The wrestling world is forever changing—new promotions ebbing in and out of popularity in any given year. As many start-up companies the industry has seen, though, few have come quite as far as NXT, WWE’s pseudo-development branch that’s somehow every bit as entertaining as Raw or SmackDown.
Combining the remnants of Florida Championship Wrestling and the so-so “reality” show known as NXT, the second iteration of NXT was devised to be something vastly different. As WWE tried to build the talent of tomorrow, they also began introducing older and more established stars who’d made their careers outside of WWE.
The results gave way to an extended period where NXT felt like every wrestling fan’s dream roster, with arrivals including Finn Bálor and Shinsuke Nakamura from NJPW, Adam Cole, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn from ROH, and Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode from TNA.
Thanks to the relentless star power that appeared in NXT, the brand went from a struggling experiment into one of the absolute best things happening in WWE, with numerous NXT match-ups seen as some of the best in the wrestling world at the time.
For as many wrestlers who have walked through NXT’s doors, some clearly had more influence in the company than others. From NJPW royalty to former TNA world champions, here are some of the best wrestlers to ever compete in NXT.
Finn Bálor
A rookie sensation in the 2000s, the wrestler that would become known as Finn Bálor rose through the ranks of NJPW as Prince Devitt, the inaugural leader of the influential Bullet Club stable.
Bringing his hard-hitting, lightning-quick offense to NXT in 2014, Devitt tweaked his character a bit more to embody two wholly succinct personas: the fresh-faced Finn Bálor and the body paint-covered Demon. Alternating freely between these two characters, Bálor rose to the top of NXT, serving as the brand’s breakout star during its transitional period in the mid-2010s.
Adam Cole
When he left ROH in 2017, Cole was considered one of the hottest young talents on the market. His outgoing personality and clear in-ring abilities make him an asset in whatever company he signed with.
The fact that Cole debuted with fellow ROH alumni Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish only aided in his inevitable ascent in NXT, culminating in a record-setting 403-day reign as NXT Champion. As in ROH, Cole was the perfect heel in NXT, regularly cheating to win matches and displaying outright disrespect to each of his opponents (especially against Johnny Gargano, perhaps the most notable rival of his career).
Kevin Owens
With how violent, ill-tempered, and adult-oriented Kevin Steen was in ROH, it seemed like any incarnation of Steen that appeared in WWE would be drastically watered down. Thankfully, when Steen signed with WWE in 2014, he rebranded himself as the Prizefighter, Kevin Owens.
Making clear that he’d spent the last decade working hard to get where he was (all the while providing for his family), Owens stated that he had no intention of wasting his golden opportunity to shine in WWE. From there, Owens quickly became one of the main event players on NXT, his feuds against Finn Bálor, Sami Zayn, and Samoa Joe helping the brand gain traction in the mid-2010s.
Samoa Joe
Like most wrestlers who debuted on the black and gold brand, Samoa Joe was an already established star worldwide upon his NXT debut in 2015. A world champion in TNA and ROH, Joe had risen from a notable indie attraction to a world-renowned wrestler by the early 2010s.
Utilizing his imposing size, ground-and-pound offensive style, and intimate wrestling knowledge, Joe quickly rose to the top of NXT, decimating some of the brand’s foremost stars like Finn Bálor and Sami Zayn with little to any fuss. One of the most dominant talents in any company he signs with, it shouldn’t be surprising that Joe ended up being as impressive an NXT superstar as he turned out to be.
Johnny Gargano
When Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, and Shinsuke Nakamura were called up to the main roster near the end of the decade, a gaping hole was filled in NXT’s main event picture. Promptly filling that spot was a new mixed generation of wrestlers — men like TNA alumni like Bobby Roode, AAA stars like Andrade “Cien” Almas, and indie sensations like Johnny Gargano.
An established tag team performer with Tommaso Ciampa in DIY, Gargano rose to the main event status in his career-defining feud with Ciampa in 2018. From there, Gargano went on to have notable matches with virtually everyone he stepped in the ring with — especially Almas and emerging rival Adam Cole — repeatedly proving why he called himself Johnny Wrestling.
Tommaso Ciampa
You can compare and contrast former tag team members Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa until Brock Lesnar inexplicably wins another title in WWE. But for all Gargano’s obvious accolades in NXT, Ciampa has similarly delighted viewers since first appearing as part of DIY.
Relying on a combination of size, strength, stiff-looking technical wrestling suplexes, and outright intensity, Ciampa was a performer you wouldn’t expect to ascend to the top of NXT. But ascend he did, winning the NXT Championship and remaining in the title picture from 2018 to 2022 (the year he was called up to WWE’s main roster).
Shinsuke Nakamura
Unlike other established competitors like Samoa Joe or Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura hadn’t made his name in America’s independent wrestling scene. A major player in NJPW throughout the late 2000s into the early 2010s, Nakamura was a world-class athlete on par with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada. So, his arrival at NXT was a massive deal.
Nakamura’s debut in NXT instantly elevated the product in the eyes of both US and international audiences. Having TNA and ROH alums was one thing, but having Nakamura — a primetime attraction from New Japan — was quite another. As to be expected, his early matches (such as those against Joe, Zayn, and Owens) never failed to disappoint, even if WWE completely mishandled his call-up to the main roster.
The Revival
As with any wrestling promotion, NXT has had some fantastic tag teams, from early standout duos like The Ascension to more recent groups like The Undisputed Era. Put plainly, though, no team comes anywhere near The Revival, the smoothest and most accomplished tag team of the modern era (except for, perhaps, The Young Bucks).
Modeling themselves on classic ‘80s teams like The Brain Busters and The Midnight Express, The Revival was introduced as a clever throwback act that stood apart from current high-flying tag team acts. (Hence their telltale slogan: “No flips, just fists.”) Far from relying on an ingenious gimmick alone, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson also continuously demonstrated some first-rate in-ring talent, as seen in their matches against American Alpha and DIY.
Sami Zayn
Having wrestled in PWG and ROH under the ultra-popular El Generico moniker, it was likely a tall order for Generico to abandon his old facade and start over with a brand new character in NXT (much like his former tag partner/bitter rival, Kevin Steen/Owens). Ditching his patented mask and faux luchador background, though, Generico almost instantly managed to win over audiences with his new character: the fun-loving and relatable hipster Sami Zayn.
One of the first ROH veterans to arrive in NXT, Zayn was responsible for pushing the former developmental branch to new heights. No longer did the brand necessarily have to be looked down upon — with competitors like Zayn and Neville filling out the card, it could be something new and daring, on par with the best WWE and the indie circuit had to offer. His time in NXT may have been relatively short-lived, but without his influence, it’s doubtful NXT would ever escape the shadow of Florida Championship Wrestling.
WALTER
More so than most other wrestlers on this list, the man formerly known as WALTER has successfully transitioned to WWE’s main roster under his new name, Gunther. However great his acclaim in WWE, Gunther’s run in NXT as WALTER (the name he used in the indies) was nothing short of brilliant as well.
Serving as the main star on NXT UK and holding onto the NXT United Kingdom Championship for a record-setting 870 days, WALTER was (and continues to be) an athlete on a whole other level. His imposing size, disciplined personality, and an arsenal of chops, suplexes, and submission holds make him the kind of wrestler who would be at home in any company or any time period he found himself in. (Imagine him facing NWA-era Ric Flair in the late ‘80s or 2004-era Chris Benoit.) We have no doubt he’ll continue to shine in WWE, but his achievements in NXT are unparalleled in their own right.
Bobby Roode
As with almost every wrestler on this list, Bobby Roode had secured widespread success outside WWE before his NXT arrival in 2016. A world-class athlete and former champion in TNA, Roode almost instantly inserted himself into the title picture, winning the NXT Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura by the start of 2017.
While Roode was an already established talent in TNA, he helped keep his act fresh by reinventing himself in NXT, rebranding himself with his new “Glorious” gimmick. His veteran status also helped lend legitimacy to NXT’s main title, making his opponents’ victories more impressive (especially in the case of a returning Drew McIntyre).
Adrian Neville
Before Samoa Joe, Nakamura, and Sami Zayn, NXT was spearheaded by a high-flying Englishman named Adrian Neville. Competing in numerous European and US-based independent companies throughout the 2000s, Neville was a skilled and knowledgable wrestler with the background necessary to carry NXT into its next developmental phase.
Signing with the company in 2012, Neville helped restore NXT from a fledgling cadet branch into a showcase of exceptional talent. Fast, agile, and shockingly flexible, he set the standard for every wrestler who entered the NXT World title picture for the remainder of the decade, from Zayn and Bálor to Owens and Joe.
Ricochet
Ricochet, a globe-trotting athlete who has wrestled in the American indies, NJPW, and various luchador-based promotions, had traveled a long road by the time he signed with WWE. The epitome of high-flying wrestling, Ricochet could perform movements and physical feats few other people in the world could execute, existing as the closest thing the US has to NJPW’s Will Ospreay.
Making his NXT debut in 2018, Ricochet benefited greatly from an unusually stacked roster, finding welcome opponents like Adam Cole, Velveteen Dream, and Johnny Gargano. The fact that he spent only one year in NXT speaks volumes about WWE’s hopes for “The Future of Flight,” Ricochet soon after making his way to WWE’s main roster.
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly
It’d be a gross oversimplification to say that Adam Cole would’ve never been able to achieve much in NXT without Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly. While Cole almost certainly would’ve been able to make an impact on his own, it’s impossible to ignore the immediate effect Fish and O’Reilly had on Cole’s tenure in NXT.
Debuting side by side with Cole in the closing moments of NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, attacking the newly-crowned NXT Champion Drew McIntyre, Fish, O’Reilly, and Cole had nowhere to go but up from that point forward. Dubbing themselves The Undisputed Era, the trio quickly found a foothold in WWE, with Cole reigning as NXT Champion and Fish and O’Reilly (along with Roderick Strong) capturing the NXT Tag Team Championship on three separate occasions.
Karrion Kross
Like many WWE wrestlers during the pandemic, Karrion Kross’s time in the company was marred by problems. Initially appearing in NXT, Kross was billed as a formidable opponent with a flawless moveset, an irresistible ring presence, and a killer manager in the form of his eventual wife, Scarlett Bordeaux.
Sadly, as happened with The Revival, Neville, Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, and Finn Bálor (i.e., three-quarters of this list), WWE’s creative team didn’t know how to handle Kross properly, destroying his character when he was elevated to the main roster before unceremoniously firing him.
While Kross has since made an eventful return to WWE, his time in NXT is still his high water mark with the promotion. His victories over Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, and Damian Priest instantly made fans take notice of this intimidating new superstar, whose lengthy streak in NXT immediately called to mind WCW’s handling of Goldberg or TNA’s booking of Samoa Joe.
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