10 top Superstars to have graduated from NXT

#4 Finn Balor

Balor became the poster boy for the ongoing success of NXT

It’s arguable that Finn Balor was the biggest NXT star in history. During his incredible 292-day run as NXT Champion, NXT transformed from a developmental system to a legitimate third brand of WWE, that attracts the big stars in its own right. This has been further shown since, by the arrival in NXT of names such as Austin Aries, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Eric Young and more.

After his short chase for the NXT Title culminated in a victory over Kevin Owens for the strap at The Beast In The East event, Balor promptly developed into the perfect champion. Captivating fans with his high-octane in-ring performances and stellar promo work, he quickly became recognised as a genuine star.

Finally, he began to outgrow NXT, thus the decision was made to have Samoa Joe to beat him for the title at an NXT live event (how often do title changes happen on live events? Barely ever) and send him up to the main roster.

His RAW debut was even more impactful than his NXT career, defeating Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Rusev and Roman Reigns on his first night to send him into a Universal Championship clash with Seth Rollins.

At Summerslam, 27 days after his main roster debut, he defeated Rollins to become the new champion and cement himself as a top name in WWE. He had to vacate the title due to injury a day later, but everybody was now aware who Finn Balor is, if they weren’t already. He has since returned, and picked up right where he left off at the top of the card.