10 Wrestlers Who Peaked In WWE Developmental

1. Shayna Baszler

Karrion Kross Scarlett NXT
WWE

Pictured above: Shayna Baszler in all of her badass MMA-fighter-turned-pro-wrestler glory. At the time, Shayna was NXT Women's Champion and seemed destined to rule the roost whenever she hit Raw or SmackDown harder than an MMA elbow. That February 2020 call up was newsworthy but the beginning of the end.

Sure, Baszler has made good money over the past four years and continues to work the women's tag-team division, but she's never matched her NXT Women's Title success on the main roster. Duos with Nia Jax, Ronda Rousey (permission to shudder!) and Zoey Starks have all been samey.

It doesn't seem likely that WWE will ever trust Shayna to be more than part of a team. She had more about her than that in NXT. In fact, Baszler stood alone as a lone wolf kind of character, and fans respected her no-nonsense skills. Perhaps a move back to NXT would work wonders to rekindle some of that old fire in her belly.

Or, y'know, she could keep making up the numbers and cashing cheques. Fair play, if so!

Which other wrestlers peaked in developmental? For more WWE, check out Wild Sh*t Wrestling Did You’ve TOTALLY Forgotten About and 10 Wrestlers Who Buried Their OWN Promotions!

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.