5 WWE Superstars who won a title on the main roster, but never did in NXT
In the five and a half years of NXT's existence as a brand, there was a massive transformation from being a developmental territory like Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling into a standalone brand that can compete with any promotion or roster in the world.
On NXT, there are a total of three championships, and each belt had a tournament to crown the first winner. The first to be introduced was the NXT Championship in July of 2012 which was won by Seth Rollins defeating Jinder Mahal.
In January of the following year, the NXT Tag Team Championships were created and initially won by British Ambition (Neville and Oliver Grey) defeating the Wyatt Family of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.
Then later that summer in June of 2013, the NXT Women's Championship was created and won by Paige who defeated Emma.
In the early history of NXT as a brand, success as a champion on NXT led to success on the main roster, but as the brand evolves, so does the notion that you need to have success on NXT before moving on to the main roster.
This article is going to take a look at five WWE Superstars who didn't win gold at all in NXT but were able to do so on the main roster. In some cases, they have done such an amazing job on the main roster that they're multi-time champions.
Continue on to see the first one this list...
#5 Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin began his professional wrestling career straight from the NFL in 2012 and it only took two months since his deal to receive his first match.
Corbin would be repackaged as The Lone Wolf in 2014 and this was the point where his career would take off. He would have some prominent feuds with Bull Dempsey, Samoa Joe, and Austin Aries before his last NXT match in April 2016.
Corbin would debut at the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, and win the match. After a very solid first year on the main roster, Corbin would win the Money In The Bank briefcase, but unsuccessfully cash-in.
At Hell In A Cell this past October, Corbin would win his first championship in the WWE when he defeated AJ Styles and Tye Dillinger for the WWE United States Championship, a title he still holds today.