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

20. Kassius Ohno

NXT Roster 2012
WWE.com

A late arrival in Florida Championship Wrestling before the wholesale move to NXT, Kassius Ohno brought what was then a dreaded "indie darling" tag to WWE in 2012, but became a highlight of the early black-and-gold broadcasts.

Before making it on to Raw or SmackDown though, he was somewhat surprisingly released from the system entirely. He later explained that concerns had been raised over his conditioning, and that he failed to heed a 30-day warning to turn his situation around. Eventually, he must have just done that because he was back on the show in 2017.

The second time around, the run looked and felt different, with Ohno providing as much of a service as a fabled wrestling mind and fan as he did in major television programmes. He was a total popper on NXT UK (and wow did that show need it) before his 2020 release.

 
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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