10 NXT Stars That Have Been Squandered

7. Adam Rose

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WWE.com

From here, the list consists exclusively of main roster call-ups. The charismatic and confident Rose's earlier turn in NXT depicted him as Leo Kruger, unhinged South African bounty hunter. While he no doubt had the eyes to pull off the latent creepiness of the role, he would be made over in 2014 as Adam Rose, a nonplussed bon vivant with an entourage of possibly inebriated revelers in Let's Make a Deal costumes.

The gimmick struggled on the main roster, in spite of Rose's undeniable energy and effortless personality. After an ESPN documentary in May 2015 revealed that Rose is father to a young boy with an abdominal birth defect, you'd think WWE had an obviously-sympathetic character that fans could get behind. Instead, the best they could come up with was the unfunny "RoseBush" segment.

Contributor
Contributor

Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.