10 NXT Stars WWE Let Slip Right Through Their Fingers
9. Kenneth Cameron
Connor O'Brian and Kenneth Cameron, collectively known as The Ascension, came into NXT with a ton of buzz upon the revamping of the program in June 2012. The gimmick was unlike anything fans had seen before, and O'Brian and Cameron played the parts to perfection. They dominated the tag team ranks through the rest of 2012 but were forced to disband when Cameron was arrested that November and was subsequently released from his contract.
Cameron's royal screw-up was a bigger blow to O'Brian's WWE career than his own. The former NXT Season 4 contestant floundered for months before settling on a new tag team partner in Rick Victor to reform The Ascension. However, they weren't nearly as dominant or as imposing as the previous incarnation of Ascension was, and they haven't been the same since.
Meanwhile, Cameron eventually made his way over to TNA, where he debuted as Bram in early 2014. He was largely mishandled for the first two years of his stint before finally finding his stride as a fan favourite and winning his premier singles title in the form of the King of the Mountain Championship.
Perhaps it was better for Bram to find success in TNA as opposed to sticking around in WWE considering what has become of Ascension. It was his own undoing that caused him to get cut from NXT, but imagine where Ascension would be now had he not messed up...