As a show, NXT (especially post-competition) became the WWE's Ensemble Dark Horse of the televised shows. Widely considered to be the best thing about WWE in The New '10s, its less bloated and repetitive format compared to the main WWE roster is seen as a refreshment from what many fans saw as a rotting period for WWE otherwise. In particular, its Women division is one for the show as a whole, as it is often considered to produce the match of the night and portrays women's wrestling in a way that hasn't been seen in WWE before.
With all of the above, it comes to no surprise, then, that the show gave birth to many beloved stars.
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Seasons 1- 5
- The first season had some guy named Daniel Bryan. Suffice to say that naming all of his accolades, achievements and fan reactions post-NXT would require a page of its own.
- On a more minor scale, Justin Gabriel was also quite popular on the show for his high-flying ability and good looks.
- Kaval, during the second season. He won the competition because WWE fans kept voting for him over the company's preferred picks, and subsequently the competition rules were rewritten to remove any input from the fans on the outcome.
- A.J. Lee started as a losing entrant on Season 3 (which was fan voted), but after Daniel Bryan shot her into the main event became wildly popular. Once the creative team recognized that, she was given a General Manager role on Raw, followed by winning the WWE Divas' Title
soon after.- Her former Chick Busters partner Kaitlyn as well. Despite being the least trained and least capable wrestler, it showing, and admitting it, she bagged the most votes to win Season 3 and proved popular enough with fans to push her for the Divas' Championship against Eve.
- Also on the third season, Naomi was an unknown entity, who had only started wrestling at FCW earlier that year (AJ Lee had a few years of indie experience and had previously been about to debut on Smackdown, so she was already the favorite to win). Her first episode saw her winning both the challenges and demonstrating some flair in the ring, prompting Diva Dirt to name her a favorite to win as well. Sadly she was the runner up, but she remained popular with Diva fans (and she was one of the few Total Divas cast members to never get outright hate from smarks). When she finally won a title in 2017, the live crowd immediately chanted "you deserve it!"
NXT 1.0/Black and Gold
When the show dropped the competition aspect and became more storyline based, a few wrestling fans started seeing it as an undiscovered gem that sadly wasn't seen by enough people. Between this and the aforementioned tendency of NXT debuts to fall flat, now when rumors begin that a NXT superstar is being moved to the main show, the reactions have changed from anticipation to dread.
- A lot of the NXT cult success is credited to the storyline of Maxine, Johnny Curtis, and Derrick Bateman, and expressed genuine frustration and regret when Maxine announced she asked to leave the company.
- Since the NXT/FCW merge, one person has managed to completely overshadow everyone on the roster in terms of popularity: Bray Wyatt, formerly Husky Harris. He was almost universally considered to be one of the best things on it, before he was called up to the main WWE roster & did it again. He's overall considered to be one of the most creative minds in the business, and his tragic passing was very upsetting.
- Sami Zayn and Paige are considered this as well. Especially Paige, who went on to win the Divas Championship from A.J. Lee. It was commented at least once that there were more signs for Paige in the crowd than anyone else, male or female.
- Kassius Ohno also had this before he was released. It hasn't come close to Zayn's through. After his return, the hype has come back with a vengeance.
- Enzo Amore's hammy, hyperactive Miles Gloriosus gimmick made him a fan favorite, which is why he eventually made a face turn. It also rubbed off on Colin Cassady.
- Despite being a heel, vain male model Tyler Breeze got really over with the crowd in no part due to his ridiculous gimmick and just how perfectly he plays it.
- Baron Corbin had this treatment for some time after he squashed CJ Parker at NXT Takeover 2. It also helps that his finisher, the End of Days, looks awesome. However, it faded with time, and he is more of a Base-Breaking Character now, at one point bordering on an outright Scrappy prior to his Face–Heel Turn and facing competitive opponents which allowed him to actually demonstrate and improve his ring work.
- When footage from a promo class leaked online, several promos saw developmental Diva Alexa Bliss playing the girlfriend of redneck Scott Dawson. She got lots of praise from fans, who eagerly awaited her debut. Although she had a different gimmick when she did debut, fans still remembered her and immediately chanted "let's go Bliss!"
- The "Four Horsewomen" of NXT, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Becky Lynch. They were seen as four of the best female wrestlers in recent WWE and were a glimmer of hope in a wasteland of a women's division on the main roster. Charlotte faced a ton of backlash once she moved up to the main roster, but the other three are still given nothing but praise for their work.
- "Blue Pants," AKA Leva Bates, hasn't appeared very much, yet she was one of the most over wrestlers on the roster. It helps that for both of her initial appearances, her opponent was a-still-in-Scrappydom-Carmella, and being one of the more well-known "Local Talents" on NXT.
- While his wrestling work garnered mixed reactions, Corey Graves' work as a commentator has been very well received by fans.
- Out of all the main roster additions to NXT, no one expected Yoshi Tatsu to become one. Despite him being primarily used as a Jobber, he managed to get a lot of crowd reactions, in particular during a battle royal, where he was cheered over fellow darkhorses such as the aforementioned Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze.
- Simon Gotch has a huge fan following despite being the less talkative member of the Vaudevillains, mainly because of his extremely funny Twitter account.
- Despite being released during the early days of retooled NXT, Nick Rogers is very much beloved by smarks, partly because, well, look at him◊. He has been nicknamed "Mr. Ready" (another nickname for him is simply "READY") for his perceived readiness for the main event, that was apparently wasted with his release.
- American Alpha in general, and especially Chad Gable, who smarks quickly started comparing to Kurt Angle, from the rapid improvement in mat skills to the hilarity of his promos. He gets cheers from just tagging into a match.
- No Way Jose has become quite popular with fans, despite a laughable name and Dance Battler gimmick that shouldn't exactly be exciting, given that many other wrestlers have had it before him and were either ignored or despised by fans. The man's sheer passion and charisma make it work, though.
- Tye Dillinger slid into this after re-emerging with his "Perfect 10" gimmick. It was likely supposed to be a heel gimmick that fans found cloying, and pretty sophomoric (perhaps by design)... yet the fans found it either endearing or amusing, which turned him full-on face after... whatever he'd been initially. By late 2016, he was so over that "TEN!" chants are popping up on WWE programs where he hasn't wrestled.
- Rich Swann has gone a long way from a jobber who was essentially designated to get other people over to a fan favorite over the course of the CWC tournament. His overall hilarity and a catchy theme earned him fan adoration and love. Rich's electic personality, athletism and knack for entertainment make him just the kind of a performer the WWE Universe sets their high standards for. WWE, seemingly picking up on his cult following, booked him into the first main event on the new Cruiserweight Division show, 205 Live, as the challenger to Brian Kendrick's WWE Cruiserweight Title. He won.
- Aliyah has a rather strong online following for someone who has only made minimal appearances on television, usually as a jobber when she does, and doesn't even have a defined character yet. Usually when Diva Dirt posts the spoilers from the NXT tapings, among the first comments will be asking if Aliyah has a match. Like Corbin above unfortunately, it faded with time, and once she was called up, she displayed very little promise, resulting in her being released not long after despite being in development for seven years.
- Kyle O'Reilly, in a stable full of Ensemble Darkhorses, no less, has become one due to his memetic facial expressions, over-the-top selling and overall sleaziness combined with a ruthless demeanor and top-notch workrate.
- Nikki Cross has garnered a huge following that greatly increased after splitting from Sanity, who have moved on to the main roster (already well-liked on their own). Much of the praise has gone to her strong dedication to her unhinged, psychotic character.
- Otis Dozovic instantly became a highlight of every match he was in. His very entertaining antics with Tucker Knight and overall hilariousness won over the audience. Where else can you see a 300-pound guy doing the Worm into an elbow drop?
- Cameron Grimes, with his larger-than-life personality and great technical skill, shot up to... the... MOON! among the NXT viewers, becoming the must-watch part of the show.
- While she was already popular before, Io Shirai became a massive favorite after her Heel–Face Turn resulting in her being presented as a more dangerous competitor with Hidden Depths.
- LA Knight very quickly became a fan-favorite due to his Awesome Ego and incredibly strong promo skills, which many consider to be a combination of Dwayne Johnson and Steve Austin.
NXT 2.0/White and Gold
- From the reboot, Bron Breakker quickly became this mainly due to his impressive ring work despite his inexperience as well as being related and bearing a resemblance to Scott Steiner, including having a very similar promo style.
- Even before his debut, Parker Bordeaux, later renamed Harland, gained a decent following due to Paul Heyman christening him as "The Next Brock Lesnar". It only made his release more shocking.
- Tony D'Angelo has become a new fan favorite due to his unabashedly stereotypical yet highly entertaining mafioso gimmick, funny vignettes that look like they were filmed in the style of The Sopranos and his good wrestling ability complimented by great character work.
- Grayson Waller shot up in the eyes of the people after ruthlessly assaulting and forcing Johnny Gargano out of NXT, earning himself some nuclear heat that made him a perfect Love to Hate character.
- Mandy Rose. Since her return on the July 14th edition of WWE NXT, she's been on an absolute roll. From her heel turn as of the 31st August edition of NXT to forming heel alpha bitch Power Trio Toxic Attraction with new arrivals Gigi Dolin (formerly known by her real name Priscilla Kelly) and Jacy Jayne, they've taken NXT by hook and crook as, at NXT Halloween Havoc, Jacy and Gigi took the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship from Io Shirai and fellow new arrival Zoey Stark and Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta in a Scareway to Hell ladder match, and Mandy finally won her first championship by beating Raquel Gonzalez for the NXT Women's Championship with some help from Raquel's former friend Dakota Kai.
- Carmelo Hayes has managed to become quite popular due to his Awesome Ego and wrestling skill that he manages to back up in spades, with some calling his runs with the NXT North American title better than the NXT title.
- Solo Sikoa already had a lot of intrigue due to him being the younger brother of The Usos, but he managed to impress more fans with his no-nonsense attitude and skill in the ring.
- The Creed Brothers managed to become very popular due to their incredibly impressive strength and their wrestling style being very similar to both The Road Warriors and the Steiner Brothers.
- Nikkita Lyons very quickly became a major favorite due to her attractiveness, all while being able to still kick a lot of ass.
- Roxanne Perez already was liked due to her previous association with Ring of Honor, but her wrestling ability despite her young age gained her even more fans, even to the extent that people wanted to see her win the Women's title as soon as possible. She finally did ending Mandy Rose's 413-day reign as NXT Women's Champion.
- Andre Chase become well liked after his Heel–Face Turn, thanks to his Large Ham moments and making the Chase University segments a must watch.
- Newcomer Sol Ruca quickly became a favorite for her extremely quick improvement in the ring (she had only been wrestling for three months as of this moment), and looking like a major star. Her finisher being one of the most unique on the roster helped as well, as when she debuted it, the crowd were in absolute shock.
- Once he decided to embark on a singles career of his own, Carmelo Hayes's partner Trick Williams exploded in popularity due to his rapidly improving in-ring work, charisma, and entrance theme leading to the crowd chanting "WHOOP THAT TRICK!"note . His popularity extended on SmackDown when he showed up to save Hayes from receiving a beatdown from Austin Theory and Grayson Waller after he (Hayes) defeated the former in a match.
- Since his debut at Halloween Havoc 2023, Lexis King has gained a loyal following, some of them from his previous tenure as Brian Pillman Jr. elsewhere, but many new people have also become his fans, with his opportunistic and Laughably Evil character becoming one of the fan favorites.
- Ever since returning from the disastrous Retribution stable, Dijak has gradually been regaining fan support on the NXT brand due to having several Match of the Year level battles with the likes of Ilja Dragunov, being a genuinely great wrestler for a big man, and his hilarious antics on Twitter.
- Oba Femi, despite being relatively new to the business, quickly gained a following for being a very believable monster heel at the young age of 22.
- Jev'on Evans already had a fanbase from his DEADLOCK days, but he quickly soared into popularity for being an incredible high-flyer.
