Rating the 10 Greatest NXT Superstars In History (So Far)

Since 2012, NXT has been operating in its current format, and after Seth Rollins was crowned the first ever NXT Champion, the brand has simply gone from strength to strength. After the brands greatest show in New York, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at the first 7 years of WWE's best and most enjoyable brand, so today we are going to attempt to rank the 10 greatest superstars in NXT history.

Before reading on, we must remind readers that this is the 10 greatest superstars in NXT, not the greatest superstars to come from NXT, so people like Seth Rollins who have gone on to incredible successes after NXT may not appear on this list, because their run in NXT is the only contributing factor to our list.

Honorable Mentions: Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, Charlotte, Shayna Baszler, Shinsuke Nakamura, American Alpha, Neville, Ricochet.

#10 Aleister Black

We'll get to the undefeated streak of Asuka later on in this piece, but Aleister Black had quite an impressive streak of his own after his debut, with him suffering just a few singles losses in his entire career. His rise to the top was quick and quite impressive, and while his NXT Title reign was cut short due to the injury that cost him 3 months of his career, he still put together an incredibly impressive resume.

Not only did Black win the NXT Championship, have plenty of classic matches against the likes of Johnny Gargano, Tomasso Ciampa, Velveteen Dream, Adam Cole and others, but he eventually won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with Ricochet, a feat that shouldn't be taken lightly. Black is going to do great things on the main roster, but looking back on his time in NXT, many questioned how he would work in the WWE, but with his overwhelming aura and attention to character detail, Black undoubtedly makes our list.

#9 Sami Zayn

For a long time, Sami Zayn was the heart and soul of NXT, and while his contributions to the brand will always be cherished and remembered by everyone involved, his time spent there has since been overshadowed by so many amazing performers. Zayn was a part of the early days of the brand and of the now famous Takeover specials, and while he had great matches with Neville, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura and others, his contributions have just been topped.

He was replaced as the heart and soul by Johnny Gargano who has gone on to do incredible things on the brand, but when we look back on the early days of NXT, there are few more influential than Sami Zayn. His early clashes with Cesaro can still be considered some of the best in NXT history, and that's the reason why he finds himself on this list, but he would have been higher had it not been for the sheer amount of talent who have followed his influence to success in NXT.

#8 The Velveteen Dream

This entry might come as a shock to many people, but over the past year, the Velveteen Dream has been on a hot streak that few in the WWE can claim to match. The flamboyant, charismatic Dream has the NXT Universe in the palm of his hand every time he steps through that curtain, and given how young he is, it's amazing that he's been able to improve and grow so much early on in his NXT career.

In the past year, Dream has had classics with Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano, Tomasso Ciampa, Ricochet, Matt Riddle and others, and while he's not yet reached the top of the NXT mountain, it's only a matter of time. You could throw anyone from the honourable mentions list into this spot, and many won't argue, but given how overwhelmingly entertaining Dream is, and how much pure potential he has, it wouldn't be surprising if he rose to the top of this list before his NXT days are done.

#7 Sasha Banks

Sasha Banks, despite the rumoured unhappiness as of late is one of the most successful female performers of this current generation, and that run started all the way back in NXT when we saw the birth of 'The Boss'. While her run back there has since been overshadowed by Bayley, Asuka and Shayna Baszler, at the time, it was incredible, and she was just as influential as anyone in ushering in the women's evolution/revolution within the WWE.

As she would go on to do on Monday Night RAW, Banks was involved in historic main events, and the only reason we've got her behind her friend and opponent in those bouts is that The Boss came up short in both encounters. Either way, Banks remains a fan favourite to this day, despite her lack of a push in recent years, and all that stems back to her days in NXT, which shows just how great she was on the show.

#6 The Revival

Tag team wrestling has been an afterthought in the WWE since the days of Edge & Christian, The Hardy's and The Dudley Boyz, but alongside a few other fantastic teams, the duo of Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder fought to change that in NXT. During the course of their run, a team that was never supposed to make it together had classic encounters with DIY, American Alpha, Enzo & Cass, The Vaudevillians and the Authors of Pain en route to claiming gold not once, but twice as a team.

These days, they're doing their thing on RAW, but unfortunately are being largely overshadowed, but down in NXT, it was often The Revival that were a large focus of the programming. Their Takeover encounters with DIY and AOP will go down as some of the best in not only NXT but wrestling history, and you'll find no one to argue that The Revival are one of the greatest teams in NXT history, and well deserved a place on this list.

#5 Bayley

At WrestleMania 35, Bayley was on the losing end of a tag team match that is largely forgotten (outside of the reported aftermath), and that's a far cry from the superstar that we saw down in NXT. There have been quite a few great underdogs throughout the years in the WWE, but none drew sympathy from the fans quite like Bayley, who would go on to have an incredible run down in NXT, including two historic bouts with The Boss.

The first of those came at Takeover: Brooklyn, where she and Sasha stole the show, but it was The Hugger who would come out on top to claim her first NXT Women's Title. The next came at the following Takeover when Bayley and Sasha collided in the main event in an Ironwoman match, and it's safe to say that for coming out on top, Bayley was the most successful woman in NXT history (if not for someone that would come later), and will be revered long after her time in the WWE is done.

#4 Tomasso Ciampa

Despite suffering two horrific injuries over the course of his run down in NXT, Tomasso Ciampa has had several fantastic title reigns, as well as countless classic bouts and moments. Like his former DIY partner, Ciampa wasn't meant to make it in the WWE, and he scratched and clawed his way to the top, and after turning on the aforementioned Gargano, he became one of the best true heels in the entire wrestling business.

The Psycho Killer can work many different styles, evident by his very two different runs down in NXT, and he became one of very few men to win more than one different Championship during his time in developmental. Unlike Gargano, his future is up in the air after this latest injury, but even if this is it for Ciampa down in NXT, he should be regarded as one of the greatest that NXT have ever seen.

#3 Asuka

Throughout the history of wrestling, there have been some incredibly impressive streaks: The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak, Goldberg's WCW run, and some not so good like Curt Hawkins recent streak, but none of them were longer or more impressive than the run of Asuka down in NXT. For over 500 days, Asuka remained undefeated, and while she didn't give an incoming star the rub of finally ending that winning streak, Asuka's reign will likely never be beaten (winning streak that is, her title reign was topped by Pete Dunne).

On the night that she had to relinquish her Championship due to injury, NXT's GM William Regal called The Empress of Tomorrow "one of the greatest champions in WWE history", and when you look back on it, you can't argue, solidifying her place upon this list. You can put her above one of the next 2 performers on this list if you wish, but a lot of her reign was overshadowed by the next man on our list and other performers, but either way, she's an icon in NXT history, and someone that every woman coming through should aspire to be.

#2 Finn Balor

Many thought upon Finn Balor's arrival to the WWE that he'd go straight to the main roster, but instead, he put in a 2-year run down in developmental that will go down in history as perhaps the most important to the development and evolution of the brand. Balor made a splash immediately upon debut, and after dethroning Kevin Owens in the land that he made his worldwide name, he would go on to have the longest NXT Championship reign in history.

Over those 292 straight days, The Demon carried the brand while it went through changes and evolution, and by the time he was done down in NXT, he was already one of the top stars in the entire WWE. His main roster run hasn't exactly gone according to plan, but Finn will forever be one of the greatest stars to ever step foot in NXT, and what he did during his time will be remembered forever.

#1 Johnny Gargano

Heading into the year 2019, this one was arguable, but after NXT Takeover: New York, Johnny Gargano is undoubtedly the greatest superstar to ever represent the black and gold 'developmental' brand. Johnny has been with NXT since 2015, and over that time, his list of accomplishments are astounding: first ever NXT Triple Crown Champion, 13 Takeovers, several classic bouts, Match of the Year with Andrade and Feud of the Year with Tomasso Ciampa.

On top of that, Johnny represents everything that makes NXT special, and his devotion to great character work and his passion for WWE's third brand have made him a favourite of the NXT Universe. Now that he's NXT Champion, he'll have plenty of time left to continue to build this legacy, and by the time he's finally done down in Orlando, it will be tough for anyone to ever dethrone Johnny Wrestling/Takeover/Champion as the greatest to ever step foot in NXT.