The original concept for NXT was entirely different from the show we all know and love today. While we now get former independent stars like Bobby Roode and Finn Balor putting on signature matches over the coveted NXT Championship, fans were more accustomed to arm-wrestling competitions and pointless promo segments just a few years ago. The show actually started out as something resembling reality TV where somebody would leave every week before a winner was crowned.
After a few years of seeing a similar format play out, fans soon began losing interest, and a wise business decision was made to axe the show in favour of a more serious developmental wrestling sub-faction which now has a home on the WWE Network on Wednesday nights.
Looking back over the recent past of WWE is a pretty baffling experience at times, especially when we consider all of the wasted potential the company has seen slip through their fingers over the years. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the careers of the former NXT Season winners. Here is a look at where those superstars are today:
#1 Wade Barrett (Season One Winner)
Becoming the inaugural champion of NXT, back when the show resembled more of a reality TV format, had so much promise attached to it. The winner would be guaranteed a WWE Championship match, and considering how strongly the company were pushing the show at the time, we all expected the winner to be an instant main event star.
The accolade went to Wade Barrett, an English bare knuckle fighter managed by Chris Jericho. Being on the same roster as Independent scene legend Bryan Danielson meant Barrett went into the show as an unlikely winner. However, his promo work and the way the man carried himself during matches, did endear a large portion of the audience to him. Things started well enough for Wade, becoming the leader of Nexus – a destructive heel faction made up of all the NXT competitors who were bent on taking over the WWE collectively.
The popularity of the storyline meant that Wade’s championship match would take a backseat, but the heat he was building for himself as leader of the group was a pretty good distraction. However, the problems for Barrett would start as soon as John Cena became involved.
After the debacle that was the main event of Summerslam 2010, in which Cena and his team went over the Nexus, Barrett’s career would start a downward trend that he never really recovered from. The championship match he was promised actually came in the form of a six-pack challenge, which he failed to him. He was then buried by Cena in a subsequent feud, both metaphorically and literally when Cena once buried Wade with multiple chairs during a match.
Barrett’s singles career was never able to break into the main event scene. His best shot came when the ‘Bad News Barrett’ gimmick was given to him, but injury and poor booking soon put an end to that as well.
Barrett’s time in the ring now appears to be over. He is currently spending most of his time pursuing an acting career but has spoken about a return at some point. You may have seen Stuart Bennett (his real name) appear in films such as Dead Man Down, Vengence and Eliminators, mostly in cameo roles.
#2 Kaval (Season Two Winner)
After the failure that was the Wade Barrett experiment after NXT season one, fans were understandably less enthusiastic about the second edition, and what would happen to the winner. That being said, the roster did consist of a few recognisable stars including an independent scene favourite known as ‘Low Ki’.
Low Ki had spent numerous years on the indie scene wrestling for ROH, TNA and several Japanese factions. He built a reputation for himself defeating the likes of Chris Hero and Bryan Danielson along the way. He was invited to take part in NXT season 2 as ‘Kaval’, a character known for his advanced abilities in multiple martial arts.
He was placed under the tutelage of LayCool – the name given to Michelle McCool and Layla. This placed Kaval in somewhat of a lighthearted position but was still able to remain popular enough with the fans to become the second NXT season winner.
If Wade Barrett’s career is now seen as less than ideal, Kaval’s time on the main WWE roster was on another level of disappointing altogether. He essentially went on an immediate losing streak after being drafted to Smackdown, losing his first match to Drew McIntyre.
After a few weeks, many in the WWE Universe were questioning why Kaval had even been chosen as the winner of NXT in the first place. Rather than being able to cash in on a match for the WWE Championship, as Wade Barrett did, his prize for winning NXT was an Intercontinental Championship match against Dolph Ziggler which he also failed to win.
Kaval’s exit from WWE was as unceremonious as his entrance, eventually leaving the company at the end of 2010. Kaval made his return to the indie scene, wrestling under the name ‘Low Ki’ once more. He also enjoyed a very successful run with NJPW, becoming the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and reaching the finals of the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament. He also reached the top of TNA's X-division, holding the belt for a short time, a title he had won twice before.
Low Ki appears to have found a permanent home at Impact Wrestling where he is commonly associated with the company’s X-division. Looking back on his career as a whole, his time with WWE looks more like a blip than anything else. It’s a shame the company never really took the man seriously after initially giving him some decent spotlight.
#3 Kaitlyn (Season Three Winner)
By the time the third season of NXT came around, fans were clearly lacking an appetite for it. To shake things up, the WWE decided to hold an all-female version of the show, giving opportunities to several women still involved with the company today. Any hopes that the WWE was about to inject some seriousness back into the format were soon dashed, however, after it was made apparent that the women would mostly be subjected to meaningless tasks and ridicule from a heel Michael Cole.
The winner of the season turned out to be Kaitlyn, a fitness enthusiast signed by the WWE a short while before NXT 3 started. She was somewhat of a surprise victor, narrowly edging past the likes of AJ Lee and Naomi. Her impressive physique and semi-impressive wrestling skills did make her stand out in what was a difficult series for the women. Her victory earned her a place on Smackdown where she formed a tag-team with AJ called ‘The Chickbusters’.
These were certainly not the days of the Divas’ Revolution, so anything Kaitlyn attempted to do was a little underplayed. She did have a decent programme with AJ Lee throughout her career, feuding with her initially after the break up of their team, and a few years later when she played the babyface victim of AJ’s mind games and bullying.
Kaitlyn also gave some stability back to the Divas’s Championship after it was passed around amongst undeserving members of the roster. She was a believable champion to look at and could talk on the mic fairly comfortably. She did good business with stars like Layla, Tamina and Natalya along the way, but her best feud was undoubtedly with AJ Lee. The two women's careers effectively mirrored each other, feuding over the championship and inserting themselves into several feuds involving the men.
Kaitlyn considers herself retired from wrestling altogether, concentrating on her numerous other ventures including a fashion line and bodybuilding. She runs a fitness clothing company with her husband and has recently started a smoothie bar in Florida. While we might not see her in a wrestling ring anytime soon, she does occasionally appear on the cover of fitness magazines and in various media appearances every so often.
#4 Johnny Curtis (Season 4 Winner)
Out of the four superstars on this list, Curtis is perhaps the most well-known of the lot. Currently working for WWE as Fandango, he has become a true fan favourite, owing mostly to his visible determination to get the most out of any gimmick he is given.
Curtis was a relatively well-known star before making his NXT debut, wrestling in WWE’s other developmental rosters as well as a lengthy period on the independent circuit. He was a well-deserved winner of NXT season 4, and many of us were excited to see what he would be doing on the main roster. However, the initial signs were not good as he was given a series of bizarre gimmicks and storylines, including a backstage segment where he poured a glass of milk on a plate while crying.
Curtis then made a return to NXT as part of the NXT Redemption Season, which again consisted mainly of pointless love affairs and meaningless tasks, distracting us all from his obvious wrestling abilities. The low-point came during an angle involving Matt Striker and Maxine with a convoluted series of events that ultimately went nowhere.
Curtis made a return to the main roster soon after, this time as Fandango. While it was obviously meant to be a somewhat tongue-in-cheek character, the gimmick did allow him more of the spotlight, building heel heat on himself after continuously refusing to wrestle until the announcers could pronounce his name correctly. Fandango went on to enjoy perhaps his biggest period of success in WWE, beginning with an upset win over Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 29.
Things would then take on an even more bizarre feel after he became an unlikely fan favourite the next night on RAW. The fans in attendance began spontaneously singing his entrance music, beginning a trend known as ‘Fandango-ing’.
In the week following RAW, Fandango’s theme music climbed to number 11 on the UK download chart and was played over the speaker system of several UK football club stadiums at the weekend. The WWE failed to capitalise on this, however, keeping Curtis a heel and doing everything they could to pour water over a potentially hot gimmick.
Fandango’s fortunes would then take an unfortunate turn, floundering in the lower levels of both RAW and Smackdown. It is not until recently that fans have been reminded just how talented a star Curtis is. He is currently involved in a tag-team with Tyler Breeze who call themselves ‘Breezango’ or ‘The Fashion Police’. They have become one of the most entertaining parts of Smackdown Live, showing video segments where they investigate cases of crimes against fashion.
Curtis has done more than enough to earn himself a singles push, but it is unclear whether the WWE have enough belief in him. Breezango ought to at least have some time as tag-champions sooner or later before the inevitable break up. Perhaps the Fandango character can be given a few extra layers of seriousness, then at least we will be able to see how far the NXT Season 4 winner can really go.
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