It has been over ten years since NXT became WWE’s developmental brand, and over that time it has helped to produce, improve, and introduce the majority of the top stars on the roster we see today such as Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Kevin Owens, and countless more.
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For every success story there has been someone who competed lower down the card in NXT and was ultimately forgotten about once they received their release. There are countless names to choose from, but some of these have more interesting quirks about them which makes their forgettable NXT runs more notable than you’d think.
10 Marcus Louis
Marcus Louis was in NXT for a whole three years, and in that time he didn’t do very much of note. He was in a French tag team alongside Sylvestor Lefort, but it felt more like a cheap 80s gimmick rather than anything else.
He did once get his head shaved after a match with Enzo Amore, but it came back in the early TakeOver days which emanated from Full Sail University. He was very much a lower card wrestler in NXT and fans would be forgiven if they didn't recognise his name.
9 Judas Devlin
Judas Devlin was in NXT for only a short and fleeting period, and wrestled just one televised match. It is easy to forget his appearance in NXT, but it is interesting to know who he actually is, as many fans may not recognize him looking back.
Devlin is better known as Luchasaurus, who is a former AEW World Tag Team Champion alongside Jungle Boy in the Jurassic Express. Looking at his success, WWE would have been wise to keep hold of him.
8 Hugo Knox
Hugo Knox wrestled in NXT for two years, and in that time he only managed one televised match, losing to the Vaudevillians in a match where he was teamed up with Tucker Knight of Heavy Machinery.
Knox may be better known by UK fans of NXT under the name Stuart Tomlinson, a former professional footballer who was goalkeeper for teams like Port Vale, Burton Albion, and Barrow.
7 Dan Matha
Dan Matha joined NXT back in 2015, scoring both wins and losses in pretty unimportant matches on NXT programming, without any movement up or down the card.
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In 2018, Dan Matha was one of the names selected from NXT to compete in the 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble match in Saudi Arabia. Matha’s inclusion felt hugely random considering he hadn’t even had a storyline in NXT to that point. This wasn’t the start of anything substantial, and he would get cut in 2020.
6 Vanessa Borne
Vanessa Borne is someone who showcased some potential in her sporadic NXT TV appearances, but it never led to any sort of push. She made her debut in 2016 and competed in the 2017 Mae Young Classic, getting eliminated in the first round by Serena Deeb.
She competed now and again up until her 2020 release. In recent years, she has had a few appearances in AEW, wrestling as Danielle Kamela.
5 Tino Sabbatelli
For a whole six years (and a further one year after getting fired then re-signed), Tino Sabatelli did sweet nothing in NXT. He competed in matches, often lost, and that is pretty much it.
Perhaps his biggest claim to fame is the fact that he is in a relationship with former NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose.
4 Denzel Dejournette
Denzel Dejounrette showed a good amount of talent during his time in NXT. He arrived in 2018, but before he even made it to NXT TV, he found himself competing on Raw and SmackDown. He competed in three random squash matches against Seth Rollins, Sheamus, and Bobby Lashley, before going back down to NXT.
He underwent a name change to Desmond Troy, lost a handful of times on NXT TV, and then got handed his release, not returning to professional wrestling ever since based on his cagematch.net profile.
3 Sawyer Fulton
Back in 2012, Sawyer Fulton signed with WWE and would last up to 2017 until his release. It may come as a surprise to some fans, but he was a member of the Sanity faction. However, just prior to his release he was taken out of the group, and became a forgotten part of the stable.
The other members of Eric Young, Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe, and Nikki Cross took the faction to greater heights after Fulton left, winning the NXT Tag Team Titles.
2 Oliver Grey
Oliver Grey’s inclusion here is a unique one for the fact that he was actually a former NXT Tag Team Champion. However, this came before NXT became popular with its own prominent show on the WWE Network. He was part of the “British Ambition” tag team alongside Adrian Neville, but got released before the brand started to hit its boom.
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He has competed on the independent scene and in AJPW since his release from WWE back in 2014. Despite being one half of the first ever NXT Tag Team Champions - titles held by great duos such as The Revival, Undisputed Era, DIY, American Alpha, and more - he is a forgotten part of NXT history.
1 Garrett Dylan
Garrett Dylan was someone who actually joined WWE back when FCW was the main developmental brand for the company, and he was one of the several who made the transition from FCW to NXT. In an interesting note, Dylan was the former tag team partner of Scott Dawson, who later went on to form the Revival with Dash Wilder. Perhaps if Dylan had remained in NXT, the future FTR would never have existed.
Another point to note about Dylan is that he is the son of Kris Kristofferson, the legendary country singer.
