In the midst of the craziness that is NXT’s current evolution, many are left reflecting on the glory days of this beloved professional wrestling product. However, what if we didn’t want to reflect on the glory days? In fact, what if we wanted to reflect on one of the most critically acclaimed WWE products in modern-day history?
Following our last Where Are They Now? article that covered Every Rookie From NXT Season 1 (check that out), eWrestling News proudly presents to you the Where Are They Now? article for NXT Season 2. How many of these guys do you remember?
NXT Season 2 Elimination 1: Titus O’Neil
The first individual to be eliminated from the second season of NXT was the former Arena Football player – Titus O’Neil. O’Neil was accompanied by WWE pro Zack Ryder, but couldn’t seem to avoid the first elimination on NXT. O’Neil’s first match on NXT took place on June 8, 2010, where he and Ryder would fall to fellow rookie Eli Cottonwood – and his pro, John Morrison – in a tag team contest. Titus would amass a record of zero wins and three losses during his time on NXT.
O’Neil was eliminated in Week 4 of the competition based on the WWE pro/WWE.com votes. Despite this setback, O’Neil would be selected as one of the six former contestants to return in the show’s fifth season (stay tuned for more on that one).
On April 18, 2012, it was announced that O’Neil, along with his partner – Darren Young – had been moved to the main roster. They made their debut on SmackDown two days afterward, earning a victory over The Usos. They would develop a winning streak that would end one month later when they suffered a loss to then-WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. Young and O’Neil would face off for the WWE Tag Team Championships on multiple occasions, but wouldn’t pick them up during their first run.
Later on, O’Neil would team alongside Heath Slater as “Slater-Gator”. The pair would have minor success but never picked up any major victories. O’Neil would eventually reform The Prime Time Players alongside Darren Young for two years, winning the WWE Tag Team Championships along the way. In the 2016 draft, O’Neil was drafted to Raw, where he would eventually split from his tag team partner. He would later establish “Titus Brand”, and would establish partnerships with Apollo Crews, Dana Brooke, and Akira Tozawa. Nothing would truly rise out of this partnership, and it would disband around 2018.
In 2019, Titus O’Neil would pick up his first singles title in the company – the WWE 24/7 Championship. After becoming the inaugural champion, he would lose it in less than a minute to Robert Roode. Ever since then, O’Neil has focused further on his charitable efforts and his place as a Global Ambassador for WWE. On April 6, 2021, O’Neil was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020 as a Warrior Award recipient. He is currently still contracted to the Raw brand. O’Neil’s most recent match took place on November 9, 2020, when Bobby Lashley defeated him in a 1-minute match on Raw to retain the WWE United States Championship.
