10 Best Achievements By Former NXT Champions On The Main Roster
Despite what you think, it's not all been bad news for some of NXT's biggest graduates.
Popular consensus is that NXT call-ups get ruined on the main roster and, for the most part, this is correct. The Ascension went from killers in developmental to jokes on Raw. Asuka was an unstoppable force in NXT, and now she's just another body on the roster. Andrade 'Cien' Almas proved himself to be one of the very best wrestlers in the world in January of this year; in November of this year, Shane McMahon was formally crowned as such.
And let's not even get started with poor Bo Dallas.
But things aren't all bad for graduates of the Performance Centre, as some NXT alumni have gone onto have very successful and fruitful runs on Raw and Smackdown.
Bo Dallas aside, most former NXT Champions have plenty of pretty memorable moments - if not consistent runs that warrant any sort of long-term investment - on the main roster. These ten rank among the best.
Title wins, shock victories, awesome storylines, they're all here in this list, a list that should, hopefully, restore some of your faith in the WWE booking machine.
Saying that, we're not miracle workers, so don't hold your breath.
10. Sami Zayn Enters The Royal Rumble
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens might be best pals in kayfabe and real life right now, but this wasn't always the way.
In NXT, Zayn and Owens tore each other apart in a brief, yet excellent rivalry over the NXT Championship. It was cut short by an injury to Zayn that put him out of action for almost a year, at which time Owens advanced to the main roster.
This feud burst onto it in dramatic fashion at the 2016 Royal Rumble, when Zayn entered the Rumble at number 20 to confront Owens, who was already in the match.
Owens and Zayn launched into a furious brawl that culminated with Zayn throwing his mortal enemy over the top rope and out of the match.
Whilst their rivalry on the main roster may have gone downhill from here, the beginning of this chapter of Zayn vs Owens was picture perfect - and is a great example of what WWE could do if they bothered to build on stories already being told in NXT.