All 21 NXT-To-WWE Call-Ups - Ranked From Worst to Best
7. Rusev
The mighty Rusev got his start working a goofy Bloodsport gimmick in NXT, and teaming with Scott Dawson under the aegis of Sylvester Lefort of all people.
Switching out that mess for Lana is like replacing Pete Best with Ringo Starr, but he didn't immediately transform into an indestructible anti-American battleship. His first match in this gimmick was a hard-fought loss to future romantic rival Dolph Ziggler, for example.
In fact, Rusev’s aura of invincibility was really a product of his main roster booking. It took 5 men to eliminate him from the 2014 Royal Rumble, and he embarked on the most notable undefeated streak since Goldberg.
He got to destroy the likes of Big E, Big Show, Mark Henry, Jack Swagger and countless others, and cleanly. Unusually, WWE bookers saw a guy who was doing pretty well in developmental and made him into something truly special.
In Soviet Russia, company promotes you.