10 Most Successful NXT Call-ups

Kevin Owens is another who seemingly wasn’t meant to progress beyond developmental, having been told by Canyon Ceman (WWE Senior Director of Talent Development) that he shouldn’t get his hopes up about moving on to the main roster.

And yet, less than a year after being told that, Owens found himself stepping up to the big leagues, and not only that but he did so in a winning effort against John Cena, of all people.

At Money in the Bank 2015, Owens beat Cena in his very first match, before going on to become a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a three-time United States Champion and, at the time of writing, the longest-reigning Universal Champion in history.

Beating the likes of AJ Styles and Chris Jericho along the way, he’s since mixed it up with Goldberg on pay-per-view and Brock Lesnar at a house show, and is currently feuding with Shane McMahon—so the company clearly has a great deal of faith in him.

Granted, his run hasn’t been perfect, but realistically it’s been better than many would’ve expected from an indie darling who, in fairness, doesn’t quite look like he fits the typical WWE mold.