10 Wrestlers Who Failed In NXT (But Were Successful Elsewhere)
5. Austin Aries
He may have at times referred to himself as The Greatest Man That Ever Lived, but that was sadly not a moniker you could realistically place on Austin Aries during his time in NXT.
Throughout various spells in both Ring of Honour and TNA/Impact Wrestling, A Double was absolutely fantastic, with his cocky attitude and intense in-ring style making him a bona fide star who was viewed as one of the best in the business. And then came an ill-fated jump to WWE.
Signing up to be a part of the NXT brand in 2016, Aries’ run was a major disappointment – and not all of that was down to the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion. It was only mere months into his NXT career that Aries was put on the shelf thanks to a broken eye socket suffered in a match against Shinsuke Nakamura.
Aries would take up a spot on the 205 Live commentary table – a role he was fantastic in – and his return to action would culminate with a WrestleMania 33 match against Neville. But just like that, A Double requested (and received) his WWE release only three months after ‘Mania.
During his NXT days, many fans had pegged Austin Aries as a prime candidate to become NXT Champion. Sadly, that was not meant to be, and The Greatest Man That Ever Lived would return to Impact Wrestling before more recently competing for MLW.