5 most disappointing NXT call-ups
In the summer of 2012, WWE officially rebranded NXT as its new developmental territory. Since then, we’ve seen a whole bunch of guys and girls pass through the ranks, with the likes of Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens going on to win world titles on the main roster, while in the female division, each of the four winners of the Raw Women’s Championship (Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Alexa Bliss) are products of the NXT system.
Bottom line being, the format seems to have been working relatively well.
As ever, though, there’s a flipside, and for every success story that NXT has produced, there’s been a number of disappointing main roster call-ups.
From pushes that were derailed for various reasons, to runs that just never seem to get going in the first place, we’ve seen a fair few names progress to the main roster, only to be mishandled, forgotten about, or simply ignored and left to fall by the wayside.
Here, we look back at a handful of call-ups from the NXT ranks that promised so much but delivered so little.
#1 The Ascension
After being put together as a tag team in mid-2013, Konnor and Viktor of the Ascension went on to become the longest-reigning Tag Team Champions in NXT history, going on a mammoth run of 344 days with the belts.
As a classic monster heel duo, the pair ran roughshod through NXT and were pretty much unstoppable, though that momentum was well-and-truly halted when they graduated to the main roster at the end of 2014.
Though they debuted with a nice little winning streak, the way the company portrayed their gimmick saw them robbed of any real credibility. Not only did they look like a rip-off of the Road Warriors, commentary continually reminded us they were a weak rip-off at that, while the pair also made the mistake of acknowledging the comparisons in an awkwardly flat promo segment on Raw.
They didn’t necessarily do anything wrong in the ring, but the combination of being booked in uninteresting squash matches and having commentary seemingly bury them at will, simply made them like look a pair of chumps.