10 NXT Black & Gold Stars Triple H Built (... And Vince McMahon DESTROYED!)
5. Karrion Kross
In truth, Karrion Kross was never the huge star that he was supposed to be in NXT. As champion, he was certainly put in the tough situation of being the de facto face of the brand during one of it's toughest periods but, more than that, he felt like he was an odd fit. Still, he was given a killer presentation and booked as a legitimate threat.
Kross' run in NXT was quite a short one before he was drafted to the main roster. At the very least, maybe it was here where things would start to make sense, right?
How does a 90-second debut loss to Jeff Hardy and the most nonsensical gimmick change ever strike you?
Yet another example of Vince's Legion of Doom obsession, Kross was put in red and black straps and a mask. Instead of an imposing road warrior though, he looked like he'd fallen out of the closet of a dollar store fetish shop. It was embarrassing to watch so goodness knows how Kross didn't just disappear within himself on that ramp as he could hear the crowd laughing.
There's almost no coming back from that, and Triple H must've worked some magic to get him to re-sign after his 2021 release. Still, even now, the WWE booking team have a lot of work to do to come back from this rancid memory.