10 Wrestlers Who Failed In NXT (But Were Successful Elsewhere)

10. Luchasaurus

Remember the time that NXT had a guy in a dinosaur mask running wild? No? Well, that’s because that never actually happened. That’s not to say that the man behind Luchasaurus didn’t have a spell in WWE’s developmental arm, though.

Recently signed to All Elite Wrestling, Luchasaurus has become a major favourite of many a wrestling fan for his sheer uniqueness. After all, can you really remember any sort of even remotely similar gimmick in a mainstream wrestling promotion?

Way before Luchasaurus was roaring through the competition, the wrestler underneath the gimmick used to go by the name of Judas Devlin back in FCW and then in NXT. Working under the WWE umbrella for just over a year, Devlin was released by WWE as they seemingly saw nothing special about the performer.

Not only did Devlin get reinvented as Luchasaurus, but he also had a spell as Vibora in Lucha Underground that saw him team with Drago and Pindar to win the promotion’s Trios Championships. As mentioned, Luchasaurus is now a signed-up member of the AEW roster as Tony Khan’s upstart company looks to offer wrestling fans a genuine alternative to WWE.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 13th Jul 2019

In this post:

NXT Juice Robinson