Together, the quartet demonstrated real chemistry, looking like a unit and impressing the audience with their debut promo on the big stage of SmackDown as well. In addition to functioning well as a unit, the group’s individual talents were noteworthy as well.
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Both B-Fab and Adonis garnered positive reviews of their overall work in NXT. Meanwhile, Top Dolla was an NFL nose tackle before he transitioned to wrestling, and a legit big man at 6’5” and 330 pounds. He impressed with his powerhouse repertoire in NXT; moreover, his stint as a personality on the WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures reality series demonstrated he could talk as well. Then there was Scott, the truest breakout talent of the group. He had proven himself pre-WWE in CZW, MLW, and perhaps most notably as the masked Killshot in Lucha Underground. His NXT run allowed him to show more of his personality to accentuate his noteworthy ring skills. While his cruiserweight build meant it was going to be an uphill battle for him to ever be a main event level talent, he certainly had all the makings of a mid-card mainstay on the main roster.
WWE Should Feature More Fresh Faces Of Color
In today’s more social conscious times, it has been good to see more black WWE Superstars get their shine in recent years, from Bobby Lashley and Big E’s WWE Championship reigns, to Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks main eventing WrestleMania, to the extended success of New Day. WWE must keep an eye toward the future, though, and continuing to build up talented wrestlers of color to have them ready to take up the mantle in the years ahead.
Hit Row’s collection of talent and big time swagger made them up an appealing group that may well have enjoyed longevity given the opportunity to succeed in WWE. No one from the group was much over the age of thirty, meaning they had the potential to be players in WWE for a decade or more to come.
Hit Row Never Really Had A Chance After Being Drafted To SmackDown
Hit Row got significant promo time when they were first drafted to SmackDown, and the tag team of Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and Top Dolla benefited from a dominant squash in their first televised main roster bout. Based on the talent they demonstrated in a well-received program opposite Santos Escobar and Legado del Fantasma in NXT, there was reason to believe they’d have some staying power. Working in the tag division, en route to one or more members getting singles pushes felt like a likely trajectory.
Before the group even got off the ground, though, with a meaningful program or competitive match, B-Fab was let go from WWE, and shortly thereafter, all three of her male counterparts were among the talents who got cut in a mass release. There were those cuts that made logical sense, for talents who had been under contract for a long time and whom WWE wasn’t doing anything with, or for developmental talents who didn’t fit the shift to the NXT 2.0 model. The Hit Row faction didn’t have these sorts of limitations, though. Indeed, their releases felt like WWE giving up before they’d really tried with the group, and offering no opportunity for them to get themselves over.
The members of Hit Row are collectively young enough that any given one of them might still return to WWE, or make a significant name for themselves on alternative stages. Nonetheless, it felt as though WWE missed an opportunity to push a crop of young, talented wrestlers of color with big personalities, and great chemistry as a unit. Who knows what might have been if the quartet had the opportunity to see their potential through in WWE?
