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If there is one thing that has become increasingly clear over the last few years, it's that success down in NXT doesn't necessarily equate to success on the WWE's main roster.
In recent years, we have seen various superstars who found great success in NXT arrive on the main roster, only to be let down by poor booking and quickly fade into obscurity.
It's as a result of this that fans are trepidatious about the recent call ups of Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Ricochet, and Aleister Black.
All four of these men have been an integral part of making NXT the WWE's must-watch brand over the past 12 months and all four of them have lifted gold for the promotion, with Tommaso Ciampa currently holding the NXT Championship.
Aleister Black is another former NXT Champion who has now made his way to the main roster, and fans have high expectations for the charismatic and unconventional Dutch-born superstar.
Does winning the top prize in NXT necessarily guarantee even a modicum of success on the main roster though? Let's take a look at how the other 12 former NXT Champions have fared once they have made the big step up from Full Sail.
#12. Bo Dallas
Unsurprisingly, Bo Dallas slides in right at the very bottom of this list.
Looking at Dallas now, as he runs around the ring with Curtis Axel shouting 'B-Team, B-Team, go! go! go!' it's hard to imagine that, at one point, large parts of the WWE Universe thought he could be a future WWE Champion.
Dallas is the epitome of an act that failed to resonate with the bigger WWE Universe after succeeding down in Full Sail.
Instead of coming across as the smug and condescending heel that he did in NXT, Dallas' 'Bo-Lieve' gimmick just made him look goofy on the main roster, and it wasn't long before he was being jobbed out on a weekly basis.
#11. Bobby Roode
Looking back at Bobby Roode's run down in NXT, it's kind of amazing to see just how much he has been messed up on the main roster.
Roode is one of the most natural heels in the entire WWE, so it was obvious from the moment that he was brought up as a face that he was going to encounter some problems.
The Glorious One had an instantly forgettable run as US Champion at the start of 2018 and was soon shipped over to Raw, where he quickly faded into obscurity.
His tag-team with Chad Gable has seen him taste gold on Monday nights, but ultimately, Roode should be so much higher up the card than he is now.
#9. Neville
Neville, now once again known as PAC on the independent circuit, may well be one of the biggest wastes of talent in recent WWE history.
After initially making a name for himself with mid-level feuds and impressive performances on Raw, Neville was shifted over to 205 Live and positioned as the face of the WWE's new Cruiserweight division.
Despite an impressive run as 'The King of the Cruiserweights', it was becoming increasingly apparent that Neville was being underutilized by the WWE, and when the company decided to put the Cruiserweight Championship around Enzo Amore's wait, Neville decided enough was enough and requested his release from the company.
Neville's time in the WWE will be remembered for his excellent run with the Cruiserweight Championship, but ultimately, it could have been so much more than that.
#9. Shinsuke Nakamura
While Shinsuke Nakamura may be one of two former NXT Champions to have won a Royal Rumble match, he ranks so lowly on this list purely because of how much of a missed opportunity he has been on the main roster.
Nakamura's iconic strong style approach was instantly reigned in by the WWE, and his performances when he first stepped up to the main roster failed to capture the imagination of the WWE Universe in the way many had expected.
Things went from bad to worse for Nakamura though, when he was handed back to back defeats by the then WWE Champion, Jinder Mahal, killing any momentum he had managed to build up.
His Rumble victory was then followed up by a heel turn and a series of defeats to AJ Styles, and now Nakamura finds himself in a tag-team with Rusev after having two forgettable reigns with the US title.
In Nakamura, WWE could have had a massive star for years to come, instead, the WWE Universe is left to wonder what could have been.
#8. Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn's time on the main roster has been somewhat of a mixed bag. After arriving with plenty of fanfare, Zayn quickly became a key element of WWE's mid-card scene, putting on many impressive displays against a series of different opponents.
Unfortunately for Zayn, he quickly hit a glass ceiling, and despite his obvious popularity, the WWE seemingly refused to push him towards the main-event scene.
After a few years of floating around in the mid-card, WWE decided to make a change and turned Zayn heel at Hell in a Cell 2017.
Despite a promising start though, Zayn's heel run quickly became overshadowed by an ongoing saga between Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan, and before long, he was shifted over to Raw.
Zayn's run on Raw was one of the worst of his career, entering an infamous feud with Bobby Lashley, which ended up putting Zayn on the sidelines.
The former NXT star is expected back in the ring soon, and fans will be hoping that the WWE has something a bit more positive planned for him this time around.
#7. Andrade
The jury is still very much out on Andrade's time on the main roster. The former NXT Champion has had an interesting six months since making his debut last Summer, and there is still plenty of hope left for his future.
While he has been on the end of some unnecessary losses, he has also managed to put on some excellent matches with the likes of Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, and Rey Mysterio, and it looks as though he could be entering into a WrestleMania program with the latter of those three.
Hopefully, WWE intends on playing the long game with Andrade and building him up as a legitimate title challenger. Only time will tell though.
#6. Drew McIntyre
There is an argument to be made that perhaps outside of Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre has the potential to go the furthest on the main roster of any former NXT Champion.
The Scottish Pshyopath has done nothing but impress the WWE Universe with his excellent physique and undeniable in-ring ability since he made his return to the main roster following last year's WrestleMania, and while he may be in a bit of a lull right now, there is no doubt that gold awaits him in the future.
McIntyre's previous partnership with Dolph Ziggler has already seen him capture the Tag-Team Championships on Raw, and that is probably just going to be the beginning for the former Intercontinental Champion.
#5. Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe's time on the main roster has been a bit of a mixed bag.
After impressing fans in his debut year, and having a solid year for most of 2018, the former TNA World Champion has lost momentum as of late and is quickly becoming one of the company's 'so close but so far' superstars of the moment.
Joe is one of the most talented performers in the entire WWE, but his continued failures to capture the WWE and Universal Championships have damaged his aura somewhat in recent times.
That being said, Joe has more than enough talent to recover from this and there is little to no doubt that he will get his hands on a main roster title sooner or later.
#4. Big E
Of all the superstars on this list, few have undergone the kind of transformation that Big E has since he made his main roster debut in 2012.
Initially appearing as Dolph Ziggler's bodyguard, Big E spent his first 18 months on the main roster working as a mid-card talent, even picking himself up an Intercontinental Championship victory at one point.
Things would change for Big E when he joined Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods to form The New Day in 2014.
The group, who were originally rejected by the WWE Universe, has gone on to become one of the most influential tag-teams in modern wrestling, capturing numerous tag-team titles and making major draws of all three superstars along the way.
#3. Finn Balor
In terms of quick pushes on the main roster, no superstar in the history of the business was accelerated to the top as quickly as Finn Balor was back in 2016.
The former NJPW star defeated several of the company's top stars, including Roman Reigns in his first few weeks on Raw, before defeating Seth Rollins to become the inaugural Universal Champion at SummerSlam 2016.
Sadly for Balor, his run would last less than 24 hours, when an injury picked up during his SummerSlam encounter forced him to relinquish his newly won belt.
When Balor returned to the company, it was clear that the WWE wasn't going to put him back in the same spot, and he has spent the last two years floating around in the upper mid-card, while occasionally flirting with the main event.
Hopefully, WWE decides to go all in with Balor once again at some point down the line because he has proven time and time again that he is one of their most reliable and popular superstars.
#2. Kevin Owens
When it comes to impactful arrivals on the main roster, Kevin Owens is perhaps only second to Finn Balor in recent years.
Owens shot out of the gates, defeating John Cena on his WWE debut and it looked as though the WWE had plans to make him a megastar.
Of course, Cena ended up picking up consecutive victories over Owens after that, but Owens has still gone on to be one of the top performing NXT Call-Ups of all time.
Owens has won multiple belts on the main roster, including the Universal Championship back in 2016, and while 2018 was a rough year for the Prize Fighter, he made an instant impact upon his return, being handed a shot against Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at Fastlane.
#1. Seth Rollins
The first and still the best. Seth Rollins' run on the WWE main roster has eclipsed every other former NXT Champion's triumphs by some way.
Not only is Rollins a grand-slam winner, a Money in the Bank winner, and now a Royal Rumble winner, but he was also a key component in what has become one of the most iconic factions of the modern WWE era.
Rollins is set to compete in the main event of this year's WrestleMania when he will challenge Brock Lesnar for The Universal Title in what promises to be one of the matches of the night.
Rollins' list of achievements in the WWE is far too long to list, but one thing is sure, the inaugural NXT Champion has the potential to go down as one of the greatest superstars in WWE history.
