Ever since Triple H transformed FCW and the game show version of NXT into what it is today, the brand has gone from strength to strength and it has produced World Champions like Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins and even Roman Reigns. However, for everyone of those guys, there’s an Adam Rose or a Bo Dallas that have just flopped tremendously on the main roster. With so many superstars coming from down on the yellow brand these days, it’s getting harder and harder to predict their success once they arrive on RAW or SmackDown Live. We’ve seen acts like The Revival who should have been smash hits from day one on the main roster fail to separate themselves from the pack. On the contrary, we’ve seen people like Carmella or Alexa Bliss come from barely any success down in NXT to become Champions of their divisions. It’s quite hard to tell but it’s always fun to hypothesize about such events.

Either way, that’s exactly what we are going to do today as we are going to look at eight stars currently on the NXT brand that we believe will be a champion on the main roster, whether that be WWE, Universal, Tag Team or Women’s, along with seven that for one reason or another, we think will get lost in the shuffle within Vince McMahon’s booking on either RAW or SmackDown Live.

15 Champions – Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish

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Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish both had very successful careers on the independent scene, mainly with Ring of Honor. They were always better together known as ReDragon, and when they both debuted in NXT, we knew big things were on the horizon. Now that they are competing alongside Roderick Strong and Adam Cole as The Undisputed Era, their futures are very bright, and they’ll no doubt culminate in either the RAW or SmackDown Live Tag Team Championships.

Their offense is unique, as it’s not free flowing like others, but more a tribute to their MMA backgrounds. With Cole and Strong, they have the numbers game and the talent to take over whatever division they want, and while it’s currently KOR and Strong who hold the tag belts in NXT due to Fish’s injury, they’re great together. That will continue all the way to the top.

It won’t happen right away when they debut on the main roster but the cream always rises to the top. In terms of tag team wrestling, there are few better in the WWE today than ReDragon, and come hell or high water, they will prove it on whatever show they are placed on.

14 Poorly used – Kassius Ohno

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When Ohno was formerly known as Chris Hero, he was arguably the greatest independent professional wrestler of all time. His career dates way back to the early 2000s with a historic rivalry against none other than CM Punk. His WWE tenure hasn’t been as impressive, as the first time around, he missed out on his chance to be the third member of The Shield and was eventually let go for his weight problems (among other things). This time around, Ohno looks refreshed. His matches were all fantastic, especially a singles encounter with Johnny Gargano at the end of 2017 but he seems to have no real role within NXT. Many expected him to debut early in 2018, but that hasn’t happened, and if it doesn’t happen now, then it never will. This is yet another sign that he wouldn’t succeed too much on the main roster.

Ohno or Hero, no matter what you know him as, has left a lasting impression on this business that won’t soon be forgotten. With all of this experience behind him, he deserves a run on the main roster. Whether he becomes a title holder or not, he will finally get to prove to the world just how good he is and that he’s truly one of the best performers in the business.

13 Champion – Aleister Black

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Aleister Black is the current NXT Champion and ever since the former Tommy End stepped foot in NXT, he has been incredibly dominant. With his unique look, his amazing entrance and the in-ring ability that has provided us with several show stealing bouts, he definitely deserves to be a huge star on the main roster. If booked properly, that’s exactly what would happen. With so many stars coming through the NXT system (and several waiting to step up and take their turn), Black’s reign at the top may not last long, as the WWE couldn’t be blamed if they wanted to promote him before the end of 2018.

Although his rise to the top on the main roster would take time and good story telling, it’s completely worth it as he’s one of the most diverse and dynamic performers in the world today. He doesn’t have the promo skills of some of the top guys in WWE, and that may hinder his development on the main roster but every time Black’s entrance theme hits, there is a certain aura surrounding his character. If he can continue putting on great matches, we should no doubt see Black in his fair share of main events with another prestigious title around his waist.

12 Poorly used – Moustache Mountain

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It will become a theme throughout this piece but the WWE on the main roster seemingly hates tag teams. They just don’t put much time and effort into the storytelling side of their performances (The New Day/Uso’s aside). Although the team of Trent Seven and Tyler Bate are fantastic in ring performers, storytelling is the back bone of their matches, and on the main roster, they would unfortunately get lost in the shuffle. If the long rumored WWE UK show finally does come to fruition, and it offers Bate and Seven a weekly chance to perform on the WWE Network, then we may never see them on the main roster. While that in itself would be a tragedy, at least seeing them perform at their highest, while using the comedic value of Trent to the fullest of his ability would be better then seeing them wasted on RAW or SmackDown.

At this point in time, there are so many unknowns surrounding all the WWE UK competitors. We don’t know what the future holds, but one thing we do know is, through no fault of their own, Moustache Mountain would be used quite poorly on the main roster.

11 Champion – Ricochet

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Ricochet is the best high-flier in the world of professional wrestling today and any fears that he’d have to tone down that style in NXT have largely been addressed so far. He has performed in two matches on NXT, and it looks like the same old Ricochet we’ve seen on the independents for years. When he eventually moves through NXT on to the main roster, there’s no doubt from a fans perspective that he should be treated like an absolute superstar.

Sure, we all know that Vince McMahon is still quite reluctant to push anyone of a smaller size, even after seeing the success of guys like Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, but as of right now, The Future of Flight is on another level compared to everyone else in the world. He looks like an absolute star, so there’s no reason not to push him to the top.

Several weeks back, The Rock even gave Ricochet his seal of approval, claiming on Twitter that he’s “ushering in a new era of sports entertainment, and he’s a future World Champ”. If The Rock can see that talent, then surely someone in the WWE will recognize it too, and push him all the way to the top.

10 Poorly used – Johnny Gargano

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This one pains me to say because Johnny Wrestling is arguably the hottest wrestler on the face of planet earth today, but Gargano, like Sami Zayn before him has been pinned by many fans as ‘the next Daniel Bryan’. With Bryan returning from injury and Sami Zayn, the purest babyface WWE had seen in years (since D-Bry) was booked so poorly that they had to resort to turning him heel struggling as a face, we just don’t see much hope for Johnny Wrestling on the main roster. S

Sure, he could win some mid-card matches throughout a main roster run, but Vince McMahon still prefers guys like Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns, and unless Johnny debuts on 205 Live (that’s a double-edge sword, as he’d be booked really well, but it’s not the stage that RAW or Smackdown is), he’s just going to get lost in the shuffle.

As we said, we'd love to see nothing more than Johnny Gargano rise through the ranks on RAW or SmackDown and become WWE or Universal Champion. He’s an incredibly likeable face and he’s one of the best performers in the world today. However, we have to remember who is in charge still, and with McMahon still heading up creative, we just can’t see Gargano being utilized to the best of his ability.

9 Champion – Adam Cole

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Adam Cole wrestled on the independent scene for more than a decade and his poise, charisma, presence and character work were matched by few in Ring of Honor. Even in all of the United States, and his momentum hasn’t fallen off a bit since joining NXT. With the trio of Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish by his side (assuming The Undisputed Era stay together on the main roster, which they certainly should), there are no heights too great for Adam Cole Bay Bay.

His size was of definite concern before his NXT debut, and that is reportedly the reason that he was put in a stable with KOR and Fish in the first place. That might not bode well with Vince McMahon, but like The Shield, these four guys could succeed with their numbers game and if their debut is handled properly, it wouldn’t surprise us if they held all four titles simultaneously. The story of The Undisputed Era still has plenty of legs left in it, especially when they have to wait another few months for Fish to return. It may not be until late 2019 that we see Cole on the main roster, but if his popularity at the latest Royal Rumble is anything to go by, he’ll certainly have the fan backing to go all the way to the top.

8 Poorly used – TM61

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TM61 have had a rough go of it in NXT so far, even though you can tell that both Nick Miller and Shane Thorne are fantastic performers in the ring. An injury slowed down that development even more, but since their return the show after NXT Takeover: New Orleans, TM61 have had an edge to them, and on the latest set of tapings, they finally transitioned into full blown heels. They've embraced the persona of The Mighty (from their former lives as Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste, as part of the faction The Mighty Don’t Kneel), and to be perfectly honest, it suits them so much more.

Their time in NXT so far has been up and down and it’s taken them quite a while to get where they are. With fresh characters after this heel turn, these two are future stars in the WWE, but as we’ve mentioned, tag teams aren’t very important on the main roster, that won’t help these guys, no matter what they’re called. With so many great teams down in NXT at the moment, the next year is going to be incredibly fun for The Mighty, as they’ll no doubt have some great matches. It’s likely that they will ultimately end up as NXT Tag Champions, but as far as title reigns go, that might be the best that these two get in WWE.

7 Champions – War Raiders

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The monstrous yet athletic duo of Hanson and Raymond Rowe have only just begun their career in WWE but if you ever saw any of their matches in Ring of Honor or New Japan Pro Wrestling, you know that they are incredibly talented together. With the Authors of Pain gone from NXT, there really isn’t anyone around to stop the former War Machine from doing what they want. Sure, the new name isn’t as good as War Machine but after what happened with a former MMA competitor, as well as the WWE wanting to own and trademark names, it’s understandable.

No matter what they’re known as, their talent will speak for itself. When they finally make it to the main roster, it’s hard to see them being anything but the top team on the roster. They have a unique, dominant look, and their characters combine well with their in ring abilities. Even though the creative team on the main roster have proven that tag teams aren’t a vital part of their programming like they should be, the War Raiders will no doubt overcome that.

With plenty of time left in their career, as well as the ability to work several different type of match, they will no doubt win multiple Tag Championships wherever the end up in WWE.

6 Poorly used – Nikki Cross

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As a member of Sanity, Nikki Cross played her role perfectly whether it was during her own singles matches with other women or getting involved in the physicality that Young, Woolfe and Dain found themselves in. However, with their arrival on SmackDown Live, it seems that Cross is being left behind in NXT to provide depth to the women’s division and to likely become the first serious challenger for Shayna Baszler. At this point, we don’t really have much of a clue about her future.

Unfortunately, the WWE doesn’t really have the best history when it comes to booking these wacky/psychotic type characters. They tend to border on wacky comedy rather than a dangerous character and that is likely what’s going to happen with Nikki Cross, whether she debuts on her own or to rejoin her Sanity stable mates.

That’s not to say she won’t have some great matches as we saw with her Last Woman Standing match with Asuka. Cross can really go in the ring but with so many other women ahead of her, with no signs of leaving or slowing down, there just isn’t going to be room at the top for a character like Cross. At least in Vince McMahon’s eyes and he’s the most important person there is in the WWE.

5 Champion – Shayna Baszler

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The WWE loves legitimacy in its performers, now more than ever, and with one of the MMA’s Four Horsewomen making her debut at WrestleMania, it was only a matter of time until the next would step up and take success. As it turns out, the Queen of Spades actually took the NXT Women’s Championship from Ember Moon the night before and with Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir now at the Performance Center as official WWE employees, it’s only a matter of time until these three follow Rousey to Monday Night RAW.

Sure, she isn’t as ‘pretty’ as the other women on the roster but in this case, that’s quite a good thing. She’s a bigger physical threat than any of them and whether she comes to the main roster on her own or whether she brings Duke and Shafir along to rejoin Ronda Rousey, she’s going to be quite successful.

The women’s division down in NXT isn’t very deep at the moment, so Baszler may be down there for a while. Bringing in Duke and Shafir to partner her could be a good way to deepen the division. With Toni Storm reportedly signing a deal in the last few days and several live show performers ready to debut, Baszler should be good for RAW in early 2019. When it happens, it will only be a matter of when, not if she wins the title.

4 Poorly used – Kairi Sane

Kairi Sane

Asuka came over to WWE from Japan at a time where not many had done so and succeeded. Hideo Itami was struggling to find his footing in NXT (unfortunately, he never really found it at all) and Shinsuke Nakamura was still over in New Japan Pro Wrestling doing his thing, so she was taking a big risk, but right from her first night on the developmental brand, it was clear that she was a star. That continued all the way to the main roster, but we are a little bit worried about the prospects of the Pirate Princess, Kairi Sane.

Coming from Japan, Kairi Hojo was highly touted prospect and considered the second best female wrestler in the world at the time (still hoping to see Io Shirai in the WWE one day, so fingers crossed for that). After winning the Mae Young Classic, it looked like she was on her way to success, but like Itami, Sane has yet to find her footing.

With the woman she defeated in the MYC final currently holding the NXT Women’s Championship, there’s reason to believe that she’ll be after that belt one day soon. However, Sane just isn’t as dominant as Asuka and when she gets to the main roster, we have our serious doubts that she won’t blend in with the crowd under Vince McMahon’s booking.

3 Champion – Lars Sullivan

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Once the Attitude Era ended and the rise of the independent scene became apparent, even the WWE looked more to work rate over size and that’s become increasingly true as NXT has risen to become the most consistent and entertaining show that WWE has. However, with the likes of Braun Strowman, the WWE have proved that a well-booked monster can still be effective and incredibly over with the WWE Universe. NXT are now pushing their own Braun Strowman, a monster by the name of Lars Sullivan. Sure, his look isn’t quite as unique as Braun, but his character is quite an interesting one, and with the improvement that he’s shown over the last six to eight months, he’s going to be a big star on the main roster when Vince McMahon finally calls him up.

Even though Braun himself is yet to win the top title, both of them will no doubt achieve this feat. Sullivan still has quite a long way to go though, but with every opportunity, he proves that he’s more and more ready for the main event spot in NXT and ven the main roster. The company should play it slow, and develop him until he is truly ready. If they ever wanted a true ‘Battle of the Behemoths’, than Sullivan versus Strowman would be a great way to do it.

2 Poorly used – Velveteen Dream

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The Velveteen Dream is one of the best characters in wrestling today and he’s a perfect example of what happens when you completely throw yourself into a character. At just 24 years of age, he has plenty of time ahead of him to develop, and that time will no doubt include a run at the top of NXT. Once that’s done, he’ll be headed to the main roster, where he’s reportedly very highly regarded but we’ve seen the way Vince McMahon has dealt with these kind of performers before.

Sure, there hasn’t been anyone quite like The Dream in WWE before, but McMahon never treats anyone with this type of character as a serious competitor. Although he may become a valuable mid-card star, there’s absolutely no way that Vince McMahon will have him as his top star on RAW or SmackDown, unfortunately.

We all love the character, because it’s entertaining, flamboyant and just great to watch, which is what wrestling is all about. Unfortunately, McMahon doesn’t always get it right these days, and this is one that he’s likely going to get very, very wrong. While there’s nothing wrong with holding the Intercontinental or United States Title, it’s clear that VD deserves more.

1 Champion – EC3

via spaziowrestling.it

Much like the new RAW superstar Drew McIntyre, EC3 once worked for WWE. When he was let go, he went out to the independent scene, TNA/Impact to be specific, and he completely reinvented himself. Now that he’s back in NXT, he looks ready to finally embark on a true main event run, which should no doubt culminate in him holding either the WWE or Universal Championship at some stage.

He’s very new into NXT and with so many stars currently on the brand, his rise to the top isn’t going to be easy. It isn’t going to be quick either, so we won’t see EC3 on the main roster until 2019 at the earliest. Even though he isn’t one of the best wrestlers in the company, he’s a fantastic character with a great look and he can deliver good matches. He’s perfect for the main event of either RAW or SmackDown Live.

EC3 is currently on a mission to turn NXT into NX3, but when that is done, he’ll no doubt be main roster bound. Although there’s plenty of talent on RAW and SmackDown, EC3 is exactly what the WWE look for in a top star, whether it be as a heel or face. This time around, there’ll be no denying the former Derrick Bateman his main event spot in the WWE.