WWE NXT Prospects Destined Not to Make Main Roster

WWE NXT is touted as the home of the future, as the birthplace of the next generation of wrestling stars, but not every prospect toiling between the ropes at Full Sail University will be a part of that. The developmental brand also boasts also-rans and wrestlers missing key elements.

Mojo Rawley is among that less prestigious group, a man unable to progress much since making his debut. While fans have watched Sami Zayn grow into a top-tier performer and Jason Jordan continue to pick up the nuances of the mat game, Rawley and other struggling performers have done little to warrant call-ups.

Not every NXT competitor's journey will end up with a debut on Raw. Like CJ Parker before him, Rawley is among those who will find that the developmental brand is the peak of their WWE runs.

When scouring the roster for folks in that category, one needs to consider their current skills as well as what they project to be. Their gimmicks, ages and how WWE has booked them so far are also indications of who is sure to go no higher than NXT.

Prospect age, height and weight courtesy of WWE.com and CageMatch.net where available.

Honorable Mention

• Murphy (26 years old, 5'11'', 227 lbs)
• Sawyer Fulton (6'8'', 285 lbs)
• Aiden English (27 years old, 6'3'', 215 lbs)

For a variety of reasons, these three wrestlers have a slightly better shot at promotion than the five NXTers who made the list proper.

Murphy's build and power put him a touch above his tag team partner in terms of potential, although Blake is the better in-ring performer at the moment. The Australian's mic skills are minimal, and he hasn't displayed the kind of intensity that the WWE stage requires.

Still, like English, he's young and could develop.

English's strength is his acting. He has a theater background which shows in his stage presence and delivery. That presence has yet to translate to the ring, though. Other than a solid performance against Sheamus last March, he doesn't own a match that stands out at all.

The Vaudevillains gimmick ups his chances of promotion, but by how much?

Officials kept English and Simon Gotch on the sidelines for weeks, not showcasing their team much at all. Only now is the duo gaining some steam again. Without a jump in the level of his ring skills, English will find it hard to ride that momentum onto the main roster.

Fulton, on the other hand, would kill for any kind of momentum.

NXT has made him and Angelo Dawkins the cellar dwellers of the tag team division. They rarely win. They rarely even put up much of a fight.

That's a bad sign, as is Fulton's lack of a character. 

He's big, intense and strong, though. That's enough to not quite give up on him yet.

Angelo Dawkins

• Age: 25 
• Height/Weight: 6'5'', 282 lbs

Angelo Dawkins is a solid athlete with a solid look. He doesn't do anything that jumps out at you, though. Unlike a guy like Neville, he doesn't generate a ton of wows with his offense.

It's no surprise then that WWE has booked him as a stepping stone for other NXT prospects. He's the faceless foe who is rolled over by bigger stars. He's had 14 matches on NXT, and a look at CageMatch.net reveals that he's won exactly zero of those.

That's far from a sign that the company wants to elevate him to the main roster at some point.

Still, he's young and has promising physical gifts. That will keep him around the NXT level for a good while, but a lack of discernible character holds him back from moving to Raw and SmackDown.

Dawkins has gone through a few transformations, including a goofy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-like look. None of it has made much of an impression. Dawkins is still a face in the crowd.

Blake

• Height/Weight: 6'1'', 240 lbs

Smoother, more well-rounded and more charismatic in the ring than his tag team partner, Blake still has less of a shot than Murphy of making WWE's main roster.

He's not as big as his brother-in-arms. He doesn't have a ton of "it" factor, either.

Blake is the kind of solid hand a booker can depend on when rounding out the card. He's not electric enough as a performer or memorable enough as a personality to be much more than that. That's been evident with his and Murphy's underwhelming run as tag champs.

This reign has been their chance to impress, which they haven't done nearly enough.

In the ring, they haven't produced anything of the standout variety. As heels, they have been mildly grating at best.

NXT is too competitive for a decent wrestler like Blake to ascend the ladder. The NXT tag team title is the only WWE gold he's going to get his hands on.

Dash Wilder

• Age: 28
• Height/Weight: 5'9'', 207 lbs

In the Territory Era, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson would have made a killing as a hard-nosed tag team somewhere. It's harder to imagine big success for the North Carolina native in today's WWE.

A number of things are against him. He's far from the ideal size. He hasn't shown himself to be a quality talker. He tends to fade into the background in matches as other wrestlers stand out.

Dawson has a bigger presence than him, his grittiness popping onscreen. That's leaves Wilder's partner with a far better shot of moving upward. Wilder himself has a steep climb ahead of him.

And it's clear that WWE has little faith in him at this point. He and Dawson rarely appear on TV, and the duo has yet to notch a televised victory.

Marcus Louis

• Height/Weight: 6'4'', 244 lbs

Hampered by a poor-fitting gimmick, Marcus Louis finds himself with a deep hole to climb out of before he can claim any momentum for himself.

A strong, fierce Frenchman eventually morphed into a deranged wild man. It's a gimmick that others from The Missing Link to Abdullah the Butcher have had. Unfortunately for Louis, it's not suited for him. His acting range doesn't allow him to pull this act off convincingly. 

He's good enough in the ring to make one take notice, but several levels below guys like Finn Balor, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze. 

It's hard to appreciate his dependable in-ring skills, though, when he's asked to either play a goofy, wild-eyed maniac or a generic foreign heel. WWE has made it clear that it doesn't have big plans for Louis either way. He's been booked like a foe who's only mildly difficult to overcome.

Mojo Rawley

• Age: 29
• Height/Weight: 6'3'', 279 lbs

If there were an NFL-style combine at NXT, Mojo Rawley would have WWE scouts salivating.

His verticality, explosiveness, build and power all scream "wrestling star." Unfortunately, he's been unable to build on those physical gifts. He's still a raw, one-dimensional performer, just like he was during his debut.

Xavier Woods made his way to the main roster by adapting. He developed his verbal skills and refined his character. The same is true for both Adam Rose and Bo Dallas. Rawley, meanwhile, is still a car stuck in first gear.

He can do intense, and that's all. His high-energy act is hampered by a limited move set and a goofiness that won't appeal to many WWE fans. 

Rawley has not only not improved as an in-ring performer, but he's regressed. He's lately been sillier, emulating Too Cool rather than developing into a more formidable force. 

WWE seems to have cooled on Rawley as well. After tearing up the roster early on, he started being on the wrong side of squash matches. He's now paired with Zack Ryder, a partnership that gives him a chance to prove that he's not a bust.