Scottish star Kay Lee Ray debuts for NXT – are more Brits heading to WWE?

A host of new faces took their WWE bows in front of NXT’s cameras yesterday - including highly-rated Scottish star Kay Lee Ray.

The 23-year-old regular for Glasgow-based promotion ICW, as well as US female independent outfits SHINE and Shimmer, faced fellow debutante Nia Jax in a bout expected to air on the WWE Network later this month.

Former TNA champion James Storm, 38, also stepped into a WWE ring for the first time, taking on London’s Martin Stone. He later tweeted his belief in ‘taking an opportunity and running with it’.

'The Tennessee Cowboy' performed under his established ring name and had been rumoured to have been spotted backstage at Wednesday's NXT TakeOver: Respect special.

The WWE contract status and future of both Ray and Storm is unknown, but NXT boss Paul Levesque confirmed earlier this week he is open to bringing in talent from outside the company to shine on the company’s hottest brand.

Levesque - better known as former 13-time World champion Triple H - told journalists during a conference call he was willing to “open those doors up” to further appearances from non-contracted performers on NXT’s ‘underground and edgier’ cards, boosting UK fans’ hopes of homegrown aces winning spots on December’s UK tour.

Responding to a question about whether NXT would continue to host New Japan favourites, Levesque was enthusiastic about linking up with other promotions on crowd-pleasing initiatives that feed NXT’s ‘huge niche’ audience.

He said: “I’m open to anything.

“And that is what I think is great [about what] we can do with NXT, where sometimes there are limitations because of a lot of business reasons with WWE and the main roster and all those things.

“With NXT we can open those doors up, we can talk to New Japan, we can talk to different outfits and see if there are things we can do together, [if] there are things we can work on together.

“Or if not, whether it is just using talents for one-offs here and there, whatever it is."

He continued: “I met with New Japan, we’ll see what comes out of it but I really try to look at NXT as a blank slate and with an open mind and identify what is best for our fanbase.”

In contrast to the majority of WWE superstars’ deals, recent NXT appearances by independent stars Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have not prevented them from accepting bookings from promoters unaffiliated with the sports entertainment giant. Samoa Joe and cult favourite Blue Pants are also believed to be working under similar deals, a recent and huge departure from WWE’s standard approach of only developing consequential storylines with talents they have tied up.

With WWE also striking agreements with the likes of UK promotions PROGRESS Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling and Insane Championship Wrestling to use footage from their shows in video packages detailing top star Finn Balor’s wrestling background, it seems likely some of the British circuit's best performers may get a chance to impress.

Also appearing at the Florida tapings at Full Sail University was former Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra goalkeeper Stuart Tomlinson, who performs under the name of Hugo Knox.

The 30-year-old muscleman, who made his NXT live event debut last November, took on German brawler Alexander Wolfe in a bout not recorded for transmission.

It is hoped he will be part of the NXT crew coming over in two months for the brand’s first international trip.

Other newbies at the tapings were Kiwi performer Evie and Aussie wrestler Shazza McKenzie. Glasgow’s Nikki Storm has also been recently linked to NXT.