Even before it became the “third brand” of WWE, the developmental promotion NXT was extremely influential on mainstream pro wrestling, especially when it came to the women’s division. Thanks to wrestlers like Paige, Emma, Sasha Banks, and Bayley, WWE as well as wrestling fans began to take women’s wrestling more seriously, forcing the company to drop the “Divas” branding of its female talent.
There have been lots of great female stars in NXT like Asuka, Rhea Ripley, and Shayna Baszler, but there have also been a few great stars who slipped through the cracks of fans’ memories. Here are ten such wrestlers who you may not remember wrestled for NXT.
10 Leva Bates
Nowadays, she’s one of the two wrestlers nicknamed The Librarian in AEW, but before that, Leva Bates was a cult hero in NXT. She was brought in as a jobber to lose to Carmella in an early match and was nicknamed Blue Pants by Colin Cassady because of her Kitty Pryde cosplay gear.
However, the Full Sail University crowd got behind ol’ Blue Pants and rooted for her enough for Bates to become a regular fixture on the show. Eventually, Blue Pants' stint on NXT would come to an end in 2015.
9 Sage Beckett
Even extremely savvy wrestling fans may not have known about Sage Beckett’s career prior to her sting NXT and appearance in the first Mae Young Classic. Before that, Beckett was best known as Rosie Lottalove in TNA.
Beckett infamously severely injured Daffney in a dark match and was positioned as a babyface rival to The Beautiful People before leaving the company a couple of months later. She would then temporarily retire, lose 130 pounds, and sign with NXT for about a year.
8 Raquel Diaz
The daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero, Raquel Diaz wrestled for WWE’s previous developmental promotion, Florida Championship Wrestling, before it was shuttered and all the FCW talent was moved to NXT in 2012.
Diaz can be seen in early episodes of the Full Sail era of NXT, her gimmick being that of a heel devoted to humiliating opponents she deemed uglier than her. Diaz was released a couple of months into that run in 2012, but she returned in 2013. However, Diaz would get released the following year without showing up on NXT television.
7 Zeda Zhang
With a background in MMA, Zhang debuted for NXT wrestling house shows in 2017 shortly before competing in the first Mae Young classic. She would go on to have a couple more televised matches before being released in 2018, but that wouldn’t be the end of Zhang’s wrestling career.
Zhang debuted on the indies as Zeda Zhang and competed in Queens of Combat and China’s Middle Kingdom Wrestling, eventually becoming the first female wrestler to sign with Major League Wrestling.
6 Caylee Turner
A contestant on Tough Enough in the same season as Naomi, Matt Cross, and Marty “The Moth” Martinez, Caylee Turner signed to WWE in 2010, a few years after her older sister, Alicia Fox.
Turner's time with NXT is a curious one. She was the final FCW Divas Champion, but got released in 2012 during the transition from FCW to NXT, but not before filming some matches for the new developmental show that aired after her release.
5 Ivelisse Vélez
Another contestant in the same season of Tough Enough as Caylee Turner, Ivelisse Vélez wrestled for FCW under the ring name of Sofia Cortez and in a few early episodes of Full Sail NXT before her release in 2012.
After some time on the indies and some try-out matches with TNA, Ivelisse would establish herself as a fan favorite through some landmark work on Lucha Underground. This run would reduce her time in WWE developmental to a mere footnote.
4 Sarah Logan
Sarah Logan is one of those wrestlers who didn’t spend much time on NXT television before moving up to the main roster. Formerly known as Crazy Mary Dobson on the indies, Logan would be used as a jobber in televised NXT matches through 2015 and 2016. She then signed a developmental contract.
From there, Logan would be eliminated from the first round of the inaugural Mae Young Classic and wrestle a couple of matches on NXT before suddenly debuting on SmackDown as part of the stable Riott Squad.
3 Audrey Marie
Signing to WWE in 2011, Audrey Marie was a staple in FCW’s women’s division, where she managed to beat Aksana for the FCW Divas Championship. She ended up not getting released in the transition to NXT, and stuck around until her release in 2013.
Marie can be seen as a vanilla babyface in the early episodes of NXT. She also got into a forgotten feud with Sasha Banks that involved Marie sending Banks letters as a “secret admirer.”
2 Kimber Lee
Another indie standout, Kimber Lee wrestled for Shimmer, Shine, Combat Zone Wrestling, and Chikara before signing with WWE in 2016. Renamed Abbey Laith, she made a strong showing in the first Mae Young Classic, scoring an upset win over Jazzy Gabert. Lee made it to the quarter-finals, where she was knocked out of the tournament by Mercedes Martinez.
Lee's last NXT television appearance would be in a battle royal before being released in 2018.
1 Eva Marie
Eva Marie was introduced on WWE television as a cast member of the E! reality show Total Divas despite only having a few weeks of wrestling training. Eventually, Marie would be moved to NXT, where she would not be well received by fans.
NXT would play into this built-in bias by placing Eva Marie in a title feud with Bayley. This was easily the best use of Marie during her time in the company -- a “WWE Diva” who was being set up for success by management, at the expense of the promotion’s heroic babyface.