In pictures: Most successful WWE wrestlers from NXT

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  Ryback appeared on the first season of NXT under the name Skip Sheffield. He was also a member of the villionious stable The Nexus before moving onto singles competition and challenging for the WWE Championship under the name Ryback. He has since been paired with Curtis Axel (another NXT contestant from season 2) to form the tag team duo of RybAxel. Christopher Pike / The National

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  Antonio Cesaro wasn’t officially a part of the NXT roster, however, he competed against many of the rising NXT superstars including Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn. Cesaro is a one-time WWE United States Champion and winner of the first ever inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Trophy winner at WrestleMania XXX. Courtesy WWE

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  AJ Lee was a contestant on the all-female third season of NXT. Despite not winning, the current WWE Divas Champion has gone on the be Raw General manager for three months, won the Slammy Award for “Diva of the Year” and was the longest reigning Divas Champion in WWE history by holding the title for 295 days.

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  The Shield was a stable consisting of wrestlers (from left to right), Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. The trio competed individually on NXT with Rollins becoming the inaugural NXT Champion. When moved up to WWE Raw, they found success with Rollins and Reigns becoming the WWE Tag Team Champions and Ambrose winning the WWE United States Champion as well as the group having an impressive undefeated streak for a period of time. After the dissolution of the stable, Rollins would go on to win Money in the Bank and feud with Ambrose while Reigns has challenged for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Courtesy WWE

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  Daniel Bryan was a member on the first season of NXT and has tremendous success in the WWE since. He is a four-time world champion — a three-time WWE Champion/World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time World Heavyweight Champion – and headlined WrestleMania XXX where he captured the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. He has also won the United States Championship, WWE Tag Team Championships, and is a former Money in the Bank winner. Steve Haag / Getty Images

NXT is known for being the place to watch up-and-coming wrestlers and future stars of the WWE. Here is a look at some of the more successful WWE stars who had their start on NXT.