FRIDAY Night Smackdown saw its roster get bigger as the team of Darren Young and Titus O'Neil and Antonio Cesaro make their Smackdown debut.

After Triple H's decree that no talent woud be promoted to the main roster without a storyline mapped out for them, we might see the new Smackdown talents involved in angles and feuds in the upcoming weeks. Both talents were introduced at the expense of Teddy Long. Darren Young and Titus O'Neil, two superstars who have been staying at NXT as a heel tag team, were presented as a team who Long didn't sign to Smackdown due to lack of faith. The two went on to rub it in Long's face that he made a mistake that he didn't sign the team and they were ready to take the tag team division by storm. Being signed by Laurinaitis, the two went on to have their first match later on the evening against the Usos, where they won using a tag team finisher reminiscent of the Hart Foundation's Hart Attack. Antonio Cesaro, known to the indy fans as ROH's Claudio Castagnoli, then made his debut later in the evening. Accompanied by "longtime friend" Aksana, they entered Laurinaitis' office to discuss a possible contract with the blue brand.

With Ryback dominating his opponents third week in a row and Damien Sandow continuing to give splendid promos, Smackdown might be the right place where the new talents could develop their character and make themselves as stars in the business. While there are more talents that the fans can't wait to see in the main roster like Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Richie Steamboat, the gradual debuting of the talents is a good move so the fans can indulge themselves first in one character before dealing with another one. While the year 2012 has seen combacks by former stars like Chris Jericho, The Rock and Brock Lesnar, the year could also signal a new generation of superstars ready to carry the company to allow the veterans to finally hang up their boots and let a new era begin in the WWE.






Jed Mendoza is a writer for the Pro Wrestling Gazette. Engage with him by following him on Twitter @jedified.