10 WWE Superstars Who Failed To Rejuvenate Their Careers In NXT

Curtis Axel, Michael McGillicuty, Joe Hennig; regardless of what you want to call him, he is without question a lost cause in WWE. All hope is seemingly lost when it comes to him ever getting his due in the form of a meaningful push, and the bad booking of his character since his 2010 debut can be blamed for that.

Being introduced to the WWE Universe during the second season of NXT, Axel showed promise in the ring, but not so much on the microphone. Although the stick was his kryptonite, he excelled in all other areas and his development as a star on the rise was coming along nicely; that said, one can only get so far with a ring name like Michael McGillicutty.

Despite not winning the contract, he ended up on Raw anyway as a background player in The New Nexus and was marginalized on the main roster for the next three years. As Curtis Axel, his pairing with Paul Heyman failed miserably to get him over and shortly thereafter he was back at square one.

Similar to many others on this list, Axel arrived in NXT at the start of this year and demanded general manager William Regal for a match, promising him that it would pay dividends in the end. Following losses to Hideo Itami and Finn Balor, he disappeared.