10 WWE NXT Stars Who Vanished Without A Trace

9. Mason Ryan

Sylvester LeFort
WWE.com

For Mason Ryan, his route to NXT was one that was essentially the reverse of most other talents.

Granted, the Welsh powerhouse had spent a couple of years in WWE's FCW developmental territory, but he was one of those rare wrestlers who was a part of main roster programming before he turned up in NXT.

It was January 2011 when Ryan arrived on Raw, with him aligning himself with CM Punk as part of the New Nexus. The split of that faction and a subsequent injury layoff meant that the former FCW World Champion's time on the main roster wasn't a particularly fruitful one, and he'd eventually debut on NXT TV in early 2013.

There, Ryan embarked on a dominant undefeated run that saw him score wins over names like Corey Graves, Enzo Amore, Big Cass and Scott Dawson before that streak was brought to a crushing halt at the hands of Rusev. Once that loss to Rusev occurred, the Welsh Warrior was largely reduced to solely working NXT live events before he was released in April 2014.

Following his WWE exit, Mason spent 18 months or so working independent shows in the US, across Europe and back in his Welsh homeland before quietly retiring from the business.

These days, the real-life Barri Griffiths works at Cirque du Soleil and has his own Wrestling with Real Estate podcast where he discusses his passion for property.

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 dayjob, 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.