10 Wrestlers Who Failed In NXT (But Were Successful Elsewhere)

3. Sami Callihan

Cj Parker Juice Robinson
Impact Wrestling

In recent years, Sami Callihan has proudly referred to himself as The Draw as he’s continued to cause quite the buzz throughout the wrestling industry. But even before his time under the WWE umbrella, Callihan had amassed an impressive reputation for himself with stints in promotions such as CZW, Ring of Honor, Dragon Gate, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.

Upon Callihan signing with WWE and NXT back in 2013, he was rejigged as a computer hacker called Solomon Crowe. Whether the gimmick could’ve ever really worked, nobody really knows for sure because Crowe ended up being used sporadically and without any real intent or purpose bar a super-brief rivalry with Kalisto.

Since asking and receiving his WWE release in 2015, Sami Callihan has made himself one of the most sought-after talents on the independent scene. More recently, 2019 saw Sami as a main player in both Major League Wrestling and Impact Wrestling, although that MLW relationship seems to have soured after Callihan went off script and caused excessive damage during a Falls Count Anywhere bout against Mance Warner.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.