WWE's List Of Targeted Talent For NXT's Debut Was Stacked
A wishlist of wrestlers that Dusty Rhodes and his team wanted for day one of NXT has been doing the rounds, and it is pretty incredible.
NXT may still be referred to as WWE's developmental brand but it has become so much more than that. It is now effectively a third brand alongside Raw and SmackDown Live rather than one a level below it. That said, it still prepares Superstars for life on the main roster which has been a tremendous success. The majority of wrestlers on Monday and Tuesday nights have previously passed through NXT.
The brand has certainly become a big deal since it was first created, in its current form at least, six years ago, and no one could have envisioned what it would become. Signing huge stars such as Shinsuke Nakamura, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe and putting on some of the best matches in WWE in recent years. Some people behind the scenes always had big ambitions for NXT though.
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In 2012, Rob Naylor, the right-hand man to Dusty Rhodes at the time, put together a list of 20 wrestlers that he and The American Dream thought Triple H should sign. What Culture recently detailed the list in its entirety and it is pretty incredible. Some wrestlers on there ended up at NXT, some have still managed to evade The Game, and the inclusion of some entries on there is just downright baffling.
You can hear about the whole list in the video above, but we have cherry picked some of the best names. El Generico, aka Sami Zayn, was at the very top of the list. Just two years later he would be NXT Champion. Kenny Omega was always on the list, but to this day The Cleaner is still put off by WWE following his time in their developmental system before NXT existed. The recently signed Ricochet is also included, so clearly, they have been chasing the high flier for a while.
Dusty Rhodes and his team are always credited with playing a key part in the development of NXT and it seems as if that work continues on despite the fact that the WWE Hall Of Famer has passed away. Wrestlers from that list are still being signed today, and the majority of those who still haven't arrived at Full Sail have only improved since the list was put together in 2012.
