8 Wrestlers Who Stayed In NXT Far Too Long
5. Samoa Joe
Some wrestlers take to NXT like a duck to water, and Samoa Joe made a huge impact from day one. He was already one of the best wrestlers in the world when he joined, but it looked like he was running out of steam towards the end of his TNA run. Fortunately, he’s undergone a complete career revival in NXT, and now looks better than ever.
He has not only become one of NXT’s top performers, but one of the best heels in the entire company. Watching him bulldoze hapless roster members has become a weekly highlight, and his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura has been brutal, heated, and rife with hatred.
The problem is this: Joe’s far, far too good to be performing for 200 people on the Florida house show circuit. He peaked when he became NXT Champion, and while keeping him around has given us a great feud, he should have been performing on a bigger stage by now. Joe has been ready for the main roster for a long time, and if prepping wrestlers for such a spot is still NXT’s main purpose, why keep him around this long?
There’s no reason he couldn’t have come back for a Nakamura rematch while working on Raw or SmackDown. Instead, he’s propping-up developmental while Raw and SmackDown are both crying-out for heels who can draw legitimate heat.