10 WWE NXT Stars Who Vanished Without A Trace

It's been nine years now since WWE's Florida Championship Wrestling developmental arm was rebranded as NXT, and the company's black and gold brand has seen so many memorable talents come through its doors during that time.

Many NXT talents have gone on to become staples of main roster WWE programming, others have gone on to have major success outside of WWE, and then there are those names who, for whatever reason, it just didn't work out for in NXT or the industry, period.

Across these past nine years, there are certain stars who were once a prominent part of the weekly NXT product, yet they have these days either completely left the business behind or have at least disappeared when it comes to having a presence on any major wrestling show.

For most of these names, they managed to make at least one NXT TakeOver appearance, while others even held NXT gold during their stint with the black and gold brand.

But since departing NXT, these names have largely vanished from the pro wrestling landscape - at least when it comes to the mainstream...

Richie Steamboat was once viewed as a can't-miss prospect who seemed destined to become one of NXT's main event players ahead of an inevitable move to the main roster further down the line.

Sadly, that never came to pass.

Having made his in-ring debut in 2008 at the age of 21, Steamboat spent the next year training around the globe in places like the Pro Wrestling NOAH Dojo, Carlos Colon's WWC and various spots across Europe. And of course, he had his legendary Hall of Fame father to learn from during all of this.

During his time in NXT's precursor promotion, FCW, Steamboat began to get quite the buzz around him, winning the FCW Heavyweight Champion, teaming with Seth Rollins, and marking himself out as someone to keep an eye on when NXT formally launched in 2012.

The second-generation talent would get to the semi-finals of NXT's Gold Rush tournament to crown the brand's first ever NXT Champion, and a brewing rivalry with veteran performer Kassius Ohno seemed to be a smart fit in terms of giving Steamboat a great, seasoned worker to learn from.

Unfortunately, a back injury would put Richie Steamboat on the shelf towards the end of 2012, and he'd be released by WWE the following year. After that injury, Steamboat was told he'd never be able to wrestle again.

Barring something extraordinary, it stands that Steamboat's last match of his career was at a 21 November 2012 NXT house show - with him just 25 year of age when he had to call time on his in-ring career.