With the finale of NXT season two on Tuesday (vote Kaval!), attention turns to season three, which if last season is any indication, should begin the very next week. And like the first season, we can probably expect the season three rookies to be announced on the second season finale on Tuesday.
Speculation has been mounting since earlier this month that next season will include Diva rookies for the first time ever. According to a report by the Figure Four Weekly newsletter, season three will feature four male rookies and four female rookies. Well, using our super-sleuthing and powers of deduction, we think we may know who is set to be part of the next season. Our clues below…
Syfy cameras at FCW taping: Reported by PWInsider, Syfy had its cameras at the FCW taping on Thursday night, which pretty much confirms that season three is a go. (I’m assuming that Syfy’s cameras were there to film footage for the little introductory video packages that they show.) On that night, AJ Lee, Aksana, Liviana and Naomi Night were part of the taping, as well as Jamie Keyes who already has an announcing spot on NXT.
Friday in Fort Myers: FCW held a show yesterday in Fort Myers which was attended by our friend, Bobby Lea Burchill, who offers up some more clues. At that show, once again, there was a camera crew filming the whole event including a Divas tag team match. Who was part of that match? The same suspects as above. AJ, Aksana, Liviana and Naomi Night.
But there’s more…
New weave, Naomi? In a sign that she’s been made to look ‘(national) TV ready’, Naomi Night debuted a brand new weave at last night’s show which Bobby describes as being ‘more in line with the other Divas’, i.e. the pretty young things on the main roster right now.
And finally…
Babyface/heel switch-up: For those that follow FCW, you’d know that the first ever Florida Divas Champion, Naomi Night has been portraying a babyface, as has Aksana. Meanwhile, AJ and Liviana in FCW, are heels. Last night — without warning — things were switched up. Aksana and Naomi played the heels, while AJ and Liviana were babyfaces. Perhaps practicing their new roles for NXT?
The clues are mounting but of course, until Tuesday night, nothing is official.
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60 Comments
I hope this is the case. I’ve been hyping up a Melina/AJ Lee pairing in my head for weeks. :P
aww i wanted AJ to go straight onto SD :/
this means SD will still be a no Diva zone (accept for the odd backstage segment)
I’m guessing there will be a male winner and a female winner in NXT season 3? otherwise Divas may not have a chance
and love Naomi and her new weave, she’s looking fierce!
I was kind of hoping AJ could skip NXT and go straight to Smackdown
melina aj lee hummmmm and congrats girls
This is HUGE. If this does actually happen, this could mean BIG news for the Divas!
They could do a whole “Laycool made Kaval (a male) into a star, so why not do the same to a female this time” and then mentor AJ, having her used on Smackdown as well like Kaval was. Just maybe AJ wouldn’t turn to like them like Kaval did, and thus they could wrestle. Kind of like how they made the Miz mentor 2 seasons in a row, with 1 season having a pro who disliked him and the other having a pro who liked him.
Naomi looked awesome last night. All four are good to go on to NXT imo.
More good news. I was also hoping AJ Lee would just skip this but then again, it could be a blessing in disguise. WWE does little to build their female talents characters, NXT has been instrumental in building these new stars so needed character and comfort in front of the large crowds. This is great news! Let’s hope they respond well to the girls, things could finally turn around.
Aksana is a heel now? Wow. That’s weird. Always saw her as more as a babyface, but heel Aksana could be interesting too. Meanwhile, I’m glad that Naomi is back to being a heel where she belongs.<3 And, AJ is back to being a face (IMO, I don't think she does well as a heel, tbh) EITHER WAY, I'm marking out that Aksana will be onnnn.<3 I will actually vote for this woman every single time. I've loved her since I first saw her. She's strong, beautiful, determined and always gives me Trish vibes which is an automatic A-OK in my book.<3 AKSANA FTW!
I hope they don't do Melina/AJ, Alicia/Naomi, etc. etc. It's going to be SO freakin' boring to see the mentees be trained by the mentors they look/are exactly like, snoores. (Though, I'd secrely love a Maryse/Aksana pair FTW, they might be my only exception) I want to see some face/heel pairings. Laycool/AJ!<3 (Perfect feud right there, already) Naomi/Melina, you know? Something different.
aj lee, aksana, liviana, and namo night has been really improving and the are good to go in NXT. Look at aksana in that picture above, she looks like trish stratus!
Naomi Night and AJ are perfect
Livianna is pretty good
Aksansa needs more training
ALOT MORE
They always change things at FCW house shows, seeing as it usually has less relevance than FCW TV than WWE does with Raw, SD and their house shows. However, I’m not to keen on Diva NXT, sure it gives them a chance to be called up etc. but then when they’re eliminated they either go back to FCW or get misused on the main brands, collecting dust in the background. I think NXT is a lazy way of debuting talent, because WWE has lost faith in it’s own talent, they look for quick ways to get over like NXT, rather than giving character to their staff.
I’d rather see any of these girls debut in a storyline that they can grow from than just be former NXT contestants.
Aksana<2
WOW, Naomi is just gorgeous. I’m excited to see all four girls in action on WWE, but to be honest, I was hoping that Naomi was a babyface, she’s just so likeable it seems odd to put her as a heel. On the other hand, I’d switch it up with Liviana, who I think suits perfectly as a prima donna type of character.
Can’t wait to see Naomi.
Not to keen on Liviana, be good if Penny Cash was still on, she was much better than Liviana
Does Liviana wrestle? The last time i really checked the FCW girls she was just a manage.
I didn’t even know AJ lee turned heel either. Didn’t she work some matches at some smackdown house shows recently? I wonder if shes the FCW girl who wont be used on NXT and just go straight to smackdown?
Does anyone know what the plan for NXT is after September? I’m asking because it was announced in April that NXT would no longer be airing on SyFy once Smackdown debuts on October 1st. It doesn’t look like another channel picked up the show as something like that would have been announced by the new channe by now, so unless the show moves to WWE.com or replaces WWE Superstars on WGN, Season 3 is going be 4 episodes long.
*manager
Yes. Liviana wrestles. She wrestled in tag team matches in the past and just wrestled again Naomi in the Divas Championship tournament, recently. And, AJ was heel for a short period of time whilst Naomi turned face.
“I think NXT is a lazy way of debuting talent, because WWE has lost faith in it’s own talent, they look for quick ways to get over like NXT, rather than giving character to their staff.”
exactly and thats why i dnt want divas like AJ, and Naomi to debut this way bc maybe they will just become just another diva on the roster and there better than that…doing this is going have them taking a bac seat to divas like Kelly,bellas and rosa.i just want AJ to debut in Smackdown w/o this NXT stuff
*On
“Does Liviana wrestle? The last time i really checked the FCW girls she was just a manage.”
She wrestled Naomi for the Divas Title the last time I went, & then the tag this time. She impressed me both times, as I didnt think she would be as good as she was. From what I’ve seen live, I’d rank her at exactly around the Bella Twins level. She’s good but still improving and will get better.
new weave??? HELL YESSS LOOOL
I’m calling it now…Aksana is going to be paired up with Maryse.
Yeah Liviana does wrestle, though her main screen time is as Assistant to the General Manager or recently as General Manager of FCW. She does get limited screen-time out of all the girls there, but like someone said I think she’s just about on Bella level, she’s got a natural feistiness in the ring and her off-screen character could work out in a way that it did for Maryse.
my heart will seriosly skip a beat if this happens :O
hopefully it happens!
I hope gail kim is a part of nxt pro’s.
I’m keen to see Maryse/Aksana, Gail/Liviana, AJ/Laycool and Naomi/Melina. But I’d also love to see Jillian and Beth as pros. I’m kinda feeling that Liviana may be paired with Eve. >.<
Of course Naomi is a heel. must all black girls be heel wwe?
Im already feeling these 4 divas. There attire’s are looking fly. Espicially Liviana. Most of the time divas become my favourite sometimes depending on there attires. Also i love red, white and blue rings. Hopefully people actually watch the divas on NXT. I have a feeling all divas would get low ratings compare to the males. Hopefully they tune in to see Naomi .v. AJ, also hoping we see inter – gender matches.
There’s still no word where NXT3 will air. SyFy unlikely to keep two WWE shows once SmackDown moves over. Hopefully it won’t be online only. I like watching my wrestling on TV.
What ever happened to the rumored AJ video promos? There’s a void now with Serena released and Tiffany suspended. AJ should jump in right away instead of having to go though NXT. It’s not like she’s Daniel Bryan and Kaval, where those two had to take their lumps coming from their known indy status. She’s already got the look, with the skills as well. The other three are still too green and need NXT.
Hey guys I know this is off topic but I was wondering why you guys stopped rating the divas outfits i really enjoyed the segment you guys had with that and hopefully you will start doing it again :)
They better not job aj lee all the time just because she’s good in the ring.
@spiffy
True. But i dont think naomi is green in the ring at all because she has only had 7 months of wrestling experience and she is amazing for just 7 months, dont you think? Most divas who have dance backgrounds actually have better skills in the ring for example Alicia, Eve and now Naomi. Im not talking about “booty/Party” dancing im talking about Hiphop etc.
@Eric – Thank you. Why must all black girls be used as heels with a ghetto-ish attitude, I’m not saying that’ll be Naomis gimmick, but we all know it will. Honestly, I can’t see why they didn’t use her as a babyface, she’s just so likeable and bubbly.
nah naomi seems heelish to me. however alicia should be a face. now she is quite bubbly and likeable. well she was a face on ecw so not all black girls are heels. they just eventually become one lol the divas look really good in those pics posted above! if only naomi would get rid of that ghetto ass attire. nice nikes though!
I can see that being the case.
Aksana with Maryse
Naiomi with Alicia
Liviana with Eve?
And AJ Lee with Gail or Melina
@ laceyvonerichfan alicia has a dance background?? i know layla did but ive never heard that alicia had a dance background. well besides her stuff from ecw lol
If Aksana is in it I am voting for her EVERY TIME! :D
Why swap their roles? I like Naomi as a Face and AJ as a Heel. :( I haven’t seen much of Liviana as she bores me in the ring and Aksana as a Heel would just be like a worse version of Marysem but Crapper Version Of Maryse > Tony Atlas Wannabe for Abraham Washington. :)
Oh and I’m liking Naomi’s new hair, even the purple fringe is awesome. However, I just had an epileptic fit after seeing her outfit so I couldn’t get to take in any detail.
1. I hope LAYCOOL are NOT involved in season 3, but as The Miz was in season 1 and 2, you can’t count them out.
2. I hope the pairings are as follows:
AJ Lee – Gail Kim
Liviana – Melina
Aksana – Alicia Fox
Naomi Knight – Maryse
I think it’s best that they do not pair the rookies with which Diva they look like!
If they do then the pairings will be as follows:
AJ Lee – Melina
Liviana – Gail? Eve? K2?
Aksana – Maryse? Jillian?
Naomi Knight – Alicia Fox
Has anyone considered that the Diva Rookies could be mentored by MALE Superstars and the Male Rookies could be mentored by WWE Divas?
I just hope Gail Kim is a mentor because in my opinion the Divas should be:
Gail Kim
Melina
Alicia
Maryse/Jillian/Natalya
I would like to see Gail Kim vs Melina sometime soon, so maybe a heel turn for Gail on RAW or even on NXT?
I think if AJ is on NXT then she will be the Daniel Bryan/Kaval of season 3 because she is the most experienced and the shortest of the diva rookies and michael cole will bitch on her when ever she comes out. So she will probably end up with an absurd pairing that works great like Laycool and Kaval.
Why the hell is Naomi heel? I liked her as a face. I’m kinda upset AJ Lee didn’t get called up to SD right away but it’ll be nice to see her anyway. I don’t think Liviana is as bad as people say. I think it was her last match with Naomi she looked pretty good in the ring imo. Not looking foward to Aksana in the ring though. Here’s who I think will be with who.
Gail Kim will mentor AJ Lee.
Alicia Fox will mentor Naomi Knight.
Kelly Kelly will mentor Aksana.
Maryse will mentor Liviana.
@rico yeah she was a hip hop dancer before her career in OVW, but she does have a dance background even the stuff she does on ECW.
Also yeah naomi is pretty heel-ish and Alicia was way better off face on ECW. Her attire was much better and ESPCIALLY her hair was nice and neat. Also she was not sloppy at the time.
If SYFY was over at FCW filming then they obviously will pick up the new season of NXT duh. But i read that it will just be moved to a different time slot.
If SYFY was over at FCW filming then they obviously will pick up the new season of NXT duh. But i read that it will just be moved to a different time slot. And the chances of gail kim being a pro are slim to none she doesn’t even talk. But im thinking Laycool, Melina, Maryse, and Eve Torres.
@Gail KIm #1 that is a good point we might see more intergender pairings. Im expecting Aj Lee to get the most attention out of all the divas. But i hope at least two get moved to the main roster somehow.
@ laceyvonerichfan
I watched a few of Naomi’s FCW matches on YouTube. She still looks too raw and indy looking. I don’t fully see WWE Diva just quite yet. She looks like she’s auditioning for Step Up 4. She’s a little clunky in the ring. Her entrance and they way she carries herself with the belt doesn’t feel natural. Needs a little more time in FCW, as I think if she got called up today, she’d freeze up. NXT would definitely help her, but she’d be the first one eliminated like Titus O’Neil.
AJ I’ve seen enough to know she’s more than ready, and could instantly be my new favorite diva once called up.
Aksana and Liviana I still need to YouTube, as I’ve only seen them in one backstage promo segment (which their acting is awful, which means they’re studying Melina too much).
BTW, the Titus O’Neil comparison had nothing to do with race.