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NXT has become a phenomenon of its own over the past few years, ever since FCW was re-branded back in 2012. The show originally wasn't expected to become as popular as it is now and in recent years NXT has become the main talent feeder for WWE's main roster.
NXT has been around now for about six years and kicked off with the first ever Arrival show all those years ago. The developmental roster has always had a home on Wednesday night on the WWE Network and has been the host to some of WWE's best main roster performers currently.
Even though there are many superstars like Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns who have become a success outside of NXT, there are others who have been unable to find their feet on the main roster including Fandango and Tyler Breeze who have been consistently overlooked.
#5 The Ascension were once the most dominant force on the brand
It's hard to believe that Konnor and Viktor were ever a dominant force in a wrestling ring since The Ascension have been consistently used as jobbers ever since they were promoted to the main roster two years ago.
Before The Ascension were promoted to the main roster they were a force to be reckoned with in the NXT Tag Team Division and are still the longest reigning Tag Team Champions in NXT history.
The Ascension aren't the only team that WWE has underutilized on the main roster over the past few years, with The Lucha Dragons, The Hype Bros, and American Alpha all losing their feet when they came up to the main roster.
#4 Dean Ambrose never actually debuted on NXT
Seth Rollins was the first ever NXT Champion and Roman Reigns also made quite the impact whilst he was down in developmental, but whilst Dean Ambrose did appear in FCW, he never made his way over to NXT.
Ambrose instead made his debut alongside The Shield at Survivor Series back in 2012, before he later went down to NXT with The Shield and made a handful of appearances. Ambrose is the only member of The Shield who wasn't known to the WWE Universe when he made his debut on WWE TV, but because of his time on the Independent Circuit and the fact that he was once in FCW, he was already well-known around the world.
#3 Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns were originally supposed to be part of the reality show format
NXT first made its debut on Syfy when it was seen as a reality TV show and the winner would be given a WWE contract. The likes of Daniel Bryan, Fandango, Byron Saxton and even Ryback came through NXT using this format and even though there were five seasons of the show that aired between 2010 and 2011, there was one series that WWE decided to cancel.
There were plans for a sixth season of the show in 2011 that would have included Big E, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Xavier Woods, Bo Dallas, Adam Rose, Jinder Mahal, Hunico and Damien Sandow, but plans were canceled at the last minute.
It's also interesting to note that Adam Rose is the only star in this list that isn't currently employed by WWE.
#2 The least amount of title changes in WWE
Seth Rollins was the first NXT Champion back in the summer of 2012 and over the past six years, there have been just 16 title changes. Of course, NXT only has a handful of Takeover events each year and also only has a weekly show that runs for an hour, but 16 title changes in 6 years mean that of all the male singles Championships in WWE, this one has changed hands the least amount of times.
The Intercontinental, United States and WWE Championships have all changed hands around 30 times in the past six years, whilst the Universal Championship was only unveiled back in 2016.
#1 Universal Championship success
Over the past few years, NXT has been a feeder to the main roster and the stats obviously don't lie. The Universal Championship has only been in circulation for two years but already 60% of the Champions are former NXT superstars, whilst 40% of these former Champions are former NXT Champions as well.
The only stars who have held the title that wasn't in NXT are Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, whilst Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, and Roman Reigns all once had stints on WWE's developmental brand.
