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The 'NXT 5' was a group of then-NXT Superstars that were signed by WWE in 2014. This group consisted of Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami.
Dubbed the 'NXT 5', these five performers were seen as the future cornerstones in which NXT and, subsequently, WWE would be built upon. Not only did the future of the company appear to be in these five wrestlers' hands, but their future appeared to be very bright and promising, as well.
All five men were professional wrestlers that came with huge reputations from the independent professional wrestling scene in North America and/or internationally. Therefore, the WWE Universe was salivating at the prospect of seeing all five Superstars compete in a Raw, Smackdown and NXT ring under WWE's umbrella.
Six years later, let's take a closer look at where each member of the 'NXT 5' is currently and how their WWE career has panned out since signing with the company.
#5. Kevin Owens: WWE (Monday Night Raw)
Kevin Steen signed with WWE in August of 2014, changing his name to Kevin Owens in the process. The surname change to Owens would be a tribute to his son Owen, who is named after Owen Hart.
Owens would make his NXT debut at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution in December 2014, defeating CJ Parker in the opening match of the show. Famously, Kevin Owens would also turn on long time best friend (and fellow 'NXT 5' member) Sami Zayn after Zayn won the NXT Championship in the main event of the show.
During his short NXT career, which only lasted six months, Kevin Owens would capture the NXT Championship, defeating Zayn. After this loss, Owens would become a full-time member of the WWE main roster.
In his five years as a main roster competitor, Kevin Owens has become a former WWE Universal Champion, a 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion and a 3-time WWE United States Champion.
Currently, Kevin Owens is a member of the Monday Night Raw roster in WWE. Having defeated Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 36, Kevin Owens would be out of action through an ankle injury, followed by taking himself off of televisions due to health and safety concerns associated with COVID-19.
However, Owens has subsequently returned to WWE television recently, continuing to feud with Seth Rollins and his disciples during Rollins' feud with Rey Mysterio.
#4. Finn Balor - WWE (NXT)
Prince Devitt signed with WWE in 2014, joining NXT and changing his name to Finn Balor in the process. A long time staple of Japanese wrestling, many fans were thrilled at the prospect of the "Real Rock 'N' Rolla" arriving in NXT.
In September of 2014, Finn Balor would make his NXT debut, aiding fellow 'NXT 5' member Hideo Itami from an attack by The Ascension. During his run with NXT, Finn Balor would become the NXT Champion and the centrepiece of the brand in its evolution to a fully fledged third touring WWE brand behind RAW and SmackDown. This would lead to Balor becoming, at the time, the longest reigning NXT Champion in the brand's history.
Finn Balor would move from NXT to WWE's main roster in 2016 as he was drafted to Monday Night Raw during the 2016 WWE Draft.
During his time on the WWE main roster, Finn Balor would become the inaugural WWE Universal Champion. However, this would only last 24 hours as Finn Balor would be injured during the WWE Universal Championship match, putting him on the shelf for six months.
Post-injury, Finn Balor would go on to become a 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion on the WWE main roster. However, many members of the WWE Universe felt that Balor hadn't reached the same heights that he had in NXT, and the shoulder injury had derailed any momentum that the Demon King had coming into the Main Roster.
Currently, Finn Balor is once again a member of the NXT roster after returning to the black and gold brand in 2019, as NXT moved to 2 hours on the USA Network. Since then, Balor has feuded with the likes of former NXT Champion Adam Cole, Matt Riddle and Damian Priest but has yet to capture the NXT Championship for a second time.
#3. PAC - All Elite Wrestling
PAC signed with WWE in July of 2012. Using the new ring name of Adrian Neville, he would make his WWE NXT debut in January of 2013. Neville would experience a hugely successful period of time in NXT, becoming a 2-time NXT Tag Team Champion, as well as a 1-time NXT Champion. After such a successful run in NXT, many fans were excited to see what Neville could bring to WWE's main roster.
In March of 2015, Adrian Neville would make his main roster debut on Monday Night RAW, shortening his name to 'Neville' in the process. During his run on the WWE Main Roster, Neville would have a marquee match at SummerSlam 2015 when he would team with "Arrow" star Stephen Amell against Stardust (Cody Rhodes) and Wade Barrett.
Neville would eventually become a major player in WWE's revamped Cruiserweight division on Monday Night RAW and 205 Live. This would lead to Neville becoming a 2-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion.
However, Neville's career with WWE would end very acrimoniously. In October of 2017, Neville would walk out of the company before a Monday Night Raw broadcast. During the show, Neville was scheduled to lose to Enzo Amore and according to multiple reports, Neville quit the promotion. After WWE "froze" Neville's contract in January 2018, WWE finally released Neville from his contract in August of 2018.
Currently, Neville is signed to All Elite Wrestling under his old ring name PAC, after being one of the promotion's first signees in 2019. Since signing with with AEW, PAC has competed in feuds against the likes of Kenny Omega, "Hangman" Adam Page and Orange Cassidy, before forming an alliance with Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix called The Death Triangle.
However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, PAC is unable to compete currently on AEW Dynamite and pay per views. This is due to PAC residing in the United Kingdom, making travel to the United States difficult during the country's lockdown period. But, this has not stopped PAC from appearing on Dynamite in pre-taped promos.
#2. Sami Zayn - WWE (Friday Night SmackDown)
El Generico signed with WWE in January of 2013, making his WWE NXT television debut in May under the new ring name of Sami Zayn. During his tenure with NXT, Sami Zayn would become the 'heart and soul' of the black and gold brand, becoming a hugely popular underdog babyface.
This popularity would lead to Sami Zayn finally capturing the NXT Championship in December 2014 at the NXT TakeOver: R Evolution event. However, this event would also see the beginning/resumption of his feud with his long time best friend/rival Kevin Owens.
Zayn would make his main roster debut in May of 2015 on Monday Night Raw, answering United States Champion John Cena's Championship open challenge. However, Sami Zayn would injure his shoulder during this match, leading to Zayn being out of action through injury for 9 months.
Sami would make his triumphant return during the 2016 Royal Rumble match, resuming his feud with Kevin Owens and officially moving to the WWE main roster in the process.
Since then, Zayn has feuded with various Superstars on the WWE roster, turned heel for the first time in his professional wrestling career. He would win the WWE Intercontinental Championship for the first time at the Elimination Chamber pay per view in 2020, ending his 5-year Championship drought in WWE.
Although he is a member of the SmackDown roster, Sami Zayn is not currently appearing on WWE television, after refraining from competing during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has lead to Zayn being stripped of the WWE Intercontinental Championship, with his reign lasting 65 days.
#1. Hideo Itami (KENTA) - New Japan Pro Wrestling
In June of 2014, Kenta Kobayashi signed a contract with WWE. His signing with WWE was officially announced during an in-ring segment with Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart in July during a WWE live event in Osaka, Japan.KENTA would make his NXT debut at the NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way event, being introduced with his new ring name of "Hideo Itami"
However, Itami's time with NXT would be marred with multiple injuries. In May of 2015, Itami would suffer a serious shoulder injury which initially was expected to keep him out of action for six months.
Itami would experience numerous complications with his shoulder injury and subsequent surgery, leading to Itami being out of action for over a year. Itami would finally return to action on NXT television in August 2016, but would once again suffer an injury in October during an NXT live event - this time with his neck.
The injury would keep Hideo on the shelf for a further six months before he returned to NXT television in April 2017. After being signed to NXT for three years, Itami would eventually move to WWE's main roster, debuting on 205 Live in November of 2017 and competing in their cruiserweight division.
However, considering the high expectations that many fans had for Itami's WWE career, an injury plauged NXT career and uninspiring run on 205 Live was nowhere near enough to meet both fans and WWE official's lofty expectations. In January of 2019, Hideo Itami requested and was granted his WWE release after five years with the company.
Currently Itami is signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling, competing under his old ring name of KENTA. He would make his surprise debut for the promotion in June 2019, announcing his participation in the 2019 G1 Climax tournament.
During the final night of the tournament, KENTA would betray his fellow Chaos members and join the popular heel faction Bullet Club. During his time with Bullet Club, KENTA has captured the NEVER Openweight Championship and was the final image of Night 2 of the Wrestle Kingdom event in January 2020.
KENTA would attack the newly crowed IWGP Heavyweight Champion and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito, hitting him with the GTS and posing with both championships to end the show. However, he would be unsuccessful when he challenged Naito for both championships in February at the The New Beginning event.
