10 Greatest Debuts In WWE NXT History

7. Adam Rose

He isn't the marquee star that these aforementioned names are nor will he likely ever be, but there was a glimmer of hope for him in March 2014 when he re-debuted on NXT as Adam Rose. That came after he had spent the first few years of his career down in developmental, experimenting with a number of different gimmicks. When the Leo Kruger character died a death, he was on the verge of being cut from his contract (as profiled in last May's ESPN special), but he saved himself from getting fired by reinventing himself as Adam Rose, NXT's resident party boy. Fans weren't exactly sure what to expect from the re-debuting Rose, as the pre-match video packages of him partying backstage didn't give any insight on the character. But when his music hit and his entourage accompanied him to the sting, it was almost as if time stood still. The gimmick that at first didn't look like it had any potential immediately won over the Full Sail University faithful, even before the bout began. Rose might have had a longer shelf life if officials fleshed out the character a bit more before calling him up to the main roster as soon as they did. He was doomed to fail from the moment he arrived on Raw because the mainstream audience had zero idea what he was all about. Then again, neither did the NXT crowd, but if nothing else, his premier appearance in NXT was a prime example of what makes wrestling so fun.
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Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.