Even back then they usually had plans for new arrivals, like promos and videos with "coming soon" shown, but then again there weren't as many high profile and sort after wrestlers in the industry like it is now, but it was usually more hits than misses and that's how we got some of the biggest stars in wrestling.
Sometimes I can't help but wonder if Triple H just got lucky when it came to booking NXT Black & Gold. Because the women's division in NXT have always been the highlight of the show, with a few bumps in the road during the 2.0 phase. So it depending on who the booker is or is NXT just easier to book in general?
Now when it comes to Stephanie and Blake, we know they're both WWE diehard fangirls, and they're obviously very talented but let's not ignore that having the looks had just as much to do with it, and in Stephanie's case Booker T with the gooning lol. Now with Stephanie they've been pretty consistent with her booking until her injury happened, so she's been lucky, the jury is still out on Blake so far. And I hope they do more with her soon, because I've already seen people online say that she's just in the WWE "playing dress up" and being happy to be there.
Everyone always brings up the "lifetime of mediocrity" line from Toni Storm, and I always say they're just mad because she left AEW, but if they do nothing with her and she gets released it's going to be hard to deny the claim