The high voltage, high-flying, charismatic, young blood who has conquered NXT and is now ready to fly all over the main roster, when the time comes. Adrian Neville made a splash onto the WWE scene the minute he signed on and debuted on NXT. Seeing as this blog is mainly for WWE, I won’t be covering Adrian Neville’s illustrious career outside of the WWE.
The Beginnings
Neville debuted on NXT back on a January 16 2013 NXT TV Taping against former WWE wrestler, Sakamoto. Quick note about 2013 NXT, the WWE Network was not around yet. The network didn’t drop until February 2014. NXT at the time was being shown on Hulu Plus. Any who, Neville made a strong debut dazzling the NXT crowd with his Corkscrew Shooting Star Press otherwise known as the Red Arrow.
From there Neville would team with another Brit, Oliver Grey, to compete in the inaugural NXT Tag Team Title Tournament. The two of these guys went on to defeat The Wyatt Family (Erick Rowan & Luke Harper) to be crowned the first ever NXT Tag Team Champions. Yes, The Wyatt Family ran amongst NXT before owning the main shows.
While holding these titles, Neville’s partner , Oliver Grey, would tear his ACL due to a Wyatt Family attack. This lead to Neville having to pick a new partner in, Bo Dallas. This was all before Bo would go on to win the NXT Title. Neville and Bo would end up losing the titles in a championship match against the Wyatt family. This loss would begin a subtle feud with Bo Dallas.
Adrian Neville went on to compete in a #1 Contenders NXT Title Battle Royal. He would make it to the final two participants with his former partner Bo Dallas. Bo eliminates Neville, leading Bo to beat Big E for the NXT Title. Yep, the New Day’s Big E used to be NXT Champion.
From losing the Battle Royal, Neville would continue his feud with The Wyatt Family. Neville in listed the help of Corey Graves, Former WWE Wrestler Kassius Ohno (Chris Hero), and former King of the Ring Winner William Regal. Insane right, current color commentator for NXT Corey Graves and current NXT General Manager William Regal teamed alongside Adrian Neville.
Neville and Graves would go on to win the NXT Tag Team Titles back from The Wyatt Family in June of 2013 making Neville a 2 Time NXT Tag Team Champ. The two would hold the titles until September 2013 when the Ascension would win them of the two. Neville and Graves would go on for a good feud until Corey Graves suffered one of few concussion that forced him into retirement.
NXT Championship Run
After the Corey Graves feud, Adrian Neville competed in a beat the clock challenge to become the #1 Contender for Bo Dallas’ NXT Title. Neville tied times with Sami Zayn. The two competed in a match for the #1 Contender spot with Neville coming away with the win. Neville would go on to have several matches with his former partner for the NXT title.
The first match for the NXT Title was won by Adrian Neville, but by count out. Bo retained his title, but would have to defend his title in a lumberjack match. Bo was able to pull out the win after Tyler Breeze attacks Neville during the match. Bo would have to defend his title once more, when Bo could not defeat Adrian Neville in a beat the clock challenge.
Neville would go on to defeat Bo Dallas for his NXT Title in a Ladder Match at NXT Arrival. Neville defended his title once again against Bo beating him with his other finisher, the Imploding 450 Splash. Moving on from Bo, Neville’s next title defense came against former WWE wrestler Brodus Clay. You may know Brodus Clay as Impact Wrestling’s Tyrus.
Adrian would win his first non-title match with Brodus by count out setting up the No Disqualification match between the two, which Neville pulled away with the win. Neville’s next feud as champ came against Tyson Kidd. At this point in Kidd’s career he needed to turn things around, and find his relevance in the WWE. Kidd working with Neville and the other NXT wrestlers helped build back his career.
Tyson and Neville put on amazing matches that saw Neville take the win in all of them. To set up for a huge Fatal Four Way match for the NXT Title, Neville made his Raw debut. This debut on Raw was a huge moment not just for Adrian, but also Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze, and Tyson Kidd. Adrian teamed with Sami to take on Tyler and Tyson. This tag team match for as short as it was nearly stole the show. It also exposed the NXT Stars to the main show audience. This exposure helped purchases in the WWE Network because the fans wanted to see more of these NXT stars.
In possibly one of the most exciting Fatal Four Way matches I have seen, Neville took the win to retain his title. After this match the next big feud we saw was Adrian Neville Vs Sami Zayn. These two, like many former “Indy Darlings” knew each other well before the WWE. The story they told in and out of the ring was more followed than the main roster stories. When the two finally went at it, they tore the roof off the place. Sami Zayn would go on to take the win, and Neville’s title.
Adrian Neville’s Future
Adrian Neville was the top NXT Star for the year of 2014. He is a 2 time NXT Tag Team Champion, and the longest reigning NXT Champion in NXT history. What is there left for Adrian Neville to do in NXT. It is time. I have said it before, but I so mean it. It is time. Get ready main roster, Adrian Neville is coming. In the year 2015 we will see Neville come to the main roster and have a Rey Mysterio like push to the top.
The Over Jobber 