10 Bizarre WWE NXT Feuds Fans Don’t Remember

It is hard to believe that NXT has already been around for over a decade under many different incarnations. It has long been one of the most beloved shows in all of wrestling, even now that it is a much more goofy version of itself.

Some of the best feuds in WWE’s recent history have occurred in NXT, with some rivalries like Kevin Owens’ and Sami Zayn’s even bleeding into the main roster. There are also a lot of forgetful feuds with wrestlers who either did not make it or would go on to do much better things within the company.

10 Shirai And Stark's Awkward Tag Team

Io Shirai And Zoey Stark Vs. The Way

Io Shirai and Zoey Stark NXT Tag Team Champions

Stark And Shirai Defeated The Way For The NXT Tag Team Championships In May 2021
They Lost The Titles To Toxic Attraction At Halloween Havoc 2021, After An 111-Day Reign

During the summer of 2021, black and gold NXT was going through its dying stages and was not putting out its best content. The women’s division was always a saving grace for the show, but the tag team titles were never handled correctly.

Even The Way, who were very entertaining as a featured heel faction, could not get the titles over. One of the stranger feuds that showcased this was when The Way defended their titles against Zoey Stark and Io Shirai, who had no chemistry together.

Stark and Shirai appeared in backstage vignettes together trying to bond, including going to a sushi restaurant in an awful skit that showcased their anti-chemistry. It was not a good team or feud in general, which showed how badly NXT was in need of a new creative direction.

9 Enzo Amore Gets A Haircut

Enzo Amore Vs. Sylvester Lefort

Enzo Amore And Sylvestor Lefort Feuded Throughout The Autumn Of 2014
The Pair Had A Hair Vs. Hair Match At NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way

One of the more unlikely success stories in NXT’s history was the scrappy Enzo Amore, who was utterly captivating to watch even if he was not good at all inside the ring. His partnership with Big Cass often over-delivered, but that did not stop the tandem from getting involved in some rather frivolous feuds.

Perhaps the worst of Enzo’s nonsense came in 2014 when he fought against Sylvester Lefort and his tag partner Marcus Louis after the French stars cut his hair. Amore and Lefort even had a TakeOver match together under the stipulation that the loser would receive a haircut, which may be a timeless wrestling trope but still a bit fatuous all the same.

8 Rhea Ripley Takes On The Robert Stone Brand

Rhea Ripley Vs. Robert Stone And Aliyah

Ripley Feuded With The Robert Stone Brand After Losing Her NXT Championship At WrestleMania 36
Robert Stone And Aliyah Would Be Joined By Mercedes Martinex Towards The End Of The Feud

Rhea Ripley is in the conversation for the best NXT project ever, as she has dominated wherever she has appeared in WWE. However, she did lose her way slightly after dropping the NXT Championship to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania, sticking around for too long on the black and gold brand instead of going to the main roster.

RELATED: 15 WWE Pictures Of Rhea Ripley Like You've Never Seen Her‘Mami’s’ feud with Robert Stone and his client Aliyah showed that she had lost some momentum, as she took both of them on in handicap action at the Great American Bash 2020, confidently defeating them. It was clearly an attempt to reheat Ripley, but it was far too silly and pointless, even when Mercedes Martinez came in to defend the ‘Robert Stone Brand,’ which was slightly better.

7 No Way Forward For Austin Aries

Austin Aries Vs. No Way Jose

Austin Aries Debuted In NXT As A Face In Early 2016
No Way Jose Would Arrive Shortly After, Beginning A Feud With A Heel Aries

After debuting to a lot of excitement in early 2016, Austin Aries sort of lost his way as a face, which led to him swiftly turning heel by the summer of that year. One of his first feuds as a bad guy was when he inexplicably targeted the fun-loving No Way Jose, leading to a match between the two happening at TakeOver: Brooklyn 2.

It was surreal seeing Jose show anger and want vengeance, which was a fundamental issue with the dancing character who could not be taken seriously. Aries defeated NWJ, with both going on to have fairly unremarkable WWE careers.

6 Index Has Competition

Dexter Lumis And Indie Hartwell Vs Duke Hudson and Persia Pirotta

InDex Had Been Established As A Relationship During The Black And Gold Era Of NXT
Hudson And Pirotta Were Introduced As Part Of The Transition To NXT 2.0

In the midst of NXT's 2.0 repackaging in 2021, a lot of new characters were brought on screen without much going for them except unique, sometimes cartoonish personas. Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis were a part of the previous roster bleeding into the new program, with their relationship being an appropriate part of the colorful new NXT.

Indi was joined by her best friend from home, Persia Pirotta, who she at first teamed with and then feuded against alongside their respective boyfriends, Dexter Lumis and Duke Hudson. It was a strange development that eventually led nowhere, as Persia would be released by WWE, continuing her career as Steph De Lander.

5 Xia Li Channels Her Darkside

Tian Sha Vs Katana Chance And Kayden Carter

In Late 2020, Xia Li Became Involved With Tian Sha
The Vaguely Supernatural Faction Was Led By Mei Ying

As previously mentioned, NXT's women's division has always been a high point within WWE, with a number of talents going on to have massive success on the main roster. When Tian Sha first appeared at the start of 2021, it was not at all what fans would usually expect from the brand, which had long prioritized in-ring work.

RELATED: NXT's Tian Sha Might Be The Most Forgettable Stable EverXia Li was joined by a dark figure said to be her leader, a woman imbued with the spirit of a dragon from centuries ago, Mei Ying. Li most notably feuded with the ever-present team of Kayden Carter and Katana Chance, whilst Ying watched on until the stable which included Boa was eventually dropped.

4 Elias Drifts Away From NXT

Kassius Ohno Vs. Elias

Elias Had Been A Frequent Part Of NXT Since Late 2015
Kassius Ohno Re-debuted In January 2017

During early 2017 NXT's talented roster continued to grow, which led to a lot of wrestlers in need of a call-up to the main roster. Elias was one such character that had done all he could on the developmental brand, which led to a hurriedly booked loser leaves NXT match with Kasisuis Ohno.

Their animosities to that point were nowhere near severe enough to warrant such a stipulation, but Ohno won the match as a transparent way to write 'The Drifter' of NXT programming. Ohno would stick around on NXT for a while as a midcard gatekeeper, helping to bring along the up-and-coming talent.

3 Blue Pants Mania

The Vaudevillains Vs Blake and Murphy

Blake And Murphy And The Vaudevillains Both Held The NXT Tag Team Championships In 2015
Blue Pants Had Mostly Been Used As An Enhancement Talent During Her Run IN NXT

The NXT tag division was on fire during 2015, as great teams like American Alpha and The Revival were taking form and the championships were in good hands. The Vaudevillains and the team of Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy fought over the titles for most of the year, but their match at TakeOver Brooklyn had another element going into it.

Blue Pants (also known as Leva Bates) had regularly been used in NXT as an enhancement talent to that point, but fans had taken a shine to her. She appeared in Brooklyn to help The Vaudevillains capture the NXT Tag Team Championships by making sure Alexa Bliss did not interfere on behalf of Blake and Murphy.

2 Apollo Crews Can See The Future

Apollo Crews Vs. Grayson Waller

Apollo Crews First Appeared In NXT In 2015, Joining The Main Roster In 2016
Crews Returned To NXT During The Summer Of 2022
Waller Had Established Himself As A Big Part of NXT 2.0

After his ill-fated Intercontinental Championship reign as a supposed member of Nigerian royalty, Apollo Crews came back down to NXT to challenge Bron Breakker in 2022. After he lost his feud against Bron, Apollo turned his apparent powers as a clairvoyant on the cocky young upstart, Grayson Waller.

Waller poked Crews in the eye, which would cause him to bleed from it in the ensuing weeks, leading to a casket match between the two at Halloween Havoc 2022. The whole feud was bizarre, especially Apollo's prescient gifts being used as a character detail, as someone being able to see the future is not a regular occurrence even in the wacky world of NXT.

1 Battle Of The Squashes

Bull Dempsey Vs Baron Corbin

Dempsey And Corbin Entered A Series Of Squash Matches In Parallel To Each other Throughout 2014
This Led To A Feud Between The Two Based On How Easily They Could Put Away Their Opponents

Throughout 2014, two monster wrestlers went on undefeated streaks in NXT as Bull Dempsey and Baron Corbin looked to show their dominance on the brand. They went back and forth, trying to defeat their opponents in quicker times than the other, leading to a much-anticipated match between the two on NXT television in early 2015.

Corbin won the match, ending Dempsey's undefeated streak in what was a satisfying conclusion to the rivalry based on their unique competition. Baron would go on to have a much more notable WWE career, whereas Bull would leave the company a year later after failing to break out as a singles star.