10 WWE NXT Stars Who Vanished Without A Trace

5. Brendan Vink

Sylvester LeFort
WWE

Brendan Vink is a unique beast when it comes to this list, as he's still very much employed by WWE - just that he hasn't been seen on TV for over a year by this point in time.

At 6'5" and a powerful 250 lbs, the Australian clearly ticks certain boxes that get Vince McMahon all excited. And once Vink was fast-tracked to the main roster in early 2020, it seemed huge things were on the horizon for the former Elliot Sexton.

Paired up with Shane Thorne - who, as Sexton, Vink was in an early incarnation of The Mighty Don't Kneel with - and seemingly set to be under the charge of MVP, the Raw run of big Brenden was an extremely brief one.

That Vink and Thorne tandem was first seen on WWE's red brand in late April 2020, but their last Raw match came just a month later. Then, in July '20, it was announced this tag team had been drafted to the NXT brand.

Of course, Shane Thorne would soon resurface under a mask as Slackjack of RETRIBUTION, although Brendan Vink has yet to be seen on any form of WWE programming since audiences were told he'd been switched over to NXT.

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.