The Original WWE Nexus 8: Where Are They Now?
1. Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan achieved NXT's stated aim of uncovering WWE's next great Superstar. The problem is that WWE didn't fancy him as its next great Superstar, a narrative that, paradoxically, made him WWE's next great Superstar.
Bryan excelled in the midcard following his return at SummerSlam 2010. The Miz; Dolph Ziggler; even Ted DiBiase, Jr.: Bryan gave all of his peers the best matches of their emerging careers, matches that ranged from pulsating content festivals to emotive, story-driven battles rich in heft. Perceived from that point forward as a great hand, Bryan was selected to put Sheamus, the Great White Hope, over in 2012 as World Heavyweight Champion.
The WrestleMania XXVIII squash gambit failed, spectacularly and legendarily, launching the Yes! movement. Even as a heel, the very likeable Bryan excelled as a domineering abuser character with notes of comedy - he applied an ankle lock to a teddy bear to win AJ Lee's heart - before the enforced babyface turn set him on an improbable march to John Cena's Ace stratosphere.
Fans defied Bryan's B+ Player burial - and it was a burial, because that's precisely how WWE planned to use him at WrestleMania XXX - and, by hijacking shows, forced Vince McMahon to anoint him as The Man in New Orleans.
Forced into retirement in a brutal comedown, Bryan defied impossible odds for a second time, returning to the ring this year. It hasn't quite worked out - WWE has somehow contrived to normalise the the most special, organic narrative that ever landed in its lap - but if there's one thing you don't do in wrestling, beyond take a retirement vow seriously, it is to count Daniel Bryan out.