4 NXT Superstars with huge potential who were booked poorly on the main roster

When WWE's developmental brand became hot thanks to the roster's amazing depth, as Kevin Owens, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, Sami Zayn, Becky Lynch, Finn Balor, and many others were all vital to the rise of the brand, fans were chomping at the bit to see some of NXT's brightest stars get their shot on the main roster.

Unfortunately, almost every single NXT call-up, including most of the aforementioned names, are immediately marginalized when they debut on the main roster.

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One thing that I've heard some of the more successful wrestlers say over the years is: "if you can get over in front of a crowd of 10 you can get over in front of a crowd of 10,000." However, if someone is brought up to the main roster and is almost immediately cooled off due to bad booking, company executives explain that just because someone can get over in front of a small audience in NXT doesn't mean that they'll be over on the main roster.

Of course, what else can they say when they book someone so poorly that nobody cares about them anymore? They can't say "it was all our fault," they almost have to blame the talent or the audience because WWE management apparently has a hard time admitting to their own incompetence.

So, with all that in mind, let's take a look at some of the NXT stars who have been ruined on WWE's main roster.

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#4 American Alpha

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During their time in NXT, American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) were probably the most popular tag team WWE developmental, but that sure changed once the duo was called up to WWE's main roster.

The team did end up being the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, but they didn't have as long of a run as a team because of the big "Jason Jordan is Kurt Angle's son" storyline, which they'll probably try to make us forget about whenever Jordan does return to the ring.

Chad Gable, who could've been an awesome singles wrestler on his own, has pretty much been forgotten about after he was thrown into a tag team with Shelton Benjamin, who has also been completely forgotten about.

Essentially, American Alpha had all of the tools to be successful on the main roster, but aside from letting them win the SmackDown Tag Team Titles for a short period of time, WWE didn't do much of anything to capitalize on the potential of the team.

#3 Asuka

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Asuka was, by far, the most dominant superstar in NXT history, as she went completely undefeated and held the brand's Women's Championship for over 500 days before eventually relinquishing it because of her move to the main roster.

Instead of having her completely crush everyone on her way to a title shot, WWE decided to keep Asuka's undefeated streak alive, but in a non-dominant type of way. She should've been winning matches in less than 3 minutes with her finish, but instead she'd battle in matches where she'd sell for most of the match, and then look good towards the finish.

Originally, Asuka was supposed to be the ultimate destination for Ronda Rousey, but WWE changed their minds earlier in the year, which is why she suffered her first loss to Charlotte Flair back at WrestleMania.

Since then, Asuka hasn't really done much of anything, as she's pretty much been marginalized, despite the fact that she's probably the best woman in the company when it comes to in-ring skill.

#2 Finn Balor

To be fair, WWE did try to do something with Finn Balor when he was first called up to the main roster back in the summer of 2016, as they had him defeat Seth Rollins to become the company's first ever Universal Champion. However, he was forced to relinquish the title the next night on Raw due to injury.

Since he's come back, he's only gotten one chance to regain the title he never lost, and it took him two years to get that chance. Unfortunately, WWE probably doesn't see Balor as a main event guy anymore, and that could be due to the fact that he suffered a significant injury at the beginning of his original push.

Balor had the potential to be one of WWE's biggest stars, but, as of this writing, it's pretty hard to see a situation where the company fully, or even partially gets behind Balor, and that's a shame.

#1 Bayley

Last year, Bayley appeared on the Steve Austin Show podcast, which is just about when the fans started to turn on her. When asked about the fans reacting the way they do, she pretty much gave the WWE narrative of how we can't have over babyfaces anymore. But, the reality is, WWE has done an awful job with her ever since she was called up, so her not living up to her potential so far isn't her fault.

Prior to her arrival on the main roster, many believed that Bayley was going to end up being the female version of John Cena, with the only difference being that the fans would actually be 100-per cent behind her. But, WWE made sure that didn't happen, as they continued to book her like a fool.

Hopefully, at some point, WWE can rehab Bayley, because she should be the most popular female wrestler they have, and right now, she's nowhere near that level of popularity.