A successful arrival in the WWE is pretty much played out in the career modes of their annual video game: arrive in NXT, win the NXT title, and make a successful jump to the main roster as a big deal. However, as time has gone on, those who have graduated from NXT on have found themselves lost in the shuffle. Comparing two sets of graduates from different years illustrates the point. The very first NXT Champion was Seth Rollins. While still champion, he arrived in the WWE as part of The Shield with Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. They debuted at the Survivor Series 2012, interfering in the main event of the triple threat match for the WWE Championship between champion CM Punk, John Cena and Ryback. The trio continued to come to the assistance of Punk, the top heel in the company and the champion, enabling him to retain his title. Within a few months, Rollins & Reigns were World Tag Team Champions, and Ambrose was US Champion. After working for Punk, they began working for The Authority, again as top line heels. After a babyface run, The Shield was broken up when Rollins turned heel on his colleagues, re-aligning himself with The Authority. This led to him winning Money in the Bank and ultimately capturing the WWE World title in WrestleMania 31s main event. Compare this arrival to Kevin Owens. He also had a high profile feud with John Cena, and while he ultimately lost that, his star fell soon afterwards when it seemed that creative didnt know what to do with him. A brief feud with Cesaro, an unfortunately perennial mid-carder, followed. Owens won the Intercontinental title and looked like his fortunes might be changing, but he lost the title just three months later to Dean Ambrose. Neville, another former NXT Champion, arrived on the main roster on the day after WrestleMania 31, which is a popular day for launching new stars (Paige debuted the day after the previous years WrestleMania). He quickly defeated Curtis Axel, wowing the crowd with his aerobatic offence. The very next week on Raw, he faced WWE World Champion Seth Rollins, quite a step up from Curtis Axel. Despite a good showing, he lost. While this was the right result, one has to question why he was put in such a situation in the first place. He made it to the final of King of the Ring and also answered John Cenas US Title Open Challenge, but lost them both. It was quickly established that Neville gave you an entertaining match, but was never going to beat the big guns. Look at The Shields first six months on the main WWE roster compared to Neville and Owens. Is it any wonder that Reigns is the current WWE World Champion, Rollins is the former champion and Ambrose is a main eventer and one of the most popular stars, while Owens and Neville (and Tyler Breeze for that matter) are lost in the shuffle? It makes you fear for what may happen with the world class Finn Balor. It may be too late for Neville and Owens, but in 2016, the WWE need to make sure that they have solid plans in place to establish the likes of Finn Balor and Bayley and main eventers.
Dean Ayass is a well known name to British wrestling fans. A commentator, manager, booker and ring announcer who has been involved in the business since 1993, Dean's insight into the business is second to none.
