10 Former WWE NXT Wrestlers You Totally Don't Remember

7. Brandon Traven

Jamie Keyes
MissouriWrestlingRevival.com

A product of WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race’s wrestling academy, Brandon Traven’s connections helped him earn a spot in the company’s developmental system in 2012, having filled in as an enhancement talent in the past. Making only a handful of NXT TV appearances, Traven went winless through his WWE run, and was let go in May 2013.

Traven’s WWE run produced little of note between the ropes, but he was at the heart of the Bill DeMott scandal in 2015. DeMott, the WWE Performance Center’s former head coach, resigned from his role amidst allegations of abuse from a number of former NXT wrestlers, with Collins providing one of the more damning testimonies:-

“I have also grown very tired of how Coach DeMott has constantly bullied us. Whether by physically hitting us, or by calling us gay. He has on numerous occasions alluded to me being gay. His favorite phrase is "half a sissy" not to mention him calling me and others "f-ggots" Coach DeMott has also on several occasions grabbed the bottom rope while we are watching practice and pull it back to hit everyone in the face while they are paying attention to instruction. I personally don't understand his destructive and bullying nature.”

Traven confirmed that he wrote the letter in the aftermath, but not that he leaked it to the public.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.