10 Best Achievements By Former NXT Champions On The Main Roster
6. Samoa Joe Chokes Out Paul Heyman
Samoa Joe is easily one of the biggest indie names to have signed with WWE in the last few years.
A mega star in TNA (now Impact), Ring of Honor and plenty of other indie promotions, Joe's incredible mix of size, speed and power took plenty of wrestling fans' breaths away. Pay attention to that last phrase, as it will be relevant again later.
Joe turned up in NXT in 2015 and eventually took the NXT title from Finn Bálor at a random house show in Massachusetts in 2016.
Joe's main roster career has been plagued with injury issues, but he has had plenty of chances to shine in the main event, including a match with Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar, at 2017's Great Balls of Fire Pay-Per-View. Yes, that was what it was actually called.
In the build-up to this show, Joe sent a strong message to Lesnar when he choked out his manager, Paul Heyman, on Raw. Joe and Heyman, being total pros, sold this perfectly. It really put Joe over as a legit threat to The Beast's title reign.
Ultimately, Joe would fall short, but he still got his chance to shine in the main event of a Pay-Per-View, and is still very much presented as a killer to this day.