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Getting called up to the main roster from NXT may be one of the best days of a wrestler’s career, but not every call-up lives up to its promise.
Men like Mojo Rawley, Apollo Crews, No Way Jose, and Tye Dillinger are some of the men who have suffered terribly after being called up to the main roster.
While all is not lost for the men mentioned above, it would be terrible to see them getting released by WWE before they can make a notable impact because of all the work they’ve had to put into training and at NXT.
While there is plenty of time and chances for all men and women in WWE to grab gold on the main roster sometime or the other, knowing that guys like Bo Dallas and Heath Slater have won championships makes one wonder what others have done wrong.
With that said, many NXT Champions too have failed to make a real impact on the main roster, with several failing to capture gold since their call-up. Here are three of the top NXT Champions who moved from the developmental brand to the main roster but have failed to capture gold or find real success.
#3 Asuka
Asuka was probably that hottest prospect to come out of NXT. No one, not even Drew McIntyre, had as much hype around them while making the transition as Asuka had.
Over a year later today, Asuka is fighting to stay relevant on the mid-card which makes one wonder how a wrestler can slip so much in the company and find themselves on such a different level only twelve months later.
Asuka held the NXT Women’s Championship for a year and had the longest undefeated streak. Her fairytale run on the main roster included winning the women’s Royal Rumble victory and the Mixed Match Challenge alongside The Miz.
After losing her first match in the WWE at WrestleMania to Charlotte Flair for the Women’s Championship, Asuka has kept slipping down the ranks. She even lost a championship battle to Carmella which was really embarrassing for the Japanese superstar.
Unlike Charlotte, Paige, Sasha Banks, or Bayley before her, that makes her the first NXT Women’s Champion not to capture a title in her first year on the main roster.
#2 Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn is another fairytale story that hasn’t quite hit a home run on the main roster. Unlike his friend Kevin Owens who has won the United States Championship, the Universal Championship, and the Intercontinental Championship, Zayn hasn’t even lifted a single championship on the main roster yet.
The former NXT Champion has had some extremely high-profile and fan loved rivalries on the main roster, but not all has gone his way as he has failed to make it to the top of the roster to get his hand on the gold.
Zayn worked his way up in the developmental brand as he was never a big guy but a talented one who worked hard to prove his worth. But knowing that even Dolph Ziggler has gotten his hands on the World Heavyweight Championship, one wonders what Zayn has done to not get in contention for at least a mid-card title run.
Hopefully, things will change once Zayn returns from injury, and it would be the perfect time for him to make his main roster impact and punch his ticket to the top.
#1 Samoa Joe
There is little doubt that Samoa Joe is one of SmackDown Live’s most experienced superstar. The reason for that is his work on many different promotions before making his way to the WWE and NXT.
One of the most surprising facts about Joe is that he has been kept away from gold by WWE since he was introduced on the main roster.
He has had numerous feuds for the top prizes in the WWE, and even feuded with men like Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, and most recently with AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. His last attempt to win the title was the closest he’s gotten to a main roster championship, as he received many chances but the WWE decided not to pull the trigger on him.
Fans have been waiting and predicting his championship win for some time now, and it’s surprising that the former NXT Champion has been deprived of gold by WWE for such a long time on the main roster.
The most likely reason for that is his injury proneness which has kept him away from competition for some time on and off.
If The Samoan Submission Machine is planning to stay with the company for a few more years then there is little doubt that he will have a few championships under his belt soon.
