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NXT is a wonderful place where wrestlers can learn to create a character that the audience can get behind. It is a breeding ground for new potential superstars; people who will rise to the top when folks like John Cena eventually call it a career.
Unfortunately, success in NXT does not guarantee success in WWE.
See, the Full Sail crowd is a lot "smarkier" than most WWE crowds are. While WWE bounces around the country and sees varying levels of liveliness city by city, the Full Sail crowd always brings their A-game. They also get behind the wrestlers more easily, as they get to see them more than any of us do. While I do admit that they are often obnoxious and try to "become the show" (if you will), they are instrumental in getting new talents over.
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So, in this list, I'm going to take a look at 10 superstars that didn't quite get the same treatment in WWE as they did in NXT. This can be for a variety of reasons, whether it's a lack of a connection to casual fans, poor booking, or factors beyond anyone else's control. But for whatever reason, these 10 superstars didn't bring that same magic to the main roster.
Before I begin, I do have a couple disclaimers - the first is that these views are my own and that you are free to disagree with me or to offer alternatives in the comments section. The second is that a wrestler's appearance on this list does not mean that I think that I dislike them or think they're bad. They are here because I believe that they were mishandled on the main roster, and for no other reason.
Anyway, before I bore you to death, let's get on with the list!
#10 Tye Dillinger
How many "10" jokes can we make? All of them. Anyway, I digress -
When Tye Dillinger adopted his "Perfect 10" gimmick near the tail-end of his NXT run, it was pretty apparent that he was the most over guy on the roster. Fans vociferously chanted "10" at any opportunity they could, replacing every number with "10" when Tye would deliver a corner-punch spot or whenever anyone was being counted out. It was pretty cool to see, considering Tye had been toiling in developmental for the better part of a decade and had finally found a way to get the fans to care about him.
He finally debuted in the 2017 Royal Rumble at #10 (heh), only to be kept off television for four months before returning to the main roster as a jobber to the stars. He'd beat guys like Curt Hawkins or Aiden English but then lose to guys like Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal, etc. After losing to A.J. Styles in a matter of seconds and losing in a Triple Threat for the US Title at Hell in a Cell, Dillinger disappeared once more. He has been used sparingly ever since.
It's evident that WWE officials don't see much in Tye Dillinger. While I never really saw him as a main-event talent, he definitely could've been a serviceable mid-card champion. Unfortunately, over-ness (is that a word? No.) with the crowd doesn't matter to WWE officials. Just ask Zack Ryder.
#9 Austin Aries
Austin Aries is an immensely talented professional wrestler. There's no doubt about that...well, unless you're WWE apparently.
In NXT, Aries was somewhat lost in the shuffle. Sure, he was a big name, but so were Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, and Shinsuke Nakamura. It's easy to see why guys like Aries, Roderick Strong, and Kassius Ohno fell by the wayside when the already-stacked roster kept adding more significant layers. And I'm sure that it didn't help that he suffered a serious orbital bone fracture just four months after he finally turned heel.
When Aries finally debuted on the main roster, it was as a commentator for 205 Live, so WWE fans knew that this would be his home when he was cleared to compete. When he did return, he was immediately thrust into the Cruiserweight Title picture and seemed poised to be the one to conquer Neville.
He wasn't. He lost at two consecutive pay-per-views then got released.
Some suggest that he was released because he was frustrated with his role on 205 Live, others suggest that WWE officials thought he was difficult to work with. Whatever the reason may be, Austin Aries' four-month stint on the main roster was almost entirely disappointing.
#8 Enzo Amore and Big Cass (but mostly Enzo)
When Enzo Amore was signed to the WWE, he had no wrestling experience. When Big Cass was signed to the WWE, he had minimal wrestling experience. So we're off to a bad start.
Luckily, Enzo and Cass got majorly over in NXT because of their colorful personalities. The two had a wide array of catchphrases in their arsenal, which somewhat helped mask their lack of in-ring ability. While the duo never won the NXT Tag Team Championships, they came awfully close on a few occasions, and it seemed as if they would finally hold championship gold on the main roster once they debuted.
While the two were still not main-roster-ready from an in-ring perspective, they once again got by on how entertaining they were. Still, they once again failed to capture the Tag Team Championships on multiple occasions. To make matters worse for them, reports of Enzo's obnoxious backstage antics began to surface, so WWE started making Enzo look more and more foolish on television every week. Then, the duo was inexplicably split up and Cass began an incredibly bland heel run that saw him wrestle absolute stinkers against Enzo (which made Enzo look even MORE foolish) and The Big Show. Then Cass tore his ACL and Enzo was moved to the floundering Cruiserweight Division because...why not?
While Enzo did end up capturing two Cruiserweight Championships, his still-problematic backstage behavior and his still-terrible in-ring ability earned him no friends in that division. When WWE learned that he was being investigated for a possible sexual assault and that he had kept it under wraps, he was released without any good wishes.
So now Cass is set to come back with seemingly no direction. Hopefully, he spent some time improving his mediocre in-ring work, else he ends up being just another bland big man who couldn't hang.
#7 The Wyatt Family
It's hard to call Bray Wyatt a complete failure, as he is a former WWE Champion. Still, it's pertinent to note that he went from being one of the most compelling characters in recent memory to being a glorified punchline. But it's not just him - it's the whole original Wyatt Family.
Needless to say, WWE's booking of the Wyatt Family has been...disjointed. They started off imposing enough but were soon fed to bigger stars such as CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. But Bray's three consecutive pay-per-view losses to John Cena were the first nails in the coffin for the group. Suddenly, this ominous and supernatural group of bearded Southerners seemed like pushovers.
Then Bray "set them free," leaving all three of them directionless. Luke Harper had a forgettable run with the Intercontinental Title, Erick Rowan became a lacklustre babyface with Spyro the Dragon-esque entrance music, and Bray inexplicably lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 31, despite repeatedly implying that he would usurp his throne. Months later, they were back together, only this time they added Braun Strowman. They were then buried by The Rock at WrestleMania 32, and a series of injuries killed Wyatt's momentum.
Now, Harper and Rowan ditched their first names and became the hammer-wielding Bludgeon Brothers, while Bray is still struggling in directionless feuds and cutting increasingly nonsensical promos. How did we get here?
#6 Apollo Crews
Apollo Crews can do some pretty incredible things in the ring. He's a 240 lb. wall of muscle that can lift people over his head and deliver standing Shooting Star Presses within the same sequence. His biggest issue, however, is that he never got to establish a persona.
In NXT, Crews was impressive from an in-ring perspective, but he didn't seem to have a purpose. On top of this, he was given the same treatment as guys like Kassius Ohno; guys with a proven track record on the indies but were still neglected in favor of those that WWE considered more marketable. Still, they skyrocketed Crews to the main roster before he had a chance to really connect with the fans.
Of course, Crews' lack of direction doomed him to a series of forgettable matches. He's been bounced back and forth between brands, he's lost feuds to other directionless superstars such as Dolph Ziggler, and now he's in Titus Worldwide. And as we all know, pretty much anything Titus O'Neil touches turns to garbage, so he still has yet to do anything truly interesting.
I really hope that Apollo Crews isn't doomed to this sort of booking forever. He is immensely talented and he has a great look, but his lack of a discernible personality has not done him any favors on the main roster. Hopefully, he can really find himself.
#5 Emma
No, I'm not going to mention the "dances with Santino" gimmick - I'm going to talk about her return to NXT and subsequent return to the main roster.
When Emma came back to NXT in 2015, she adopted a heel persona that was absolute money. While she didn't really win a whole lot of big matches and she never had her hands on the NXT Women's Championship, she was still dominant, she was still a main event mainstay, she still was a well-developed heel character, and she was still putting on great matches week after week.
She made her return to the main roster in March of 2016 and didn't really have a chance to show off what she could do before succumbing to a serious back injury just two months later. Then, WWE decided to do a complete 180 with her character and turn her into a model-like character called "Emmalina". Vignettes aired for months before she finally debuted as Emmalina in January of 2017, only to immediately proclaim that she was going back to being Emma. Then they took her off TV for four more months.
...what?
Emma would go on to wrestle for the company for six more months (five, if you don't count the additional month that she was out with a shoulder injury) before being released from her contract last October. It's a shame because they could have done a lot more with her.
#4 Tyler Breeze
It's stories like this that make me nervous for Velveteen Dream's eventual transition to the main roster.
Tyler Breeze was a bonafide main eventer in NXT. Sure, he never held the "Big Gold X" himself, but he was always rubbing elbows with those that did. He was also one of NXT's most apt and consistent in-ring workers at that time, and that's saying something considering they had [Adrian] Neville, Sami Zayn, and Tyson Kidd running around at that time. Point is, he was taken seriously.
When he made his in-ring debut on the main roster in 2015, he...lost? That's right - he lost his first match on the main roster. Tell me, how is anyone supposed to care about a guy who loses his debut match in unimpressive fashion? He was dead in the water before he even had a chance to start swimming.
While he did defeat Dolph Ziggler at that year's Survivor Series, he would go on to lose to Ziggler in two consecutive rematches. Then, he went on a losing streak for several months.
While his comedy pairing with Fandango has breathed a bit of new life into their respective careers, the duo was never considered legitimate contenders to any sort of championship, and they've recently become fodder for The Bludgeon Brothers.
While he is a talented performer, Tyler Breeze never could have succeeded on the main roster. I wouldn't be surprised if he's released from his contract by the end of the year.
#3 Bayley
Much like Bray Wyatt, it's hard to call Bayley's main roster run a complete failure, as she did hold the WWE RAW Women's Championship at one point. But given how far she has fallen since her days in NXT, she had to place highly here.
While the dawn of Bayley's time in NXT was nothing special, the fans still got behind the plucky and charming babyface. In time, she found herself getting more and more chances at the NXT Women's Title, to a point where the fans were effectively begging for her eventual triumph. It would finally come in August of 2015 when she won the title from Sasha Banks in a thrilling match. The next month, she would follow that up with a 30-minute Iron Man match with Banks, which some call the greatest women's wrestling match in WWE history. Her reign would last 223 days before she finally dropped it to the undefeated Asuka in April of 2016. This was clearly a harbinger of her imminent main roster debut.
Not long after, she did indeed debut on the main roster, and the fans were elated and still very much behind her. Her initial build was initially fine, but for some reason, they booked her to win the RAW Women's Championship from Charlotte Flair on a random episode of RAW, rather than have her hand Charlotte her first defeat on the main roster PPV.
Personally, I believe that this anticlimactic title win was the beginning of her descent.
She lost the title to Alexa Bliss 76 days later and has never even come close to gaining it back since. Her lack of mic skills has rendered her character stale, to the point where people are now booing her and officials have apparently given up on her.
Sadly, I don't think Bayley can bounce back from this. Not if she doesn't modify her character.
#2 Bo Dallas
Bo Dallas is a former NXT Champion. Allow me to repeat that in different words - Bo Dallas once held NXT's most prestigious title.
It seems hard to believe if you've only known Bo from his main roster run, but he was legitimately one of the best things going in NXT for a while. Playing the part of a white-meat babyface, the Full Sail crowd eventually grew tired of him and booed him at any opportunity they could. Strangely enough, this was the best thing that ever happened to him. Instead of "pulling a Bayley" and retaining the entirety of babyface character despite the audience's derision, he used his obnoxious persona to steer into the hatred. His whiny heel character was nothing short of golden.
He tried to parlay that into his main roster run with his slightly modified "Bo-lieve" gimmick and, while it was entertaining, his matches were pointless and his win streak was snapped by R-Truth, of all people. From there, he was never taken seriously again - he joined the Social Outcasts (basically a modern J.O.B. Squad) and paired himself with Curtis Axel and The Miz to become the awfully-named Miztourage (basically a poor man's J-and-J Security).
To think that Bo Dallas was once at the top of a wrestling company's food chain for 280 days. It almost seems laughable now.
#1 The Ascension
The Ascension were NXT's top tag team from 2013-2014. They held the NXT Tag Team Championships for almost a full calendar year and laid waste to just about everybody in their path. They were repeatedly likened to legendary tag teams such as The Road Warriors and were poised to carry that reputation with them to the main roster at the tail end of 2014.
They were ruined almost immediately upon arrival.
Even though they won their first few matches, all the commentators would bury them throughout, calling them "cheap knock-offs" of legendary tag teams. Three weeks after their debut, they were publicly humiliated and laid out by the likes of the A.P.A. and The New Age Outlaws. While they defeated the Outlaws at that year's Royal Rumble PPV, their reputation was irreparably damaged.
From there, you could probably count on one hand the number of wins they've accrued. I honestly don't recall the last time I saw them win a televised match. And it's a shame because they absolutely could have been a mainstay in the tag team division. But obviously, WWE officials thought otherwise.
Without a doubt, The Ascension's call-up from NXT failed far worse than anyone else's.
