Published: 33 minutes ago by Jamie Toolan | Last Updated: 2 seconds ago by Jamie Toolan
Jamie has been covering the world of wrestling for four years and currently holds the position of Assistant Editor of WrestleTalk.com. During his time working for WrestleTalk.com he has written and published over 4,000 news and feature articles covering events and happenings from WWE, AEW, TNA and a variety of international and independent wrestling promotions.
WWE
Fans’ expectation of the stars on the WWE NXT roster is that they won’t be there that long, as the ultimate goal is a move to Raw or SmackDown.
This path is one that the majority of WWE’s top names of the past 15 years have followed, but not everyone will get the opportunity showcase their talents away from the Performance Center.
Here are the five longest tenured NXT stars, with analysis of each’s chances of making to Raw or SmackDown in the future.
Honorable mention: Noam Dar
If we’re counting WWE NXT UK, nobody has been on the current roster longer than Noam Dar.
Dar began his transition from the WWE cruiserweight division to the NXT UK brand in 2018 and has been competing in the developmental system ever since.
What disqualifies him from this list is that he did previously experience the WWE main roster between 2016-2018. Still only 33 years old, Dar may very well get back to main roster eventually, particularly if his exciting team with Romeo Moreno continues.
Nikkita Lyons
Nikkita Lyons’ first match in WWE came at the very end of 2021 on the now defunct 205 Live, before arriving in WWE NXT proper two months later. Lyons has remained on the brand ever since; although she now spends more time in Evolve as the brand’s Women’s Champion.
While Lyons has improved as a performer it’s hard to be too optimistic about an imminent main roster call-up given that she’s currently on a show placed below NXT in the WWE pecking order.
There were rumors a call-up could be coming earlier this year but False Finish later noted that it wasn’t something in WWE’s immediate plans, so this one’s not one to be too hopeful of before the end of the year.
Tony D’Angelo
Certainly the most high profile case on this list, when looking at accolades alone Tony D’Angelo has to rank in the all-time best NXT stars conversation.
The former “Don of NXT” has won everything available to him on the brand since debuting in October 2021, but is still waiting on a move to Raw or SmackDown unlike his NXT 2.0. contemporaries Trick Williams, Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes who all got their shot.
Based on what we saw on the October 6 WWE NXT it appears as if D’Angelo isn’t done chasing the NXT Title, but should he fail in that pursuit maybe he will finally get his opportunity to prove himself on main roster.
Brooks Jensen & Josh Briggs
While they’re no longer teammates, we’re lumping Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen in together as their most notable work on the brand came as a tandem, and, in all honesty they haven’t done a massive amount since their split in 2024.
Briggs first arrived on WWE TV in July 2021, with Jensen showing up in NXT two months later, but their future on the brand is unknown right now.
It has been six months since Briggs was last seen on NXT TV, while Jensen hasn’t been used on the brand in well over a year. Jensen, in fairness has been used consistently across NXT live events, dark matches, WWE Evolve and even WWE Main Event, but there’s no sign of a return to TV, much like Briggs.
Their best shot at main roster success would potentially be together as team once again, but despite WWE needing more tag teams, there isn’t much reason to be hopeful that it will happen.
Charlie Dempsey
Charlie Dempsey, initially named Bailey Matthews, first arrived on the scene in NXT UK in February 2021 before making the jump to NXT 2.0 the following August.
The second-generation star has been a fixture of the brand ever since, but appears to finally be on a path heading towards potential main roster success as a member of the BirthRight faction.
Being comprised of multi-generational stars, the group certainly has legs and could be used on main roster – where several more potential members await, Dempsey, perhaps more than any other on this list, has a reason to be hopeful of a future Raw or SmackDown move.
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