25 Most Important Wrestlers In NXT History
22. Seth Rollins
He's one of the company's biggest stars, but The Architect can trace his foundations back to NXT.
In 2012, the NXT that we know today launched. It absorbed WWE's existing developmental system, Florida Championship Wrestling, and brought some of its top talent to Full Sail University. One such FCW talent was former ROH World Champion, Tyler Black, now wrestling as Seth Rollins.
Rollins was entered into a tournament to crown the first NXT Champion in June of 2012. He defeated Drew McIntyre, Michael McGillicutty (Curtis Axel), and Jinder Mahal to win the tournament and the title, setting in motion one of the most prestigious championship lineages of the modern era.
Rollins was NXT's top guy during its earliest days, defending the title against the likes of Mahal, McGillicutty, and Corey Graves, before eventually dropping it to Big E. Rollins was free to pursue his main roster career, which turned out OK, I suppose.
Rollins' ludicrous success on the main roster proved that the NXT system was effective. Triple H and his team had put their faith in the right guy and this added huge legitimacy to the fledgling brand, especially as Rollins was still the champion when he made his main roster debut as part of The Shield.
Without Seth, NXT as it is today simply wouldn't exist.