10 WWE NXT Wrestlers Who Didn't Succeed Until Turning Heel

4. Bo Dallas

Alexa Bliss NXT
WWE

Bo Dallas has one of those faces/voices/personalities you can't help but hate, yet for some strange reason, NXT booked him as a babyface for his first year on the brand. He smiled all the time and constantly pandered to the audience, but they weren't buying it one bit.

Instead of rising above the hate like John Cena, Dallas eventually succumbed to it, but in a weird way where he still thought of himself as a hero. It was an incredible transformation to watch because he didn't change much in how he presented himself. Rather, his actions in the ring gradually got more and more dastardly.

After cheating to win the NXT Championship from Big E, he embarked on a lengthy reign as NXT champion for the remainder of 2013 and into the first few months of 2014. He wasn't as dominant a heel as others featured on this list, yet he always escaped with his title reign intact.

The longer he held the gold, the more desperate fans were to see him get beaten for it. Thus, it was a memorable moment when Adrian Neville defeated him to become the new champion at NXT Arrival the following February.

Unfortunately, Dallas never had the same success on WWE's main roster. Part of that was due to how his character arc wasn't as well-crafted as it was in NXT.

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Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.