Today, NXT is a widely lauded third brand for WWE—a bit lower profile than the proper main roster, but generally praised at a higher level than Raw or SmackDown by critics. The letters NXT didn’t always inspire such enthusiasm, however, as WWE cast it earlier as a game show-style brand, in which top “rookies” were paired with “pros” to compete for spots on the main roster.
Despite getting mixed reviews, the original NXT had its moments. That includes some noteworthy first-time matches like Chris Jericho vs. Daniel Bryan, besides first introducing fans to eventual mainstays like Bryan, Ryback, Wade Barrett, and Heath Slater. Little could fans have guessed what was going on behind the scenes.
10 John Cena Couldn’t Get On The Show
When the original seasons of NXT rolled out, John Cena made no bones about discussing his desire to be a part of the show. We’ll never know for sure how much of that was Cena putting on a friendly face to the public, versus actually meaning it behind the scenes. Nonetheless, from all indications, Cena actually wanted to appear as a “pro.”
It’s not entirely clear why WWE would keep the face of the company from being a part of the show if he wanted on it. It seems reasonable to guess, though, that the company worried he’d overshadow the rest of the cast, or that there at least wasn’t a good fit of a rookie to pair with him.
9 The Miz & Daniel Bryan Worked Together Closely
One of the odd couple pairings of mentors and mentees for the first season of NXT was The Miz and Daniel Bryan. Miz was a heel known for his personality and talking skills. By contrast, Bryan was a world-renowned technical wrestler but had some work to do to acclimate himself to WWE-style showmanship. From the beginning, WWE portrayed the two as enemies thrown together by circumstance—a dynamic that would fuel them feuding for years to come.
In Bryan’s book YES: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania, he discussed the degree to which he and Miz actually collaborated behind the scenes. He praised Miz for being one of the few “pros” who genuinely wanted to be part of the show. He cited that the two of them spent a lot of time talking behind the scenes to develop a truly collaborative creative partnership and get the most out of their dynamic on screen.
8 Shoot Fighting On The Table
One of the defining elements of NXT’s game show days, especially early on, was contestants being subjected to an array of random contests. These outings included physical challenges and having to cut oddball promos, often with a substantial shoot element—that the young talents were genuinely tested in front of a live audience.
On his Conversations with the Big Guy podcast, Ryback addressed a rumor that a variation on the controversial Brawl For All, shoot fighting competition was pitched for the show. Ryback suggested that he didn’t remember hearing about it for his season, but that he had heard it was on the table for season two. The talents weren't excited about the idea, including eventual winner Kaval. Ryback sympathized, as Kaval was a talented pro wrestler, but small and unlikely to do well actually throwing hands with bigger athletes.
7 Shifting Dynamics Between CM Punk & Darren Young
CM Punk served as a mentor to Darren Young for the original season of NXT. Young discussed the experience on the Cerrito Live podcast. According to young, he and Punk hardly interacted at all behind the scenes during their time on the show, but that Punk made a sharp turn in how he interacted with Young years later.
Down the road, Young came out publicly. In one of the more surprising and admirable backstage stories about Punk, he hugged Young in front of the boys behind the scenes at SummerSlam 2013. Punk said that if anyone gave him trouble about his sexual orientation, to let him know and he’d take care of it. Punk had enough clout to stand up for someone, and it was interesting to see that The Straight Edge Superstar came around to be such a strong supporter to the younger talent years after their NXT partnership.
6 Chris Jericho Didn’t Want To Put Over Heath Slater
Heath Slater was among those original NXT Superstars who had a respectable run on the main roster—never a top star, but second only to Daniel Bryan in terms of longevity with WWE. He picked up some big wins early in his tenure, including pinning then-world champion Chris Jericho on NXT television, amidst one of the best years of Y2J's career.
Jericho recalled the incident on an episode of his Talk is Jericho podcast shortly after Pat Patterson passed away. Jericho cited that he didn’t want to put over the rookie, but Patterson talked him into it under the rationale no one would remember Slater beat him—let alone think Slater was better. As a heel, Jericho could only stand to benefit from the embarrassing loss and ranting about it afterward.
5 Daniel Bryan & EC3 Rigged Answers
Before EC3 became a star in Impact Wrestling and had his comeback run in WWE, he was a contestant on the NXT game show. Then known as Derrick Bateman, he had Daniel Bryan assigned as his “pro.”
Bryan recalled in his book that he and EC3 strategically coordinated answers before a “Mr. and Mrs.” challenge to evaluate which mentor and mentee knew each other best. They did unexpectedly well, and actually got chastised backstage for going into business for themselves in this unconventional way.
4 David Otunga Repeatedly Rejected Ideas To Tap Into His Real Life
When WWE fans first became familiar with David Otunga, one of his biggest claims to fame was that he was the real-life fiancée of celebrity Jennifer Hudson. In an interview with The Chicago Tribune, Otunga explained that it annoyed him how often commentators mentioned the relationship and that he rejected ideas to play into his real-life relationship further in storylines.
Otunga wanted the focus on himself—not to be famous by association, but rather to recognize his own accomplishments as an athlete, not to mention his accolades as a graduate of Harvard Law.
3 Justin Gabriel Messed Up Matt Hardy’s Entrance
Justin Gabriel got a big push coming out of NXT, as second-in-command to Wade Barrett in the Nexus. In his run on the game show, he was featured as a face, mentored by Matt Hardy.
Hardy spoke about the partnership at Ringside Fest, as reported by ewrestling.com. According to Hardy, they had an unintentionally humorous moment together. Hardy got up on the middle rope as part of his entrance, but an over-excited Gabriel accidentally cost Hardy his balance and sent him flying.
2 Ryback Got Gimmick Advice From The Undertaker & William Regal
Ryback was a veteran of WWE's developmental system by the time he got to NXT. He had appeared on the Million Dollar Tough Enough, then worked in Florida Championship Wrestling, maturing as a performer and developing his character during that stretch.
On his Conversations with the Big Guy podcast, Ryback discussed that The Undertaker gave him negative feedback about The Terminator-inspired gimmick he played shortly before appearing on NXT. In NXT, he got rebranded as a cowboy character, Skip Sheffield. His on-air mentor, William Regal, tipped him off behind the scenes that the gimmick didn’t feel like a natural fit and he should probably figure out something else.
1 The Rookies Had No Idea What Awaited Them At The End Of The Show
Late in his in-ring WWE career, Wade Barrett appeared on Chris Jericho’s Talk is Jericho podcast. The interviewer-interviewee pairing was noteworthy because Jericho had been Barrett’s on-air mentor in NXT.
The two reflected on that run, including that WWE had publicly advertised the winner would go to the main roster and get a title shot. Under those terms, the talents expected everyone who didn’t win would go back to developmental. However, they were all summoned to an episode of Raw. Only hours before the episode did management inform them they'd all debut by attacking John Cena to launch The Nexus faction.