10 WWE NXT Wrestlers Who Didn't Succeed Until Turning Heel
9. Samoa Joe
It's hard to blame NXT for bringing in Samoa Joe as a babyface upon his hot debut in May 2015, if only because he was bound to be cheered by the faithful fans at Full Sail University in the beginning.
Sure enough, he received a raucous reaction when he confronted Kevin Owens at the end of TakeOver: Unstoppable. He went on to hand Baron Corbin a rare singles defeat at the subsequent special and win the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with Finn Bálor.
Despite his early accomplishments, he was still being overshadowed by Bálor, NXT's lead babyface at the time. Once Joe flipped the switch and betrayed Bálor in late 2015, he immediately became the best bad guy in not only NXT but also the entire WWE. Between his above-average mic work and aggressive in-ring style, he was a fantastic fit for that monster heel role.
Although it took a little longer than expected, Joe finally took the title at an NXT house show in April 2016 and embarked on a dominant reign as champion. The rest of his run on the black-and-gold brand was equally excellent, and thankfully, WWE didn't ruin what worked with him in NXT and decided to keep him heel on the main roster.
There's just something so exciting about seeing The Samoan Submission Machine angry and ready to rip someone apart.