9 Current TNA Talent That Were In WWE NXT

4. Eli Drake

Derrick Bateman
WWE

From his great look to his exceptional mic work, Slate Randall had all the tools to be a major player in NXT, but for whatever reason, it just didn't work out for him. Upon signing with the company in 2013, he reported to the Performance Center and took part in a handful of dark matches before being released in August 2014, never having appeared once on television.

Thus, Randall came into TNA virtually as an unknown under the name Eli Drake, and his generic pairing with Drew Galloway and Micah didn't help matters. It wasn't until he broke off on his own that he really started to shine, deeming himself "The Namer of Dummies" and receiving his own talk show segment (which was originally slated for Mr. Anderson prior to his departure).

Drake had a short stint with the King of the Mountain Championship and made the most of his time with the title by cutting fantastic promos and contesting solid matches with the likes of Bram, James Storm, Ethan Carter III, and Drew Galloway. He recently won a Bound for Gold match to earn himself a future title shot, and as long as TNA continues to exist, he could be a world champion in no time.

Contributor
Contributor

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.