What Did They Look Like In NXT?

When All Elite Wrestling opened its doors for business in 2019, the company recruited wrestlers from all over the globe. Most of them came from the independent circuit, and their roster comprises former members of the WWE locker room as well.

Former WWE Superstars like Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, and Jon Moxley were the first to sign with the new promotion and helped put the company on the map. NXT stars like The Undisputed Era, Keith Lee, and Andrade are also part of the current AEW roster. With that said, let's take a look at ten current AEW wrestlers and what they looked like during their time in NXT.

10 Luchasaurus

Former AEW World Tag Team Champion and member of the Jurassic Express tag team, Luchasaurus, has competed in NXT between 2012 and 2014, during the initial years of the black & gold brand.

He worked under the name Judas Devlin and competed in only a handful of matches between 2012 and 2013 and has won only one match, out of the ten matches, he competed for NXT, with his only win coming against a wrestler named Denton Blackwell. He signed with AEW in 2019 and quickly went on to become a key player in their weekly shows.

9 Miro

Miro worked under the name Alexander Rusev throughout his time in NXT between 2012 and 2014. He didn't win any championship gold during his NXT run, but he became a 3-time United States Champion on the WWE main roster.

He got released from his WWE contract in April 2020 as part of the budget cuts, and The Bulgarian Brute went on to sign with All Elite Wrestling and made his debut in September 2020, where he went on to become a 1-time TNT Champion so far.

8 Lance Archer

Current AEW star Lance Archer didn't work in NXT during his time in WWE but competed in its previous version Florida Championship Wrestling. He competed under the name Vance Archer in FCW between 2009 and 2010, and also spent a brief time on the main roster until his release in November 2010.

He signed a multi-year deal with All Elite Wrestling in February 2020 and is continuing to perform for the promotion, and had his big moment in the company when he defeated Jon Moxley on the July 21, 2021, episode of Dynamite to win the IWGP United States Championship.

7 Matt Sydal

Similar to Lance Archer, Matt Sydal also never competed in NXT but performed in the brand's previous version in FCW, under the name Evan Bourne for a brief period in 2008. He faced wrestlers like Dolph Ziggler, and Tyson Kidd during his time in FCW before he got called up to the main roster.

He had a lackluster run on the main event as a singles performer but went on to enjoy some success when he teamed with Kofi Kingston as Air Boom and went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championships. WWE released Sydal from his contract in 2014, and he went back to the independent circuit before he made his debut for the new promotion AEW in 2020.

6 Shawn Spears

Shawn Spears is well-known among the WWE fans for his time as "The Perfect 10" Tye Dillinger in NXT and the main roster between 2013 and 2019. He became the talk of the industry for a brief time when the fans started advocating for him to receive a singles push in WWE, but the company gave no heed to such requests, and he ended up asking for his release from WWE in 2019.

Following the exit, he returned to the independent circuit, and also signed with All Elite Wrestling in the same year, and continues to perform for the new promotion to this day.

5 Jon Moxley

Jon Moxley's time in NXT began in 2012 after WWE rebranded FCW into the new black & gold brand, where he went on to team with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to form The Shield. He had a great run on the main roster by going on to win the WWE Championship and also going on to become a grand slam champion in the company.

He left the company on his own terms in 2019 and signed with All Elite Wrestling the same year, where he would go on to become the AEW World Heavyweight Champion, and is also the current reigning Interim AEW World Champion.

4 Bryan Danielson

Bryan Danielson didn't compete in the old format of NXT as part of the first season, with The Miz as his pro. While he didn't win the first season of NXT, he did go on to make his main roster debut as part of The Nexus faction alongside his fellow NXT rookies.

After having a historic run with WWE, including winning five world championships, he left the company on good terms to sign with All Elite Wrestling in 2021, where he continues to perform to this date.

3 Athena

Former WWE superstar Ember Moon currently works under the name Athena for All Elite Wrestling. She made her debut for the company in May 2022. She competed in NXT between 2015 and 2018 and went on to win the NXT Women's Championship in her first run and also returned to the brand in her final days with WWE between 2020 and 2021, during which she went on to win the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship with Shotzi Blackheart.

She signed with AEW after she got released from her WWE contract as part of the budget cuts, and she will look to achieve more success in her new venture in the coming days.

2 Ruby Soho

Current AEW star Ruby Soho is a very familiar name among WWE fans owing to her time in the promotion under the name Ruby Riott between 2016 and 2021.

She competed in NXT between 2016 and 2017, where she formed a team with Liv Morgan and Sara Logan to form The Riott Squad, and the group continued on the main roster as well. However, her main roster run turned out to be a disappointment, and she would soon find herself out of the company by 2021. She made her debut for AEW debut at the 2021 All Out PPV, and she continues to perform for Tony Khan's promotion, looking for new opportunities.

1 PAC

PAC worked in WWE between 2012 and 2018 under the name Neville and went on to win the NXT Championship and the NXT Tag Team Championship during his time with the brand. He then joined WWE's cruiserweight division and went on to win the Cruiserweight Championship as well.

He left WWE due to creative differences in 2018 and then signed with All Elite Wrestling in 2019, where he continues to perform to this day, and has also become the inaugural AEW All Atlantic Champion.