Ranking WWE's First Ever NXT Class - From Worst To Best

39. Richie Steamboat

NXT Roster 2012
WWE.com

The son of the legendary Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat couldn't quite fill his father's iconic shoes despite spending years in WWE's developmental system.

An FCW mainstay during the transition to NXT, Steamboat was cut in 2012 despite being embroiled in (and mostly winning) a feud with Kassius Ohno. He even went out on top - the former and future Chris Hero did singles and tag jobs for Steamboat for the last stretch of his run. but it couldn't arrest the mutual feeling that it wasn't working out.

The data supports it too - the second generation star wrapped up his duties with the market leader and called it a career. 

After putting four years of bumps into it going back to his 2008 debut, he called it quits there and then. 

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett