5 NXT stars who could be heading to WWE's main roster

WWE NXT is the company's development brand and made its premiere episode on February 23, 2010. The show started in a reality show format with eight hopefuls competing in a series of matches and skills competitions. The format paved the way for top stars like Wade Barrett, Heath Slater and Daniel Bryan.

In 2012, the brand moved away from its reality show roots and instead featured matches and storylines in a way similar to that of the main roster shows. At the same time, the brand began to welcome more FCW (Florida Country Wrestling) talents and helped develop them into legitimate WWE stars.

This version of NXT helped develop some of the biggest superstars of today such as Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Big E. Since then, the developmental brand has opened its doors to more international wrestling talents such as Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka, and Io Shirai.

For years now, much like NXT called upon stars from FCW, the WWE main roster has called upon stars from the black and gold brand. There have been a lot of success stories to come out of NXT callups.

In this list, let's take a look at five NXT stars who could be headed to the main roster soon:

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#5. NXT veteran Johnny Gargano

Johnny Gargano made his NXT debut September 2015 together with Tommaso Ciampa. The team would later be named DIY. Together, they competed against some of the best tag teams the developmental brand has ever seen such as The Revival, The Ascension, and The Authors of Pain.

Consecutive losses to Akam and Rezar led to Ciampa turning on his partner and brutally attacking him. This marked the beginning of the storied rivalry between Ciampa and Gargano.

Gargano turned heel and, over the years, continued to become one of the best NXT has to offer. He is the first ever Triple Crown Champion in NXT history, having won the NXT, Tag Team and North American Championships.

There's not much for Johnny Wrestling left to do on Tuesday nights and a move to the main roster is certainly the right move for the NXT veteran.

#4. Cora Jade - NXT's youngest star

Cora Jade signed with WWE in January this year along with fellow new NXT stars Gigi Dolin and Zoey Stark. The Sorceress of Sin competed on WWE 205 Live before moving onto NXT as an enhancement talent wherein she competed with Xia Li and Franky Monet.

Jade made her NXT 2.0 debut in a rematch against Monet, which she won courtesy of a roll-up pin. However, she recently wrestled Dakota Kai in a dark match on SmackDown, which could indicate that she may soon be on the way to the main roster.

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#3. Dakota Kai

Dakota Kai signed with NXT in December 2016 and made her debut as a part of the first-ever Mae Young Classic. She defeated Kavita Devi in the tournament.

Kai made her television debut on March 2018 with a victory against Lacey Evans via roll-up pinfall. Throughout Kai's 3-year NXT career, she competed with top stars such as Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Kairi Sane, and Shayna Baszler.

Almost every superstar that Kai has wrestled has already moved up to either RAW or SmackDown. She certainly has the experience and the charisma to move up and make an impact on the main roster as well.

#2. NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong

Roderick Strong made his debut in October 2016 as part of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic together with Austin Aries. Strong and Aries defeated Otis and Tucker Knight to proceed to the quarter-finals but were then eliminated by TM61 Nick Miller and Shane Thorne.

Roderick Strong's NXT career reached new heights when he became part of the heel faction known as the Undisputed Era. Together with stablemate Kyle O'Reilly, he became a two-time Tag Team Champion. Individually, he also won the NXT North American Championship.

Strong is currently the leader of up-and-coming stable Diamond Mine and is the reigning NXT Cruiserweight Champion. The multi-time champion is one of the best in-ring workers the company has to offer and it is time for him to move to the main roster.

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#1. Breakout NXT 2.0 star Solo Sikoa

Second generation star Solo Sikoa is a member of Anoa'i wrestling family. He is one of the cousins of current WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns. He is also the son of WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi, which makes him The Usos' younger brother.

Sikoa won his debut match against Jeet Rama courtesy of a signature Uso splash. Given the lineage the young superstar comes from, and the fact that he looks tailor-made for the modern WWE product, it may be sooner rather than later that we see him on the main roster.