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

30. Conor O'Brian

NXT Roster 2012
WWE.com

It'd be fair to say that The Ascension were done fairly dirty by the main roster after NXT made it abundantly clear exactly how to use them. 

A glorious run as NXT Tag Team Champions extenuated the positives while hiding the negatives as Triple H booked a Road Warriors-adjacent act in an era full of fans predisposed to find the reduced violence just as appealing. Longer matches never really pulled up trees but it wasn't like the squashes flattered to deceive either - the act were over and as the bigger of the two, Konnor was one of NXT's more effective monsters of the week. 

It all appeared so promising, but WWE's main roster and some of the dinosaurs inhabiting it had other plans. The only squashes that came their way were at their expense, particularly as wider audiences were given no reason to take them seriously before the humiliations began. 

Konnor was released in late-2019, along with...

 
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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