The NXT brand has been around for almost a decade now with plenty memorable moments. Fans think of the best memories of names like Finn Balor, Bayley, Asuka and Adam Cole all thriving as top stars. The hit list of success stories and great matches from WWE’s third brand helped make it something special to have a long run still going today.
However, any show to stick around that long will have some controversial moments taking place for better or worse. Even NXT has some overlooked instances of controversy throughout the years. Fans have forgotten just what went down to provide such a scenario. Not everything involved was bad, but they sure showed that NXT could provide some controversy.
10 Keith Lee Vacating North American Championship
The North American Championship has had its fair share of ups and downs since NXT introduced it as a mid-card title. Keith Lee beating Roderick Strong to win his first WWE title was a great moment, but the reign ended in controversial fashion.
WWE booked a winner take all match between Lee and NXT Champion Adam Cole. The win for Lee saw him becoming a double champion, but NXT would have him vacate the North American Championship. It made no sense to book a winner-take-all match if Lee was just going to vacate the lesser belt.
9 Asuka Ending Bayley's Reign
The crowd reaction of Asuka making Bayley submit to win the NXT Women’s Championship featured everyone gasping or stunned silent. Asuka did have the credibility, but she was still new into her NXT run when challenging the top star.
Bayley was the face of the NXT women’s division after her fellow Four Horsemen superstars Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks moved to the main roster. The passing of the torch came faster than the audience expected for Asuka to take over the title scene.
8 Matt Riddle Vs Kassius Ohno Squash Match
NXT TakeOver specials are known for having strong match quality and talents being used to their full potential. That made it more shocking and controversial when Kassius Ohno was squashed by Matt Riddle at TakeOver: War Games 2018.
Ohno re-signed with WWE to following a strong run on the independent circuit, but WWE still wasn’t high on him. Riddle beat Ohno within six seconds for the shortest match to ever take place on a TakeOver special.
7 Sami Callihan's Hacker Segments
The NXT run of Sami Callihan as Solomon Crowe struggled to make him credible in the bigger picture. Crowe had one of the more unique gimmicks in NXT that received a polarizing reaction from fans when he was a hacker.
The segment of Crowe being revealed behind the mysterious vignettes seemed like the start of a push, but fans were more confused than anything else. Crowe lost his spot on the show after a few months and requested his release to leave NXT down the road.
6 BullFit Gimmick Change
The backstage segments and vignettes of Bull Dempsey making a change provided controversy and second-hand embarrassment. NXT tried to make Dempsey a tougher dominant character, but his loss to Baron Corbin hurt his momentum.
The gimmick change to the BullFit character basically mocked his weight and tried to turn it into a comedic face run. Dempsey couldn’t make it work and any credibility from his prior character was gone. The release from NXT saw Bull struggling to get any attention from other promotions.
5 Eva Marie's Push
WWE sending Eva Marie back to NXT to improve her in-ring skills and get a noteworthy push made her the most hated figure by the fans. Eva started to score wins over fan favorites like Carmella to double down on her heel heat.
There was even a point where Marie won enough matches to challenge Bayley for the NXT Women’s Championship. Fans were terrified of the potential title win for Eva, but NXT played with their emotions as Marie was just getting experience for the main roster.
4 Hideo Itami's Mystery Attacker
The signing of Hideo Itami was a massive get for NXT when Triple H made it clear he wanted top talents. Itami was pushed as hard as Finn Balor when the two joined NXT, but their WWE careers went in opposite directions.
An injury ruined Hideo’s momentum, but NXT wrote him off with someone attacking him in the parking lot before a show. The hope of paying that off was dropped when Itami suffered setbacks in his recovery and fans would never get a reveal to the controversial idea.
3 Carmella Staying Without Enzo & Cass
The trio of Big Cass, Enzo Amore and Carmella felt perfect together when the fans loved their work. Carmella was both managing the popular tag team in NXT and working singles matches on her own in the women’s division.
Many NXT fans were upset when Carmella stayed back to split up from Enzo and Cass on the main roster. Triple H was in the right since he saw more potential in Carmella on her own. The long game would see Carmella becoming significantly more successful on her own as the other two flopped.
2 JBL Replacing Dusty Rhodes
One of the few instances of the main roster storylines impacting NXT featured Dusty Rhodes losing his position as NXT General Manager. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon feuding with the Rhodes family led to Dusty being removed from Triple H’s brand.
JBL would be the heel personality to replace Rhodes since it resulted in even more heat. NXT fans lost a favorite due to the main roster aftermath, but William Regal eventually replaced JBL to hold down the spot in the long term.
1 Demon King's Only Loss
The Demon King persona of Finn Balor became the hottest attraction for NXT. Balor would rock the body paint for his biggest matches on the TakeOver special where he always won. The NXT Championship loss to Samoa Joe came on a house show without the Demon King persona in play for Balor.
That made it more controversial when NXT had Finn lose a match with the Demon King paint at TakeOver: The End. Not even the main roster appearances of the alter ego led to losses as WWE wanted to protect it. Balor’s only loss with the Demon King came against Joe in a match he didn’t need to have since the title change came off perfectly.