10 WWE NXT Wrestlers Who Didn't Succeed Until Turning Heel
8. Austin Aries
In January 2016, Austin Aries followed in the footsteps of Samoa Joe by taking his talents from TNA to the grand stage of WWE NXT. William Regal went so far as to call him one of the greatest signings in the history of the brand up to that point, but he didn't really feel like it at first.
No disrespect to The Greatest Man That Ever Lived, but NXT didn't do him many favors by immediately placing him in a program with Baron Corbin. Their match at TakeOver: Dallas was easily the weakest on the card, and as Aries said himself later on, he proceeded to fly under the radar for the next few months.
He started to show shades of his heel persona from TNA during his rivalry with Shinsuke Nakamura at the beginning of the summer before finally snapping on No Way Jose shortly thereafter. While it wasn't the most high-profile program, Aries made the most of it and served as a fantastic foil for Jose.
Their match at TakeOver: Brooklyn II ended up being way better than expected, if only for Aries' entertaining heel antics. Following Aries' victory, he was attacked by Hideo Itami to set up a feud between the two for the fall that unfortunately never came to fruition due to both men getting sidelined with injuries.
In 2017, Aries was called up to 205 Live as a babyface and was never given a chance to run as a heel before being released that July.