The Rock made his first-ever appearance in WWE NXT this week, where he shared his love for WWE and teased that his issues with Cody Rhodes aren\’t over yet. The Final Boss is hardly the first surprising name to have shown up in WWE\’s developmental brand:
CM Punk
CM Punk has been keeping a close eye on NXT since his return but competed for the brand in a dark match in 2012. In a meeting of the internet \’darlings\’, Punk teamed with Seth Rollins to defeat Kassius Ohno and Antonio Cesaro.
Chris Jericho
Appearing on the May 1, 2013, episode, Chris Jericho bested Bray Wyatt in the main event of WWE NXT. Wyatt would arrive on the main roster later that year and the pair would feud in 2014.
Sheamus
Already a former World Champion, Sheamus defeated Luke Harper in July 2013 during the Celtic Warrior\’s first-ever match in NXT. Nine months later, Sheamus returned to the brand to defeat Aiden English.
Cena made an appearance for NXT in 2023, but also appeared for the gold brand back years earlier. A segment with Enzo Amore and Big Cass ended with Cena delivering an AA to Damian Sandow, but as this was a dark segment, fans at home couldn\’t see John.
Team Hell No
After appearing on the game-show edition of NXT in 2010, Daniel Bryan returned to the gold brand alongside Kane on the November 28, 2012, episode. Team Hell No retained their tag titles on the night against Johnny Curtis and Michael McGillicutty.
Christian
Years before he was waging war on deceased fathers, Christian hosted a post-show edition of the peep-show after an October 2013 WWE NXT. This unlikely segment saw the unlikely guest of World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio and ended with Rusev standing tall over Del Rio.
Too Cool
The first-ever NXT TakeOver event saw Scotty 2 Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay surprise fans in tag-team competition. The pair challenged then-champions The Ascension but failed to capture the gold.
Batista
Batista\’s 2014 run didn\’t go as WWE planned as the fans rejected the Animal in favor of Daniel Bryan, ultimately turning Batista heel. That same year though, Batista won fans back after an NXT taping. After Bo Dallas suggested the pair team up as \’Bo-tista\’ the Animal rejected the idea with a Batista Bomb to the delight of the crowd.
